University of Queensland Gatton Campus

The University of Queensland Gatton Campus was established in 1897 at Gatton as the Queensland Agricultural College. The College initially operated as a tertiary agricultural institution offering a basic practical and theoretical agricultural education for young men and short courses for farmers on specific topics, but from its inception, there was also an expectation that the College would be involved in agricultural research and experimentation. In 1922, it was re-structured as the Gatton Agricultural High School and College. From 1927, the College also took students from the University of Queensland for a year of practical experience. During the Second World War, the College was used as a field hospital by the United States Army from 1942 to 1944. After the war, it continued to operate as both a secondary and tertiary institution until the high school section was closed in 1962. In the 1960s the college began to diversify the courses on offer and the first women students enrolled in 1969. In 1990, the College merged with the University of Queensland. In 1995, it was re-located to its present position west of Services Road (). In honour of students and staff from the College who had fought in the two world wars, an Olympic-sized War Memorial Swimming Pool was constructed in the early 1950s. Site excavation was carried out in 1950–52, largely by student labour using farm machinery such as tractors and ploughs, but the post-war shortage of materials delayed construction until 1953–54. The pool was funded by a War Memorial Fund established by College staff and students. In 1958–59 dressing rooms and a spectator pavilion were constructed beside the pool, partly funded by Queensland Government subsidy. In 1959 the main entrance from the Warrego Highway was improved with the construction of curved brick fences with ornamental steel work flanking the entrance, and a steel sign replacing the old wooden sign. The Hugh Courtney Oval was established in 1959–60, 1000 tons of ashes from the Bulimba Powerhouse were spread for drainage and the grass was cultivated by Gatton students. A dam was constructed to the east of the Foundation Precinct in the 1950s. In 1980, during a particularly dry season, it was re-designed as a wildlife sanctuary and named Lake Galletly after past student, long-serving staff member and nature conservationist, Jim Galletly. In contrast to the restricted building program of the 1950s, the 1960s and 1970s was a boom construction period for the college, reflecting in part the dominance of the Country/National Party in Queensland politics. The Queensland Government made a commitment to upgrade facilities at the College and to replace the early timber buildings and Second World War timber and fibrous cement structures, with more substantial brick buildings. In 1962 the high school section was closed and the college reverted to a tertiary institution with around 900 students enrolled. Thirty overseas students enrolled in 1960 under the Colombo Plan. In 1966 a wide diversification of courses was initiated under the guidance of the newly formed Queensland Agricultural Education Advisory Board, including rural-related subjects such as food technology, hospitality, tourism, real estate valuation and wildlife services. The College gained autonomy from the Department of Education in 1967 and commenced a major building program. Brisbane firm Bligh Jessup Brentnall was retained as architects and developed a site plan for the college, heralding the "red brick" era of its development. Construction included halls of residence, lecture theatres and schools, a new administration block, and new animal facilities. A new gymnasium was erected in 1968, funded by the College Welfare Fund and Queensland Government subsidy, and was dedicated in 1969 as the War Memorial Gymnasium. An airstrip was established in 1966 as a training ground for students interested in obtaining a private pilot's licence and has developed as a facility for the Air Training Corps and Army Cadets on campus, as well as for sports such as gliding, hot air ballooning and parachuting. In 1973 it was officially named the CH Francis Airstrip in honour of long-serving staff member Charles Francis who was instrumental its development. In 1971 Gatton became a College of Advanced Education and control passed to a College Council. The then Director, Neil Briton, quoted Prime Minister John Gorton in declaring the aim of the College to be to produce a new end-product - a liberally-educated technologist. The first women students enrolled in 1969 on a non-residential basis, and residential women students were accepted in 1971. The College began to confer its own degrees in 1973 and continued to diversify the courses on offer. The next major change came with the Commonwealth government's education policy changes in 1988, which required tertiary institutions to have a minimum student population of 2000 full-time enrolments. Gatton did not meet the size criteria and like many other smaller colleges, consolidated with a larger institution. On 1 January 1990, it became part of the University of Queensland and is now known as The University of Queensland, Gatton Campus. There are currently around 1000 students enrolled. == Description ==

