Mount St Mary's Convent facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Mount St Mary's Convent |
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Mount St Mary's Convent, 2009
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| Location | 50 Grove Street, Toowong, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
| Design period | 1870s – 1890s (late 19th century) |
| Built | 1885 – c. 1918 |
| Architectural style(s) | Classicism |
| Official name: Mount St Mary's Convent, Goldicott | |
| Type | state heritage (built, landscape) |
| Designated | 26 November 1998 |
| Reference no. | 601601 |
| Significant period | 1880s, 1900s, 1940s (historical) ongoing (social) 1880s, 1910s (fabric) |
| Significant components | trees/plantings, convent/nunnery, residential accommodation – housing, terracing, tennis court, furniture/fittings, garden/grounds |
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Mount St Mary's Convent is a historic building in Toowong, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It used to be a Catholic convent, which is a home for religious sisters. It was built between 1885 and about 1918. The building is also known as Goldicott. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 26 November 1998 because of its important history.
Contents
The Story of Mount St Mary's Convent
This large, one-story concrete house was built in 1885. It was made for an engineer named Charles Lambert Depree and his family. Depree used a special way of building with concrete that he had invented in 1871.
Who Was Charles Depree?
Charles Depree was born in London around 1845. He studied engineering from 1861 to 1863. He worked on railway projects in Britain and France. In 1869, Depree and his wife moved to Queensland, Australia.
In 1870, Depree built a small concrete building in Fortitude Valley. He wanted to show how useful concrete could be for building in Queensland. This led to him getting several government jobs. In 1871, he patented a new way to build with concrete using movable molds.
From 1872 to 1890, Depree worked for the Queensland Railways Department. He was in charge of building the railway section near Stanthorpe. Here, he was the first in Queensland to use concrete for tunnels and drains.
Building Goldicott: A Special House
In 1885, Charles Depree returned to Brisbane. He built his family home, Goldicott, in Toowong. He had bought the land in 1874. The land was on a hill and had great views of Toowong and nearby areas.
Toowong was a popular suburb in the 1860s. It grew quickly after the Toowong railway station opened in 1875. Goldicott was close to public transport, schools, and other services.
Goldicott was the first house in Brisbane, and likely in Queensland, to be built using poured concrete. It was made using Depree's special method. The builders, Rose and James, were using this technique for the first time.
Why Concrete Was Special
In July 1885, a newspaper called the Brisbane Courier wrote about Goldicott. The house was described as a strong home, about 15 meters by 15 meters. It had wide verandahs all around.
All the walls and foundations were made of concrete. The outer walls were 23 centimeters thick, and inner walls were 15 centimeters thick. The floors and roof were made of timber. The roof was covered with slate tiles. The stone for the concrete came from the building site itself.
Depree said that building with concrete had many benefits:
- It was a bit cheaper than using bricks.
- Concrete was better than brick at keeping out heat, dampness, and sound.
- It needed less skilled workers to build.
- Stone or gravel for the concrete could be found on site.
- Concrete was resistant to white ants (termites).
Even with these benefits, concrete houses did not become popular in the 1880s. This was a time when Queensland's economy was growing fast. Many people could afford houses made of brick and stone, which were seen as signs of wealth. Goldicott remains a rare example of early concrete housing in Queensland. It might even be important on a national level.
Changes Over the Years
The Depree family lived at Goldicott from 1885 until 1890. Charles Depree's health got worse, so they moved back to England. He passed away in 1893. The family kept Goldicott until 1902.
After the Deprees left, Goldicott was rented out to others. It was empty for a few years in the mid-1890s. By 1897, a builder named John McCormick lived there. His company had built the second Albert Railway Bridge and worked on the Victoria Bridge.
In May 1902, the Goldicott property was divided and sold. The Sisters of Mercy bought the entire property, including the house. The Sisters needed a place to live because they were going to teach at a new school in Holland Street, Toowong. They moved into Goldicott in 1903 and renamed it Mount St Mary's Convent. A room in the house was changed into a chapel for prayers.
In 1916, Archbishop James Duhig created the Toowong parish. He put a group of Jesuit Fathers in charge. The Sisters of Mercy continued to teach at the school. In the late 1920s, the Sisters gave some land from Mount St Mary's to the parish. This land was used to build a new church and school. The Church of Saint Ignatius Loyola opened on 18 May 1930. The new school was built underneath the church. The Sisters continued to teach at the school until the early 1980s.
A photo from 1902 shows that the front terraces of the property were already there. Many stone walls in the convent grounds might have been built around 1930. This was when the land for St Ignatius Church was being leveled. The eastern terrace, which had an early tennis court, was likely made by 1902.
A timber (wooden) building was added to the back of the convent around 1918. This was a dormitory for children who boarded at St Michael's (later St Ignatius) School. The Sisters had taken a few boarders since the early 1900s. In 1919, the number of boarders grew to 19, so the dormitory was probably finished around then. The Sisters stopped taking student boarders in the 1940s.
During World War II, a new classroom building was put up behind St Ignatius Church. The Sisters of Mercy allowed students to use part of the convent grounds as a playground. Later, the eastern terrace became a playing field with tennis and basketball courts.
