St Anne's Catholic Church, Bondi
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

St Anne's Church is a
heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and human-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In ma ...
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...
located at 60 Blair Street,
North Bondi North Bondi is a coastal, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 7 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Waverley Council. North Bondi is a mostly residential ar ...
,
Waverley Municipality Waverley Council is a Local government area in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. First incorporated on 16 June 1859 as the Municipality of Waverley, it is one of the oldest-surviving local government area ...
,
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
, Australia. The church was designed by Joseph Fowell and Kenneth McConnel, and built from 1934 to 1964 by R. M. Bowcock. It is also known as St. Anne's Church and St Anne's Shrine. The property is owned by the
Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute for women in the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. In 2019, the institute had about 6,200 Religious sister, sisters worldwide, organized into a number ...
and it was added to the
New South Wales State Heritage Register The New South Wales State Heritage Register, also known as NSW State Heritage Register, is a heritage list of places in the state of New South Wales, Australia, that are protected by New South Wales legislation, generally covered by the Heritag ...
on 26 May 2006.


History


Indigenous history

Significant Aboriginal rock carvings provide evidence that Aboriginal people occupied sites nearby the location of St Anne's Shrine in
Bondi Beach Bondi Beach () is a popular beach and the name of the surrounding suburb in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Bondi Beach is located east of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, local government area of ...
, long before European settlement. An important type of tool was first found in the region and is still known as the Bondi point. The indigenous people of the area at the time of European settlement have generally been referred to as the
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
people or the
Eora The Eora (; also ''Yura'') are an Aboriginal Australian people of New South Wales. Eora is the name given by the earliest European settlers to a group of Aboriginal people belonging to the clans along the coastal area of what is now known as ...
(Eora means "the people"). There is no clear evidence for the name of the particular groups of the Eora people that occupied what is now the Waverley area. Most sources agree on the
Cadigal The Gadigal, also spelled as Cadigal and Caddiegal, are a group of Aboriginal people whose traditional lands are located in Gadi, on Eora country, the location of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. However, since the colonisation of Australi ...
but there are sources which name the Biddigal and
Birrabirragal The Dharug or Darug people, are a nation of Aboriginal Australian clans, who share ties of kinship, country and culture. In pre-colonial times, they lived as hunters in the region of current day Sydney. The Darug speak one of two dialects of ...
bands as well. A number of place names within Waverley - most famously Bondi - have been based on words derived from Aboriginal languages of the Sydney region.Waverley Council web page, 2004 By the mid nineteenth century the
traditional owners Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title rig ...
of this land had typically either moved inland in search of food and shelter, or had died as the result of European disease or confrontation with British colonisers. Few religious beliefs of the people were recorded, but oral traditions have ensured that some have been carried on.


Background to the Parish of St Anne

From 1895 the Catholic Church was present in the Bondi area on land gifted to the
Franciscan order The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...
at the corner of O'Brien and Simpson Streets. Rapid population growth in the area resulted in the parish of Bondi being divided in 1925, creating a new parish of St Anne's, Bondi Beach. Father Daniel O'Sullivan was appointed priest in 1926 to the new parish and oversaw the establishment of several major church buildings during his fifteen years of stewardship. A new site bordered by Blair Street, Mitchell Street, and Oakley Road was purchased in 1926. The year following the demolition of the older St Anne's church in O'Brien Street witnessed the construction of a new church school on the Oakley Road side of the new site. This was followed by a presbytery on Mitchell Road in 1932, and the first section of St Anne's Shrine fronting onto Blair Street in 1934. Also constructed during this period was St Anne's Convent in 1935 (built by the
Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute for women in the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. In 2019, the institute had about 6,200 Religious sister, sisters worldwide, organized into a number ...
) and a girls' school in 1938.McDonald, 2003. The initial brief for St Anne's Shrine required that the church be built in two stages as only half of the proposed budget of
The pound (Currency symbol, sign: £, £A for distinction) was the currency of Australia from 1910 until 14 February 1966, when it was replaced by the Australian dollar. Like other £sd currencies, it was subdivided into 20 Shilling (Australian ...
20,000 was available. In 1934 only the back, southern section of the church including nave and aisles was completed. In 1957 a newly appointed Father Patrick Cunningham set up a Parish Building Fund to raise money for building the northern section of the church comprising sanctuary, sacristies and altar. In 1964 the completed church was solemnly blessed by the Archbishop of Sydney, Norman Thomas Cardinal Gilroy. Interior aspects of the 1964-designed church were later adjusted in view of the liturgical changes that followed the
Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...
. In 1980, when Father Kenneth Sargeant was appointed parish priest, a stone altar was placed in the sanctuary to allow the priest to celebrate Mass facing the congregation. Also the church was carpeted throughout.


