Norman Park State School is a heritage-listed state school at 68–88 Agnew Street, Norman Park, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Department of Public Works (Queensland) and built in 1900. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 7 April 2017.
History Norman Park State School (SS) opened on its present site in 1900 due to population growth in and near the Brisbane suburb of Norman Park. The school is important in demonstrating the evolution of state education and its associated architecture. In 2017 Norman Park SS retains its core complex of five buildings: Blocks A and C (urban brick school building, 1900); Block D (open-air annexe, 1915); and Blocks B and E (Depression-era brick additions, 1934). The school grounds also retain brick and concrete retaining walls, stairs and fences (1930s, 1950s); a playing field and mature trees. The school has been in continuous operation since its establishment.
The suburb of Norman Park lies adjacent to the Brisbane River and east of Norman Creek, which was first bridged in the late 1850s. Part of the traditional lands of the Jagera and Turrbal peoples, the area was settled for farming from the 1850s, and in the 1870s it was a popular picnic spot. In 1886 the Queensland Deposit Bank and Building Society Limited purchased the land on which Norman Park SS was later built, and subdivided it as part the Norman Park Estate. Although estate subdivisions were sold off from March 1887, the suburb remained sparsely populated until the interwar period, when stormwater drainage of low-lying flood prone areas was commenced. By 1935 about 35% of land blocks were occupied.Project Services, "Norman Park State School", in Queensland Schools Heritage Study Part II Report, for Education Queensland, January 2008'Norman Creek Bridge', Moreton Bay Courier, 14 April 1858, p.2'Random sketches by a traveller through the district of East Moreton', Moreton Bay Courier, 16 February 1859, p.3DNRM Certificate of Title 10178022, 1871'Opening of the Great Northern (NSW) Railway to Tenterfield', Brisbane Courier, 20 October 1886, p.4'Clearing Norman Park', Telegraph, 25 October 1886, p.4'Brisbane exchange', Telegraph, 23 March 1887, p.4'The Norman Park Estate', Telegraph, 25 April 1887, p.4DNRM Survey Plan RP12509, 1887'Norman Park', Brisbane Courier, 16 May 1931, p.19'Norman Park', http://queenslandplaces.com.au/norman-park (accessed 2 November 2016). The streets of the estate were named after the directors of the Queensland Deposit Bank and Building Society Limited. Part of the Norman Park Estate was located east of the 1889 Cleveland railway line, south of Agnew Street.
Development of the Norman Park Estate was assisted by improvements in transport. The Cleveland railway line, opened in 1889, passed through the suburb; while the Belmont tramway, opened in 1912, branched off the Cleveland line north of the Norman Park railway station. In 1903 a replacement bridge over Norman Creek allowed a new tramline to run along Wynnum Road (then called New Cleveland Road) to a terminus east of Norman Creek. This tramline was extended towards Morningside in 1924.'The Cleveland railway. The official opening. Excursion and banquet', Brisbane Courier, 18 November 1889, p.5'Opening of the Belmont Railway', Queenslander, 1 June 1912, p.29. A platform was not built at Norman Park railway station until c.1911, and the Belmont tramway closed in 1926 ('New railway platform. Question of site', Telegraph, 3 May 1911, p.2'White elephant. Belmont Tramway. Motor Bus to replace', Daily Mail, 13 October 1926, p.8)1895 Map, 6 Chains to an Inch, Brisbane and Suburbs, McKellar. Sheet 9'Norman Creek Bridge', Brisbane Courier, 2 January 1903, p.4'Opening of Norman Creek Tramline', Brisbane Courier, 23 January 1903, p.71907 Map, 8 Chain Brisbane and Suburbs, Sheet 9'Tram extension. Morningside Route Begun', Daily Standard, 20 May 1924, p.1.
Although development of Norman Park was slow initially, there was sufficient population in the area by the late 1890s to lead to pressure for a school. At that time the nearest state schools were at Kangaroo Point State School and Bulimba State School, a considerable distance away.Queensland State Archives, Series 12607 School Files (Correspondence) for State Schools, Item 15696 "Norman Park No.926 State School" (1897-1929). The establishment of schools was considered an essential step in the development of new communities and integral to their success. Schools became a community focus, with the school community contributing to maintenance and development; a symbol of progress; and a source of pride, with enduring connections formed with past pupils, parents, and teachers.Project Services, "Mount Morgan State High School" in Queensland Schools Heritage Study Part II Report, for Education Queensland, 2008, pp.4-5Paul Burmester, Margaret Pullar and Michael Kennedy Queensland Schools: A Heritage Conservation Study, a report for the Department of Education, 1996, pp.87-8.
