History

The first European family to settle in the area was the Prebble family. Richard and William, who had come to New Zealand in 1840 with their parents, purchased the first piece of land when it was surveyed in 1852.They were later joined by a younger brother Edward. The area was known as Prebble Town for some years before it became Prebbleton. As more land was surveyed more settlers, mainly from England but also Ireland, arrived to farm the land which proved to be very fertile once cleared and ploughed.

The hotel was established in 1868. Edward Prebble set up a bottle store in one part of his store. When that part of his business became the most profitable the store was changed into the hotel.  Edward also farmed in the area calling his farm Ashford, after the village in Kent where the family had lived.The old hotel was burned down about 1900 and the new one was built on the same site.

THE GILMORES

The site was purchased by Marie and Merwyn Gilmore in 1970 and major renovations were made by the Gilmores mostly during the 1970s and their pioneering decades of ownership. These included the first dance bar in Christchurch on the first floor of the building with cutting edge systems and ideas from New York, hosting DJ music and bands complete with purple shag pile carpet, rainbow murals, foil ceilings and light walls proving a hit with punters. This was known as the Top room and in later years the Crows nest. When the Gilmores first purchased the Tavern one of the first things they did was paint the building purple with orange trim which certainly shocked the very traditional operators in the industry at the time. They didn’t stop there opening the regions first cut price bottle store with customers coming across town to save 20p on a bottle of gin. Its was so popular that stock was selling off the back of the delivery truck in the carpark. Perhaps the biggest addition the Gilmores made was the Tack and Harness Family Restaurant. This was an instant hit fast growing its trade to 700 covers a night during its most popular years. The public bar space was renovated during the 1990s with tower and conservatory extensions being completed and opened by the then Finance Minister Ruth Richardson. The bar design itself was one of first of its kind in the country coming out into the bar as an island and again was a bold move but proved popular. Marie Gilmore was an active member of the Prebbleton Environmental Assoc known as Sweat Pea which later become the Prebbleton Community association. The Gilmores were instrumental in the formation of the Prebbleton Football Club in 2004 and have supported and hosted countless local groups and locals over the years and feel honored to have been part of such a vibrant community. To meet the needs of the growing community the Gilmores designed and consented a Village Square concept for the greater site which is slowly taking shape with a medical center and mixed retail space planned that will complement the Tavern operation. Possibly the longest serving publicans and owner operators in the New Zealand. Marie and Merwyn Gilmore retired as publicans in 2024 with fond memories of their time and worked with the Inkster Company to continue their legacy at the Tavern. Monday Sept 9 2024 the Inkster Company leased the Tavern and began trading as the Prebbleton Hotel. The Inkster Company are passionate about hospitality and heritage and are the perfect fit to continue this pubs amazing story.

Prebbleton Village itself was formed when John Norris Tosswill subdivided his large farm to form a settlement in 1862. A chapel school was built on the land donated by Tosswill but became too small and was sold and moved to Longbeach (still used there today). A new school was built and also a church – All Saints Anglican Church – was built by Benjamin Mountfort.