Nepean District Historical Society

The Nepean District Historical Society

In 1924 a meeting was held in Penrith by Arthur Judges who saw the benefits of keeping items of Australian history alive for future generations.
At the meeting a resolution was passed to form the Nepean District Historical Society. Another meeting was reported to elect the office bearers,but after that there is no further knowledge of this group.
The society was officially re-established the 12th of August 1947. It continued to operate from the private homes of members until 1971 when it was granted use of the old Arms of Australia Inn building that had been left in disrepair.
Five years later, after extensive restoration and hard work, the society relocated to the inn and it has been the headquarters of the society ever since. The society collects information, photos and artefacts that were used, or relate to, the local Penrith and Nepean district.

The society meets on the fourth Saturday of each month at the museum at 1pm for general business and generally has a guest speaker.

Member activities include historical tours, a monthly newsletter which can be down loaded on the publications page, social functions and displays. There is also the opportunity to learn about and participate in the history of the area.

For more information please call the Inn on (02) 4735 4394 during opening hours.

History of the Arms of Australia Inn Museum

The Arms of Australia Inn was one of 23 road side inns in the Nepean District and the last stop before starting up the mountain road and the trail west.
It is believed that the building was built in two sections, the first around 1826 and was purchased on 1st May 1833 by Joseph Barrow Montefiore. He later split the land in two in 1840 and sold half to John Mortimer, who commenced trading as an inn on the main road to Bathurst, Orange and the gold diggings.

Passenger Coaches
The coaches that plied the road day and night also used to stop at the inn as did many bullock team drivers taking stock and provisions over the mountains. As the inn only had two main rooms, most overnight travellers had to sleep in the barn, on the veranda or under their wagons.
A year later the laws were changed and Inns had to have separate rooms for ‘Ladies and Children’. Mortimer added four additional rooms for bedrooms.

Bushrangers
As bushrangers were a great problem in the area, the Arms and a second inn at the top of the hill at Glenbrook had a system to warn travellers if bushrangers were about. This was accomplished by the Glenbrook inn hanging a lantern on their building which was visible to the Arms. If the lantern was burning, the road was clear, but if it was not, the stagecoach drivers and other travellers would spend the night at the Arms and continue on in daylight. The Inn continued to prosper till the 1860s, when the rail line came through. People began to use the train instead of going by road and trade died off.
The inn was sold in 1865 and became a private house for the next hundred years, when it was sold to Lucas & Tait for subdivision.

Restoration
In 1972, rather than have the building demolished the Nepean District Historical Society asked the Penrith City Council to purchase the site, which they did.
The society took control of the building and began the slow work of restoration until it was officially opened on 27th March 1976 as a museum of local history for the Nepean district.