Irvinebank State School is a heritage-listed state school at High Street, Irvinebank, Shire of Mareeba, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Robert and John Ferguson, Queensland Department of Public Works and built from 1889 to 1906 by Thomas Gordon and August Conrad Ferdinand Ohnesorgen. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 1 May 2015.
History Irvinebank State School opened in 1889 in the small private mining town of Irvinebank. As the town prospered, the teaching building (1889) was extended in 1899 and 1906, and other structures and landscape elements were built, including a playshed (1891). The town declined after 1907. In 2015 the school buildings remain remarkably intact. Irvinebank State School has been in continuous operation since establishment and has been a focus for the local community as a place for important social and cultural activity.
Traditionally the land of the Bar Barrum people, European settlement at Irvinebank began in the 1880s. Irvinebank's existence is due to John Moffat (1841–1918), whose mining enterprises drove much of the economic activity in north Queensland between 1884 and 1914.'Etheridge Railway', Queensland Heritage Register (QHR) 601637. In 1883 tin lodes at Gibbs Creek were purchased by Moffat's partner in the Glen Smelting Company, George Young, while Moffat was overseas.'Irvinebank State Treatment Works', QHR 600679; "Irvinebank School of Arts Hall", QHR 601619. In 1884 Moffat had a dam constructed at Gibbs Creek, above which he built his residence, Loudoun House, and the locality was named Irvinebank.Kerr, RS, 2000. John Moffat of Irvinebank: a biography of a regional entrepreneur, JD and RS Kerr, St Lucia, p. 66. Moffat was born in the village of Newmilns on the bank of the Irvine River in East Ayrshire, Scotland. The ruins of Loudoun Castle lie to the west of the village. The Loudoun Mill, a battery and smelter, was constructed and commenced operations in December 1884.Kerr, John Moffat of Irvinebank, p.72. A School of Arts building was erected in Irvinebank in 1885, and the first sale of allotments in the town occurred in February 1886.Kerr, RS, "Irvinebank, mining community and centre of an empire: "God bless John Moffat"", read to a meeting of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland, 24 May 1984, p.154. http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:201589/s00855804_1984_12_1_141.pdf (accessed 5 November 2014) Irvinebank became the centre of Moffat's business empire, and Loudoun Mill was expanded between 1886 and 1904.'Irvinebank State Treatment Works', QHR 600679.
In June 1886 a public meeting was held at Irvinebank to elect members of a building committee to establish a provisional school.Owen, I, 1986. Irvinebank State School Centenary, 1886-1986, p.1. Irvinebank Provisional School opened on 18 October 1886,Kerr, "God Bless John Moffat", p.154. in a building south of Jessie Street.The building occupied allotment 6, section III, later the site of the Walsh Divisional Board's office. Owen, Irvinebank State School Centenary, 1886-1986, pp.1, 4; Kerr, John Moffat of Irvinebank, p.237. By the end of December 1886, enrolment had reached 16 pupils.
The provision of state-administered education was important to the governments of Australia. After introducing the Education Act 1860 the number of public schools in Queensland grew from four in 1860 to 230 by 1875.Blake, T, 2007, (rev.2013 by EHP) Queensland Historical Thematic Framework, Chapter 9: Educating Queenslanders, p.2. The State Education Act 1875 instituted free, compulsory, and secular primary education and established the Department of Public Instruction.Logan, G and Clarke, E, 1984. State Education in Queensland: a brief history, a report for the Department of Education, Queensland, p.2. The establishment of schools was considered an essential step in the development of early communities and integral to their success. Locals often donated land and labour for a school's construction and the school community contributed to maintenance and development. Schools became a community focus, 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.4-5; Burmester, P, Pullar, M and Kennedy, M, Queensland Schools A Heritage Conservation Study, a report for the Department of Education, 1996, pp.87-88.
