Description of Historic Place

The Orkney School is a Municipal Heritage Property situated on a 6090 square metre parcel of land located approximately 7 kilometres northwest of Yorkton. The property features a stone one-room school built in 1897.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Orkney School lies in its connection to the development of education in the area. Constructed in 1897, this structure replaced a log school built on the same site ten years earlier. The decision to build a school for the newly-formed community demonstrates the high value the settlers put on education. Although the stone exterior differs from the majority of other schools constructed at this time, the size and interior is typical of the one-room schools constructed across the prairies. By 1958, the needs of the community had surpassed the facilities of this building and it was replaced by a larger school a few kilometres away.

The heritage value of the Orkney School also lies in its connection to the Scottish settlers in the area. The impetus to build the school came from the local settlers who came from the Orkney Islands in Scotland under the auspices of the York Farmer's Colonization Company. The settlers constructed a school that is reminiscent of the buildings in their native Scotland. The building, across the road from a similarly constructed church, reflects the stone masonry tradition of these settlers with its fine fieldstone walls, sharply cut corners and simple unadorned exterior.

Source:

Rural Municipality of Orkney No. 244 Bylaw No. 173.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the Orkney School resides in the following character-defining elements:
-those elements reflecting the building's simple design, including the unadorned stone exterior with sharp cut corners, small scale, simple form, chimney, front porch, gable roof, double-hung windows, and one-room design;
-those elements reflecting the building's function as a school, including the flagpole, shelving and blackboards;
-those elements which reflect the association with the local settlers, including the location of the school on its original location.