TENTERFIELDThe story of the Tenterfield School of Arts began in 1863 when it was decided, after a series of public meetings, to establish a reading room in the town. The initiative for this move had come largely from a young businessman named Edward Whereat who had been influenced by the School of Arts movement in England. Edward Whereat was subsequently elected as the Secretary of the first School of Arts Committee in Tenterfield and as a result of his efforts and those of a handful of others, a School of Arts was opened in 1865 in a building leased from a tailor named Raper, at the corner of Scott and High streets. It later moved to a brick cottage owned by a Mr Merrell in Rouse Street. The first purpose-built School of Arts building in Tenterfield was opened on 15 April 1871 and was located on part of the present School of Arts site, on land originally granted to Thomas Connelly in January 1859. It was a slab building with a shingle roof and was described by a travelling reporter writing in the Town and Country Journal as a "big barn". In August 1874, a Crown Grant adjoining the original site was gazetted to the Trustees of the School of Arts and the Foundation Stone of a new building was laid on 26 November 1875 by Mrs Clara Lee, the wife of the Mayor, Alderman C. A. Lee who, at the time, was also President of the committee. The new building stood on the corner of Rouse and Manners streets and was officially opened on 7 September 1876. It consisted of two reading rooms and a large hall capable of holding 300 people. There was a large stage, a "neat proscenium" and a "powerful piano". The project was very strongly supported by the community and within a short time, the building was free of debt. By 1884, continued community support had created the need for additions to the building which was met by the construction of an entrance porch and three gabled extensions.
The next major addition to the building took place in 1902 when a new main hall was constructed on the southern end of the building at a cost of £1,200. The foundation stone was again laid by Mrs C. A. Lee (by then the wife of the Member for Tenterfield) and the building was constructed by local contractors, Day and Heiss. The project included a stone façade as a memorial to local men who had lost their lives during the Boer War. A certain amount of controversy surrounded this facade when the School of Arts Committee used funds from the Fallen Soldiers Memorial Committee to build it. Some believed that it had done so without adequate consultation and the resulting divisions meant that Tenterfield was ultimately provided with two separate Boer War Memorials, a short distance from each other. The memorial façade of the School of Arts building is still intact. It was the work of Singleton- based stonemason, W. H. Bartrop, and was completed on 28 October 1902. In 1913, a recreational room was added to the School of Arts at a cost of £1,000. Because the government was not in the business of subsidising "recreation rooms", it was paid for by the local community and was described as "a magnificent airy and well-lighted room, replete with billiard tables and appliances and every adjunct of comfort". A larger theatre hall was also added in September 1921, this time with government support, to provide an improved venue for dancing, picture shows and live performances. It was constructed by local contractors, Kyburz and Sons, also at a cost of £1,000. Its StoryBy the time the new building was opened in 1876, the Tenterfield School of Arts was already operating a circulating library of some 500 volumes and a reference library of 48 volumes plus newspapers and periodicals. The new building soon became a centre of community life and by the end of the year, the opening hours of the library had been considerably extended. During the following year, 1879, records show that the library attracted a total of 1,740 users. The new School of Arts also became a focus for community activities in the town. Some of its trustees, including Edward Whereat, were actively involved in the establishment of the Tenterfield Pastoral, Agricultural and Horticultural Society late on 1876 and the Society's first show was staged in the School of Arts Building and its surrounding grounds on 5 and 6 April 1877.