Building the church

In 1934, the architects Fowell and McConnel won a design competition for a new Catholic Church at Bondi, judged by Leslie Wilkinson. The practice of Fowell and McConnel was established in 1927 when the pair entered a competition for the design of Tamworth War Memorial Town Hall for which they were awarded second place. They were more successful in winning the competition for the BMA building in Sydney's Macquarie Street, which also eventually won them the first
RIBA ''Riba'' (, or , ) is an Arabic word used in Islamic law and roughly translated as " usury": unjust, exploitative gains made in trade or business. ''Riba'' is mentioned and condemned in several different verses in the Qur'an3:130
medal to be awarded in Australia. Born in Australia but educated in England, Joseph Fowell (1891-1970) arrived back in Australia in 1919 where he taught under Leslie Wilkinson at the
University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...
. The partnership went on to design a number of Catholic churches in Sydney and some New South Wales country towns. Kenneth McConnel left the practice in 1939 due to ill health. After
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, McConnel formed a new partnership with Stanley Smith which was eventually to become McConnel Smith and Johnson. Fowell and McConnel designed a church to accommodate 1,000 parishioners with separate committee rooms,
campanile A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...
and
cloister A cloister (from Latin , "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open Arcade (architecture), arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle (architecture), quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cat ...
to be added when money became available. The first stage of the church was completed in 1934 with R. M. Bowcock as its builder. The north end of the building was enclosed by a timber framed wall, faced with fibre cement sheeting that marked the position of the future sanctuary. The north end of the church was completed with the addition of the apses some thirty years later to an amended design by Fowell, Mansfield, Jarvis and Maclurcan (Joseph Fowell being one of the original architects). The free standing campanile and linking cloister, which was part of the original concept, was not built.


Architectural accolades

St Anne's Church was awarded the
Sir John Sulman Medal The Sir John Sulman Medal for Public Architecture is an architectural award presented by the New South Wales chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects since 1932. The medal is sometimes referred to as the Sulman Award and now recognise ...
by the
Royal Australian Institute of Architects The Australian Institute of Architects, officially the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (abbreviated as RAIA), is Australia's professional body for architects. Its members use the post-nominals FRAIA (Fellow), ARAIA (Associate Member) an ...
in 1935. It was the first church building to receive the medal and remains the only complete church building to have received the medal (although additions to St Michael's Church were awarded the Sulman Medal in 1942). In his history of the Sulman Medal, Andrew Metcalfe described the church as "a tour de force of brickwork construction with highlights of sandstone trim", and "perhaps the highlight of ecclesiastical architecture in interwar Sydney". He suggests it is stylistically related to and contemporaneous with the English architecture of
Guildford Cathedral The Cathedral Church of the Holy Spirit, Guildford, commonly known as Guildford Cathedral, is the Anglican cathedral in Guildford, Surrey, England. Richard Onslow, 5th Earl of Onslow, Earl Onslow donated the first of land on which the cathedral ...
(), St Saviour's,
Eltham Eltham ( ) is a district of South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three ...
(), St Wilfrid's,
Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...
() and St Andrew's,
Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...
(), all of which are linked to twentieth century
Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
architecture, notably
Ragnar Östberg Ragnar Östberg (14 July 1866 – 5 February 1945) was a Swedish architect who is best known for designing Stockholm City Hall. Biography Östberg was born in Stockholm, Sweden. His parents were Carl Östberg and Erika Kindahl. Between 1884 an ...
's
Stockholm City Hall Stockholm City Hall (, ''Stadshuset'' locally) is the seat of Stockholm Municipality in Stockholm, Sweden. It stands on the eastern tip of Kungsholmen island, next to Riddarfjärden's northern shore and facing the islands of Riddarholmen and ...
(1911-1923). The National Trust's Jacqui Goddard described the church as: The church is featured in ''A Pictorial Guide to Identifying Australian Architecture'', where it is presented as an example of the "Inter-War Romanesque" style. There it is described as a "nobly scaled design influenced by French examples such as Albi Cathedral" and Joseph Fowell listed as one of the style's "key practitioners".


