Capel Inn & stables (fmr)

Statement of Significance

AESTHETIC VALUE: The place possesses the rural character of late 19th century stables Its location within the riverine environment adds considerably to its aesthetic value
HISTORIC VALUE: The place is an important component of the Capel tavern complex. The place continues its original use albeit only occasionally.
SOCIAL VALUE: The stables represent a structure of a past way of life when horse-drawn transport was the major mode of transport.
REPRESENTATIVENESS: The place is a good example of stabling in a rural town for commercial transport and passenger needs.
Integrity: The place retains a moderate to high level of integrity.
AUTHENTICITY: The original building form is intact and the cladding to the roof is corrugated iron with boarded sides in original condition. The interior partitions are no longer intact but there remains sufficient to indicate the type/style of partition used. The yard arrangement and fencing is original.

Physical Description

Capel Tavern, currently situated on 3.034 hectares of land bounded by Bussel Highway, Forrest Road, Capel River, Roe Road and backing onto the Boyanup-Busselton Railway. The stable building is located on the southern high ground above the river behind the Capel Tavern. The Tavern occupies the eastern side of the town’s main intersection of Capel Drive and Forrest Road. By this association and in its original configuration, the stables were at the centre of town activity. The plan of the building is of simple gabled rectangular form with a lean-to roof on the east side.
A later lean-to was added to the west side and an even later extension added to the eastern lean-to. A modern but respectful extension has been added to the south end. There are sufficient remains of the yard fencing to comprehend the operation of the stables. The structure is of timber frame, clad with rough sawn planks and a corrugated iron roof over simple rafter/tie roof framing. The lean-to roof structure is equally basic. The modern southern extension is of steel portals and timber cladding on timber studwork. There has been a significant loss of internal partitions evidenced by rail/framing holes in uprights. The basic layout however remains intact and the building can still be interpreted. The design is of simple farm style with no particular flourishes of colonial or other design cues. The workmanship of the construction however is of excellent carpentry with soundly detailed joints and fittings. Several large trees provide a rural setting despite being in the town centre. The condition of the building is sound and maintenance appears to be regular and effective.

History

Assessment 2003
Construction: c. 1880
Architect/builder: unknown
The original tavern building was constructed c1880 and the stables would have been part of the original site development as the site acted as a resting/staging location for travellers from the Bunbury area to the coastal settlements around the southern part of Geographe Bay and the rural hinterland. The tavern became an important part of the town as it occupied a strategic site at the town entry and on the outside of a bend in the main road. Its appealing location high on the southern riverbank gave it a prominence that caught the attention of the travelling public and local residents. The place is visually linked to a rare curved bridge over the Capel River that was constructed in the mid 1940's. This commercial advantage was lost when the
highway by-pass was constructed in the early 1990's.

In the 1830s Western Australia’s first Governor, Captain James Stirling, and later his successor, Governor John Hutt, took up land in the region following the rich coastal strip and the Capel River Valley. The Capel River was discovered by non-indigenous settlers in 1834 and plans to establish a town were first noted in 1844 when the place was given its Aboriginal name ‘Coolingup,’ a Nyungar word meaning: a swamp where spearwood grows; a watering place.
In 1880, an Inn was established at Coolingup. Coolingup Town was gazetted in 18974 but in 1899, the town’s name changed to Capel. Charles Properjohn established the basis of the Capel Tavern when he changed from farming to support his large family to providing horses for Cobb & Co. on the main road servicing the district. In 1880 the colonial government had negotiated with a company called Cobb and Co for a regular mail delivery throughout the Colony. Cobb & Co. advertised a Wellington run from Bunbury to Busselton on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays with a return trip on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. They planned to use the inland route and spell horses and passengers by the new bridge across the Capel River to the Coolingup Reserve.
Properjohn won the contract to supply horses and forage for the coaches and, when needed, to act as relief driver. But Charles had an even better plan to make a fortune for his family. He borrowed money and, in February 1880, set about building an inn and stables on the south side of the river. The establishment was no bark hut stop-over. It was made of brick with separate accommodation for six people and a verandah at the rear. There was a two-roomed store, stables with six stalls, a barn and stockyard with good pasture and water for the horses. When it was finished Charles applied for and was awarded a liquor licence, for he was convinced his inn promised to be a very profitable enterprise. Capel Inn was a popular and comfortable stopping place, but it was not making money. There simply was just not enough cash turnover to cover all expenses, not for Charles Properjohn anyway. Perhaps he had overcapitalised in the first place. Eventually he could not meet the interest payments on his loan and his dream turned into a nightmare. In March 1882 the land surrounding the Inn, Sub Lots 28 and 30, were advertised for sale in the West Australian and sometime later the financier foreclosed. (The Properjohns moved to Bunbury).
The new owners of the Inn were Thomas and Mary Larkin (nee McCourt). They had been farming in Sussex near the Ludlow River and it seems Mary was teaching school there. It is not clear what made them decide to try inn-keeping, probably it was the 200 pounds per annum contract with the Southern Mail.
They re-named the inn the Roadside Inn, but like the Properjohns were unable to make a success of it. However, they kept at it for three years before it was again put up for sale. It was not long before a buyer was found for that. The Capel or Roadside Inn was generally considered a most prestigious establishment and worthy of public notice. In February 1885 an advertisement appeared in the West Australian announcing that an auction was to be held in Bunbury at the end of the month. It described the Inn as being sited in the ‘flourishing and rapidly extending town of Coolingup’, and now boasting ‘a good garden, choice fruit trees and a vineyard’. (John and Ann Hutton purchased the inn). A settlement was reached, the Inn was theirs and without more ado, they loaded their goods, chattels and the first four of their 11 children onto a bullock dray and drove north into Coolingup. John Hutton was a shrewd farmer and not prepared to give up easily. He set about ploughing and seeding to provide steady forage for the coach horses and, within a short time, ran the Inn pretty much with the produce of his own farm. Before a well and pump were installed, water was hauled in a bucket that ran along a wire from the Inn to the river.
Ann grew vegetables in the fertile soil on the river flats and raised chickens and ducks. As the horses rumbled across the bridge to the Roadside Inn, coach passengers looked forward to a breakfast of toast, crisp bacon and rich golden eggs served by Ann and her sister, the widow Mary Ann Capewell. Later, the Capel Inn had become the site of RSL meetings and was making a bit of a name for itself in other ways. Fred Davies came back from six years of active service and married widow and Capel innkeeper, Margaret McCausland. They were a popular couple and there was some disappointment when Fred and his lady quit the hotel business to take over the Davies family farm along the Goodwood Road from Fred’s sister Pat. Les Davies (no relation to Fred), started an SP bookie shop in the Capel Inn, but quickly found himself up before the magistrate on a charge of running a ‘common gaming house’. However, the Capel Inn, begun by stagecoach-driver, violinist and dreamer Charles Properjohn in February 1880, and purchased by John and Ann Hutton five years later, changed hands many more times over the years. The Properjohns left the district but the Huttons became an integral part of Capel history. The Inn continued to be a focal point in the town; it was there that locals bought and sold their livestock, congregated, celebrated and commiserated, and where they decided the important issues of their lives. The stagecoach teams had vanished, but the coaching stables remained, the iron walls rusting, the old timbers bent and dusty, and the empty stalls smelling faintly of horse and hay. In 1962 longtime-owner Percy Payne sold it to Pope Blechynden, who was followed by son Terry and wife Kerry. They were to turn the Inn into a tavern, no longer offering a bed to weary travellers.

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