Riddells Creek - Dromkeen Gallery and Tearoom - Central

Riddells Creek - Dromkeen Gallery and Tearoom

The Dromkeen Collection Art Gallery is a beautiful colonial homestead at Riddells Creek, Victoria. The Gallery houses a wonderful collection of Australian children's picture book illustrations. There are limited edition prints and original book illustrations for sale.

We have a tearoom so visitors are able to have morning/ afternoon tea or lunch.

Opening Hours:

Opening Hours

Cost:

General admission is free.

Review:

Dromkeen is run by a family which is passionate about children's literature and illustrations. The lovely homestead has a number of rooms to explore which are decorated with illustrations. The main gallery room had a wide range of interesting artwork from the resident illustrator Mark Wilson, all of which are for sale.

When we visited there were illustrations from the book "A Story of the First Fleet - Beth: The Story of a Child Convict" by Mark Wilson. Beth is a child convict, caught stealing on the streets of London and sent to Australia on the First Fleet. Through Beth's story, the unbearable hardships those first convicts suffered, not only on the long journey to Sydney Cove but also in the two years of near-famine following their arrival are discovered. The story was inspired by the experiences of Elizabeth Hayward, the youngest female convict with the First Fleet, and the journals of naval officer William Bradley and Arthur Bowes Smyth, the surgeon and artist from the First Fleet vessel 'Lady Penrhyn'

Another set of illustrations was from the book "Inside the World of Tom Roberts" by Mark Wilson where a young boy and girl lose themselves in the paintings of Tom Roberts and experience early settlement life in Australia.

There were also illustrations from Never Lose Hope: The Story of Australia's First School by Mark Wilson which was nspired by the life of convict Isabella Rosson, the first teacher in the colony at Port Jackson, and John Hudson, the youngest First Fleet convict,

The cafe is cosy with a smallish selection of food and range of drinks at good prices.

There is an independent sand sculpting exhibition on the site.