Marburg State School

Marburg State School opened in 1879 as Frederick State School (renamed Marburg State School in 1888) on a small site within the small agricultural settlement of Frederick, to serve its growing rural population. In February 1920, Marburg Rural School commenced in rented buildings until the rural school and primary school moved to the current school site in June 1922. The school has been in continuous operation since establishment and has been a focus for the local community as a place for important social and cultural activity. Frederick's (Marburg's) establishment, as an agricultural settlement, dates from the 1860s when the area was settled, primarily by German immigrants. The Queensland Education Act 1875 provided for free, compulsory and secular primary education and the establishment of the Department of Public Instruction. This further standardised the provision of education, and despite difficulties, achieved the remarkable feat of bringing basic literacy to most Queensland children by 1900. In 1888 the school was renamed Marburg State School to reflect the town's change of name, and it continued to grow - with additions in 1888, reroofing in 1904, and repairs and improvements in 1908. Additional land on the western side of the school reserve was added but was steep and unsuitable for a playground. The college, administered by the Department of Agriculture and Stock, was part of a wider scheme of introducing "scientific agriculture" to the colony, which included experimental farms and travelling model dairies. Within the school system, a limited form of rural instruction was introduced in syllabus changes made in 1905 and 1915. Consequently, a 10-acre (approximately ) lot in Louisa Street, about to the northwest of the first school site but close to the Marburg town centre with its railway station, was purchased from A Beutel for £250 on 30 August 1920 as the future site of the Marburg Rural School. This proximity to the railway station was important because "pupils aged between 12 and 14 years and ex-pupils to 17 years were eligible for free rail travel and free tuition at a Rural School one day per week". Pupils from Rosewood, Minden, Tallegalla, Lark Hill. Glamorgan Vale, Haigslea and Walloon were allotted a day for attendance at Marburg Rural School. Altogether 30 rural schools opened in Queensland between 1917 and 1939. Each was located in prime fruit-growing, dairying or agricultural areas and functioned "as a central school for the surrounding district schools, teaching domestic, commercial, agricultural and vocational classes". A 1921 plan of the sectional school building shows it as a long, weatherboard-clad structure, highset on tall stumps, with a Dutch-gable roof and two circular roof vents. A teachers annexe was attached to the verandah on the northern side, and included one space for the head teacher and another for the assistant teachers. Stairs either side of the teachers' annexe provided access to the verandah, which was enclosed at the western end for hat and coat racks, and at the eastern end for use as a store room. Large banks of windows spanned the southern wall. The interior was divided into five wide classrooms of varying lengths, and a science room was located at the eastern end. Three western classrooms were connected via folding glass doors and each classroom featured a ceiling vent. This included enclosing under the buildings with sheet metal. Its total cost was £718."I found it difficult to make a good approach from street to school buildings owing to [the] sports ground. The roadway is 16ft (4.88 m) on plan and swings around flagpole. The trees on drive and on boundarys [sic] are 33ft (10.06 m) apart.""In the Forestry plots I have provided for about 144 [trees] and proposed to plant 1 of each 6 kinds of soft and 6 kinds of hardwoods. The fruit trees are put down at 25 ft (7.71 m) apart this will give plenty of room for cultivation, it will depend of course on what kind of tree you wish to go in for, and the distance apart can be arranged to suit small growing trees. The space for garden plots I have left for your own design."A meeting of the school committee in 1925 decided the horse paddock in the northwestern corner of the site would be fenced off. The work was to be completed through working bees and the government would supply the wire. During the same meeting, arrangements were made to plant shade trees on the northern side of the school grounds and it was noted that the Department of Public Instruction advised of its intention to construct a new teacher's residence. In the same year, a fence was constructed around the residence and the understorey was enclosed with battens. Forestry plots were the product of after-school agricultural clubs, introduced in 1923 at primary schools, under the "home project" scheme. Curriculum driven, these clubs had a secondary commercial value as well as disseminating information and helping to develop a range of skills. The