The original hotel was a single storey timber structure built for William Currie in 1829. The Bluebell Inn became a an important meeting place in Sorell with a number of important public meetings taking place there up until it's destruction by fire in 1863. Following the fire, William Gard replaced the destroyed timber building with a substantial stone Georgian hotel comprising two levels that occupied a prominent location in what was originally the main street.
The building had high quality stonework with very fine stone detailing around the ground floor windows. The building has a deep pitched roof and also has a basement which is accessed by a cellar door at street level for ease of loading. The structure also included a ballroom.
The Inn remained a licenced premises until 1907 with John Dore holding the last licence. Subsequently, the property's ballroom was used as a drill hall during World War 1. By 1919, the property was in use as an influenza hospital. Nurse O'Brien operated a maternity hospital on the site from 1936 until 1945. By 1996, the property appears to have been operating as a tourist accommodation facility and more recently it has operated as a bed & breakfast.
This is a very significant building in Sorell because of its various uses over its long history relating to the development of the town and for its location at the centre of the major civic area of the early township of Sorell.
Main Text & Information -
Sorell Heritage Study - Site Inventory Vol 6 - Sorell Municipal Council 1996
