Serpentine Bridge School
This is the third school building that was built on this site. The first school and teacher’s house was built in 1859, followed by another in 1889.
Historical information
Newspaper articles from the time tell us that the first school was closed for several years due to the lack of a schoolmaster. The buildings became dilapidated, and in 1889 a new schoolroom and teacher’s house were built. The third iteration, which you see here, was built in 1902.
The schoolroom you see today was designed by Public Works Department architect, WB Hardwick, and the contractor was JG Braunsdorf. The original plans for the school building indicate that the design allowed for future extensions, as the fourth wall is corrugated iron and not brick. However, these extensions were never carried out, and the fourth ‘temporary’ wall remains.
In 1954, the Serpentine Bridge School closed after being replaced by a at the Serpentine townsite. All the buildings, except the original 1902 room, were either relocated to the new school or removed.
Physical description
The original building is a single-room brick building with a rendered string course on 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 walls is toothed, as if to allow for future extension to the building.
Present day
This building is a rare example of the standard one-room school buildings built by the Public Works Department. Its historic and social significance lies in having been a place where children received an education, and members of the community interacted, for nearly 100 years.
The Jackson Bay Fig that shades the building was planted the same year the school was built and offered generations of schoolchildren shade and excellent climbing prospects. Today, however, we ask you give this elderly resident a chance to flourish in our modern world – please be gentle, and don’t climb it.
Port Jackson Fig
Port Jackson Fig (Ficus rubiginosa)
Height: 14.5m
Circumference: 4.8m
Canopy Spread: 20m x 23.5m
Shading the old Serpentine Bridge School, this Port Jackson Fig was first planted in 1902 when the third – and longest lasting – iteration of the school was built. A former student, Mrs G Coleman, remembered climbing the tree as a girl (1922-1931), when it was considered ‘fairly large’.
Further reading and references