Silkstone State School is a heritage-listed state school at Molloy Street, Silkstone, City of Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by the Department of Public Works and built in 1915 by the Department of Public Works. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 29 March 2019.
History Silkstone State School was established in 1915, originally on a site, east of the Ipswich CBD. More land was added to the school between 1946 and 1948, totalling the size of the school at . The school retains an excellent example of a suburban timber school building (Block A, built 1915) set in landscaped grounds with mature trees and playing fields. In continuous operation since its establishment, it has been a focus for the local community as a place for important social and cultural activities.
The Ipswich area was the traditional land of the Jagara people. Free European settlement began in the area in 1842 and it developed as a mining town and river port for Darling Downs pastoralists, becoming a municipality (Borough of Ipswich) in 1860.
Coal mining was one of Ipswich's premier industries and by the turn of the century several extensive coal mines employing large numbers of miners had been established on the Ipswich coal fields, several kilometres east of the city's CBD. The largest and most profitable mine by this time was Aberdare, owned by former Welsh miner and prominent Ipswich entrepreneur, Lewis Thomas.RL Whitmore, Coal in Queensland - The Late Nineteenth Century 1875-1900, "The Bundamba Field", University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, 1985, p.85. Miners and their families, many of whom had come to Australia from Wales, lived in the suburbs near the fields, including Blackstone, Bundamba, Newtown, and Silkstone.Whitmore, Coal in Queensland - The Late Nineteenth Century 1875-1900, p.93. This close-knit mining community celebrated their Welsh culture, establishing one of Queensland's earliest Welsh churches (United Welsh Church) in Blackstone in 1886. One year later they held the first eisteddfod, heralding the beginning of this continuing tradition in Ipswich.
To service this population, Newtown State School was established in 1882. As enrolments grew the school became overcrowded and residents in neighbouring suburbs, particularly Silkstone, whose children attended the Newtown school, appealed to the Department of Public Instruction for a school of their own. The department decided to construct a new, larger school for the area, replacing the Newtown school.Newtown-Silkstone State School, Centenary, 1882-1982, p.60Queensland Times, 8 May 1914, p.4. In 1914 it purchased a hilltop site, overlooking the surrounding area, for the new school.Queensland Times, 8 May 1914, p.4 The former site of the Newtown school became Newtown Park (approximately 500m west of Silkstone State School).
Under the stewardship of the Department of Public Works (DPW) and its staff (who were some of Queensland's most innovative architects), school buildings became more advanced through an evolution of standard designs.Paul Burmester, Margaret Pullar and Michael Kennedy, Queensland Schools A Heritage Conservation Study, a report for the Department of Education, 1996, pp.17, 19-20 The department retained responsibility for school design from 1893 to 2013 and focused on improving the natural ventilation and lighting of classroom interiors to produce superior education environments. In the early 20th century, with a growing concern about child health in education, the DPW evolved its school building designs with recommendations from medical professionals on light and ventilation. Notably, high-set buildings were introduced , providing better ventilation as well as informal teaching space and a covered play area in the understorey. This form became characteristic of Queensland schools. A technical innovation developed at this time was a continuous, hinged ventilation flap on the wall at floor level to increase air flow into the classroom and, combined with a ceiling vent and large roof fleche, improved internal air quality and decreased temperatures.Burmester et al, Queensland Schools A Heritage Conservation Study, pp.19-20. Windows were considerably enlarged and sills were lowered to provide a greater amount of light into the room. These windows were provided to one wall of the classroom only, the wall to the left hand side of the student, and any other windows remained small and very highset. Dr Eleanor Bourne's stress on light from the left hand side is only one of her many recommendations for the health of children. However, it is not clear if this was to encourage right handedness.Burmester et al, Queensland Schools A Heritage Conservation Study, p.27. Smaller classrooms in serial arrangement were preferred as they were easier to light well and correctly. The lighter and airier interiors met with immediate approval from educationalists.Burmester et al, Queensland Schools A Heritage Conservation Study, pp.19-21.
The early twentieth century experimentation culminated in the 1914 introduction of the suburban timber school building type, solving many of the problems of light, ventilation, and classroom size that plagued previous school designs, as well as providing the ideal, modern education environment. The grandest of the standard timber designs of the time, and including all of the lighting and ventilation techniques developed, the type was used for large, model, or high-profile schools in growing suburban areas. It was not extensively deployed, lasting until around 1920. It was this new type (designated C/T8) that was chosen for Silkstone and it would be the most substantial built.Burmester et al, Queensland Schools A Heritage Conservation Study, p.21-8 In 2019 Silkstone is the most substantial extant example of the type and the most substantial known to have been built. It is comparable to Gympie State High School (built 1917, destroyed by fire 1955) and Bundaberg State High School (Block D, designed 1919 and built 1920, extant in 2019) but both are smaller than Silkstone. No other buildings of this type are known to have been built that are comparable in size to Silkstone. Gympie had 12 classrooms with of total classroom area and wide verandahs. Bundaberg had ten classrooms with total classroom area and wide verandahs. Silkstone had ten classrooms with total classroom area and wide verandahs.
