St Columba's Church Group & St Joseph's Convent, South Perth

Parent Place or Precinct

02383 St Columba's Church Group & St Joseph's Convent, South Perth

Child Places

• 04821 Dennehy House (fmr)
• 02383 St Columba's Church Group & St Joseph's Convent, South Perth
• 24521 Saint Columba's Church
• 07474 St Columba's Catholic Primary School

Statement of Significance

The following statement is drawn from the Heritage Council of Western Australia Register entry for the inclusion of St Columba's Church Group & St Joseph's Convent, South Perth in the State Register of Heritage Places. St Columba’s Church Group & St Joseph’s Convent, South Perth, comprising St Columba’s Church (1937), Presbytery (1938), Church Centre (1986), St Columba’s Catholic Primary School (1908-2002), Dennehy House (1908), Mary MacKillop Centre (1927), Chapel (1939) and Chapel Unit (1939, 1974), the Cloisters, Convent (1957, 1974), Irene Villa (1959/60, 1982), MacKillop Court (1971), and Irene McCormack memorial rose garden (1992) has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons: • the place is an intact collection of buildings forming an historic Catholic group and, distinguished by the prominence of the site, is a regional landmark; • the place demonstrates the expansion of the Catholic Church in Western Australia during the time of Bishop Mathew Gibney (1887-1910), Archbishop Patrick Clune (1911-1935) and Archbishop Redmond Prendiville (1935-1968) and the role played by Irish Religious Orders in the establishment of Roman Catholicism in Australia in the nineteenth and twentieth century; • St Columba’s Church is a fine example of the Inter-War Romanesque style with Spanish Mission influences, exhibiting smooth rendered facades, elegant proportions, and fine interior detailing. Its design represents early attempts to build ecclesiastical structures that were appropriate to the climatic and cultural conditions of southern Western Australia; • St Columba’s Church features excellently crafted stained glass windows, with intense and deep colours designed specifically to exploit Western Australian sunlight, which contribute to the splendour of the interior space; • the St Joseph’s Convent buildings are an aesthetically pleasing complex dominated by Dennehy House, a well-resolved and fine example of the Federation Queen Anne style, Mary MacKillop Centre, an attractive two storey building featuring a distinctive two-storey timber verandah with paired timber columns, and the Chapel, which features an impressive interior and marble sanctuary; • the place is significant for its association with prominent Catholic Religious in Western Australia, including the Rev. Dr John Thomas McMahon, Archbishop Patrick Clune, Archbishop Redmond Prendiville, the Sisters of Mercy and the Sisters of St Joseph; • the place is associated with Richard John Dennehy, well-known Western Australian architect and prominent Catholic layman, who designed the first church-school on the site in 1908, and its extension in 1919, as well as his own 1908 York Street home, that was purchased by the Sisters of St Joseph for a convent in 1914; and, • the place is highly valued by the Catholic community as an important focus of their religious life. It also contributes to the sense of place of the wider community, due to its prominent location and distinctive aesthetic characteristics. Irene Villa (1959/60, 1982), MacKillop Court (1971), the Convent (1957, 1974), swimming pool, Link/Garden Room, and garage are of little significance.

