ST MARY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION CHURCH, PRESBYTERY & SCHOOL

123 ST LEONARDS ROAD, and 80 ROSEBERRY STREET, ASCOT VALE, MOONEE VALLEY CITY

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Moonee Valley City

Church

Statement of Significance

• Additional Place Information

  • Physical Description 1

    ST MARY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION CHURCH, PRESBYTERY & SCHOOL - Physical Description 1

    The St Mary's Immaculate Conception Church complex comprises over half of the block bounded by St Leonards Road, Holdsworth, Ferguson and Roseberry streets. The 1934-1938 Church stands mid-block on the south side of St Leonards Road, between the basketball courts to the west and the 1916 Presbytery. Directly behind the Church stand the school buildings along Roseberry Street. Other post-war and 21st century buildings associated with the school are located in the eastern part of the site. The Church was completed in two stages; the southern end of the church was constructed first and comprised the curved sanctuary, transept and the two rear bays of the nave. The nave, facade and towers were completed during the second phase of construction with a minimal setback to St Leonards Road behind a low c1930s brick fence whose effect is a dramatic contrast in scale which lends the Church a monumental presence.

    The Church is a striking red brick building in the Romanesque Revival style. The high nave and transepts are flanked on each side by different height volumes forming the aisles and front and rear porches. The prominent facade is dominated by two octagonal stepped towers with a series of rectangular and round arch openings and faience detailing and brick houndstooth patterning. The towers are flanked by the original baptistry and a chapel with two small round arch windows to the north and three round arch windows to the side elevations, with parapeted gable roofs. A double height archivolt contains a large traceried rose window above a projecting faience entrance portico supported by pairs of simplified Corinthian columns. A statue of Mary sits above the portico and the two separated front doors which have a traditional coffered form covered in bronze. The transepts have prominent parapeted gables with rose windows below a small round arch opening, above the parapeted porch, that have a row of three round arch openings. The parapets are accentuated by an arcaded corbel table and terracotta pantiles as parapet capping. The large apse is semi-circular in plan. The roof is covered in fine terracotta shingles. The nave is divided into five bays by shallow pilasters, the rear four containing a pair of round arch windows with brick hood moulds and the fifth bay containing a single round arch window.

    The front fence is of the same red brick with bullnose capping to the top of the balustrade and a 'gable' capping to the piers. The interwar landscaping survives with the original design retained, complete with statues and shrines, and a grotto located between the Church and the Presbytery.

    The 1916 Presbytery is located to the east of the church and is largely obscured from St Leonards Road by a recent high red brick fence with the same pier detailing as the church fence. The residence is Federation style Bungalow constructed in red brick with a hip slate roof with terracotta ridgecapping and finials. Chimneys have a red brick shaft and band of roughcast render at the top. They retain pairs of terracotta chimney pots. The front facade was originally asymmetrical with the western projected gabled room a modern addition (c1980s). The original gabled wing has buttressed corners (suggesting its ecclesiastical connection) and retains a pair of double-hung windows below a shallow skillion roofed return verandah supported at the building facade by battered brick pilasters with diagonal timber bracing. The gable apex is painted roughcast render below a lined gable eave. The modern addition is identified by simplified equivalent detailing, clean brickwork, and a pair of double hung leadlight windows. The front door is set far back, between the two projecting gables and beneath the roofline, and retains fine leadlights in its sidelights and highlight glazing.

    The 1913 brick School building's long elevation stretches along Roseberry Street. The 1924 extension is not legible, as it used identical materials and details, and was probably extended lengthwise to construct the additional three classrooms. The gable ends are finished with Federation-era half timbering with a circular louvered vent to the gable apex above three rectangular window openings, although the western end is largely obscured by a contemporary entranceway. Regular fenestration to the Roseberry Street facade is divided into four bays by engaged 'buttresses' with painted cement render dressings to their battered top (and sides). The western bay has been remodelled in c2010 with the brick 'piers' between windows extended above a new gable front constructed in vertical black brick. Further extensions were made, perpendicular to the rear of the school building, in 1978 and 1994 which are not visible from the street. There is a brick two-storey building (c1950s) constructed to the west with a contemporary c2010 addition to its west elevation.

    Heritage Study and Grading

    Heritage Study and Grading

    Moonee Valley - Moonee Valley Heritage Study

    Author: Context Pty Ltd, 2015
    Year: 2015
    Grading: Local

    Moonee Valley - City of Moonee Valley Stage 1 Heritage Gap Study

    Author: Context PL
    Year: 2013
    Grading:

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