Hotel Corner, Great Western Hotel 1895

Item details


Name of item:	Hotel Corner, Great Western Hotel 1895
Type of item:	Built
Group/Collection:	Commercial
Category:	Hotel
Location:	Lat: -31.4989 Long: 145.8389
Primary address:	Linsley Street, Cobar, NSW 2835
Local govt. area:	Cobar

Property description

Lot/Volume Code	Lot/Volume Number	Section Number	Plan/Folio Code	Plan/Folio Number
CROWN LAND	11		DP	635568

All addresses

Street Address	Suburb/town	LGA	Type
Linsley Street	Cobar	Cobar	Primary Address
Marshall Street	Cobar	Cobar	Alternate Address
Marshall St	Cobar	Cobar	Alternate Address

Statement of significance:


	The Great Western Hotel demonstrates the history of the establishment of a large hotel in a thriving late 19th century mining centre. It is associated with the leisure and social activities of a rural community. The form, generous scale and ornate detailing of the Great Western Hotel are evidence of the Victorian Filigree Style. The two-storey hotel incorporates a 'commercial row' and retains many important architectural elements. The hotel is a landmark on the prominent site and a notable example of hotel architecture. The site has potential to yield further information from both field and documentary research.
	Date significance updated: 16 Nov 06
	Note: The State Heritage Inventory provides information about heritage items listed by local and State government agencies. The State Heritage Inventory is continually being updated by local and State agencies as new information becomes available. Read the Department of Premier and Cabinet copyright and disclaimer.

Description


Physical description:	The Great Western Hotel is a substantial, two storey, brickwork building and is an example of a traditional rural Australian corner pub. Both the ground and first floor facades are covered by a verandah. On the ground floor the posts are wooden, with wooden beams and an unlined soffit. At least seven posts near the corner of Marshall and Lewis have decorative lace brackets. The first floor verandah is also supported by wooden posts but has a lace iron balustrade. The verandah on the eastern end of Marshall Street is in a poor state and in need of repair. Above the corrugated iron verandah roof is a rendered parapet with moulded capping and cornice details. The first floor façade is of face brickwork. There are several French Door openings with fan-lights. Openings are timber framed. The ground floor façade is of painted brickwork. It has undergone some alteration especially towards the eastern end on Marshall Street. Here three shop spaces have been created, No. 12 (vacant), No. 14 (Brush Stop) and No. 16 (Pizzeria). The facades are of face and painted brickwork with aluminum windows and doors. The remainder façade on Marshall and Lewis retains many original features including under sill frieze decorations. To the rear of the hotel a later single-storey motel block has been constructed. Its design, form and scale does not add to the significance of the Great Western Hotel.
Physical condition and/or Archaeological potential:	Poor, the building is not being well-maintained. High archaeological potential.
	Date condition updated:21 Nov 05
Modifications and dates:	1898: Constructed as a single storey structure, 1903: Extended to a second storey structure. Three separate shop spaces created along the north facing section onto Marshall Street.
Further information:	The building, with its two-storey verandah, is in a landmark location and is designed to address its corner location.


Current use:	Hotel, Pub and shops
Former use:	Hotel/Pub

History

Historical notes:

As the Great Cobar Copper Mine expanded in the late 1870s, Cobar began to establish itself as a bustling mining town. From as early as 1872 crude, temporary structures were constructed west of the Cobar Copper Mining Company’s mine lease, then Lot 72/59. Surveyor J.C. Dalgleish preformed a major survey of Cobar early in 1872 and his plans were published in August of the year. Lot 72/59 was originally a Crown Grant to Joseph Becker and others, but was subsequently transferred to the Great Cobar prior to its subdivision into the town centre. Cobar town was officially subdivided in 1880 with street names in use by 1881. Opportunities existed to service the small mining centre and tentative steps were made by early entrepreneurs and businessmen to establish stores, hotels and other commercial enterprises.

The Great Western Hotel was built in 1898 by Pierce Goold replacing Cunningham’s fruit shop on the corner of Linsley and Marshall Street . The license was granted in July and the hotel was open for business on August 5, 1898. Originally constructed as a single storey structure, the hotel was extended to a second storey in 1903. Extended east along Marshall Street, it incorporated Goold’s Terrace a group of small shops and offices which housed among others John M Scott the stock and station agent.

The hotel originally contained 60 spacious bedrooms, billiards and commercial sample rooms and stables. Promenades on the balcony were an elegant pastime in Cobar’s heyday. It had two dining rooms, the '2 bob' being services on the first floor by a small lift from the kitchen below.

The Great Western Hotel is still operating as hotel/pub. The hotel contains a 100 yard long verandah which is claimed to be the longest in New South Wales.