Physical Description

St Columba’s Church Group & St Joseph’s Convent, South Perth comprises: St Columba’s Church Group: St Columba’s Church (1937), Presbytery (1938), Church Centre (1986), St Columba’s Catholic Primary School (1908, 1919, 1949,1985, 1990, 2002), and; St Joseph’s Convent: Dennehy House (1908), Mary MacKillop Centre (1927), Chapel (1939), Convent (1957, 1974), Irene Villa (1959/60, 1982), and MacKillop Court (1971). St Columba’s Church, Church Centre and the Primary School are located on the west side of Forrest Street, set in landscaped grounds on the rise of the hill bounded by Hopetoun Street, Alexandra Street, and York Street. St Joseph’s Convent comprises a complex of one and two-storey brick and tile buildings, including Dennehy House (1908), the Mary MacKillop Centre (1927), Chapel (1939), the Convent (1957, 1974), Irene Villa (1959-60, 1982), and MacKillop Court (1971), set amongst expansive scenic gardens the site is located on the northern side of York Street and is bound by Alexandra Street to the east and King Edward Street to the west, residential buildings are located to the north. The Saint Columba’s Church is a highly distinctive building built on elevated position in landscaped gardens. The church is of rendered brick construction with Marseille tile roof and is a good example of an inter-war building displaying elements of the Romanesque and Spanish Mission architectural styles. It comprises a free standing smooth rendered brick building with a medium pitched tiled gable roof. The church has an orthogonal planform with a projecting front entry porch on the north elevation with doorways to both the east and west elevation of the porch. The Presbytery located a short distance to the west of the church is a single storey rendered brick and terracotta building constructed in the inter-war Spanish Mission style with distinctive arched openings to most elevations. St Columba’s Catholic Primary School is located to the south of St Columba’s Church and comprises a complex of single-storey face-brick and iron buildings, and rendered brick and tile buildings set within modest-sized grounds. The earliest school building, which is the earliest building of St Columba’s Church Group, is the 1908 Parish Hall, located on York Street and comprises a single storey face-brick building with a steeply-pitched Colorbond roof and entry on the south elevation. St Joseph’s Convent comprises a complex of one and two-storey brick and tile buildings, including Dennehy House (1908), the Mary MacKillop Centre (1927), Chapel (1939), the Convent (1957, 1974), Irene Villa (1959-60, 1982), and MacKillop Court (1971), set amongst expansive scenic gardens. Dennehy House (1908) comprises a two-storey brick and tile building in the Federation Queen Anne style, featuring a picturesque asymmetrical form, warm face-brickwork contrasted against ornate timber detailing and Donnybrook stone, and accents on the roofline including a belvedere and tall masonry chimneys. Entry to Dennehy House is from York Street, via the large timber verandah on the south elevation. This verandah has paired timber columns supporting the first floor balcony, and features a decorative tiled floor and a timber lattice valance (not an original detail). The first floor balcony also has paired timber columns, as well as ornate timber floor joists and filigreed metal balustrades. Mary MacKillop Centre (1927) is located to the west of Dennehy House and connected to both the ground and first floor verandahs is the Mary MacKillop Centre, constructed in 1927 as the Convent boarding school. The Mary MacKillop Centre comprises a two-storey red face-brick and tile building with a spreading hipped roof and a distinctive two storey timber-framed verandah across its south (York Street) elevation. Another verandah extends along the rear (north) and side (east) elevations, although parts have been infilled. The verandahs typically have paired timber columns (except in front of the entry off York Street) supporting the first floor balcony and feature a timber lattice valance and timber balustrade, designed to match the materials and aesthetic of Dennehy House. The Chapel (1939) is located to the east of Dennehy House and comprises a single storey ecclesiastical building constructed of red face-brick with a steeply-pitched tiled roof, a projecting porch on the south elevation (added in 1970), a chapel unit to the northeast (altered and extended in 1972-74), buttresses along the east and west elevations and vertically-proportioned arched windows. Primary entry to the Chapel is from the west, directly into the nave via an enclosed brick cloister that connects directly to Dennehy House, or from the south, via the porch. The Convent (1957, 1974) is the main accommodation wing of the complex and comprises a two-storey face-brick and tile building located immediately north of the Mary MacKillop Centre. The ground floor comprises the main kitchen, dining room and laundry, while the first floor, also known as ‘Our Lady’s’, comprises six residential units. The Our Lady’s Wing with nine units is located at the northern end of the building. Irene Villa (1959-60, 1982), formerly known as St Joseph’s Nursing Home, comprises a single-storey brick and tile residential building, basically rectangular in plan, located north of Dennehy House. MacKillop Court (1971) comprises a one and two-storey brick and tile residential building located north of Irene Villa, and connected to St Joseph’s Convent by way of a multi-storey link known as the Garden Room (1995). MacKillop Court has eight units for retired/senior Sisters, and a flat and guest room at the eastern end.

