6 December 2016:
Ye Olde Mitre Tavern in #BankPlace, looking like a bit of Merrie Auld England in 1972. Lots of stories attach to this place, probably because it’s an odd little house sized building in a tight lane surrounded by older but much taller buildings, but few are true. It’s said to be one of the oldest pubs in melbourne, but it opened in 1868, and there’s loads of pubs from the 1850s. Its also said to be the oldest building, from the 1830s, but nobody knows for sure. It is however clearly made out of a bunch of houses, you can see symmetrical sets of windows, so they could be 1840s (they do have rather low ceilings). The Queen Anne style gable and windows is clearly Edwardian (terracotta tiles and Art Nouveau lead light), but again nobody knows date or architect (but it was sold c1904). So before that it was just some houses joined together serving beer etc. I found a lovely sketch by ST Gill from 1880 which looks a lot like Bank Place, that’s it on the right I’m sure, before it got the gabled roof. It was used very often for meeting of all sorts, various clubs and societies met there it seems right through to the 1920s, then it was just a favourite of the nearby legal fraternity. Before all the umbrella clutter it was very photogenic – pics 2, 3,4 are all 1930 when it was sold, generating news stories about how old and olde worlde it was (forgetting it was done over 30 years before). Then there’s a pic from c2000. Interior shots from their website, these are the only bits that look old to me, probably Edwardian. Another story is that Mitre 10 was founded here, but the company website says no. And of course there’s a ghost; supposedly the jilted mistress of Sir Rupert Clarke, but his townhouse was across the lane, and she didn’t live there, and never committed suicide anyway, myth busted by the #deadabnburied podcast.
5 March 2021:
Just discovered the #MitreTavern is named after a pub in London! Shouldn’t be a surprise. Ours was established in 1867, made out of earlier houses (hence the multiple doors) but nobody knows how old they are. #YeOldeMitre in Holborn was first established 1546 as part of an estate belonging to the Bishop of Ely (hence the Mitre part), but later Crown land, and completely rebuilt in 1773 – and still more or less intact. It’s also down a lane like ours (really more of a passageway), so a rare reminder of the often very narrow ‘courts’ of old London. It’s mainly for locals since tourists can’t find it (!). 1st and sign closeup is from MelbDailyBlog 2012, the B&W ones from @library_vic (3rd is from 1930), and the London images from berkeleysquarebarbarian.com.
Storey of Melbourne 