St Joseph's Catholic Church

Statement of Significance

St Joseph's Catholic Church has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons:
• The place is valued by Catholic Community in Capel for its association with cultural and spiritual events since 1913;
• The place is a valued by the Capel community for its simple Federation Carpenter Gothic architectural style;
• The site and church demonstrate a close association with William & Catherine Wittfoht, the Mickey family, and Kathleen Elizabeth Hardey; and
• The place is a significant element in Capel, marking the edge of urban development of the old town, and maintaining a rural ambience

AESTHETIC VALUE:
• The place is valued by the Capel community for the aesthetic of its simple Federation Carpenter Gothic architectural style.
• The place is a significant element in Capel, marking the edge of urban development of the old town, and maintaining a rural ambience.
HISTORIC VALUE
• St Joseph's Catholic Church represents the continuity of the Catholic Church presence on the site since 1913, and associations dating from 1881.
• The site and the church both demonstrate close associations with William & Catherine Wittfoht, the Hickey family and Kathleen Elizabeth Hardey;
SOCIAL VALUE
• The site and St Joseph's Catholic Church are valued by the local Catholic community for their associations with cultural and spiritual events in Capel since the 1890s.
• The place is highly valued by the Catholic community of Capel and districts, for the sense of place and memories of ceremonies and events that have taken place.
REPRESENTATIVENESS
• St Joseph's Catholic Church is a fine representative example of a rural church showing influences of simple Federation Carpenter Gothic style of architecture.
• The place demonstrates the characteristics of religious and cultural activities associated with the Catholic Church in a small rural community, and its development since the 1890s. INTEGRITV :The place maintains a high degree of integrity. The original highway route from Busselton has now been modified and thereby reduced the visual impact of the church to the road traveller but the church still marks the edge of urban development of the old town and retains its substantial streetscape value. Maintenance is regular and effective.
AUTHENTICITY: The place maintains a medium degree of authenticity. About 1918 buttresses were added and in 1993 the church was restumped, a new green roof and new cream cladding were added, leadlight windows were altered and the entry foyer was extended. The front door was replaced. Repairs to the storm damage over the priest's room and confessional are discernible but do not adversely affect its integrity. The internal and external finishes matched the existing building. A painting of the original while limber church with red corrugated iron roof is on display in the enlarged entry foyer.

Physical Description

St Joseph's Catholic Church is located on the comer of Capel Drive (the former Bussell Highway) and West Road at the entrance to the town from Busselton. The original highway route from Busselton has now been modified. It has therefore reduced the visual impact of the church to the road traveller because the first building seen would have been St Joseph's. Now the access road to the town bypass bends in the opposite direction and the effect is reduced. However, the church acts as an entry point to the town marking the edge of urban development of the old town. It retains its substantial streetscape value and a rural aesthetic.

A strand wire divides the site, creating a grassland paddock to the Capel River at the rear of the church building. Mature gum trees flank the adjoining river reserve and the church's West Road boundary. The plan of the building is a symmetrical format of a simple nave with entry porch/foyer at the street end and the altar at the river end. A vestry is on the east side balanced by the priest's robing room and confessional on the west. The roof is a gabled structure of corrugated iron. Timber buttresses were added shortly after completion to brace and stabilise the spreading walls. The walls are timber framed and externally boarded. Windows are gothic style arched stained glass and internal walls are of polished jarrah boarding. This boarding extends to the ceiling, which is lined on the rake up to the collar ties of the roof structure where it becomes horizontal. The style of the whole is simple gothic. The building appears to be in sound condition. Repairs to the storm damage over the priest's room and confessional are discernible but do not adversely affect its integrity.

History

Assessment: 2003
Construction: 1913
Builder 1993 renovations: T Hoist
Alterations/additions: c1918 buttresses added; 1978 repainted; 1993 renovated: restumped, new roof, new cladding, leadlight windows restored, entry porch/foyer extended.

Before St Joseph's Catholic Church was built in 1913, services were conducted in the homes of the faithful living in Capel and Ludlow. In I860 colonial authorities charged the priest officiating at the marriage of Ann McCourt to Charles Lesarque. The authorities claimed that a family home was not a proper place of worship and that the marriage, which was conducted in Ann's home, was therefore illegal. It was not until 1880, however, that the establishment of an inn at Capel prompted the government to allocate land for churches and other facilities. In 1890 a crown grant of approximately five acres of land was given in trust to the Roman Catholic Church in Western Australia. The shell of St Joseph's Catholic Church was completed in 1913, buttressed three years later, lined and extended. In 1993, due to the fundraising efforts of parishioners, and the sale of land donated to the church by Ann McCourt's step-sister, Kathleen Hardey, the church was fully renovated for its 80th birthday celebrations. In 2003, St Joseph's Catholic Church is one of five churches in the district. Services are conducted once per week, attracting a congregation of between 35-40 people.