The eastern end of the ground floor facing Marshall Street has since been converted into three shop spaces. The shops have had various uses over the years including a period where "Little Billy's Café" and a fish shop occupied the spaces. During recent inspections (2006) No. 12 was vacant, No. 14 was a hairdresser's 'Brush Stop' and No. 16 was in use as a Pizzeria.

Historic themes

Australian theme (abbrev)	New South Wales theme	Local theme
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Commerce-Activities relating to buying, selling and exchanging goods and services	Hotel/Pub-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Accommodation-Activities associated with the provision of accommodation, and particular types of accommodation – does not include architectural styles – use the theme of Creative Endeavour for such activities.	Hotel-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages	Mainstreet buildings-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Leisure-Activities associated with recreation and relaxation	Hotel/Pub-

Assessment of significance


SHR Criteria a) [Historical significance]	The site is evidence of the subdivision and commercial development of the town of Cobar in the late 19th century. The site demonstrates the establishment of a rural pub/hotel in the mining settlement.
SHR Criteria b) [Associative significance]	The site is associated with the many customers and proprietors of the hotel.
SHR Criteria c) [Aesthetic significance]	The form, generous scale and ornate detailing are evidence of the Victorian Filigree Style applied to a large hotel in a successful mining centre. The two storey hotel incorporates a 'commercial row', the form of which is intact. The building retains many important architectural elements and is a landmark on the prominent site on the corner of the Marshall and Linsley Streets. It is aesthetically pleasing despite alterations to some of the shopfronts in the commercial row.
SHR Criteria d) [Social significance]	The Great Western Hotel is valued by the Cobar community as evidence of its social and economic history. The building is evidence of an era when towns such as Cobar could support a number of large hotels which provided the community with services such as accomodation, entertainment and social activities, as well as food and drink. Like the Commercial Hotel, the Great Western Hotel incorporated commercial premises leased to businesses in the town.
SHR Criteria e) [Research potential]	The site has potential to yield further information from both field and documentary research with respect to the physical and social history of a rural hotel/pub.
SHR Criteria f) [Rarity]	The site, as a rural hotel has the longest verandah in NSW. Its intactness of the hotel and incorporation of a 'commercial row' (shopfronts now altered) makes it rare in Cobar, if not western NSW.
SHR Criteria g) [Representativeness]	The style of the building is representative of large scale, rural hotel design common in the Victorian era (some alterations after 1900) and a good and intact example of its type.
Integrity/Intactness:	Varies; important original elements, scale and form intac,t but alterations and modifications of some elements detract from the item.
Assessment criteria:	Items are assessed against the State Heritage Register (SHR) Criteria to determine the level of significance. Refer to the Listings below for the level of statutory protection.

Recommended management:

A CMP should be prepared to guide all future management and maintenance of this item. This should be undertaken prior to any proposed alterations, additions or changes. A Statement of Heritage Impact should be prepared to assess the impact of any such proposals on the significance of the site. If the CMP has not been prepared at the time of such proposed changes it should be prepared prior to the SHI. The SHI should take into account the CMP and any relevant recommendations. The CMP/SHI should also include an archaeological assessment. The archaeological assessment should assess the impact of the proposal on any archaeological remains, to ensure that the proposal does not adversely impact upon the site's significance. In addition the following conservation management guidelines are recommended for the building: Repaint the building to a well-considered colour scheme (parapet, verandah and ground floor), Refix/repair corrugated iron roof sheeting, Repair timber work to verandah, Consider reinstatement of verandah decorative detailing to ground floor and where applicable to first floor, Remove AC units from highlight glazing, Remove illuminated advertising signage from first floor verandah, Consider more appropriate façade detailing for shop spaces on eastern end of verandah on Marhsall Street, Consider reinstatement of the original detailing to the parapet as shown in historic photographs (see images).

Listings

Heritage Listing	Listing Title	Listing Number	Gazette Date	Gazette Number	Gazette Page
Local Environmental Plan	Cobar Local Environmental Plan 2012	I14	02 Aug 12
Heritage study	Great Western Hotel	1350061	25 Aug 06

Study details

Title	Year	Number	Author	Inspected by	Guidelines used
National Trust Country Register			National Trust of Australia (NSW)		No
Cobar Mainstreet Study	1993	1350061	Knox & Tanner Pty Ltd	Cathy Fisher	No
Cobar Mainstreet Study	1993		Knox & Tanner Pty Ltd		No

References, internet links & images

Type	Author	Year	Title	Internet Links
Written	National Trust of Australia (NSW)		National Trust of Australia (NSW)

Note: internet links may be to web pages, documents or images.

(Click on thumbnail for full size image and image details)

Data source


The information for this entry comes from the following source:
Name:	Local Government
Database number:	1350061

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