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RAYWOOD PRIMARY SCHOOL NO.1844
18 SANDHURST STREET, RAYWOOD - PROPERTY NUMBER 201536, GREATER BENDIGO CITY

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Greater Bendigo City
West elevation, with the school room (1877) to the rear of the porch (1912).
West elevation, with the school room (1877) to the rear of the porch (1912).
West elevation, with the school room (1877) to the rear of the porch (1912).
North elevation, note modified windows to school room.
Rear (east) elevation.
Soldier's memorial at the school entrance.
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Statement of Significance

What is significant?
The brick building at Raywood Primary School, which dates to 1877, is the oldest and most prominent component of the Primary School, which was originally established in 1864. The brick building comprises a single large room space, has a pitched roof and gables at each end, and an asymmetrically placed (later) porch at the west end. The walls are in local face brick set in English bond, varying between a rich tan and umber in colour. These are on a sandstone base set as random coursed rubble. There is a chimney on the south side, with cornice and neck shaped by setting brick courses out from the stack. The roof, which was originally slate-clad, has been replaced with corrugated galvanised steel. The war memorial at the entrance was added during the twentieth century. 

How is it significant?
The brick school building at Raywood Primary School, in Sandhurst Street, Raywood, is of local historical, social and aesthetic/architectural significance. 

Why is it significant?
The brick school building at Raywood Primary School is historically significant (Criterion A) for being the principal centre of State funded education at Raywood since 1877. It replaced, when built, an earlier Common School which was dilapidated and overcrowded. The requirement for a new school at that time also demonstrates the the growth of Raywood following the gold rushes of the 1860s, when settlements such as this continued to consolidate. Despite fluctuating attendances throughout its history, Raywood Primary School has remained in operation for over 130 years. The porch was an enhancement of 1912; the war memorial at the entrance was a later addition again, emphasising the importance of the school within the local community. 

Raywood Primary School is also of social significance (Criterion G), as the principal educational institution in Raywood for over 130 years. The associated war memorial at the entrance to the school, enhances this aspect of significance. 

Aesthetically and architecturally (Criterion E), the original brick building is a surviving example of a Common School building type, built to standard plans by the Colonial Education Department during the 1870s. Shared elements include the single-room space, rectilinear footprint, gabled form and the chimneys, bargeboards, English bond brickwork, gable vent and window heads and sills (Criterion D). The 1912 porch, while part-concealing and modifying the original building frontage, is significant as a long-standing addition which enhanced the facilities through introducing a hat and cloakroom space. Although modified, notably through the addition of the porch to the west, and through the bricking in of windows, the 1870s component still generally presents externally as built, and its simple gabled form and massing remain readable.

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    • Physical Description 1

      RAYWOOD PRIMARY SCHOOL NO.1844 - Physical Description 1

      Raywood Primary School, the earliest component of which dates to 1877, occupies a large triangular allotment to the east of the Bendigo-Pyramid Road at the southern entrance to Raywood. The school property comprises a number of buildings of which the central brick component is the oldest and tallest. This structure, which has a later 'hat and cloakroom' (porch) to the west side, is the focus of the following description. The building is oriented at a diagonal to truth north. For ease, the front elevation facing the Bendigo-Pyramid Road is described as the west elevation below.

      The brick building comprises a single large room space, has a pitched roof and gables at each end, and an asymmetrically placed (alter) porch at the west end. The walls are in local face brick set in English bond, varying between a rich tan and umber in colour. These are on a sandstone base set as random coursed rubble. There is a chimney on the south side, with cornice and neck shaped by setting brick courses out from the stack. The roof, which was originally slate-clad, has been replaced with corrugated galvanised steel with timber fascias and bargeboards, two ridge vents and a triple skylight. The gables have boarded soffits. The window and gable vent sills are in cut stone, overpainted at the west gable end and at the south-east end. An earlier rear door at the east end, with a cambered soffit, is now bricked in. The four windows on the north elevation of the school, each with cambered soffits, have been bricked in above their sills and left with two-pane high-mounted windows, of which two have been filled in with air-conditioning units. The fanlit windows at the two ends are double hung sashes, four at the east end and to the west end. A rendered panel with lettering reading 'Raywood P S No. 1844' is located over the window to the west end. The entrance is through the later porch, which has red face brick walls set in stretcher-bond and a hipped roof clad in painted corrugated galvanised steel with a single ridge vent and exposed rafters. The windows on the porch have overpainted lintels and sills, with a four-paned high-mounted window set between two piers facing the street. Its rendered central panel has a decorative font and a wave-pattern mural with the label 'Raywood P S 1844'. The property appears to be in generally sound condition.

      A memorial gate, located at the entrance off Bendigo-Pyramid Road7 and on axis with a flagpole and the front of the 1870s school building, is constructed of granite and stone and commemorates former pupils of the school who were involved in wars; it is a twentieth century addition. The external shelter area and all the adjacent buildings are later, including of more recent origin. There is no evidence of the 1912 timber teacher's residence.

      Heritage Study and Grading

      Heritage Study and Grading

      Greater Bendigo - Heritage Policy Citations Review

      Author: Lovell Chen P/L
      Year: 2011
      Grading: Local

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