museum & history:

The historical Bark Mill museum is currently closed for renovations and will be reopened in 2021.

The Swansea Bark Mill was built as a portable plant in the 1880’s to crush black wattle bark.  The bark chips and dust were sent to tanneries in different parts of the world, as well as other Australian states.  The tannery would extract tannic acid from the bark by a soaking process.  It was often then used to tan hides to make leather.  This method was phased out over the years as chemicals took over.

The mill was made permanent on the site about 1918 and continued crushing bark till the 1960s.  In 1981 the mill was purchased from Rex Morey and restored and turned into a museum. 

The current owners are embarking on a renovation project across the Bark Mill, to increase the local experience and desirability for local produce and restore the original museum and the interpretive information from the yesteryear of Swansea.