In May 1915, a marble tablet requested by the school committee was laid at the school by the Minister for Public Instruction, JW Blair, on the centre of the understorey wall of the building, which was still under construction.Newtown-Silkstone State School, Centenary, 1882-1982, p.62. Amongst other dignitaries present, was the Under-Secretary for Education, JD Story. The ceremony was well attended by school committee members, parents, and future students. The minister proclaimed that "the people were about to have a new school on most modern lines, erected on one of the finest sites in Queensland ... It was for the sake of the child that the new and improved style of school building had been introduced".Queensland Times, 18 May 1915, pp.2-3.
The new school was officially opened on 4 December 1915. Initially called the Silkstone-Newtown School, by August 1916 it was formally named Silkstone State School.Education Office Gazette, August 1916, p.325. The opening ceremony was attended by the Minister for Public Instruction, HF Hardacre, as well as other dignitaries including JD Story. Amidst a large crowd of staff, parents, students, and community members, the Minister declared Silkstone State School "one of the most beautiful schools, if not the most beautiful wooden school in Queensland".Queensland Times, 6 December 1915, p.2DPW architectural drawings (set of 6) with the architects names: "E.A.G. [Earnest Arthur Godfrey] 27/8-11-14 & 2-12-14" (residence) [DPW Draftsman at the time, later architect], "Alf Brady Govt Architect 7.12.14" and "Andrew Irving, Deputy Government Architect" Further, he stated "the development of a series of architectural schemes had resulted in the present building, with its excellent provision for light, ventilation, and sanitation".
The new school building (known as Block A in 2019) was believed at the time to be the most innovative school design in Queensland, surpassing the much-celebrated Cannon Hill State School that had been opened only two months before (also a suburban timber school building). Cannon Hill State School was officially opened 25 September 1915 by Hardacre who then said it was the "best in the state on grounds of health and economy". Cannon Hill's suburban timber school building had seven classrooms, three fewer than Silkstone, while its classrooms were between compared to Silkstone's . The two schools were similar in architectural detail and employed the same light and ventilation techniques. Silkstone State School stood on an elevated site, overlooking the district and to the distant southern mountains. It was a weatherboard structure with a tall, open understorey of brick piers which included concreted play areas and small "lavatory stands" (hand washing basins). The building had a gabled Marseilles tile-clad roof with ventilation fleches and decorative timber work. It accommodated ten classrooms, separated by tall, glazed timber folding partitions with "hyloplate" (blackboard) panes, allowing the spaces to be combined. Of the ten classrooms: eight were wide by long, and two were wide by long. The building had wide verandahs on one side of the classrooms only. A head teacher's office and separate staff room were accommodated in a small central front projecting block.
The classrooms had abundant natural light and ventilation. They had high coved ceilings lined with decorative pressed metal and ventilation grilles connected via ducts to the roof fleches. The verandah walls had a hinged ventilation board at the base and windows in this wall were very highset with high sills. Other than these windows, each classroom had one wall with a large area of windows, sheltered by an external hood. The desks and hyloplate were arranged in relation to this window so that light from it fell on the left hand side of the student. These large windows were lowset with sills, an "acid obscured glass" bottom sash, and a fanlight that was fixed open. In this way optimum, single source light was provided yet a student's view outside was blocked.DPW architectural drawings (set of 6) held by QSA "Silkstone Ipswich New State School Buildings", 1914.
A timber-framed and -clad teachers residence was also built on the north-east corner of the site in 1915. The total cost for both buildings was £4629. The Minister explained that "the influences of surroundings were so valuable that the Department was doing well in spending sums of money in beautifying architecture". He believed it would benefit the characters of children as well as being a credit to Queensland.Queensland Times, 6 December 1915, p.2. The school was one of the largest in Queensland at the time with Block A designed to accommodate 528 students.Annual Report of the Department of Public Works for the year 1914-1915, p.7.
An important component of Queensland state schools was their grounds. The early and continuing commitment to play-based education, particularly in primary school, resulted in the provision of outdoor play space and sports facilities, such as ovals and tennis courts. Also, trees and gardens were planted to shade and beautify schools and schools celebrated Arbor Day from 1890. Aesthetically designed gardens were encouraged by regional inspectors, and educators believed gardening and Arbor Days instilled in young minds the value of hard work and activity, improved classroom discipline, developed aesthetic tastes, and inspired people to stay on the land.Burmester et al, Queensland Schools A Heritage Conservation Study, pp.4, 48-49.