The Chapel of the Guardian Angel

Statement of Significance

The Chapel of the Guardian Angel, a small red brick church with a steeply pitched clay tile roof and a small steeple, designed in the Inter-War Old English style and located on the site of the cottage-based Aboriginal childcare facility formerly known as the Sister Kate’s Children’s Home has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons: constructed in 1937, it was the Christian focus of Sister’s Kate’s Children's Home, founded for Aboriginal children in 1934 by Sister Katherine Mary Clutterbuck, (Sister Kate) and Miss Phoebe Ruth Lefroy. As such it was associated with the role of the Anglican sisters and with Aboriginal childcare services in Western Australia since that time; it is a highly intact, finely detailed and executed building in the Inter- War Old English style, designed by Marshall Clifton and George Herbert Parry, of the architectural firm Parry & Clifton; Sister Kate’s Children’s Home (fmr) with its driveway flanked by mature pines, areas featuring mature palms, the oak tree planted by Sister Kate and other mature introduced and indigenous trees, comprises a visually pleasing cultural environment. it is located on the site of the former Sister Kate’s Children’s Home and as such is valued by the general community for provision of childcare services, and by Aboriginal communities in particular as a home for Aboriginal children, including some children removed from their families under previous government policies; and, it is valued by a number of former residents of Sister Kate’s Children’s Home who continue to visit and care for the place.

Physical Description

The site of the Chapel is bounded by Treasure Road to the south, Hamilton Street to the north and Cross Street to the east, in Queens Park. Access to the property is via long driveways from either Cross Street or Treasure Road. The chapel is well setback from the street on an area of grass and surrounded by scattered trees. It is largely concealed by single storey blond brick and Colorbond units, which were constructed in 2010. The Chapel was constructed in 1937 in the Inter-War Old English style. It is a single storey face brick building, with a steeply pitched clay tile roof and a small steeple. There are terracotta vents. On the western end of the building there are a series of projecting bricks in the shape of a cross above a stone panel inscribed with the words, 'To the Glory of God May 10th 1937’. Windows are steel-framed and clear glazed with gothic arched heads.

History

Sister Kate's Childrens Home was established by Katherine Mary Clutterbuck (Sister Kate) in Queens Park in 1934. The home provided cottage style accommodation for children of part Aboriginal descent. Sister Kate was born in Wiltshire, England in 1860 and joined the Kilburn Sisters (Church of England sisterhood) who ran an orphanage in London in 1883. In 1901 she came to Australia with four other sisters and twenty-two orphans and in 1903 founded the Parkerville Childrens Home. Sister Kate's home in Queens Park was founded after Sister Kate retired from Parkerville at the age of seventy-two. In 1934 Sister Kate was awarded the OBE in recognition of her work with children. Sister Kate died in 1946. In June 1934, Sister Kate and Ruth Lefroy, with ten school-aged children, moved the home to a site on Railway Street (now Treasure Road), Queen’s Park where they had built, with the help of private supporters and fundraising, a six-roomed cottage named ‘Myola.’ In 1935, a kitchen and a second cottage, 'Friendly Cottage' were built on the site to accommodate smaller children. In 1937, fund-raising resulted in some landscaping around the chapel and the building of an internal road. The Chapel of the Guardian Angel was apparently a personal gift to Sister Kate from Jack Crossland who also donated the land to her. The chapel was also designed by architects Parry and Clifton.

Integrity/Authenticity

High

Condition

Good: well maintained

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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