Royal Cricketers Arms Inn facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Royal Cricketers Arms Inn |
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| Location | 385 Reservoir Road, Prospect, City of Blacktown, New South Wales, Australia |
| Architect | James Manning |
| Owner | Department of Planning and Infrastructure |
| Official name: Royal Cricketers Arms Inn; Cricketers Arms Inn | |
| Type | State heritage (built) |
| Designated | 2 April 1999 |
| Reference no. | 660 |
| Type | Inn/Tavern |
| Category | Commercial |
| Builders | James Manning |
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The Royal Cricketers Arms Inn is a historic pub located at 385 Reservoir Road, Prospect, Australia. It was designed and built by James Manning. This special building is also known as the Cricketers Arms Inn. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on April 2, 1999, meaning it's protected for its important history.
Contents
A Look Back: The Inn's History
Early Days: People and Land
The area around Prospect Reservoir has a long history. Aboriginal people lived here for a very long time. They found good camping spots along the creeks and on higher ground. Even after Europeans arrived, Aboriginal people continued to live in these lands.
European settlers came to the area by 1789. Prospect Hill, a large rock formation, stands out in the landscape. In 1788, Governor Phillip explored it. From the hill, he saw the Blue Mountains for the first time. This hill became an important landmark for early explorers.
Farming and Early Conflicts
In 1791, Governor Phillip started settling former convicts on farms around Prospect Hill. The soil here was good for farming. However, the arrival of settlers led to conflicts with the local Aboriginal people. Pemulwuy and his Bidjigal clan were central to this resistance.
In 1801, Governor King ordered that Aboriginal people be "driven back" from settler homes. This led to a difficult time. However, in 1805, a meeting was held near Prospect Hill. Aboriginal leaders and settlers, with help from intermediaries, discussed peace. This meeting was a big step towards reconciliation in the area.
Farming continued to grow around Prospect Hill. By the 1820s, much of the land was cleared for crops and livestock. In 1810, Governor Macquarie was impressed by the farms he saw.
The Great Reservoir Project
By the 1870s, farming changed, and the area mostly raised livestock. Then, a huge project began: building the Prospect Reservoir. This reservoir was designed to supply water to Sydney. Construction started in the 1880s and finished in 1888. It was a major engineering achievement for New South Wales.
The Prospect Hotel: A Local Hub
The first official record of a hotel in Prospect is from 1876. It was called "The Prospect." In 1881, James Manning received a license for the Royal Cricketer's Arms Hotel. This shows the hotel was already built and operating.
James Manning was a keen cricket player and even had a race track and cricket pitch on his property. The hotel became a popular spot for picnics. It's likely the hotel's name came from Manning's love for cricket.
Growth and Challenges
During the 1880s, Prospect village was booming, partly due to the reservoir construction. Manning expanded his business, even opening a general store next to the hotel. This store sold groceries, clothes, and other goods. The hotel likely grew with the influx of workers building the reservoir.
The hotel was also well-located near the Main Western railway to Blacktown. This allowed Manning to serve the many workers traveling to and from Blacktown.
However, as the reservoir construction ended, Manning faced financial difficulties. In 1889, Hugh McCue took over the hotel. The hotel continued to operate for a while, but by 1906, it is believed to have stopped being a hotel.
New Uses: Farm and Drive-in
In 1913, Edward F. Cooney bought the property. He was married to James Manning's daughter, Florence. Cooney turned the property into a dairy farm with many cows. His daughters opened a tea room and a small store in the old hotel building. During this time, the kitchen area was likely extended.
The area around Prospect also saw manufacturing grow, with brickworks and other factories. In 1937, the property was sold to Arthur Joseph and Emily M. Ballard, then to Eric Kirsten in 1939. In 1941, Ivan Posa bought it. Posa used the property as a large market garden, and the old hotel became a family home.
In 1963, Ivan Posa sold the site to the Great Western Drive-In Theatre P/L. A drive-in movie theater was built on most of the land. The old hotel building was then used as a caretaker's home until 1989.
