History
Fenton Hall: A Small Building With A Big History By Ilma Hackett - Balnarring & District Historical Society
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t is a small, unpretentious, weatherboard building standing back from the roadway on the wide corner block of land where Merricks Road meets the Bittern–Dromana Road. Motorists drive past, barely registering its presence. This is Fenton Hall, once the heart of the Merricks North community and, for many who grew up nearby, it still holds its soul. A school needed It began life as a school. In 1937 the Education Department had leased a vacant farmhouse, ‘Pembroke’, where Miss Beatrice Storer was employed to teach the fourteen school-age youngsters who lived in the area. Prior to that, children from the farms and orchards travelled several miles to the schools in Merricks, Red Hill or Balnarring, or they were taught at home. Now Merricks North State School No. 4552 had opened. However the accommodation was a temporary arrangement and the owner of ‘Pembroke’ did not wish to continue the lease. In the winter of 1938, families who lived in Merricks North met with the purpose of resolving the school problem. The public meeting, chaired by local man, David Robb, took place at ‘Pembroke’. A letter had been received from the Education Department offering the sum of 60 pounds, the equivalent of five years rent, towards the building of a new school if the community could raise the remainder. Two councillors and the Shire Secretary attended the meeting and informed the gathering that a site of one
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and a half acres (0.6 hectares), the former junction of Merricks Road with Tubbarubba and Bittern-Dromana roads, was available. The community pitches in As a result of the meeting a committee of three (David Robb, James Fenton and Fred McIlroy) was formed to raise the necessary money. Work towards finalising the land transfer and planning the building went ahead. At a subsequent meeting, three weeks later, with the bulk of the subscriptions collected, a Committee of Management consisting of seven members was elected and work began in earnest. First the land was cleared of timber by the Council’s sustenance work group and towards the end of July the committee met on site to determine where the building would be positioned. Then began a series of weekly working bees to grub stumps, haul timber and level the ground using equipment pulled by draught horses. When all was ready work started on erecting a wooden building 24 feet by 24 feet (7.3 x 7.3 metres) under the guidance of Jack Burton, a local builder who owned a small orchard over the road. Labour was never in short supply. Local residents turned out in force. While the men did the heavy work, the women kept the billy boiling and provided refreshments. Children scrambled over the mounds of earth and stacks of timber about the site, turning it into an adventure playground. Work continued every Saturday and by 22 October, 1938 all was ready for the official opening, barely three months after the foundations were put in place.