The Sisters also taught music and speech lessons. A small wooden building was moved onto the convent grounds to be used as a music room. This building was there by at least 1937. It is believed that this building might have once been part of the Premier's Stables at Auchenflower House. Bernard Fanning, the lead singer of the band Powderfinger, took music lessons in this building. In 1992, the building was fixed up. During this work, a hand-painted mural was found on the walls of the entrance hall.
Goldicott remained the property of the Sisters of Mercy until 2017. It was then sold to a property developer. The house, music room, and land were very important to the Toowong Catholic Community. They were used for many events, including an opera event called "Goldicott Under the Stars" to raise money for the nearby Catholic School.
In 2018, the developer wanted to change the land use and tear down the historic music room. They planned to build a large aged care facility. Many local people did not agree with these plans. The Brisbane City Council rejected the development. The developer has appealed this decision in court. Many people have joined the court case to show the historical value of the house and music room. As of September 2019, the court's decision is still awaited.
What Does Mount St Mary's Convent Look Like?
Mount St Mary's Convent is a large, one-story concrete house. It sits on a high spot in Grove Crescent, Toowong. It looks over the St Ignatius Catholic Church and has wide views of Toowong and the Brisbane central business district.
The house is on a ridge, and the property has terraced gardens. There are many old trees, including a Hoop Pine, jacarandas, frangipanis, mango trees, and eucalyptus. A simple timber building is at the entrance to the convent from Grove Crescent. Old concrete steps on the eastern side lead to the house. These steps are decorated with large terracotta pots.
The house has two main parts: the original concrete section from 1885 and a two-story timber extension at the back. The concrete part has a simple rectangular shape. It has a wide timber verandah on three sides. The verandah roof is supported by pairs of square timber columns with large decorative wooden supports. The main roof of the old house is high and covered with corrugated iron.
The older part of the house is made of solid concrete. It was poured in place using the special movable molds. The original concrete foundations have recently been strengthened. The outside walls of the concrete section are smooth and made to look like ashlar stonework. Other outside walls are simply smooth.
The main entrance is on the north side of the house. You reach it by two sets of new concrete stairs. The large entrance door has side windows and a window above it (a transom). A gable (a triangular part of the wall under the roof) with decorative timber work highlights the doorway. On either side of the door are two tall bay windows made of concrete. These windows can open fully like doors. Many windows in the building are timber-framed sash windows. Some windows that used to open like doors have been changed to regular sash windows.
Inside, the house has a central entrance hall and an L-shaped hallway. The main rooms open off these hallways. The walls in the entrance hall have new wallpaper. However, underneath the wallpaper is a long mural (a large painting) showing plants and birds. The hall also has an original gas light fitting.
To the right of the entrance hall is the parlor and a community room. These two rooms can be joined by large folding timber doors. The parlor has a white marble fireplace with old ceramic tiles. The community room has a dark timber fireplace with carved patterns. To the left of the entrance hall is a room now used for prayer. This was likely the main bedroom originally. Several bedrooms open from the hallway. These bedrooms also open onto a back or side verandah. This verandah leads to the bathroom in the south-eastern corner. One of the bedrooms has old timber wall panels.
The dining room is next to the old, one-story timber kitchen wing. The two-story timber extension was built onto this kitchen wing. The kitchen is now divided into smaller areas. An old outside brick chimney shows where the original kitchen was. This wing is connected to the main house by an open timber verandah walkway.
The inside walls are mostly concrete, covered with wallpaper. They have a new cornice (a decorative molding where the wall meets the ceiling). The floor has been raised, which makes the skirting boards (boards along the bottom of the walls) look shallow.
Why Mount St Mary's Convent Is Important
Mount St Mary's Convent was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 26 November 1998 for several reasons:
- It shows how Queensland's history developed.
- It shows how the area above Kensington Terrace and Sherwood Road kept its large homes with big gardens. This pattern started in the 1860s.
- It shows how towns grew along Brisbane's railways in the late 1800s.
- It is a rare and special part of Queensland's history.
- Built in 1885, Mount St Mary's Convent (Goldicott) was the first poured concrete house in Brisbane, and probably in Queensland.
- It is important as a very rare early experiment in concrete housing in Queensland. It shows great technical skill for its time.
- The concrete building method was new and amazing for that period.
- It is important because of its connection to engineer Charles Lambert Depree. He helped develop concrete building methods in Queensland in the 1800s.
- The convent has kept a lot of its original land. This means the house still feels private even though there is a lot of development around it. This is rare for a house from the 1880s in Toowong.
- It can teach us more about Queensland's history.
- Because it was an early and rare concrete house, it can help us understand building technology from that time.
- It is beautiful.
- The old trees and terraced gardens make the building look very appealing.
- The house has many original features, like the light fitting in the entrance hall and various wooden details.
- It shows great skill and creativity.
- Mount St Mary's Convent (Goldicott) was the first poured concrete house in Brisbane, and likely in Queensland.
- It shows a high level of technical achievement. The concrete construction was new and remarkable for its time.
- It is important because of its link to Charles Lambert Depree and his work with concrete in Queensland.
- It has a strong connection to a community.
- Mount St Mary's Convent (Goldicott) is important for its special link to the Sisters of Mercy. They did important educational, cultural, and spiritual work in the Toowong parish for over 90 years.
- It is connected to important people or groups in Queensland's history.
- It has a special connection with the Sisters of Mercy.
