Spacious lawns and gardens provide a delightful setting for Clairvaux, the new establishment for intellectually handicapped boys [original caption], c. 1969, courtesy of New South Wales government.
Details
Clairvaux was established at Katoomba by the Child Welfare Department in 1969. It began as a home for boys who were described having intellectual disabilities. It has a special school on site. Clairvaux was closed down in the 1990s.
Clairvaux was purchased in 1967 to increase accommodation for wards of the state and boys with disabilities (referred to at the time as 'intellectually handicapped'). Accommodation at the existing state institutions at Brush Farm, Mittagong Farm Home and Werrington Park was becoming strained. The home was opened in 1969 with 24 boys. There was a special school on the site, operated by the Education Department.
Clairvaux was closed down in the 1990s and in 2014 serves as accommodation for a range of community-based organisations.
Sources used to compile this entry: Child Welfare Department, Annual Report: Child Welfare Department of New South Wales, New South Wales government, 1923-1970. Also available at https://www.opengov.nsw.gov.au/main; Thinee, Kristy and Bradford, Tracy, Connecting Kin: Guide to Records, A guide to help people separated from their families search for their records [completed in 1998], New South Wales Department of Community Services, Sydney, New South Wales, 1998, https://clan.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/connectkin_guide.pdf; Personal knowledge of Naomi Parry, State-Based Historian, Find & Connect web resource, 21 April 2014.
Prepared by: Naomi Parry and Liam Hogan
Created: 23 March 2011, Last modified: 16 May 2017