St Mary's Roman Catholic Church, 33 Howard Street, West Melbourne
Butler, Graeme11/01/1985
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St Mary's Roman Catholic Church, 33 Howard Street, West Melbourne
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11/01/1985
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BIF-NORTH 105013 517080 517081
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GRAEME BUTLER 1983, CONSERVATION STUDY FOR THE CITY OF MELBOURNE OF NORTH AND WEST MELBOURNEGrading as at 1985 : BPeriod : late Victorian-era 1891-5Grantee/Reserve : Catholic Church Reserve Section 1, Roman Catholic Church 1875History- During the priesthood of the Very Rev. Henry England, St. Mary's became a separate parish in 1872, [St Mary's Star of the Sea Centenary, unpublished manuscript, file no 3460, National Trust] when it was already becoming obvious that the old accommodation was inadequate. There was no presbytery and a small existing structure on the west of the reserve, had served as both school and a place of worship since 1854. The new presbytery was built by 1873 and ten years later a church to the design of Tappin, Gilbert and Denehy, was begun, the foundation stone being laid by Archbishop Goold. [St Mary's Star of the Sea Centenary op cit]Unfortunately the construction came to a halt in 1884 when funds ran out. Dean England died in 1888 and his successor, the Rev. Patrick Aylward could see that the existing plans did not cater for the rapidly increasing Catholic population of North Melbourne. [Some of the Fruits of fifty years: annals of the Catholic Church, Victoria, 1897] In 1891 the church was redesigned and recommenced from the design of architect Edgar J. Henderson and the supervision of Phillip Kennedy. By 1900, the present church, Melbourne's largest parish church, was completed, including the installation of the organ and opened on 18th February, 1900 by Cardinal Moran. [St Mary's Star of the Sea Centenary op cit] [Australian Builder 8 August 1891, p 110]The blackwood cased organ is the oldest surviving of the pipe organs built by George Fincham of Richmond. [Documentation of the pipe organ by John Stiller National Trust File 3460]Description- Described as French Gothic, the church has not yet reached completion, the proposed 61 metre spire and bell tower having not been placed on the asymmetrically placed corner tower. Barrabool Hills sandstone is the major wall material with contrasting New Zealand Oamaru limestone dressing, the roof is slated whilst red Aberdeen polished granite is used in door and window surrounds. Internally, Swedish granite pillars on marble bases with Malmsbury basalt as the plinths, are used, in parallel with the all marble trancept piers and the Pyrenean rose marbles of the side chapels. Timber (Kauri) groined arches, springing from hammer beam trusses in the ceiling obtain significance as uncommon replication of Gothic stone vaulting (Refer to lesser timber groining at the former Methodist Church, Hesse Street, Queenscliff), whilst the floor is of blackwood, as were the original seats. ["The Austral Light" February 1900] Numerous traceried coloured and Muranese glass windows light the clerestory and nave ends. Traditionally, cruciform planned, with nave and aisles, the other unrealised aspects of the design include the absence of pinnacles at the corner buttresses. Integrity - Generally original, except for the perimeter fence and proposed church grounds, the fence was of a gently scalloped profile, spade (or similar) head, timber picket, and the grounds envisaged included partieres set in gravel or asphalted grounds, now purely the latter. However these are of minor importance compared to the scale of the church.Significance- Comparable with St. Lukes, North Fitzroy (1879-81) ; Scots Church, Melbourne (1873-4); St. Ignatius, Richmond; Uniting Church, Williamstown; St. Mary's and St. Georges, Geelong; this uncompleted church must be considered of lesser significance given the massive base created for the spire and the consequent compositional imbalance now existing. However, the richness and extent of the interior, with its timber vaulting and multitudinous stone types and being completed, provide the major importance of this church; of regional significance externally and State wide importance internally. Historically, the relative size of the church represents the high percentage of Irish in the area.Integrity - Generally original, except for the perimeter fence and proposed church grounds: the fence was of a gently scalloped profile, spade (or similar) head, timber picket, and the grounds envisaged included partieres set in gravel or asphalted grounds, now purely the latter. However these are of minor importance compared to the scale of the church.Recommendations - Rebuild picket fence as desired.___________________________RESEARCH ADDED BY GRAEME BUTLER 2025__________________________________________________GRAEME BUTLER 1983, CONSERVATION STUDY FOR THE CITY OF MELBOURNE OF NORTH AND WEST MELBOURNEBUILDING IDENTIFICATION FORM 1985___________________________NEWSPAPERS (TROVE)1891The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957)Monday 25 May 1891 - Page 7https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/8656817A ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH FOR WEST MELBOURNE.Yesterday, after the 11 o'clock mass at St Mary's Church, West Melbourne, an enthusiastic meeting was held for the purpose of providing a much needed Catholic church in that parish Hitherto the church services have been held in a building in every way unsuitable and inadequate to the requirements of the congregation in that quarter of the city, and the determination to devote it to the purpose of a boy a school necessitated the erection of a church exclusively for divine worship Accordingly plans have been prepared by the direction of the Rev. P. J. Aylward, with the sanction of the Archbishop of Melbourne, by Mr Henderson, and at the public meeting held yesterday morning the Archbishop presiding, the sum of £5,825 was subscribed, the