The University of Queensland Gatton Campus is located on the Warrego Highway, just east of the town of Gatton. It comprises two distinct areas: the main campus at Lawes, approximately east of Gatton, and the Darbalara Farms, located approximately to the south east of the main campus. The focus of interest for the entry in the Queensland Heritage Register is the main campus at Lawes; the Darbalara Farms are not included in the heritage listing. CSIRO Cooper Laboratory The CSIRO Cooper Laboratory (1941) is located to the north of the Central Precinct, within the Core Environs and east of Main Drive. It comprises a complex of structures: four laboratories, eight offices, seed barns, sterile seed store, seed storage rooms and a glasshouse. The collection of low-set buildings are predominantly constructed of orange-red brick with one or two timber sheds. All have hipped roofs with wide eaves, and are clad in corrugated steel. Sport and Residential Precinct This precinct is located to the south of the Foundation Precinct, within the Core Environs area. Of cultural heritage significance within this precinct are three sporting ovals constructed largely by staff and students, a grandstand (1927), the War Memorial Swimming Pool complex (1950s) and the War Memorial Gymnasium (1968). The Tom Graham Cricket Oval (1931) is located in the eastern third of this precinct. The Grandstand (Bldg 8336) is located on the western edge of the Tom Graham Cricket Oval. It is a small timber framed and weatherboard structure with tiered timber bench seating and a corrugated steel, timber-framed roof with a small projecting, decorative gable roof over the access staircase. The Hugh Courtney Rugby Oval (1959–60) is located in the western third of the precinct, and the Ray McNamara Sports Oval (1965) is situated in the centre. Northwest of the ovals are the swimming pool and gymnasium. The War Memorial Swimming Pool Complex (Bldg 8145) comprises an Olympic-size swimming pool, spectator stand, and dressing rooms. To the south and west of the main sporting facilities are a number of pre-1950 staff houses along South Ridge Road. Of particular interest are nos.8 & 15, which are likely s. At the northeastern end of the Sport and Residential Precinct is a small reserve on a separate lot on plan, occupied by Australian Defence Force Reservists. Farms Area There are a number of elements of cultural heritage significance located within the Farms Area. These are important in illustrating the evolution of the development of Gatton Campus. Elements identified to the south of the core area include: Lawes Siding Road (1897), the original principal access road to the Agricultural College, at the southern end of the campus. This road leads in a straight line in a northeasterly direction from the Lawes Railway Siding on the Southern and Western Railway, across the Gatton-Forest Hill/Laidley Road, to the Core Area of Gatton Campus. It is lined by an avenue of Eucalypts (planted in the 1910s) and other mature trees such as palm trees. • Avenue of Trees (bean?), located south of the core area to the west of Lawes Siding Road, just north of, and at right angles to, the present Gatton-Forest Hill/Laidley Road. Between the trees is remnant asphalted roadway associated with the earlier alignment of the Gatton-Forest Hill/Laidley Road. Between the avenue and the present Gatton-Forest Hill/Laidley Road is a grove of less mature trees of the same species. • The CH Francis Airstrip (1966), located to the south of the Sport and Recreational Precinct, east of Lawes Siding Road. The strip is aligned in an east-west direction, and has a grassed surface. Elements identified to the east of the core area include: • Lake Galletly (1950s), an ornamental lake and wildlife refuge located to the east of the Core Environs. Elements identified to the immediate north of the core area include: • The original Warrego Highway entrance road to the Agricultural College, leading in a straight line south/southeast from the highway to the northern end of the Core, and marked by an avenue of mature trees, including Leopard Trees (Caesalpinia ferrea), Poinciana (Delonix regia), Leptospermum spp. and Eucalyptus spp. Elements identified to the north of the Warrego Highway include: • The Former College View State School and adjacent Residence (Bldgs 8411, 8412 & 8413), situated to the north of the Warrego Highway, east of the overpass. The school building is of contributory significance, having been moved to this site from the Tarampa Road. It is a small, timber framed, weatherboard