Bassendean Primary School

Values

The place is a good representative example of a school constructed for the Education Department in the early twentieth century. The extension of school were based on a linear plan that was a common for classroom blocks up to the last half of the twentieth century.

The place has associations with the growth of the West Guildford area and the need to provide public education for the school age children of local residents.

The place has social significance to the past teachers and students and their families who have been associated with the school since its opening in 1906 up to the present day.

Physical Description

The main school building is a brick classroom block with a corrugated iron gable roof and brick chimneys. The place has timber windows and doors. The windows have rendered sills.

There are two timber framed classrooms with corrugated iron gable roofs and a skillion at the north end of each building. There are verandahs to the east end of the classrooms, which have flat iron roofs supported by steel posts.

History

Like other areas around the state, the West Guildford/Bassendean areas was impacted by the Western Australian goldrushes of the 1880s and 1890s which resulted in economic prosperity and mass migration. As with places like North Perth and Fremantle. The larger land locations and estates in West Guildford were subject to subdivision and increased settlement. The local municipal area of West Guildford was officially proclaimed in 1901.

Initially children had to travel from West Guildford to Guilford daily to attend school. This travel distance, lack of accommodation at the Guildford school, and the increasing number of children in the district made the need for a school on the west bank of the river a necessity.

In 1905, land was acquired from Dr. Kenny for a school site. However, the land had to drained and filled by the local Road Board before any work could begin on the school buildings. The Education Department was still hesitant about the location of the school on this wetland area but agreed to go ahead with plans stating the school be built from clay bricks and that damp proofing be installed. The school, comprising a two roomed brick building, was opened on 15 October 1906. The headmaster was Mr. Arthur Loveridge with an enrolment of 85 students...

The school complex has been subject to alterations and additions over the years mainly due to the need for more classroom accommodation and updated facilities. This had resulted in the extension of the original two classroom brick building; the first two classrooms were added in c. 1910 and one only a few years later in 1912.

In 2003, the place continues to be used as a school.

Integrity/Authenticity

High

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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Last Update

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