subscriptions being for the most part by instalments covering five years. The Mayor of North Melbourne, Mr Fogarty, and Messrs Fitzgerald, of Errol street, subscribed each £500 P Aylward, £1,000 , Messrs Maddock and Ryan, £200 each ; Messrs. Pilkington, Carroll, and several others, £100 each and labouring men in the parish, including specially Mr Kelly, contributed handsome donations 'The Rev P J Aylward promised £500, of which he contributes £100 yearly 'The Archbishop, upon whom so many calls are made, gave £100, and in the course of an eloquent address remarked upon the sterling practical faith and devotion of the Catholics of his diocese Let anyone say or write what he might, the Catholics, most of whom were descendants of those who came from the Isle of Fruit, and many of whom coming directly from the old country he saw around him, would strive and sacrifice everything for the maintenance and spread of the lessons of Christian truth and virtue in this country in the Catholic Church the people would be taught the love of God, of man, of order, truth, honesty. industry, and integrity, and would be instructed to prove themselves good citizens and the best promoters of the commonwealth They would take their part with a fair field and no favour with any members of the community in intelligence and ability in the conduct of public affairs or in any department of social or political life, and as to the foundations of belief they were those laid not by man's hand, but by a divine power and needed no widening 'to strive to widen them was to aim at the overthrow of the superstructure, and with what success the history of the numerous sects showed After some further remarks the meeting closed, and the archbishop, with the committee, were entertained by rather Aylward.1895Leader (Melbourne, Vic. : 1862 - 1918, 1935)Saturday 2 February 1895 - Page 8, illust.https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/197430941ST. MARVS CHURCH (B.C)., WEST MELBOURNE.St Mary's Roman Catholic Church, West Melbourne, situated in Victoria-street, near its j intersection by William-street, is being replaced by a new building now in course of erection, our illustration snows the edifice as it will appear on completion. It is designed in the early French Gothic style of architecture, and is built of brick with Barrabool Hill atone walling and New Zealand stone dressings. The plan is in the form of a Latin cross, measuring 178 feet by 95 feet at the extreme inside points, with a height of 59 feet from floor to ceiling. The nave walls are arcaded and carried upon six circular dark Swedish granite columns with marble bases, Etc. Provision is also made for a baptistery, organ gallery and confessionals in the main portion of the building, and included in the general construction. The tower, which is placed in the north-east corner of the building, will be 92 feet in height, and will be surmounted with a white stone spire 70 feet high, thus giving a total height of 162 feet from ground level. The rear portion of the building is designed for the sanctuary and side chapels with octagonal ends, and two additional chapels at either end of the transept. Ample accommodation is provided for the sacristies, and a large meeting room for the societies connected with the church, and a library i provided in the crypts. Red and white marble is to be very freely used in the embellishment of the sanctuary and side chapels, clerestory, Etc.Internally the church will be finished off with Keene's cement to walls. The ceilings throughout will be trefoil in shape, with groined lunettes opposite the clerestory windows, and will be constructed in colonial timbers, wrought and polished. The floors are to be in Kauri pine, with ornamental parquetting to the porches and nave and aisle passage- ways. The seating space is calculated to accommodate about 1500 persons. The cost of building the foundations, which was a separate con tract, was £4500. The total amount of the present contract, which includes the stone and brick superstructure only, is £13,047. It is estimated that for the third contract, or completion of the structure, an additional sum of £8000 will be required" The total cost therefore will be a little under £30,000. The whole of the works have been designed, and are being carried out under the supervision of Mr. Edgar J. Henderson, architect, of 34 Queen-street, Melbourne. The contractor for the first and second contracts is Mr. C. W. Crompton, and the clerk of works, Mr. H. F. Brophy. The Rev. Father Aylword is parish priest.___________________________Victorian Heritage Register Statement of Significance(known as 33 Howard Street and 235-273 Victoria Street, West Melbourne)Victorian Heritage Register number: H2182What is significant?St Mary Star of the Sea was built in 1891-1900 to replace an earlier church built in 1854. North and West Melbourne became a parish in 1872 and in 1872-3 a presbytery designed by William Wardell was built for the first resident priest. In 1881 it was condemned due to faulty foundations and the architects Reed and Barnes carried out extensive renovations, with the addition of prominent curved buttresses and a verandah and balcony. The foundations of a new church were laid in 1883-6, but by 1889 there were concerns that the new church would be too small and it was resolved to begin again. The new building was designed by the architect Edgar Henderson and the contract was awarded in September 1891 to C W Crompton. The 1890s depression and lack of funds slowed work considerably and in 1896, with the walls still incomplete, Henderson left Victoria for Western Australia. He was replaced by the architect Phillip Kennedy who made a number of alterations to Henderson's design, and is credited with the final design of the roof and the interior. In 1897 the spire was eliminated from the design due to financial problems. In 1898 the specifications were accepted for a new pipe organ, a huge electric-powered three manual instrument by Fincham and Hobday. Windows were commissioned from the leading