Rockingham Hotel

Child Places

• 03218 Rockingham Hotel Trees
• 03217 Rockingham Hotel Walls

Statement of Significance

he following statement is adapted from the documentation prepared for its removal from the State Register of Heritage Places in 2011. Rockingham Hotel, comprising a two-storey limestone, brick, tile and iron hotel, limestone walls of the former beer garden, and mature Norfolk Island Pines, has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons: • the place is the last remnant of a once extensive seaside resort, and has been an important location for social gathering, entertainment and holidays since the 1890s, particularly for farming and working-class families, and contributes to the local and wider community’s sense of place; • the place is important for its association with settler families of the district including Bell, Hymus and Grigg; • the place has landmark value, due to its prominence on the Rockingham foreshore; • the place has been partially constructed in honeycomb (vuggy) limestone from the ‘karst’ landscape endemic to the East Rockingham area which is a rare building material; • alterations to the Hotel demonstrate the changing nature and requirements of hotels from the 1890s to present day, facilitating a decline in the provision of accommodation and an increase in tavern trade; and, • the place is representative of the type of buildings and facilities considered appropriate for a seaside hotel complex in the 1930s.

Physical Description

Rockingham Hotel comprises a two-storey limestone building with a hipped corrugated iron roof, which faces Kent Street and a single-storey rendered brick and tile building at- tached to the northern side. The original timber-framed hotel building is no longer extant. The two-storey component was constructed in the 1890s and extended in 1924. It has French doors with fanlights above, opening to small canter livered balconies on the street facing portion of the first floor. The roof eaves overhang to provide some protection to the balconies. It has been rendered and painted and its timber verandah has been removed. The single storey component was constructed in 1924 and extensively remodelled in 1938. It has a series of regularly placed windows in sets of three with a single pane arched fanlight above, facing the carpark. The glazed double entry door on the same façade has a matching single pane arched fanlight. Between the carpark and the building is an alfresco area that is set behind a rendered pier and panel fence with glass infill panels, raised four steps from ground level. This part of the building has a curved corner to the northeast where it turns back to meet the two storey building. Further internal refurbishment took place in the 1950s and 1960s. (The restaurant and toilet extension to the rear of the single storey section is not significant.)

History

The construction of a jetty at Rockingham allowed the shipment of sandalwood, as well as jarrah. In 1875, for example, of the eighteen vessels that called at Rockingham, nine loaded sandalwood, five loaded jarrah railway sleepers for South Australia, and four other vessels put into Careening Bay (on the south east corner of Garden Island) for repairs. Over the next few years trade increased further, with a valuable export market in railway sleepers for India opening up. Between 1878 and 1883, at least half of the timber exported from Western Australia was shipped from Rockingham. During this time, ships also started to take on coal near Rockingham, with a coaling hulk established in Careening Bay- which was much safer for loading than Fremantle- with coal imported from Newcastle (N.S.W.). By 1903 the port was no longer exporting timber and Rockingham became a seaside town frequented by holiday makers from around Western Australia. In 1875, Daniel Hymus acquired Rockingham Town Lot 12, the future location of Rockingham Hotel. Daniel Hymus was married to Fanny Bell, and both families were amongst the first settlers of the East Rockingham Area. The original Port Hotel is believed to have been built on Lot 12 by Fanny’s brother, James Bell Jnr, in 1886. Daniel, Fanny and James Bell all remained associated with the management of the hotel in its early years. When first hotel was built, it was apparently a single storied wooden building, facing the sea, built on a slope with a long flight of steps leading to the bar. By 1898, with obvious confidence in the future of Rockingham, Daniel and Fanny Hymus had added a new two-storey stone section, with a timber verandah, to the front of the original timber hotel. This building, with modifications remains fronting Kent Street and contains the Saloon Bar. By 1902, Rockingham Port ceased to operate for timber exports although holidaymakers still often arrived by boat rather than by means of bush tracks. In 1918, Daniel Hymus, leased the Rockingham Hotel to Mr L.D. Hicks, who operated the premises as the Peron Hotel (after Point Peron). In 1922, the Rockingham Hotel was bought by Reginald Harrison, who was the then owner of the Criterion Hotel in Perth. Struggling since the port closure, by the 1920s the economic climate of Rockingham was to start looking up, mainly driven by the growing use of motorcars. With the car, Rockingham became more accessible. Particularly as it was far enough away from the metropolitan area that it qualified for Sunday drinking sessions, which were not permitted in the city. The Rockingham Hotel was also a significant draw as it was developed by Harrison as the centre of Rockingham as a fashionable, high class seaside resort, famous for its beaches, bathing, fishing and drinking. Harrison instigated an extensive program of improvements to the building and grounds. By the late 1920s, the Rockingham Hotel had undergone substantial alterations and additions, giving it the appearance of a Federation Arts and Crafts style building. Harrison had built an extension to the front northern end to provide a small upstairs lounge, entered through a new porch, as well as an extension to the bar on the ground floor. In 1925, Harrison sold Rockingham Hotel to a friend, George Grigg. Grigg added to the southern frontage of the hotel to increase both the bar and bedroom accommodation. The front verandah to Kent Street was also rebuilt. Historic photographs show this to be a two-storey verandah with a central gable, and a two-storey return along the northern side of the building. Rockingham’s first petrol pump was also erected on the Kent Street frontage of the site in the late 1920s, next to the hotel. The alterations and extensions to the Rockingham Hotel Site were a response to the increasingly popularity of the area as a holiday and tourist destination. During the summer season, the holiday accommodation was booked out. On weekdays, women and children would stay, with fathers joining them on the weekend. February was the time when farming families came, particularly from the Wheatbelt. The latter part of summer was popular for company picnics. Large parties, of 100 or so people, would come by boat to stay for the day. In the 1930s, George Grigg and his son Reg Grigg planned to build a new hotel on the site but was thwarted by licensing issues so then set about modernising and renovating Rockingham Hotel in the Inter-War Functionalist style to designs by architect William Garnsworthy Bennett. By 1944, an open-air picture theatre and picture garden had been added to the site, facing Kent Street between the tennis courts and the pond garden. In December 1952, a new, revamped beer gardens was opened at Rockingham Hotel. By this time, Rockingham Hotel along with the adjacent Trocadero Building had become the focus and hub of much of the social and cultural activity in Rockingham. In 1957, William Bennett & Associates Architects prepared plans for various alterations and additions to Rockingham Hotel. Extensions were made to the 1920s lounge and dining room areas at the back, and walls were removed in the front (Kent Street) section to accommodate a new bar and toilet. In 1967, Rockingham Hotel verandahs to Kent Street and the north elevation were removed. In c1989, the dining room was enlarged and a new restaurant with an alfresco area was added at the rear of the hotel facing the beach. In 2008, the Rockingham Hotel was included on the State Register of Heritage Places and was subsequently removed from the Register in 2011.

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity: High Degree Authenticity: Moderate Degree

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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