Our Lady of Lourdes Church, School and Presbytery
629 High Street PRAHRAN, STONNINGTON CITY
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Statement of Significance
What is significant?
Our Lady of Lourdes school and hall built in 1922-23, with later extensions c. 1930, the presbytery, former Cavendish House of c.1880, and the church of 1934 designed by Jorgensen and Schreiber is of significance. The Norfolk Island pine tree contributes to the setting of Cavendish House and is a landmark tree identifying the church group of buildings.
How is it significant?
The three buildings and Norfolk Island pine tree comprising Our Lady of Lourdes is of local significance to the City of Stonnington.
Why is it significant?
The school/hall constructed in 1922-23 to the design of architect and parishioner Mr B Moriarty is associated with the first development of the Armadale -Toorak Parish of the Catholic Church.
The presbytery, formerly Cavendish house is associated with grocer Edward Rule whose business operated from the corner of Chapel and High Streets, Prahran. Later inhabitants included furniture dealer Benjamin Nathan who is associated with the Rippon Lea Estate in Elsternwick.
Architect and artist Justus Jorgensen is a key figure in establishing the artist's colony at Montsalvat, Eltham, and Our Lady of Lourdes is one of the larger church commissions undertaken by the firm of Schreiber and Jorgensen. (Criteria A & H)
The presbytery is a representative example of Victorian mansion design with some distinguishing features of well detailed render decoration and a pair of symmetrical bay windows. From the street the building has a high integrity and the Norfolk Island pine contributes to the setting.
Our Lady of Lourdes Church is a representative example of gothic revival church architecture exhibiting traditional features of the composition including bell tower, gothic arch window openings, columns around the main door and gable roof form. The church is of technical significance for its early use of synthetic stone dressings to the door and window openings. The church and presbytery are a landmark in High Street and are highly intact from the street. The three buildings together represent an unusually diverse church group. (Criteria D, E & F)
As a functioning parish church place would be expected to have significance for past and present clergy and parishioners. (Criterion G).-
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Our Lady of Lourdes Church, School and Presbytery - Physical Description 1
Our Lady of Lourdes Church built in 1934 is designed in a Gothic Revival style. It has an asymmetrical composition of one tower at the side of the gable fronted elevation facing High Street. Built of unusually dark Hawthorn brick with a slate roof, its design is quite conservative for the time of its construction. It is also a late example of the use of dark brickwork. The Gothic windows are detailed with 'synthetic stone' (faience) dressings that are convincing in their colour and texture. The bell tower has a balustraded gallery. The side and rear of the church introduce more complexity in modelling to the design in the form of porches and an apse.
The presbytery is the former Cavendish House, a two storey Victorian mansion designed with a symmetrical front facade. The central recessed porch entry is flanked by a pair of flat roofed canted bay windows that form the dominant feature of the ground floor. The roof is of slate and of hipped form behind a parapet. The render wall surface is decorated with finely detailed window mouldings and string coursing of unusual delicacy. At the rear there is a single storey wing that extends some distance into the area occupied by the school. The rear of the presbytery has undergone some alterations and extensions. There is a Norfolk Island pine centrally located in a garden bed at the front, and this is a distinctive element.
The school to the rear of the church was built in two stages and now forms an 'L' shape around a concrete paved courtyard. Both the buildings are of similar design, of red brick with terra cotta tile gable roofs, exposed eaves and timber framed multi-pane windows. Continuous concrete lintels are a dominant feature of the buildings and extend the full length of the elevation. The former hall has sloping buttresses supporting the walls, however this feature does not appear in the classroom wing.
The front fence consists of iron railings set between square brick pillars and extends across the church and presbytery.
Note: the church was not able to be inspected internally.Our Lady of Lourdes Church, School and Presbytery - Historical Australian Themes
Themes from Stonnington Thematic Environmental History:
10.2.3 Churches as an illustration of key phases of suburban developmentHeritage Study and Grading
Stonnington - Churches and Halls in the City of Stonnington - Heritage Citations Project 2010
Author: Context Pty Ltd
Year: 2010
Grading: A2
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ARMADALE PRIMARY SCHOOLVictorian Heritage Register H1640
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ARMADALE HOUSEVictorian Heritage Register H0637
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MANDEVILLE HALLVictorian Heritage Register H0676
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