The
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Junction
Hotel
Junction Hotel Timeline
1869 A Geelong Advertiser report suggests there was a hotel run by S. Hassall on this site
1871 Mrs Elizabeth Wensor, a widow, becomes owner of the Junction Hotel
1872 Charles Keen, Elizabeth’s new husband, becomes licensee of the hotel
1898 The Keens sell the license, but not the hotel, which they lease to members of the Tyers family
1910 Property leased to members of the Gugger family
1917 Hotel de-licensed as the licensing board decided to reduce number of hotels in district
Hotel becomes a private residence known as 'Junction House'
At some point the Gugger family take ownership of the property
1922 Property sold
1980 Building demolished, because of disrepair, by order of the Bannockburn Shire
1980s New house built on premises
2016 All that remains of the Junction Hotel is a little bluestone outbuilding visible from road
An
Interesting Aside
“A settler woman, Elizabeth Wensor (nee Hooton) brought her British paper-piecing style with her when she arrived in the colony in the early 1850s. Originally a dressmaker, she purchased the Junction Hotel at Fyansford near Geelong following the death of her first husband. Remarried at the time of making, Keen declared her identity with this quilt, stitching the name of the hotel and her own, in the centre.”
Elizabeth Keen, Mrs Keen’s Quilt (detail), 1879, Queenscliffe Historical Museum collection. National Gallery of Victoria
From the past...
Junction Hotel. C. Fox, 1936 State Library of Victoria
The Junction Hotel, Early 1900s with various members of the Gugger family standing in front of the hotel. Image held by the Geelong Historical Records Centre
The Junction Hotel Image held by the Geelong Historical Records Centre
Junction Hotel. C. Fox, 1936 State Library of Victoria
From more recent times...
The Junction Hotel, Image held by the Geelong Historical Records Centre
Derelict bluestone outbuilding at the site of the former Junction Hotel, August 2016
The Junction Hotel, Image held by the Geelong Historical Records Centre
Images courtesy of Jo Mitchell ~ Barwon Blog
Former Junction/Keens Hotel ruins.
Victorian Heritage Database Report. Report generated 29/11/17
"This Victorian Vernacular styled building has a rectangular plan form and is constructed of coursed random rubble bluestone walls and a hipped corrugated iron roof. There is a brick chimney at one end which protrudes through the roof and is visible only above the spouting. There are window and door openings but the doors and windows have been removed.
Bluestone footings of a larger building are believed to be extant on the site.
There are several mature trees surrounding the site.”
John Flatt, 11 Dec., 2017
John Flatt, 11 Dec., 2017
John Flatt, 11 Dec., 2017
John Flatt, 11 Dec., 2017
Still much the same...
Junction of the Fyansford-Gheringhap Rd and the Hamilton Hwy
A Geelong Advertiser report, (26th September, 1869) stated that the premises on the corner of the Hamilton Hwy and the Fyansford-Gheringhap Rd first operated as a hotel in that year.
The hotel, a single-storey, weatherboard structure built on stone footings, operated successfully for many years passing through the hands of numerous licensees.
In 1913 the Junction Hotel was leased by members of the Gugger family until 31st December, 1917, when the hotel was de-licensed.
The building then became a private residence known as 'Junction House' with the Guggers remaining until 1922 at which time the property was advertised for sale.
The property remained in private hands until 1980 when the main building was demolished by order of the Bannockburn Shire Council.
A new house was built on the premises. All that remains of the original structure is the little bluestone outbuilding (perhaps a stable) and some of the stone foundations of the main building.
For a much more detailed and well-researched historical perspective of the ups-n-downs
of this ill-fated establishment see
Jo Mitchell’s Barwon Blog
For more information click image...
Them was the days grammar, punctuation ’n’ script was king.
But contemporarily they’re tending to be regarded as floccinaucinihilipilification.
I have always enjoyed word-play with one of my first books being
Word Stretchers (Longman Cheshire, 1990).
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But, this morning before rising I was pondering the nature of blue-stone (as one does). God, doesn’t he have anything better to think about? And what terms were used to name the varied bluestone blocks.
You know - those things which during my early childhood lined gutters running down both sides of West Melbourne road hill, Newtown, and which can still be found to the consternation of many ladies as paving of Dromoland House (now Capri Receptions).
In Victoria bluestone, a basalt, was used in many buildings, walls, foundations and as cobblestones for kerbs and gutters. Crushed blue metal aggregate is still used extensively.
And what got me thinking thus?
It was the bluestone structure; all that remains of the Junction Hotel on NW-corner of junction Fyansford – Gheringhap Road and Hamilton Highway.
Some press clippings from the period
