Ironside State School is a heritage-listed state school located at 378 Swann Road, St Lucia, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1935 to 1959. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 27 July 2018.
History Ironside State School, established in 1870, (as Toowong Provisional School and later renamed Toowong State School, Indooroopilly State School, and Indooroopilly Pocket State School) is located in the Brisbane suburb of St Lucia, about 4.5 km southwest of the Brisbane central business district (CBD). It is important in demonstrating the evolution of state education and its associated architecture. The school retains a Depression-era brick school building (1935–59) designed by the Queensland Department of Public Works (DPW), with landscaped front entrance forecourt (1953–54) and mature trees (pre-1946, pre-1955). The school has a strong and ongoing association with its surrounding community.
Originally part of the lands of the Turrbal people, non-indigenous settlement of the St Lucia area commenced in the 1850s. By 1859 the whole St Lucia-Taringa peninsula had been divided into 22 farm lots used for crop farming and cattle grazing.Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships. "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Heritage Map", <https://culturalheritage.datsip.qld.gov.au/achris/public/public-registry/home>, accessed 16 May 2018Project Services Heritage Report on Ironside State School, 2006Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy (DNRME), cad-map-40chn-Moreton-sheet 1, 1919. In 1871 a sugar mill and refinery were established in St Lucia Pocket, with local farmers supplying cane.Brisbane Courier, 5 Aug 1871, p. 2The Queenslander, 14 Oct 1876, p. 26.
The establishment of schools was considered an essential step in the development of new 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. 4-5Paul Burmester, Margaret Pullar and Michael Kennedy Queensland Schools: A Heritage Conservation Study, a report for the Department of Education, 1996, pp. 87-8. The first attempts to provide schooling in the St Lucia locality were private initiatives dating from 1864.Mrs Jesse Smith offered classes for a few months. Later, parents erected a small building on land adjacent to and south of the original school reserve. That land is now within the school grounds. DNRME, Land Purchase 5742'St Lucia and Long Pocket-Early Education Arrangements', provenance unknown, RHSQ Ref Archive Box 23, Folder No 5, Document 4 cited by Peter Brown, "Education in St Lucia", St Lucia History Group Paper no 19, St Lucia History Group, St Lucia South, 2017, p. 6.
Ironside State School opened as "Toowong Provisional School" in a temporary building on 10 October 1870, with 42 pupils enrolled.F W Robinson, "The University of Queensland at St Lucia and other Universities 1952" and other papers, UQ Fryer Library, n.p. cited by Brown, "Education in St Lucia", p. 8'The Sugar Question at Oxley', The Brisbane Courier, 29 Aug 1868, p. 6Joan Hogarth. A Tradition of Achievement, Ironside State School 1870 - 1995. Ironside State School Parents and Friends Association, St Lucia, 1995, p. 5'Classified Advertising', Brisbane Courier, 8 May 1877, p. 4. On 5 August 1868 Indooroopilly residents met in the old schoolhouse of their temporary school to establish a provisional school for the children of St Lucia and Long Pocket settlements. In 1869 it was reported that local landholder Thomas Murray Prior would be approached to grant two acres of land midway between the two settlements. See: "News of the Week", The Queenslander, 8 Aug 1868, p. 5News of the Week', The Queenslander, 22 May 1869, p. 5. Provisional schools were introduced in 1869 for smaller communities that could guarantee a student population of 15 (later reduced to 12). Provisional schools were once very common and many state schools began as such, on the same or on a different site. These schools generally occupied temporary structures on non-government land. The Queensland Government supplied the teacher and school books but did not fund building construction.Project Services, "Mount Morgan State High School" in Queensland Schools Heritage Study Part II Report, for Education Queensland, 2008, pp.4-5Burmester, et al Queensland Schools A Heritage Conservation Study, pp. 87-8.
In the same month that Toowong Provisional School opened, the Board of Education called tenders for a new timber schoolhouse and residence, designed by the architect Richard Suter.Brisbane Courier, 7 Oct 1870, p. 1'Classified Advertising', The Brisbane Courier, 10 Oct 1870, p. 1. Drawings show a one-room timber school house with a porch, constructed with external studding.Indooroopilly Pocket School plan prepared by Richard Suter dated 24 September 1870, QSA item 328833. The Toowong Provisional School re-opened on 21 February 1871 on the site of the current Ironside State School, which had been provided by major landholder Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior.The Queenslander, 18 Feb 1871, pp. 1 and 2DNRME: Land Purchase Certificate 19501077CoT 10490113Toowoomba Chronicle and Queensland Advertiser, 14 Sep 1872, p. 4 reported that Toowong Provisional School was now a vested school. The buildings stood on cleared high ground at the southwest corner of the site, facing Swann Road, and the teachers residence stood behind (to its east). The community donated £86, with the expectation further funds would be raised to cover the £100 required by Queensland Government for establishment of the school.Site Plan, 1876 in Joan Hogarth, A Tradition of Achievement, Ironside State School, p. 91'The New National School, Indooroopilly', Brisbane Courier, 20 Mar 1871, p. 7.
