Teacher's Residence, Batemans Bay

Teacher’s Residence, 8 Beach Road, Batemans Bay

This Federation Queen Anne style, former Teacher's Residence has local historical significance because it became part of Batemans Bay’s first public school.

In 1869 a slab and bark schoolroom was erected at a cost of £30 to provide the town with a Provisional School. (Provisional schools were established in settled areas where it was expected between 15 and 25 children would attend school. Usually, the school building was erected by and paid for by the community. The Education Department paid the teacher – usually an untrained teacher or a teacher of the lowest ranking – and provided books and other equipment.)

In 1874, a second, larger slab school was built which included two rooms for the teacher. It catered to students from Batemans Bay and, from across the river, North Batemans Bay.

In 1894 a new brick school with two classrooms was added on this site and the following year the new teacher’s residence was opened. The earlier slab school buildings were then demolished.

The teacher’s residence has survived pretty much intact. The adjacent school has not fared as well. Batemans Bay Public School was moved from this site to the corner of Vesper and Church Streets in 1950. This was necessary because the old school backed onto the hill and there was really no room for it to expand. The original 1894 School building became a Country Women's Association centre in 1960 and the former Teacher's Residence was used as offices by the Department of Education. More recently the Teacher’s Residence has been occupied by a solicitor.