Swan Hotel (Former)

31-35 Parnell Rise, Mechanics Bay, AUCKLAND

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The former Swan Hotel was constructed prior to 1856 and is one of the earliest timber public houses surviving in Auckland. Erected on a prominent corner site in the emerging commercial and industrial suburb of Mechanics Bay, the structure was positioned to take advantage of traffic along the main road between Auckland and Parnell, as well as a growing local workforce. The building also lay on the foreshore, next to Auckland's major Maori hostel and waka landing point at Waipapa, through which a large quantity of produce was imported from the surrounding countryside. An application by George Leech, its proprietor, to open the hotel as licensed premises was rejected in 1856, partly as a result of this proximity. Fear of the effects of alcohol consumption on the 'civilising' of Maori was particularly strong during the early colonial period, when the temperance movement mounted effective campaigns against the perceived evils of drink. The building nevertheless opened for licensed trade by early 1857, when it was known as the 'Victory of Sebastopol', after the last major battle of the Crimean War between Britain and Russia in 1854-55. Its name was altered to the Swan Hotel by early 1859, perhaps indicating a move to attract a more family-based clientele. Initially a two-storeyed structure containing 23 rooms, the building had a hipped roof and plain timber-clad exterior of Georgian style. It lacked external balconies or verandahs, and can be considered of early 'urban' type. With drinking areas on its ground floor, the main entrance was located on Stanley Street, close to the street corner with Parnell Rise. Separate doors gave access to private rooms and general accommodation, which were mostly located upstairs. Additions were made to the building as the population of Mechanics Bay expanded through the late nineteenth century. A billiard room and a dining room were added before 1873, while a more substantial expansion and modernisation of the main facades occurred in 1880. Designed by the prominent Auckland architect Edward Bartley, the latter reflected a general desire to make public houses more 'respectable' in appearance as well as commercially competitive at this time. The surrounds of the building also changed with the construction of the North Island's earliest major railway bridge and viaduct to its east in 1865-1866, and substantial reclamation of the local foreshore in the 1870s, removing the building from its immediate maritime environment. Later modifications to the building included a brick addition to the east in 1909, incorporating shops at ground floor level and hotel accommodation above. The public bar also increased in size in subsequent years. These modifications reflect changes in the brewery trade, occurring after the building had first been purchased by the major brewing company of Campbell and Ehrenfried - part-owned by John Logan Campbell, an important early merchant often referred to as the 'Father of Auckland' - and a greater social acceptability of drinking after the Second World War (1939-1945). Significant visual changes were made to the main street facades in 1956, although earlier weatherboards may survive beneath the current plaster render. The building remains in use as a hotel and public house, now known as the Strand Tavern. Incorporating well-preserved aspects of nineteenth-century internal layout and fabric, notably at first floor level, it is one of very few public houses from the 1850s to survive in Auckland. It is considered to have architectural and archaeological significance, as well as historical and social value.

Swan Hotel, Auckland | Heritage New Zealand

Location

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List Entry Information

Overview

Detailed List Entry

Status

Listed

List Entry Status

Historic Place Category 2

Access

Private/No Public Access

List Number

7586

Date Entered

4th April 2005

Date of Effect

4th April 2005

City/District Council

Auckland Council

Region

Auckland Council

Extent of List Entry

The registration includes all of the land in RT NA126/147 and RT NA53/264 (as shown in Appendix 2 of the Registration Report), and the building, its fixtures and fittings thereon.The curtilage is likely to contain archaeological deposits of nineteenth-century date, potentially including those related to a detached stable and coach house in the southeastern corner of the curtilage.

Legal description

Pt Sec 11 City of Auckland (RT NA126/147); and Allots 7 & 8 Sec 11 City of Auckland DP 790 (RT NA53/264)

Location Description

Located on the south-eastern corner of Stanley Street and Parnell Rise.

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