St Joseph's Convent

Parent Place or Precinct

16297 St Joseph's Catholic Church Group

Statement of Significance

Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church Group, Albany comprises St Joseph’s Church (1877, 1890s, 1939) in Victorian Academic Gothic style, the two-storey St Joseph’s Convent (fmr) with a central section (1881) in Victorian Georgian style flanked by wings (1898) in Federation Romanesque style, the modest free-standing timber Belltower (1895) in Victorian Carpenter Gothic style, and New Camfield, the single-storey former presbytery built in Victorian Regency style (c.1894) with a later Federation Queen Anne style veranda (1919), has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons:
The place is a rare, relatively intact, and significant religious cultural environment that demonstrates historic associations with the Catholic Church and development of the site over time.
The place is a long-standing landmark on Aberdeen Street and in the area around the important intersection of York Street and Albany Highway.
St Joseph's Church is a fine example of Victorian Academic Gothic style.
St Joseph's Convent is a fine example of a combination of Victorian Georgian and Federation Romanesque styles, and makes a landmark statement within the group.
The Belltower is an uncommon example of Victorian Carpenter Gothic style.
New Camfield, is a fine example of a combination of Victorian Regency and Federation Queen Anne style and compliments the two-storey Convent.
St Joseph's Convent, established as a result of the State Government's support of education in the late 19th century, is closely associated with the Sisters of St Joseph of the Apparition.
The place is closely associated with Father Facondo Mateu, parish priest from 1877 to 1903.
New Camfield was St Joseph's presbytery for the first half of the twentieth century and is associated particularly with the Christian Brothers teaching order, who resided in the place from 1955 to the early 2000s, while teaching in the city.
The place is highly valued by the general community for its historical religious and educational associations and by the Albany Catholic community as the focus of its religious life.
The place contributes to the community's sense of place as a substantial group of historic ecclesiastical buildings.

The Priest's House (c.1956) is intrusive. The former St Pius X College (1955), converted in 1987 to aged care units known as 'The Lodge', is of little heritage significance.

Physical Description

Saint Joseph's Catholic Church Group, Albany comprises St Joseph's Church (1877, 1890s, 1939) in Victorian Academic Gothic style, the two-storey St Joseph's Convent (fmr) in Federation Filligree styles with a central section (1881) flanked by wings (1898), the modest free-standing timber Belltower (1895) in Victorian Carpenter Gothic style, and New Camfield, the single-storey former presbytery built in Victorian Regency style (c.1894) with a later Federation Queen Anne style veranda (1919).
Some of the notable features of this place include:
• Steeply pitched roof
• Shingle type tiles
• Gothic arched windows
• Large entry porch and additional wing, retaining the arched windows
• Rendered and painted walls
• Buttresses along length of building
• Free standing timber bell tower

Some obvious modifications include:
• Additional window, choir loft, sanctuary and sacristy
• Porch and extensions added
• External paint scheme

History

Together with the former St Joseph’s Convent building and the nearby St Joseph’s Lodge, the St Joseph’s Catholic Church forms a significant historical complex dating back to the 1870s.

The official presence of the Catholic Church in Western Australia began in 1843 when Dr John Brady arrived from NSW. Shortly after, the first Catholic primary school Western Australia was established by the Sisters of Mercy. Other Catholic primary schools were opened and run by lay teachers. In 1855, Coadjutor Bishop Serra visited Europe and returned with four sisters from the French order of St Joseph of the Apparition, who took over the Fremantle Primary School and established a Secondary School in that town

In Albany, Town Lot 331 had been granted to the Catholic Church in May 1855. The church also acquired three other Lots centred around Aberdeen Street. The first Catholic Church was built c1855 (one source cites 1859), on the western side of Aberdeen Street.

The foundation stone for the St Joseph’s Catholic Church was laid in 1877 on the present site on the eastern side of Aberdeen St. The cost of the building was £1,700.

In 1878 Mother Teresa and two Sisters of St Joseph of the Apparition, and the secular teacher arrived in Albany. They quickly assumed responsibility for the primary school and established a secondary school in rented premises. Their first building project was a two-storey primary school, situated beside the old Church. In the same year, a new Church was opened on the eastern side of Aberdeen Street. It was consecrated the Church of St Joseph of the Apparition.

The construction of St Joseph’s Convent followed and the Sisters moved in on 21 June 1881. St Joseph’s Convent was the first Secondary School established in a country area in Western Australia. It was known as St Joseph’s School for Young Ladies and offered a curriculum of ‘higher learning’. Two of the four Sisters who had arrived from France in 1855 were among the five strong Communities in Albany. They were Reverend Mother Julie Cabagnol, Superiores until her death in 1895 and Sister Zoe de Chamouin.

The bell, cast in France in 1883 (one source cites 1833) was a gift to mark the nursing of French sailors during a typhoid epidemic. It was named “Marie de Bourbon” (after the old French Royal House of Bourbon) and was embossed with religious images, inscribed with a passage from Ezekiel in the Latin “Manus Domini eduxis me in Viam Australem”, which can be roughly translated as, “The hand of the Lord guided me to this southern way”.

Over the years there have been a number of modifications and additions. In 1890 a fourth window, confessional boxes and choir loft were added. Prior to WW1 a new sanctuary and sacristy were built. The porch was added in 1937 and in 1995 covered entries to the big porch were added.

St Joseph’s Convent became a general-purpose centre for the Parish, providing a community room for parishioners, a parish office and an office for the Sisters. Other rooms were hired out at nominal rates to low income/non profit groups as a meeting place. Occasionally, one of the larger rooms was made available for a wake. Cyclone Alby badly damaged the building in 1978 and architects Hobbs, Smith and Holmes were involved in the restoration of the place. In 1898 the Sisters extended St Joseph’s Convent by adding a wing at each end of the building, with a verandah around three sides. Later a freestanding section was added behind the place to accommodate growing class sizes. Since 1998, the convent building has been leased for commercial purposes, including Integrated Tree Cropping and then later Latro Lawyers.

The original Presbytery, adjacent to the Convent, is said to have been built by Rev. Father Mateu some time after his arrival in Albany in 1877. There were four rooms, opening off a broad passage, with a verandah at the front. Around 1919, two further rooms were added. When the Christian Brothers came to Albany for the second time in 1955, the priest’s house became their residence and was named “New Camfield”. The Brothers operated a school for nearly thirty years. However, following the merger of the Christian Brothers school with the girls’ school, and the formation of the new St Joseph’s College in Spencer Street, the school classrooms and offices were no longer used. They were turned into a set of seven living units for elderly people of the parish. That became the first block of St Joseph’s Lodge, and gradually more modern brick units were constructed onto Aberdeen Street, and at the rear onto Munster Avenue.

As lay teachers replaced religious teachers, the Brothers had less of a role in the area. The former residence of the Brothers was leased out as a private residence for a short time. After the majority of the old Convent building had been leased out to a commercial enterprise, it was decided that “New Camfield” would be refitted as the Parish Office/Library with offices for the clergy and space for social occasions, for example after funerals. Various Parish Societies would also be able to meet there.

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity: High

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

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