History

The following information is largely drawn from the Heritage Council of Western Australia Assessment document prepared in April 2006 for the inclusion of St Columba's Church Group & St Joseph's Convent, South Perth in the State Register of Heritage Places. The growth of South Perth was slow until the 1880s, by which time communication with Perth was improved with the introduction of ferry services and construction of bridges across the Swan and Canning Rivers. The discovery of gold in Western Australia from 1885 led to an increase in population, with land facing Perth Water progressively sub-divided between 1886 and 1904. The gold discoveries also led to an influx of lay Catholics from the eastern states of Australia. This increase in the Catholic population prompted the Bishop to seek more members of Religious orders to serve them. The Catholic Church secured land in South Perth in the 1880s. Until then, a small band of priests and nuns served the very large Victoria Park parish and covered the area from South Perth to the present day Belmont. The Sisters of Mercy extended their mission into the South Perth area some time early in the century, with the work of Catholic education actually taking place in private homes. Around 1905, South Perth was given parish status and in 1908 a church and school was established in South Perth on portion of the Catholic Church landholding bound by King Edward, York, Forrest and Hopetoun Streets. Tenders were called in 1907 for the erection of a (Catholic) school, church and hall on the corner of York and Forrest Streets, South Perth. By 28 March 1908, a new school-church was completed on the York Street site, run by the Victoria Park-based Sisters of Mercy, with an initial enrolment of about 35 pupils. The establishment was then known as the St Columba Roman Catholic School. The modest red brick and tile building had been designed by architect, Richard Joseph Dennehy. Dennehy born in Ireland in 1854, migrated with his family to Australia in 1855. He trained as an architect in Melbourne and worked there and in Sydney before relocating to the Western Australian goldfields in the mid 1890s. The Dennehy family, consisting of Richard, his wife Marion nee O'Halloran, and six children, settled in Perth in 1898. Dennehy established a successful practice in Perth, and as a practicing Catholic he took up many projects for the Catholic community, including the Home of the Good Shepherd in West Leederville, (1898), and the Church of the Sacred Heart in Leederville (1905). Dennehy had a productive year in 1908 designing several prominent projects in Perth; Moana Chambers in Hay Street and the Connor Quinlan Building on Barrack Street. Given his ongoing success it is not surprising Dennehy decided to build a large home for his family on the elevated site adjacent to the school and church he designed for the Catholic Church. Sadly Marion Dennehy (c1855-1903) had died in 1903 and Dennehy lived at this new home, with his youngest daughters from 1909. The builder of the residence has not been determined in this research. Dennehy named his home 'Joyous Gard', which in British mythology was the name of the home of Lancelot, one of the knights of King Arthur. In 1910, it was published that Dennehy ‘makes a hobby of gardening and finds health and recreation in the cultivation of choice blooms in his garden plots at South Perth where he resides with his three daughters’. In 1914, Dennehy sold his residence for £3,000 to the Sisters of Saint Joseph who took over the St Columba Roman Catholic School from 1915. In a letter from Dennehy to the Sisters in June 1914 he provided a lengthy description of the grounds, buildings, fittings and fixtures. In summary, he believed his asking price was a bargain at the price agreed, as ‘the house alone would cost more that that amount to built, to say nothing of the grounds and improvements’. The home was used as a convent for the sisters who had previously lived in Victoria Park, and a secondary boarding school, advertised by the Josephite Sisters as ‘Mount St Joseph’s’ (or as Mount St Joseph Roman Catholic School), ‘in one of the most attractive and healthy suburbs of Perth’ with ‘a delightful view of the Swan River’. At the start of the 1915 school year, there were three boarders enrolled (one from Boulder and two from New Norcia) and by April, there were twelve borders at Mount St Joseph’s. By the end of 1915, there were 88 children, including the boarders, enrolled at Mount St Joseph’s. The course of study at Mount St Joseph’s included ‘all the branches of a thorough English Education’, as well as modern languages, mathematics, elocution, physical