Ipswich Girls' Grammar School

The Ipswich Girls’ Grammar School was the last of the non-denominational grammar schools to be established in Queensland. The original building was designed by George Brockwell Gill. The school opened to students on 1 February 1892 with an enrolment of 31 girls under the charge of the first Headmistress, Miss Fanny E. Hunt. In 1892 a gymnasium, play shed, stables, fences, roads and trees were added to the school grounds. Amongst the trees planted at this time were those lining the main driveway, forming an avenue consisting of Weeping Figs, Moreton Bay Figs and Camphor Laurels.

The gatekeeper’s lodge was built in 1892, by Worely and Whitehead to the design of George Brockwell Gill. In 1901, the original school building was extended on its northern side, giving the school a symmetrical frontage and adding a decorative lantern in the northern wing. In 1952 the current gates to the school were opened as the Estelle Cribb Memorial Gates. Estelle was a former student who later became a teacher here after completing University studies in Sydney.

The Cribb family has had a strong association with IGGS from its beginnings, Thomas Bridson Cribb M.L.A. being the first Chairman of the Board of Trustees of IGGS. The Cribb’s have served as Trustees on the Board until recently. The assembly hall which was designed by architect Karl Langer opened in 1968. In 1991, a replica building was constructed on the western side of the old lodge as a small theatre auditorium. Since 1995 several new complexes have been added to the grounds including the gymnasium on the south-west portion of the school.