Gwynneville - Historic buildings

Gipps Street Army Depot Memorial Wall

A wall memorialising the contributions made by citizen soldiers of the Illawarra during both peace and wartime is located in the Gipps street army depot in Gwynneville. It was dedicated in October 2000 by Edward Kenna, one of the three surviving Victoria Cross holders in Australia at the time, and came about through the efforts of The Association of Fourth Infantry Battalions Illawarra sub-branch. On the same day, the training depot was named after Major General Gordon Maitland who was a prominent World War Two leader (Illawarra Mercury, 9 October 2000).

Elonera and adjacent private residence, 31 & 33 Foley's Rd.

Originally a doctor's surgery, Elonera, the tudor house at 33 Foleys Rd, was established as an alternative school in 1973. It became the home of Wollongong's first Montessori Primary School in 1987. From its inception as a single teacher class of 15 students in 1987, the school grew to provide a number of classes by the late 90s. To accommodate this growth, they purchased the adjacent house which is listed on the NSW heritage register. Later, the school expanded into provision of secondary schooling and moved to Mt Ousley (Gwynneville Local cuttings file; NSW Heritage register.)

School of Arts hall and Wollongong Workshop Theatre.

In 1934, a small hall of 36' x 25' was opened as a School of Arts opposite Wiseman's Park. The idea for the hall was conceived when "a few progressive spirits held a meeting on a log in the bush" in 1925. Planning and lobbying was then carried out by the North Wollongong Progress Association School of Arts Committee (Illawarra Mercury March 9, 1934; South Coast Times March 9, 1934).

The hall is now located at the rear of the Senior Citizens centre, and is used by "Wollongong's oldest theatre group", the Wollongong Workshop Theatre established in 1953 (St Brigid's 40th Anniversary Souvenir Book, 1988; Theatre in the Illawarra database).

Gwynneville Public School.

The first classroom at Gwynneville Public School was erected in 1952. It was one of about 1500 classrooms of the type which were manufactured in England by the Bristol Aeroplane Company and imported between the 1950s and 1960s (Irving,2001,p. 98).

Old English homes

According to Robert Irving "Wollongong has a small number of interesting houses designed in the Old English style of architecture", a good example of which can be found in Acacia Avenue Gwynneville. Though small and modest, the house captures the character of the style, with its precise dark brickwork, steep and gabled main roof, 'catslide' porch, repeated round arches, corbelled eaves, leaded upper sashes and buttress form chimney. (Irving, 2001, p. 60).

Churches

St Brigid's Catholic Church in Gipps Rd was designed by Sydney Hirst and built by A W Edwards group. It is typical of ecclesiastical architecture of the post war period, displaying a religious character without the elaborate ornamentation of Gothic Revivalism. Its narthex, lofty gable and tall windows displays a no-nonsense interpretation of medieval architecture. It is also interesting to note that the light straw coloured bricks are "reputed to have been the first of their kind to be made at Bulli Brickworks". (Irving, 2001, p.87)

It is interesting to compare this to St John's Anglican Church found on the corner of Eastern Avenue and Moore Street, designed by Robert M Wilson and built in 1972 by Osron Constructions. While it also displays the modern simplicity of such buildings in the post war period, its main structure is low slung with horizontal emphasis that contrasts with the vertical spire motif of the building's corner. (Irving, 2001, p. 118)