Raywood Hotel (former Gunn's Raywood Hotel)

Gunn's Hotel (built 1870s) is a single-storey, corner-sited structure built of timber. It has a contiguous timber-posted verandah to the north and west elevations, which extends over (and covers) the public footpath, a corner splay with doors, and a high asbestos cement lined parapet. The west elevation has another door to the bar, and the north elevation has a door to the residential entry. The leadlight work to the residential entrance has 'Gunn's' in the fanlight. Windows are generally double-hung sashes, with two panes to each sash. There are timber shutters, painted green. The parapet, which is not original, comprises regular-sized panels with strapping, has a modern sign reading 'Raywood Hotel' to the west elevation, and an arch that surmounts the residential entrance.

How is it significant?

The former Gunn's Hotel is of historical, social and aesthetic/architectural significance.

Why is it significant?

The former c.1870s Gunn's Hotel at the corner of Inglewood and Sandhurst streets, Raywood, is of historical, aesthetic/architectural and social significance. It is historically significant (Criterion A) as a long-standing hotel in the town, associated with an even earlier Gunn's Hotel located nearby to the east, which was reputedly opened (presumably in shanty form) within days of the first gold strike at Raywood in 1863. The original Gunn's Hotel was also an early centre of community activities, being the destination for mail deliveries, a venue for church services and also serving as the Raywood Royal Theatre. The present building, constructed during the tenure of William Gunn Jnr as landlord, was renamed the Raywood Hotel in 1947. It was the longest lasting of the c. 23 hotels and shanties in the township, and remains in use for its original purpose. William Gunn Snr was a pioneering settler, and played a prominent role in civic affairs. Gunn's Hotel is of social significance (Criterion G) in the local context as a hotel as a place of meeting and congregation since the 1870s. The building's social significance is enhanced by its large scale and prominent siting at the major intersection in the town centre. The hotel at Raywood is also of aesthetic/architectural significance (Criterion E) as a c.1870s hotel building on a prominent corner site in the centre of Raywood. Although modified, including through the addition of the current asbestos cement lined parapet, the Raywood Hotel nevertheless recalls nineteenth century hotel buildings on the goldfields, through addressing the corner site with its generally low, spreading proportions, and deep verandah over the footpath (Criterion D). Many of the historic timber hotels have been destroyed by fire or otherwise replaced, and the Raywood Hotel is therefore distinguished in its longevity, both as a building type and through its hotel operation (Criterion B). The leadlight work to the residential entrance, with the lettering 'Gunn's' in the fanlight, recalls the hotel's origins.

Group

Commercial

Category

Hotel