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Smith Street, somewhere in between 98 and 108
Collingwood 3066
Australia
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Stirling Castle Hotel (1853 - c.1870)

N/A

1853

1869/70

Demolished 1870s?

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Current buildings on site contributory to HO333

Kearney 1855: Y ; Hodgkinson 1858: Y ; MMBW: N/A

This was described as a stone building in the 1864 rate book, and as plaster in the 1867 rate book, probably meaning the bluestone had been rendered. During its lifetime, this hotel had 12 publicans, most only staying for a year. In its final year of operation, the publican was J Blake, who the following year was a wine merchant, possibly in the same building. In the late 1860s there were still a number of the older timber buildings in Smith Street, but with growing prosperity and the increasing commercial importance of the street, which was overtaking Wellington Street in popularity, owners were replacing these with more substantial brick. In 1869 Charles Brown owned the hotel and one wooden shop; by 1874 he owned four shops, which were probably the group of four two-storey shops currently numbered 100 to 106. The site of the hotel was therefore probably somewhere on the land now covered by these shops.

[274, later 252] Wellington Street, northeast corner Little Bedford Street
Collingwood 3066
Australia
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Studley Arms Hotel (1850 - 1908)

N/A

1850/51

1908

Demolished c.1968

Enlarged in 1852 to accommodate the influx of gold immigrants

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Kearney 1855: Y ; Hodgkinson 1858: Y ; MMBW: Detail Plan 1197 & 1198, 1899

Peter Petherick, Collingwood rate collector and sometime councillor, owned and occupied the two-storey bluestone hotel from about 1861 until his death in 1877. According to his son Edward, the Studley originally belonged to Alderman John Hodgson and was the most substantial hotel in the district; it was originally planned as three shops, one of which was afterwards used for municipal offices and the Court of Petty Sessions until purpose-built structures were erected in Johnston Street in 1859.

In 1862 an anonymous letter in the Collingwood Observer remarked of Councillor Petherick: 'Being chairman of the public works committee what more natural than that contractors and their men should flock to the bar of the Studley Arms where the landlord can dispense nobblers and patronage at the same time'.

In 1863 the first large public meeting of the Labour, Protection and Tariff Reform League was held at the Studley Arms. Collingwood was at the forefront of the Victorian protectionist movement, supported by Graham Berry's Observer. Petherick's daughter Rosa conducted a private school in the hotel in the 1870s (perhaps in the room formerly used for council meetings).

By 1900 the hotel was owned by the Castlemaine Brewing Company. After closure, the building became a laundry, then Cockatoo Preserves Pty Ltd and eventually spent many years as a cardboard box factory, first operated by the Austral Box Manufacturing Company, and later Wood and Carson Pty Ltd. By January 1964 its bluestone walls were still looking very solid, but with its lower storey windows altered and doors replaced it had an uninviting air, hard to imagine as the centre of conviviality and political intrigue that it once was. All the buildings in the block of Wellington Street bounded by Vere and Perry Streets were demolished 1968/1969 for the building of Housing Commission high rise flats.

Stanley Street, north side between Wellington and Smith streets, opposite the west footpath of Cambridge Street
Collingwood 3066
Australia
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Suffolk Hotel (1865 - 1908)

N/A

1865

1908

Demolished

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

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

The Suffolk was a stone hotel with seven or eight rooms (Rate Book 1867 and 1870).

285 Wellington Street
Collingwood 3066
Australia
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The Gem Bar & Dining Room (c. 2006 - present)

Steeth's Family Hotel (1875-1883), Curry's Family Hotel (1884 - c.2006)

1875

N/A

Existing hotel

1927l

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Individually significant within HO 321; Appendix 7, p. 500-501

Kearney 1855: N ; Hodgkinson 1858: N ; MMBW: Detail Plan 1237, 1900

While Wellington Street was in the early days Collingwood's most densely populated and busiest street, it was quite short, running only from Victoria Parade to Johnston Street. The process of extending the road through private property towards Clifton Hill took place in the 1870s, and James Steeth, who had been a publican at the Village Belle in Abbotsford, must have seen the developing area as a good commercial proposition for a man with some capital to invest. Formerly a Sergeant of Police, in June 1875 he applied for a licence for Steeth's Family Hotel. 'He had recently received a legacy of 10,000 pounds, which the Police Magistrate said was of itself no recommendation.' ( The Argus, 5 June 1875, p. 6). Despite the magistrate's dry comment (a style not at all unusual at licensing hearings) the licence was granted. In the 1880s the hotel was taken over by Michael Curry, who renamed the hotel.

