Mail Coach Inn


Mail Coach Inn is a heritage-listed former inn and residence at 24 Jellore Street, Berrima, Wingecarribee Shire, New South Wales, Australia. It was built from 1833 to 1841. It is also known as the Royal Mail Coach Inn. It traded in recent times as a now-closed bed and breakfast known as the Coach and Horses Inn; however, that name historically referred to a different Berrima hotel. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.

History

Berrima is the second oldest settlement in the Wingecarribee Shire and the oldest continuing settlement in the shire. The first town settlement in the district was in 1821 at Bong Bong, 8 km south-east of Berrima on the Wingecarribee River.
The site of Berrima was selected by Surveyor General Sir Thomas Mitchell in 1829 on a visit planning the route for a new road alignment from Sydney to replace the old Argyle Road, which had proven unsatisfactory due to a steep hill climb over the Mittagong Range and river crossing at Bong Bong. In 1830 Mitchell instructed Robert Hoddle to mark out the town based on a plan Mitchell's office prepared, along the lines of a traditional English village, and using the local Aboriginal name. The new line of road came through the town. Berrima was to be established as the commercial and administrative centre for the County of Camden.
Following the approval of Governor Bourke in 1831, the period 1824 to 1841 saw significant flourishing development as mail coaches changed their route to this new line of road.
Early town lots were sold in 1833, predominantly to innkeepers and around Market Square. In March 1833, Bryan McMahon purchased the site of the Coach and Horses Inn, along with the adjoining site of the Berrima Inn. McMahon was an innkeeper from Sutton Forest. Both lots are located at the eastern corner of Bryan and Jellore Streets.
It is understood that the building was built by a Mr. Matthews during McMahon's ownership. It operated under the sign of the Mail Coach Inn, from 1837-9, as a licensed public house and staging post for travel and delivery of mail, run by licensee Michael Doyle. This was one of the first inns to operate in Berrima, along with the Surveyor-General Inn and the Berrima Inn. Doyle transferred the Mail Coach Inn's liquor licence to the opposite side of Market Square in 1839 to operate from the property he and his wife had purchased, which is now known as the White Horse Inn.
The recent use of the "Coach and Horses Inn" name for this property is misleading. Research has revealed that the Coach & Horses Inn never operated from this site. The original Coach and Horses Inn) licence, granted to Lewis Levy in 1856, was located on the corner of Oxley Street and Argyle Street, a building now known as Bramber Cottage.
Since 1839 when the Mail Coach Inn liquor licence was transferred, the Coach & Horses Inn property has been maintained as a private residence.
Bryan and his wife Winifred McMahon mortgaged Lot 2 Section 2 to William Morrice of Comfort Hill in April 1850, two days before Bryan died. In 1841 Morrice had taken up the half share of his brother John's grant from Reverend Doctor John Dunmore Lang, where he built Comfort Hill. This house was regarded as a twin house to "Eling Forest" opposite on the Great South Road.
Bryan Patrick McMahon had inherited Lots 1 & 2 Section 2 and in 1862 sold both lots containing the original Berrima Inn and the stone and brick building to Francis Breen. Governor Bourke executed the inn's land grant in 1862, transferring it to Francis Breen, innkeeper. Breen was already a previous innkeeper having owned Breen's Commercial Hotel in Berrima in 1840.
In 1863 a map of Berrima noted the property was in the possession of B. MacMahon. The will of Francis Breen, executed by the Supreme Court in 1870, bequeathed 'the house and premises known as McMahon's house situated in Market Square' to his brother Edward Breen.
In 1885 Edward sold it to Sutton Forest farmer John Sewell Sr. and in 1887 he sold it to Percy Hiram Matthews, a clerk of Berrima In October 1947 Matthews, described as a retired bank officer, sold it to Mrs Nellie Clinton, wife of Joseph Erin Clinton, Berrima State Works secretary. Three months later Joseph Clinton died in Moss Vale and was buried in Berrima cemetery.
In 1888 an eastern extension was added to the Mail Coach Inn residence, with a Victorian bay window facing Jellore Street. A new extension at the residence's rear forms the house's kitchen and bathroom.
Nelly Clinton continued to live in the house until shortly before her death in 1970, with her son Joseph Basil Clinton and family living next door at the old Berrima Inn. In 1969 Nellie Clinton sold the property to Robert Glenn, a truck driver of Colo Vale. It was sold to Brian Thomas Timmis, a builder from Loftus, in 1988. During the ownership of Timmis, three new buildings were built on the site. Photographs of the property in a "For Sale" advertisement show all buildings now on site were there in 1989. The advertisement notes the property had been recently restored and was operating as a commercial venture for accommodation.
The property developed into use as a commercial residential business as a bed and breakfast operation in the late 1980s during the ownership of Brian Timmis.
In June 1988 its title was converted by the then Land Titles Office to the now Lot 1 DP 780565.
The property was renamed "Coach & Horses Inn" in the 1980s by the developer who was restoring it.
In 1990 the property was transferred to Lesley Bensley, a receptionist of Burradoo.
In July 2002 it was sold to David and Wendy Paley.
The Coach and Horses Inn bed and breakfast is no longer in operation.

