PLOUGHMANS ARMS HOTEL (FORMER)

The former Ploughmans Arms Hotel at 848 Tait Street, Bonshaw, to the extent of the fabric dating 1880s - 1920s. The large timber building has multiple wings and a complex hip roof that dates from two periods. Surviving features from the original 1880s hotel include the traditional chamfered corner entrance to Tait Street. The return bullnose verandah with an intricate Art Nouveau cast-iron frieze dates to c1910s, the balustrade of which dates to c1920. A rear timber extension also dates to the 1920s. The site also features trees (interwar-era) and stables.

The former Ploughman's Arms Hotel is of historic and architectural significance to the City of Ballarat. 

The former Ploughman's Arms Hotel is of historical significance as a rare surviving example of a small hotel erected to capitalise on the trade generated by the deep lead mines west of Sebastopol, as well as the busy stock route through to Western Victoria. Prior to 1900, there were as many as 70 hotels in operation. It is of further historical interest as an indication of the extent of the Sebastopol mining township in the late nineteenth century. The hotel serves as an important remnant of an earlier, more prosperous period in the history of the town. (Criterion A)

The former Ploughman's Arms Hotel is of architectural significance as a modest timber hotel dating from the 1880s, which was updated c1910 with a high-style verandah. (Criterion E)