Braemar College is an
ecumenical
Ecumenism ( ; alternatively spelled oecumenism)also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalismis the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships ...
co-curricular
private school
A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...
located on Mount Macedon in
Woodend, Victoria
Woodend () is a town in Victoria, Australia. The town is in the Shire of Macedon Ranges local government area and is bypassed to the east and north by the Calder Freeway (M79), located about halfway between Melbourne and Bendigo. At the , Wood ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. Initially the school's board consisted of representatives from the three local municipalities (
Shire of Gisborne
Shire () is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries. It is generally synonymous with county (such as Cheshire and Worcestershire). British counties are among the oldes ...
,
Shire of Romsey
The Shire of Romsey was a local government area about north-north-west of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1862 until 1995.
History
Romsey was incorporated as a road distri ...
and
Shire of Newham and Woodend
The Shire of Newham and Woodend was a local government area about northwest of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1861 until 1995.
History
The Woodend, Newham and Rochford Roa ...
– now replaced by the newer
Shire of Macedon Ranges
The Shire of Macedon Ranges is a region in Central Victoria, Australia, best known for its native forests, geographical attraction Hanging Rock, and artisan food and wine industries. The region covers an area of . It is located in between the c ...
) and the three local Christian denomination churches (
Anglican
Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
,
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
and
Uniting). The school's motto is ''Unum Corpus Multi Sumus'' (One body, many parts).
Braemar House

The main building in the college, Braemar House, dates from the late nineteenth century and is believed to be the largest plywood structure in the
Southern Hemisphere. Braemar House is a substantial two-storey timber mansion on brick and stone foundations with high pitched roofs, intricate gables and asymmetric features, which was constructed in 1889–90 to a design by Italian-born architect
Louis Boldini.
The school's architectural style is classified as
Victorian Period
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed th ...
(1851–1901)
Free Classical.
Braemar House was built as a guest house for affluent
Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
residents by a consortium of Melbourne businessmen. The location of Braemar House in the
Mount Macedon
Mount Macedon ( ; or ) is a dormant volcano that is part of the Macedon Ranges of the Great Dividing Range, located in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands region of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The mountain has a ...
area which was noted for its bracing mountain air made it attractive to those who believed that city life was not conducive to good health and that regular vacations in a healthy environment would restore well being. Access to rail transport and proximity to recreational activities such as walking and climbing in picturesque locations such as nearby
Hanging Rock made
Woodend a suitable place for such a venture.
Braemar House operated as a guest house from about 1890 until at least 1908, and possibly until 1918 when it was reported sold and that "it is intended to convert the house into a school for young ladies".
Braemar House was listed on the Heritage Register of Victoria in 2003.
Clyde School
Clyde School
Clyde School was founded as a private girls' school in 1910 in Alma Road, St Kilda, Victoria, Australia by Isabel Henderson, a leading educationist of her day. It quickly gained a reputation for excellent academic results. The school was relocat ...
was founded as a private girls' school in 1910 in
St Kilda by Isabel Henderson. In 1919 it moved to Braemar House, Woodend and in 1921 it was transformed into a public school (which was exclusively a boarding school).
In 1976 Clyde School,
Geelong Church of England Grammar School
Geelong Grammar School is a private Anglican co-educational boarding and day school. The school's main campus is located in Corio on the northern outskirts of Geelong, Victoria, Australia, overlooking Corio Bay and Limeburners Bay.
Established ...
, and
Geelong Church of England Girls' Grammar School "The Hermitage" amalgamated, and today the combined school continues as
Geelong Grammar School
Geelong Grammar School is a private Anglican co-educational boarding and day school. The school's main campus is located in Corio on the northern outskirts of Geelong, Victoria, Australia, overlooking Corio Bay and Limeburners Bay.
Establ ...
.
Braemar College
In 1975 the present name Braemar College was adopted as a new school was started to include years 7 to 12 for both male and female students. Its original principal was Graham Farley.