Curry's was significantly altered or re-built in 1927 in a distinctive Mediterranean Provincial Revival style with hipped roof, strutted eaves and a tiled dado, well-suited to its corner site. Of the older building, the original north wall definitely remains, as the lettering 'Steeth's Family Hotel' was visible for a short time when the neighbouring building was demolished in readiness for the construction of housing units in the 1990s.

At the youthful age of 25, Amy Robson became both owner and licensee of the Curry Family Hotel in 1997. After ten years working as a barmaid, she looked forward to controlling her own working environment and created 'a family-oriented, old-fashioned local watering hole which is not glamourous or chic bur certainly reflects its keeper's values of honesty, responsibility and nurturance... Amy continues to work tirelessly among her "extended family" of "waifs, strays and refugees". ( Beyond the ladies lounge, p. 196).

Amy's Bar is no longer, but The Gem is continuing the tradition of being a welcoming and easy-going local for a drink or a meal, as well as hosting musical events. Locals still sometimes refer to the hotel as Curry's.

176 Hoddle Street
Collingwood 3066
Australia
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The Goodhead (2010 to c. 2012)

Morning Star Hotel (1869 - 2007), Opium Den (2008 - 2010)

1869

c. 2012

Ozihouse student accommodation

Early twentieth century

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Kearney 1855: N ; Hodgkinson 1858: N ; MMBW: Detail Plan 1283, 1901

The hotel was rebuilt, probably between 1910 and 1930, in red brick with a tiled dado. The whole exterior was uniformly painted, probably in the early twenty-first century, creating quite a difference appearance. The most recent but short-lived name of the hotel referred to Goodhead, a brand of beer.

67-71 Johnston Street
Collingwood 3066
Australia
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Tote Hotel (1991 to present)

Healy's Hotel (1870 - 73), Ivanhoe Hotel (1873 - 1990)

1870

N/A

Existing hotel

Renovated in the inter-war period and ground floor changed

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Individually significant within HO 324

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

Daniel Healy had a grain store on this site before building a hotel. He changed its name to the Ivanhoe in 1873. His wife Bridget was later the licensee, and the pub would remain in the Healy family until 1940. It became a popular music venue in the 1980s-1990s and took a new name as The Tote. Rumours that it had been connected by underground tunnels to John Wren's tote on the other side of Johnston Street are quite unfounded.

Closed briefly in 2009 and again in early 2010 owing to difficulties in complying with stricter licensing laws applying to "high-risk" venues hosting late-night live music, it re-opened as a result of a groundswell of public opinion and protest. It again seemed at risk in 2023 when the owners Jon Perrin and Andy Portokallis decided to sell up, but with help from crowd-funding it has kept going and continues to feature a wide range of local bands.

To find out more about its history, see this very informative blog:
https://blogs.slv.vic.gov.au/arts/music/40-years-of-the-tote/

[205] Hoddle Street, between Vere and Gipps streets (west side)
Collingwood 3066
Australia
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Town Hall Hotel (1908 - 1972)

Victoria Hotel (1858 - 1907)

1858

1972

Demolished 1972 for the widening of Hoddle Street

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Kearney 1855: N/A ; Hodgkinson 1858: N/A ; MMBW: Detail Plan 1199 & 1200, 1899

James Cattach was an early licensee at this rendered stone two-storey hotel, before moving to the newly-opened British Crown in Smith Street.

One would think that the construction of the Town Hall over the road in the 1880s provided the owner with an opportunity to bask in the reflected glory and civic pride of the grand boom-style edifice by changing the hotel name, but in fact it was another twenty years before this happened.

The hotel was bought by the Board of Works in early 1971 in preparation for the Hoddle Street road widening but continued operating until May 1972.

