Old Perth Boys School - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Old Perth Boys School is located at 139 St Georges Terrace, Perth, Western Australia

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

. The single-storey limestone building was designed by William Sandford in 1852 and is a significant example of a colonial building constructed in Perth from the mid-nineteenth century.

Built form

The Old Perth Boys School was designed in an early gothic revival architecture

Gothic Revival architecture

The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...

style. It is a single-storey limestone building with a steeply pitched roof (originally shingled) and narrow vertical windows. The building, which closely resembles a church, had a wing added to the north in 1865 and another to the south in 1868. The shingle roof has been covered with corrugated iron sheeting and the bell tower and spire have been removed.

History

The Perth Boys School was established in 1847, despite not having a permanent school building. The school occupied an assortment of vacant places, including the Old Court House

Old Court House, Perth

Old Court House is located in the Supreme Court Gardens in Barrack Street, Perth, Western Australia, adjacent to the Supreme Court building. It is a single-storey cream rendered building, with a wooden shingle roof....

.

The location selected for the permanent school building was originally the site of a water-powered flour mill on the site, operated by Henry Willey Reveley, the civil engineer for the Swan River Colony

Swan River Colony

The Swan River Colony was a British settlement established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. The name was a pars pro toto for Western Australia. In 1832, the colony was officially renamed Western Australia, when the colony's founding Lieutenant-Governor, Captain James Stirling,...

.

Construction of the school began in February 1853 and was completed in 1854. The school was designed by William Ayshford Sanford, Colonial Secretary from 1852 -1855, during which period he was also chairman of the board of education with an interest in schools. Sanford designed both the Perth Boys and Fremantle Boys schools. Sanford was a member of the Cambridge Camden Society

Cambridge Camden Society

The Cambridge Camden Society, later known as the Ecclesiological Society from 1845 when it moved to London, was a learned architectural society founded in 1839 by undergraduates at Cambridge University to promote "the study of Gothic Architecture, and of Ecclesiastical Antiques." Its activities...

and was an amateur architect, with a passion for ecclesiastical architecture and, as a result, the school resembles a gothic-revival-style church. The cost of constructing the building proved greater than expected. The additional expense was attributed to the boggy ground and the need for extra foundations. The building was a long, narrow structure with an east-west axis. It proved to be too small, the small windows made the interior too dark and it reportedly lacked ventilation. A gallery (which is no longer extant) was then constructed at the western end.

In 1865, a small southern wing was added and, two years later, a northern wing was constructed. For a number of years, the school had an average of 200 students but, in 1894, due to an increase in population attributable to the gold rush, the figure increased to 346. Additional facilities were constructed in a temporary timber extension at the eastern end of the school to accommodate additional students. At the same time, plans were underway for a new Perth Boys' and Girls' School

Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts

Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts is a contemporary visual and performance arts venue located in Perth, Western Australia.-History:...

in James Street, which was completed at the end of 1896 and to which the students were relocated.

The building was incorporated into Perth Technical College

Old Perth Technical School

The 1910 Perth Technical School is located at 137 St Georges Terrace, Perth, Western Australia, adjacent to the Old Perth Boys School building....

in 1900. In 1976 the Public Works Department restored the front fence adjoining St Georges Terrace. In 1977, the place was used as offices for the headquarters for The National Trust of Australia (WA), with the Trust undertaking conservation work to the stone walls in 1978. In the 1990s, the building operated for use as a retail shop for The National Trust of Australia (WA) and included a bookshop and restaurant. In 1995, the retail outlet was converted for use as a cafe by a private organisation. The Trust re-roofed the building in 2000 – 2001.

Current use

It is currently owned by the National Trust

National Trust of Australia

The Australian Council of National Trusts is the peak body for community-based, non-government organisations committed to promoting and conserving Australia's indigenous, natural and historic heritage....

(WA) and used as a café

Café

A café , also spelled cafe, in most countries refers to an establishment which focuses on serving coffee, like an American coffeehouse. In the United States, it may refer to an informal restaurant, offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches...

and wine bar

Wine bar

A wine bar is a tavern-like business focusing on selling wine, rather than liquor or beer. A typical feature of many wine bars is a wide selection of wines available by the glass. Some wine bars are profiled on wines of a certain type of origin, such as Italian wine or Champagne...

Heritage value

The Old Perth Boys School building was entered into the Register of the National Estate by the Australian Heritage Commission in March, 1978 and is classified by the National Trust

National Trust of Australia

(WA). It was permanently entered on to the State Register of Heritage Places on 13 March 1992.

Built form

History

Current use

Heritage value

Further reading