The Castle Hotel in York is one of the oldest surviving hotels in Western Australia. Its first proprietor was Samuel Craig and it was then held by members of the Craig family for 137 years.
The hotel was constructed in three stages, the old section on Avon Terrace in 1853, extended in 1862, and the corner Federation Filigree addition, built by May Craig in 1905/1912.
History The Crown Grant for the land on which the Castle Hotel stands was originally granted to John Henry Monger Snr on 3 November 1852 for £11. He also took a grant of the property to the rear for £11.Landgate York Town Lots 22 and 23, Crown Grant ET 1162 and ET 1169 dated 3 November 1852 to John Henry Monger, store keeper.
The original part of the current building which is called the Castle Hotel (right hand side on Avon Terrace) was constructed in 1853 for Samuel Craig using ticket-of-leave men from the York Convict Hiring Depot.A.M. Clack and Jenni McColl: York Sketchbook, p. 12.
By September 1853, Craig was trading as the Castle Hotel and the York Agricultural Society held a meeting there.Inquirer 21 September 1853, p.2.
Title was transferred from John Henry Monger to Samuel Craig in December 1853 for £20.Landgate Deeds and Ordinances Index: York Town Lot 22: V/376/409 Conveyance 22 December 1853 from John Henry Monger of York, Gentleman, to Samuel Craig, Victualler, of the same place. Monger remained the owner of the property to the rear though it is now part of the hotel site.
Samuel Craig announced the opening of the old section of the Castle Hotel on 1 November 1854, promising “the largest and choicest selection of wines, spirits, etc ever brought over the hill”.Inquirer 1 November 1854, p.4. From that time on, all the meetings of the York Agricultural Society were held at the Castle Hotel and it became their unofficial headquarters.A.M. Clack and Jenni McColl: York Sketchbook, p. 12.
An advertisement dated 20 December 1855 published on 23 January 1856 promotes “excellent beds. Good Stabling, and an ostler always in attendance. Private upstairs sitting and bedrooms. Superior wines, spirits, cordials, ale and porter etc, kept in a spacious, cool cellar, always on hand. Commodious stockyards and enclosures.”Inquirer and Commercial News 23 January 1856, p.4.
Praise was given to Samuel Craig in a newspaper of the day in September 1856:“Mr Craig has deserved well for the way in which his rooms, and especially the bedrooms, are arranged for light, air, and cleanliness; and although the other hotel-keepers are not chargeable with any want of the latter, they do not keep pace with the times; there is a visible want of progress about them in comparison with the Castle Hotel.Inquirer and Commercial News 10 September 1856, p.3.
The hotel survived the flood of July 1862 when the water was deep in the cellar.The Inquirer and Commercial News 30 July 1862 p.2. The hotel was extended with a "large addition" to the south of the original in 1862,The Inquirer and Commercial News 5 November 1862, p.1 virtually doubling the premises.John Boyd Craig: HeirLine, a private family history, 2002(?) (unpublished), p.13.
This extended and older part of the hotel was described in 1966 as "an almost perfectly preserved coaching inn complex complete with kitchen, meat house, laundry, bathrooms, forge, stables, and fodder house clustered round a broad, generous courtyard at the back".John Maxwell Freeland: The Australian Pub, Melbourne University Press, 1966.
Samuel's wife, Mary Craig became the licensee in November 1869Perth Gazette and West Australian Times 8 November 1872, p.2. and a month later, Samuel Craig died.The Perth Gazette and West Australian Times, 17 December 1869, p.3. The business continued under the reins of Mary, who was referred to as the “hostess” of the Castle Hotel.The Perth Gazette and West Australian Times 29 April 1870, p.3.
