Hobart’s Hope and Anchor and New Norfolk’s Bush Inn in shouting match over ‘oldest pub’ title

A BARNY is brewing over the title of Tasmania’s oldest pub.

A BARNY is brewing over the title of Tasmania’s oldest pub.

Hobart’s Hope and Anchor has reaffirmed its claim to the crown, recently reopening after a six-year closure.

But the Bush Inn’s Don Smith says his New Norfolk pub. opened in 1815 and first licensed in 1825, should take the title after almost 200 years of continuous service.

Mr Smith, who took over the Bush Inn 2½ years ago, said the Hope and Anchor had had many incarnations and periods of closure.

“I can’t see how they could call themselves continuous,” he said. “In my books, you don’t get to call yourself the oldest any more.”

But the Hope and Anchor’s new operator, Glen Millhouse, said the title of Tasmania’s oldest pub was rightfully his.

“[The former owner] Gunter Jaeger kept the licence going, even though it was shut,” Mr Millhouse said. “It’s been lic­ensed since 1807, continually.”

“It doesn’t matter if it was closed for six days or six years, it was licensed the whole time.”

Mr Millhouse said the title of oldest pub was always contentious, but the Hope and Anchor was the one.

“It’s written on the walls out there that it’s Australia’s oldest licensed hotel,’’ he said.

But Bothwell’s Castle Hotel owner Dennis Bell said the fact the Hope and Anchor had been closed for so long weakened its claim.

The Castle Hotel, the third oldest in the state, has been ­continuously licensed and ­operated since it opened in 1829.

The oldest licence still trading in Australia was issued to the Woolpack Hotel in Parramatta, NSW, in 1796.