Description

St Anne's Church is a fine example of Inter-War Romanesque church architecture. The textured red brick
façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...
contrasts with the
sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
plinth A pedestal or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In civil engineering, it is also called ''basement''. The minimum height o ...
, entry
portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...
, door and window surrounds and
parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...
copings. The roof is of red tiles over the nave and
aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...
s, and copper over the northern apses. The south (Blair Street) elevation of the church features a sandstone portico with a gabled roof supported by sandstone
columns A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...
and
pilasters In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...
, described as "outstanding" in the Waverley Council heritage inventory file. A statue of
St Anne According to apocrypha, as well as Christian and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary, the wife of Joachim and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the Bible's canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's nam ...
with the child Mary forms the
finial A finial () or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a dome, spire, tower, roo ...
to the portico
gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...
. The chamfered corners of the sandstone parapet wall to the portico gable are carved with gargoyles supporting saints. The corners of the sandstone entry door reveals are carved with a
chevron Chevron (often relating to V-shaped patterns) may refer to: Science and technology * Chevron (aerospace), sawtooth patterns on some jet engines * Chevron (anatomy), a bone * '' Eulithis testata'', a moth * Chevron (geology), a fold in rock la ...
pattern. Above the
mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid sup ...
s to the three windows over the entry portico are two figures of angels. These were formed by carving green pressed bricks which were then fired and rebuilt in position. All other bricks in the building were apparently hand brushed by university students to give the façade a subtle texture. The main east and west
gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...
s of the church have sandstone crosses as finials. Cream bricks internally blend with the sandstone trim to the arches, window reveals and sculptures. The plan of the church is based on an axial nave and aisles terminating in apses at the sanctuary end. A shrine to house a relic of St Anne is placed on the west aisle. A panelled timber confessional is located at the southern end of this aisle. The piety store (originally another confessional) at the southern end of the eastern aisle is of a similar style to the two confessionals on the western side of the church, but has been altered. The nave ceiling is constructed of panels of redwood timber boarding between
trusses A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembla ...
. The aisles also have panelled redwood boarded ceilings with recessed amber glass lights. Below the gallery, the ceiling is timber panelling. Twelve Stations of the Cross are located between the aisle arches and windows and at the south end of the church over the arches to the side aisles. Brick
corbel In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal keyed into and projecting from a wall to carry a wikt:superincumbent, bearing weight, a type of bracket (architecture), bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in t ...
s beneath the stations contain lights to illuminate the stations at night. Ten bronze pendant lanterns designed by the architects light the nave. Cranked concrete
buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act ...
es hidden in the walls are connected horizontally by a beam in the nave waft below the
clerestory A clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey; from Old French ''cler estor'') is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye-level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, a ''clerestory' ...
. The aisle roof carries the weight of the nave, roof trusses to the
foundations Foundation(s) or The Foundation(s) may refer to: Common uses * Foundation (cosmetics), a skin-coloured makeup cream applied to the face * Foundation (engineering), the element of a structure which connects it to the ground, and transfers loads f ...
. A gallery at the rear of the church is supported on hardwood adzed beams themselves supported on stone
piers Piers may refer to: * Pier, a raised structure over a body of water * Pier (architecture), an architectural support * Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name) * Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...
. To alleviate problems of echo on the face brick the rear internal wall of the gallery is built with honeycomb
brickwork Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called '' courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall. Bricks may be differentiated from blocks by ...
with the interstices backed with small squares of an acoustic material,
Celotex Celotex Corporation is a defunct American manufacturer of insulation and construction materials. It was the subject of a number of high-profile lawsuits over products containing asbestos in the 1980s, eventually declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy in ...
. The timber pews are original and were probably designed by the architects. The church had timber flooring with modern red carpet on the aisles between the pews, however green carpet covering the entirely of the nave and aisles flooring was introduced first in 1980 and expanded to cover all but the sanctuary in the late 1990s. All carvings in the church were executed by Mr Magness M. Swan to the design of the architect. The apses on the north side were not built in the initial work of the 1930s but were constructed in the 1960s under the supervision of Joseph Fowell, one of the original architects, and form an harmonious addition. A half
dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...
over the nave apse is lined with timbers in a herringbone radiating arrangement supported on a semi circular sandstone
arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated video, pinball, electro-mechanical, redemption, etc., game ** Arcade video game, a coin-operated video game ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade video game's hardware ** Arcad ...
. The apse houses a sandstone baldachino, designed to complement the arcade. The apse to the eastern aisle was also built at this time. The apse for the western aisle which was part of the original scheme was not built. The foundations were built of sandstone from the quarry in Clyde Street, North Bondi. The ''Catholic Weekly'' of 7 December 1994 is quoted as stating that its statues are also of sandstone from the local quarry. The interior is distinguished by a technically innovative ventilation system consisting of holes in the floor covered by ventilation boxes (hidden under pews) that could be opened by pulling on a drawstring to allow cool air from under the church to circulate throughout. On hotter days a motorised fan stored below the church could be activated to extract hot air from the ceiling of the church, thus aiding the convection process. A parishioner had been carrying out electrical maintenance on this system for much of the past 55 years that he had been attending the church. This ventilation system has been recently dismantled as part of a redesign of the spacing of the pews to allow for larger parishioners. However the removal of ventilation boxes and the filling in of the holes in the floor are reversible and the ventilation machinery remains intact, enclosed in a small sealed room under the church.


