Perth Cloisters to entered on heritage register

13/1/95

Heritage Minister Richard Lewis has announced that one of Perth's most famous landmarks, The Cloisters in St George's Terrace, has been entered on the Register of Heritage Places.

Mr Lewis said the interim entry recognised that the building had played a significant role in Western Australia's history.

"Together with the Barracks Archway, the retention of The Cloisters in the 1960s was an important step in raising community awareness of Perth's historic buildings," Mr Lewis said.

"It was an early example of an inner city commercial development project where the incorporation of an historic building was accepted."

The Cloisters was built in 1858 by the first Anglican Bishop of Perth, Bishop Hale, as a secondary school for boys.

Called the Perth Church of England Collegiate School, it was important as the colony's first and sole source of secondary education.

"During its early years, it educated many of the young men who would become the colony's leading citizens, including Premier John Forrest," Mr Lewis said.

The building was later used as a girls school, private residences and a boarding house, from which it acquired its current name.

During the Second World War it was used as a WAAF Barracks and then as a home for nurses.

"From 1958 till the mid-1960s, The Cloisters was used as a guest house until plans emerged to demolish the building and redevelop the site," Mr Lewis said.

"A newspaper campaign generated public support for the retention of the building as well as the Port Jackson fig tree in front of it, and both were saved."

In 1971, The Cloisters was restored and adapted for use as a commercial outlet.

The facades were retained and restored, with the interior gutted to create additional office space.

Mr Lewis said The Cloisters was one of only a small number of convict-built colonial buildings from the mid-nineteenth century which remained in central Perth.

"It occupies a strategic location at the intersection of Mill Street and St George's Terrace making it a landmark in central Perth," he said.

"Subsequent modern buildings have taken its colour tones as a model for their brickwork and have extended its influence into a modern precinct.

"At the time of its construction, The Cloisters formed part of a cohesive landscape of public buildings, most of which have been demolished, but what remains is still important in establishing a colonial heritage precinct in central Perth.

"It provides a physical and social link with Perth's early colonial development."

Media contact: Bronwyn Hillman  222 9595/221 1377