Bridge View Inn is a heritage-listed former hotel and bank building which now contains bed and breakfast accommodation, a museum and commercial enterprises at 28-30 Louee Street, Rylstone, Mid-Western Regional Council, New South Wales, Australia. It was built from 1860 to 1870. It is also known as Bridge Hotel, Rylstone Historical Society Building, and Bridgeview Inn. The property is owned by Rylstone and District Historical Society. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
History
In the early 1860s Goodwin Squires Hall and his family arrived in Rylstone, having previously spent some time on the Turon River goldfields near Sofala. Goodwin Spires Hall was an emancipist who had been transported into NSW as a convict in1836 for manslaughter. He acquired land at the northern end of Louee Street where he built a number of cottages and a general store. The area became known as Halls Corner and two of his early Victorian cottages remain. His son later operated a newsagency, a fancy goods store, and a boot business in the corner buildings.
The building of the Bridge Hotel (as it was first known) in the late 1860s, on land south of the cottages, was one of Hall's major projects, and although the architect and builder are not known Purvis may have been involved. Purvis was an experienced stonemason in the town and had constructed a number of well-executed buildings in and around Rylstone at the time (such as the Dabee and Carwell homesteads) and also later the fine three-storey sandstone mill in Louee Street opposite the Bridge Inn. Apparently, the inn was so named because it faced the road bridge over the Cudgegong River at the end of Hall Street (the White Bridge, the second of four road bridges built in Rylstone).
The Bridgeview was one of four inns in the late 1860s in Rylstone; these were Walton's Colonial Inn (the oldest and formerly opposite the post office), Mr. Hayes' The Shamrock (formerly at the lower end of Mudgee Street), Mr. Owens' The Globe (south of the Bridge Hotel in Louee Street) and Hall's Bridge Hotel. Hall leased the business to various operators (Muir, Owen, Brown, Stollery and Crosley) from 1872 until the license lapsed in 1895.
When it closed as a hotel it was purchased by the Australian Joint Stock Bank. The bank had operated from small premises in Jackson's Building to the south in Louee Street since the early 1870s. The two rooms at the northern end of the building, formerly the bar, became the business office with the manager's office at the back. The rest of the ground floor and the entire upstairs areas were used as the manager's residence. The AJS Bank changed its name to the Australian Bank of Commerce in 1910 and subsequently amalgamated with the Bank of New South Wales in November 1931. At this time alterations were made to the southern end of the upstairs area.
In 1950 the bank manager moved to a residence in Mudgee Street and the clerk occupied the office residence. In 1957 when the new bank building in Louee Street was completed and a clerk's residence built beside the manager's, the Bridgeview Inn became vacant and was put up for sale. Alterations were made to the timber verandah posts and fencing which had remained intact when the street level had been lowered some years before. The new owner was the Kandos Cement Works' accountant, Mr Fink. He intended to reside there upon his retirement from the works. However, his plans were never realised due to his premature death.
The building was leased to the Rylstone Historical Society and they sub-let the upper residence retaining only the two downstairs rooms, the dining room, and the early separate kitchen at the rear. The local solicitor John Knox used the office and residence for a time until his own home was built and subsequently retained the office. After the death of Mr Fink, the building was again put up for sale and as there were concerns about its future the Society secured a housing loan and purchased the property in 1967.
In 1978 the building was used as the set for the significant Australian film Thomas Keneally's book "The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith" directed by Fred Schepisi. The bar in particular was "restored" for this production. In 1981 further conservation of the building was assisted by two grants from the National Estate Program additionally a loan was granted to the lessee to assist in the establishment of a business. As one of the conditions of the loan a Permanent Conservation Order was placed over the building in 1986 following a recommendation of the NSW Heritage Council. The PCO listing was transformed into a State Heritage Register listing on 2 April 1999.