Ashgrove State School is a heritage-listed state school at 31 Glory Street, Ashgrove, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Andrew Baxter Leven, James Findlay Leven and Arthur James Edwin Moase. The Depression-era brick school building was built from 1938 to 1959. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 24 April 2018.
History Ashgrove State School, established 1876 on a site opposite the current school, is situated northwest of the Brisbane CBD and opened on its current site in 1925. It is important in demonstrating the evolution of state education and its associated architecture. It retains one Depression-era brick school building built in stages (Block A: 1938, 1947, 1959), a playing field partially formed by relief workers and a Boulton and Paul prefabricated building and its Department of Public Works extension (Block B: 1953, 1956).
Ashgrove was traditionally part of the land of the Turrbal people. Government auction of the small farms here began in 1856. In January 1876, a public meeting was held at St John's Wood, the home of George Rogers Harding, with the intention of establishing a local school. Harding, a barrister and later a Supreme Court judge, had substantial land holdings in the area. 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 their maintenance and development; a symbol of progress; and a source of pride, with enduring connections formed with past pupils, parents and teachers. Residents donated £120 and Harding donated of land situated on Portion 667 bounded by Waterworks Road and Glory Street at their intersection with Coopers Camp Road. The land was transferred to the Secretary for Public Instruction in May 1876.Project Services, Queensland Schools Heritage Survey Part II, 2008, Mount Morgan State High School', pp. 3-4Survey Plan S151836 (a)Survey plan 20594Certificate of title 10267059, 10303196The Telegraph, 1 November 1876, p.2.
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. 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.Paul Burmester, Margaret Pullar and Michael Kennedy, Queensland Schools, A Heritage Conservation Study, pp.84, 120-1.
The Ashgrove State School was officially opened on 4 November 1876. It was the first school built following the introduction of the Education Act 1875, which created the Department of Public Instruction and provided free primary school education to children aged from 6–12. This small timber school cost £678, £104 of which was contributed by local residents. The opening ceremony was performed by the Minister for Education, the Hon Samuel Griffith. The site included a teachers residence. Poet James Brunton Stephens was the first head teacher when classes commenced on 22 January 1877.Ashgrove State School, Ashtree: Ashgrove State School; celebrating 125 years, 1877-20, self-published 2002Brisbane Courier, 31 October 1876, p.1Brisbane Courier, 6 November 1876, p.3The Telegraph, 1 November 1876, p.2The Week, 11 November 1876, p.25.
The school building was extended in 1896 and in 1922. The Waterworks Road tramline was extended to Oleander Drive in 1924; concurrent with the subdivision and sale of the Glenlyon Gardens Estate by developer TM Burke. The Dorrington Park and Frasers Estates along Enoggera Creek, were also subdivided at this time. In July 1924, the school committee was advocating a new modern school.Ashgrove State School History online www.ashgrovess.eq.edu.au accessed 26 Oct 2017Trams and Bus Shelters -s, Conservation Management Plan, BCC 2003, p.9Brisbane Courier, 9 August 1930, p.21Ashgrove State School correspondence file #13698, letter, 16 July 1924, Queensland State Archives.
In March 1924, the minister had approved a land transfer offered by Burke, whereby the original school site would be transferred to the developer in exchange for on the opposite side of Glory Street. The school building was removed and relocated across the road to the new site on the northern side of Glory Street in 1925. The school building was enlarged for the official opening on 31 October 1925.Brisbane Courier, 16 September 1924, p.7Brisbane Courier, 17 October 1927, p.16Brisbane Courier, 3 November 1925, p.19Ashgrove State School correspondence file £13698, letter, Queensland State Archives Burke then acquired the original school site and subdivided it in 1926. The rapid expansion of Ashgrove saw the population increase from 144 in 1911 to 2500 in 1926. In August 1927, a further 800 housing allotments in the St Johns Wood and Royal Park estates were released. The Ashgrove School celebrated its jubilee in October 1927 with a fete aimed at raising funds to beautify the new school grounds.Survey plan RP42961The Courier-Mail, 17 November 1936, p.22University of Queensland, Queensland Places, Ashgroveonline http://queenslandplaces.com.au/ashgrove accessed, 8 January 2018Royal Park Estate and St John's Wood Extension Estate Map, State Library of QueenslandBrisbane Courier, 2 August 1927, p.36Brisbane Courier, 17 October 1927, p.16.
