Heritage Information

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Enoggera State School

Key details

Addresses At 239 South Pine Road, Enoggera, Queensland 4051

Type of place State school

Period World War I 1914-1918

Style Bungalow

Lot plan L1052_SP137336

Key dates Local Heritage Place Since — 1 July 2005 Date of Information — January 2005

Construction Roof: Corrugated iron; Walls: Timber

Date of Information — January 2005 Page 1 People/associations Thomas Pye (Architect)

Criterion for listing (A) Historical; (B) Rarity; (D) Representative; (G) Social

Enoggera State School was opened in 1871 after local residents lobbied for the erection of a permanent school in the area. The oldest school building on the site today, built in 1916, was constructed after the original timber classrooms were deemed insufficient to accommodate the 200 or so students attending the school by that time. The new building was designed in such a way as to allow for future extensions to accommodate the expected growth of the school. The 1870s buildings were later removed from the site and the original school building is now part of the Enoggera Memorial Hall in Wardell Street.

History

In September 1870 a public meeting at the Enoggera Hotel (now the Alderley Arms) resolved to raise subscriptions and lobby the Board of Education for the establishment of a state school at Enoggera. Two single acre blocks of land were donated by Mr T. Corbett and Mr J. Mooney, and after further fund raising tenders were called for the new school in May 1871. The school opened in September of 1871 with an enrolment of 26 children, a number which rapidly grew during the year. At the end of the first year, there were 56 students on the roll.

The first school house was a single roomed hardwood weatherboard building with a verandah on each side. The teachers’ residence was 20 feet square, with slab lean-to kitchen attached at the back. However, by 1876 the school inspector could report that a new, detached kitchen with servant’s room had recently been completed. The school was extended in 1885 by the addition of another room. However, by the 1910s this accommodation was evidently not sufficient for the 200 or so pupils enrolled, and in 1915 plans for a new school were approved by Alfred Barton Brady, Government Architect. It is likely that the building was designed by Thomas Pye, Deputy Government Architect.

This new building, still standing today with subsequent extensions, was an L-shaped timber building, with diagonally placed rooms (possible teachers’ or storage rooms) projecting from the internal corners. The original plans provided for further additions to form a U-shaped building when more classrooms were needed. The new school was opened in October 1916, and the old school building was occupied by the Enoggera School of Arts for the next decade. In 1925 the School of Arts removed this building to its present site, at the rear of the Memorial Hall in Wardell Street. The teacher’s residence seems to have been removed sometime before 1953.

Statement of significance

Date of Information — January 2005 Page 2 Relevant assessment criteria

This is a place of local heritage significance and meets one or more of the local heritage criteria under the Heritage planning scheme policy of the Brisbane City Plan 2014. It is significant because:

Historical CRITERION A

The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of the city's or local area’s history as an 1870s state school that expanded in line with the residential growth and development of Enoggera in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Rarity CRITERION B

The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of the city’s or local area’s cultural heritage as a relatively rare, surviving example of a pre-1920s timber school building in Brisbane.

Representative CRITERION D

The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class or classes of cultural places as a relatively intact example of the type of timber state school buildings erected in Brisbane in the early twentieth century.

Social CRITERION G

The place has a strong or special association with the life or work of a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons as a place of education for generation of local residents since the 1870s.

Date of Information — January 2005 Page 3 References

1. Detail plan 1559, 29 December 1953 2. Education Department history files: Enoggera State School, School Inspector’s report on the grounds & buildings of the Enoggera School, 26 May 1876 3. Centenary: Enoggera State School 1871-1971, Enoggera State School Centenary Celebrations Committee 4. Enoggera State School celebrating 125 years, 1871-1996, ?1996 5. Information from the Enoggera & Districts Historical Society 6. Donald Watson & Judith McKay, Queensland architects of the nineteenth century, Queensland Museum, South Brisbane, 1994, pp. 20-1, 149-50

Copyright Brisbane City Council

Note: This information has been prepared on the basis of evidence available at the time including an external examination of the building. The statement of significance is a summary of the most culturally important aspects of the property based on the available evidence, and may be re-assessed if further information becomes available. The purpose of this information is to provide an informed evaluation for heritage registration and information. This does not negate the necessity for a thorough conservation study by a qualified practitioner, before any action is taken which may affect its heritage significance.

Information prepared by — Brisbane City Council (page revised April 2021)

Date of Information — January 2005 Page 4