OAKFIELD HOTEL


The Oakfield Hotel was one of several long-lost pubs swept aside during the creation of Frome Street in the 1960s.

Its story began in 1850, when Charles John Harvey built a modest single-storey pub called the Norwich Arms Inn. The license was initially refused, but eventually granted in December that year. Harvey’s ownership was short-lived; insolvency forced him to sell, and by 1852 the next proprietor, William Dean, had also gone bankrupt.

The hotel’s fortunes shifted dramatically in 1870, when James Cock purchased it and converted the premises into a Temperance Hotel. At the time, the temperance movement was growing rapidly in Adelaide, with at least ten such establishments opening across the city.

By 1878, however, the movement’s grip loosened, and the hotel returned to serving alcohol under a new name - the Oakfield Hotel. Around this period, it was also rebuilt into a handsome two-storey Victorian-style building, befitting its renewed role as a licensed city pub.

The Oakfield endured into the mid-20th century. In 1948, a fire broke out in one of the upstairs rooms; a young girl was dramatically rescued by fellow guests, and while the blaze was contained, it became one of the hotel’s more memorable moments. The last major renovations came in 1953, when a new English-themed bar was opened to considerable fanfare.

Sadly, progress spelled its end. As part of the Frome Street extension project, the Oakfield was closed in 1963 and demolished soon after, erasing another piece of Adelaide’s pub history.




Hotel Picture
1963
State Library [B 15307]
 

nullLogo

OAKFIELD HOTEL

Hotel Code : 5.001.H259

Date Opened : 1851
Date Closed : 1963

Address :
203 Flinders Street, Adelaide



History

NORWICH ARMS INN 1851 1871
TEMPERANCE HOTEL 1871 1878
OAKFIELD HOTEL 1879 1963

Facebook Instagram
 
 





c1890
State Library [BRG 400/1/61]


1917
State Library [B 9021]


c1929
State Library [B 5826]


Hotel site in 2025









5.001.H259.0010
5.001.H259.0020




Publican Name Start Date Finish Date Hotel

Charles John HARVEY 1851 1851 Norwich Arms Inn
William DEAN 1851 1852 Norwich Arms Inn
John WILLIAMS 1854 1858 Norwich Arms Inn
Joseph WILSON 1858 1860 Norwich Arms Inn
Alexander COCK 1860 1862 Norwich Arms Inn
William SMITH 1862 1863 Norwich Arms Inn
William NORTON 1863 1863 Norwich Arms Inn
Thomas SMYTH 1863 1863 Norwich Arms Inn
John BAKER 1863 1864 Norwich Arms Inn
James HYLAND 1864 1866 Norwich Arms Inn
Margaret HYLAND 1866 1867 Norwich Arms Inn
Edward URQUHART 1868 1869 Norwich Arms Inn
Wilhelm Johann SCHUTT 1869 1869 Norwich Arms Inn
Stephen STARR 1869 1870 Norwich Arms Inn
James COCK 1870 1878 Temperance Tavern
Robert Strachan ANDERSON 1878 1881 Oakfield Hotel
Mrs Agnes ANDERSON 1881 1885 Oakfield Hotel
Edwin ROOK 1885 1886 Oakfield Hotel
Alfred PINCHBECK 1886 1887 Oakfield Hotel
Mrs Elizabeth THOMPSON 1887 1889 Oakfield Hotel
Walter THOMPSON 1889 1889 Oakfield Hotel
Mrs Alice MURPHY 1889 1892 Oakfield Hotel
John ARMSTRONG 1892 1893 Oakfield Hotel
Mrs Mary J ARMSTRONG 1893 1895 Oakfield Hotel
Matthew John WILLIAMS 1895 1895 Oakfield Hotel
George BRANDT 1895 1897 Oakfield Hotel
Mary MANSOM 1897 1897 Oakfield Hotel
Mrs Elizabeth ROONEY 1897 1898 Oakfield Hotel
William A REDMOND 1898 1899 Oakfield Hotel
John Charles HILL 1899 1899 Oakfield Hotel
Patrick LEAHY 1899 1900 Oakfield Hotel
William T LEWIS 1900 1900 Oakfield Hotel
Hugh WHELAN 1900 1902 Oakfield Hotel
Mrs Edith ALEXANDER 1902 1904 Oakfield Hotel
Eleanor PERCIVAL 1904 1904 Oakfield Hotel
John Richard LOGAN 1904 1906 Oakfield Hotel
Mrs Elizabeth A NIELSON 1906 1913 Oakfield Hotel
Thomas RICHARDSON 1913 1914 Oakfield Hotel
Mrs Mary KRONCKE 1914 1922 Oakfield Hotel
Patrick J PIERCE 1922 1928 Oakfield Hotel
Francis H PRATTEN 1928 1928 Oakfield Hotel
Wilfred John OGDEN 1928 1942 Oakfield Hotel
William Davis EMES 1942 1942 Oakfield Hotel
Mrs Ellen Elita HOAD 1942 1942 Oakfield Hotel
& Mrs Eileen JOHNSON 1942 1942 Oakfield Hotel
Mrs Ellen Elita HOAD 1942 1945 Oakfield Hotel
Clifford Charles SMITH 1945 1946 Oakfield Hotel
Charles HOAD 1946 1948 Oakfield Hotel
Mrs Elizabeth SULLY 1948 1950 Oakfield Hotel
Louis SMITH 1950 1951 Oakfield Hotel
& Edward Charles SMITH 1950 1951 Oakfield Hotel

 



π