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CALEDONIAN UNION HOTEL (FORMER)

Location 6011 HENTY HIGHWAY, SANDFORD, GLENELG SHIRE Level Recommended for Heritage Overlay

[1/2] 52866 Caledonian Union Hotel [2/2] 52866 Caledonian Union Hotel

Statement of Significance

What is significant?
The former Caledonian Union Hotel is located on the west side of the Portland - Casterton Road, close to the junction of the road to Sandford House, in the township of Sandford. The former hotel has been converted into a private residence, but still retains the form and stylistic details of an early restrained Victorian period commercial building. The former hotel is single storey, built of handmade bricks, locally dug and burnt on the nearby Wannon River. Originally two storey, the lower storey remains after the first floor caught fire in 1872. A brick stable and a brick, ironstone and tin tile building which may have been a brewery are located to the west and north of the hotel, and a brick wall forms a courtyard by defining the eastern property boundary. The hotel was constructed in 1856 for Publican John Scott Grant and his wife Ann. The property suffers from rising damp and structural failure is evident in the stables at the rear. The integrity of the complex is very high, although some modifications appear to have been made to the pavilions on either end of the hotel, and the first storey of the hotel has been lost. The hotel retains a high degree of integrity, but is in urgent need of repairs.

How is it significant?
The former Caledonian Union Hotel is of historical and architectural significance to the Glenelg Shire.

Why is it significant?
The former Caledonian Union Hotel is of historical significance as one of the two first hotels in thetownship of Sandford and the whole area. The siting of the hotel is also historically significanct as the oldest surviving hotel in Sandford, and of further significance as it provides us with an understanding of the hotel's clientele, and status in the township. This is evident by the building's prominent location and imposing facade which would have dominated both the major route from Portland to Casterton, as well as the route to Sandford House (one of the earliest Henty properties). Of architectural interest is the arrangement of a typical public bar entrance on the corner of the building, when the building was not located on the corner of two intersecting streets or roads.