Doyles Well – an oasis in the desert

DOYLES WELL – originally called – CUTMORE’S WELL.
Located between Leonora and Agnew and near the Turkey and Wilson Creeks. A Wayside in and coaching stop. In 1903 there was a coach service from Leonora on three days a week. There were stockmen working for the stagecoach lines stationed there until at least about 1912.
The first reports of gold in the area were made in January 1893 by E. BOWDEN and L. SULLIVAN, but the well was probably dug as a water supply for William CUTMORE, Jack DOYLE and John LEYLAND who were in the district prospecting for gold in what was known as the Diorite area in late 1894. By 1895 the name Doyles Well seems to have won out and in December 1896 the 5,000 acre reserve for travelers and stock was created around the well to serve the traffic to the gold fields to the north. In December 1912 Jack DOYLE perished from thirst within thirteen kilometres of Doyles Well.

Mt. Leonora Miner 23 September 1899, page 3

It was a place for rest an recreation,  but the date of establishment is not certain. Certainly in July 1896, Richard LEVINGE, applied for a Wayside Inn license, but this may not have been granted. The earliest known successful licence was for 1898 in the name of John HOLEHAN trading as the Doyles Well Hotel.

The business continued trading under several managers until about 1944/45 when the licence was suspended. The license was re-issued in 1947 and the business continued to trade until it was surrendered in 1950. At one time DOYLES WELL was apparently the source of supply for several illicit inns in the settlements to it’s north. The configuration of the original buildings is not certain, but by about the early 1900’s there was thought to have been a bar, six bedrooms, a sitting room, a dining room and a kitchen. The building was in a perelous state by about 1937 and the new manager, Angelo POLETTI, had it pulled it down and erected a mud brick structure with a bar, four bedrooms a dining room, plus the managers rooms. Under his stewardship which lasted until about
1943 there was a swimming pool, electric lighting plant, skating rink, four tennis courts, a bowling alley and a large bough shed added. There was also a big sports oval alongside and two large windmills for the water supply

Doyles Well Hotel 1935

Advertisement – 1938

Daily News Wednesday 5 June 1946, page 2

About 37 miles north-west of Leonora is Doyle’s Well. Apart from the well, it boasts by way of settlement but one tin shanty — the now abandoned Doyle’s Well Hotel upon which outback settlers relied for stores as well as drink. In this desolate spot there was ample water as well as beer. The well also filled a concrete swimming pool, eagerly patronised by hot and dusty travelers, In this water also thrived Angelo Poletti’s juicy young frogs. Regularly at dinner table he would order a whisky and water, excuse himself and return to the table with a struggling frog snatched from the swimming pool water. Holding it by one of its legs he would toss it into his mouth and swallow it whole as others do with oysters, following it with a whisky and water chaser.

A bough Shelter Doyles Well 1938

DOYLE’S WELL
Wayside Inn Licence
PLACE NOW LOOKING BEST FOR YEARS

A wayside inn licence for Doyle’s Well, effective March 17, has been granted to Mr. Stanley Milbank, who has taken over the inn at Doyle’s Well, 36 miles north of here on the Lawlers to Agnew road. Mr and Mrs Milbank are making the hostel self supporting in an effort to revert to pre war conditions.
This week they planted the seeds of 500 cabbages and 250 lettuce, imported from Perth. They plan to grow many other vegetables and fruits. In addition, they intend catering for meals for travelers on the Leonora-Agnew run. When they took over the inn last year, after a period of wartime idleness, flocks of galahs at first disputed ownership of the place, uprooting all the seedlings planted by Mr. Milbank. With six months occupancy by the Milbanks, the galahs, which still abound in the area, have accepted the new owners, and are not now troublesome.

Doyle’s Well Hotel (date unknown) possibly 1940’s

The frightened bulging eyes of his victims left him unmoved. Nor did he suffer any pangs of indigestion, according to travelers who have frequently witnessed this frog cocktailing at Doyle’s Well. Mr Frank Poletti, father of Angelo, is in a green grocery business in Leonora, and has some racehorses in Perth. He says he has eaten live frogs himself in Italy in his youth. But of his three sons and two daughters, Angelo is the only one who is now still fond of frogs. Today at Doyle’s Well there is no beer, no stores and the swimming pool Is no longer fit for use by passing travelers. But, for those who wish to pause and look, there may still be seen playing by the well frogs which have only the war to thank that they are still alive.

Responding to the recent rains, which broke a four year drought, the place is looking a picture, grass in many places being two feet high. The swimming pool has been cleaned out and has been used quite a bit recently by visitors from Agnew and Leonora. The cement basin is holding water well. Mr Milbank is now arranging for electric light to be restored to the Inn. He plans to have the swimming pool electrically lit again for next summer. Doyle’s Well itself, which has never been known to go dry, is yielding excellent water.

Doyle’s Hotel photo courtesy Joan Pearce