Penshurst Historical Buildings

Site contents: 1. Index 2. Penshurst 150 yrs 3. Serials & Stories 4. Historical 5. Aim Was Preservation 6. Tribes Shared 7. Explore Historical Penshurst (this page) 8. Museum 9. Events 10. Feature Articles 11. ARCHIVE 12. MEMBERS

Numbers refer to figures on the map below. These buildings were listed, since they are known to be at least 100 years old. A printed brochure is available from the Tourist Information Centre, and from the Post Office.

.1. COURT HOUSE/POST OFFICE 1878. In l864, the newly-installed Mt. Rouse Shire lobbied for a courthouse to hold sittings of Petty Sessions. The adjoining Post Office was opened in l878. Horse posts were placed outside the post office that year. In l888, a clock was installed in the Post Office and iron shutters placed on the courthouse. Mt. Rouse & District Historical Society hold their bi-monthly meetings in the courthouse. Mt. Rouse & District Historical Society hold their meetings every two months in the former Court House in the left wing.

2. FORMER VICTORIA HOTEL 1863. Originally contained eleven rooms and a Billiard room, also a butcher and baker shop were near by. After ceasing as a hotel it was a haberdashery, grocery and hairdresser, and finally a plumber. Originally contained eleven rooms and a billiard room.

3. THE ROUSE C 1890. Was started as a greengrocer's shop by its original owner, a Chinese. Now bric -a-brac, souvenirs, and antiques.

5. FORMER MT. ROUSE SHIRE OFFICES 1864. The Shire was proclaimed on January l8th, l864 and the first meeting held on February 3. A foundation stone was laid on February 11. The Shire Chambers were added to the hall in l877. The extensions on the back of the building were added in l962 to house the engineering section. Since the Shire was amalgamated in l994, the building is used by a number of community groups, including a tourist centre, computer centre and n historical museum. The building is now used by community groups, including as a tourist centre, a computer and resource centre, and by the Penshurst News, which is published fortnightly.

6. FORMER PRINCE OF WALES HOTEL 1861. It had 10 rooms and a ballroom. Now private residence.

7. ST. JOSEPH ' S CATHOLIC CHURCH 1867. Built of bluestone with a slate roof. The Transcepts (wings), Sacristy and a new Sanctuary were added in l897. The church used to have a choir loft at the back and a magnificent marble altar. A Presbytery was added next door in 1925.

9. UNITING CHURCH 1865. Former Presbyterian church. Cost 1,000 pounds to build.

10. THE OLD MANSE 1867. Adjoining the church. Cost 650 pounds to build. Now private residence.

11. 89 COBB ST . Previously St. Martin's Private Hospital. Private residence.

12. 77 COBB ST. In 1890, Dr. F.A. Sweetnam began his practice here. Private residence.

13. FORMER PENSHURST STATE SCHOOL 1858. No. 486. A qualified ships master, Patrick D. Baxter was the first teacher and there were 34 pupils. Ceased to be used when new primary school opened on Warrnambool Road in l963. Private residence.

14. FORMER CATHOLIC CONVENT 1880. Built in the 1880' s. Between 1945-1975 it was the home of the Sisters of Mercy nuns. Private residence.

15. FORMER TEMPERANCE HALL 1872. Used as a Masonic lodge from 1914 to 1987. Privately owned.

16. 86 WATTON STREET. Originally one of Penshurst two primary schools, and the teacher's residence. Built in the 1850:s. It was on our original "Explore Historic Penshurst" walk. The picture would date back to the early 1980:s.

Note added 3/5/01: The building was demolished by fire on 29/4/01. Below an abstract of Rene Rowe's book, adding to our knowledge of the building's significance to to the people of Penshurst.

17. WESLEYAN (METHODIST) CHURCH 1860. Closed in 1977, following merger with Presbyterian and Congregational churches.

18. 83B BELL ST. Two bluestone rooms housed the first school in Penshurst - a National School.

20. FORMER PENSHURST FREE PRESS . A former butcher shop, it is best known as the place where the town's newspaper was printed from mid l930' s to l980. Operated by the Ross family from l945. Old press sold to Ballarat museum. Now Council owned. Probably to become public toilet building

21. PENSHURST HOTEL 1861. The Victorian Governor, Viscount Canterbury, stayed there in l871. The Hotel was gutted by fire in l895, but rebuilt. Originally it had a two storey balcony.

