Mount Heemskirk

Mount Heemskirk is a mountain in Western Tasmania, west of the West Coast Range. It has an elevation of 751 metres (2,464 ft) above sea level.[2] The closest town is Zeehan, about 14 kilometres (9 mi) away.[2]

Mount Heemskirk
Mount Heemskirk is located in Tasmania
Mount Heemskirk
Mount Heemskirk
Location in Tasmania
Highest point
Elevation751 m (2,464 ft)[1]
Prominence171 m (561 ft)[1]
Isolation4.41 km (2.74 mi)[1]
Coordinates41°51′6.66″S 145°10′19.96″E
Naming
Native nameRoeinrim, Traoota munatta Peerapper (Northwestern Tasmanian)
Geography
LocationWest Coast of Tasmania, Australia
Parent rangeHeemskirk Range
Geology
Age of rockJurassic
Mountain typeDolerite

History

The indigenous Peerapper name for the mountain is recorded as Roeinrim or Traoota munatta.[3]

European naming

On 24 November 1642, Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European explorer to sight and document the Heemskirk and West Coast Ranges. Tasman sailed his ships close to the coastal area which today encompasses the Southwest Conservation Area, south of Macquarie Harbour, but was unable to send a landing party ashore due to poor weather and did not make contact with any South West Tasmanian groups. In their circumnavigation of Tasmania between 1798 and 1799, George Bass and Matthew Flinders named the Heemskirk Ranges mountains Mount Heemskirk and Mount Zeehan after Tasman's ships, the warship Heemskerck (Old Dutch for "Home Church") and the 200-tonne (200-long-ton; 220-short-ton) fluyt Zeehaen (Old Dutch for "Sea Rooster") in honour of Tasman's voyage of exploration.[4][5] Although Dutch in origin, Bass and Flinder's Anglicised naming of Mount Heemskirk and Mount Zeehan created some of the oldest British place names in Tasmania.[note 1] In the 1880s, the high ground around Mount Heemskirk was allocated the term Heemskirk Range.[7]

Mining

The mountain and its surrounding high ground was also known as the Heemskirk mining area in the 1890s and the first decade of the 1900s.[8][9][10]

Tourism

After the success of mountain biking in Derby, several mountain bike trails opened on Mount Heemskirk in 2020.[11][12]

Notes
  1. Only a few Dutch place names in Tasmania originate from Tasman's 1642 voyage. Although some place names originate from Bruni d'Entrecasteaux's French expedition in 1792,[6] most place names were not assigned in Van Diemen's Land until after the settlement of Hobart Town at Risdon Cove in 1803. It was not until after the 1815 discovery of Macquarie Harbour by explorer and mariner James Kelly that many place names on the West Coast were assigned.

References
  1. "Mount Heemskirk, Tasmania". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  2. "Frequently asked questions about Mount Heemskirk in Tasmania - Bonzle Digital Atlas of Australia".
  3. Milligan, Joseph (1858). "On the dialects and languages of the Aboriginal Tribes of Tasmania, and on their manners and customs" (PDF). Papers of the Royal Society of Tasmania: 270.
  4. F. Adama van Scheltema & Anton Mensing, 1898. "Tasman's ships Zeehaen and Heemskerck". State Library of South Australia. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  5. "Ship model Dutch fluyt ZEEHAEN of 1639". modelships.de. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  6. "French came, sowed and left Tasmania in 1792". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 20 February 2003. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  7. "MUNICIPAL DISTRICT OF MACQUARIE. IN THE COUNTIES OF RUSSELL, MONTAGU, FRANKLIN, AND MONTGOMERY. (1 January 1885)", Walch's Tasmanian almanac for, J. Walch & Sons ((1885)): 283, 1 January 1885, retrieved 25 August 2022
  8. Waterhouse, L. Lawry (1916) The South Heemskirk Tin Field Hobart. Dept. of Mines, Geological Survey bulletin (Geological Survey of Tasmania) ; no. 21.
  9. Waller, George A (1902), Report on the tin ore deposits of Mount Heemskirk, John Vail. Government Printer, retrieved 4 June 2022
  10. Howard, Patrick; Howard, Patrick (2009), Farewell Heemskirk goodbye Dundas : a history of the Heemskirk and Dundas mining fields, Mount Heemskirk Books, ISBN 978-0-646-52414-6
  11. Powell, Sandy (13 November 2020). "West Coast's Heemskirk Range and Mount Owen mountain bike trail networks enter next phase". The Advocate. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  12. Powell, Sandy (11 May 2022). "Next Level Mountain bike building trails into the Heemskirk Range". The Advocate. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
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