Upper Castlereagh Public School
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| Upper Castlereagh Public School | |
|---|---|
 Upper Castlereagh Public School building in 1911 | |
| Location | Castlereagh Road, Castlereagh, City of Penrith, New South Wales, Australia |
| Coordinates | 33°43′15″S 150°39′57″E / 33.7207°S 150.6657°E |
| Built | 1878–1879 |
| Built for | Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia |
| Architect | George Allen Mansfield |
| Owner | Minister for Community Services |
| Official name | Upper Castlereagh Public School and residence |
| Type | State heritage (built) |
| Designated | 2 April 1999 |
| Reference no. | 339 |
| Type | School - State (public) |
| Category | Education |
| Builders | James Evans |
  Location of Upper Castlereagh Public School in Sydney  Upper Castlereagh Public School (Australia) | |
The Upper Castlereagh Public School is a heritage-listed former closed school building located at 312 Old Castlereagh Road in the western Sydney suburb of Castlereagh in the City of Penrith local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by George Allen Mansfield and built from 1878 to 1879 by James Evans. It is also known as Upper Castlereagh Public School and residence. The property is owned by New South Wales Minister for Community Services. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.[1]
The land on which the school building is sited was originally part of the 40-hectare (100-acre) of Portion 54, granted to Edward Field in 1803. This block was donated by the family for the purpose of building the school.[1][2]
The school symbolises the basic decision of the State to provide public education for all children as distinct from Church connected education. School in the church hall opposite ceased forthwith and for just under 100 years this single room school was the centre of basic education for children at Upper Castlereagh.[3][1]
James Rutledge arrived in Castlereagh in 1840, employed as a school teacher, but he was also a lay preacher. As these two activities needed to be provided in one building his first ambition was to build a church. The church on Old Castlereagh Road, which opened in 1847, remains the oldest Wesleyan church in Australia. For James and his wife Lucy (granddaughter of two convicts: they married in 1842) this church represented everything they held dear. James declared that to him, it "was hallowed ground". The Rutledge family was not Irish but had been in Ireland for 200 years. Before that they lived on the English-Scottish border giving allegiance to neither monarchy, but to their family name only. The Rutledges were devout Protestants. The descendants of three Rutledge brothers who moved to Ireland with Oliver Cromwell, driving Catholics from their farms (having had Cromwell sack Rutledge Castle in England), were deeply-religious Wesleyans. Ministers of the church were present in every generation. It was James Rutledge's intention to be an ordained Minister but this opportunity was lost when he left Ireland to come to New South Wales.[4][1]
Description
School/Chapel
A simple rectangular hall with attached side entry porch typical of rural public schools of the period. Gothic revival in form and detailing the building features steeply pitched gables with timber barge boards, braces and finials, together with simply stepped buttresses to the porch walls and Tudor arched entrance. Major finishes include face brickwork to walls, stone basecourse, sills and buttress dressings and contrasting rubbed brick heads to windows and entrance porch. The roof is corrugated iron sheeting. Windows are boarded over, the main entry door is timber, framed and sheeted. Out buildings associated with the main school building included the original brick privy.[3][1]
Schoolmaster's residence
A simple Victorian painted brick cottage with hipped corrugated iron roofs to main structure and front verandah. Extant original windows are 2 x 6 pane double hung sashes. Chimneys to main residence and service wing feature simple corbelled brickwork tops and strings.[3][1]
Condition
As at 23 July 2002, The physical condition of the school and residence is poor with problems such as rusting or roof iron, gutters and downpipes and deterioration of exposed timber elements and painted finishes:[3][1]
- Restored school to be used for community seminars - by school children and adults; and
- Residence to be used by caretaker/guide for the heritage precinct on both sides of Castlereagh Road.
Modifications and dates
Boarded timber lean to added to school (south elevation) plus additional slated timber lean to at rear of house. Unsympathetic additions and original details in evidence.[1]
Further information
The significance of the sites as representative of important early personages and social patterns in the Castlereagh area should be retained. This historical/social, cultural significance is, in large measure, associated with the site through verbal transfer of information and the evidence of documentary sources. Physical elements that represents aspects of this significance include site boundary demarcation elements (early fences and tree planting). Opposite the site are elements erected for a special social purpose of importance to the area as a whole (eg the original weatherboard school and its later replacement, the church, Castlereagh Road etc). The continuing use of a site for functions is a means of preserving its historical significance.[3][1]
