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Ballarat High School
25 GILLIES STREET and CNR STURT STREET WEST LAKE GARDENS, Ballarat City

All information on this page is maintained by Vic. War Heritage Inventory. Click below for their website and contact details.
Vic. War Heritage Inventory
BALLARAT HIGH SCHOOL SOHE 2008
BALLARAT HIGH SCHOOL SOHE 2008
BALLARAT HIGH SCHOOL SOHE 2008
BALLARAT HIGH SCHOOL SOHE 2008
1 ballarat high school sturt street west ballarat front view apr1987
h01797 ballarat high school plan
Ballarat high school plan1
ballarat high school plan2
h01797 ballarat high school plan3
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Statement of Significance

What is significant?
Ballarat High School main building was constructed in 1909-10 as the Ballarat Agricultural High School building, one of the first agricultural high schools to be opened in Victoria. The site was provided by Ballarat Council and included an eighty acre farm to the north of the school for training purposes. The school building was designed by Public Works Department architect John Hudson Marsden in the Federation style. The building was gutted by fire in 1915 and the interior was rebuilt in 1916 to the design of Public Works Department architect HJ Kerr. A feature of the new building was an assembly hall known as Peacock Hall after Sir Alexander Peacock the local member of parliament. Peacock Hall features timber panelling, leadlight windows and a war memorial mosaic mural by George Dancey. The timber locker rooms behind the main building were originally constructed by the staff and students in 1910 as part of the agriculture course and have undergone considerable alteration over the years. The concrete silo (B3) was constructed around 1913 as part of the farm buildings and is no longer part of the school grounds being located on Ballarat Council land west of the Ballarat Aquatic Centre.

How is it significant?
The Ballarat High School is historically and architecturally important to the State of Victoria.

Why is it significant?
The Ballarat High School is important in the history of secondary education in Victoria as one of the first government secondary schools in the State. Founded as a continuation school for the training of teachers, Ballarat High School became one of the first purpose-built agricultural high schools. The Peacock Hall is historically important both for its associations with Sir Alexander Peacock and as a memorial to those who served in World War I and II, demonstrating the involvement and experience of schoolchildren in the war effort. The Ballarat High School is historically important as an early agricultural high school whose foundation in 1907 reflected the importance of the agricultural sector in the early twentieth century. The silo is historically important as the only intact structure remaining from the period 1910-1927 when the school farm operated. The locker rooms, although no longer intact, contribute to the significance as the earliest building on the site constructed by staff and students.

The Ballarat High School, designed by the Public Works Department architects JH Marsden and HJ Kerr in Federation style exhibits an unusual integration of features in its main building and especially its assembly hall, which is decorated with timber panelling and leadlight windows.
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    • Physical Description 1

      Ballarat High School - Physical Description 1

      Ballarat High School main building is a double storey face brick building with a tile roof and decorative cement banding. The diversity of fenestration is contrasted with the three gabled parapets which unify the design. The unusually large windows in the central block to the front of the building express the original use of the large central space as an art room. This is now part of the assembly hall.

      The architect responsible for the 1916 re-building was HJ Kerr, son of Peter Kerr, one of the architects for Parliament House, Melbourne.

      Internally the school has been altered. The classrooms are typical of the period with small-paned window openings and high ceilings. The most important interior space is the timber panelled assembly hall known as Peacock Hall. This was originally to the rear of the building but has been sympathetically enlarged (1989) to take in the art room, which previously was separated from the hall by partitions. Its hardwood timber panelling was designed to act as honour boards which record in gold leaf lettering the names of ex-students who served Australia in two world wars. The names of outstanding students and university graduates are also recorded on the walls. The hall is decorated with stained glass windows.

      Physical Conditions

      Ballarat High School - Physical Conditions

      While the interior of the main school building has been altered it is in extremely good condition. The locker building is in reasonable condition. The silo is semi ruinous.

      State of the Historic Environment survey report - Condition: Poor. See Events.

      Integrity

      Ballarat High School - Integrity

      Both the facade to the main building and the interior of Peacock Hall display a high level integrity and intactness. The silo has a high level of integrity but low intactness.

      Usage/Former Usage

      Ballarat High School - Usage/Former Usage

      Educational; farming

      Veterans Description for Public

      Ballarat High School - Veterans Description for Public

      The Ballarat High School main building was constructed in 1909-10 as the Ballarat Agricultural High School building, one of the first agricultural high schools to be opened in Victoria. The School had a strong military tradition, running a cadet corps from 1907. The site was provided by Ballarat Council and included an eighty acre farm to the north of the school for cadet training purposes. The main building was designed by Public Works Department architect John Hudson Marsden in the Federation style but was gutted by a fire in 1915 and the interior was rebuilt in 1916 to the design of Public Works Department architect HJ Kerr. A feature of the new building was an assembly hall known as Peacock Hall which commemorates the First and Second World Wars.

      The hall was named Peacock Hall after the current Premier of Victoria and local member of Parliament, Sir Alexander Peacock, who opened the new school building on April 4th 1917. The hall is particularly associated with the conscription campaign of 1917, it was believed that support for conscription within the school was 20 to 1. Peacock Hall contains memorials to honour both academic achievements and military service by former students. One polished timber Honour Board listed those who died during the First World War. George Dancey was commissioned to complete a memorial mosaic mural tablet, the theme of which was the triumph of good over evil.

      On November 14th 1947, two Second World War Honour Boards were unveiled. One contained the names of 57 servicemen and one nursing sister who died during the Second World War, the other lists 632 returned service men and women. In both wars, patriotic activity was encouraged and students were involved in war relief work includingfund raising and collecting waste materials.

      Permit Exemption Policy

      Ballarat High School - Permit Exemption Policy

      The importance of Ballarat High School lies principally in the intactness of the main building. Changes to this building in particular should be evaluated against its high level of integrity. New development on the registered land should be allowed but the views of the main building from Sturt and Gillies Streets should be protected. Adaptive re-use of the locker building should be allowed. Its main significance lies in the elements which survive from its original construction by staff and students.

Public contributions

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