Campbell Town School

This State School in Campbell Town, Tasmania was built between September 1937 and June 1938. It was designed by S W T Blythe of the Public Works Department assisted by J H Walter.

An article in the Hobart Mercury newspaper from September 23, 1937 referring to the plans described the new school as follows.

Architecturally the building has been designed in a modern style, with a tower at the corner as its dominant feature. The tall glass brick panel in the tower will offer a pleasing contrast to the marked horizontality of the class and cloak rooms.

References:
PLAN OF CAMPBELL TOWN SCHOOL. (1937, September 23). The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), p. 7. Retrieved September 23, 2011, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article29198046

NEW SCHOOL. (1938, June 22). The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), p. 10. Retrieved September 23, 2011, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article25479858

Town Hall, Campbell Town

"I am sure this building with its memorial tower will be a wonderful landmark between the two principal cities of this state for many years to come."

These are the words of Sir Ernest Clark, Governor of Tasmania, on Friday 28 October 1939 at the opening of the new Town Hall at Campbell Town.

It was built by local builders W Lockett and Sons on land donated by Miss Leake whose family were among the founders of Campbell Town. Mr W Lockett snr spoke at the opening saying that this building capped of his 51 year career in Campbell Town and he was now leaving it to his three sons and three grandsons to carry on.

Mr Roy Smith from the Launceston architects, East, Roy Smith & Willing also spoke at the opening thanking the Governor and city representatives for their complimentary references to the architecture.

It may not surprise you to learn that the memorial tower was added after the building had already been designed.

Dr Walter Henry Tofft settled in Campbell Town in 1891 having been educated at Hobart High School and Edinburgh University and then serving as resident physician at the Edinburgh Infirmary and the Glasgow Royal Infirmary.

In Campbell Town he was Warden of the municipality for 12 years and was a executive member of several local and state trusts and institutions. He was the district health officer and medical officer at the hospital for 24 years. He established a hospital for the tuberculosis in the Tasmanian Midlands which closed due to his absence serving in the AIF Medical Services in WWI. At the conclusion of the war he was awarded an MBE.

Dr Tofft died at his residence Brookdale on Sunday 29 January 1939.

A meeting in Campbell Town on Saturday evening 6 May 1939 finalised the arrangements for the erection of a clock tower as a memorial to Dr Tofft. The cost would be met by public subscription and £220 of the estimated £250 had already been raised.

The tower looks, as it was, added on. The construction of the hall started in November the previous year so it was not just a matter of altering plans, so all things taken into account, I don't think they did a bad job.

References:
The Midlands, The Launceston Examiner, Monday 14 November 1938, p8
Obituary: Dr WH Tofft, The Launceston Examiner, Monday 30 January 1939, p6
Memorial Tower Decided On, The Launceston Examiner, Monday 8 May 1939, p8
New Campbell Town Hall, The Launceston Examiner, Saturday 28 October 1939, p9
Landmark in Country, The Hobart Mercury, Saturday 28 October 1939, p10

Climar, Campbell Town

If you take you car across from Port Melbourne to Tassie on the Spirit with the plan to make your way to Hobart via Launceston along the Midland Highway you will almost certainly see Climar, this fantastic streamline house in Campbell Town.

[A big thank you to Thomas at Art Deco & Modernism Tasmania for correcting my Tasmanian geographic faux pas (see comments below)].

Climar has musical notes on the low fence and a bridge makes up part of the path to the front door. Two sets of steps lead to the verandah/porch and the curving form of the house itself.

I find the random variety of bricks use to build the house very interesting. I wonder if they were recycled from demolished buildings?

And even through a few panes have been replaced, the scene on the etched glass windows depicting a yacht sailing on a bay or lake with eucalypus trees on the shore and a trio of swans paddling in the shallows (bottom left).