Originally built in the 1850s by Charles Souter from earth excavated from his property. It was a forerunner for a building style that was later to be synonymous with Eltham. The house is historically significant as the oldest mud brick building in the Shire of Nillumbik, as one of less than half a dozen buildings from the 1850s that survive in the Shire. It underwent several additions and alterations between c.1950s-1980s. It is also significant for its associations with Mervyn Skipper from the well-known Eltham family who was one of the founders of the artist's colony at Montsalvat. The house is architecturally significant because its north section was designed by the noted 'Eltham-style' architect, Alistair Knox, and the two long Oregon beams supporting the main floor were added by the noted 'Eltham-style' builder, Horrie Judd who built the southern room. A onetime tenant in the house, Judd built many Eltham houses and was a major builder of Montsalvat. The 1934 flood destroyed the south wall and the house remained unoccupied for some time. Sonia Skipper, one of Montsalvat’s builders who also worked for Alistair Knox oversaw rebuilding it. She employed landscape designer Gordon Ford, artist Peter Glass and Tim Burstall. The house originally had a cellar for making and storing wine, reputedly the first made in the district according to Alistair Knox in his book ‘We are what we stand on’ (p33). Water would seep into the cellar so Sonia’s father and then owner of the house, Mervyn Skipper bulldozed a channel outside to divert it. The Brocksopp family purchased the house in 1950 and added an outside door to the cellar and converted it into a gallery. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p51This collection of almost 130 photos about places and people within the Shire of Nillumbik, an urban and rural municipality in Melbourne's north, contributes to an understanding of the history of the Shire. Published in 2008 immediately prior to the Black Saturday bushfires of February 7, 2009, it documents sites that were impacted, and in some cases destroyed by the fires. It includes photographs taken especially for the publication, creating a unique time capsule representing the Shire in the early 21st century. It remains the most recent comprehenesive publication devoted to the Shire's history connecting local residents to the past. nillumbik now and then (marshall-king) collection, eltham, falkiner street, mud brick building, mudbrick houses, souter house

September Meeting (Newsletter No. 152, Sep. 2003) This meeting is one in an occasional series where we get together a panel of speakers to talk about a particular aspect of Eltham's history, its character or its people. As has been the case for past speaker panels, we have organised a buff et dinner to precede the meeting and details of this are given below. Eltham has a well-known tradition of building with mud brick, second hand materials and other innovative or uncommon materials. Although this trend dates mainly from the 1930 's there are examples from the pioneer days of Eltham. Part of the Brocksopp house at Eltham South is an 1850' s mud brick construction by George Souter. But the alternative building tradition in Eltham really began at Montsalvat in the 1930's. Justus Jorgensen's building complex of earth construction, stone and items from wreckers' yards inspired a number of builders and owner builders, particularly in adopting mud brick or adobe as their building medium. The tradition continues today with our area remaining home to a relatively high proportion of builders using these alternative materials. The panel we have selected to talk on this subject are either builders in the Eltham tradition or have had close contact with builders of the past. The panel will be introduced by Russell Yeoman who will talk briefly about George Stebbing, an early Eltham builder responsible for many of our remaining historic buildings, but known for traditional buildings of his time rather than the later buildings which give Eltham its particular character. The panel members are as follows:- • John Pizzey, architect. John will speak on the work of Alistair Knox designer and builder in mud brick and the person who has most contributed to the environmental building traditions of Eltham. • Peter Jarvis who will talk about his own work as a builder in mud brick and his views on traditional and modern construction methods. • Leigh Wykes, a present day builder of stone houses, will talk about his own work in the district and its relevance to Eltham traditions. • Diana Bassett-Smith will talk about her experience with owner-builders constructing their earth houses in Eltham in the 1950's. Pise and mud brick presented a cheap building material provided that you could do it yourself or persuade your friends to help. Prior to the meeting there will be a buffet dinner of casseroles and other courses prepared by some of our members. We will be starting at 6.00pm with dinner scheduled for 6.30. Harry Gilham will be providing drinks, including wines from his personally made collection. Cost of the dinner will be $10 which can be paid on the night. However, for catering purposes we need to know numbersCompact audio cassette Sony EF 90 Type I / IEC I Cassette labelled "Eltham Builders Historical" Converted to MP3 file; 100MB, 1:18:57 alistair knox, audio cassette, audio recording, building construction, diana bassett-smith, eltham, john pizzey, leigh wykes, peter jarvis, society meeting

