Convent School (fmr), Roebourne

Physical Description

The original of the building is unclear, possibly a store, later a school and more recently retail premises. It is currently vacant. There is a small area of coarse grass and a few trees on the site. A cyclone type fence encloses part of the site, although pedestrian access is easily gained via a lane between the subject building and the neighbour. The small stone rectangular building is constructed from random laid stone work and cement mortar, with a double pitched simple skillion roof. There is a corrugated iron and timber lean-to structure attached to the back of the building. The door faces directly onto the road and one of the front windows has been filled in with brickwork. The building has been whitewashed in the past, or possibly painted with white paint. A brick outhouse has been constructed to the rear of the building but does not appear to be connected the main building. The underground basement can be accessed externally via stone steps set in a concrete slab. The building is in extremely poor condition.

History

Lot 26, within which P25110 Convent School is located, was one of the first land grants purchased in Roebourne in 1866 or 1867. The original owner of the land, MacKenzie Grant, was an early settler with pearling and pastoral interests. It has been suggested that MacKenzie Grant constructed the building as a store, but there is no evidence to support this. The land changed hands several times at the turn of the century. The Geraldton Bishop, William Kelly, together with Mary Joseph O’Connell and Mary Magdalen McDowell of the Presentation Order of Nuns at Roebourne, took possession of the property in March 1903. The first reliably known use of the land was as a Convent School for the Presentation Order. The school operated from 1901 to 1906 and it is possible it occupied an existing building as the occupancy predated the Order purchasing the land. The school only operated until 1906 and then sold in 1949. It is not known to what purpose the building was put during the period 1906 to 1949. James Fisher and Mewyn Stove operated a Butcher’s store in the building from 1949, selling to James Tsakolos whose family owned it from from 1957 to at least the 1970s, and continued to operate the premises as a Butcher Shop until 1962. During the 1970s clothing store Barnaby Jeans occupied the building. In December 1989, the property passed into Government ownership. Part of it was designated a reserve (Reserve No. 42399) for the designated purpose of ‘Community Corrections Centre’, and transferred to the ownership of the Department of Corrective Services. It is unknown whether the former Convent School building was utilised by the Department. By 2014 the building had become unstable and the Department intended to demolish it for safety reasons.

Condition

The place was unstable in 2014.

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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