West End State School is a heritage-listed state school at 24 Vulture Street, West End, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1891 to 1960. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 24 April 2018.
History West End State School (established 1875), located in the inner Brisbane suburb of West End, about 1.2 kilometres southwest of the Brisbane central business district (CBD), is important in demonstrating the evolution of state education and its associated architecture. It retains a Depression-era brick school building (1936, extended 1976, 1984), set in landscaped grounds including a Memorial Fountain (1930), mature trees and perimeter retaining walls (pre-WWII, 1947). The school has a strong and ongoing association with its surrounding community.
Traditionally part of the land of the Turrbal and Jagera people, land in the vicinity of the West End State School site was sold by the Queensland colonial government from the 1840s as suburban allotments of about . A map from 1844 shows the site of the West End State School designated as a cemetery. Subdivision of suburban allotments at West End into housing sites commenced in the early 1860s. The unused cemetery site was converted to a reserve for a state school. A newspaper article from February 1864 reported that only one person was buried in the West End Cemetery during its operation. The cemetery closed .DNRM, Certificate of Title (CoT) 10064212DNRM Historical maps online, Henry Wade, Surveyor, 'Map of the City and Environs of Brisbane Town situate in the County of Stanley, 1844'West End', SLQ blogs, 6 August 2008, accessed 9 November 2017'Classified Advertising', The Courier, 2 December 1863, p. 1"Recreation Reserve" The North Australian, 4 February 1864, p. 3'Queensland Parliament', Rockhampton Bulletin and Central Queensland Advertiser, 19 September 1865, p. 3.
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.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. West End State School opened on 16 August 1875, with 236 pupils enrolled. it comprised a brick school-house, accommodating the girls, boys, and infants schools. The building was designed by architect Richard Suter and erected by F Chapman and cost approximately £1,650.West End State School, 125th Anniversary of West End State School, West End State School, Brisbane, 2000, p. 3'West End Primary Schools', The Telegraph, 16 August 1875, p. 2Plan West End State School & School Ground, 1875, West End State School, 125th Anniversary, p. 5.
By the 1880s further residential subdivision in the West End area had led to overcrowding in the school.West End State School, 125th Anniversary, p. 14. Tenders were called for a new timber West End State School for Boys in July 1884. This was built facing Hardgrave Road and was opened near the end of August 1885.'Summary for Europe', The Brisbane Courier, 12 August 1885, p. 3. The original brick school building became the West End Girls and Infants School. A large fence constructed through the centre of the grounds separated the two schools.'Classified Advertising', The Brisbane Courier, 10 July 1884, p. 7PDT Architects, West End State School Conservation Management Plan (CMP) for Department of Education and Training, 2017, pp. 9, 26ePlan, Drawing No 16111172, 'Drainage Plan, West End State School125th Anniversary of West End State School, p. 15. A timber addition on the western side of the brick building (West End Girls and Infants School Building) was constructed in 1892.West End State School, 125th Anniversary of West End State School, p. 6.
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 sporting facilities, such as ovals and tennis courts. Also, trees and gardens were planted to shade and beautify schools. In the 1870s, schools inspector William Boyd had been critical of tropical schools and amongst his recommendations stressed the importance of adding shade trees to playgrounds. Subsequently, Arbor Day was celebrated in Queensland 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, 48-9. At West End Boys, Girls and Infants School, 12 trees were planted by the boys on the first Arbor Day, held on 1 August 1890: four bamboo (unknown genus and species), three silky oak (Grevillea robusta), two Moreton Bay figs (Ficus macrophylla), and three Phytolacca. Within a year, four of the trees had perished. However, another 15 trees were planted in 1891 and further trees were planted in subsequent years.'West End', The Brisbane Courier, 2 August 1890, p. 3'Arbor Day', The Brisbane Courier, 2 May 1891, p. 6'Arbor Day at West End', The Telegraph, 16 August 1919, p. 2.
Although the 1893 Brisbane floods affected all the shoreline around West End and slowed development in the area, both the suburban and the school population continued to rise leading up to the 1930s. West End became a popular residential area due to its close proximity to the Brisbane CBD, local employment, and transport options. Trains ran from South Brisbane railway station (originally the Melbourne Street railway station), which was the terminus for all rail services on the south side of the Brisbane River, from 1884. An electric tram service along Vulture and Hardgrave Streets opened in 1898, placing most residents and workers within easy walking distance of a tram stop. This service was extended to the St Lucia ferry at the end of Hoogley Street in 1929.BCC, Detail Plan No 94'Building and Real Estate', The Brisbane Courier, 5 December 1930, p. 4.
West End State School continued to grow as the suburb developed. Circa 1924, timber teachers rooms were added to the verandah of the Girls and Infants Building, and an extension was added to eastern end of the building. Around the same time, the 1884 Boys School was extended to form an "L" shape.PDT Architects, West End State School CMP, pp. 11, 26.
In 1930, three black terrazzo memorial drinking fountains were presented by the Kurilpa Ladies' War Memorial Committee to each of the three schools comprising the West End State School. The fountains were dedicated to the victims of World War I at a ceremony held on 24 April 1930 to commemorate the 15th anniversary of Anzac Day.'Memorial Fountains. West End School Ceremony', The Brisbane Courier, 25 April 1930, p. 15. It was unveiled on 24 April 1930 by James Fry, Member for the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Kurilpa.West End Infants State School Centenary Committee, West End Infants State School, 1879-1979, West End Infants State School Centenary Committee, West End, Q, 1979, p. 7Department of Environment and Heritage Protection site visit, 18 January 2018.
The Great Depression, which commenced in 1929 and extended well into the 1930s, caused a dramatic reduction of public 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 program to provide impetus to the economy.
Even before the October 1929 stock market crash, the Queensland Government initiated an Unemployment Relief Scheme, through a work program administered by the Department of Public Works (DPW). This included painting and repairs to school buildings.'Relief of unemployment: big programme contemplated', The Telegraph, 24 July 1929, p. 5'Unemployment: the relief scheme', The Telegraph, 26 July 1929, p.5. By mid-1930 men were undertaking grounds improvement works to schools under the scheme.DPW, Report of the DPW for the year ended 30 June 1930, Queensland Government Printer, Brisbane, 1930, p. 15. At West End State School, the school committee, with assistance from unemployment relief gangs organised by the DPW, converted the school grounds into "suitable sport areas" over a two-year period ending in March 1931.'West End School', The Telegraph, 3 November 1930, p.13'Community Service. Sports Grounds for Schools', The Brisbane Courier, 2 March 1931, p. 12.
In June 1932 the Forgan Smith Labor Government came to power with a campaign that advocated increased government spending to counter the effects of the Depression. The government embarked on a large public building program 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. 2DPW, Report 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. 9DPW, Report of the DPW for the Year Ended 30 June 1939, Queensland Government Printer, Brisbane, 1939, p. 2. The construction of substantial brick school buildings in prosperous or growing suburban areas and regional centres during the 1930s provided tangible proof of the government's commitment to remedy the unemployment situation.Type E/B1. Burmester, et al., Queensland Schools: A Heritage Conservation, p. 59.
Overcrowding at West End State School, where enrolments totalled 885 pupils by the early 1930s, led to a deputation of concerned parents meeting with the Minister for Public Instruction (Frank Cooper) in November 1934. On 20 December 1934, the DPW announced that approval had been given for a "Rebuilding Scheme" at the school.'West End School', The Courier-Mail, 19 April 1934, p. 7PDT Architects, West End State School CMP, p. 13. By the early 1930s enrolments were: 343 infants, 262 girls and 280 boys.