Serpentine (Bridge) School (fmr)

Statement of Significance

The school has a high degree of authenticity and is a rare example of the standard one-room school buildings built by the Public Works Department. It has a social and historic significance as the place where children received an education and the community interacted, the site having been continuously used for a school for nearly 100 years. The Port Jackson Bay Fig tree is also an important component of the site, for historic and aesthetic reasons.
Consideration to be given to its inclusion in the historic Serpentine townsite group of buildings.

Physical Description

A single-room brick building with rendered string course (three sides) with a corrugated iron gable roof and verandah under the pitch of the main roof. The north wall of the building is timber framed and clad in corrugated iron. Brickwork at the north ends of the east and west wall is toothed as if to allow for future extension to the building.
Set adjacent to the Serpentine River, with a large Port Jackson Bay fig tree on the left hand side (viewed from the road) which was used by the students for shade and shelter.

History

The third school building on this site, built in 1902. The first school and teacher's house were built in 1859 and called Serpentine Bridge school. The school experienced periods of closure and by 1889, owing to the poor condition of the buildings, a new school room and teacher's house were built- the second on the site. (Builders: Richard Tonkin and George Postans).
The present schoolroom was designed by PWD architect, W.B. Hardwick, and the contractor was J.G. Braunsdorf. Original plans for the school building indicate that the design allowed for future extensions, with the fourth wall being of corrugated iron and not brick. However these extensions were never carried out and the fourth "temporary" wall remains.
In 1954, the new Serpentine Bridge School closed, having been replaced by the new primary school in the new Serpentine townsite. All buildings except the small 1902 school room were either relocated to the new school site or removed.

Condition

Fair-Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.