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Redemptorist Monastery of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour & Organ

Location Cnr Gillies and Howitt Streets,, WENDOUREE VIC 3355 - Property No B6185 File Number B6185 Level Regional

[1/1] B6185 Redemptorist Monastery

Statement of Significance

Church Statement of Significance:
The Redemptorist Monastery, constructed in stages between 1891 and 1933 by various architects, is of Regional architectural and historical significance.
Architecturally, the Monastery is an impressive group of linked buildings, designed in matching or complementary styles, and further unified by the use of rock faced Barrabool stone for all buildings (except the 1933 Common Room). While the ground level arcade and first floor Tuscan articulation of the main buildings, designed by Reed Smart and Tappin in 1891 & 1897, and closely reinterpreted by Fritsch & Fritsch in 1933, are classical or Renaisance in inspiration, the use of large gables, a squat tower, and especially the multiple dormer windows lend a medieval or French flavour to the design, an influence common in Religious institutions, but otherwise rare.
The Church, completed in 1915 (architects not certain), though generally Romanesque, and facing the opposite direction to the main buildings, complements them through the use of matching stone facing, and Tuscan details, and is notable for the stained glass windows, probably by Hardmans, the patterned marble floor, and the Fuller organ.
The complex is set in the centre of very large grounds, and is unusual in that, with the exception of the Church, it faces centre of the site, instead of the street. The extensive landscaping features a notable avenue of elms at the north of the site.
Historically, the Monastery is important as the only Monastery for the Redemptorist order in Victoria, and one that from 1933 included training facilities for the priesthood.
Classified: 05/10/1990
Organ Citation:
A two-manual organ of 10 speaking stops built in 1890 by Alfred Fuller, of Kew, for St Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Echuca, and moved to its present location in 1970. The instrument retains its original action, pipework, tonal scheme and fiddleback blackwood case, surmounted by carved urns. A rare intact example of Fuller's work, exhibiting an outstanding level of finish, its appearance has been severly diminished through the obliteration of the original diapering by gold paint at the time of the move to Ballarat.
Classified: 'State" 22/10/1990