Irvinebank soon had the population to support a state school, thanks to increased tin production. The economy of the town experienced two peak periods of prosperity - 1888–90 and 1899–1904 - boosted by the opening of the Vulcan tin mine in 1889, and by expansion at the Loudoun Mill.Kerr, "God Bless John Moffat", p.153. At its peak in the early 1900s, the Loudoun Mill was the largest tin battery and smelter in Australia.'Etheridge Railway', QHR 601637. In 1888, the School Committee sought to upgrade Irvinebank Provisional School to a state school and raised 20 percent of the cost of a new building, as the Department of Public Instruction refused to allow the existing facility to be used.Owen, Irvinebank State School Centenary, 1886-1986, pp.5-6. A new site, steep but closer to the centre of town than a surveyed school reserve further northeast, was reserved in May 1889; comprising , .The new site comprised allotments 5-9 and 12-15 of section VIII; Owen, Irvinebank State School Centenary, 1886-1986, p.6; Queensland Government Gazette, 1889, Volume 47, p.143. Construction tenders were called in May 1889,Cairns Post, 8 June 1889, p.2. and the new school buildings (teaching building and teacher's residence) were completed soon after. The upgrade to a state school was officially approved on 25 July 1889.'Official notifications', Queensland Government Gazette, 1889, Volume 47, p.1017.
The teaching building at Irvinebank was built to a standard design by architect John Ferguson. The government developed standard plans for its school buildings to help ensure consistency and economy. From the 1860s until the 1960s, Queensland school buildings were predominantly timber framed, an easy and cost-effective approach that also enabled the government to provide facilities in remote areas. Standard designs were continually refined in response to changing needs and educational philosophy and Queensland school buildings were particularly innovative in climate control, lighting, and ventilation. Standardisation produced distinctly similar schools across Queensland with complexes of typical components.Burmester et al, Queensland Schools A Heritage Conservation Study, pp.84, 120-121.
In 1879 the Department of Public Instruction appointed its own Superintendent of Buildings to be responsible for the design of all government schools, the first appointee being the builder-architect Robert Ferguson. Ferguson immediately revised the design of schools to address deficiencies in ventilation and lighting. This period of school design was pivotal in this regard. Ferguson introduced tall and decorative ventilation spires to the roof and louvred panels to the gable apex to vent the classrooms. Additional and larger windows were incorporated with high sill heights that did not allow draughts and sunlight to enter the room. The overall form was lowset on brick piers. In larger schools, multiple classrooms were arranged symmetrically around a parade ground. The designs remained single-skin to eliminate "receptacles for germs and vermin" but were lined externally rather than internally to address the previous weathering problem. Importantly, Ferguson's buildings were decoratively-treated with a variety of elaborate timber work and were heralded by educationalists as "far superior in design, material and workmanship to any we have before built".Burmester et al, Queensland Schools A Heritage Conservation Study, p.11. In 1885 Robert Ferguson was replaced by his brother John Ferguson who continued to implement his brother's designs until John's death in 1893, when responsibility for school buildings passed back to the Department of Public Works.Burmester et al, Queensland Schools A Heritage Conservation Study, p. 12. The Ferguson period (1879–1893) is distinct and marked by extensive redesign of school buildings including associated structures and furniture.
The original teaching building at Irvinebank State School was a lowset timber-framed building with verandahs front and back, clad externally with weatherboards, and had a gable roof. It was single-skin with louvred panels in the gable apexes to ventilate the interior and tall, highset windows on all sides. It accommodated one large classroom and the rear verandah accommodated a hatroom and lavatory enclosure at either end.Project Services, "Irvinebank State School", in Queensland Schools Heritage Study Part II Report, January 2008, for Education Queensland, p.7. The classroom had a coved ceiling and the building was attractively-decorated with modest "carpenter gothic" timberwork.
In 1891 a playshed was built at Irvinebank State School.Tenders were invited until December 1890. "Official notifications", The Queenslander, 29 November 1890, pp.1038-39. The Queensland education system recognised the importance of play in the school curriculum and, as school sites were originally cleared of all vegetation, the provision of all-weather outdoor space was needed. Playsheds were designed as free-standing shelters, with fixed timber seating between posts and earth or decomposed granite floors that provided covered play space and doubled as teaching space when needed These structures were timber-framed and generally open sided, although some were partially enclosed with timber boards or corrugated galvanised iron sheets.Burmester et al, Queensland Schools A Heritage Conservation Study, p.16v. The hipped (or less frequently, gabled) roofs were clad with timber shingles or corrugated iron. Playsheds were a typical addition to state schools across Queensland between s and the 1950s, although less frequently constructed after , with the introduction of highset school buildings with understorey play areas. Built to standard designs, playsheds that ranged in size relative to student numbers.Burmester et al, Queensland Schools A Heritage Conservation Study, pp.21, 97. The playshed at Irvinebank was typical of the standard designs. Standing at a distance behind of the teaching building, it was a timber-framed, 10-post open-sided shelter, with a hipped roof and perimeter seats.