Allenstown State School is a heritage-listed state school at 13–33 Upper Dawson Road, Allenstown, Rockhampton, Rockhampton Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1884 by Department of Public Works. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 20 September 2019.
History Allenstown State School was established on its current site in 1877. The school is important in demonstrating the evolution of state education and its associated architecture. It retains:
two timber playsheds built 1884 the Clayton Memorial, a sandstone monument to a teacher built by 1892 a swimming pool built in 1931 a front garden built by 1932 a playing field created in 1936 a substantial Depression-era brick school building built in 1939 a parade ground created by 1948
The school is a prominent landmark in the area and has a strong association with the surrounding community.
The Rockhampton area is traditionally part of the lands of the Darumbal people. After the short-lived 1858 Canoona gold rush, Rockhampton was proclaimed a town and declared a "port of entry" in that year. Emerging as an important regional centre, the Municipality of Rockhampton was proclaimed in 1860 and it remained the principal port for central Queensland for nearly a century.
Allenstown, a suburb south of the centre of Rockhampton was named after William Allen, a merchant and leading elder of the Primitive Methodist Church. Allen purchased, subdivided, and sold land here in 1864. Houses, a store, and Patrick Egan's Merry Jig Hotel followed. By 1873, the area had developed to the point that there were 50–60 school-age children, who walked between to the already overcrowded Rockhampton Central State School in William Street, Rockhampton (closed in 1973).Lorna McDonald, Rockhampton: A history of City and District, St Lucia, University of Queensland Press, 1981, pp.340, 525Northern Argus 22 January 1866, p.1Rockhampton Bulletin 8 February 1873, p.2.
The establishment of schools was considered an essential step in the development of early communities and integral to their success. People from the surrounding community often donated land and labour for a school's construction and the school community contributed to maintenance and development. Schools became a community focus, a symbol of progress, and a source of pride, with enduring connections formed with past pupils, parents, and teachers.Project Services, "Mount Morgan State High School" in Queensland Schools Heritage Study Part II Report, for Education Queensland, 2008, pp.4-5Paul Burmester, Margaret Pullar and Michael Kennedy Queensland Schools: A Heritage Conservation Study, a report for the Department of Education, 1996, pp.87-8.
In February 1873, a school reserve of nine acres, 1 rood and 16 perches (3.78ha) was declared at Allenstown. A school committee of Rockhampton community members was formed in July 1875 and fundraising from the community began. Tenders were called for a timber-framed teaching building and teacher's residence in October 1876, and Allenstown State School opened on 16 July 1877.Rockhampton Bulletin 8 February 1873, p.2 see also Government Gazette 18 January 1873, p.112 (Reserve for School Allenstown)Daily Northern Argus, 14 July 1875, p.2, The Capricornian, 19 August 1876, p.540, Rockhampton Bulletin, 25 October 1876, p.2Brisbane Courier, 16 October 1876, p.3Daily Northern Argus, 9 July 1877, p.3, 15 August 1877, p.3.14 July 1951, p.3DPW Annual Report 30 June 1952, p.12. As student numbers immediately outstripped the building's capacity, a wing was added to the existing building in 1879.Morning Bulletin, 8 February 1879, p.2Allenstown State School Centenary Booklet 1877 - 1977, Rockhampton, Allenstown State School, 1977, p.31.
In 1884, two playsheds were built at Allenstown State School. The Queensland education system recognised the importance of play in the school curriculum. Playsheds were standard designs, free-standing shelters with fixed timber seating between posts and doubled as teaching space when required. These structures were timber-framed and generally open-sided with hipped roofs, and became a characteristic feature of early Queensland timber schools.Burmester et al, Queensland Schools: A Heritage Conservation Study, p.16v. Although the school had sourced an original design for a long "double" playshed from a Rockhampton architect in 1879, for both girls and boys, the Department of Public Instruction did not approve the design and recommended two playsheds (40' x 22'6"/12.2m x 6.8m) of standard hipped roof design be built, supplied by the Department of Public Works (DPW). The two were built by Rockhampton contractor Wiley Holmes at the rear (east) of the buildings with one (for girls) near the north boundary and one (for boys) near the south. In 2019, they are two of four of the oldest-known extant playsheds of their type in Queensland; the others being at Toowoomba South State School and Hemmant State School, all built in 1884.Queensland State Archives, Item 13645, "Allenstown No.155 (Rockhampton) State School", in Series 12607, School Files (Correspondence) for State Schools, 1875-1955Morning Bulletin, 29 May 1883, p.2 (tenders called)Queensland Government Gazette, 24 January 1884, p.248 (new tenders) & 14 February 1884, p.2 (dimensions)The "Ninth Report of the Secretary for Public Instruction in Queensland, being for the year ended 31st December 1884" p.36, under "important additions and repairs", lists "Playshed" at Allenstown, for £200.
