MALDON PRIMARY SCHOOL NO.1254
109 HIGH STREET MALDON, MOUNT ALEXANDER SHIRE
Statement of Significance
STATEMENT OF CULTURAL HERITAGE SIGNIFICANCE:
Maldon Primary School No 1254 was opened in 1873, operating at first at the premises of the previous church schools. A site for a new school was chosen by Government, but the current large reserve was chosen after local agitation for a more prominent and commodious location. The substantial building of five large classrooms, three small classrooms and master's office, to accommodate 750 pupils, was opened with pomp and ceremony in 1875. Such an investment indicated some confidence in the future of a town which depended on the vagaries of the gold mining industry, and in which population had declined considerably from the peak of the 1860s. The confidence was justified ? the greatest attendance of 640 was in the 1890s, in a boom period when the many deep quartz reef mines in the area were at their most profitable. During the twentieth century both local population and school attendance declined, apart from a minor resurgence during the construction of the Cairn Curran Reservoir in the 1950s.
The HR Bastow design in Free Gothic style was derived from the symmetrical plan of the Buninyong competition school design, with an additional classroom extending off the south wing. A similar approach was taken at Creswick No 122, Golden Square No 1189 and Castlemaine No 119 schools, but Maldon remains a more intact example through the sympathetic window alterations and minimal other alterations and additions. The school was constructed by local builder W Smith in red brick from the local Wagener's Brickworks, set on a base of the pervasive dark local ragstone work finished with quarry face granite ashlar quoins. The red brickwork is relieved by cream brick banding, diaper patterning and voussoirs, bluestone sills (now painted), and stucco gable parapet. The steep slate roof is punctuated by gablet vents, and minor roof gables on the north facade, and on the east facade with an extension sheltering the school bell. Substantial changes and additions were made to the window layout c1912, but considerable care was taken to integrate the changes with the original design intent.
Maldon Primary School No 1254 is of historical and architectural importance to the State of Victoria.
Maldon Primary School No 1254 is historically important for its ability to demonstrate a particular phase in the development of goldfields towns in the 1870s. Many towns in the goldfields had languished after the easily worked alluvial fields were exhausted, but Maldon was more persistent. By the 1870s Maldon was becoming a service centre for the district. In a period from 1873 to 1876 when over 600 State Schools were constructed, the school at Maldon was considered of sufficient importance by the Education Department to merit this large and elaborately decorated building. The local desire for a substantial school as an investment in the future of the town, was indicated by the agitation for the adoption of this large and prominent site. The scale of the school, the largest public building in the town, proved to be well warranted by the boom in deep quartz mining from 1880-1900. The school has continued to be a major focus in community life up to the present.
Maldon Primary School No 1254 is of architectural importance as a fine example of schools based on reduced adaptations of the influential Buninyong competition School plan. The Maldon School has retained much its original expression through the sympathetic window alterations, and the planning is still readily appreciated as few alterations to the planning, or attached extensions have been made. The Maldon school displays more elaborate decorative treatment than other regional schools of this type. At the same time the use of brick made in the town, ragstone from Tarrengower and Harcourt granite in the base, and slate flooring from Barkers Creek, gives the building a regional flavour and indicates the investment of local energy and expertise in the project.
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MALDON DISTRICT HOSPITAL
Victorian Heritage Register H1683 -
GORDONVILLE
Victorian Heritage Register H0412
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FORMER MALDON COURT HOUSE
Victorian Heritage Register H1652
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'Boonderoo', House and Outbuildings
Greater Bendigo City -
'Riverslea' house
Greater Bendigo City
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1 Adam Street
Yarra City
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