The Rockingham Hotel was a historic hotel and pub in Rockingham, Western Australia, its origins dating back to 1886, when Rockingham was an important export location for Western Australian timber.
The hotel was listed on the Western Australian State Register of Heritage Places in 2008 but de-listed in 2011. It remains on the City of Rockingham heritage list however. In 2023, demolition of the hotel and redevelopment of the site has been proposed and was ultimately approved.
History
First surveyed in 1847, Rockingham did not see any major development until 1872, when a jetty was built to export jarrah timber from Jarrahdale through the Rockingham port. During its peak, from 1878 to 1883, Rockingham accounted for more than half of Western Australia's timber exports. By 1903, timber exports from Rockingham had ceased, and the town became a holiday destination.[1]
The location of the future Rockingham Hotel, Rockingham Town Lot 12, was acquired by Daniel Hymus in 1875. Hymus, like his wife Fanny Bell, came from one of the earliest settler families in the Rockingham area.[1]
Western (beach) side of the Rockingham Hotel with one of the heritage listed Norfolk Island pines on the left
Originally named the Port Hotel, it is believed to have been built by James Bell Junior, the brother of Fanny. The original building was single-story and made from timber. The new hotel was built on a slope, facing the sea, with steps leading up to the bar.[1]
The current building dates back to 1898, when Daniel and Fanny Hymus had a two-storey stone building constructed in front of the old one on what is now Kent Street.[1]
From 1918, the hotel was leased to L.D. Hicks, who renamed it to Peron Hotel, after the local Cape Peron. Reginald Harrison, owner of Perth's Criterion Hotel, purchased the hotel in 1922, after a period of decline for Rockingham following the port closure 18 years earlier. In the early post-war years, the Rockingham Hotel benefited from improved accessibility for tourists from Perth through the use of cars and from its distance from the city, which permitted it to remain open for drinking on Sundays, something banned in the city.[1]
Harrison developed the hotel into a fashionable seaside resort, popular for its beaches, fishing and drinking. He had the building and its surrounds altered and expanded, the hotel now having the appearance of a Federation Arts and Crafts style building.[1]
Harrison sold Rockingham Hotel to his friend George Grigg in 1925. Grigg also expanded the place, on the southern side, thereby increasing both the bar and the number of bedrooms. Alterations were also made to the Kent Street side of the building, giving it a two-storey verandah with a central gable. The hotel was also the site of the first petrol pump installed in Rockingham in the 1920s. The hotel enjoyed great popularity at the time, being booked out during the summer months.[1]
Plans in the 1930s for a new hotel by Grigg and his son Reg where stalled by licensing regulations, therefore the existing facility was renovated instead, with the hotel now designed in the Inter-War Functionalist style.[1] Grigg did have a new place constructed in 1933 but could not obtain a licence because of its proximity to the existing hotel, and the new facility became The Trocadero, a dance hall, among other things. The Trocadero, north-west of the hotel in what is now the car park, was demolished in 2009.[2]
In late 1952, a beer garden was added to the hotel, which was now the social hub of Rockingham, together with The Trocadero.[1]
Further alterations to the hotel were made in 1957, and the verandahs on the Kent Street side were removed in 1967. The dining room of the hotel was enlarged around 1989 and an outdoor dining area was added on the beach side of the building.[1]
The hotel was offered for sale in 2019, with the 1.15 hectare site valued at A$20 million.[3]
Notice of proposed demolition of the Rockingham Hotel in 2023
In 2023, demolition of the hotel and redevelopment of the site has been proposed by the developer, with the argument that little of the original heritage listed building remains.[4]
In early 2024, it was announced that the demolition of the hotel and the neighbouring Liquid night club had been approved by the council in December 2023. It was argued by city staff and local museum curator Wendy Durrant that the hotel should be retained because of its historic significance but only the heritage listed Norfolk pines and limestone walls will be retained. The new venue to be constructed in the hotel's place is planned to have two stories and carry the name Port Hotel, a former name of the current Rockingham Hotel.[5]
Heritage listing
The Rockingham Hotel was added to the State Register of Heritage Places in 2008 for the interim but removed from the register in 2011 when this listing expired without becoming permanent. Among the reasons for its listing were the fact that the hotel is the last remnant of a once substantial seaside resort. The four Norfolk Island pines and stone wall, north and north-east of the building, are also heritage listed and are the last remnants of the once popular beer garden.[1]
Despite the recommendation by the Western Australian Heritage Council to make the hotel's listing permanent, the decision was made by Heritage Minister John Castrilli to reject this.[6]
East Rockingham is an industrial suburb within the Kwinana Industrial Area, part of Perth, and located within the City of Rockingham.
Peron is an outer southern suburb of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, and is located within the City of Rockingham.
Jarrahdale is a small historic town located 45 km south-east of Perth, Western Australia in the Darling Range. The name is derived from its situation in a jarrah forest. Established in the late 1800s as the state's first major timber milling operation, it played a key role in the development of Western Australia through the exportation of jarrah around the world. At the 2016 census, Jarrahdale had a population of 1,192. Since 2001, the historic precinct has been managed by the state's National Trust organisation alongside private residential and tourism-oriented developments.