Royal coat of arms The royal coat of arms was painted on the wall of the dining room of the Castle Hotel around this time. This insignia was revealed during 1989 renovations to the hotel when one of the walls was stripped of its old paint.A.M. Clack and Jenni McColl: York Sketchbook, p. 12. The coat of arms was probably painted on the wall for a visit or stay of a Governor. A most likely occasion for this was when Governor Sir Frederick Weld visited York and stayed at the Castle Hotel on 21 October 1869, because the whole town made an enormous fuss of the Governor on this visit.
Frank, William, James and May Craig From July 1883, Mary's son Frank was managing the hotel.West Australian 2 December 1884, p.3. In December 1884, Mary Craig leased the hotel to Frank.West Australian 2 December 1884, p.3; Eastern Districts Chronicle, 5 January 1885, p.3; 27 February 1886, p.3; 8 December 1888, p.7; 23 August 1890, p.6. Frank constructed a separate building on the corner "for the purpose of banquetting". West Australian 21 February 1885, p.6.
On 12 November 1885, a fire broke out in the yard of the Castle Hotel, burning a haystack, a dray, some timber and about 10 tons of sandalwood, all worth over £250.West Australian, 19 November 1885, p.3; Daily News, 12 November 1885, p.3. On 29 January 1888, a Mr D’Elmaine was staying at the Castle Hotel and went out onto the balcony for some fresh air. A draft came in the door and blew flames from a candle onto the things on his bed which caught alight. The fire was put out but the whole of his bedding was burnt.The Daily News, 31 January 1888, p.3.
Frank Craig added a billiard room to the hotel in 1887.Eastern Districts Chronicle, 8 January 1887, p.2; 26 February 1887, p.2.
In 1892, for a short period Cobb & Co ran a coach from York to the Yilgarn, with bookings at the Castle Hotel.Eastern Districts Chronicle, 9 July 1892, p.4.
On 11 November 1892, quoting the Eastern Districts Chronicle:Eastern Districts Chronicle, 12 November 1892, p.3.
A few weeks later, Frank Craig handed the business over to his brother William T Craig,Eastern Districts Chronicle, 10 December 1892, p.3. who renovated the premises.Eastern Districts Chronicle, 7 January 1893, p.7. William handed over to his brother James and May Craig in 1896.Southern Cross Herald, 20 March 1896, p.3.
May continued to run the hotel after James' accidental drowning while at sea in 1902.Northam Advertiser 10 September 1902, p.3.
May constructed the corner building in 1905 and 1912.John Boyd Craig: HeirLine, a private family history, 2002(?) (unpublished), p.13. The architect was William G Wolf, a several times bankrupt American architect who had been designing buildings in Melbourne and Sydney and had just completed the design and construction of His Majesty's Theatre (1902 to 1904).Taylor, Dr John J., ‘William George Wolf (1855-1925)', Western Australian Architect Biographies; The West Australian 14 March 1905, p.3.
The key authors on Australian architectural style describe the Castle Hotel as “a corner pub screened with loggia-like verandah” and they included the hotel as an exemplar of Federation Filigree style.R Apperly, R Irving and P Reynolds: A Pictorial Guide to Identifying Australian Architecture: Angus & Robertson, 1994, p.108
May leased the hotel to Thomas Charles Evans in March 1905, taking control again in 1915.Eastern Districts Chronicle, 26 February 1914, p.4. May died on 7 January 1924West Australian 9 January 1924, p.1. and left the hotel to her son Basil, who continued to run the hotel.York Visitor Centre: Heritage York Trails, p.7.
The bar of the Castle Hotel was the scene of a murder on 17 April 1953 when market gardeners from two feuding Albanian families attacked each other and one was fatally stabbed.The West Australian, 6 June 1953, p.10.
The Craig family continued to own and run the hotel until 1990, extensively restoring and enlarging the hotel. Only the stables were damaged in the 1968 Meckering earthquake.A.M. Clack and Jenni McColl: York Sketchbook, p. 12.
Heritage registration York Municipal Inventory, 31 December 1995 Classified by the National Trust, 5 March 1985 Register of the National Estate Permanent, 21 March 1978
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