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BERKSHIRE HOTEL
Date Opened : 1856
Date Closed : 1909
Address :
617 Anzac Highway, Glenelg
History
| BERKSHIRE HOTEL | 1856 | 1909 |
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Hotel Photos
Publicans
| The original Berkshire Hotel, built in 1856, was likely a single-storey building with a much smaller footprint than the structure that replaced it. The hotel was renovated in 1878. The 1870s brought new prosperity to the Berkshire. In August 1873, the Adelaide, Glenelg and Suburban Railway Company opened a line from Victoria Square to Moseley Square, while a rival line by the Holdfast Bay Railway Company opened in May 1880, running down Adelaide Road right past the hotel. During its life, the Berkshire was owned by various property investors and usually leased to breweries, such as the Adelaide Brewing Company in the 1880s and the SA Brewing Company in the early 1900s, who then sub-leased it to publicans. In 1880–81, the hotel was heavily renovated and given a new façade to attract railway trade. The licensee, George Miller, agreed to spend £1,000 on improvements in return for a 21-year lease, but disputes over poor workmanship led to a court case in 1881. The Berkshire was never a high-class hotel, catering mostly to racing patrons. Horses competing at Morphettville were often stabled there, and in 1883, new training stables were advertised as being built on “the most approved principles.” Following the Local Option Act of 1905, which allowed communities to close excess hotels, the Berkshire was refused a licence on 9 March 1909. The hotel closed on 25 March 1909, ending more than 50 years of trade. In March 1910, Harriet Fitten reopened the former hotel as a boarding house, marking the start of its new life. The building was converted to a group of flats in 1939 and named the Berkshire Court Flats. The building was demolished in 2014.  Hotel building before it was demolished in 2014 |