LEADING up to 1912, it was becoming clear that the Schoolroom in the Walang Public School was too small.
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The schoolroom was built in 1877 to accommodate 65 children, with a small residence for the teacher and his family incorporated into the building.
It was proposed that the schoolroom would be integrated into the teacher’s residence, converting the classroom into an open plan kitchen/living room with a bedroom at the rear and new chimneys in two rooms on the eastern side of the existing building, making two new bedrooms.
State education architect E. L. Drew drew plans for a new weatherboard schoolroom and W. W. Nixon was awarded the building contract in 1912. However, on November 18 that year, Mr Nixon was fined for a delay.
The contract was £113/10/- and it was to take six weeks. The fines were dismissed as it was established that the delay did not cause any extra expense to the Department of Public Instruction. The delay was due to “this place being out of the way” and it was difficult to get materials and tradesmen.
Finally the work was completed on the existing school and new weatherboard schoolroom, which had an enclosed porch with wooden slatted doors and wooden steps. The porch had long tables with benches for the children to use in wet weather, although it still would have been exceedingly cold.
All the children came from local farming families and perhaps it was for this reason that the Department installed a miniature rifle range in the grounds in 1906.
John Chambers was the teacher at the time the new building opened and Walter Young took over in April 1913; Alison Fairley in July 1914; and P G Long from May 1917.
The new school became a Half Time School with Brewongle for several months in 1918 with Arthur Miller as teacher. Half Time Schools emerged in 1867 to cater for children in areas of scattered population. Twenty children were required to attend at least two schools. However, in the case of Walang and Brewongle, the reason was the shortage of teachers during wartime.
Walang regained full time status in October 1918 with Thomas Mahon as teacher, and remained so until September 1941 when it closed.
Teachers during this time were Chris Smith (December 1920) and Albert Ross (January 1932). However, it reopened as a provisional school with fewer students and Richard Wilsmore as teacher at the beginning of 1945 and once again became a full-time public school in 1957 with John Byrne as teacher. Warwick Ball took over from October 1963 and in 1969 Ian Pine was the teacher for one year until the school finally closed in December that year.
Following its closure, the schoolroom was sold to David and Sharon Parratt in June 1972 in a deal which included the original school room and teacher’s residence. Jane McGee became the next owner in in June 1991 and the current owners, Tony and Brenda Hemsley, bought it in 1995.
The schoolroom has had some renovations to become a comfortable cottage with original cathedral ceilings and a new bathroom and kitchen. The National Trust acknowledges its importance and commends its owners for their care and maintenance and interest in the property’s history.