Description

Site and grounds

The former Mail Coach Inn and adjacent Berrima Inn play a significant role in and contribute to the streetscape of the Jellore Street / Berrima Market Square precinct. The inns contribute to the predominantly Colonial/Victorian Georgian architecture of the Berrima village and the Jellore Street precinct.
The site forms part of the Jellore Street group of early cottages. It lies generally in a north-south orientation on the northern side of Berrima Market Square on a gentle north-sloping site between Jellore Street and the Wingecarribee River. It comprises a cluster of buildings near the street behind a picket fence, with a gravel car parking area on the front western side, a brick paved courtyard behind the inn, a lawn area between the cottage outbuilding and stone outbuilding to its rear, a garden area with trees sloping down to the north to a fence and gate and the Wingecarribee River at its north. The building group is connected by brick and stone paving, surrounded by small gardens and native trees, grouped in rolling lawns to the north.
There is a view to the Berrima Gaol from the rear of the property. Well maintained gardens and vegetation fall to the northern boundary, fence and gate leading down steeper grassed banks to the river. Situated also on the site are various trees, freestanding storage building and vegetable gardens.
A 1930 aerial photograph shows there are no mature trees or significant garden on the site. It is not until the 1969 aerial photograph that any trees are evident on the site, indicating that almost all vegetation is less than 40 years old.
The garden is predominantly a modern installation with only few trees displaying maturity, including an apple north of Dandarbong cottage and a Lombardy poplar on the western boundary north of Daphne cottage. Other trees within the common area are young eucalypts, wattles, poplars and seedling Prunus sp. to the north of the building group, and three deciduous trees adjacent to the entrance to the car park.
The gardens between the buildings and Jellore Street are typically cottage in style with use of lavender, apple blossom and Abelia grandiflora as hedges. Exotic trees and shrubs such as Chinese elm, Japanese maple and Iowa crabapple provide seasonal interest and maintain the landscape character and connection to the Jellore Street-scape and the exotic Monterey pine planting of the Market Square opposite.
The outdoor privy is evident in all the aerial photographs however during the 1988 building works it was rebuilt using recycled stone.
All other buildings on site were erected during the Timmis ownership from 1988-90. Paths, driveways, fences and paved areas were also added during this time. The new plantings on site, including the semi-mature trees, were added after the 1988 renovations.

Buildings

There were 6 buildings on site as of 2007, being:

Inn

The original inn building is a single-storey, 6 room cottage, built in three stages from the 1830s, 1850s and 1880s. This has a strong connection to Berrima Market Place primarily due to its proximity to the street and high visibility from many locations in the Market Place. The setback of the original residence places the building behind the setback of the two neighbouring properties, Berrima Inn and Victoria Inn.
The exterior is brick rendered marked out in stone joints, with 12 pane single hung sash windows. The painted, cement-rendered masonry is ruled to resemble ashlar stone. The asymmetrical front elevation features a hipped roofed projecting wing to east and with unusual angled bay window. The remainder of the front elevation has a skillion roofed verandah supported on square timber posts. The indows to front are 2 x 6 pane single hung sashes. The main roof is half gabled and clad in corrugated steel.
It is internally divided into 6 rooms, consisting of lounge room, two bedrooms, bathroom, dressing room and kitchen. All are contained within the footprint of the original 1856 building which shows evidence of significant degree of footprint and internal fabric intactness that has received modification and intrusive elements and materials to the 3 rear rooms over years of ownership. The laundry is located externally and under an added skillion roof. All living areas have been renovated in the last 20 years, with new plaster ceilings, cove cornice, plastered and painted walls and painted skirting boards. Living and bed rooms have timber floors, with permanent or occasional carpets.

Inn cottage to rear of inn

1856 cottage outbuilding. Freestanding single storey simple room in brick with symmetrial hipped corrugated iron roof and close eaves. Brick is rendered. Exhibits significant fireplaces and together with its footprint still confirms the original intactness of the former kitchen which served the inn. These were traditionally detached. The western facade is punctured by two windows and a timber door arranged symmetrically. Currently linked by a more recent flat roof addition and laundry cupboard extension.

Sandstone outbuilding to rear of inn cottage

Freestanding storage building. Reconstructed and renovated in 1988, using materials excess to building needs for the two cottages. Internal walls rendered and new toilet installed.

Modern outbuildings

;1988 double weatherboard garage :
Double garage of treated pine pole supports timber framed and weatherboard gabling with a metal gabled roof. Shows evidence of a reconstruction from a previous dilapidated garage and is evidence of refurbishing in the last 15 years. Built using recycled materials by Brian Timmis in 1988.
;1988 weatherboard cottage 'Dandenong Cottage';
Constructed in the style of an early timber weatherboard cottage in a rudimentary which links it to "Daphne" cottage.
;1988 2 storey brick barn 'Daphne Cottage':
Although the setback for Daphne cottage is behind the line of the early buildings, the height of the cottage gives it a dominant presence when viewed from the street. The north-south orientation and tall two storey gabled roof that addresses the street is in contrast to all other buildings that can be viewed from Jellore Street.
Brick two-storey simple rectangular structure with a gable roof running north-south. The southern facade is of dressed stone work and through its construction materials and finishes indicates its construction during the 1988-90 period. Comprises a large single ground floor room timber framed boxed corner bathroom with timber stairs leading to a large attic bedroom. The ground floor with finishes of exposed brick and timber floors accommodates a living area and kitchen. The timber staircase leads to a carpeted single bedroom, leading out to a northern timber deck overlooking the Wingecarribee River. The southern facade was built with recycled stone from the Sydney Museum.

Modifications and dates

The former Mail Coach Inn is significant through associations with the local community of Berrima and as a somewhat architecturally unusual component of the town's stock of early buildings. The building is also a component of the Jellore Street group, though it varies from the usual form of its neighbours with its asymmetrical front layout and other features such as half-gabled roof.
Mail Coach Inn was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.

Attribution