In the 1830s Western Australia's first Governor, Captain James Stirling, and later his successor, Governor John Hutt, took up land in the region following the rich coastal strip and the Capel River Valley. The Capel River was discovered by non-indigenous settlers in 1834 and plans to establish a town were first noted in 1844 when the place was given its Aboriginal name 'Coolingup,' a Nyungar word meaning; a swamp where spearwood grows; a watering place.
James McCourt arrived in the colony in 1842 and in 1843 moved to Ludlow where several Catholic families had settled. His daughter, Ann married Mr Charles Lesarque at the family farm, 'Fatfield,' in the winter of 1860 but Colonial authorities charged the priest celebrating the union. They claimed that McCourt's home was not a proper place of worship and therefore that the marriage was illegal. As the Reverend Wollaston, and later Archdeacon Hale, had regularly conducted Church of England Communion services at the 'North Capel Farm,' the charge outraged James McCourt. He raged violently with some of his neighbours until his death in 1899. In 1880, the establishment of an inn at Coolingup prompted the government and church boards to allocate land for a school (which opened in 1884), churches and other facilities. On 29 July 1881 a reserve was gazetted on Suburban Lot 21 on the northside of the Bunbury Road in Coolingup for a Roman Catholic Church. The Crown Grant was made on 29"" October, 1890 in trust to Matthew Gibney, the Roman Catholic Bishop administering the affairs of the Roman Catholic Church in Westem Australia, for that parcel of land containing five acres, three roods. Coolingup Town was gazetted in 1897 but in 1899, the town's name was changed to Capel.

Before a church was built, the Wittfohts and other Capel Catholics, had to make do with irregular services. In the 1890s, German-bom miner, William Wittfoht, left Broken Hill for Bunbury, and then settled in Capel with his wife, Catherine, and daughters, Ida and Mary.^ In 1902 Archbishop Clune preached to a mission in Capel Hall. Several families came from Ludlow, but only the Wittfoht and Hickey families came from Capel. Several years later Father O'Magher came from Busselton to inquire of any Catholics in the area. He walked five miles to the Hickeys. Later an annual mass was held on a weekday. After the Hickey girls married, mass was held at the Wittfohts' home. The shell of St Joseph's Catholic Church was completed in 1913 at a cost of £350 and Archbishop Clune blessed it and officiated at the first Mass. Although Father Joe McCormack from Busselton held mass at St Joseph's once a month, the annual mass continued to be held at the Wittfohts until the 1920s. The latter was such a social event that everyone was delighted when it continued.
At the end of World War I, Major Norman Brearley landed his Avro bi-plane on a small cleared paddock behind the Capel Catholic Church and gave joy rides for 5/- a time. Just a Horse Ride Away, A History of the Shire of Capel and its people records that Mazie Summers won a free ride, and wheeled through the sky with her heart in her mouth at speeds of up to 95 mph. In the 1950s, Kathleen Elizabeth Hardey, the only child of James McCourt and his second wife, Anne Murphy, donated two blocks of land to the church. In 1956, under the provisions of the Roman Catholic Church Property Act, 1911 (No 36 of 1911) St Joseph's Catholic Church was vested in the Roman Catholic Bishop of Bunbury of Parkfield Street. Bunbury. Bishop McKeon consecrated the first confirmation in Capel in 1980. Maintenance and renovations have been frequent on this 90-year-old church, due to the support of its faithful members. St Joseph's was lined and added to as the building developed. About 1916, the church started to lean and mock buttresses were added for stability. In 1962 louvered vents were added. To mark the 80th birthday of St Joseph's in 1993, the Capel parishioners raised $40,000 by fundraising and the sale of one of two blocks of land donated by Mrs Kathleen Hardey. The church was restumped, re-roofed, re-clad, the foyer was extended and leadlight windows were restored. In 1999 Sisters of St John of God donated a tabernacle. In 2003, St Joseph's Catholic Church is one of five churches in the district. Services are conducted once per week, attracting a congregation of between 35-40 people.

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This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.