Saving a Piece of History
By 1989, the property was in poor condition. The Department of Planning stepped in and bought the site to protect it. The building was empty and suffered from vandalism. In 1990, it was secured and fenced.
Conservation work began in 1992 to restore the hotel. In 1994, it reopened as a hotel after a major internal restoration. More work in 1996 brought back some original features that had been removed.
Today, the Royal Cricketers Arms Inn is still operating as a hotel. It is run by Event Hospitality and Entertainment.
What the Inn Looks Like
The Hotel Building
The Royal Cricketers Arms Inn is a two-story building. It has strong brick walls on the ground floor and timber walls upstairs. The outside walls are covered in a smooth finish, and the inside walls are plastered.
The building sits on a stone base, with a small cellar underneath the main front room. The roof is made of painted corrugated iron. There's also a covered porch, or veranda, with timber posts and decorative wooden supports.
The building is in very good condition and still looks much like it did in the past.
The Surrounding Gardens
In front of the hotel, there's a small garden with a lawn and low shrubs. A paved area with tables allows people to sit outside. You can see various plants like oleanders and bird-of-paradise flowers.
To the west of the hotel, there's a lawn area. The back half of the yard is paved with stones or gravel. There's also a children's play area. Many trees and plants have been added around the hotel, including weeping willows, a Hill's fig, and bottlebrush trees. A large brush box tree shades the outdoor seating area.
There's also a small car park further down the hill, hidden by hedges and fences.
What Lies Beneath: Archaeology
In 1998, experts thought the site might have some archaeological potential. This means there could be old objects or remains buried underground. However, after extensive restoration work in 1996, it was found that most of the site had been disturbed.
During the conservation work in 1991-92, very few archaeological items were found. It seems that later farming and gardening activities removed most traces of older materials near the surface. While a few artifacts were found inside the hotel building, not much was found under or around it.
Because of this, the site is considered to have low archaeological importance. However, if any old relics are found during future work, construction must stop, and experts need to be called.
Why It's Important: Heritage Listing
The Cricketers Arms Hotel is very important for its history in New South Wales. It's also special for its beauty and how it connects to the past. It's rare to find a country hotel from the mid-Victorian era in the Sydney area that still looks so much like it used to.
The hotel helps us understand how land was used, how towns grew (and sometimes failed), and how transport shaped development in early Western Sydney. It also shows how important individuals were in settling the area.
Historical Significance
The Cricketers Arms Hotel is one of the few remaining old buildings in Prospect, which was one of the first settlements west of Parramatta. It's the last surviving hotel on the old western road, showing how that early route was used.
The hotel's story is closely tied to the building of the Prospect Reservoir. Its success and later decline reflect the impact of this huge construction project. The hotel also shows how businesses tried to start in new settlements outside Sydney. Its decline also highlights how railways changed trade routes, moving business away from older roads.
The hotel building is a rare and excellent example of a country hotel still standing on the edge of Sydney.
Connections to People
The site has links to early owners like Robert Flushcombe, who was part of the New South Wales Corps. Locally, it's connected to the Neeve and Manning families. They were early settlers in Prospect and played a big part in the area's social history. The hotel was a place for recreation and social life in Prospect.
Unique Design and Features
The building is a beautiful example of a mid-Victorian country hotel. Its design is unusual compared to hotels built in inner Sydney at the same time. It has good details and craftsmanship, showing the builder's confidence in the area's future.
The hotel and its site still have many of their original features. This is rare because most old hotels have been changed many times over the years.
Community Value
The hotel is still important to the local community in Blacktown today, as many people visit it.
Learning from the Past
The site and buildings help us understand how early Sydney developed. They show a pattern of growth that is now mostly lost. The hotel's location on the Old Western Road, which still looks much like it did, adds to its importance.
The building also shows how its use changed over time: from a hotel and shop to a home and farm, and then back to a hotel. These changes reflect the changing nature of the Prospect area.
The Royal Cricketers Arms Inn was officially listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on April 2, 1999.
