Mundaring Weir School & Quarters (fmr)

Statement of Significance

Mundaring Weir School (fmr), which comprises a single storey timber and iron building has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons:: • The place is associated with the construction of the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme and the development of Mundaring Weir as a water supply area; • The place is associated with Mathieson Jacoby who was the co-owner of the only hotel constructed at the Weir, the designer of the school house and an important figure in the Mundaring district; and, • The place contributes to the community's sense of place as a remnant of what was once a vital community which helped ensured the smooth operations of the water supply scheme.

Physical Description

The building is located on the north western side of Mundaring Weir Road in an area of state forest. The school site is surrounded by mature eucalypts and common understorey vegetation together with some exotic tree species. The site slopes down the south however, the school is located on a flat area of land while the former teacher's residence lies to the north on a sloping section of the site. A new single storey structure (an activity centre), lies to the west of the school building and a new toilet block and laundry lie just to the north of the activity centre. The school house is a timber framed building clad with weatherboards and the roof hipped roof is covered with corrugated iron. The roof has ventilated gambrels on the north and south sides and a brick chimney stack on the western side. The northern wall features a skill ion roof with two rooms on either side of a porch which leads to the front door. This area was originally the front verandah, with an enclosed section of the western side which housed ablution facilities. The enclosed area on the eastern represents a later addition. Entry to the room on the eastern side is off the front porch; the room is now used for storage. The main door leads into a large open space which has been divided into three rooms by timber framed partitions. To the left of the main door, an opening in the north east section of the front wall leads into the enclosed, eastern verandah section which has been fitted out as a kitchen. The floor is tongued and grooved timber boards. An original blackboard remains in the north-west corner and a pot belly stove has also been placed here. Aluminium , framed, double hung windows in the southern wall have been fitted to the original timber architraves, while the original timber window in the room on the western side of the verandah has been retained. The interior walls are clad with asbestos cement sheeting.

History

Assessment 2007 Construction School 1898, quarters 1907 Architect/designer: M.H. Jacoby Builder: M.H. Jacoby The construction of the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme on the Helena River in 1898 saw the development of a large shanty town below the dam wall. Wives and children accompanied the men who worked on the wall and by 1898 the Lands Department requested the Education Department to construct a school at the Weir as there were between 50 - 100 children around the site (including children from nearby sawmills and vineyards). Local landowner Mathieson Jacoby offered to design and construct a school and lease the land to the Department. The land was to revert to the Jacobys (or their heirs) in the event that the school closed. The Department accepted the offer and the school was ready for occupancy by October 1898. Eli Wallis, the first teacher, built his own house and lived in fairly primitive conditions until the Department constructed a residence for him in 1907. The school was directly affected by the fluctuating numbers of men employed at the Weir. Numbers fell off after the Weir was opened in 1903 and then during the raising of the Weir wall between 1946 - 1951, school enrolments rose due to the large number of men, particularly newly arrived migrants, who were employed on the construction of the new wall. School enrolments expanded to such an extent that for a short time pupils had to be accommodated in the Mundaring Weir Hall. By 1953, school enrolment numbers had again declined to pre I946 levels. Changes to the operations of the pump stations lead to a further decline in population at the Weir and by October 1959 the Education Department decided to close the school and bus any children to Mundaring School. In 1961, the site was leased to the National Fitness Council for use as a Youth Hostel. In I978, a fifty year lease was arranged with the Youth Hostel Organization. Mundaring Weir School & Quarters was placed on the Shire of Mundaring's Municipal Inventory in I997. The place was assessed by the Heritage Council of Western Australia in 2004 and considered to be below threshold for the state register. In 2006, the place continues to be used as a Youth Hostel. The school house is used for hostel accommodation, while the school quarters are used as a residence by the caretaker of the property.

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