PRIMARY SCHOOL NO.744

190 WIEGARDS ROAD LOCKWOOD, GREATER BENDIGO CITY

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Victorian Heritage Register

PRIMARY SCHOOL NO.744 SOHE 2008

Statement of Significance

• Additional Place Information

  • History

    PRIMARY SCHOOL NO.744 - History

    Contextual History:
    Lockwood
    Lockwood is a small farming district situated on either side of the Bullock Creek, south of Bendigo. The growth of the township was due to its good agricultural land which made it suitable for grazing and market gardening. The production of vegetables for the nearby goldfields brought prosperity to the Lockwood farmers who took up land between 1853 and 1855. Before the railways were built, introducing competition from other parts of Victoria, demand was such that a small cartload of vegetables could sell for as much as £140 (Lockwood in School Histories. Australian Manuscript Collection, La Trobe Library, State Library of Victoria.).
    
    The Architect
    
    Robert Alexander Love (1814?-1876) arrived in Bendigo in 1858 and built up an architectural and engineering practice in Bendigo and the surrounding areas (Frank Cusack. ‘Robert Love, the Dreamer from Donegal’. Bendigo Advertiser. 23 March 1985, p. 14). He designed churches, public buildings and private residences. His churches include St Paul’s Anglican Cathedral, Bendigo, the W elsh Baptist Chapel, Stawell and St Matthew’s Presbyterian Church, Stawell. Love was chosen by the pastoralist Winter family to design their residence, Colbinnabin in 1866. He was commissioned to design the Bendigo Benevolent Asylum in 1859. Born in Ireland, Love worked as an architect in the United States for fourteen years before migrating to Australia. There he was associated with Charles Ellett, the designer of suspension bridges. In about 1845, he was involved in the laying out of Cincinnati’s famous Spring Grove Cemetery, the second largest in the United States. He is believed to be the first architect to use the cavity wall in Victoria. His design for the Lockwood Common School of 1865 may be the first example of the use of the cavity wall in Victoria. In 1876 he visited the United States to patent his invention of a perpetual motion machine. He went first to St. Louis and in May 1876 moved to Cincinnati, where he contracted smallpox and died in late June 1876.
    
    Love’s major importance is as the pioneer of the true cavity wall in Australia.
    
    Common Schools
    
    The Common Schools Act of 1862 established a new system for Victorian education. It abolished the National and Denominational Boards of Education. Common Schools were set up by the Act to amalgamate national and denominational schools and hence reduce duplication of schools as well as denominational influence. Funding was dependent on approval from the Board of Education. Some areas had a proliferation of schools. Collingwood for example, had 24 schools for 2085 scholars. It was believed that the Act would have the added effect of reducing denominational influence.
    Common Schools were all publicly owned and from 1863, numbered. Plans for new schools were described precisely in the Act though none were built until 1864.
    
    The plans for new schools were carefully prescribed mostly these were derived from English models. One deviation from English practice was for the windows to be placed on one long side, opposite the blackboard and fireplace, which should not intrude into the classroom. No ornamentation was permitted. About 50 % of Common Schools were constructed of masonry, but very few timber ones survive.
    
    Under the new Act, building or maintenance grants from the Board of Education were granted only to vested schools. The Board of Education had inherited over 700 schools. 193 of these were National Schools and 593 were denominational
    Three terms were used to describe Common Schools. Vested schools were publicly owned. Non-Vested schools were denominational schools. Quasi-vested schools were privately owned
    
    Although it was hoped that the new Act would encourage the closure of some of the schools in populated areas, this did not happen. The denominational schools had been established in Melbourne and the larger towns for a long time. The Act could discourage very small schools by denying aid to schools with an average attendance of under twenty children but it could not persuade medium-size schools to amalgamate.
    
    The establishment of the Board came at a time when alluvial gold deposits were being worked out and the mining population was moving from the goldfields towns to the surrounding agricultural areas. The passing of the Selection Acts of the 1860s encouraged this movement and rural areas required schools and most of the grants of the new Board went to small rural schools.
    
    History of Place:
    The Lockwood Primary School opened as a Common School on 8 February 1864 with an enrolment of 29 children. The present school was constructed in 1865 to a design by local architect, Robert Alexander Love, at a cost of £241.9.8. In 1867 desks and forms were supplied. Outbuildings were constructed in 1868. In 1869 the Committee supplied a bell for the combined chimney and bell-tower. This bell tower with a bent and angled flue was unsatisfactory and was removed in 1876, replacing the chimney.
    
    The brick walls have been painted. The original pairs of arched windows survive on the north and east but a large square-headed multi-paned window was inserted on the south wall in the early years of the twentieth century.

    Assessment Against Criteria

    PRIMARY SCHOOL NO.744 - Assessment Against Criteria

    Criterion A
    The historical importance, association with or relationship to Victoria's history of the place or object.
    
    Robert Love's design for the Lockwood Common School of 1865 may be the first example of the use of the cavity wall in Victoria.
    
