Fleece Inn

The Fleece Inn, 143 Charleston Road, East Bendigo, formerly known as the Golden Fleece Hotel, and built in stages from 1862 is significant.

The Fleece Inn is of local historical, representativeness and aesthetic significance to the City of Greater Bendigo.

The Fleece Inn is historically significant to the City of Greater Bendigo. It was built on land owned by prominent Bendigo physician, philanthropist and Mayor of Sandhurst’s first City Council, Dr James Boyd, between 1862 and 1904. Boyd was actively engaged in improvements to the hotel in 1872 with the addition of a garden to the property. The hotel’s history follows a similar one to many other hotels that by the 1930s were bought by Carlton and United Breweries. The example of the Fleece Inn shows that Carlton and United Breweries took over from Bendigo’s Victoria Brewery owned by the Cohn brothers, who had purchased the property in the 1920s. (Criterion A)

The Fleece Inn is aesthetically significant as a demonstration of the evolution of an early hotel building. Architecturally, the Fleece Inn reflects its 1860s origins through its two story form, verandah, and Victorian sash windows. The major additions undertaken in the 1920s reflect a more representative hotel form, being built to the street line and comprising a parapet with central arched pediment. (Criterion D and E)