Part One of a 2-part series
With the construction of the Great Southern Road through the Southern Highlands in the 1830s came the introduction of inns to cater for the convenience of travellers.
Until 1820 the road system of the colony extended only as far south as Stonequarry (Picton).
The Argyle Road, the first cart track to the south and west beyond Picton constructed during 1819-20, was found to be impracticable by the late 1820s. A new road to the south, the Great Southern Road, was surveyed and constructed between 1829 and 1833.
This road is now known as the Old Hume Highway.
Soon after construction the Crown sub-divided lands along its way to encourage settlers to move southward. One such person was Joseph Peters, who became a large land owner and innkeeper at Marulan, in the County of Argyle.
In 1839-40 Peters turned his eyes in a more northerly direction and bought 100 acres on the Great Southern Road near the Little Forest, between Bargo and Berrima, in the County of Camden for the “express purpose of erecting an inn thereon”. This would be the site of the Prince Albert Inn.
After just eight months Peters disposed of his land to Esther Sussanah Cole of Goulburn, who not long after married William Green. There is evidence Peters could have started construction of the inn before his disposal of the land.
The original building was a simple two storey uncluttered rectangular shape typical of the Old Colonial Georgian period. It is of sandstock brick construction in the Flemish bond with a sandstone foundation. Overall the bricks are of a rich orange red colour with black iron splashes in the vitrified clinkers appearing regularly.
The exposed brick walls and the verandah with its separate roof and slender verandah posts, double 12-pane sash windows, stone sills and lintels on both levels of the building, louvred shutters on the ground floor and the medium pitch hip roof with simple chimneys either side, are all architectural features of the old colonial Georgian period.
Other features of the period are evident in the Francis Greenway-style decorative doorway with its arched transom light and stone voussoir surround, and in the glass side-lights either side of the solid timber six-panel door.
By 1845 the Greens had completed construction of the Inn, which they named The Prince Albert. On June 22, 1846, the “License to Retail Fermented and Spirituous Liquors” was issued to William Green for the Prince Albert Inn at Nattai.
From the time the land was alienated from the Crown in 1839-40, to establish a public house thereon, up to the present (171 years), the property has changed hands on 28 occasions. It has served a variety of purposes, however, most were connected to hospitality.
The property was sold by the Greens to Robert Cork in 1854 and it continued to operate as an inn until sold again in 1860 to Bartholomew Rush. After 15 years, the building was converted by Rush into a boarding house that was named Willow Vale Private Boarding House.
This name was chosen because of the notable trees in the area and Willow Vale subsequently became the name of the village that sprang up about 1882 on the western side of the Great Southern Road.
Rush was renowned for the supply of fruit from his orchards. He is also known for organising a railway platform on the “loop line”, which was named Rush’s Platform, for the transportation of his fruit to the Sydney markets and for the convenience of his boarding house guests.
The boarding house was frequented by well-to-do patrons, including business leaders and parliamentarians, attracted to Rush’s “Great Health Resort and Sanitorium”.
However, the financial crisis of 1891 caused Rush to sell the property to a consortium of investors and, after 30 years, the boarding house closed. The new owners used the establishment as a holiday retreat for the next 15 years.
Also in 1891 a private sub-division of land opposite the property went on sale and this became the village of Braemar.
In 1906 the investors leased the property to Mary and Charles Chalker, who reopened it as the Willow Vale Boarding House, which operated for another 20 years.
Next week: The old inn becomes The Poplars
o This article is sourced from original research by local historical researcher Marie Chalker and from the archives of Berrima District Historical & Family History Society, Bowral Rd, Mittagong. Phone 4872 2169. Email bdhsarchives@acenet.com.au
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