Image No. 1 Brocksopp House erected about 1860 Originally known as Souters Cottage Eltham's first mud brick building Falkiner's Cottage The Alistair Knox Collection The Alistair Knox Collection is a series of mounted enlarged photos of mud brick houses and related subjects. The collection is understood to have been put together by Alistair Knox although it is the work of several unacknowledged photographers. For some years it was held by the Building Department of the former Eltham Shire Council and was then passed to our Society for safekeeping. Some of the photos have been used in Knox's books and from time to time some of them have been part of various historical displays. As far as we know there has not been a public display of the whole collection which numbers about forty photographs. The collection has been copied on to slides for the purpose of this meeting and to be retained as part of the Society's pictorial collection. Alistair Knox 1912 - 1986 is acknowledged as the founder of Eltham's mud brick building movement. Many of the buildings shown in the collection are of his design and he was also involved with the construction of several of them. Others are the work of his contemporaries and associates such as Peter Glass, Gordon Ford, and John Harcourt. (EDHS Newsletter No. 145 July 2002)Handwritten notes in pencil re details of building, year of construction, owner, designer, builder, etcbrocksopp house, falkiner cottage, houses, mud brick construction, souters cottage, alistair knox collection

Contained in Volume 1 of a set of two spiral magnetic photo albums, each containing 10 leaves, 20 pages; Vol. 1 labelled "Houses - Eltham South" and Vol. 2 labelled "Eltham Houses". Newspaper article promoting house auctioneltham, houses, charles souter, eltham south, neville emerson real estate, real estate advertisement, souters cottage

Robin Boyd’s desk cupboard contained two exercise books (item D482.1-D482.2) and assorted articles, essays and other material regarding the building of the Sydney Opera House, inserted inside the front cover of Walkabout magazine, July 1966 (item P1377). This publication is one of those inserts. Many of these were collected by Boyd’s eldest daughter, Mandie, who recalls that her father was writing a book, but was very disillusioned with the way the entire Opera House saga unfolded.Newspaper clipping'Age, June 4 1966', in Robin Boyd's handwritingsydney opera house, utzon, sydney opera house project, walsh st library

Robin Boyd’s desk cupboard contained two exercise books (item D482.1-D482.2) and assorted articles, essays and other material regarding the building of the Sydney Opera House, inserted inside the front cover of Walkabout magazine, July 1966 (item P1377). This publication is one of those inserts. Many of these were collected by Boyd’s eldest daughter, Mandie, who recalls that her father was writing a book, but was very disillusioned with the way the entire Opera House saga unfolded.Newspaper clipping, with an article on the two sidessydney opera house, utzon, sydney opera house project, walsh st library

Robin Boyd’s desk cupboard contained two exercise books (item D482.1-D482.2) and assorted articles, essays and other material regarding the building of the Sydney Opera House, inserted inside the front cover of Walkabout magazine, July 1966 (item P1377). This publication is one of those inserts. Many of these were collected by Boyd’s eldest daughter, Mandie, who recalls that her father was writing a book, but was very disillusioned with the way the entire Opera House saga unfolded.Newspaper clippingsydney opera house, utzon, sydney opera house project, walsh st library