clad building on low stumps, with a gable roof clad in corrugated metal sheeting. The residence is a high-set timber "Queenslander" s which is also understood to have been moved to this location. • A Barn (Bldg 8431), located just east of the overpass road on the north side of Warrego Highway. The barn is a rectangular, timber-framed structure with a high gabled roof clad in corrugated iron, the whole high-set on timber stumps. There are double timber swing doors at each end of the building, the doors at the eastern end opening onto a small timber-framed loading dock • The Sewerage Treatment Works () (Bldgs 8422–8426 & 8428–8429 & 8428), located along the ring road which follows Lockyer Creek around the northern farms. This complex remains remarkably intact, and comprises a number of sheds and water treatment facilities, including early circular concrete ponds. • The Pump House () (Bldg 8427), located north of the Treatment Works, on the western bank of Lockyer Creek. It is a small, octagonal-shaped, one-roomed, concrete building with an octagonal-pitched roof clad with corrugated metal sheeting. • The Potato Shed (no UQ number), located further north on the east side of the northern ring road. It is a timber-framed bunker with the above-ground structure clad in corrugated galvanized iron. • s Staff Houses and Gardens, and in some instances, just the gardens where houses have been removed, along the Lockyer Creek ring road. The mature trees in these gardens contribute significantly to the aesthetic values of the campus. The houses are all high-set weatherboard "Queenslanders". • The main building in the Crop Research Unit (s) (Bldg 8419), located at the northern end of the campus, on the southeast bank of Lockyer Creek. It is a long, narrow, low-set building with a concrete block base to sill height and timber-framing and weatherboards above. It has a hipped roof clad with corrugated sheeting. There is a brick chimney rising above the roof near the northeast end of the building. The whole rests on a concrete plinth. • The Dressing Shed (Bldg 8441), located adjacent to Lockyer Creek at the northwest end of the campus, above a former popular swimming hole. It is a long, narrow, low-set, timber-framed structure composed of three sections. The middle section has a gable roof and exposed external timber framing on three sides and weatherboard cladding on the fourth wall overlooking Lockyer Creek. The walls are lined with corrugated iron sheeting. Either side of this central section is a long, narrow dressing room with a skillion roof of corrugated iron and all walls clad externally with weatherboards and unlined internally. Floors throughout are concrete. Entrance doors to each section are in the northwest elevation overlooking the creek • Two concrete water storage tanks and generator/pump shed (no UQ number), located adjacent to the Dressing Shed above Lockyer Creek. These are associated with the early water supply to the campus established in the late 1920s. The tanks are circular, of moulded concrete construction, and highly intact. They stand approximately above ground. The generator/pump shed adjacent to the tanks is a small, timber-framed, skillion-roofed structure clad externally with corrugated metal sheeting. The generator/pump has been removed but the concrete plinth on which it rested remains. • A row of mature exotic trees along the ridge above Lockyer Creek, located just northeast of the dressing shed. These contribute significantly to the aesthetic values of the campus. • A row of Eucalypt spp. trees on east side of the road which formerly led from the Warrego Highway opposite the earlier main College entrance, directly north to Lockyer Creek and the Dressing Shed. == Heritage listing ==

University of Queensland Gatton Campus (Queensland University) was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 6 January 2004 having satisfied the following criteria. '''The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history.''' The University of Queensland Gatton Campus was established in 1897 by the Queensland Government as the Queensland Agricultural College. It is significant as Queensland's first agricultural vocational institution and demonstrates the Queensland government's commitment to agricultural education, reflecting the vital importance of primary production in the history of the State. It has significance as Queensland's principal agricultural training educational institution for over a century, contributing to generations of best-practice farming in this State. The University of Queensland Gatton Campus also has historical significance for its role in the development of agriculture and agricultural research in Queensland through its historical and continuing links with the Queensland Department of Agriculture (now Department of Primary Industries) and the CSIR (now CSIRO). In addition, the University of Queensland Gatton