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484 Smith Street
Collingwood 3066
Australia
Map It

Gasometer Hotel (2010 to present)

Gasometer Hotel (1861 - c.1997), Irish Murphy's (c.1997 - 2000), Father Flanagan's Hotel (c. 2001 - 2010)

1860/1861

N/A

Existing hotel

N/A

N/A

Part C, pp. 552-555

N/A

N/A

Kearney 1855: N ; Hodgkinson 1858: N ; MMBW: Detail Plan 1214, 1900

In 1859 architect Alfred Kursteiner invited tenders for the erection of a public house for Mr C. A. Mater. ( The Argus, 15 June 1859). The owner was Charles Mater, who owned a large tract of land bounded by Reilly Street (now Alexandra Parade) and Smith Street, and utilised the names of members of his family for street names when he subdivided the land. The hotel's name is a reminder of the former Collingwood, Fitzroy and District Gas and Coke Company , which was established in 1859 and commenced supply from its works (diagonally opposite the hotel) in May 1861. However, there was no denying that at the time of its erection, the hotel was in an area that was under-populated, and it was advertised with the following inducements:

To LET, on LEASE, erected as a pioneer to the settlement of a populous neighbourhood. The whole paddock adjoining is surveyed, with plans for sale in allotments at a low price with deferred payments. The new market contiguous is fenced. The great and increasing traffic of Smith-street, with the numerous employees at the gasworks, give assurance for the establishment of a good business within a short period.

( The Argus, 20 March 1860, p. 1)

The promised trade may not have eventuated, as there was a rapid turnover of publicans in the first few years. James Lawlor, James Crawley, and George Pashley followed one another in quick succession, while by August 1865 Mater and Co were again advertising it to let. By 1869 it was bought by Richard Benham who was also the licensee; it remained in Benham family ownership into the twentieth century.

The hotel is stuccoed stone and brick. The corner splay is emphasized with quoins and pilasters. After some years' flirtation with Irish-themed names, the hotel returned to its original name.

31 Johnston Street
Collingwood 3066
Australia
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George Hotel (1906 - 1914)

Court House Hotel (1865 - 1895), Federation (1899 - 1906)

1865

1914

Demolished

1939/1954

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Contributory to HO 324; Appendix 7, pp. 321-323

Kearney 1855: N ; Hodgkinson 1858: N ; MMBW: Detail Plan 1196, 1900

The hotel was sited next door to the original East Collingwood Court House which gave the proprietor an obvious choice of name, and no doubt contributed to the custom. By the end of the century the court function had moved to the new Town Hall in Hoddle Street and the old court room was occupied by the Collingwood Working Men's Club, so the impending federation of states provided another choice of name.

The hotel was closed by the Licenses Reduction Board in 1914, along with seven other hotels in the Barkly and Darling Wards.

For decades, most people walking past this building would have assumed the Victorian era pub was completely gone, seeing the frontage composed of shops and office in a distinctive Moderne design (with later alterations). However, a closer look revealed original chimneys and roof behind this facade, and peeking through the gate on the old carriageway on the west side gave the curious researcher a few more glimpses of the former hotel. The former hotel had been incorporated in a larger complex of neighbouring buildings housing Gregory Steel Products until the1960s. This changed when the Gurner Group received planning permission in 2020 for a large development, now housing Atelier Residences and a five-star hotel, one of the Veriu chain of boutique hotels.

During demolition, passers-by had a brief opportunity to get a glimpse (and take photographs) of the interior corner. An old fireplace from the pub was to be restored and included at the project. 'We will keep the bricks and put them back up during construction' said Gurner boss Tim Gurner. The project also involved the restoration of the Gregory Steel Products facade.

51-55 Gipps Street
Collingwood 3066
Australia
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Glasshouse Hotel (1853 to present)

N/A

1853

N/A

Existing hotel

1918

N/A

N/A

N/A

Volume 2, Building Citations, Part 1, pp. 135-136

HO103. Individually significant.

Kearney 1855: Y ; Hodgkinson 1858: Y (not named) ; MMBW: Detail Plan 1209, 1899

The original hotel on this site was built of brick, and its name refers to the nearby Glass House, one of Collingwood's earliest factories, in Glasshouse Lane, near the Rokeby Street corner. The surrounding electoral subdivision was named North Glasshouse.

In 1908, at the Licenses Reduction Board hearing, it was claimed that the present licensee was a teetotaller who was conducting the hotel better than it had been for 30 years past. The hotel was 'in the centre of a thickly populated locality' and there had been absolutely no Sunday trading since Robert Muirhead took charge, and business had increased.

The Chairman:- Increased trade after stoppage of Sunday trading! That ought to be made widely known. The moral effect would be considerable, I am sure. (Laughter)

( The Argus, 19 February 1908, p. 4)

The Glasshouse was permitted to continue trading. Carlton & United Breweries acquired the old hotel in 1910, and rebuilt in 1917-18.

The current building, despite some alterations, remains an eye-catching and unusual late Edwardian structure. The ground floor walls were originally face brick while the upper floor employed roughcast. There is a brown glazed tiled dado with decorative top and bottom courses. The roughcast has been painted over and some windows have been altered.

