Kempton lies below Constitution Hill on the former main road between Hobart and Launceston. The modern highway bypass allows the older village pattern to be seen more clearly than in many through-road settlements.

Green Ponds

The area was known as Green Ponds or Green Water Holes before the name Kempton became established in the nineteenth century. Water, road gradients and surrounding farms made it a natural stopping place.

Historic industrial building in the Southern Midlands
Roadside towns supported rural processing, trade and travel.A wisper in the storm, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Inns, road station and rural trades

Coaching inns, shops, a convict road station and trades serving horse transport developed around the route. Some major buildings survive, including former commercial premises and the superintendent’s cottage, but access varies and many properties are private.

Broad street and sandstone buildings in the Southern Midlands
Kempton belongs to the chain of historic inland settlements.Steven Penton from Bakers Beach, Tasmania Australia, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

A measured stop

Park legally and walk public streets rather than pulling onto verges. Kempton has fewer services than major towns, and event days can change access.

Allow an hour for the village, or combine it with Bagdad, Pontville and Oatlands on the Heritage Highway.