Former St Johns Church of England School and Parish Hall
33 Jackson Street Toorak, STONNINGTON CITY
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Statement of Significance
What is Significant?
The site at 33-35 Jackson Street, Toorak retains an early Schoolhouse (c.1867) and Parish Hall (c.1912). A verger's cottage (1928) and a small ablutions block also survive on the site although these contribute little to the significance of the place.
How is it Significant?
The buildings are of architectural and historical significance at a local level.
Why is it Significant?
The group is significant as an early, intact and unusually legible example of a church school group and for the long role the school has played in both religious and secular education in the Toorak area. It includes the oldest surviving, purpose-built Schoolhouse in the Municipality of note for its rudimentary Gothic design. It is also the oldest surviving church school in the City. The Hall is noteworthy for its distinctive design, in particular its entry porch, undertaken to designs by noted Arts and Crafts architect, Walter Butler. St John's School is of historically significant for its associations with the development of education within the Municipality. It is the only surviving school complex within the City to predate the Education Act of November 1872, serving as a church school and later State school prior to the construction of the Hawksburn Primary School in 1874. St John's operated as a Sunday school well into the twentieth century.
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Former St Johns Church of England School and Parish Hall - Local Historical Themes
9.1 Early Schools
9.2 Developing a system of state education
10.2 Worshipping
Former St Johns Church of England School and Parish Hall - Physical Description 1
The subject site is located on the northwest corner of Jackson Street and Grange Road, Toorak. In the main, it is occupied by three former church buildings, comprising, from east to west: a schoolhouse; parish hall; and verger's residence. The property also retains one modest outbuilding providing toilet facilities to users and a notable pepper tree situated in the northeast sections of the site.
The former schoolhouse is a single-storey building drawing its inspiration from Gothic Revival designs. It is constructed in Hawthorn brick with a steeply-pitched gable-ended roof clad in slate. The building has a low gabled entry porch to its east with an arched doorway in cream brick with rendered parapet copings. A secondary wing extends west to the adjacent Hall building. This wing retains a gabled slate roof and bichrome brick chimney. While broadly intact to its original form, a number of new openings have been introduced including modern paired glazed doors to the Jackson Street elevation, a large, fixed sash window to the north elevation and three non-original timber framed windows on the east elevation dating from the 1992 works. The interior of the building was substantially modified during its conversion to an art gallery in the 1970s and its subsequent conversion into a residence.
The former Parish Hall is a substantial gable-ended single-storey brick building on a rectangular plan. A secondary gable-ended entry porch projects to the street. The principle Jackson Street facade is largely intact with the exceptionof two upper level windows to the gable end dating from c.1975. Original roughcast render and a small ventilator survive in this section of the building. The roof to the porch below is flanked by finials incorporating an orb motif with a larger finial to the ridge above the doorway. The porch retains an arched entry with a timber door set within a deep reveal. As for the school building, some alterations including the introduction of new aluminium framed doors on the east and west elevations have been undertaken. The interior of the building has been altered as part of its adaptation for residential use but generally retains its original open plan form. Original or early interior fabric including the Kauri pine boarded ceiling, the hardwood T&G flooring and timber trusses with iron tie rods survive in good order.
The former verger's residence at 33-35 Jackson Street is a single-storey interwar bungalow with brick walls and a hipped cement-tiled roof. A projecting entry porch to Jackson Street has a hipped roof supported on timber posts with brick and stucco piers. The residence has been subject to a number of unsympathetic external alterations including over-painting of the brickwork and enlargement of the front window openings. The interior has also been altered and retains little of its original detailing.
All three buildings are generally in good condition although the facades to the school and hall are overgrown with creepers. No early landscaped elements appear to survive. The property retains a mature pepper tree adjacent to the school hall on the Grange Road frontage. An Arborist's report commissioned to assess the tree suggests that it is of local significance on the basis of its height. However it does not appear to date from the early development of the site or to survive from an early landscaping programme.
Heritage Study and Grading
Stonnington - Former St Johns Church of England School and Parish Hall Heritage Assessment
Author: Bryce Raworth Pty Ltd
Year: 2009
Grading: A2Stonnington - St Johns Church of England School and Hall Heritage Assessment
Author: Graeme Butler and Associates
Year: 2002
Grading:
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COMO HOUSEVictorian Heritage Register H0205
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BARWONVictorian Heritage Register H0825
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TINTERNVictorian Heritage Register H0208
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