[291] Hoddle Street, on the northwest corner of Perry Street
Collingwood 3066
Australia
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Gloucester Hotel (1858 - 1919)

Sometimes referred to as the Gloucester Arms

1858

1919

Demolished. Site is now part of the road

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Kearney 1855: N/A ; Hodgkinson 1858: N/A ; MMBW: Detail Plan 1197 & 1198, 1899

A two-storeyed brick hotel.

At the Licenses Reduction Board hearing, licensee Mrs Jane Carpenter admitted that she frequently talked to friends through the open window on Sundays, but denied that any trading went on. Other witnesses gave evidence as to the good conduct of the hotel, and the 'public convenience it served, particularly in connection with sports gatherings on the Victoria-park.' ( The Argus, 7 March 1908, p. 22)

The background to this comment was that in 1903 Collingwood Council had abolished the sale of intoxicating liquor at the Victoria Park football and cricket ground. This led to the lengthening of the half-time interval to facilitate the exodus to the convivial atmosphere of local pubs, while those who stayed at the ground were kept amused by such entertainments as brass bands, boomerang throwing and foot races.

66 Gold Street
Collingwood 3066
Australia
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Goldy's Tavern (c. 2020 to present)

Leinster Arms Hotel (1863/4 to c. 2020)

1863/64

N/A

Existing hotel

1930

N/A

N/A

N/A

Volume 3, Appendix B, individually listed under precinct

Individually significant within HO 321

Kearney 1855: N/A ; Hodgkinson 1858: N/A ; MMBW: Detail plan 1235, 1901

This hotel site reflects strong Irish connections in both name and publicans. Leinster is a province of Ireland and a source of a popular name for hotels both in Victoria and Ireland. The original bluestone building was owned and operated by various members of the McDonnell family until the death of John McDonnell in 1870, when another Irishman, Patrick Quinlivan, paid the executors 80 pounds for the goodwill and annual rental of 100 pounds. Quinlivan remained until 1882 and was followed by John Cahill, then Patrick Fitzpatrick and later Mary Cahir, who presided from 1926 until 1940.

The hotel was acquired by the Shamrock Brewing Company which undertook alterations in 1930. The hotel is very distinctive in appearance, with its clinker-brick and render Greek revival style standing in a street of mainly Victorian and Edwardian houses. The use of brick-on-edge detailing is unusual. It is also unusual as a rare surviving single-storey hotel.

The Leinster Arms was a friendly 'home-away-from-home' for locals for many years, under the management of Glen and Wilhelmina McGee. Dining areas provided a more upmarket venue for meals and drinks, but there were still a number of ‘old boys’ propping up the bar who had been frequenting the hotel for many a long year. The retirement of these publicans after 18 years presaged a change. They closed, fittingly, after Grand Final day and put the hotel up for sale, and for a short while there was doubt whether this appealing local hostelry would continue, especially as Covid took its toll. However, it has kept going, but with noticeable changes including a new name, a younger and perhaps more boisterous clientele, a simplified dining menu, and a 'parklet' exterior area very popular in the summer months.

Sackville Street, southeast corner of Smith Street
Collingwood 3066
Australia
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Good Woman Hotel (1866)

Old Gold-diggers Hotel (1865 - 1866)

1865

1866

Demolished by around 1915, when the building now number 358 Smith Street was built.

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Kearney 1855: N ; Hodgkinson 1858: N ; MMBW: Detail Plan 1238, 1900 (?)

This building was a grocer's in 1864 before its brief life as a hotel, then a grocer's again, later becoming a greengrocer's for most of the remainder of the nineteenth century. The shop with a cellar, shown on the 1900 MMBW map as 358 Smith Street, may be the former hotel building.

114 Smith Street
Collingwood 3066
Australia
Map It

Grace Darling Hotel (1854 to present)

N/A

1854

N/A

Existing hotel

1920s extensions on the Peel Street frontage.

VHR H0660

B3840

Part C, pp. 574-576

Volume 3, Appendix B, individually listed under precinct

HO135, VHR

Kearney 1855: Y ; Hodgkinson 1858: Y ; MMBW: Detail Plan 1208, 1899

As one of the few remaining 1850s hotels in Melbourne and one of the earliest surviving buildings in Collingwood, the Grace Darling is of both local and Melbourne-wide significance, providing a striking remnant of the early years of Melbourne's suburban development and an excellent example of an early stone building in Collingwood.

It is also famous as the site of the 1892 meeting associated with the eventual formation of the Collingwood Football Club.

Designed by George Wharton, the first owner and publican was Thomas Risby (from Tasmania). The Risby family owned the property until around 1870. Patrick Coyle, owner of the nearby Albion Hotel, was the publican from 1869 to 1879.

Built of bluestone, the hotel features Tasmanian sandstone door and window surrounds. Sydney Smith, Ogg and Serpell designed the surprisingly sympathetic 1920s extensions.

Its name commemorates the heroine of the wreck of the "Forfarshire" in 1838.