Like Sherren House, Barbreck is a much loved building which has been a key part of the heartbeat of our School and a core part of our School community.

Barbreck was purchased by the School in 1948 and has gone through two major incarnations since then – in 1972 and in 2017-2018. Built in 1887, the original owner’s grandmother in Scotland was the inspiration for its unusual name. Barbreck is Gaelic for ‘speckled hilltop’, from ‘barr’ meaning hilltop and ‘breac’ meaning ‘speckled’. That it was neither speckled nor on a hilltop didn’t seem to matter. It was overwhelmingly red brick, just like its neighbour Illawarra built two years before it, now our boarding school. Its grand entrance gates were where our Barbreck gates are now, with a small gatehouse. The Anne Smith Avenue that leads up to Barbreck from our current gates today is much straighter than the curved driveway that adorned Barbreck then.

The original family sold Barbreck to St Catherine’s in 1948, to hold the kindergarten and Grades 1 and 2. It quickly grew to hold the other primary school year groups. By the early 1970s, Barbreck was more than just tired. It needed a rebuild. At the time, a painting in Sherren House by the artist G F Watts, a member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was sent to be cleaned. It was found to be highly valuable. It was taken to London, where it was auctioned bringing a huge price. The proceeds were used to fund the building of the new Barbreck. As there was money left over, the School decided to purchase a new vibrant artwork to hang in Barbreck – a tapestry named ‘The Third Day of the Creation’, one of a very limited number of repeats permitted of the series ‘The Seven Days of the Creation’ which was presented by Australia to the John F Kennedy Memorial in the United States. It still hangs in the School to this day.

By 2017-2018, an upgrade of Barbreck was again well overdue so a new Junior School was built on the site and the second Barbreck was demolished. Our memories as young people leave an indelible mark. That’s what Barbreck is to those who travelled through its corridors – a warm embrace, a familiar smell, a comforting reassurance. Our 2015 School Captain described Barbreck as much as she did Sherren House with her insightful words: “Our current Barbreck girls and parents transitioned to the new building and know how empowered and loved they feel there. They are building new memories, forged in the new Barbreck; and our past Barbreck girls and parents remember and reflect on their times in their Barbreck, knowing how empowered and loved they felt there.”

Barbreck has been very much part of the property’s history for over 130 years and a heartbeat of our School’s history for over 70 years. Long may that remain.