History of St Lawrence's Bluff Point
The Old Church
The foundation stone for St Lawrence’s was laid in 1937 by Bishop O’Collins and the building was completed and opened on 8th August 1937. The land was donated by a Mrs Cameron and a generous anonymous donation of £600 from a person in the east enabled the building to go ahead. The successful tenderer to build the church was Enrico Boschetti for the price of £1,109. The masonry work was carried out under the supervision of Mr Joe Battistella of Perth and Mr Frank Green donated the stone from his quarry at Waggrakine.
The design appears to have been inspired by the Church of St Ninian’s in Gretna, Scotland as Hawes left a postcard of the church with his drawings.
The Expansion Plans
Although Hawes stated that the church was designed to allow for extensions if they were later required, and there was strong support in the community to expand the building according to Hawes’ plans when the numbers increased, the building was partially demolished in 1970 and a larger church was constructed in contemporary style. The stone and tile sanctuary of the original church remains but it is only used as a vestry behind the church.
The Demolition
There was strong opposition to the demolition of the original nave. A local architect at the time, Lewis Eves prepared the following documentation for the National Trust:
In my professional opinion, the church should be preserved in toto, without amendment, as it is of significant architectural value and is thereby one of the cultural assets of the Town of Geraldton and this state.
Its simplicity in form, its excellent resolution of the junction of the dome with nave and transept, its excellent use of materials especially in details of window surrounds and external cornices, and its overall simplicity of conception and execution classify it immediately as a building of architectural merit. It is in my opinion without fault in any technical sense whatsoever.
The National Trust classified the building on 25th August 1970 but in The Geraldton Guardian of 19th August 1970 there were photographs showing that the demolition work had already begun.
The decision to demolish most of the original church was defended in an article in the Cathedral Chronicle in August 1970 – ….. Extensions of the churches at Mullewa and Morawa with little damage to the original buildings are a further proof. In both instances a greatly enlarged capacity was obtained while preserving a harmonious unity with the original. Had this been at all possible at Bluff Point then the section of St Laurence’s [sic] would not have been demolished. Critics seem to presume that alternative solutions were not even considered.
Building of the New Church
In his book The Conscious Stone, Tony Evans states
Thirty years after it was built, St Lawrence’s Church was enlarged. Bull-dozers demolished the entire nave and builders attached a brick octagon to the sanctuary and transepts like some amorphous growth.
Location Map of St Lawrence's Bluff Point