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 also embarked on an ambitious and important building programme to provide impetus to the economy.
Even before the October 1929 stock market crash, the Queensland Government initiated an Unemployment Relief Scheme work programme managed by the Department of Public Works. This included painting and repairs to school buildings. By mid-1930, men were undertaking grounds improvement works to schools,'Relief of unemployment: big programme contemplated', The Telegraph, 24 July 1929, p.5'Unemployment: the relief scheme', The Telegraph, 26 July 1929, p.5'Report of the Department of Public Works for the year ended 30 Jun 1930', p.15. creating many large school playing fields. These play areas became a standard inclusion within Queensland state schools and a characteristic element. The 1930 school fete raised funds to continue work on the school grounds, having already built a tennis and basketball court, with a football field and cricket pitch being developed at that time. Tree planting appears to have been minimal as in1931 the Queensland Government discontinued its Arbor Day program. initiated in the 1890s, where trees propagated at the Botanic Gardens were distributed to Queensland schools.Paul Burmester, Margaret Pullar and Michael Kennedy, Queensland Schools: A Heritage Conservation Study, a report for the Department of Education, 1996, p.58The Telegraph, 29 September 1930. P.13Sim, J C R, and Helen Hamley, Brisbane City Botanic Gardens Conservation Study, October 1995, p.16.
In June 1932 the Forgan Smith Labor Government came to power through a campaign that advocated increased government spending to counter the effects of the Depression. The government embarked on a large public works building programme designed to promote the employment of local skilled workers, the purchase of local building materials and the production of commodious, low maintenance buildings which would be a long-term asset to the state.'Labor at the Helm', The Worker, 20 July 1932, p.8'Queensland Parliament', The Northern Miner, 17 August 1932, p.2'Public Buildings', Daily Mercury, 19 October 1933, p.7DPW, 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 December 1933, p.9Report of the DPW for the Year Ended 30 June 1939, Queensland Government Printer, Brisbane, 1939, p.2.
In June 1935, the Director of Education approved plans for a new brick school building for Ashgrove. Early plans were drawn up by Arthur James Edwin Moase of the Department of Public Works (DPW) in 1936, with more detailed plans produced in February 1937; both sets of drawings approved by the Chief Architect and Quantity Surveyor, Andrew Baxter Leven. Construction approval was given in April 1937. The tram terminus had just been extended and the West Ashgrove shops subsequently developed there.The Sunday Mail, 26 May 1935, p.2Ammons, Marie-Anne, 'The Depression Brick State School Building - a historical analysis', a Thesis in the School of Design and Built Environment, University of Technology, June 2006, pp. 78-86.
Depression-era brick school buildings form a recognisable and important type. Most were designed in a classical idiom to project the sense of stability and optimism which the government sought to convey through the architecture of its public buildings. Frequently, they were two storeys above an open undercroft and built to accommodate up to 1,000 students. They adopted a symmetrical plan form and often exhibited a prominent central entry. The plan arrangement was similar to that of timber buildings, being only one classroom deep, accessed by a long straight verandah or corridor. Due to their long plan forms of multiple wings, they could be built in stages if necessary; resulting in some complete designs never being realised. Classrooms were commonly divided by folding timber partitions and the undercroft was used as covered play space, storage, ablutions and other functions.Paul Burmester, Margaret Pullar and Michael Kennedy, Queensland Schools: A Heritage Conservation Study, Guidelines on site identification of Typologies a report for the Department of Education, 1996, p. 42Paul Burmester, Margaret Pullar and Michael Kennedy, Queensland Schools: A Heritage Conservation Study, a report for the Department of Education, 1996, pp.59-60.
Despite their similarities, each Depression-era brick school building was individually designed by a DPW architect, which resulted in a wide range of styles and ornamental features within the overall set. These styles, derived from contemporary tastes and fashions, included: Arts and Crafts; Spanish Mission; and Neo-classical. Over time, variations occurred in building size, decorative treatment, and climatic-responsive features. Other schools of this E/B1 type were built in nearby Oakleigh State School and Ithaca Creek State School which both opened in 1934.EHP analysis of Depression-era Brick Schools, based on contemporary photographs, QHR listed schools, Project Services Heritage Reports (2006) and original DPW building plansBurmester et al, A Heritage Conservation Study,1996, p.111The Courier-Mail, 22 January 1936, p.5.