Eketahuna School (Former)

16 Bengston Street, EKETAHUNA

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Located in central Eketahuna, the Eketahuna School (Former) is a wooden building built in 1884 by the Wellington Education Board. The Eketahuna School (Former) is an example of a community school built in response to growing population and need in a rural settlement during the late nineteenth century. Eketahuna, originally named Mellemskov (heart of the forest) by the Scandanavian settlers who founded the town, is in the southern part of what was known as Forty Mile bush. Established in 1873, the town received a majority of Swedish immigrants as a result of the Immigration and Public Works Act. Shortly after the establishment of the 1877 Education Act, in October 1878 a school opened in the front two rooms of a cottage, with the back two retained as a teacher’s residence. This rudimentary school soon proved too small for the growing population, and in 1884 Eketahuna School (Former) was purpose built next door at 16 Bengston Street. Continuing population growth meant that this school was also soon no longer large enough and in 1913 it was closed and converted to a manual training centre. During 1918 the building was used as a temporary hospital during the influenza epidemic. In 1928 the school that had been built to replace 16 Bengston Street burnt down, and some of the children were sent back to the older facility to continue their education while another school was built. Since 1982/3 it has been used as the premises of the Eketahuna and Districts Early Settlers Museum, retaining its public function. There have been modifications to the building over time, particularly when it was converted to a manual training centre. This led to both the removal of an interior wall in the eastern wing of the building and two chimneys. There has also been an addition of a toilet block to the front elevation of the school. The establishment of the Eketahuna School (Former) is significant as it shows not only the growth of population in this rural town, but also the effects of compulsory schooling on the number of children receiving education in the area. The subsequent closure of the school was not linked to a decline in population, rather the school roll again outgrew the facilities available, and its continued use as a manual training centre shows adaptive reuse of a building which could have been demolished. In its use as a manual training centre the school would have been the place of training in cooking and woodwork for Eketahuna’s children. The school also represents aspects of New Zealand’s cultural diversity, as Eketahuna was a place of Scandinavian, predominantly Swedish, immigration. It was at this school and its predecessor that some of the children learnt English for the first time, in turn teaching their parents and altering the fortunes of those who could then communicate in the soon to be principal language of the area.

Eketahuna School (Former) | K Cox | 08/10/2010 | NZ Historic Places Trust
School (Former) from the southeast | K Cox | 02/08/2010 | NZ Historic Places Trust
Interior of western wing | K Cox | 02/08/2010 | NZ Historic Places Trust

Location

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List Entry Information

Overview

Detailed List Entry

Status

Listed

List Entry Status

Historic Place Category 2

Access

Private/No Public Access

List Number

1275

Date Entered

4th April 2011

Date of Effect

4th April 2011

City/District Council

Tararua District

Region

Horizons (Manawatū-Whanganui) Region

Extent of List Entry

Extent includes the land described as Lots 3-4 DP 5861 (RT WN23B/962), Wellington Land District and the building known as Eketahuna School (Former) thereon, and its fittings and fixtures. (Refer to map in Appendix 1 of the registration report for further information).

Legal description

Lots 3-4 DP 5861 (RT WN23B/962), Wellington Land District

Location Description

Bengston Street is one street back from Main Street, Eketahuna. Turn east on Haswell Street from Main Street and Bengston Street is on the left about 50 metres up the road. 16 Bengston Street is on the right on the approach from this turnoff.

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