Berrima Inn

Berrima is the second oldest (European) settlement in Wingecarribee Shire and the oldest continuing settlement in the shire. The first town settlement in the district was in 1821 at Bong Bong, 8km south-east of Berrima on the Wingecarribee River.[1]

The site of Berrima was selected by Surveyor General Sir Thomas Mitchell in 1829 on a visit planning the route for a new road alignment from Sydney to replace the old Argyle Road, which had proven unsatisfactory due to a steep hill climb over the Mittagong Range and river crossing at Bong Bong. In 1830 Mitchell instructed Robert Hoddle to mark out the town based on a plan Mitchell's office prepared, along the lines of a traditional English village (with a central market place and as many blocks as possible facing onto the WIngecarribee River), and using the local Aboriginal name. The new line of road came through the town. Berrima was to be established as the commercial and administrative centre for the County of Camden.[1]

In 1832, Bryan McMahon (occasionally recorded as McMahon) received one of the first land grants in Berrima, when he was granted title to the property containing both the Coach and Horses Inn and Berrima Inn (also known as McMahon's Inn) sites at the corner of Bryan and Jellore Streets.[2] McMahon had previously been an innkeeper at Sutton Forest. The Berrima Inn was one of the first inns to operate in Berrima, along with the Surveyor-General Inn and the Mail Coach Inn.[1]

By 1834 McMahon had erected a purpose built inn of simple face brick with traditional colonial 12 pane windows and hipped roof in traditional Colonial Georgian cottage style. A verandah supported on squared posts faced the street frontage.[3] This inn was issued the first Inn licence in Berrima in 1834 which continued to run until 1848 when it became the residence for Brian McMahon and his family, two years before McMahon died.[3][1]

Bryan Patrick McMahon (son of Bryan) had inherited Lots 1 & 2 Section 2 and in 1862 sold both lots containing the original Berrima Inn and the stone and brick building to Francis Breen from the Commercial Inn.[4] Governor Bourke executed the inn's land grant in 1862, transferring it to Francis Breen, innkeeper. Breen was already a previous innkeeper having owned Breen's Commercial Hotel in Berrima in 1840 (since renamed the Colonial Inn, the Old Breen's restaurant and currently named "Eschalot" restaurant).[1]

The Berrima Inn remained a private residence from its sale to Breen in 1862 until the 1990s when it became a retail outlet for crafts. Since 1990 it has oscillated between a commercial restaurant/cafe and private residence.[1]

In 2005 it was converted back from the Bantam Cafe to a private residence.[3][1]

The original inn building and a simple two car garage are the only buildings on this site. The property retains its relationship with Jellore Street and the Wingecarribee River to the north.[3][1]

The inn is a simple face brick construction built by 1834 as a purpose-built inn. It has traditional colonial 12 pane windows and a hipped roof in Colonial Georgian cottage style. A verandah supported on squared posts faced the street frontage. An extension to mirror the original was later added.[1]

Berrima Inn was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.[1]