The school grounds at Allenstown were beautified by trees, gardens, and playing fields from at least 1890. School grounds were an important component of Queensland state schools. The early and continuing commitment to play-based education, particularly in primary school, resulted in the provision of outdoor play space and sporting facilities, such as playing fields and tennis courts. Trees and gardens were planted to shade and beautify schools, often for Arbor Day celebrations. Aesthetically designed gardens were encouraged by regional inspectors, and educators believed gardening and Arbor Days instilled in young minds the value of hard work and activity.Burmester et al, Queensland Schools: A Heritage Conservation Study, pp.4, 48-9. To celebrate the first Arbor Day in 1890 at Allenstown State School, 27 trees (jacarandas and bamboo) were planted and small garden plots were added along Upper Dawson Road.Morning Bulletin 15 August 1890, p.6Morning Bulletin 15 July 1922 p7. Students cultivated the plots and the best kept were awarded prizes at end of year celebrations from 1891.The Daily Northern Argus 10 December 1891, p.3Morning Bulletin 16 December 1904, p.7.
A memorial was added to the garden at the front of the school after the drowning death of teacher William Francis Nassau Clayton in 1890. Clayton drowned in a boating accident off Peak Island in Keppel Bay on 2 January 1890. The school principal Frederick Smith and student Patrick (Walter) Mooney survived the accident. By 1892, the sandstone monument was located "in this garden [on Upper Dawson Road]...in front of the entrance to it", and comprised a pillar and urn, surmounted by a fountain, approximately 8 ft (2.5m) tall, funded by Rockhampton school teachers and Allenstown students.Arbor Day', Morning Bulletin, 30 April 1892, p.6. It was later moved a number of times within the school grounds, standing in three locations in the front garden until , and then standing in at least two locations behind the school buildings, before it was moved to stand at the rear of Block A, near Block C, by 2018. Between 2006 and 2018, a new pedestal was carved for the monument's urn, to match the original. At some time, the fountain was removed.'DPW plan 19187828, "Allenstown S. School Block Plan" July 1935 (location of memorial by this date) (shows memorial in front of new brick school building)Morning Bulletin, 7 November 1953, p.6 (monument moved to memorial garden at rear of school)aerial photograph QAP0616019, 29 May 1956 (shows the memorial garden, with a perimeter of trees)Project Services Report Allenstown State School, 2006.
The area continued to develop in the early 20th century. Transport improved from 1909, with the introduction of an electric tramway system in Rockhampton (the only regional city in Queensland to have a tram system), with one route having a terminus in Upper Dawson Road near the school.McDonald, Rockhampton: A history of City and District, pp. 117-118Brisbane Courier, 5 June 1909, p.10. Allenstown State School expanded. New timber wings were added in 1899 and 1909, and the school buildings were raised and asphalt laid underneath in 1907.Capricornian, 12 November 1898, p.5Morning Bulletin, 23 January 1899, p.5DPW Annual Report 30 June 1899, allocated £500 for this project (1899 wing). Morning Bulletin, 11 December 1906, p.9Brisbane Courier, 11 January 1907, p.7 (1907 raising of school). Morning Bulletin, 9 August 1909, p.121 September 1909, p.410 December 1909, p.2 (1909 wing). The DPW Report for the Year Ended 30th June 1910 shows a playshed standing closely behind the 1909 wing, located near the corner of Caroline Street and Upper Dawson Road. From July 1913, the school offered high school classes, which appears to have been a short-term venture.NA, Allenstown State School History Tour, Allenstown State School, Allenstown, Rockhampton 2009, p.45. In 1915 a new building, an open-air annexe (Block C in 2019), was opened to accommodate infants classes. The 51 ft by 25 ft open-air annexe included a wall and a verandah on its south side, with the other three walls divided into 12 sections, with rollers for canvas blinds. Erected by Pugh Bros, it cost £814.Morning Bulletin, 13 June 1913, p.6Capricornian, 20 December 1913, p.46Morning Bulletin, 7 January 1914, p.6, 13 June 1914, p.6Morning Bulletin, 20 July 1914 p.2Daily Standard, 21 August 1914 p.6Morning Bulletin, 30 January 1915, p.6.