manufacturers in England, Germany and Australia. The church was officially opened on 18 February 1900 by Cardinal-Archbishop Moran of Sydney. The fixtures and fittings were supplied by some of the most highly-regarded artists and furnishers in Melbourne and beyond. With the completion of the new church the old one was used as a school. A new boys' school designed by the architects Kempson and Conolly was built on Howard Street in 1910, and three years later the old church was demolished and a girls' school designed by the same architects was completed in 1914 on the Chetwynd Street corner. The old denominational school south of the old church was converted into clubrooms (now demolished and replaced by a new school building). Further decoration of the interior took place in the Interwar period and in the 1920s the original timber altars were replaced by altars of Italian marble. The building and interiors underwent major restoration works in the early twenty-first century.The St Mary Star of the Sea complex includes the church, the presbytery, and the boys' and girls' schools. The church is a Latin Cross plan French Gothic style building of brick faced with random coursed sandstone on a bluestone plinth, with limestone dressings, a slate roof and an incomplete tower on the north-east corner. The slate roof is embellished with a series of dormer vents, fabricated from sheet zinc. At the centre of the roof is a polygonal fleche of pressed zinc on timber framing, with louvred vents on the sides and surmounted by a tapering conical spire. The colonettes flanking the window and door openings are of polished red Aberdeen granite. The total length of the building is 175 ft. (54 m) and the height of the roof ridge is 75 ft. 23m). The interiors are opulently decorated, with a strong Italian Baroque influence. The nave is painted pink and there is extensive use of high-quality building stone such as Swedish red granite in the nave columns, Carrara white marble for the transept piers and Pyrenean rose marble for the chapel columns. This is further enhanced by the reflective finishes of the mosaic-tiled sanctuary floor, the brass altar rails, the scagliola (imitation marble) of the colonettes and the polished timber, especially in the distinctive two-toned groined ceiling. The ceiling is lined with timber panelling, and painted statues of angels blowing trumpets stand on the hammerbeams. The church retains much original furniture and fittings, including its pews (1900), elaborate marble altars (1925-7) and font (1900), a fine set of Stations of the Cross by Peter Hansen (1901), a Mission Cross by James Curtin (1891), a Bishop's throne made for Daniel Mannix in 1913, and several notable stained glass windows made by prominent local and overseas craftsmen.The Fincham organ in the gallery is a large three manual organ with richly gilded and decorated pipes arranged on either side of a large stained glass window, possibly by Brooks Robinson and Co, and with a fine blackwood console. The presbytery is a symmetrical two storey rendered building with a slate roof, and a two storey cast iron verandah with unusual round-arched flying buttresses supporting the walls. The boys' school is a two storey symmetrical rendered Free Classical style building with a slate roof and with twin gabled parapets on the front elevation. The front facade of the girls' school has a very similar composition, but is of face brick with rendered dressings and has Gothic arched openings.How is it significant?St Mary Star of the Sea is of architectural, historical, aesthetic, technological and social significance to the state of Victoria.Why is it significant?St Mary Star of the Sea is historically significant as Melbourne's largest parish church and as one of the most costly parish churches built in Australia, a reflection of the spirit of the substantial Catholic population, predominantly of Irish extraction, of the area in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century that helped fund its construction.St Mary Star of the Sea is architecturally significant as unusual example of a church in the French Gothic style, and as a major example of the work of the distinguished architects Edgar Henderson, a Catholic architect who later achieved considerable success and renown as a designer of Catholic churches, schools and convents in Western Australia, and Phillip Kennedy. The complex includes an interesting presbytery designed by William Wardell and altered by Reed and Barnes and two early twentieth century school buildings by Kempson and Connolly.St Mary Star of the sea is of aesthetic significance for its opulent interior, with imposing marble and granite pillars, an unusual timber ceiling, thought to be unique in Victoria, intricate marble fittings, especially the marble altars and font, Stations of the Cross by Peter Hansen and an oak mission cross by James Curtin. The magnificent stained glass windows are by prominent local and European makers, such as William Montgomery, Hardman and Company of London and Franz Mayer and Company of Germany.The Fincham pipe organ is historically and technologically significant as the largest example of nineteenth century indigenous organ building in Australia to remain essentially unaltered. It is the most intact surviving example of the work of the prominent organ builder George Fincham and was the last organ completed by Fincham himself. It one of a very small number of surviving three-manual Fincham organs, and is believed to be the second largest organ, after that in the Sydney Town Hall, to retain a tubular-pneumatic key and action stop.St Mary Star of the Sea is socially significant for its important role in the lives of the Roman Catholic community of Melbourne.- See More At: http://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/1276#sthash.WmjoOYng.dpuf
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| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 105013 517080 517081 | 1 PDF : 3056 KB ; A4 | Single Item (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |