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Former Whitlands Catholic Settlement
Burders Lane,, WHITLANDS VIC 3733 - Property No B7317
Former Whitlands Catholic Settlement
Burders Lane,, WHITLANDS VIC 3733 - Property No B7317
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Statement of Significance
What is significant? The Whitlands Catholic Settlement was first established in 1941 by a group of young male Roman Catholic idealists from Melbourne, led by lawyer Ray Triado. They repudiated the materialism, secularism and liberalism of contemporary Australian culture and established a self-supporting agricultural community, on land bought by Triado in rough bush country in the foothills of the Victorian Alps. The community was made up at first of single men, who were later joined by a few families and single women, and eventually by their own priest. The spiritual focus of the settlement was the log chapel, designed by Triado and built by him and two friends from about 1943 and blessed by Archbishop Mannix in 1950. The independent, idealistic community created controversy within the Church, and was disbanded in 1951. The land has since been subdivided and sold, with part, including the chapel, owned by descendants of the original group. The chapel is occasionally still used for weddings, christenings and retreats.
The Whitlands Catholic Settlement is located in bushland in the alpine foothills between Tolmie and Whitlands. The only remnants of the settlement are the log chapel (the Morning Star Chapel), Triado's former house, the former dairy and potato shed, and a few remains of other huts. The chapel was built using the traditional log construction of Europe and North America with stacks of round logs halved into each other at the corners. The chapel has a simplified Gothic form and a T-shaped plan with the gable roof covered with wooden shingles (the skillion arms of the T now covered with corrugated iron), a gabled entrance porch, and a gabled lantern surmounted by a wooden cross on the main ridge. The pointed windows are inset with coloured glass, the triangular one above the altar depicts the Morning Star over Mount Buffalo, towards which the chapel faces. The Triado house is a single storey house with attic in the wide eaved steeply pitched gable roof. The walls are of pise, finished with cement render over chicken wire. The chimney is of local stone. The style reflects Triado's love of things Italian, and displays a distinct north Italian rustic/Alpine influence. The superb garden survives, with many interesting trees and shrubs. The dairy is a log structure with a shingle roof, and the potato shed is a mouse-proof hut with the shingled roof now covered with corrugated iron.
How is it significant? The former Whitlands Catholic Settlement is significant for historical and architectural reasons at a State level.
Why is it significant? The former Whitlands Catholic Settlement is historically significant for its association with the intellectual and idealistic Catholic reform movements of the 1940s, and with an unusual lay religious community. The log construction of the chapel is a reflection of the back-to-nature ideals of the group, their self-sufficient way of life and their medieval-inspired romanticism. It is also significant for its association with Archbishop Mannix.
The log chapel is architecturally significant for its simplified Gothic design, its log construction, which is relatively rare in Victoria, and for its picturesque form and setting.
Classified: 27/02/2006
The Whitlands Catholic Settlement is located in bushland in the alpine foothills between Tolmie and Whitlands. The only remnants of the settlement are the log chapel (the Morning Star Chapel), Triado's former house, the former dairy and potato shed, and a few remains of other huts. The chapel was built using the traditional log construction of Europe and North America with stacks of round logs halved into each other at the corners. The chapel has a simplified Gothic form and a T-shaped plan with the gable roof covered with wooden shingles (the skillion arms of the T now covered with corrugated iron), a gabled entrance porch, and a gabled lantern surmounted by a wooden cross on the main ridge. The pointed windows are inset with coloured glass, the triangular one above the altar depicts the Morning Star over Mount Buffalo, towards which the chapel faces. The Triado house is a single storey house with attic in the wide eaved steeply pitched gable roof. The walls are of pise, finished with cement render over chicken wire. The chimney is of local stone. The style reflects Triado's love of things Italian, and displays a distinct north Italian rustic/Alpine influence. The superb garden survives, with many interesting trees and shrubs. The dairy is a log structure with a shingle roof, and the potato shed is a mouse-proof hut with the shingled roof now covered with corrugated iron.
How is it significant? The former Whitlands Catholic Settlement is significant for historical and architectural reasons at a State level.
Why is it significant? The former Whitlands Catholic Settlement is historically significant for its association with the intellectual and idealistic Catholic reform movements of the 1940s, and with an unusual lay religious community. The log construction of the chapel is a reflection of the back-to-nature ideals of the group, their self-sufficient way of life and their medieval-inspired romanticism. It is also significant for its association with Archbishop Mannix.
The log chapel is architecturally significant for its simplified Gothic design, its log construction, which is relatively rare in Victoria, and for its picturesque form and setting.
Classified: 27/02/2006
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Former Whitlands Catholic SettlementNational Trust
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