culture, drawing, painting, music and needlework. Special facilities were also available for students who wanted to pursue courses in stenography, typewriting and book-keeping. Pupils were also prepared for ‘University, Commercial and Music Examinations’. In addition, for ‘delightful situation, beautiful scenery and healthy climate’, Mount St Joseph’s ‘[stood] unrivalled’. In 1917, Father Raphael Pace became the first parish priest of the official South Perth parish. In 1919, Fr Pace engaged Richard Dennehy to organize the building of two new class room wings, so as to leave the existing school-church hall as a Kindergarten during the week and a Mass centre on Sundays. Father Pace remained at South Perth until 1926, when he moved on to serve other parishes in the State. He was succeeded at South Perth by Dean D.A. Brennan, an Irish-born priest ordained in 1899, who remained at South Perth until 1932, when he was transferred to Victoria Park and later West Perth. Dean Brennan remained living in the South Perth Presbytery for some months after his transfer to Victoria Park, obliging the incoming parish priest, Reverend Doctor John Thomas McMahon, to reside at the Hurlingham Hotel, nearby on Canning Highway. John T. McMahon was born in Ennis, Ireland, in 1893 and was ordained a priest at All Hallows College in Dublin in 1919. Fr McMahon had arrived in Perth from Europe on 17 February 1921, the following year, Archbishop Clune appointed Fr McMahon as his Diocesan Inspector of Catholic Schools. In 1925, McMahon established the Newman Society at the University of Western Australia in order to facilitate the ongoing religious development of Catholic Graduates and Undergraduates. In addition to these activities, Fr McMahon was appointed editor of the Catholic weekly newspaper, the Record, from 1928 to 1932. In 1927, a large two storey extension was constructed in similar materials to the original Dennehy house immediately to the west of the Convent of the Sisters of St Joseph, to house boarding students of the Mount St Joseph Convent School. The work on the extension, built at a cost of £6,719, was carried out by Berry Brothers, builders, to a design by Richard Dennehy. Also in 1926, the Sisters of Joseph acquired Lots 72 and 73, King Edward Street, South Perth, blocks adjoining the Convent property. On Sunday 24 April 1932, Archbishop Clune inducted the Fr McMahon as Parish Priest of South Perth. At that time, the Archbishop urged the parishioners to co-operate with their new priest to build a church on their ‘unrivalled site’. This land on Forrest Street faced the (Victoria Avenue) Cathedral across the river and, being 70 feet higher than the land on which the Cathedral was situated, commanded one of the most prominent positions in Perth. The site demanded then, according to Clune, ‘a church worthy of such a view’. On the same day, members of the St Columba’s Church committee met, and were unanimous in their decision to make the construction of a church the objective of all efforts in the Parish. Through vigorous fundraising activity in the district, the Parish was able to collect £12,000 by the end of 1937. The design of the church was influenced by a visit McMahon had taken in the later 1920s, to a priest-friend in Hollywood, where he had been impressed by the ‘Mission Style’ architecture that was very fashionable in the warmer parts of California. It was the type of building favoured by Father Junipero Serra for the 21 missions he had established along the Californian coast in the second half of the eighteenth century. As well as being influenced by the ‘Mission Style’, Los Angeles architect Thomas F. Power, commissioned to draw up the plans for the Hollywood Church, chose a largely Italian-Byzantine style, modelling the building and its decorations after St. Sophia Basilica in Istanbul and St. Mark Cathedral in Venice. Supplied with photographs and blueprints of the Hollywood Church of Christ the King, Dr McMahon returned to Western Australia, eager to have the South Perth church built in a similar style. Some time later, Perth architect E. Le B. Henderson modified the plans to suit the local situation, resulting in a style that Dr McMahon described as ‘an adaptation of the Mission treatment of Byzanto-Romanesque'. In April 1936, Archbishop of Perth, Redmond Prendiville, and two members of the Committee on Sites and Buildings, selected the exact site for St Columba’s Church in South Perth, on the highest point of land in the area. It was noted in 'The Record' that the site was chosen so that ‘no future developments in parochial building [would] ever break the unbroken line of