The following text is from the original Proposal for Registration 30 August 2002. History: On 19th June 1863, Hugh Sinclair, the landowner, arranged for the transfer, without consideration, of an area of one acre of Section 2 to William Alfred Fitzherbert and Nathaniel Grace, upon trust for the purposes of a common school. In September 1875 Fitzherbert and Grace arranged to convey the lands described to the Education Board. The Wainuiomata School was established upon this site by late 1861, and today operates on the same site as the Wainuiomata Primary School'. The Minute Book for the Wainuiomata Road Wardens notes, for the meeting held January 1862, 'First meeting held in new Town Hall '. The 'Town Hall' was in fact the newly built school, which continued to serve a multitude of functions until 1914 when a separate local hall was erected. The building of the school was a community effort. Timber was donated from a local sawmill and labour drawn from the many residents who could see the advantages that could be gained from schooling for the Valley's children. While the community was never a wealthy one, it was always focused on the 'good of the community'. This school cum 'Town Hall', served the Wainuiomata District for over 40 years, until a new schoolroom was built in 1908. The replacement building was still the only school in Wainuiomata, and remained so until the 1950s. With the building of the 1908 replacement, the 1862 structure was known as the 'old school' while the 1908 building was the 'new' school. However, with the demolition of the 1862 school in 1916, and the building of a new block of classrooms at the Wainuiomata School in 1948, the 'new' school consequently became known as the 'old school' a name which is still in use today. The second classroom which was added onto the 1908 building in 1938 was, by common usage, included in the 'old school' appellation. By the turn of the 19th. Century the Wainuiomata Valley had a population of barely 500 people. In the 1940s and especially after the World War II, the Valley blossomed with new housing. By 1949 the population was 1000 with 800 hectares of land available for homes. By 1955 the population had increased to 3000. Today growth has settled down. There are approximately 5500 homes and as at 07.02.2002, 17061 people. With the growth of the Valley, additional school buildings were completed in 1948 and 1953, although on 10th. November 1990 a large portion of these later buildings were destroyed by arson. With the construction of the 1948 and 1953 school buildings, the 'new school' became known as the' old school'. From the 1970s the 'old school' was used as an art classroom. Later, as additional schools opened in Wainuiomata and crowding eased, the' old school' was used for storage. In February 1987 the Wainuiomata Historical Society was given, by Transfer from the Wellington Education Board, the use of the two-room school building in the Primary School grounds. After a lot of voluntary hard work and fundraising, the Society's Museum opened in the building in September 1989.

Builder: James Burrow Junior (1908 room) Physical Description: The 1908 building stands on totara piles, is clad in weather board and has a steeply pitched iron roof. The 1938 addition stands on concrete piles. Renewed guttering is plastic, with some downpipes still of the original iron. At the time of the 1938 addition, the western wall of the original building was moved inwards (east) approximately two metres and the new room, of an equivalent size to the now smaller 1908 room, incorporated part of the original floor. The windows on the northern side of the 1908 building:- 12 panes in each of four double hung windows with an additional three panes top-hinged rope and screw opening above each. On the northern side of the 1938 building - four sets of two sashed windows with six-paned windows in each sash, three independently placed double hung windows with six panes in each sash. On the western end of the building there is one window in the 'teacher's room' double with six panes in each sash. On the eastern end, three small windows, upper half with wood trim above. These windows are boarded over from the interior. A corridor runs east-west the length of the two classrooms on the southern side. Double half-glazed doors open to the outside at the eastern end. A portion of the western end of this corridor was closed off to provide a small room for teacher's use - now used for museum storage. The remainder of the corridor is the original cloakroom complete with original double coat-hooks and two hand basins. The classrooms have a modern flush interconnecting door and each room has a potbelly stove in the north-eastern corner standing on a concrete hearth. Each room has a small double door store cupboard, the 1908 cupboard being a modern addition with flush doors, while the doors on the 1938 cupboard are panelled. The original tongue and groove flooring of the 1908 room was covered over with hardboard during its Education era. This floor has not been uncovered due to wear in sub-floor surface. A similar scenario in the 1938 room has meant that the Wainuiomata Historical Society has carpeted this room. The 1908 schoolroom had all open brick fireplace in the north-east corner. Following the addition of the second room in 1938 an iron pipe type chimney and pot belly was a replacement, and a similar arrangement exists today. With the addition of the second classroom in 1938 the three small windows on the western frontage and the decorative wooden architecture under the apex of the roof line at both the west and eastern ends were removed. The three small windows at the eastern end with a very simple wooden decorative line have been retained. In 1987, when the Wainuiomata Historical Society obtained the school building, some work was done on the interior of the second room on the west (road facing) wall. The Society has retained all original fittings in the building especially the coat-hooks, hand basins and the old school bell, along with the wooden floor, school cupboards and blackboards. All the windows are original, as are the wooden doors. Current physical condition: Building in good condition - has new roof, recently repaired and painted. May need totara piles replaced in the future.