Tascott, New South Wales

Tascott is a suburb of the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia between Gosford and Woy Woy on Brisbane Water's western shore. It is part of the Central Coast Council local government area.

Tascott Central Coast, New South Wales
Population	1,602 (2016 census)^[1]
• Density	728/km^2 (1,890/sq mi)
Postcode(s)	2250
Elevation	5 m (16 ft)
Area	2.2 km^2 (0.8 sq mi)
Location	7 km (4 mi) SW of Gosford 77 km (48 mi) N of Sydney 5 km (3 mi) N of Woy Woy
LGA(s)	Central Coast Council
Parish	Patonga
State electorate(s)	Gosford
Federal division(s)	Robertson
Suburbs around Tascott: Kariong Point Clare Point Clare Kariong Tascott Brisbane Water Brisbane Water National Park Koolewong Brisbane Water

History of Tascott

It was founded by Thomas Alison Scott and his wife Mary Anne Scott. The name of the suburb is derived from Scott's name, T.A.Scott. Scott is widely regarded as the first person in Australia to grow sugar cane, around 1835.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} Scott's field of sugar cane, said to be 20 acres in area, was still present, when recorded by a visitor to the area, in 1874.^[8]

The suburb contains Tascott railway station, which is on the Main North railway line. The station opened in 1905 and was built largely to service a guesthouse known as 'Waterview' that had been established by Mary Scott.^[9][10]

The station once had a particularly dangerous level crossing, between the platform and the curved cutting just to the north.^[11][12] Robert Scott, T.A.Scott's son and heir, was killed there by a train in 1920,^[13] and he was not the only fatality crossing the railway.^[14][15] For many years, this level crossing was the only means of road access to the area west of the railway station.^[16] The short platform at Tascott was also a cause of mishaps.^[17] The station was rebuilt in 1939, with the new timber deck platform being supported on a framework of old rails, instead of a timber frame. This new design was referred to as a ‘Tascott type’ platform, by railway engineers, and the same arrangement was used, at other stations, over the following 25 years.^[18] The station remains a 'short platform' of only two train cars in length.^[9]

A private road from Koolewong to Tascott was constructed in the late 1920s^[19] but a wooden bridge across the gully later collapsed and was not repaired. Access to both suburbs was greatly improved by the building of the 'waterfront road'—now Brisbane Water Drive—in the late 1930s.^[20]

For many years, the suburb was in four distinct parts; the area to the north of the station and west of the line, the area of waterfront adjacent to Point Clare, the area west of the station, and the area around Thomas Street. The dangerous level crossing at the station ceased to be used by cars some time in the 1960s. The level crossing near Thomas Street closed in 1963.^[21] Both crossings never had warning signals, just farm-style gates. For many years afterwards, pedestrians continued to cross the line at both these locations—including to access the Up platform at the station or catch the bus on Brisbane Water Drive—before the pedestrian overbridge was built at the station and the level crossing at the station was officially closed in 1984.^[22] The extension of Glenrock Parade, from the north of the station through to Koolewong, finally provided safe road access to the entire area of Tascott. Prior to late 1970, the section of the road—now part of Glenrock Parade—that intersected Thomas Street was known as Tascott Parade.^[23]

Before World War II, Tascott was a minor holiday destination and, until the 1960s, the suburb was semi-rural. The flat—formerly swampy—area to the west of the railway station was a dairy farm, known as Tascott Dairy,^[24][25] which survived into the early 1960s. During this period, Tascott had no sewerage^[26] or reticulated water supply.^[27][28] Subdivisions,^[29] land sales, and the building of many new houses, led to a rapid growth in the population, during the 1960s and 1970s.

