This hotel was first licensed in 1849.  This makes it the oldest surviving hotel Mount Barker, and also the oldest surviving building in Gawler Street, although it has been much altered over the years.  It began as a single-storey cottage hotel called the “Scotch Thistle Inn,” built by the first publican, Charles Low.  From 1847 the hotel became more commonly known as “Low’s Inn,” but by 1864 it was being licensed as “The Mount Barker Hotel.”  It retained that name until 1935, when “Hotel Barker” was adopted. It now operates as “The Barker Hotel.”

The hotel has been an integral part of Mount Barker since the earliest days of the town.  In addition to its regular business, it has hosted innumerable banquets, farewells, homecomings, annual dinners, prizegivings, reunions, valedictories, and charity events. In the mid-nineteenth century it was also a venue for political and community meetings before the construction of the Institute.

When the railway arrived in 1883 Mount Barker became accessible to day trippers and summer visitors seeking respite from the city. This was a boom time for hotels, which expanded their focus to include tourism in addition to services for the local population. The Mount Barker Hotel enlarged its dining room, added a large “billiard saloon” to its facilities, and expanded its accommodation to 21 rooms. The changes were supervised by noted Macclesfield-based architect F.W. Dancker, who was also responsible for A.C. Daw’s elaborate butcher shop across the road.

The hotel began to make a feature of its outside space, maximising the attractiveness of its shade trees and gardens.  By 1913 an unkempt area of ground had become “a well-laid-out flower garden with a summer house &c.”  A dining option was provided outside under the trees, in anticipation of today’s beer gardens.  The garden was located to the right of the main building when viewed from Gawler Street, where the Bistro is now.

A casualty of the tourist trade was the regular livestock auctions that had previously been held in the hotel’s attached saleyards. Stock markets were a common feature of country hotels in the nineteenth century, encouraged by publicans whose own trade benefited from the influx of potential buyers and sellers on sale day. Market days provided occasions for farmers and their families to come up to town, do some shopping and catch up with the local news.  In 1896 a local record was established at the Mount Barker Hotel when 713 animals were sold within one hour.  The stockyards contributed to the distinctive rural character of the town, but they were difficult to reconcile with the expectations of tourists seeking a peaceful Hills escape.  Down the road at Gray’s Inn, stock sales continued to be conducted by Benett & Fisher Ltd until 1979, but the Mount Barker Hotel saleyards were dismantled in 1925.

The hotel has been run by a long series of publicans, and with each change of management the new proprietor has been keen to make their mark. Successive renovations and additions have promised to make the venue “one of the most up to date in the country,” providing visitors with “every possible comfort and convenience,” and “decorated and furnished along the most modern lines.”  In 1908 this meant further updating the accommodation and introducing a septic tank system.  The proprietor, Patrick Fox, also added a “splendidly lit and ventilated” new stone stable and a two-bay “motor and trap” shed:

The stable comprises 10 large stalls (with blind wooden partitions), two fine loose boxes and harness room, and while there are hay and chaff mangers in each stall the horses will also have free access to a hay rack fed direct from the loft. . . The motor house is of convenient size and has a pit to enable chauffeurs to work under the best possible conditions should repairs or overhauling of the under part of cars be necessary.

In 1925 the balance of this accommodation was reversed, with The Courier reporting “the conversion of the present fine stone stabling into a commodious motor garage, capable of storing eight cars.” Space was reserved for just two loose boxes for horses.  Other signs of cultural change were also in evidence at this time, with the proprietor (Michael Larkin) bringing in a “wireless set with a loud speaker.”

The Barker Hotel is the antithesis of a heritage building that has been preserved in “original” form. The brick cottage and stone barn to the rear of the hotel date from the 1860s, but since then changes to the main structure have included the construction of a second storey and timber verandah in 1877, a cast-iron verandah in 1903, and an art deco façade in 1938. A Heritage Survey carried out in 2004 found that the property demonstrated a wide range of design and construction techniques, and in the manner of its evolution revealed much about the social and commercial development of Mount Barker.

The first picture below, looking west, shows the original cottage hotel in the centre of the frame in about 1865, when it was under the management of John Rendall (1813-1887).

The second picture shows sheep being brought over the Gawler Street bridge on their way to one of the hotel saleyards (date unknown).

The third, looking east, shows the hotel in 1933 when it was under the management of W.E. Medwell. The Institute and new Library can be seen to the left. (Click on photos to enlarge.)