Campus is significant for its wartime use as a military hospital, and a number of buildings and structures survive associated with this period. '''The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history.''' The University of Queensland Gatton Campus is significant for its wartime use as a military hospital, and a number of buildings and structures survive associated with this period. The dump associated with this use has the potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's wartime history. The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places. The University of Queensland Gatton Campus demonstrates the principal characteristics of a rural public educational institution, with the attributes of both a university campus and a working farm. The early-established spatial relationships between the administrative, teaching, workshop, residential, recreational, and farming elements of the site survives, as does early infrastructure including Lawes Siding Road, the original Warrego Highway entrance road, and the 1928–29 water tower and water storage tanks near Lockyer Creek. The Foundation Building and the Homestead are evidence of the original collection of College buildings erected in 1897. Sir Leslie Wilson Hall, constructed as a gymnasium in 1899, demonstrates the recreational facilities that have been part of the campus from its establishment, and which include also a swimming hole in Lockyer Creek and an associated changing rooms building; a fine 1927 timber grandstand; ovals constructed in 1931, 1959–60 and 1965; a War Memorial Swimming Pool (1954); and an airfield (1966). Morrison Hall, constructed in 1936, is a fine example of an interwar Hall of Residence and demonstrates the principal characteristics of a timber dormitory building designed for the Queensland climate. The Farm Square precinct, which includes Farm Square (commenced 1899), the Hayshed (1923), the Merv Young Field Facilities Building (former Woolshed) (1913–15), the Weighbridge, the Blacksmith's Shop (1933), the former Dairy Factory (now the printery) (1912), Crow's Silo (1941); the Shearing Shed (1941); the Wool Classing Shed (s); a number of other s buildings; and an early residence () are important in illustrating the way in which a working farm is combined with facilities for the practical instruction of students. The Cooper Laboratories, a complex of brick and timber buildings purpose-constructed from 1941 for the CSIR seed research program, is important in illustrating the principal characteristics of a substantially intact, 1940s agricultural research facility. On the northern side of the Warrego Highway, the Sewerage Treatment Works and the nearby Pump House on Lockyer Creek are important in illustrating the principal characteristics of early 1940s facilities of this type, and important historically for their association with the presence of an American military hospital at the College during the Second World War. The timber Dressing Shed beside Lockyer Creek at the northwest end of the campus is a rare known surviving example of this type of recreational structure. The place is important because of its aesthetic significance. The Foundation Precinct, which includes the Foundation Building, the Homestead, Morrison Hall, Sir Walter Leslie Hall, the water tower, a flagpole, a sandstone memorial, and plantings of Canary Island Date Palms (Phoenix canariensus), has aesthetic significance derived from the combination of impressive timber vernacular architecture, intact in both form and material, and striking formal landscape qualities. The campus generally has aesthetic value generated by its landscape qualities, which include: the treed sandstone ridge on which the core of the campus sits surrounded by farm paddocks; frontages to Lockyer and Laidley Creeks; planted avenues of trees along the central spine of the College core (Phoenix canariensus), along the original entrance road off the Warrego Highway, along Lawes Siding Road; and along the former Gatton-Forest Hill/Laidley Road alignment at the southern end of the campus; and water features such as the man-made Lake Galletly. There are mature exotic trees planted throughout the campus, including those in the house gardens to the north of the Warrego Highway and along Lockyer Creek near the Dressing Shed, which contribute significantly to the aesthetic values of the campus. Views to and from the central core are valued, and the water tower is a landmark, visible from the Warrego Highway and from the Main Range at Toowoomba, to the west. The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons. The University of Queensland Gatton Campus has a strong and special association for the University/College community both past and present for its social and educational values. The place is well known in the Queensland community for its contribution to the development of agriculture in this State. == References ==