New Norcia - Western Australia

Two hours north of Perth, lies the town of New Norcia - town like no other! A visit here is like stepping back in time, to another place,and  with such a Spanish influence, thanks to one of the many Spanish Monks and one time, Abbot, Father Torres, who was the instigator and  designer of much of the architecture, and responsible for  a large part of the infrastructure of New Norica.

Arriving here in 1901, he employed artisans to assist him in the design and implementation of many of the buildings within the town.. he sold land, to fund many of his projects.

The Gates Of The Monastery

The Front Of The Monastery

Part of the Monastery is now a Guest house and very affordable accommodation is available. Would be great to spend a bit of time there.  There are only 8 monks living there now, when once there were upwards of 64.

The first fifty years of New Norcia’s history are dominated by the towering figure of Bishop Rosendo Salvado (1814 – 1900). Salvado spent 54 years of his life making New Norcia one of the most progressive and successful missions in Australian history. Salvado’s original vision was to create, among the indigenous peoples of the Victoria Plains, a Christian, largely self-sufficient village based on agriculture.

However, after the decimation of the local populations by introduced diseases in the 1860’s, he concentrated his activity on giving a practical education to the indigenous children who were brought to New Norcia from all over the state.  Like other missionaries of the nineteenth century, his aim was to ‘civilise and evangelise’ according to the European ideals of the time, but he did so with sympathy for indigenous culture that was rare in his day.

Salvado led a monastic community which, at its height, numbered seventy men, most of whom were Spaniards and lay brothers. His several fundraising trips to Europe provided him with the means to acquire land, to construct buildings and to purchase books, vestments, art works and ritual objects as well as stock and equipment.  Practical success and his own personal charm combined to make Salvado both a notable Western Australian and an international figure in the Benedictine world.

Sadly, in 1900 during a trip to Rome, Salvado became ill and died at the age of eighty-six at the Monastery of St Paul Outside the Walls.  His body was brought back to New Norcia by the Community and interred in the Abbey Church where it rests today.  It is a reported that when news of Salvado’s death reached New Norcia the local Aboriginal people cried and wailed for three days.

The Monastery Abbey

Spanish Influenced Architecture Of The Monastery Abbey

The Largest Pipe Organ In Australia - 2000 pipes

One Of The Many Sculpture Inside - Thought  The Crow An Unusual Touch

Bell Tower - Chimes Every 15 Minutes - Prayer Times With the Monks 6 Times A Day

Salvado's Tomb

Torres, personally designed and supervised the building of St Gertrude’s Ladies College (opened 1908), and St Ildephonsus’ College for Boys (opened 1913), staffing the former with Josephite Sisters (Mary McKillop) and the latter with Marist Brothers. In his fourteen years as Superior, Torres carried out significant improvements throughout the town. He paid particular attention to the interior decoration of the town’s buildings, bringing the Spanish woodcarver Juan Casellas and the monk-artist Fr Lesmes Lopez to New Norcia to create the many fine works that are now part of its rich heritage.

St Illdephonus's School

At the rear of St Illdephonus's school, is some old handball courts.  Made of all hand made bricks - some 750,000 of them, and just amazing to see them in still in such amazing conditon.

Some Of The Beautiful Handmade Bricks

Hand Ball Courts

During Torres’ period as Abbot, Rome sanctioned the Bishop of Perth’s proposal to extend the area administered by New Norcia Abbey to cover 30,000 square miles.

Torres led explorations to the North West and in 1908 established the Drysdale River Mission (later Kalumburu) in the far north of the State. 

Torres died in 1914, his health undermined by his travels up North.

Abott Father Torres

St Gertrude's was completed in 1908, and St Ildephonsus' was opened in 1913. Until 1964 inclusive, St Ildephonsus' was run by the Marist Brothers. From 1965 onwards, it was run by the Benedictines as St Benedict's College. In 1972, St Benedict's and St Gertrude's became co-educational, with the boys and girls sharing most of their lessons. In 1974, the two colleges became known jointly as Salvado College, but were still referred to individually as St Benedict's and St Gertrude's. In 1986, Salvado College became New Norcia Catholic College, which closed at the end of 1991. Interesting to note, that it was St Gertrude's the girls school that was the first to open - certainly different for those days.

St Gertrudes

The Magnificence Of The Chapel Inside St Gertrudes'

The Alter

The Facade Of St Gertrude's

There were also two aboriginal orphanages,  St Mary's (for boys) and St Joseph's (for girls), which closed in the early 1970s. They were called orphanages but the parents of the children were often still alive. The two buildings still exist. St Mary's is next to St Ildephonsus', and St Joseph's is next to St Gertrude's.

St Joseph's now houses the Museum and Art Gallery, which contains works by Australian and overseas artists, and displays describing the history of the area. In 1986, twenty six paintings were stolen by two robbers. Several weeks later, all but one of the stolen paintings were returned. They were badly damaged, but were eventually repaired.

Recognition Of The Aboriginal Heritage Now In The Education Centre

The Aboriginal Orphanage

Built in the 1860s for an Aboriginal family, the cottage on the northern side had various uses during its time; accommodation, an occasional police station in the 1940s and by the 1960s  a public toilet block.  Over the years it had fallen into a significant state of disrepair and restoring it was a challenge, however work was finally completed in 2008 and it is now open for the public to view along with interpretative material.  There were at one stage, 22 of these cottages within the town.

Restored Aboriginal Cottage

There are two very interesting pipe organs located within the monastery buildings. In the Abbey Church of the Holy Trinity is a large 35 rank German organ, built in 1922 by Albert Moser of Munich. The organ was designed in consultation with the Abbey Organist Dom Moreno.
The second pipe organ, of 13 ranks and much more modern in style, is located in the Oratory Chapel. This organ was built in 1983 by Belsham Pipe Organs.

Change has also come in the shape of a growing tourism business and since the 1980s, hospitality at New Norcia has flourished and diversified. Today the town attracts thousands of visitors each year and the Community offers guided tours of the town where you can see (and hear) the history of New Norcia brought to life.  In addition to the Hotel, the Monastery Guesthouse provides accommodation for those seeking an experience of quiet and refreshment. The former College buildings are now used for school and music camps and adult workshops and conventions. In 1996 the monks established an Education Centre to further interpret the site for visiting students. The Education Centre offers schools a range of programs, including Aboriginal studies.

The Beautiful New Norcia Hotel - A Great Place To Get Lunch

The Cemetery Lays As Testament To Times Past

All The Nuns and Monks All Remembered By A Simple Cross

New Norcia’s traditional crafts of self-sufficiency, bread making and olive oil production have also been revived.

The Old Stables

Old Flour Mill

Many of the buildings within New Norcia are on going restoration projects, including the old stables, The blacksmiths, The flour Mill- will all be great to see them finished and up and working.

Many of the towns buildings are under the care of the National Trust, and so they are continually reliant on government funding during the restorations.

For those with a few days to wile away, New Norcia is for you.  Down by the towns oval is free camping (self sufficient only) and is one that we will be availing ourselves of again, one day soon.

All photographs are the copyright of the photographer and express permission must be obtained prior to use.

Some parts of this blog are courtesy of http://www.newnorcia.wa.edu.au/, where you can go to read more of this wonderful place in history.