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FORMER WATTLE HILL HOTEL
5 MOONLIGHT HEAD ROAD WATTLE HILL, CORANGAMITE SHIRE

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Victorian Heritage Register
1 former wattle hill hotel lavers hill front view april 1994
1 former wattle hill hotel lavers hill front view april 1994
1 former wattle hill hotel lavers hill front view april 1994
former wattle hill hotel lavers hill side view & chimney april 1994
former wattle hill hotel lavers hill front corner april 1987
former wattle hill hotel lavers hill rear view april 1987
former wattle hill hotel lavers hill plan
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Statement of Significance

Built in 1903 for Mr Harty to a design by architect Joe Bickley of Panmure using funds generated by a gambling win on the Melbourne Cup, the Wattle Hill Hotel was located on the coach route which ran from the railway terminus at Lavers Hill.

At the turn of the century there were many small farms which dotted the Otway Ranges leading down to the lower Gellibrand River for which the hotel served as a community centre performing a range of functions.

Over the years unprofitable farms were abandoned. In 1926 WB Moore purchased the hotel with 288 acres of land and further grazing leases. In 1927 the hotel was de-licensed but continued to operate. It survived bushfires in the mid 1920s and 1939 which burnt out the Lavers Hill and Beech Forest hotels and it remains as one of the few remains of the timber and farming push into the southern Otway Ranges.

Today the former hotel remains remarkably intact with bar, seats and shelving remaining in the public and lounge bars, the 1920s kitchen and scullery and bedrooms are largely unaltered. A visit to this former hotel provides a special insight into the way of life in this late settled region of Victoria.

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    • Permit Exemptions

      FORMER WATTLE HILL HOTEL - Permit Exemptions

      General Exemptions:

      General exemptions apply to all places and objects included in the Victorian Heritage Register (VHR). General exemptions have been designed to allow everyday activities, maintenance and changes to your property, which don’t harm its cultural heritage significance, to proceed without the need to obtain approvals under the Heritage Act 2017.

      Places of worship: In some circumstances, you can alter a place of worship to accommodate religious practices without a permit, but you must notify the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria before you start the works or activities at least 20 business days before the works or activities are to commence.

      Subdivision/consolidation: Permit exemptions exist for some subdivisions and consolidations. If the subdivision or consolidation is in accordance with a planning permit granted under Part 4 of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 and the application for the planning permit was referred to the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria as a determining referral authority, a permit is not required.

      Specific exemptions may also apply to your registered place or object. If applicable, these are listed below. Specific exemptions are tailored to the conservation and management needs of an individual registered place or object and set out works and activities that are exempt from the requirements of a permit. Specific exemptions prevail if they conflict with general exemptions.

      Find out more about heritage permit exemptions here.

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