St Andrews Church
Carnamah
Nazareth House Nursing Home
Bluff Point - Geraldton
San Spirito Chapel
Utakarra Cemetery - Geraldton
St Patrick's Church (fmr)
Wonthella - Geraldton
The Hermitage
Geraldton
Presentation Convent (fmr)
Northampton
Christian Brothers Agricultural College (fmr) Tardun
Pallotine Mission
Tardun
St Hyacinth’s Church (fmr)
Yalgoo
The Parish Church of St Christopher
(fmr) Gunnerton
The White Tower
Bognor Regis - England
Melangata Station Homestead & Chapel between Yalgoo & Cue
Design completed in 1934 to replace a church built in 1901. The completed church was blessed and opened by Bishop James O’Collins on 10th November, 1935.
Designed in 1939 before Monsignor Hawes left Geraldton for the Bahamas, the builing was ofically opened in 1941. Since then it has grown into an enormous complex managed by the Nazareth Sisters, caring for the needs of the aged in the greater Geraldton area.
Designed in 1936, building commenced in April 1937 and completed in August, 1937.With the population growth in the area, the nave was demolished in 1970 to make way for the present place of worship. A very similar design was used for St. George’s Anglican Church across the road from the Catholic site.
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Built in 1935 as a residence for the Chaplain of St. John of God Hospital. It has at times been used as Nurses quarters, left vacant and restored in the 1990’s to be occupied by the then Bishop of Geraldton, Bishop Hickey
Built to serve a growing farming community between Geraldton and Mullewa, Mgr. Hawes designed this church in 1933 and the first Mass was celebrated there by Dean Irwin, on 24th November, 1935.
Designed in 1938 to facilitate catholic schooling for the Catholic community of Chapman Valley, the building was opened in January, 1939. It continues to be used for church services.
The foundation stone laid on 24th May, 1936 and the building was opened on 20th September, 1936.
Designed in February, 1936, the Church was officially blessed and opened by Bishop James O’Collins on 5th December, 1937.
Photo and information kindly provided by
Revd John Wylam, The Vicarage, Chollerton
St Christopher Gunnerton Gunnerton Church was designed by John C. Hawes. Gunnerton Church Stained Glass window The "British Architect" of 15th March 1901 describes Gunnerton Church as a "more than usually interesting village church". It is in the English traditional style, and it has hardly been altered. It is of special architectural and historical interest .
In February 1898 Hawes had started work on the model of an imaginary church: it was placed on display in the foyer of the Royal Academy in London, and it was judged to be of "outstanding quality.
St Christopher Gunnerton ChurchThe publicity was to bring him his first commission - a new church at Gunnerton for the then vicar of Chollerton, Bishop Hornby, who was to become Bishop of Nassau. Hawes commented in 1948 that "my village church is as good as I ever did".
Photo & info on all the buildings:
With extensive mining operations being undertaken in the Murchison, the Presentation Sisters opened a school at Wiluna in 1933. The simple design for the Church/School and Convent was officially opened and blessed by Bishop O’Collins in March 1933. With the cessation of mining in the town, the buildings have been demolished.
Our Lady Help of Christians Church School (fmr) Wiluna
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Monsignor Hawes’ Churches & Buildings
England pre 1911 & Cat Island 1939 TO 1956
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Cat Island Buildings
Monsignor Hawes’ Churches & Buildings
Diocese of Geraldton, Western Australia, 1916 - 1939
Photo and information kindly provided by
Sylvia Endacott, Local Historian - Bognor
Regis - England - 18th May, 2006 - John Cyril Hawes, who was born in 1876 in Richmond,
constructed the White Tower at No. 16 Aldwick Road. John was the third son of a solicitor
and he had two brothers. His parents were quite stern Evangelical Church of England
members and thus he was brought up within a religious family partaking in regular
family prayers. The family spent their summer holidays in both Bognor and Littlehampton.
His boyhood interests included history, architecture and drawing. Following his early
schooling in Brighton he eventually went to Kings College in Cambridge. Even in 1889
he had a leaning towards the church, but his father wanted him to become an architect.
He was eventually articled to a London company named Edmerton & Gabriel where he continued to study handicrafts at the L.C.C. Arts and Crafts Society. His brother became a solicitor in Chichester and was instrumental in introducing John to Frederick Harfield, who was a Bognor builder and Estate Agent.
In 1897 John Cyril Hawes celebrated his 21st birthday on 7th September and also became his own master and started work on his own premises, which included several cottages and a curious looking building he named The White Tower. This was to be a seaside house for himself and his brothers. The plan was to build a tower, which would enable him to look over the seafront hotels known locally as The Rock Buildings and have a view of the sea. Another report remarked that John greatly admired the architect Charles Voysay who designed the present Bognor Town Hall.
