Inspiration
Mel Gibson
He was, according to Mel Gibson, someone he first encountered “when I was a youngster of 20-odd and I used to go out with my buddies and we’d have a few beers and play pool and tell lies. The place we used to frequent was called the William Wallace Hotel and it had a painting of a hairy guy over the bar. I thought he was just the dead former piano player. So that was what I knew of William Wallace before this.”
Extract from an interview with Mel Gibson
History of the Sir William Wallace Hotel
Established in 1879, the Sir William Wallace Hotel was but one of a number of buildings which formed an integral part of the ship-building and industrial history of the local area. The close proximity to Balmain’s thriving docks ensured strong patronage which, in spite of the gentrification of the area, continues to this day.
The pub is a heritage-listed building of local significance built in the Victorian Filligree style. It is a two storeyed corner hotel with a panelled lace upper verandah, timber posts to street and iron lace ballustrades, and is a rare example of a hotel still in its original state.
Named after the 13th Century Scottish knight, Sir William Wallace, the pub has been used as a location for several Australian television shows and films.