Department of Primary Industry provided suitable plants and offered horticultural advice. School forestry plots were seen by the government as a way of educating the next generation about the economic and environmental importance of trees, as well as providing testing grounds for new species. Located throughout the state, the plots were a means of experimenting with a variety of tree species in different soil and climatic conditions. The sale of timber grown in school plots provided an additional source of income for the school, and the plots themselves were an attractive feature of school grounds. At Marburg State Rural School 275 exotic and indigenous trees were planted initially. Encouraged by the Education and Forestry Departments, by 1953 about 380 Queensland schools were undertaking forestry projects. An account in the school's 125th Anniversary Book recalls that the trees were ordered from the Department of Forestry, planted in rows, and spaced two metres apart. Trees planted include: bunya pine (Araucaria bidwillii), Kauri Pine (Agathis robusta), Crows Ash (Flindersia australis), Mexican Cedar (Taxodium mexicanum), Pinus longifolia, Pinus radiata, Pinus insularis and silky oak (Grevillea robusta). Ongoing planting occurred. The trees remaining include hoop pine (Araucaria cunninghamii), Kauri Pine, silky oak and Norfolk Island Pine (Araucaria heterophylla). Other activities at the Marburg Rural School were a calf club; a forestry nursery germinating seeds of selected hardwoods and softwoods, and planting the seedling tubes around Marburg; an orchard of citrus and nut trees; pasture renovations using grasses, legumes and fertilizers; potato growing; milk and cream testing; pig raising on the school farm; room competitions; and meal preparation. Marburg Rural School reverted to a state school in 1963 after the cessation of vocational and domestic science training at the school. In 1959 the vocational building burnt down and classes were transferred to Ipswich. Domestic science classes ceased in 1963 and the building was sold for removal. Also at this time, the eastern store room was removed from the verandah of the sectional school building. Hat and bag racks were added, and louvres were inserted into the building's verandah walls. A 1969 plan indicates the extension of the teachers annexe by to the north to accommodate a staff-room and services-room. At this time, the building's internal partitions were also altered to accommodate four larger classrooms; and the southeastern and northwestern walls were replaced to include new openings. A 1966 plan shows the addition of a weatherboard-clad toilet extension on the eastern side of the rear verandah, and to accommodate this, the repositioning of the eastern set of stairs. The modular pre-school building, adjacent the sectional school building, was removed from the site between November 2014 and March 2015. The tennis court was relocated to the southwestern corner of the site between 2005 and 2009; and in 2015 the location of the original tennis court is used as a car-park. In 2009 Marburg State School was granted $250,000 for the construction of a multi-purpose hall as part of the Building the Education Revolution project (Primary Schools for the 21st Century (P21) component). This multi-purpose hall was constructed by January 2012 and is located southeast of the sectional school building. The flagpole on site in the 1920s is not extant in 2015. Celebrations of the school's 75th Jubilee were held in 1954, its centenary in 1979 and its 125th anniversary in 2004. The latter two events included publication of the school's history. The school's bell, which had been stolen, was replaced in 1979 and is located northwest of the sectional school building in 2015. In 2015, the school continues to operate from its 1922 site. It retains its sectional school building, teacher's residence, forestry plot and horse paddock, as well as its landscaped grounds. The school is important to Marburg, having been a focus for the community and generations of Marburg and district students have been taught there. Since establishment it has been a key social focus for the Marburg community with the grounds and building serving as the venue for many social events. == Description ==