    

    Criterion B
    The importance of a place or object in demonstrating rarity or uniqueness.
    

    Criterion C
    The place or object's potential to educate, illustrate or provide further scientific investigation in relation to Victoria's cultural heritage.
    

    Criterion D
    The importance of a place or object in exhibiting the principal characteristics or the representative nature of a place or object as part of a class or type of places or objects.
    
    Lockwood Primary School is a representative example of a single room brick Common School.
    
    

    Criterion E
    The importance of the place or object in exhibiting good design or aesthetic characteristics and/or in exhibiting a richness, diversity or unusual integration of features.
    

    Criterion F
    The importance of the place or object in demonstrating or being associated with scientific or technical innovations or achievements.
    
    Lockwood Primary School No. 744 is of architectural importance for its associations with architect Robert Alexander Love. Love's major importance is as the pioneer of the true cavity wall in Australia. Love's works in Stawell and Bendigo are believed to be the earliest true brick cavity walls in Victoria. His design for the Lockwood Common School of 1865 may be the first example of the use of the cavity wall in Victoria.
    
    

    Criterion G
    The importance of the place or object in demonstrating social or cultural associations.
    
    Lockwood Primary School No. 744 is of architectural importance for its associations with architect Robert Alexander Love.
    
    

    Criterion H
    Any other matter which the Council considers relevant to the determination of cultural heritage significance

    Permit Exemptions

    PRIMARY SCHOOL NO.744 - Permit Exemptions

    General Exemptions:

    General exemptions apply to all places and objects included in the Victorian Heritage Register (VHR). General exemptions have been designed to allow everyday activities, maintenance and changes to your property, which don’t harm its cultural heritage significance, to proceed without the need to obtain approvals under the Heritage Act 2017.

    Places of worship: In some circumstances, you can alter a place of worship to accommodate religious practices without a permit, but you must notify the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria before you start the works or activities at least 20 business days before the works or activities are to commence.

    Subdivision/consolidation: Permit exemptions exist for some subdivisions and consolidations. If the subdivision or consolidation is in accordance with a planning permit granted under Part 4 of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 and the application for the planning permit was referred to the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria as a determining referral authority, a permit is not required.

    Specific exemptions may also apply to your registered place or object. If applicable, these are listed below. Specific exemptions are tailored to the conservation and management needs of an individual registered place or object and set out works and activities that are exempt from the requirements of a permit. Specific exemptions prevail if they conflict with general exemptions.

    Find out more about heritage permit exemptions here.

    Specific Exemptions:

    General Conditions:
    1. All alterations are to be planned and carried out in a manner which prevents damage to the fabric of the registered place or object.
    2. Should it become apparent during further inspection or the carrying out of alterations that original or previously hidden or inaccessible details of the place or object are revealed which relate to the significance of the place or object, then the exemption covering such alteration shall cease and the Executive Director shall be notified as soon as possible.
    3. If there is a conservation policy and plan approved by the Executive Director, all works shall be in accordance with it.
    4. Nothing in this declaration prevents the Executive Director from amending or rescinding all or any of the permit exemptions.
    5. Nothing in this declaration exempts owners or their agents from the responsibility to seek relevant planning or building permits from the responsible authority where applicable.
    
    Exterior
    * Minor repairs and maintenance which replace like with like.
    * Removal of any extraneous items such as air conditioners, pipe work, ducting, wiring, antennae, aerials etc, and making good.
    * Installation or repair of damp-proofing by either injection method or grouted pocket method.
    * Regular garden maintenance.
    * Installation, removal or replacement of garden watering systems.
    * Repair, removal or replacement of existing pergolas and other garden structures.
    
    Interior
    * Painting of previously painted walls and ceilings provided that preparation or painting does not remove evidence of the original paint or other decorative scheme.
    * Removal of paint from originally unpainted or oiled joinery, doors, architraves, skirtings and decorative strapping.
    * Installation, removal or replacement of carpets and/or flexible floor coverings.
    * Installation, removal or replacement of curtain track, rods, blinds and other window dressings.
    * Installation, removal or replacement of hooks, nails and other devices for the hanging of mirrors, paintings and other wall mounted artworks.
    * Refurbishment of bathrooms, toilets including removal, installation or replacement of sanitary fixtures and associated piping, mirrors, wall and floor coverings.
    * Installation, removal or replacement of kitchen benches and fixtures including sinks, stoves, ovens, refrigerators, dishwashers etc and associated plumbing and wiring.
    * Installation, removal or replacement of ducted, hydronic or concealed radiant type heating provided that the installation does not damage existing skirtings and architraves and provided that the location of the heating unit is concealed from view.
    * Installation, removal or replacement of electrical wiring provided that all new wiring is fully concealed and any original light switches, pull cords, push buttons or power outlets are retained in-situ. Note: if wiring original to the place was carried in timber conduits then the conduits should remain in-situ.
    * Installation, removal or replacement of bulk insulation in the roof space.
    * Installation, removal or replacement of smoke detectors.

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