Braemar College sits surrounded by the ferny undergrowth, Snow Gums, Alpine Ash and Mountain Ash bushland of th
Macedon Regional Park On 16 February 1983, the school escaped relatively unharmed as the infamous
Ash Wednesday fires
The Ash Wednesday bushfires, known in South Australia as Ash Wednesday II, were a series of bushfires that occurred in south-eastern Australia in 1983 on 16 February. Within twelve hours, more than 180 fires fanned by hot winds of up to caus ...
raged around it. The statewide Ash Wednesday Bushfires raged across Victoria – scorching 295 km
2 of bushland, taking 7 lives and destroying 628 buildings in the
Macedon Ranges
The Macedon Ranges is a region in Central Victoria, known for its expansive native forests, vibrant arts scene, thriving food and wine industries (including weekly farmers' markets) and natural attractions such as Hanging Rock and Mount Macedon. ...
area alone. Despite the valiant efforts of local firefighters and volunteers, the school did lose its historic stables and grandstand – now the site of a gymnasium and theatre building. The fire that burnt the stables took place on 1 February 1983, a fortnight before the Ash Wednesday fires.
The college again expanded in 1995 with the construction of a
primary school
A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...
building along with full provisions for grade 5 and 6 students.
In 2017, work on the Braemar College Woodend Campus began. The College has timelines in place that will see the Middle School being located at the second campus for the commencement of term 2 of 2018, but because of delays, the Middle School is now been transferred to the second campus at the beginning of the 3rd term. In 2021, the third building on the Woodend campus has been completed.
Braemar College participates in many activities with other schools in the region such as cross country, athletics, swimming, chess, debating and orienteering.
References in media
Clyde School became well known for its depiction in the
Joan Lindsay
Joan à Beckett Weigall, Lady Lindsay (16 November 189623 December 1984) was an Australian novelist, playwright, essayist, and visual artist. Trained in her youth as a painter, she published her first literary work in 1936 at age forty under a ...
novel
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1967). This novel was concerned with an ill-fated excursion to nearby
Hanging Rock by girls from the local boarding school.
In 1975 the novel was made into a
film
A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...
directed by
Peter Weir
Peter Lindsay Weir ( ; born 21 August 1944) is a retired Australian film director. He is known for directing films crossing various genres over forty years with films such as '' Picnic at Hanging Rock'' (1975), '' Gallipoli'' (1981), '' The Y ...
which became very successful both in Australia and overseas.
At the time of release, the association with Clyde School was noted in the press. The film's producers chose
Martindale Hall
Martindale Hall is a Georgian style mansion near Mintaro, South Australia which appeared in the film '' Picnic at Hanging Rock''.
Construction
Martindale Hall was built for a wealthy bachelor pastoralist, Edmund Bowman Jr (1855–1921). T ...
, in
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
(with school buildings more typical of a 19th-century English public school than the former alpine chalet styled guesthouse) to stand for the story's fictional school, ''Appleyard College''.
In 1987, the final chapter or sequel to ''Picnic at Hanging Rock'' titled
The Secret of Hanging Rock, was launched at a media event at Braemar College.
In 1987, The Australian
60 Minutes
''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...
program televised a debate at the school on the abortion issue featuring students and community figures on either side of the debate (including notorious
anti-abortion
Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its Abortion by country, legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in r ...
campaigner
Margaret Tighe).
References
* Garden, Donald Stuart (1986). ''Braemar College, the first decade''. Braemar College, Woodend, Victoria, 3442. .
* Hitch, J. (1990). ''A History of Braemar House, Woodend, Victoria, 1890 - 1990''. Braemar College.
* McDougall & Vines (1997). ''Braemar House, Woodend Victoria Conservation and Management Plan''.
External links
Braemar College website
{{Secondary schools in Victoria
Educational institutions established in 1975
Private secondary schools in Victoria (state)