Marburg State School occupies the whole of an approximately sloping block within the small rural township of Marburg in the Brisbane Valley. The school complex is accessed via Louisa Street and is surrounded by agricultural and residential properties. Visible from the school entrance and at the highest point of the site is a sectional school building (1922). East of the sectional school building, a teacher's residence (1926) faces south to front the entrance driveway. The landscaped grounds are well-established and include an avenue of mature fig trees along the length of the curved driveway that provides an attractive entrance to the school. The layout of the grounds is clearly divided into areas based on use, including: a teaching area with playing field at the southern end; a residence with garden area to the east; a mature forestry plot in the northeastern corner; and a former horse paddock in the northwestern corner. The school is prominent in its rural location and is clearly visible from the adjacent Warrego Highway. 1922 sectional school building (Block A) The 1922 sectional school building is a highset, timber-framed structure that is clad in weatherboards and stands on combination of timber, concrete and metal stumps. The building is long and narrow, running on a northeast-southwest axis, and has a corrugated metal-clad, Dutch-gable roof with circular roof ventilators and additional gablets on the southeastern side. The teachers annexe on the northwestern side has a hipped roof. The building has timber floors and access is via timber stairs to the northern verandah (now enclosed). An early timber-framed casement window with a horizontally centre-pivoting fanlight is retained in the southwestern wall of the teachers annexe. Recent additions that are not of cultural heritage significance include: modern windows; verandah wall openings; flat sheet wall and ceiling linings; and linoleum and carpet floor linings. The northern verandah has a raked ceiling clad in v-jointed (VJ) tongue and groove (T&G) timber boards. A small section of early VJ, T&G wall lining is located within the verandah wall of the teachers annexe. The interior is divided into four classrooms by modern partitions, although timber lattice ceiling vents and metal tie rods indicate the original five-room layout. The coved ceiling is hipped at the end-walls and is lined with VJ, T&G timber boards. The teachers annexe comprises four administration and storage rooms organised around a central hallway. The two northwesternmost rooms are a modern extension. All walls and ceilings are lined with modern flat sheeting, and the timber floor is lined with modern linoleum. The understorey has a concrete slab floor and is partially enclosed with timber battening and corrugated metal sheeting. It is used as a shaded play-space and has storage rooms at the southwestern end, enclosed with corrugated metal sheeting - some sections of the corrugated metal sheeting have early Lysaght stamps. 1926 teacher's residence The 1926 teacher's residence is highly intact. The building is highset on tall concrete stumps, clad in weatherboards and has a corrugated metal-clad hipped roof. It comprises a core of bedrooms, with a verandah (now enclosed) at the front (south) and a dining verandah (enclosed) at the rear (north), and a rear wing attached to the northern side of the dining verandah. Timber stairs provide access to the front and rear verandahs. Wide, timber-framed, corrugated metal-clad window hoods shelter windows on the eastern and western sides, and rounded metal hoods shade the northern windows. Early timber joinery is retained throughout the building including: low-waisted French doors with 2-light fanlights from the core to the front verandah and dining room; low-waisted timber doors with fanlights to the core's central hallway; VJ timber-clad doors to the pantry in the rear wing and to the understorey washhouse enclosure; and a double-hung timber sash window to the pantry. Other windows are modern, set within original openings. The entry landing (including toilet) on the eastern side of the building is modern and not of cultural heritage significance. The front verandah retains its single-skin verandah wall, with post and belt rails supporting VJ, T&G timber boards. Its raked ceiling is lined with modern flat sheeting. The core comprises three bedrooms and a living room, centred around a short hallway. The rear wing includes an eastern kitchen with stove alcove, a central bathroom and pantry, and an eastern former servant's room. All interior walls and ceilings are lined with VJ timber boards; the north and south walls of the dining verandah are single-skin with post-and-belt-rails exposed. The walls of the stove alcove are lined in flat sheeting. A small window seat built into the western wall of the dining room is lined in VJ, T&G timber boards. Skirtings and cornices throughout are timber and of a simple profile. The building's timber floors are lined with modern carpet and linoleum. The understorey has a concrete slab floor and is enclosed with timber, battened screens. A washhouse at northeastern end is enclosed with flat sheeting. Grounds and Views The school grounds are established and well laid-out. The school is prominent in its location and the sloping nature of the site provides opportunities for views of the surrounding, rural area to be obtained from within the school grounds and the school buildings. The driveway, running approximately northwest from the school entrance toward the sectional school building, features an avenue of established small-leaf fig trees (Ficus spp.), with one large leaf-fig tree (Ficus sp.) at the southern end. The avenue enhances