22. FORMER BANK OF VICTORIA 1876. Became the Commercial Banking Co. of Sydney and closed in the late 1930 ' s. Weatherboard house at rear. C l860 's. Private residence.

23. FORMER CRICKETERS ARMS 1871. Now private residence. Adjacent to the 'never ending' spring, which used to be the town's water supply. It was previously covered by a corrugated iron roof, which was removed in Nov. 1998. It has been measured as having a flow of nearly one million litres daily. Now used as part of Wetlands Project, including artificial lakes.

24. The Lutheran churches (1884; left) and a larger built in 1912, are at Tabor

(follow highway

(publisher and year not listed), made available by June Lucas, since it describes in detail what the property was like c:a 1936:

My brother eventually bought a house which had been the original school, and had had rooms built on to it. It was very, very old and still had its number written on the wall. It was built of bluestone with walls about eighteen inches thick. It had deep dorways and casement windows, with millioned panes. The roof was the original shingle, and a corrugated iron roof had been added over the top which kept the house very cool in summer. As well, it was surrounded by a wide veranda. The school part of it had one very large room which we used as a lounge. It had a big open fire-place which made it cosy cosy in winter. The two small rooms at the back of it had been the master's residence and these rooms also had big fire-places. Part of the main room had been divided into a small front entrance hall, and there were two steps down from this hall into the lounge room. These different levels made it interesting inside. Actually, the house was about a foot lower than the street level, which had been built up by the footpaths.

It was a gracious house in a chain-wide tree-lined street, with a view of Mount Rouse, and the township lying at the foot of the mount, which was only about two streets away from us. The National Bank was our neighbour at the back. When my brother bought the house, no one else wanted it because the wife of the owner had been mentally ill, and had died there. Her husband was a business man who had looked after her and kept her in seclusion. When she was dying, her husband sent for the doctor who said, 'If I don't come back in an hour, send out a search party." This was because of all the trees and creepers which almost hid the house. This woman's brother was kept locked up in the house in the town, and for some reason that I don't recall, the house burnt down. It was said that he was quite mad.

People had called it the ghost house because it was all overgrown with roses and creepers and trees, and the kids running by used to say they thought they could see faces at the windows. No one would go near it, and people just didn't want to buy it. It took my father and a number of his friends a week to cut back the creepers and overgrown shrubs.

There was an immense pine tree up near the front of the house and my father thought this was rather dangerous and it also took away all the sun. When all that work was done and the house and grounds cleaned up, it was a fascinating place. The National Trust was interested in the house. We were told that the coach-house or carriage-house beside it, which we used as a garage, was one of the most perfectly built places of its kind. It would have made a comfortable flat.

In the garden at Penshurst there was a most beautiful old fashioned white climbing rose. It was called Frau Carlduskey, and great masses of it almost covered one of the side fences. Once, when it was in full bloom, we had a friend visiting us. She said when she saw it, "What a beautiful wreath that would make." I was about twenty-two at the time, and I answered, "Yes, I wonder who'll be the first person I'll make one for." She and her husband went to Geelong a few weeks later for a holiday, and as they were walking into the church, she said, "If I die first, I want you to do ......" Her husband said, "Don't be silly, I'll be the first to die. However, while they were in the church, she suddenly collapsed, and died. The funeral was in Hamilton, and I made her a wreath of those beautiful roses that she had admired so much. It seems that people sometimes have a premonition of their own death."

With a bit of imagination you can still see the drinks flow at the old Victoria.

Somewhere, along the many corridors, people settle for the night, the cook wipes up the last of the dishes and hangs her cloth over the fire-rail. Then, with the ejection of the last non-resident drinkers in 1912, when the hotel lost its licence, all was quiet.

It’s quiet again now, some l50 years after the old Vic opened its doors. This great old bluestone

Penshurst Hotel, one of the original taverns in town, maintains its solid façade, a later

grocery sign, and most of its surrounding land. This is the Penshurst home of Anne McNiece. Erik and I were delighted to be shown around by Anne last Sunday. Many of the original features of the old building have been retained, bearing testimony to many generations of inhabitants. From l943 or thereabouts, the McNiece family have owned the property and, until recent years, carried on a thriving plumbing business.

As Archeologists and interested diggers rummage through the detritus of the l850’s in Melbourne, this period is far from buried here in Penshurst. How fortunate we are that evidence of these bustling, busy, prosperous early years is still all around us. Many thanks Anne for a most enjoyable time.