The Devonshire Arms Hotel is a former

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

located at 38 Fitzroy Street, Fitzroy, in the state of Victoria, Australia. It operated as a hotel from 1843 to 1920. It is Fitzroy's oldest surviving building and Melbourne's oldest known extant hotel. The Devonshire Arms Hotel opened in 1843. The hotel was erected and owned for 50 years by local entrepreneur Francis Clark. Clark had arrived in Melbourne in 1840, and became manager of James Palmer's lemonade and soda factory. He opened a butcher's shop near the corner of

Bourke Street Bourke Street is one of the main streets in the Melbourne central business district and a core feature of the Hoddle Grid. It was traditionally the entertainment hub of inner-city Melbourne, and is now also a popular tourist destination and tr ...

and Elizabeth Street in 1845, and later another shop in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

. He bought speculative property around Fitzroy and Alphington, and lived a prosperous life. Although he hailed from

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, the hotel was given the name Devonshire Arms, owing to the pre-goldrush population of the area being principally from the south-west of England. It was one of 27 Melbourne hotels forced to close by a July 1920 meeting of the Licensing Reduction Board, formally being delicensed in December that year. The building was raided by police in January 1921, who seized alcohol and laid charges for selling liquor without a license, but the charges were dismissed. The building later operated as a hostel. The building is now part of St Vincent's Hospital, housing the hospital's Department of Addiction Medicine. The site is listed on the

Victorian Heritage Register The Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) lists places deemed to be of cultural heritage significance to the State of Victoria, Australia. It has statutory weight under the Heritage Act 2017. The Minister for Planning is the responsible Minister. ...

and is included a Heritage Overlay.

References

{{Pubs in Melbourne Heritage sites in Melbourne Heritage-listed buildings in Melbourne Pubs in Melbourne Hotel buildings completed in 1843 1843 establishments in Australia Hotels established in 1843 Fitzroy, Victoria Former pubs in Australia Buildings and structures in the City of Yarra