The current school, Albion Primary School, No 4265 opened in 1926. It was built on a site once owned by John Fitzgerald (1850s). The land was later acquired by H. V. McKay who had transferred his Sunshine Harvester Works to the area in 1905 - 7. In 1920, the Albion railway station was moved nearer Ballarat Road at the request of Mr McKay. More people came to live in the area including soldier settlers.Albion Primary School's mission is to 'Aim High' in all we do so that our students grow to be socially capable, reach their full academic potential and become caring, respectful community minded people. Albion Primary School is located in a residential area in Albion, a small pocket of the local government area of Brimbank, approximately 10 kilometres west of Melbourne and was established in 1926. Our current enrolment is 199 students. We have a rich cultural diversity amongst our school community. The school is set around a courtyard with spacious playing areas including a grassed oval, running track, games courts, an adventure playground, sand pit, jumping pits, shady courtyard and garden areas, a vegetable garden and fruit tree orchard. As well as classroom groups, we have our learning teams, student house groups (siblings are allocated to the same house) and a Junior School Council. The school has four main buildings. All classrooms have air conditioning and interactive screens. Block A houses classrooms, staff areas and the administration offices. Our newest building has classrooms and some small group/office spaces. Block B includes our library, canteen and a multi-purpose room used for indoor physical education, Perceptual Motor Program, drama, visiting performers, and community activities. Block C houses classrooms and specialist rooms. We expect and receive the best from our students in terms of their learning and behaviour. The school’s dedicated and effective staff is strongly committed to helping students achieve personal, behavioural, social and academic success. In terms of learning, the highest priority is placed on the work in English and Mathematics. We also have a range of specialist and extra-curricular programs that we provide. Our specialist teacher-librarian is involved in reading extension programs that support development in literacy. All children are able to develop their artistic abilities through visual arts and music program. Our music program is supported by the Australian Children's Music Foundation. A specialist Physical Education teacher provides lessons for all children as well as the opportunity for students to participate in organised lunch time sporting competitions between the house groups. Auslan is the additional language all students learn at Albion. All children participate in a student wellbeing program that focuses on developing strong connections and a sense of belonging within the school. Our school student leaders participate in programs that help develop their leadership skills. 5147.01 - Albion State School 1994 Grade 1 2D 5147.01 - Albion State School 1994 Grade 1 2D Names Front Row L2R Brodie Wightman Mark Micallef Phuc Ung Darren Cain Sarah Quinsee Sam Sella Raja Shah Anthony Rolfo Brokke Elso Second Row L2R Phillip Souter Stephanie Theuma Matthew Sultana Phi Nguyen Daniel Hall Raymond Gulan Dale Bavage Kathleen Maguire Rachel Testa Back Row L2R Jacqui Mayne Ashleigh Vandenberg Matthew Kindred Rachel Jude Susan Kwiatkowski Andrew Kinder Kathryn Germena Absent Justin Barnes Shane Villinger Amanda Brown Teacher Miss Sandy Dennis Principal Mr Alan Jones 5147.02 - Albion State School 1994 Grade 1F 5147.02 - Albion State School 1994 Grade 1F Names Front Row L2R Michelle Gauci Krystal Spiteri Lindsay Smart Michael McDonald Ellie Johnson Yen Le Anna Evangelista Andrew Demicoli Skye Trice Second Row L2R James Brown Tony Culhane Aaron Batty Richard Elliott Jason Hamilton Joanne Szabo Vanessa Dano Nathan Lyons Back Row L2R Anthony Fafoutelli Madeline Burrows Michelle Cocks Ryan Tishlet Samantha Young Ashleigh Barnett Cameron Hamilton Teacher Mrs Ann Fabbro Principal Mr Alan Jones 5147.03 - Albion State School 1994 Grade 2 3B 5147.03 - Albion State School 1994 Grade 2 3B Names Front Row L2R Hakan Firat Lucian Harabor Ilona Berecz Ian Spiteri Scott Kirby Carla Soul Pamela Broadwood Hakan Beyit Shaun Wright Second Row L2R Jessie Lyon Rebecca Meilak Elyce Croucher Marisa Grima Sarah Caruana Ross Wileman Marlena Chaster Bradley Dale Third Row L2R Kent Huynh Amanda Kennedy Minh Dang James Nardella Troy John Hearn Paul Plunkett Back Row L2R Ora Matoe Aaron Neumann Paul Harrip Belinda Pollard Caylan Goring Teachers Miss M Blacker Mrs L Farrugia Principal Mr Alan Jones 5147.04 - Albion State School 1994 Grade 3 4 5C 5147.04 - Albion State School 1994 Grade 3 4 5C Names Front Row L2R Ryan Loft Jun Yang Candeece Brown Daniel Attard Jay Swift Evelyn Cameron Crisanto Evangelista Van Nguyen Natalie Strinovic Second Row L2R Megan Brown Andrea Gonzalez Catherine Formosa Simon Farrugia Jarrod Heath Zorica Stanojevic Hayley Every Elizabeth Trinh Third Row L2R Nicholas Pahos Kylie Skew Neil Parker Nhan Nguyen Michelle Baker Daniel Tevelein Back Row L2R Macauley Goring Jessica Soul Kerrie Ann Jackman Luke Cormack Teachers Mr Tom Cook Ms Rose Buttegieg Principal Mr Alan Jones 5147.05 - Albion State School 1994 Grade 3 4R 5147.05 - Albion State School 1994 Grade 3 4R Names Front Row L2R Stephen Archer Ngoc Nguyen Kyle Strinovic Michael Berecz Alex Burrows Michael Baker Frances Marchei Trinh Ung Sarah Democoli Second Row L2R Kristy Butterfield Lesley Gray Brent Davis Mark Dale Kellie Rego Dwayne Cachia Jacob Savage Helena Lake Matthew Gulan Back Row L2R Miranda Woodbury Jackie Roberts Duc Dang Tim Perry Dustine Germina Maria Brown Casey Jones Teachers Mrs S Rossa Ms L Smith Principal Mr Alan Jones 5147.06 - Albion State School 1994 Grade 5 6E 5147.06 - Albion State School 1994 Grade 5 6E Names Front Row L2R Christos Zingiridis Renee Sultana Drew Giblin Kelly Barham Sarah Alderton Luke McComb Adam Souter Kayte Whitlow Second Row L2R Ravinder Shah Scott Jeffrie Kim Duffy Elizabeth Pucek Jessica Brennan Edin Karastonovic Jeremy Bond Peter Presilski Back Row L2R Chelsea Heath Justin Tevelein Natalie Pancotti Kristal Brown Kate Burrows Michael Chajter Andrew Formosa Absent Tania Todorovic Teachers Mrs A Erwood Mrs J Sullivan Principal Mr Alan Jones 5147.07 - Albion State School 1994 Grade 5 6H 5147.07 - Albion State School 1994 Grade 5 6H Names Front Row L2R Helen Zingiridis Jessica Demicoli Bryan Hellstrom Casey Schuliga Jillian Allender Steven White Jauren Steers Melissa Bavage Second Row L2R Melissa Jude Matthew Davis Kristy Testa Kenny Hipworth Sara Christopoulos Clinton Duggan Luke Bond Renee Farrugia Back Row L2R Trevor Gray Charlene Grima Nicole Spiteri Jarema Bogdanowicz Ebony Batty Luke Jones Teacher Mrs P Porigneaux Principal Mr Alan Jones 5147.08 - Albion State School 1994 Grade Prep F 5147.08 - Albion State School 1994 Grade Prep F Names Front Row L2R Phuong Tran Andy Moffitt Alarna Swift Krystle Luhrs Rebecca Plunkett Jessica Smith Anthony Diaz Second Row L2R Tom Morgan Mary Nguyen Lisa Broadwood Joseph Leggio Matthew Allender Sarah Kennedy Caterina Viterale Back Row L24 Heidi McKinnon Burak Hoban Tracey Codrey Brody Woodbury Jarrod Montague Brandan Allender Teachers Mrs J Farrell B Wikiel B Batty Principal Mr Alan Jones Front Row L2R 5147.09 - Albion State School 1994 Grade Prep H 5147.09 - Albion State School 1994 Grade Prep H Names Front Row L2R Steve Bernacki Kellie Davis Sara Kindred Smantha Skew Doreen Roberts Rebecca Trinh Stacey Hamilton Second Row L2R Miki ORegan Ricky Lyon Matthew Baker Benjamin Huynh Troy Strinovic Jerolim Markovic Jessica James Back Row L2R Dwayne Brown Rory Markovis Ana Ast Sara Neumann Aaron Gray Absent Aron Scott Jillian Johnson Teachers Mrs J Hrovatis S Zappelli Principal Mr Alan Jones 5147.10 - Albion State School 1994 Staff 5147.10 - Albion State School 1994 Staff Names Front Row L2R Pat Porigneaux Lorraine Farrugia Marlene Blacker Alan Jones Betty Batty Elaine James Second Row L2R Joy Farrell Julie Hrovatin Ana Fabbro Adrienne Erwood Sandy Dennis Back Row L2R Susan Carpenter Tom Cook Joanne Sullivan Sue Rossa albion state school, albion primary school, adelaide street, albion