If you've ever travelled the Midland Highway, chances are you've wondered what that peculiar archway is standing in a paddock.
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The archway is all that's left of boy's school Horton College, the closure of which directly led to the opening of Scotch Oakburn.
Now, thanks to the generosity of a local family and the persistence of a historian, a piece of genuine Horton College memorabilia will be on display at Scotch Oakburn's senior campus.
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Sixty years ago, Warren Weston's wife was given an old school blazer that belonged to his wife's grandmother.
"My wife was told by her grandmother, who raised her after her parents' died, to always look after that blazer," he said.
"We knew then it was a Horton College blazer, she told us the story and said it was grandfather's blazer, but we had no idea what it would mean, and the significance of it."
Many years later, when Mr Weston's wife was being moved to an aged care facility, where she stayed until she died, the family were looking through boxes of clothes in the wardrobe to pack for her.
"We came across this blazer, in the bottom of the wardrobe in the dark," daughter Margaret Davis said.
"I knew the story of the blazer, but I didn't really know what to do with it, but it seemed too special to just throw away."
Horton College was the inspiration for the establishment of the Methodist Ladies College, which continued as Scotch Oakburn.
Mrs Davis said she posted a photo of the blazer on a social media page about the Tasmanian history and was soon connected to historian Melanie Morris, who also happened to know Scotch Oakburn archivist Veronica Macno.
"This was all last year at the height of COVID-19, Veronica reached out to me to ask if I could take a look into the blazer to see if we cold establish its authenticity," Ms Morris said.
"It was when the libraries were all closed, so we couldn't get in to do the research so I did a lot of researching online."
However, once she had access to the libraries again, Ms Morris had a "eureka moment".
"To prove provenance, and authenticity, what we needed was a photo of Albert [Mr Weston's grandfather-in-law] wearing the blazer at Horton College," Ms Morris said.
"We found three."
After confirming its authenticity, the blazer was generously donated by Mr Weston to Scotch Oakburn College, where it will be displayed in the Helix Centre, the school's maths and science building.
Unfortunately, though, Mr Weston's wife died from dementia two months ago before she could see it all come to fruition.
Ms Macno said the school wanted the blazer to be part of a prominent display, and a teacher at the school, who is also a carpenter, will be building a purpose-built glass and wood case for it.
"It's amazing that this blazer has been sitting in a wardrobe for so long, it's nearly in mint condition," Ms Macno said.
"So we want as many people, staff and students, to come through and see it as possible."
Scotch Oakburn principal Andy Muller said it was a significant part of the College's history and an important acquisition.
"This is an incredible opportunity to have something that connects the whole college like this blazer," he said.
"It is representation of all the stages of the college's evolution and we don't have anything else like this in our collection."
Scotch Oakburn's Elphin campus does have some bricks incorporated into the new buildings that were initially part of Horton College.
The blazer will be put on a "semi-permanent display" in the Helix Centre with periods of rest back in storage away from the light to preserve it for as long as possible.
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