The City of Rockingham is a council and local government area, comprising the south coastal suburbs of the Western Australian capital city of Perth.
The Palace Hotel in Perth, Western Australia, is a landmark three-storey heritage listed building located in the city's central business district. Originally built in 1897 as a hotel during the gold rush period of Western Australia's history, it was converted to banking chambers and offices in the 1980s and now accommodates the Perth headquarters of Woods Bagot, Adapptor and Hatchd. The building is located on the most prominent intersection in the financial district of the city, at the corner of St Georges Terrace and William Street.
Cardwell Bush Telegraph is a heritage-listed former post office and now heritage centre at 53 Victoria Street, Cardwell, Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. The Telegraph and Post Office at Cardwell was designed by Colonial Architect's Office and built in 1870 by George McCallum, making it one of the oldest buildings in North Queensland.
St George's House is located at 237 St Georges Terrace in Perth, Western Australia. It was also previously known as Cardigan House, Bishop's Grove and Ingle Hall.
The State Register of Heritage Places is the heritage register of historic sites in Western Australia deemed significant at the state level by the Heritage Council of Western Australia.
Woodloes Homestead was built in 1871 by architect Francis Bird. The homestead is situated on the banks of the Canning River in Cannington. Bird was partner in the Mason-Bird Timber Company, cut timber in the Darling Range and transported it via a horse-drawn railway to Mason's Landing, near Woodloes Homestead. Woodloes Homestead was classified by the National Trust in 1988, nominated to the Register of The National Estate in 1991 and permanently added to Western Australian State Heritage register on 21 January 1997.
Leighton Battery at Buckland Hill, Mosman Park, Western Australia, was part of the Coastal defences of Australia during World War II and the Fremantle Fortress, protecting Fremantle Harbour.
Challenger Battery, also referred to as J Gun Battery, is a heritage-listed battery at Entrance Point, Garden Island, Western Australia. Historically, it has is also been known as Garden Battery, Entrance Battery and, finally, Challenger Battery. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004. It was part of the Coastal defences of Australia during World War II and the Fremantle Fortress, protecting Fremantle Harbour.
Fremantle Fortress was the combined coastal defences protecting the harbour of Fremantle, Western Australia, since the mid-1930s and, predominantly, during World War II. The coastal defences of the Fremantle Fortress stretched along the coastline of Perth from Cape Peron to Swanbourne and also included installations on Garden Island and Rottnest Island. While the first coastal batteries of the future Fremantle Fortress were installed at Arthur Head in 1906, the military installations protecting the harbour were expanded in the 1930s, being eventually dismantled again by 1963.
The Peron Battery, at Cape Peron, was the southernmost of the Fremantle Fortress coastal defence batteries in Western Australia. Also referred to as K Heavy Battery, it was established in January 1943 and, like the Challenger Battery on near-by Garden Island, it was equipped with two mobile 155 mm guns. Additionally, it also operated two 18-pounder guns which were withdrawn once the Collie Secondary Battery became operational on Garden Island. The duty of the main guns was to cover the southern access to Cockburn Sound while the 18-pounder guns protected the a boom net which spanned between Cape Peron and Garden Island. The main battery was withdrawn again in December 1944 but the observation post and one of the Panama mounts of the Peron Battery are still preserved and accessible.
The Bell Cottage ruin is a State Register of Heritage Places-listed ruined Victorian Georgian style cottage in East Rockingham, Western Australia. The ruin is on one of the earliest land grants in the Rockingham area and is one of the oldest structures in the area. It is associated with the Bell family, especially James and Jane Bell, early pioneers in the region. Jane Bell gained public attention in 1840 after the death of her child, conceived after being raped; she was incarcerated for two years on Rottnest Island. In 1876 James Bell was an eyewitness to the Fenian escape from Fremantle Gaol and raised the alarm.
The Chesterfield Inn and its stables are State Register of Heritage Places-listed buildings in East Rockingham, Western Australia. The Inn was built in 1855 in the vernacular Queen Anne Revival style and is the oldest commercial building in its area.
Day Cottage, also referred to as Ellendale, is a State Register of Heritage Places-listed Victorian-style cottage in East Rockingham, Western Australia.
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The Baldivis Tramway, also referred to as the Peel Estate Tramway or Peel Tramline, was a short-lived tramway, originally planned to be operating from Jandakot railway station to Karnup, in Western Australia. The line was constructed to support the post-World War I Group Settlement Scheme at the Peel Estate in Baldivis but was never fully completed, only reaching as far as Wellard. The line existed from 1920 to 1925 and was designed to transport supplies to the settlement scheme and to carry harvested timber on the return journey.
St Mary's Anglican Church is a heritage-listed Anglican church in Peel Terrace, Busselton, Western Australia. It is possibly the oldest stone church in the state. Opened in 1845, and consecrated in 1848, it has been the subject of a number of additions, and has also been repaired or conserved on several occasions.
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