Perth Deanery placed on heritage register

15/2/95

Heritage Minister Richard Lewis announced today that the Deanery in St George's Terrace had been placed on the State Register of Heritage Places.

Mr Lewis said the Deanery, which was attached to St George's Cathedral, had been registered on an interim basis following a recommendation by the Heritage Council of Western Australia.

"The entry recognised the important role played by the Deanery in WA's history and in the development of the Church of England," he said.

"The building, which is part of the City's Heritage Precinct identified by the State Government, will now be given the full protection of the Heritage of Western Australia Act."

The Deanery was formerly the site of the Old Perth Gaol.   However, in 1858 the Crown agreed that the Deanery should be built close to the Cathedral and a formal land swap was organised.

The two-storey brick Deanery was built in 1859 as a residence and office for the first Dean of Perth, the Reverend George Purves Pownall, at a cost of 900 pounds.

The Minister said the men employed to build the Deanery were convicts who had been granted a ticket of leave to obtain employment with free settlers in the colony.

"Both Dean Pownall and the Bishop of Perth at the time, the Reverend Mathew Hale, said they abhorred the convict system, so the decision to use convict labour in the construction of the Deanery was very puzzling," Mr Lewis said.

The Deanery was used as a residence for more than 90 years, and minor alterations were made to it several times.

In 1953, the Church considered demolishing the Deanery to make way for a 10-storey office block, but public opinion earned the building a reprieve.

A successful public appeal launched in the same year paid for important restoration work which was also undertaken in 1979.

Mr Lewis said the quality of the restoration and conservation work was recognised by a Royal Australian Institute of Architects Award in 1984.

"The Deanery is part of a small group of buildings in central Perth built by convicts and it should be preserved for future generations," he said.

"The building is also an uncommon example of cottage orné in the Victorian Tudor style of architecture in this State."

Media contact:  Bronwyn Hillman 222 9595 / 221 1377