With the opening of railway stations at Toowong, Taringa (originally called West Milton), and Indooroopilly (originally called Witton) in 1875, the surrounding district became more attractive for residential development. Toowong Provisional School was redesignated as Toowong State School in 1875 due to the growth in its pupil numbers and by 1879 there were 146 students enrolled. The school was renamed Indooroopilly State School in 1881, following the construction of a new Toowong State School in 1880 to meet demand in that area.Hogarth, A Tradition of Achievement, Ironside State School, p. 12.
During the 1880s, farms surrounding the school were subdivided in response to Brisbane's population growth, but poor road access and no public transport made the land on the St Lucia peninsula uncompetitive and land sales were slow.Project Services Report on Ironside State School site no 20108, 7 Jun 2006.
Despite owner Murray Prior's intention to donate the school's land, and his attempts to do so, the school site was sold to architect Richard Gailey in 1884, as part of Portion 24 ().Murray Prior attempted to transfer 2 acres 1 rood and 5 perches by Indenture to the Secretary for Public Instruction for the nominal amount of one shilling, but the land was incorrectly described and not transferred. See DNRME, Application package 5696 Indenture dated 7 June 1880, 21 Nov 1880, 7 Aug 1883, 25 Oct 1883, CoT 10490113 cited by Brown, "Education in St Lucia", p. 15. Gailey transferred the school site, comprising , to the Secretary for Public Instruction in March 1884.In May 1877 when TM Murray Prior offered Portions 22-24 for auction, the school was described as being located on a site of more than 2 acres in Portion 24. "Classified Advertising", Brisbane Courier, 8 May 1877, p. 4. DNRME: CoT 19501077 (Deed of Grant No 197)CoT 10497199.
The school was renamed "Indooroopilly Pocket School" in 1888 following the establishment of a new Indooroopilly State School on Moggill Road.
Brisbane's 1893 flood devastated the low-lying areas of the St Lucia peninsula, and the area remained a small semi-rural community for a further 50 years.Ironside State School, Ironside State School Centenary, 1870-1970, Ironside State School, St Lucia, 1970, pp. 49, 51 Nevertheless, pupil numbers at the school increased enough to warrant additions to the school building in 1895. Additions and repairs to the school were also made in 1908.'Official Notification', The Queenslander, 19 Oct 1895, p. 760The Queenslander, 12 Jun 1897, p. 1300'Public Works', The Telegraph, 5 Sep 1908, p. 8. The teachers residence was extended in 1897. See: "DPW", The Brisbane Courier, 28 Oct 1897, p. 8;
To reduce confusion with Indooroopilly State School, Indooroopilly Pocket State School was renamed Ironside State School in 1905, which was the name of a neighbouring estateThe name probably came from a subdivision to the north of the school bordering the river surveyed in 1885 and called the "Ironsides Estate", Hogarth, A Tradition of Achievement, Ironside State School, pp. 13-14.
In the early 20th century there was strong demand for land as the population of Brisbane grew thirty-fold. The land around Ironside State School was subdivided for residential development in the early 1920s, boosting pupil numbers.
The school grounds were extended during the 1930s to provide space for new sporting facilities. In early 1934, a number of residential land parcels to the east of the original school reserve were transferred to the Queensland Government. This land was formally gazetted as an extension to the state school reserve in June 1934, bringing the size of the school grounds to .The additional land was formed into the school's playing field between 1936 and 1946.Queensland Government Gazette (QGG), 1934, vol. 1, p. 2020QImagery: ADA9-6197, 1936BCC2-34610, 1946. The site of the district's earlier private school (sub 3), located south of the state school was added to the school in 1937. It had been dedicated as a road (Portion 253) in 1927. The road closed in 1937 after its acquisition by the government. Land to the south of the road (Subs 894 and 895 of Portion 25) was also added.DNRME, Certificates of Title: 10497118, 11703218, 11786087, 11746149, 11620066'Works Report Road Closure at Ironsides', The Telegraph, 2 Feb 1931, p. 16Queensland Government Gazette (QGG), 23 Jun 1934, p. 2021Titles 10490049, 11987171QGG, 1 May 1937, p. 1456. Subs 894 and 895 of Portion 25 comprised 1 rood 23.3 perches.
The Great Depression, commencing in 1929 and extending well into the 1930s, caused a dramatic reduction of building work in Queensland and brought private building work to a standstill. In response, the Queensland Government provided relief work for unemployed Queenslanders and embarked on an ambitious and important building program to provide impetus to the economy.DPW, Report of the DPW for the Year Ended 30 June 1934, Queensland Government Printer, Brisbane, 1934, pp. 6-8DPW, Report of the DPW for the Year Ended 30 June 1935, Queensland Government Printer, Brisbane, 1935, p. 2Report of the DPW for the Year Ended 30 June 1936, Queensland Government Printer, Brisbane, 1936, p. 2'State will spend over £460,000: big building plans', The Courier-Mail, 28 Dec 1933, p. 9 Burmester et al, Queensland Schools: A Heritage Conservation Study, p. 58.