Camfield House, also referred to as Annesfield, is a conglomerate of buildings in Albany in the Great Southern region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. The property contains a

wattle and daub Wattle and daub is a composite building method used for making walls and buildings, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung a ...

house constructed in 1852 as a residence for the Camfields that was also known as ''Annesfield''. The other building is a school house built for

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

children. The school commenced in 1852 under the auspices of

John Wollaston John Wollaston may refer to: * John Wollaston (priest) (1791–1856), Anglican clergyman and settler in Western Australia * John Wollaston (painter) John Wollaston (active between 1742 and 1775) was an English painter of portraits who was acti ...

and

Anne Camfield Anne Camfield (''née'' Breeze; 1808 – 18 February 1896) was a photographer, pioneer teacher and headmistress in Western Australia. She founded the first school for Indigenous children in Western Australia, called Annesfield. Biography Camfi ...

. The school was focused on educating

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

children. The house is a simple colonial design, rectangular in shape with a steeply pitched gable corrugated iron roof. The walls are coated in

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

and have three sets of casement windows set over the

verandah A veranda or verandah is a roofed, open-air gallery or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front and sides of the structure. Although the form ''veran ...

. Four chimneys are set asymmetrically around the house. The school is a two-storey brick building with a steeply pitched gabled corrugated iron roof. It has exposed brick on one side and is whitewashed on the others. In 1857 the Camfields built a separate school room near the house with classroom, attached kitchen and accommodation for up to eight children. In 1858 a total of 23 children were at the school; this increased to 55 in 1868. The school went into decline shortly afterward with Anne Camfield struggling with the workload and her advanced years. The buildings were classified by the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

in 1973 and placed on the municipal inventory in 2001.

References

{{reflist Heritage places in Albany, Western Australia Serpentine Road, Albany State Register of Heritage Places in the City of Albany

See also

References