The population of the suburb recorded at the 2016 census was 1,602; a decrease from the 1,706 recorded in 2011.^[30]

Notable residents

• Nicola McDermott, 2018 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist and 2020 Summer Olympics silver medallist in high jump^[31]

References

1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Tascott". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 30 November 2017.  
2. Gosford City Library. . Archived from the original on 29 August 2007. Retrieved 21 July 2007.
3. "NEW SOUTH WALES SUGAR". Sydney Herald (NSW : 1831 - 1842). 8 January 1835. p. 3. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
4. Parsons, Vivienne, "Scott, Thomas Alison (1777–1881)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 17 September 2020
5. Library of New South Wales; Macquarie Street, Sydney (28 January 2020). "The first sugar". State Library of NSW. Retrieved 17 September 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
6. "Historic Towns of N.S. Wales". Sunday Times (Sydney, NSW : 1895 - 1930). 31 January 1909. p. 7. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
7. "OBITUARY". Gosford Times and Gosford and Wollombi Express (NSW : 1892 - 1906). 25 August 1905. p. 5. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
8. "Intercolonial News". Queenslander. 10 October 1874. p. 3. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
9. "Tascott Station". nswrail.net. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
10. "Robert Donald Scott". Gosford Times and Wyong District Advocate (NSW : 1906 - 1954). 23 December 1920. p. 2. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
11. "TWO RAIL CROSSINGS ARE VERY DANGEROUS". Gosford Times and Wyong District Advocate (NSW : 1906 - 1954). 25 May 1954. p. 1. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
12. "Dangerous Crossing". Gosford Times and Wyong District Advocate (NSW : 1906 - 1954). 21 March 1935. p. 13. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
13. "LATE ROBERT SCOTT". Gosford Times and Wyong District Advocate (NSW : 1906 - 1954). 27 October 1921. p. 2. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
14. "Shocking Railway Fatality". Gosford Times and Wyong District Advocate (NSW : 1906 - 1954). 11 January 1917. p. 7. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
15. "NEWS FROM EVERYWHERE". Australian Worker. 30 March 1938. p. 16. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
16. "Tascott's Freedom". Sun-Herald (Sydney, NSW : 1953 - 1954). 1 August 1954. p. 3. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
17. "Serious Accident". Gosford Times and Wyong District Advocate (NSW : 1906 - 1954). 30 August 1907. p. 6. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
18. "Log Cabin Station" (PDF). Australian Railway Historical Society. 8 May 2012.
19. "WHY NOT BRIDGE THE GAP?". Gosford Times and Wyong District Advocate (NSW : 1906 - 1954). 20 October 1927. p. 12. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
20. "WATERSIDE TRANSPORT". Gosford Times and Wyong District Advocate (NSW : 1906 - 1954). 6 July 1939. p. 8. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
21. "CLOSURE OF PUBLIC LEVEL CROSSING AT MILEAGE 47 m. 76.50 ch., AT TASCOTT, ON THE MAIN NORTHERN RAILWAY LINE". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales (Sydney, NSW : 1901 - 2001). 17 May 1963. p. 1346. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
22. "STATE RAIL AUTHORITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales (Sydney, NSW : 1901 - 2001). 21 September 1984. p. 4665. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
23. "SHIRE OF GOSFORD". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. 2 October 1970. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
24. "MY HOLIDAY AT TASCOTT". Blue Mountain Star (Katoomba, NSW : 1929 - 1931). 17 May 1930. p. 4. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
25. "Advertising". Gosford Times and Wyong District Advocate (NSW : 1906 - 1954). 10 November 1927. p. 7. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
26. "SHIRE OF GOSFORD.—NIGHTSOIL SCAVENGING DISTRICTS". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales (Sydney, NSW : 1901 - 2001). 11 October 1963. p. 3031. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
27. "£1M. Water Scheme For Gosford". Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954). 18 January 1952. p. 3. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
28. "Approach To Minister on Water Grant". Gosford Times and Wyong District Advocate (NSW : 1906 - 1954). 26 February 1952. p. 1. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
29. Gosford Shire Council. "Register of Consents" (PDF).
30. "2011 Census QuickStats - Tascott". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
31. "Nicola McDermott makes athletics history". Coast Community News. 21 April 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.

33°27′14″S 151°18′50″E / 33.454°S 151.314°E / -33.454; 151.314