Victoria Parade, between Rupert & Rokeby streets
Collingwood 3066
Australia
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Victoria Parade Hotel (1865 - 1919)

General Havelock Hotel (1858 - 1865)

1858

1919

Demolished

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Kearney 1855: N ; Hodgkinson 1858: Y ; MMBW: Detail Plan 1209, 1899

Hodgkinson's January 1858 map shows a building on the site, marked Rennison's Hotel. Thomas Rennison, also publican of the Lord Raglan Hotel on the Richmond corner of Hoddle Street and Victoria Street, owned this stone building (Rate Book 1864). This suggests the hotel had not yet been named when the map was prepared. General Havelock was a British general particularly associated with India. He died there in November 1857 shortly after the relief of Lucknow, so would have been in the news in 1858 when Rennison was considering what to call his new hotel. It was not long before the Collingwood Cricket Club began to hold meetings at the new pub.

An auction notice in The Argus in January 1873 indicates the difficulty with dating the change to hotel names; the hotel is described as 'the premises generally known as the General Havelock Hotel, but now called the Victoria Parade Hotel'.

Hoddle Street, between Hotham Street & Alexandra Parade (formerly Reilly Street)
Collingwood 3066
Australia
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Victoria Park Hotel (1901 - 1971)

Highbury Barn Hotel (1854 - 1861), Albion Hotel (1862), Highbury Barn Hotel (1863 - 1901)

1854

1971

Demolished c.1972 for the widening of Hoddle Street

1954 alterations and additions cost 6000 pounds

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Kearney 1855: Y ; Hodgkinson 1858: Y ; MMBW: Detail Plan 1234, 1901

The two storey stone hotel was romantically depicted in a watercolour painted around 1855 and showing the hill rising towards Clifton Hill in the background. The rural scene, with cattle being driven along the road and goats and hens foraging beside the hotel, contrasts strongly with busy Hoddle Street today. The painting is attributed, on stylistic grounds, to Henry Gritten, who also painted the Galloway Arms in Johnston Street. The sign above the hotel door reads: 'William H. Maidment / licensed to retail fermented and spirituous liquors'.

Maidment was determined that his customers should enjoy themselves. In his first years at the hotel he advertised amusements such as the following:

QUOIT Match.-Six gentlemen of Collingwood are matched to play at Quoits, at twenty one yards distance against six of Melbourne, on Monday, the 21st day of August, at one o'clock. W.H. Maidment, Highbury Barn Hotel, Hoddle street, Collingwood.

The Argus, 15 August 1854, p. 3

OLD ENGLISH SPORTS, at the Highbury Barn Hotel, Hoddell-street (sic), Collingwood, on Boxing Day. Quoit Matches, Foot and Hurdle Races, Jumping in Sacks, a Bell Race, and Wheelbarrow Race, Blind-folded Racing for a Pig, to be caught by the tail, and various other amusements. N. B.-The choicest English ale and porter, wines, and spirits on hand. Anything but real amusement will be strictly prohibited by the proprietor. W. H. MAIDMENT.

The Argus, 26 December 1855, p. 8

Unfortunately by 1859 he was insolvent and the hotel was auctioned, described as built of stone on land 75 feet by 300 feet, with slate roof, containing a bar and 12 rooms. The furniture, stock-in-trade and effects were all to be sold, as were three vacant allotments behind the hotel: 25 feet by 100 feet each, in Forest, Bendigo and Hotham streets.

Victoria Park, the recreation ground destined to become the home of the mighty Magpies, had been so named by council in 1878, so this hotel took a while to follow suit.

59 Wellington Street,
Collingwood 3066
Australia
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The Vine Hotel (1875 to present)

Caledonian Hotel (1868), Eight Hours Hotel (1869 - 1875)

1868

N/A

Hotel not operating since 2020

Early twentieth century

N/A

N/A

Part C, pp. 681-683

Volume 2, Building Citations, Part II, pp. 401-402

HO 140, individually significant

Kearney 1855: N ; Hodgkinson 1858: N ; MMBW: MMBW Detail plan 1208, 1899

An earlier hotel on the site was briefly known as the Caledonian, then the Eight Hours before settling on the Vine.

Carlton Brewery bought the hotel in 1897 and eventually replaced it with the current building, a classically inspired Edwardian style designed by Sydney Smith and Ogg. It remains a good example of an Edwardian hotel with corner tower and Art Nouveau details, but the painting of the red brick surfaces has marred the appearance of the building.

The Vine was closed around 2020 when work began on Tim Gurner's neighbouring Victoria and Vine residential/commercial development, completed in 2022. The Vine has been acquired by Public Lifestyle Management Pty Ltd, one of their portfolio of Sydney and Melbourne hotels, and is licensed to the company, but is still not operating.