Farm Complex

The Farm wards were a part of Stafford's plan to provide a wider range of accommodation. In the late 1940s, he initiated plans for a new farm ward complex. Since the farm ward was established in the mid-1910s, it had proved to be an 'administrative success', but like other wards was overcrowded and in need of major improvements. The idea of a 'backward persons' colony had been signalled in the Backwards Persons  Act of 1938, and plans had been prepared for a new institution at Dalby. A lack of funding prevented this scheme from proceeding, and in the late 1940s, efforts were redirected to redeveloping the existing farm ward at Goodna. Initially, the new complex was to be built on the site of the existing farm ward, but a new site on the summit of an adjacent hill was selected and was erected by patient labour. The new complex comprised two large wards and a dining/recreation block. Ward A accommodated 75 patients. Ward B, with 100 beds, was managed as an open ward with the majority of inmates being classified as 'mentally deficient' and in need of less intensive supervision. The Farm Complex is located in the northwest portion of the site, near the river, and extends south along a winding vehicle road that connects the main patient ward areas north to the farm areas.  A second road, Aveyron Road, carries on from the end of Explorers Walk and leads east up to the Basil Stafford Centre.

A large dam is at the centre of the area, and there are former farm buildings/remnants to its north and south. The river flats were most suitable for dairy farming, and on the adjacent ridge, a milking shed, storage sheds and yards were built. A ward was built to accommodate patients working on the farm, as well as two residences for farm staff. This 'farm colony' operated as a semi-independent unit.

The ward block, built from an old ward in the main section, was used until the 1950s when a new complex was erected nearby. The buildings remained vacant until 1965. In 1965, the old farm ward became part of a new alcohol rehabilitation centre, The Institute for Inebriates at Marburg, which was established in 1916, closed, and the patients were transferred to Wacol. When they were converted into a rehabilitation clinic for alcoholics. New buildings were erected in the close vicinity as the work of the clinic expanded. The clinic was closed in 1995.

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The Farm Ward Complex was comprised of the following

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Piggery Remnants (1916-19)

Remnants of the former piggery (1916-19) are located on the eastern side of Explorer’s Walk. All structures have been removed; however, the large, terraced area of land where the piggery stood retains concrete slabs and paths. Running along the downhill edge of the area is an off-form reinforced concrete wall with a cast-iron pipe outlet, and low walls form a square concrete feature on its eastern side. ​

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Dam (1950) and Pump House (by 1956)

The dam also has a submerged part of Joshua's Jeays Quarry, formed in a valley over a natural creek.

The dam wall is a tall earth embankment with Explorer’s Walk running along its top, and on its western side is a concrete outlet partially lined with stone, discharging into the Brisbane River.

An empty Pump House stands near the dam wall on the north side of the reservoir, built to feed the nearby farm areas and the distant vegetable gardens north of the Male Patients Area. It is a small rectangular building with a gable roof.

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Later Farm Ward for Male Patients (c1964, Weeroona)

North of the Dam, standing on the western side of the intersection of Explorers Walk and Aveyron Road, is the Later Farm Ward for Male Patients. It is a large face-brick building, primarily one-storey, with a partial lower-ground-floor level beneath its southern section.

It has a shallow-pitched gable roof with skylights and has been stripped of most internal linings, but retains most of its original floor plan layout. Most of the original windows and skylights have been removed, and it is now used as a police training centre.

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Farm Overseer’s House (1918, relocated within the police driver training complex area c2009-13)

The Farm Overseer’s House was a residence erected in 1918 for the farm overseer when the farm ward was established. The building was constructed from materials from the former quarantine station on Peel Island, relocated from its original position nearby to the east, and now stands north of the later Farm Ward for Male Patients, and is a one-storey timber-framed and clad residence with a hip roof. In its new location, it has been rotated to face northeast and raised on steel and timber stumps. In 2020, it is vacant and used as a training centre for police.

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Early Farm Ward Kitchen and Dairy (1916)

Standing east of the Farm Overseer’s House is the Early Farm Ward Kitchen and Dairy, built in 1916.

These two small masonry buildings stand on a raised island, surrounded by a large lower area that has been flattened to form a police driver training track.

These buildings are the rear outbuildings of a large early farmyard that stood in front of them, which has been demolished.

The kitchen fireplace has been demolished. Changes that have been made that have been made that are not heritage significance include: adding a verandah awning to the south side of the kitchen building and an awning between buildings, cutting a door into the north wall of the scullery to connect it to the heating room, and enclosing the verandah on the south end of the Dairy building and adding a small extension to its north end. The buildings have been converted into a staff kitchenette, toilets, and track storage.

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Farm Sheds (1916)

Two large Sheds were erected in 1916 as part of the development of the "farm colony". The larger shed served as a fodder store and the other as a corn store.

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