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ENGLEFIELD SAWMILL HUT (AND SCHOOL SITE (FORMER))

Location Coleraine-Bnalmoral Road BALMORAL, Southern Grampians Shire File Number 247 Level Stage 2 study complete

[1/2] 23309 Englefield Sawmill Hut [2/2] 23309 Englefield Sawmill Hut

Statement of Significance

What is significant?
The Englefield Sawmill Hut and associated former sawmill and school sites, are located around the Coleraine-Balmoral and Englefield Roads intersection about 8.0kms south of Balmoral. The settlement at Englefield dates from the early 1920s when the surrounding land was subdivided for Closer Settlement, the Hamilton to Horsham railway was opened and sawmills were located near the siding. The sawmills were ephemeral and eventually moved on but the management took an keen interest in their children's education. A small school was established in 1926 and by 1930 a timber schoolroom cum public hall was built by volunteer labour using local materials. It became State School No. 4292 and it was typical of its type, both in form and in history. The school closed in 1945 under the policy of consolidation and the building was removed. At some early stage, the hut was built on the roadside. It is vernacular in its form, scale, detailing and use of materials, specifically off cuts from the sawmills and is a very late example of an early tradition. Nothing is known of its occupants who are likely to have been itinerants. The hut remains significantly intact but in poor condition. It is all that remains of the former sawmilling industry of Englefield.

How is it significant?
The Englefield Sawmill Hut and associated former sawmill and school sites are of historical and architectural significance to the community of Balmoral and to the shire of southern Grampians.

Why is it significant?
The Englefield Sawmill Hut and associated former sawmill and school sites are of historical significance as markers of important changes in the occupation and use of the area and a passed way of life. The Englefield Sawmill Hut is of architectural significance as a very late example of the early vernacular tradition of hut building and as a rare surviving example of housing for itinerant workers.