Farm Square

The first part of Farm Square to be built was the western wing in 1899. The stables were open on both sides with a tramline running up the middle. Be sure to take a look in the western wing. The tramline and the fodder truck that ran on it are still there.

Also, be sure to look up at the ceiling and see the fodder chutes at both ends of the wing. In the early days, fodder was stored in the roof. When these chutes were opened, fodder fell down into the truck. This was then easily transported to the stables by pushing the truck up the tramline. Mangers were fitted with hinged feed boxes that would revolve into the corridor to allow them to be filled with ease.

In 1900, the eastern side of the complex was built opposite the western wing. A year later, the southern wing was built joining with the eastern and western sides. Finally, the northern wing was built in 1904 and hence the building became known as ‘Farm Square’. Former student, Ron Swanwick, describes it by saying, “if it was in a South American setting, it would have been ideal for conducting executions by firing squad.

Many past students recall Farm Square as the nerve centre of the campus when it was the Queensland Agricultural College. It was the assembly point where students would gather at the crack of dawn to consult rosters and notice boards about what they would be doing that day and where they were supposed to be. Then it was a mad dash to find supervisors who were waiting in their respective areas for the arrival of their students.

In 1986, Farm Square underwent major renovations. Horse washing facilities were installed and the entire roof replaced. But the most dramatic change was the demolition of the northern wing and its replacement with the concrete structure you see today. Many people are still upset by what they see as the destruction of a significant heritage building. They believe the whole feel of the place has been irreversibly damaged. You be the judge. Regardless though, what is left of the original building is stunning enough to impress even the harshest critic.

The Stories so far...

A student in 1933, Aubrey Schindler, recalls a very difficult day. One of the rostered jobs at the time was ‘Morning Stables Duty’. This meant that one person had to round up all of the workhorses and bring them up to Farm Square for feeding in the stalls by 7:30am. The main problem was all of the workhorses were grazed overnight in a paddock on the banks of Lockyer Creek, north of the Warrego Highway.

Aubrey had the honour of performing this job this particular day. His alarm went off at 4am and he saddled an old neddy which he had put in a small yard near his dormitory the night before. All was going well until it came to crossing the highway. Traffic wasn’t the problem. In those days, a busy day on the highway meant that twenty cars went past between dawn and dusk. Rather, it was the latch on the gate that began all the trouble.

Aubrey tried to lean down from his mount and unlatch the gate with one hand. This proved to be too difficult, so he decided to dismount and get two hands onto the job. But as soon as his feet hit the ground, old neddy decided he didn’t want to wait for breakfast any longer and high tailed it back to Farm Square.

Undeterred, Aubrey came up with a cunning plan. He would leave the gates open on either side of the highway, round up the horses on foot, and chase them up to Farm Square. He figured that they went to the same place every morning for their feed, so they ought to know the way.

The plan was working perfectly. The horses knew where the food was and charged off in the right direction as soon as they heard him coming. What he didn’t know was the gate on the southern side of the highway had swung shut and re-latched itself. Half of the horses set off toward Brisbane and the other half made their way towards Toowoomba.

Aubrey was given the task of rounding up the Brisbane contingent and managed to have them back in their stalls by 8am.

Other students took until 9am to bring in the Toowoomba mob. This is the only day Aubrey remembers that the workhorses were late for work.

Aubrey J. Schindler (student 1933)

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