the school's prominence in its location, provides a picturesque setting for the school and generates a strong sense of place upon entry to the school. North of the teacher's residence, a variety of hoop pines (Araucaria cunninghamii), Norfolk pines (Araucaria heterophylla) and kauri pines (Agathis robusta) stand within a forestry plot; sections of which are planted in rows. The forestry plot is accessed from the southern end via a gateway with a metal sign featuring the words, "Environmental Park; QLD's 1st School Forestry Plot; est. 1928". In the northwestern corner of the grounds is the horse paddock - a fenced, grassed area that slopes down to a northern creek-bed and features several shade trees. Other structures Sheds, play equipment, walkways, tennis courts, the multi-purpose hall, and other structures within the school grounds are not of cultural heritage significance. == Heritage listing ==

Marburg State School was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 9 October 2015 having satisfied the following criteria. '''The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history.''' Marburg State School, established in 1879, is important in demonstrating the evolution of state education and its associated architecture in Queensland. It retains good examples of standard government designs that were architectural responses to prevailing government educational philosophies. At Marburg State School these standard designs are: a sectional school building (1922), which demonstrates the evolution of Department of Public Works (DPW) timber school designs to provide equally for educational and climatic needs; and the highly-intact teacher's residence (1926), which provides evidence of Departmental policy to provide accommodation for married male head teachers as an inducement to teach in country areas and to provide a resident caretaker on the site. The school is important surviving evidence of the establishment of rural schools in Queensland, a popular initiative to provide a practical education for rural students and encourage them to stay on the land. The forestry plot (1928), the first established in Queensland, is important surviving evidence of a movement to convey the economic and environmental importance of forestry to students while creating an attractive landscape feature and income for schools. The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places. Marburg State School is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of Queensland state schools with their later modifications. These include: timber-framed buildings constructed to standard designs by the Queensland Government; and generous, landscaped sites with mature shade trees and play areas. The teacher's residence is an excellent, intact example of its type - retaining its highset, hipped roof and weatherboard-clad form with early joinery; and comprising a core of three bedrooms and a living room, a front verandah (now enclosed), a rear dining verandah (enclosed), and a rear kitchen and bathroom wing. The sectional school building is a good example of its type, retaining its highset form with play space beneath, gable roof, blank end walls, northern verandah, large south-facing windows, projecting teachers rooms, and internal features such as coved ceilings lined in tongue-and-groove boards. The forestry plot at Marburg is an excellent example of its type, containing several pine tree species planted in rows. The place is important because of its aesthetic significance. Marburg State School, with its grounds designed by William Ernest Bick (horticulturalist, landscaper and curator of the Brisbane Botanic Gardens 1917–40), is important for its aesthetic significance. It possesses beautiful attributes due to the intactness of its well-composed original layout, which includes: a Fig-lined driveway that gracefully sweeps from the entrance, uphill around the school oval and to the school buildings; a forestry plot; a horse paddock; mature trees; and expansive rural views. The sloping grounds are divided into areas designated for specific uses, creating a harmonious park-like landscape within a rural setting. The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons. Schools have always played an important part in Queensland communities. They typically retain significant and enduring connections with former pupils, parents, and teachers; provide a venue for social interaction and volunteer work; and are a source of pride, symbolising local progress and aspirations. Marburg State School has a strong and ongoing association with the Marburg community. It was established in 1879 through the fundraising efforts of the local community and generations of Marburg children have been educated there. The place is important for its contribution to the educational development of Marburg and district and is a prominent community focal point and gathering place for social and commemorative events with widespread community support. == References ==