A great
new innovation is Vic Heritage’s iphone app.
Showcasing
data from the Victorian Heritage database, it provides a definitive history of
over 2,200 important significant and unusual places in Melbourne and regional
Victoria.
It accesses a fully
searchable online database containing information about Victorian Heritage
Places and Precincts, including statements of significance, physical
descriptions, historical information, builder, architectural style, photographs
and a google-style map. You can choose to search via the normal search term, or
much more fun is to search by places ‘nearby’ – you might think you know your
local area, but may be surprised by what is included. It displays as either a
List with thumbnail photos, or as a Map with the locations as pins.
.
.JPG) |
| The classroom from the south |
I was surprised to see “Pavilon Classroom - Natimuk” on the list. I had heard of
the canvas sided schools, but was unaware one was at Natimuk (so was an
ex-Natimuk teacher too).
The
Natimuk Pavilion Classroom was constructed by the Victorian Public Works
Department in 1914 as an open air classroom for school children at Natimuk
Primary School. It consisted of a rectangular timber structure 20’ x 30’ with a
gabled roof.
.JPG) |
| The canvas side of the classroom |
.JPG) |
| The remains of the canvas still adhere to the window frames |
44 of
these classrooms were constructed for Victorian schools between 1911 and 1914,
but after World War I, the Education Department discontinued their
construction. They were unpopular with teachers in winter weather. However they
were used for additional accommodation in schools for many years.
Natimuk Primary
School moved from Main Street to a site in Jory Street in 1961. The pavilion
classroom was relocated by the Education Department to the Australian House
Museum at Deakin University in 1988, because it was under threat. The building
was returned to Natimuk in 2002 and is now located in the grounds of the
present Natimuk Primary School in Jory Street.
.JPG) |
| Windows to the north, and canvas on the east |
Open air
classrooms were designed to provide a healthy environment for delicate
children, and resulted from the hygiene movement in education at the beginning
of the 20th century. It was hoped that improvements in lighting and
ventilation aimed at improving the child’s physical conditions would lead to
better educational and health outcomes. The open air classroom reflected the
preoccupation with the benefits of light and fresh air for the health and
education of young children.
.JPG) |
| The ventilator near the ceiling could be slid closed, the one on the previous photo is closed |
Medical
opinion of the time favoured fresh air and a bracing environment for all,
derived from the ideas behind the open air sanatoriums used for the treatment
of tuberculosis patients. The spread of tuberculosis, known as the 'white
plague’ was a constant concern, it was responsible for one death in nine in
Victoria in 1902, and in 1904 was declared a notifiable disease.
This
classroom is architecturally significant, as the only surviving, relatively
intact and rare example of an open air classroom.
.JPG)
