Bank Pl
By Chris Hawthorne • Dec 14th, 2008 • Section: Laneways
From its dignified bluestone pavement to its antiquated nineteenth century buildings, Bank Pl is perhaps Melbourne’s most handsome laneway. In fact, it’s so impressive, so beautiful, that’d you be forgiven for thinking you’ve just rounded the corner into Europe.
There’s the lamp posts – standing in a neat row, forged from elegant iron and entwined with peeling gold laurels – the beautiful Charter House – its title engraved carefully above the majestic building’s entrance – and plenty of places to sit underneath whispering plane trees as you watch the business crowd pour in for after-work drinks.
Undoubtedly, Bank Pl’s most spectacular feature is its pub – the Mitre Tavern. Situated on Mitre La – one of Bank Pl’s many cul-de-sacs – it’s a tidy, double-story, English-style drinking hole that sits underneath the looming resplendence of Collins Street’s prominent buildings.
The date of its construction is unclear, though it was at least prior to 1850, apparently. Officially, the pub was coined ‘The Mitre Tavern’ in 1867, and has been serving beer and food ever since. According to its menu, it’s the oldest building in Melbourne – which makes drinking in the large beer garden a reflective affair, as one imagines what the pub has seen as Melbourne rose from the ground around it.
Up the lane, there’re some apartments (the residents of which have decorated the steel stairs appended with splashes of green plants), an underground bar called Marakech, and a decent café on the corner that’s worth it just for the chance to have a coffee in the lane outside.
For true Melbourne grandeur, nothing beats Bank Pl.
Reviewed: December 2008.
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