Early schooling

By Judy Waters

A recent request for information about Dome Valley School uncovered some interesting history. Records show that in 1873, a deputation waited upon the Board of Education to put their case for a school in the area. Parents were concerned that the distance to Warkworth or Kaipara Flats made regular attendance difficult. The school may have opened in temporary premises, as mention is made of Dome Valley children attending a school fete in 1874.

In 1877, the building that began life as the original Presbyterian church in McKinney Rd, Warkworth, became available and was transported to a site on Kaipara Flats Rd, near Phillips Rd. For almost 50 years a sole teacher, or sometimes a married couple, adequately met the educational needs of the settlers who made up the postal district of Streamlands, now more commonly called Dome Valley. A former pupil wrote the following:

“Do you remember the mud on school hill in winter? How the horses heaved and plunged to drag the heavy coach through, for the road was a quagmire from side-to-side and the daily coach service from Kaipara Flats did nothing to improve it. We children used to climb the bank to escape the sea of mud, walking single file along a slippery clay track among the gorse bushes. If we were late we dare not run as we could risk falling flat in the clay and then standing by the school stove to dry out. But summer was pure bliss – except for the difficulty of concentrating while a tui sang ecstatically outside.”

By 1926, the roads had improved somewhat and it was considered a cheaper option to bus the children into Warkworth School. For some years the community had the use of the building as a hall and library, but in 1940, both site and building were advertised for sale. On the move again, the little school building found a new home as the Warkworth Anglican Parish Hall. The gabled part, built in 1862 by Charles Phillips, has stood the test of time. Is it the oldest structure in Warkworth still in use?

Pictured top: The Dome Valley school bus driven by T. Ramsbottom, circa 1920s.

Pictured bottom: The Parish Hall, formerly used as the Dome Valley School.

Published August 2011