Fremantle Grammar School
Encyclopedia
Fremantle, Western Australia
Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...
.
The building stands at 200 High Street, opposite Monument Hill. It was built by Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
architect Charles Inksep in the Gothic Revival style, from limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
and corrugated asbestos
Asbestos
Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...
.
The school was established as a public school
Public School (UK)
A public school, in common British usage, is a school that is neither administered nor financed by the state or from taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of endowments, tuition fees and charitable contributions, usually existing as a non profit-making charitable trust...
by the Anglican church in 1885. Henry Briggs was sent from England to help establish it, and was its head-master until 1897. In the 1920s the building became a short-lived girls' school named Girton College, and in 1945 was bought by The Reorganised Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (now known as Community of Christ
Community of Christ
The Community of Christ, known from 1872 to 2001 as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints , is an American-based international Christian church established in April 1830 that claims as its mission "to proclaim Jesus Christ and promote communities of joy, hope, love, and peace"...
) for use as a place of worship until 1988.
It is currently in private ownership, and the condition of the building has been allowed to decline. There are large cracks in some of the walls, and in January 2011 the owner was fined $2574 for removing the bell tower.
Further reading
- Fremantle School.(1895) Aims, objects, curriculum, rules and nominal rolls of scholars of Fremantle Grammar School 1882-1888 and Fremantle School 1888-1895 Perth [W.A.] : Sands & McDougall print. Held in Battye Library