His work as an architect continued and in 1898 he made a model of an imaginary church for the Royal Academy Exhibition and received much praise for his work. His religious background was gaining strength and he regularly attended evensong at a London Church. One evening when returning to Bognor he went into the Church of St. Thomas where Canon Rhodes-Bristow was speaking about vocation. John was very keen to become a missionary in Africa. The following morning he went to London and visited the offices of the University Mission to Central Africa, to request an interview. Sadly he was turned down on medical grounds, but was granted permission to design a church at Gunnerton in Northumberland.
At this time he started his training for church life at the Lincoln Theological College and John was finally ordained as an Anglican priest and became a junior curate at the Church of the Holy Redeemer in Clerkenwell, London. Eventually in 1908 he travelled to the Bahamas as a Protestant minister and noticed that there were only two structures that had not been damaged by a recent hurricane, fire or the local termites. John Hawes then introduced a new concept of building to the islands, by reverting to medieval methods of placing stone upon stone, and erecting ancient Roman arches for the stone roofs. During his stay he rebuilt other churches. Eventually in 1911 he was to be received into the Roman Catholic Church on the Hudson River, New York.
By 1915 John became a Catholic priest and went to Western Australia arriving at Mount Magnet, Geraldton. This was an extensive area of over 42,000 square miles where there had been a gold rush, which had brought the influx of Irish Catholics for him to administer to. John returned to England in 1920 for a six month period. He was created a Monsignor in 1937 and again returned to England in 1939 travelling via Rome where he asked permission to adopt the life of a hermit and his wish to carry out some mission work in the Bahamas. This was granted and during the period 1940 to the 1950 he constructed numerous buildings and became a celebrity on Cat Island. A magazine named Collier Magazine described John Cyril Hawes asone of the most fascinating builders in the world.
The article concluded with:-
When you next travel past The White Tower remember that this was the first construction of a man who was referred to in 1950 by the acting Bishop Bonaventure Hanseon as he is our Christopher Wren. Tourists will be coming to look at his buildings a thousand years from now. This will occur I am sure around the world, especially in Australia and the Bahamas. Here in Bognor Regis we have a very unusual building that consists of four floors, which has outwardly not changed, although the surroundings have and new constructions have taken away much of the view that John designed his seaside cottage to enjoy. Next time I take a group of people around the town on a Local History Walk, I will now be able to comment on the Heritage Trail of his work in Australia. Worlds apart just one architect.
St Lawrence the Martyr
Bluff Point - Geraldton
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Designed in 1935, it was to serve as a final resting place for Geraldton’s pioneer priest Archdeacon Lecaille who had died in 1908 and was buried in Perth. The re-interment took place on 30th August, 1936.
First designs completed in 1913 and published in The British Architect in November, 1914. At the time, John Cyril Hawes was studying for the priesthood in Rome where he had been contacted by Bishop William Kelly, Bishop of Geraldton. Building commenced in 1916 and was completed in 1938.
Designed in 1932, foundation stone was laid on 18th December, 1932 and completed by 2nd July, 1933. Extensions were carried out in 1966.
Built in stages, this unique design first saw the light of day in 1923. Work progressed through 1924 when Bishop Ryan blessed the foundation stone. The completed building was opened on 1st May, 1927.
Designed in late 1918/19, the foundation stone was laid by Bishop Kelly in February, 1919. No longer used as a convent, it serves as a tourist accommodation facility.
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Designed in 1916, the homestead is situated on a back track and was built for a fellow Anglican convert, Caleb Charles Williamson. Subsequently it was purchased by the Seaman family. Since its sale by them, the building has deteriorated considerably.
Building commenced in 1921, when Bishop Kelly asked the Dominican Sisters to establish a community in Yalgoo. After years of neglect, the building was restored in 1981
Built in three stages, with a Chapel added in 1961, the foundation stone was laid in 1936 and blessed by Bishop O’Collins. Due to building delays, the official opening took place in 1937
Biographical Notes: Born 8th Sept, 1876 – Died 26/6/1956
Anglican Ministry - 1903 – 1911
Catholic Conversion – 1911; Beda College, Rome – 1912; meets Bishop Kelly; Ordained Priest – 1915; Geraldton, WA, 08/11/1915 – 09/05/1939; Bahamas Island – Franciscan Hermit 1939 – 1956. Buried in Burial Cave, Cat Island, 29th June 1956
The Buildings