Camfield House

About

Camfield House, also referred to as Annesfield, is a conglomerate of buildings in Albany in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. The property contains a wattle and daub house constructed in 1852 as a residence for the Camfields that was also known as Annesfield. The other building is a school house built for Aboriginal children.

The school commenced in 1852 under the auspices of John Wollaston and Anne Camfield. The school was focused on educating Indigenous children. The house is a simple colonial design, rectangular in shape with a steeply pitched gable corrugated iron roof.

The walls are coated in stucco and have three sets of casement windows set over the verandah. Four chimneys are set asymmetrically around the house. The school is a two-storey brick building with a steeply pitched gabled corrugated iron roof.

It has exposed brick on one side and is whitewashed on the others. In 1857 the Camfields built a separate school room near the house with classroom, attached kitchen and accommodation for up to eight children. In 1858 a total of 23 children were at the school; this increased to 55 in 1868.

The school went into decline shortly afterward with Anne Camfield struggling...