Condition

As at 29 January 2004, the building is generally in good condition. However, there is a structural crack at the south end and much of the timberwork is in need of refinishing. The church is substantially intact in exterior and interior fabric although there have been many minor changes to the interior in recent years including carpeting, removing the altar rail, relocating altar gates and baptistry font, and dismantling the ventilation system. Many of the items that have been removed are being stored underneath the church.


Modifications and dates

Although the main body of the church was constructed in 1934, the second stage including final altar and apses were not completed until 1964, under the supervision of one of the original architects, Joseph Fowell. Carpet was laid in the nave in 1980 and relaid in the late 1990s, and now includes the aisles. In 1999 the altar gates were removed and later repositioned on the eastern aisle. Other recent internal changes include: removing ventilation boxes from beneath the end of the pews and plugging the associated ventiation holes in the floor; removing several rows of pews and re-spacing the rest to allow for the comfort of larger parishioners; re-locating the baptismal font from the rear of the church to under the apse and then to the western front of the nave; installing glass panelling and doors at the end of the nave to provide a quiet "crying room" for parents of young children; replacement of two exterior light fittings with spherical lightbulbs; removal of six bronze candlesticks from the altar; removal of the altar rail.


Heritage listing

As at 2 February 2004, St Anne's Church is of State significance as a fine and representative example of the Inter-war Romanesque style. A Catholic church largely built in the 1930s but completed in the 1960s to the competition-winning design of Joseph Fowell and Kenneth McConnel, the decorative scheme is restrained but features highly crafted timber, brick and sandstone detailing. It has a careful integration of furniture and fittings also largely designed by the architects that includes an ingenious and possibly unique ventilation system (recently dismantled but stored onsite). Winner of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects' 1935 Sulman Award, this is the only church to win this prestigious award as a complete design, and has been described as "perhaps the highlight of ecclesiastical architecture in interwar Sydney". Its representative significance is enhanced by its continuing role and positioning as a landmark element in a church-school precinct of buildings. This precinct also represents the establishment of the Bondi Beach Parish of the Catholic Church and its importance as a place of worship for the local Catholic community through several generations. St Anne's Church was listed on the
New South Wales State Heritage Register The New South Wales State Heritage Register, also known as NSW State Heritage Register, is a heritage list of places in the state of New South Wales, Australia, that are protected by New South Wales legislation, generally covered by the Heritag ...
on 26 May 2006 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the course, or pattern, of cultural or natural history in New South Wales. St Anne's Church is of historic significance as a sign of the early and continuing role of the Catholic Church in the growth of residential development in the Bondi Beach area from the 1920s. Together with the adjacent school buildings the Church forms a precinct that has served the spiritual and educational needs of the local Catholic community for several generations. As winner of the Sulman Award for architecture in 1935, the church also offers historical insights into questions of taste and aesthetics in Sydney in the 1930s. The place has a strong or special association with a person, or group of persons, of importance of cultural or natural history of New South Wales's history. St Anne's Church testifies to the vision of the founding priest of St Anne's Parish at Bondi Beach, Father Daniel O'Sullivan, who played a major role in establishing the physical fabric required to meet the community's spiritual, pastoral and educational needs. The church is also associated with Father Patrick Cunningham, parish priest from 1957 to 1979 who, early in his ministry, devoted himself to the completion of the building. The prominent Sydney architect Joseph Fowell, considered one of the key exponents of the "Interwar Romanesque" style in Australia, is also associated with the building for presiding over both stages of design and construction thirty years apart. The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales. St Anne's Church is of state aesthetic significance as a fine example of the Interwar Romanesque style of architecture. Designed by Joseph Fowell, one of the pre-eminent exponents of this style in Australia, it has been described as a 'nobly scaled design' and as "perhaps the highlight of ecclesiastical architecture in interwar Sydney". The aesthetic and technical excellence of St Anne's Shrine was recognised immediately