Convent of Mercy Chapel, Mercedes College Group, Perth

Author

City of Perth

Place Number

27316

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Location

86 Victoria Square Perth

Location Details

Lot 123 D 1641, Lot 124 D 1641, Lot 125 D 1641, Lot 7 D 20489, Lot 8 D 30321, Lot 123 D 30321, Lot 9 D 30321, Lot 2 D 10156, Lot 50 D 4598, Lot 126 D 1641, Lot 127 D 1641, Lot C14 P 223021, Lot C15 P 223021

Other Name(s)

Chapel of Immaculate Conception

Local Government

Perth

Region

Metropolitan

Construction Date

Constructed from 1924

Demolition Year

N/A

Statutory Heritage Listings

Type	Status	Date	Documents	More information
Heritage List	Adopted	20 Dec 1985

Heritage Council Decisions and Deliberations

Type	Status	Date	Documents
(no listings)

Other Heritage Listings and Surveys

Type	Status	Date	Grading/Management		More information
Type	Status	Date	Category	Description	More information
Municipal Inventory	Completed\Draft	28 May 2023
Municipal Inventory	Adopted
Local Heritage Survey	Completed\Draft	13 Mar 2001	Category 1	Category 1 Exceptional significance - Essential to the heritage of the locality. Rare or outstanding example.
Local Heritage Survey	Adopted	28 May 2023	Category 1	Category 1 Exceptional significance - Essential to the heritage of the locality. Rare or outstanding example.

Parent Place or Precinct

04327 Mercedes College Group, Perth

Statement of Significance

The place is of aesthetic and historic significance as one of the historic buildings related to the development of Mercedes Convent and Victoria Square by the Sisters of Mercy in particular and by the Roman Catholic Church
The place represents the focus of the Roman Catholic Church in Western Australia from the 1840s.
The place is of social significance to Sisters of Mary, students, past students, and members of the Roman Catholic Church in Western Australia.

Physical Description

Church characterised by brick massing punctuated with rendered details. Steeply pitched gable roofs, wheel window and tourelles. The alter at the east end of the Chapel is in a segmented apse. Internally the building has barrel vaulted ceilings and Italianate style frescos.

History

The Sisters of Mercy arrived in Perth from Ireland in 1846, led by Mother Ursula Frayne. After arriving in Perth, in 1846 the sisters became the first female religious teaching order to establish a school in Australia. Having navigated sectarism in Ireland, they decided to offer a general education to all Christians. The sisters prioritised Aboriginal people, immigrant Irish orphan girls, the poor and the uneducated. The sisters established a fee-paying school, benevolent institution and Western Australia’s first high school.
The ornate English Gothic style chapel designed by prominent church architect E le B Henderson. Purpose built initially as a chapel for the adjoining Convent of the Sisters of Mercy. The Sisters of Mercy used their own money to build the convent at Victoria Square in 1848 but it was not until 1924 that the chapel was constructed. The chapel has a high barrel-vaulted ceiling and stained glass windows, within Romanesque arches. The murals in the dome were painted in Italy, on canvas, by an Italian nun and purchased in Rome in the early 1930s by Mother Brigid McDonald. The Pipe Organ built by Roberts Ltd, Adelaide was installed in the Chapel in 1926.
Many elements in the chapel were created by local craftsmen. The stalls were designed and made of polished jarrah wood, and the bell was cast at the foundry of Frederick Metters in Subiaco. The sisters have since moved out of the convent, and the building is now the Mercy Heritage Centre. The chapel is now used as the school chapel for Mercedes College.

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity - High
Authenticity - High level of authenticity as it is largely intact

Condition

Good

Associations

Name	Type	Year From	Year To
E Le B Henderson	Architect	-	-

References

Ref ID No	Ref Name	Ref Source	Ref Date
3.76/86B	COP Heritage Places File	City of Perth
	Mercedes College: Victoria Square, Perth: Conservation Plan.	Parry and Rosenthal	March 1999

Place Type

Individual Building or Group

Uses

Epoch	General	Specific
Present Use	RELIGIOUS	Church, Cathedral or Chapel
Original Use	RELIGIOUS	Church, Cathedral or Chapel

Architectural Styles

Style
Inter-War Gothic

Construction Materials

Type	General	Specific
Roof	TILE	Terracotta Tile
Wall	BRICK	Face Brick

Historic Themes

General	Specific
PEOPLE	Early settlers
DEMOGRAPHIC SETTLEMENT & MOBILITY	Immigration, emigration & refugees
DEMOGRAPHIC SETTLEMENT & MOBILITY	Land allocation & subdivision
SOCIAL & CIVIC ACTIVITIES	Education & science

Creation Date

09 Sep 2024

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