CAMP HILL PRIMARY SCHOOL

The 1877 Camp Hill Primary School building, designed by Henry Robert Bastow, located on a steeply sloping site, is an imposing two storey, red brick building with slate roof and substantial bluestone base, in the Gothic style. The school is also unusual for incorporating a fire lookout tower, taking advantage of the building’s elevated position overlooking Bendigo. 

Camp Hill Primary School is of architectural significance to the State of Victoria. It satisfies the following criterion for inclusion in the Victorian Heritage Register: 

Criterion A
Importance to the course, or pattern, of Victoria’s cultural history
Criterion D

Importance in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural places and objects.

The Camp Hill Primary School is historically significant as an important landmark in the City of Bendigo. The school was built in 1877 on the Police Camp site, which was the base of military and police presence during the Gold Rush. The iconic tower was constructed as the city's fire look-out and incorporated a fire bell and elevated balcony with a glass protected observation room that was used for alerting fire brigades and other lookout towers in the event of a fire. The bell was also used to commemorate major world events. Due to its size, siting and central position, Camp Hill Primary School became regarded as the most important school in the city. (Criterion A)

Camp Hill Primary School is architecturally significant as one of the most substantial and finely designed school buildings constructed in Victoria. Its vast scale, intact facades and unusual detailing make it an important example of the work of Henry Robert Bastow of the Education Department. In the design of schools, details such as the corbel table under the eaves are rare, the only other example being at Windsor Primary School (1877), and the inclusion of two bay windows is unique to this school building. The expression of the staircase externally is also unusual, as is the tower which once served as the city's fire lookout. [Criterion D]