New Norcia’s Benedictine Monastery Precinct is being considered for inclusion on the State Register of Heritage Places.
Public consultation is now open for the unique precinct that makes up Australia’s only monastic town.
Located 132 kilometres north of Perth on the banks of the Moore River, New Norcia was founded in 1847, largely as a Spanish settlement of the Benedictine Order. Today, it is a tourist destination renowned for its ornate ecclesiastical architecture and food produced through traditional methods including bread, olive oil and produce.
The place is a rare example of Western Australia’s Spanish religious, social and cultural links, and Benedictine self-sufficiency, particularly due to Spanish migration to WA being relatively small. Two of the abbey bells cast in Spain in 1843 are directly associated with the beginning of the Spanish Civil War and are the only known examples from this period.
The town started out as a bush mission for the Yued Noongar people – and to educate Aboriginal children – under the first abbot Dom Salvado. However, in the 20th century the initial model of a European-styled Aboriginal village which provided work and housing for families became a place of institutional trauma.
New Norcia’s legacy as one of the locations involved in the institutionalisation and abuse of Aboriginal children in WA – largely from the 1950s to the 1970s – is documented in the 2017 Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
Public consultation on the draft Register Entry and Assessment Documentation for the Benedictine Monastery Precinct is now open, and can be viewed at https://consultation.dplh.wa.gov.au/heritage/benedictine-monastery-precinct/
Consultation closes on 14 October 2022.
As stated by Heritage Minister David Templeman:
“New Norcia is a town steeped in Spanish influence and traditions that continue to support the distinctive life of Western Australia’s Benedictine community today.
“But it is also a place with a tragic legacy that should not be forgotten.
“It is important that heritage assessments encompass all aspects of a place’s story, even if they are confronting.
“I encourage anyone with an interest in the diverse multicultural and social influences that have helped shape Western Australia to make a submission on this unique precinct.”
