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Loreto Convent Chapel, Cloister & Organ

Other Names Mary's Mount Convent ,  Loreto College Location 1600 Sturt Street,, BALLARAT CENTRAL VIC 3350 - Property No B5950 File Number B5950 Level State

[1/2] B5950 Loreto Chapel [2/2] B5950 Loreto Chapel

Statement of Significance

Chapel & Cloister Statement of Significance:
An imposing convent church designed by W B Tappin, of Reed Smart & Tappin, and built between 1898 and 1902 in Barrabool stone with Camaru stone detailing. The building comprises a clerestoried nave, sacristies, and apse, surrounded by a broad ambulatroy in the French manner. The painted interior has a dominant blue colouration and somewhat saccharine quality and focusses upon the apsidal sanctuary by rose windows placed above an elaborate Gothic arcade. At the west end, a larger rose window, with glass by William Montgomery, is framed by a divided Fincham organ of 1903. This is possibly the largest and most elaborate convent church in Australia and substantially funded by a German countess, Elizabeth Wolff-Metternich.
Chapel and Cloister Classified: 09/02/1989
Organ Statement of Significance: A three-manual organ of 21 stops and tubular-pneumatic action built by George Fincham & Sons in 1903 with subsequent alterations to the console in 1938. The instrument is of interest for its division in twin cases with diapered facade pipes, on either side of a large rose window and its colourful voicing, greatly enhanced by a resonant acoustic. The original tonal scheme and pipework survive intact.
Organ Classified: 04/05/1989