the Church from across the water’. In September 1936, tenders were called for the construction of St Columba’s Church. At the same time, parishioners began a series of ‘busy-bees’ to clear the site in preparation for construction. Later, in September 1936, the contract for construction of St Columba’s Church was let to William Fairweather and Son, whose tender of £6,686 was the lowest of the eight received. The Church was to provide comfortable seating on seasoned jarrah pews for 450 people, while the mezzanine organ gallery was to hold an extra 200 people. In early October 1936, the first bricks were laid for the walls of the South Perth Church, and it was planned that the new building would be opened in April of the following year. The foundation stone for the new Church was laid by Archbishop Prendiville on Sunday 13 December 1936, which was also the 43rd birthday of Dr McMahon. On 11 April 1937, St Columba’s Church was officially opened by the Archbishop. The details of the church design and its finishes and fittings were widely covered in the local press and although there were many fine details the stained glass of the Rose Window above the choir loft was noted for its quality of design and manufacture. This window was made in Dublin, Ireland, by the firm of Harry Clarke Ltd. The Rose Window consisted of three large circles, shaped in a shamrock formation, with an image of St Patrick in the crowning leaf, and St Brigid and St Columba in the supporting leaves. Not long after the opening of St Columba’s Church in early 1937, plans for a new Presbytery on the Forrest Street site were drawn up. In December 1938, the new quarters, designed and built by Horace Costello to be low maintenance, were completed. The Presbytery was built in the ‘Spanish Villa style’ to complement the ‘Spanish Mission church’. In 1938, following the construction of St Columba’s Church and Presbytery, it was considered appropriate that both the primary school and the secondary school operate under the same name, Mount St Joseph’s was subsequently renamed St Columba’s. In 1939, a two story building to house the chapel for the Sisters of St Joseph was built to the east of the original Dennehy house by A.T. Brine and Sons, builders. The plans were developed by architects Hennessy and Hennessy. The major work on the Chapel was completed for a cost of around £6,554. Other building work carried out at this time included additions to the kitchen and laundry, and a new bathroom and lavatory. In 1940, a new brick fence was built along the York Street boundary by A.T Brine at a cost of £374. At the outbreak of the Second World War, Dr McMahon buried the stained glass windows in crates in the grounds of the Church, in order to protect these unique works from possible enemy bombing raids on Perth. When the crates were dug up at the end of the War, it was discovered that some of the bronze wire in the windows was damaged, and that the piece of glass containing the name of St Brigid was broken. This was replaced by a piece of blue glass, noticeably different from the original. When the window was returned to its position St Columba was placed at the top. The secondary school stopped taking boarders in 1947. The school on the convent site ceased in 1949. Although with the growth of the South Perth Parish in the post-War period, it became necessary to build a substantial new school building immediately to the north west of the original school. In January 1948, the foundations for the new school (designed by architects, Henderson and Thompson), comprising three class rooms 26’ x 24’, a rest room for the Sisters, and a cloakroom with a verandah 10’ wide. Construction was by Berry Brothers, at a cost of £4,142. In February 1949, the new brick and tiled building was blessed and opened by Archbishop Prendiville. In 1950, four stained glass windows were installed in the Sanctuary of the Church, to replace the existing windows of the coloured leadlight glass. These new windows were the work of Dublin craftsman and artist, Richard King, who trained in stained glass work in the studio of Harry Clarke. Later, in 1969, skylights were installed above the altar, doing away with the necessity of extra lighting in the daytime. In 1950, new frames and windows were installed in the Chapel of the Sisters of St Joseph by W.F. Broderick. The following year, a verandah at the Convent was enclosed for a ‘sleep-out’ by A. and L. Power, while, in 1957, a new single storey wing, including a kitchen and lunch room, was built at the back of the existing boarding wing. From 1950 to 1955, three new parishes were split off from the original South Perth Parish: