Loreto Primary School & Convent Group, Nedlands

Physical Description

The Loreto Convent School Building is a substantial two-storey symmetrical brick and tile Inter-War Gothic building with masonry quoining detail; steeply pitched roofs with stepped gables; deep verandahs on the front elevation with masonry arched openings on the east elevation; and a restored two-storey verandah on the north elevation.
The main Convent building was constructed in two stages in 1930 and 1940. The first stage comprises the northern (right) wing and north facing verandah with the second stage comprising the southern (left) wing, central connection and additional southern extension constructed in 1940.
The building is constructed of cavity brickwork with decorative concrete oriel windows. To the rear of the building the original back verandah has been extended and incorporated into the connection with the adjoining Loreto Performing Arts Centre (2011).

History

The Loreto Order first arrived in WA in 1897. Established in Adelaide Terrace, Perth (1897) and then in Osborne, Claremont (1901), the Nedlands School was not established until 1931. The Convent was built on bush land purchased for nearly 3 000 pounds in 1928. For two years the land was left uncleared. (Almost simultaneously the Catholic people of Nedlands and Dalkeith received their own parish, separating from Subiaco).

A Foundation Stone for the Convent and school was blessed and laid by Archbishop Clune in 1930. Designed by architects Henderson & Gamble, the building programme was to be completed in two stages. The first stage was completed for the beginning of the school year in 1931. It was opened with a blessing from the Archbishop in March 1931. The convent community included six nuns led by Mother Superior Mercedes, and during the first term nine pupils were enrolled. Mass was celebrated in a small chapel on the second floor of the two-storey building. With surplus funds spent on building the convent, furniture became a luxury that the order could not afford. Packing cases doubled as shelving until furniture could be purchased. Funds for this was aided by bridge parties run by the Loreto Ladies Society.

Financial difficulties were not limited to the Loreto Convent. Western Australia in 1931 was still in the middle of the Great Depression. The Nedlands Catholic community were stretched to provide funds for the building of the Holy Rosary Church. However, finances improved for the Loreto Convent with an increase in students to 28 in 1932. History of the Loreto Convent and School, which was primarily a girl's school (but took boys up until their First Holy Communion) has coincided with the development of St Teresa’s Parish School. St Theresa’s was established by Father Moss who believed Loreto was a private school and did not fill the requirements of a Parish School which would be directly under his control. Interestingly, Father Moss expected the Loreto Nuns to staff the school and did not seem at all bothered by the situation of having two Catholic schools situated so close together.

Both schools struggled to exist as the number of school age children in the Parish of Nedlands did not increase sufficiently to maintain viability, particularly at Loreto. The lower tuition fee at St Theresa’s and the fact that the children were learning the same curriculum as at Loreto and were taught by the Loreto Nuns was a strong lever in drawing pupils to the parish primary school, rather than to Loreto.

Student numbers to Loreto enjoyed a boost by the Adelaide Terrace girls who joined Nedlands after the closure of the Perth School in 1938. In 1939 the second stage of the Loreto Convent was constructed at a cost of 8 375 pounds. The extension included the chapel, new kitchen and dining room. The building was carried out by W Ralph and Sons (also involved at St Paul’s, the Nedlands Road Board offices and the Windsor Theatre) and made ready for the new school year in 1940. Archbishop Prendiville officially blessed and opened the additions, 2 February 1940.

Loreto Nedlands (K-12) pupil numbers increased from 1938 until they peaked at 212 in 1953. From then they stayed steady except for a shortfall in the late 1960s. Owing to difficulties in numbers for Year 11 and 12 during the 1960s students were transferred after Year 10 to Loreto Osborne to complete their Leaving. The 1960s also saw changes in the Convent, the Rule of Enclosure that the Loreto Order had lived under for many years was released. Visits to their families, eating in public and attendance at marriages and funerals were permitted, changing the lifestyle of the Nuns dramatically.

In 1970 declining numbers (owing to an ageing population in Nedlands and Dalkeith) at both St Theresa’s Parish School and Loreto Nedlands sent alarm bells to the Order and Church. Rationalisation led to the closure of Loreto’s senior school and St Theresa’s, leaving Loreto Nedlands the only Catholic Primary School in the district. Over the next few years Loreto Nedlands also had to provide a convincing rationale for continuing as a primary school. The decision to allow for co-education through until Year 7 increased the population markedly. In a 1974 review it was reported that expectations for the school had increased and the threat of closure had passed.

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity- High
Authenticity- Moderate

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

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