upon completion of the first stage of construction in the form of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects' Sulman Award for 1935. It is of interest that this important award was granted to an incomplete building, recognising the quality of the overall design intention. The dominance of brick mass to round arched windows is characteristic of the Romanesque style, which was widely adopted in Catholic churches built in Australia and elsewhere in the 1920s and 1930s, possibly to distinguish them from the Gothic Revival style then used by the Anglican Church. The Romanesque style has been described as a means by which architects of the period could "move cautiously towards the uncluttered simplicity of mass and detail favoured by the modernists". The church illustrates typical characteristics of the style including: use of piers or buttresses, large entrance arches, low pitched gabled roofs, elaborately detailed brickwork and squat massing of the architectural volumes. The size and architectural massing of the church can readily be appreciated in its open corner setting, and its relatively monumental scale makes it an important landmark in the locality. The round arched stone entrance portico to Blair Street is considered an outstanding example of stone craftsmanship. The interior detailing is richer than the exterior and skilfully executed in brick, carved stone and timber. The spatial qualities of the interior, including the open relationship between nave and aisles, and the particularly fine modelling of the sanctuary with its encircling arcaded ambulatory are of considerable aesthetic merit and capture a symbolism and spatial quality evoking the medieval origins of the style. The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group in New South Wales for social, cultural or spiritual reasons. St Anne's Church is of social significance for its historic role in the establishment of the Bondi Beach Parish of the Catholic church and its importance as a place of worship for the local Catholic community through several generations. The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales. St Anne's Church is of state significance in this criterion for its architectural qualities that provide an important point of reference in the adaptation of the Romanesque style as symbolic of the meanings and functions of the Catholic Church. Its contribution to understandings of 1930s taste and aesthetics is enhanced by it being the recipient of the Sulman Award of 1935, and by it being considered a primary example of the Interwar Romanesque style. The (currently dismantled) ventilation system using convection to circulate cool air from beneath the church through ventilation holes under the pews is an ingenious, environmentally sustainable and possibly unique system of temperature modification that is worthy of further study. The place possesses uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales. St Anne's Church contains a rare ventilation system using convection to circulate cool air from beneath the church through ventilation holes into boxes hidden under the pews (where drawstrings could be pulled to allow the air to circulate into the church). This ingenious, environmentally sustainable and possibly unique system of temperature modification has been dismantled, however all the parts are stored on site and capable of reinstatement, or study. The church more generally is of local significance for being a fine building of relatively monumental scale within the Waverley area. The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural or natural places/environments in New South Wales. St Anne's Church represents a fine example of the Interwar Romanesque style of architecture, which was commonly used in the design of Catholic churches throughout New South Wales in the 1920s and 1930s. It has been described as a "nobly scaled design" and as "perhaps the highlight of ecclesiastical architecture in interwar Sydney". The church's representative significance is enhanced by its positioning as the key element in a church-school precinct of buildings.


See also

*
Roman Catholicism in Australia The Catholic Church in Australia is part of the worldwide Catholic Church under the spiritual and administrative leadership of the Holy See. From origins as a suppressed, mainly Irish minority in early colonial times, the church has grow ...


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * *


Attribution


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Anne's Catholic Church, North Bondi
North Bondi North Bondi is a coastal, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 7 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Waverley Council. North Bondi is a mostly residential ar ...
North Bondi, New South Wales Bondi Articles incorporating text from the New South Wales State Heritage Register Bondi 1964 establishments in Australia Roman Catholic churches completed in 1964 Buildings and structures awarded the Sir John Sulman Medal 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Australia Romanesque Revival church buildings in Australia