Lake Clarendon State School is a heritage-listed state school at 35 Lake Clarendon Road, Lake Clarendon, Lockyer Valley Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1901 to 1902 by Patrick Fagan. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 12 June 2015.
History Lake Clarendon State School, located about northeast of Gatton, opened in 1902. The timber school residence and teaching building were erected in 1901–2 (the latter was extended in the late 1970s), and a playshed was added in 1906. An open-air school building () was also moved to Lake Clarendon from Glen Cairn State School . The place is important in demonstrating the evolution of state education and its associated architecture in Queensland, and retains excellent examples of standard government designed school buildings that were an architectural response to prevailing government educational philosophies.
Traditionally the land of the Jagera people, the Lake Clarendon area was once part of Lake Clarendon Station - previously part of the Grantham pastoral run,'Lockyer District. The North-eastern corner. Rich farms from pastoral runs. Rosewood and Lake Clarendon Estates', Queensland Times, 28 July 1928, p.7. which was reduced by government resumptions in the late 1860s and 1870s.'Official notifications', The Brisbane Courier, 3 May 1869, p.3; The Brisbane Courier, 16 July 1874, p.2; "Resumption of Crown Lands", The Brisbane Courier, 1 May 1875, p.5; "Additional resumptions", The Brisbane Courier, 15 July 1876, p.6. Although the Lake Clarendon area was opened to selection around 1870, William and Walter Vanneck, who had taken up Grantham Station, took an interest in Lake Clarendon after the resumptions, and brought out the initial Lake Clarendon selectors to form a grazing property.Celebrating 100 years: Lake Clarendon State School, 1902-2002, Lake Clarendon State School Centenary Committee, 2002, p.3. The Lake Clarendon Estate was repurchased from Walter Vanneck for £2 an acre by the government in 1899, and farm blocks were sold from November that year. The better agricultural land sold for £5 an acre, and the rich flats, after some initial hardships caused by the Federation drought, were soon growing lucerne, maize, onions, potatoes and pumpkins.
A state school was a natural result of successful closer settlement. In 1899 a school reserve of , was surveyed just south of the lake reserve.The Brisbane Courier, 24 October 1900, p.4; Survey Plan CA311428 (1899). The provision of state-administered education was important to the colonial governments of Australia, and 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, Paul, Margaret Pullar, Michael Kennedy Queensland Schools A Heritage Conservation Study, a report for the Department of Education, 1996, pp.87-88.
At Lake Clarendon, a Building Committee was elected at a public meeting at the school reserve in August 1900, and soon applied for a state school. Local fundraising, which included dances, raised almost £90, out of the £120 required, by November 1900.Celebrating 100 years, pp.4, 6; "Lake Clarendon School", Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser, 20 November 1900, p.4. The Minister for Education approved a state school at Lake Clarendon in January 1901, the land was granted to the Secretary of Public Instruction in June 1901, and tenders for the new school's buildings (school room and residence) and fencing were sought by August 1901.'State school for Lake Clarendon', Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser, 22 January 1901, p.4; Title document 10980029; "Department of Public Works", Queensland Figaro, 29 August 1901, p.15.
To help ensure consistency and economy, the Queensland Government developed standard plans for its school buildings. 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 1893 the Department of Public Works took over the design of schools from the Department of Public Instruction. Plans were at first based on earlier designs by architect Robert Ferguson - simple, lowset timber schools, with improved ventilation features, gabled roofs and front and back verandahs. The Works Department experimented with different combinations of roof ventilators, ceiling and wall vents, larger windows, dormer windows and ducting. Lake Clarendon's teaching building was one of the earlier designs of this period (Type C/T1, built from 1897 to 1909).Burmester, P, Pullar, M, and Kennedy, M. Queensland Schools, a Heritage Conservation Study, Conservation Management, a report for the Department of Education, 1996, p.18. It was built as a pair with the residence, and had exposed internal stud framing, verandahs front and back, high window sills, and an enclosed hat and lavatory annexe off the rear verandah.Project Services, "Lake Clarendon State School", in Queensland Schools Heritage Study Part II Report, for Education Queensland, January 2008. Ventilation features included the distinctive fleche on the roof - a feature shared with the residence - and louvres at the apex of the gables. The school room's dimensions were ; verandahs were wide, and the hat and lavatory annexe was ).Public Works Plan SH-310, "New State School Lake Clarendon", 2 September 1901. The residence (Type C/R3)Burmester et al, Queensland Schools, a Heritage Conservation Study, Conservation Management, p.29. had three bedrooms and a living room to either side of a central hallway, with front and rear verandahs, and the semi-detached rear kitchen wing included a bathroom and storeroom.Public Works Plan SH-309, "New Residence, State School Lake Clarendon", 2 September 1901.
