The Black Snake Inn
The Black Snake Inn stands proud overlooking the River Derwent and was one of Australia’s first ferry inns providing a place for travellers crossing the river to find refreshments. This historic building and landmark is the lasting legacy of English convict William Presnell and his son-in-law George William Robinson.
The Black Snake Inn was not always the Victorian rustic Gothic style building that it is today.
There were two prior buildings on the site, the first constructed by Richard Burrows, a former convict who received a land grant in 1813.
Burrows built a rough bush house and established a ferry business here to transport passengers across the River Derwent. The land was then purchased by William Presnell and by 1822 William’s son Thomas received a licence to sell beer in the ‘Half-way House’ (to be the Black Snake Inn). It is unclear if this was the house built by Burrows or a new structure.
At this time Black Snake, a colonial settlement, was well established and records showed the local school to have 23 children enrolled.
Construction of the Causeway started in 1830 and was completed in 1836.
By 1849 the first timber construction road bridge was completed and just under thirty years later a second swing span rail bridge was completed adjacent to the road bridge. Construction on a combined road and rail bridge that featured an operational lifting span started in 1933 and was opened in 1946 with road and rail traffic using the same structure for the first time.
For 140 years rail services used the bridge to cross the River Derwent, until 2014 when trains transporting goods to Hobart were no longer required.
In 1826, William Presnell’s brother Thomas Snr was operating the Blake Snake Ferry and had claimed ownership of the Black Snake Farm. The ‘Half-way House’ reopened its doors as the Black Snake Inn in 1827 with the Presnell family holding the licence for the following six years.
The second building (‘The New House’) was built from local stone in the American Gothic style with convict labour.
‘The New house, Black Snake’ was opened in 1833 by William Presnell’s daughter Elizabeth and American son-in-law George Robinson, and soon after reverted to the original name of The Black Snake Inn.
Being situated close to crossing point of the River Derwent, the Black Snake Inn saw many explorers, adventurers and visitors walk through its doors and it is rumoured in 1836, Charles Darwin may have stopped to enjoy a meal at the Black Snake Inn while exploring the River Derwent terrain during his global voyage.
In 1835, the license was sold and passed through many hands, until in 1857, a fire destroyed the building making way for the third and final building on the site in the Victorian rustic Gothic style we know today. The Black Snake Inn looks to have ceased operation in 1883. After this period the building was renamed ‘Ardilea’ c.1888 by David Hamilton Hughes who left permanently for England in 1892 never returning to Australia. After this time, the house served as a female convalescent home, a farmhouse, a roadhouse and most recently purchased by the Department of State Growth, to be resold following the completion of the New Bridgewater Bridge Project.
References
- Curio Projects. 2024. Heritage interpretation strategy, New Bridgewater Bridge Project.
- Hewett. R. 2021. Historic Black Snake Inn near Hobart on market for first time in half a century. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-02/black-snake-inn-on-market-first-time-80-years/100259880
- D.K. Cerchi. 2019. The Black Snake Inn – A Brief History Purcell. 2021. New Bridgewater Statement of Heritage Impact.