A Norman Park school building committee was formed at a public meeting on 11 June 1897, and an application for a state school was made on 2 September 1897. The site proposed for the new school was on "a dry ridge" between Hipwood and Agnew streets. On 9 December 1898, the Secretary for Public Instruction approved establishment of the school, so long as the site could be purchased at a reasonable price. The initial school reserve (R.872) consisted of 22 subdivisions, totalling and . The land was purchased by the Secretary for Public Instruction in early 1899 for a discounted price (£660 instead of £940), which the estate owners accepted due to the likely improvement in value of the surrounding land that a new school would bring.QSA Item 15696 "Norman Park No.926 State School" (1897-1929). Meetings of the Building Committee were apparently held in a blacksmith's forge, as no local hall existed ('Norman Park School. Opened on Saturday. Speeches on Education', Telegraph, 9 July 1900, p.3)Subs 132-148, 151-155 (DNRM Certificate of Title 10178022 1871)DNRM Survey Plan N25612, December 1899Letter from WH Parker, Manager Queensland Deposit Bank and Building Society Ltd, to F ff Swanwick (Secretary of Building Committee), 17 December 1898, in QSA Item 15696 "Norman Park No.926 State School" (1897-1929).
Instead of a standard timber school, Norman Park's school building committee requested a brick school, on the same terms as East Brisbane State School; which involved a one-sixth contribution by the community to the building cost. In April 1899 the Works Department presented estimates for the school in either brick or timber, and the building committee again chose brick. Tenders were called, and in November 1899 the tender of Charles Miller, for £2023 and 14s was accepted, with the school, a teacher's residence, fencing and gates to be completed in five months.Letter from F ff Swanwick to Under Secretary, 5 January 1899, in QSA Item 15696 "Norman Park No.926 State School" (1897-1929)'Norman Park State School', Telegraph, 20 May 1899, p.8'State schools. Tenders for buildings accepted', Telegraph, 23 November 1899, p.2.
The urban brick school building constructed at Norman Park was individually designed by the Department of Public Works. Brick school buildings were far less frequently built than timber ones, being only provided in prosperous urban or suburban areas with stable or rapidly-increasing populations. All brick school buildings were individually designed with variations in style, size, and form, but generally retained similar classroom sizes, layouts and window arrangements to timber schools to facilitate natural light and ventilation. However, compared to contemporary standard education buildings, these buildings had a grander character and greater landmark attributes.Burmester et al, Queensland Schools: A Heritage Conservation Study, pp.18, 99QSA, Item ID 13693, Deputy Govt Architect, "Preliminary Estimate of Modified Plan - New State School Ascot", 9 May 1919.
As shown on an April 1899 plan, the urban brick school building comprised two blocks (Blocks A and C in 2017) linked at right angles, with a third, unbuilt block intended to complete a U-shaped arrangement in future. Each block contained a single large classroom, , with wide verandahs on each side. A hat/cloak room and teachers room, both measuring by , projected towards Agnew Street off the southeast block's verandah, with entrance stairs on either side. The open understory had space for play areas, tanks and lavatories. The completed school could accommodate 305 pupils, with 120 in each classroom; 50 on the L-shaped verandah, and 15 in the teachers room.Plan, "Norman Park Proposed State School", 27 April 1899, in QSA Item 15696 "Norman Park No.926 State School" (1897-1929). The space under the school was initially 9ft 6 inches (2.9m) high ('Norman Park School. Opened on Saturday. Speeches on Education', Telegraph, 9 July 1900, p.3).
Externally, the red, face brick walls were relieved by light brick banding and dark brick arches and lintels. Verandahs and landings were of timber and protected by lattice screens. Windows were generally pivot-hung sash windows, with those to the teachers room and hat room sheltered by hoods with decorative timber struts. The gabled and hipped roofs were sheeted with corrugated iron and had ventilation fleches. According to the Public Works Annual Report of 1901 the school was constructed on similar lines to New Farm and East Brisbane state schools.Project Services, "Norman Park State School", in Queensland Schools Heritage Study Part II ReportAnnual Report of the Department of Public Works for the Year 1900-1901, Queensland Government Printer, 1901, p.4'Norman Park State School', Telegraph, 11 March 1899, p.2.
A school residence was located in the centre of the school grounds, facing Hipwood Street, backing onto two unpurchased subdivisions facing Agnew Street. This meant that the school grounds were effectively cut in half. Boys and girls toilets were located alongside the northwest boundary of the school, behind the classrooms.'Norman Park State School, site plan', 27 April 1899, in QSA Item 15696 "Norman Park No.926 State School" (1920-45)'Norman Park State School, site plan' (undated) in QSA Item 1014080, "Norman Park State School, erection of a state school and teachers residence", (1899).
The completed school was opened on 7 July 1900 by the Secretary for Public Instruction, James Drake. It was reported that the school was "grandly situated on the summit of a hill, and though its immediate surroundings are in the bush, it commands a populous and growing neighbourhood". The total cost was £2723 16s, with local residents to pay £493 1s 11d. The initial enrolment of 52 students grew to 174 by September 1900.'New State School. Norman Park. Appointment of Teachers', Telegraph, 26 June 1900, p.2'New State Schools. New Farm and Norman Park', Telegraph, 7 July 1900, p.2'Two new state schools. Opening of the Norman Park State School. Address by Minister for Education', Brisbane Courier, Monday 9 July 1900, p.2J Swanwick, 1900 Norman Park State School 2000 (Centenary Edition), Deagon, QLD, Erinport, 2000 ('notes on 1901')'Norman Park School', Brisbane Courier, 25 August 1900, p.14. The Annual Report of the Department of Public Works for the Year 1900-1901, p.4, puts the cost as £2064 (this figure probably does not include the £660 paid for the land).