Most Queensland state schools incorporated a teacher's residence on the site, particularly in rural areas. In Australia, only Queensland offered free accommodation to teachers, the government policy applying to male teachers (only) from as early as 1864. This was partial recompense for a low wage, an incentive for teacher recruitment in rural areas and provided onsite caretakers. Refinement of the standard residence design occurred over time, with each modification responding to teacher complaints and Teachers' Union agitation.Blake, Thom, Queensland Historical Thematic Framework, Chapter 9: Educating Queenslanders, 2007 (rev.2013 by EHP), p.4; Project Services, Queensland Schools Heritage Study Part II Report, for Education Queensland, January 2008, pp.33-35. The more spacious residence used at Lake Clarendon, with a wide dining verandah between the house and kitchen wing, was a response to complaints about earlier designs having narrow verandahs.Project Services, "Lake Clarendon State School".
Residences designed by the Department of Public Works' architects, and constructed to the high standard demanded by the state, were typically of a higher quality in design, materials and construction than most similarly scaled private residences. The detached teacher's residence was located within the school grounds at a distance from the teaching buildings, usually with a separate, fenced yard with gardens and trees. The designs ranged from one to four bedrooms and evolved simultaneously with the teaching buildings to keep up with modern needs and styles.
Contractor Patrick Fagan had finished the school buildings, at a cost of £783 16s, by 1 June 1902.'Public Works in Progress', Queensland Country Life, 1 June 1902, p.20. The school opened in early June 1902, with an enrolment of 31 boys and 24 girls,On 7 June 1902, according to "Lake Clarendon School Jubilee on Saturday", Queensland Times, 3 June 1952, p.6; or on 9 June, according to Celebrating 100 years, p. 8. Enrolment figures are from Celebrating 100 years, p.8. and the Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser soon reported that the teaching building and residence were splendid buildings, and "beyond a doubt for architectural style and finish they rank foremost in the Lockyer district".'Lake Clarendon letter', Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser, 2 August 1902, p.7. The teaching building was utilised for a welcoming social and dance for the new head teacher, William James Walton, and his wife. The area's first telephone was located at the school residence, which served as a post and receiving office from 1903, and a post office from 1906. The area's first public telephone for the district was installed on the verandah of the teaching building in 1911.Celebrating 100 years, pp. 4, 8.
The School Committee (which replaced the Building Committee in 1904)'Lake Clarendon State School', Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser, 22 March 1904, p.4. was soon raising money for additions to the school. Arbor Day 1905 included an evening social to raise funds for a "weather shed" (playshed).'Arbor Day at Lake Clarendon', Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser, 12 September 1905, p. 11. Arbor Day celebrations began in Queensland in 1890. The locals initially expected to only have to raise one-fifth of the cost of the playshed, but they were upset when told the government expected half the money to be raised locally.
The Queensland education system recognised the importance of play in the school curriculum and, as school sites were typically 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 required. 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 were less frequently constructed after , with the introduction of highset school buildings with understorey play areas.Burmester et al, Queensland Schools A Heritage Conservation Study, pp.21, 97. Lake Clarendon State School finally obtained a ten-post playshed in 1906, following the acceptance of John Doyle's tender for that April. It was enclosed on the west and south sides in 1911, and was moved to its present position in 1951, from its original position behind the school.Celebrating 100 years, p.8; Project Services, "Lake Clarendon State School", p.6; "Tender accepted", Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser, 19 April 1906, p.4.