Kensington in 1950, Manning in 1953, and Como in 1955. These developments reduced considerably the size of the congregation of St Columba’s Church. In 1959-1960, an ‘infirmary’ (a 13-bed ‘C’ Class hospital - St Joseph’s Nursing Home) was built for the Sisters of St Joseph by J. Bianchini, behind the Chapel and the original Dennehy House. Works were carried out to the Chapel, Laundry and Community Room at this time. In the period following the annual meetings in the Vatican of the Council Fathers from 1962 to 1965, “Vatican II”, for the purpose of aggiornmento (updating, modernizing or renewing), major liturgical and doctrinal changes were introduced throughout the Roman Catholic world. These changes had implications for the physical layout of churches, and affected both St Columba’s Church and the St Joseph’s Convent Chapel, as they did all other Catholic institutions. In the renovation of church interiors which followed from this changed perspective, the primary focus was to be on the altar, on the ambo or lectern, on the chair of the presiding priest, then on the baptismal font and the tabernacle. Around 1964-65, the original dining room of the 1908 Convent building was extended to the west, greatly increasing the available space. On Sunday 27 June 1965, the 11am Mass at St Columba’s Church was broadcast by A.B.C. Television, with the celebrant facing the congregation for the first time. In the same year, a new Hammond organ was installed by Musgroves at a cost of £1,250. Also in 1965, a bell was blessed and installed in the tower of St Columba’s Church. The bell had been cast by the Mathew O’Byrne Bell Foundry of Dublin. In 1967, a row of 35 year old pine trees on Forrest Street was removed by the Church, as they were liable to fall over or break because of their poor health. On 6 March 1968, a lightning storm struck the tower of St Columba’s Church, It made a large hole in the dome of the tower which broke off fittings from the bell, and tore about 200 tiles from the roof. Between 1970 and 1972, the Sisters of St Joseph built an aged person’s home. This building, named MacKillop Court, was situated behind the Nursing Home. In 1973-74, chaplain’s quarters adjoining the Chapel were built by Bianchini to a design by Henderson and Thompson, architects. The same builder and architect were also responsible for the construction of a second storey on the 1957 Our Lady’s Wing. In 1975, a swimming pool was built to the rear of the Convent land. In 1979, Rev Dr J.T. McMahon retired as the Parish Priest of St Columba’s Church, after forty-seven years of service to the Catholic community of South Perth. His successor was Irish-born Father Michael Casey, who had also received his clerical training at All Hallows College in Dublin. In 1977, E. G. Gowers and A. S. Brown restored the Rose Window which was buckled and deteriorated and in 1993, 1999-2001 work was again undertaken on the Rose Window. In 1978-79, extensions and additions to the Sisters of St Joseph Nursing Home were carried out by Bianchini for around $60,760. In 1985, a new wing was added to the school, containing a library and an extra classroom. At this time, the principal of the school passed to a lay head, ending seventy years of involvement in Catholic education in the South Perth Parish by the Order of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart. In 1986, a large new Church Centre was constructed on the St Columba’s Church site. This building was opened and blessed on Sunday 14 December 1986, the 50th Anniversary of the laying of the Foundation Stone for St Columba’s Church. The Church Centre was designed by A.J. O’Hara, Architect, and constructed by builder K.R. Stewart. In 1992, a Memorial was established in the Convent grounds to Irene McCormack, a Josephite Sister killed by anti-government rebels in Peru on 21 May 1991 while serving the local Peruvian community. In 1994-95, renovations were carried out to the original 1908 Convent building including tuckpointing and replacement of worn timber. In 2018, St Columba’s Church Group & St Joseph’s Convent, South Perth continues in its original purpose. St Columba’s Church is the main place of worship for the Catholic community of South Perth, with the Presbytery providing accommodation for parish clergy and the Parish Office used for administration and for meetings. St Columba’s Catholic Primary School provides a primary education. The original 1908 school building is now the parish hall. St Joseph’s Convent providing living and administrative space for the Order.

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Good

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