Chef Jamie Shepley explores the hidden cellar beneath the Prince of Wales Hotel. Photo: Chris Roe.
Wagga restaurateur Jamie Shepley had no idea what lay beneath as he began renovations on the former Barter’s Restaurant at the Prince of Wales Hotel on the corner of Kincaid and Fitzmaurice streets.
Jamie, the well known Riverina chef behind Mr. Lawrence, HIDE Steak & Bar and Food I Am, is aiming to open his new dining venue in the historic hotel in late March.
“I’ve been a chef for over 20 years now and when I first came to Wagga, it was a bit of a culinary wasteland,” he said.
“I’ve been trying to improve the food scene and trying to increase tourism and the opportunity came up for me and a couple of partners to take on the Prince of Wales.
“Obviously it’s a beautiful building and there’s a market for hotels and accommodation in Wagga and then there’s the opportunity for me to open another restaurant.”
The secret staircase was hidden for decades beneath wood, steel and carpet. Photo: Supplied.
Jamie had just begun renovations on the old restaurant when he heard rumours of a hidden wine cellar.
“The previous owners mentioned that they thought there was something downstairs but it was all carpeted and they had never opened it,” he explained.
“Under the carpet, there was a big metal plate and then another wooden cover over the top of the hole as well and they were concerned that it would be horrible down there.
“But for us, we were excited about it and the first thing we did when we got in was to rip that carpet up and see what was down there.”
The team peeled back the carpet, removed the covers and were amazed to find a little room frozen in time.
“There was a spiral staircase going down and inside it was a small space but it was beautiful and clean, no pests, and just these beautiful old stone walls and an uneven brick floor,” he said.
“It was so exciting; it was just like hunting for treasure and I think it’s way too cool to just cover it back over.”
Finally, the mystery of the extra light switch has been solved. Photo: Supplied.
The cast iron spiral staircase remained in good condition and parts of the rail were found stored inside but, sadly, there were no forgotten bottles of wine or whiskey.
“It seems that it had been operational in modern times because there was some electricity down there,” Jamie explained.
“There were some old gas lanterns that had been restored and had bulbs in them and when I told them upstairs someone said, ‘There’s a switch over here that nobody knows what it’s for’, so they turned the switch on and the lights came on!
“People would have been flicking that switch on and off for years, wondering what it does and all the time, the lights are going on and off downstairs.”
The original Prince of Wales Hotel was built in 1865 and the remnants of an old brick staircase leading towards the street remain.
“I guess that was where they rolled in the beer barrels back in the day,” Jamie said.
“I hoped for a minute that it might be an old tunnel. That would be cool!”
The old hurricane lanterns remain connected to the power. Photo: Chris Roe.
While the tight space and narrow stairs make it unlikely that the room could be used for dining, Jamie said they were working out a plan to once again stock the cellar and make it a feature of the revamped space.
“We definitely want to utilise it and I have been speaking to a few people that dined here back in the 80s and they said that the spiral staircase was actually open and people would go down there and choose their wine,” he said.
“We’re doing the renovations and giving it a bit of an old library feel in there, so it will be a really beautiful space with the high ceilings and we’ve got some old sketches and menus and things that we want to display.
“I’m really excited about what we can do with this beautiful old building.”
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