‘Haunted’ Coach and Horses Inn one for the history books

FOR years, locals have wondered about strange goings-on at this pub in Melbourne’s northwest. Now, a new book sheds light on its spooky past.

The haunting history of the Coach and Horses Inn features in a new book. Picture: Kylie Else

SEEMINGLY spooky and supernatural happenings at a heritage hotel in Clarkefield have led to the pub becoming known as one of the most haunted in the state.

The Coach and Horses Inn on Station St, a beautiful two-storey bluestone building on the border of Hume and the Macedon Ranges, was built in 1857.

The tavern’s history, from when it was a railway hotel in 1872-73, features in a book written by Scott Whitaker.

Railway Hotels of Australia ~ Volume One explores the stories of Victoria’s 185 railway hotels.

“It’s more of a social history book, rather than a book about railways or trains,” Mr Whitaker said.

The book details how the Coach and Horses Inn was renamed the Lancefield Hotel in 1873, then became the Clarkefield Hotel.

Mr Whitaker said before morgues and police stations were built, if a dead body was discovered in a country town, hotels would have to keep the corpse in a cool room.

While it is unknown whether past owners of Coach and Horses Inn ever had to undertake this grisly task, the hotel is known for unexplained and creepy incidents.

Current licensee Gus Holland said since starting at the hotel 14 months ago he was yet to see a spectre, but that many “ghost specialists” had visited the pub.

“They seem to think there’s something around,” he said.

Scott Whitaker says the hotel may have been used to store corpses. Picture: Kylie Else

Paul Levey, the hotel’s longest serving publican, ran the business with his partner Michele East for almost a decade until April last year.

Mr Levey said the ghosts who are said to haunt the hotel include a Chinese man who was hung in the stables after a fight.

“Apparently an Irishman was shot out the front of the hotel too, who knows if they’re folk tales or not?” Mr Levey said.

HAVE YOUR SAY: Do you know of spooky stories from this or other old pubs? Tell us below.

The ghost of the Irishman, a goldminer named Patrick Reagan who was robbed and killed, was reported to run up the stairs at the hotel as if trying to escape from attackers.

Mr Levey said locals would sometimes joke that the hotel’s ghosts must have been quite fond of him.

“It was our little claim to fame out there, the locals would say others didn’t last long — a couple of other owners were apparently pushed down stairs — but they thought the ghosts liked us,” he said.

Whitaker’s book features railway hotels from across the country. Picture: Kylie Else

Ms East said the hotel’s most well-known ghost was a child aged about eight to 10, who was reputed to have been killed before her body was found in a nearby well.

“She’s friendly, she just wants to play,” Ms East said.

She said children who visited the hotel with their families would often report seeing or hearing a little girl crying in the toilets.

Another time, Ms East heard a man’s voice calling her name in the hotel, although there was no one else there.

In 2000, the Herald Sun interviewed Don and Judy Buzmer who took over the inn in the early 1980s.

They put the hotel back on the market after guests reported hearing footsteps at night, paintings “flying about” and the apparition of a girl.

In the same decade, a documentary, Haunted, interviewed Frank Nelson, who ran the pub until 1985.

Originally sceptical, Mr Nelson was once in bed when he heard bottles and glasses rattling at about 2am.

He went downstairs to check, then felt a “cold draught” before he felt an unseen force try to push him down the stairs.

Mr Nelson’s foot shattered in three places and he was on crutches for seven months.

He said he would hear his name called out two or three times every week, and when he went to check for visitors to the hotel, there would be no-one there.

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Pub cook Graham Fairley told the documentary makers that he once saw the face of a man on a tree outside the pub window.

Mr Fairley said the face remained still no matter which way the wind blew.

He also experienced cold mists in the hotel’s kitchen and animals “going berserk” for no reason.

Ian Ross, another chef who heard a mysterious bang one night, saw a bright figure moving across the room after going upstairs to investigate.

Whether the hotel is actually haunted or not remains a mystery to those people who have never spotted a spirit there.

But one thing is for sure — the Coach and Horses Inn is an impressive reminder of days gone by with a fascinating past.

See facebook.com/clarkefieldhotel/# or railwayhotelsofaustralia.com.au/books for more details.