After the 1884 extensions, the building soon became a popular venue for musical and social activities in the town and by the late 1880s, its circulating library had increased to some 3,200 books. Most of the books in the library were of British origin and together with periodicals such as the Illustrated London News, they did much to strengthen local ties with England. The School of Arts became a venue for the demonstration of the community's patriotic spirit during the Sudan War, the Boer War and the First World War. Recruiting meetings of various kinds were frequently held there, including a famous one in October 1885 when Major C. H. E. Chauvel of Tabulam Station managed to raise two mounted troops of the Upper Clarence Light Horse, headquartered in Tenterfield. Among the recruits was his son, Harry, destined, as Sir Harry Chauvel, to become one of Australia's greatest soldiers. In the years immediately before the First World war, the Tenterfield School of Arts had over 400 members and a circulating library of 9,000 volumes. Increased patronage led to an increased demand for "lighter" fiction. These changing tastes were highlighted in 1912 when the Free Public Library of Sydney sent 60 books on loan. While they were recognised as "valuable works", the demand for them was light and only "half a dozen were issued in the first few weeks". In 1912, the School of Arts Committee introduced a series of educational lectures which attracted an impressive average attendance of 137. They clearly served a important public need as the base subjects broadened, the next year 's average attendance rose to 265. These numbers prompted the University's Extension Board to conclude that very few places in the State "had reached the high level of achievement of Tenterfield, after so short a time." The government, which provided a subsidy of ten shillings for each pound raised for School of Arts activities, was reluctant to support purely recreational facilities such as billiard rooms. The popularity of such activities, however, was demonstrated when the community funded the construction of its own recreation room. Amusements such as billiards, snooker, cribbage, whist, euchre, draughts, dominoes, tennis and miniature rifle shooting were all popular pursuits at the Tenterfield School of Arts. During its early years, the Tenterfield School of Arts provided a wide range of nightly entertainments involving local and visiting artists. The screening of motion pictures, which began in about 1911, gradually lessened the appeal of these live performances and they became less frequent as time went on. While the library of the School of Arts continued to be one of its most popular functions, the advent of the motion picture also led to a declining interest in public lectures. By the 1930s, and with the effects of the Great Depression, the Tenterfield School of Arts, like many others around the country, was beginning to decline in public popularity and influence. Its Later UseWith a great deal of foresight, the people of Tenterfield realised, during the 1930s, that even though the activities of their School of Arts were declining in public popularity and interest, the building itself was a particularly valuable community asset. A former Mayor, Mr A. D. Donnelly, as early as 1935, developed a vision for the building to become a national memorial to Sir Henry Parkes, the Father of Federation. Parkes had represented the Tenterfield Electorate in the New South Parliament from 1882 to 1884 and had chosen to make his famous Federation Speech of October 1889 in the Tenterfield School of Arts. Donnelly realised that, potentially, this made the building one of the most historically significant in Australia. As a result of his persistent work, the Governor-General, the Duke of Gloucester, visited Tenterfield in 1946 to unveil a tablet at the School of Arts which reads: "This tablet commemorates that on 24th October, 1889, Sir Henry Parkes in this hall delivered his Famous Tenterfield Speech, which set in motion the Popular Movement resulting in Australian Federation, 1st January, 1901."
After protracted discussions during the 1950s, the Tenterfield School of Arts was taken over by the National Trust of Australia. On 14 October 1961, it was officially dedicated as a national memorial to Sir Henry Parkes, the Father of Federation, by Sir Eric Woodward, the Governor of New South Wales. Keen to have the building retained as a community centre, the Municipal Council leased rooms from the National Trust for use as the town library. Two years later, in 1963, it took out a thirty year lease on the main hall. Patronage of the billiard room had fallen off by this stage and its was closed in 1965. Its equipment was sold off and the room itself was converted into a hall for displays, suppers, meetings and other such gatherings. It was re-named the "A. D. Donnelly Hall" in honour of the man whose untiring efforts had led to the recognition of the School of Arts as a national memorial and to its subsequent acquisition by the National Trust. A museum, known as the Parkes Collection, was established in the main library room during the late 1950s. It contains a number of art works and memorabilia associated with Sir Henry Parkes, his career and his times. The national significance of the building was re-affirmed on 27 September 1998 when the Commonwealth Government announced a $2.74 million grant from the Centenary of Federation Fund to conserve and refurbish the building. It went on to feature very prominently in the nation's observance of the Centenary in 2001. Its Significance to the CommunityThe Tenterfield School of Arts complex is an Australian historical icon and is one of the few buildings of its type which can boast continuous community use since its construction in 1871. It also represents an outstanding example of a heritage building which pays its own way through community use. The grant obtained from the Centenary of Federation Fund has made it possible to present the complex not just as a centre of community life in Tenterfield but as a national memorial to a great statesman. It will continue to contribute to a greater local and regional sense of national unity and purpose.
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