Bellevue Primary School

Statement of Significance

Bellevue Primary School (fmr) has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons: • The place is significant for its association with the development of education in the City of Swan. • The place has social value for former pupils and staff of the school. • The place is a good example of a government school building in the Federation Free style.

Physical Description

Bellevue Primary School (fmr) is a former school complex located on the corner of Clayton and Pascoe Street. The original school grounds have been cleared and a series of multi storey residential developments have been constructed on the site. The site consists of six separate structures, the original school building to the northeast corner along with five residential blocks interconnected by a new series of roads and landscaping. The original school is a single storey brick building with a corrugated steel hip and gable roof displaying characteristics of the Federation Free Style style of architecture. The original school building has face brick walls with a rendered band at head height. There is a verandah that wraps around most of the structure. The building has been altered and converted to residential dwellings which has included the construction of a series of dormers and extensions to the roof structure. The site is enclosed by a limestone pier fence with steel infill and low hedges and plantings along the boundary. line.

History

Bellevue Estate was subdivided in 1896, and described as “Situated in proximity to the Midland Junction and having frontages to the Great Eastern Railway Line”.1 The name apparently derives from “Belle View”, which was the name given to Edward Robinson’s 1887 homestead, a prominent early settler and pastoralist in the area, and was first used on a train timetable in May 1897.2 Clayton Street is a major east-west road through the suburb and was cleared by 1905.3 The road was named after “Clayton Farm” house, the “headquarters of 1,100 acres on the Helena river, near Bellevue” built by Richard Smith in 1861.4 Smith was a carpenter and pioneer who helped build Governor Stirling’s “cottage ornee” near Woodbridge House, and while most of the farm was subdivided “for soldier settlement” in the 1920s,5 “Clayton Street in Bellevue leads out to the old place and serves as a link with the past.”6 The school site is reputed to have been used as an Aboriginal meeting place, the site of Robert Dale Camp and finally, the site of a camel train camp to Kalgoorlie. Difficulties in children attending the Midland-Junction School resulted in Bellevue residents petitioning Government to build a schoolhouse. E. Robinson transferred his privately owned land to the Government. Construction commenced on new schoolhouse in 1903. The school was designed to accommodate 50 pupils with teachers’ quarters near the school building. Additions/alterations were made in 1904-05 and 1907 to address overcrowding. By 1913 it was a fully functional school with exhibitions displaying children’s work at the Mechanics Institute. The school remained the same until after World War II. 1940s the Army commandeered the school for about two years and installed electricity. In the 1960s major changes were made by adding drop windows, new gardens, and playground equipment. One noted headmaster was Robert Tweedie 1946-56 who was a 10th Light Horseman from World War I. Bellevue Primary School closed and was used as a nursery until 2004, which it was sold by the Department of Education. In 2014, plans were prepared for the former school site to be redeveloped into a housing site with a combination of Grouped dwellings and Multiple dwellings, and the former school to be converted for residential use.7 Between 2017 and 2023, the site has undergone significant development including the clearing of the former school grounds and the construction of five residential developments. During this time the original school building also underwent substantial change converting the school into residential dwellings.8

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity - Moderate- Low: The original school building footprint appears to remain. however, has been heavily modified. Authenticity - Low: Since 2003, the place is no longer used as a school and is now the site of multiple grouped dwellings.

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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