Cooerwull Academy

The Cooerwull Academy was an independent, Presbyterian, day and boarding school for boys, located in Bowenfels, a small town on the western outskirts of Lithgow, New South Wales, Australia.

Collectable Australian school cigarette card featuring the Cooerwull colours & crest, c. 1920s.

Cooerwull was founded in 1882[1] by the Scottish pastoralist and industrialist, Andrew Brown, who was also the Lithgow Valley's first European settler. The school, which was originally intended to be a training academy for prospective Presbyterian ministers,[2] was the first Presbyterian school established in New South Wales.[3]

Cooerwull attended the initial meetings resulting in the formation of the Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales but didn't take part in any of the association's events. It was attached to St Andrew's College at the University of Sydney, which was also founded by Andrew Brown.

The Academy ceased operating when most of its staff and some students enlisted to fight in the First World War.[2] It then became a private residence, and in 1953 the site was converted into the Catholic, La Salle Academy, which is still in operation today.[1]