Detail of a Stained Glass Lunette in St Laurence’s Catholic Church – Corner Ogilvy and Brumley Streets, Leongatha
St Laurence's Catholic Church on the corner of Ogilvy and Brumley Streets, Leongatha is named after Lorcán Ua Tuathail, also known as St Laurence O'Toole (1128 – 14 November 1180) the Archbishop of Dublin at the time of the Norman invasion of Ireland. He played a prominent role in the Irish Church Reform Movement of the 12th century and mediated between the parties during and after the invasion. St Laurence's Catholic Church was officially opened on 16 November 1913 after Bishop Patrick Phelan of the Sale Diocese had laid the foundation stone on the 26th of April. Dr Mannix, Coadjutor Archbishop of Melbourne preached the occasional sermon at the Pontifical High Mass, which was celebrated by Bishop Phelan who dedicated the Church to St. Laurence O'Toole.
The original plans for the Catholic Church prepared by Melbourne architect, Charles I. Rice, were for a brick building in the Romanesque Style including a belfry with an estimated cost of £7,000. It was decided to proceed with only part of the original plan, omitting the belfry, sanctuary and part of the nave, and the modified building was constructed by F. and E. Deague of Fitzroy for the sum of £3,200. In 1938, the present cream cement render was added to the exterior.
The construction of the church to replace the original wooden building of 1895 was the highlight of the ambitious building program initiated by Dean P. J. Coyne soon after he was appointed to the newly created Leongatha Parish in 1901, which began with the construction of the Presbytery in 1904. After the construction of the new Church, the old wooden church was moved to a site adjacent to the Presbytery and renovated to become the new Catholic School. The adjacent convent was completed in 1914 and was followed by the final building, the new Church Hall, in 1927. Dean P. J. Coyne was held in high regard by his Parishioners, and the title of Monsignor was conferred by the Pope in 1933. When he died in September of the following year, his remains were interred in the grounds of the Church and a memorial erected.
St Laurence's Catholic Church at Leongatha is a rendered brick structure with a gabled terra cotta shingle roof. It has a notable Spanish Baroque south front with a matching porch now under reconstruction in an extended form. Centrally on the ridge stands a tall louvered lantern capped by a cupola. The church is a simple gable with no aisles and the nave is lit by semi-circular arched windows with arched tracery in each bay which is defined externally by piers with capitals. At the front and side boundaries, the original cast iron fence with rendered piers, basalt base and wrought iron gates remain. A steel belfry behind the fence to the east has been removed. The building was originally in brick, with only the mouldings rendered, in which form it approaches the Romanesque “blood and bandages” style, but the south front is closer in form to a Dutch colonial or Spanish Baroque in form. In rendered form it has a strong impression of Spanish Mission style. The omitted belfry may have given further clues. The front facade is symmetrical with a full width projecting porch. It steps through two major levels, each defined by intersecting piers and scrolls. It is divided into three parts by piers at the side and piers flanking a central segmental three part window. The side piers have half round caps while the inner piers have scrolls against the raised pediment. The pediment is capped with a cross mounted on a projecting pedestal. The central window has a wide architrave and heavy hood mould with brackets above it. To either side are oculi windows. The porch front is divided into three parts with half round capped piers, the central panel containing the arched entry door and a triangular parapet with a central rendered arched panel containing a cross. The side panels have arched windows and semi-circular pediments.
The interior has a segmental barrel vault ceiling, paneled with strong arches at the caps of pilasters defining each window bay. The piers have ionic capitals below a string course defining a wide blocking course with a Baroque capital bearing a shield and flanked by elaborate scrolls. In the cove above, below the segmental arch, are further plaster decorations around a shell motif focused on the pilasters. Cast plaster stations of the cross are hung on either side of the pilasters. Across the south end of the nave, one bay deep is a balcony carried on a pair of cast iron columns on either side of the central aisle. This has a bulging ogee balustrade decorated with elaborate plaster swags, scrolls and shields and has a central projection over the aisle. The architrave below the balustrade is decorated with swags meeting at plaques with full relief babies faces. The ceiling panels have large suspended circular plaster panels concealing vents in each structural bay. The balance of the bay is decorated with scroll panels with a central motif and arched ends against the cove. The whole of the plaster decorations are picked out in elaborate paint work and gilding.
Leongatha is a town in the foothills of the Strzelecki Ranges, South Gippsland Shire, Victoria, Australia, located 135 kilometres south-east of Melbourne. The town is the civic, commercial, industrial, religious, educational and sporting centre of the region. The Murray Goulburn Co-operative Co. Limited, is a farmers' co-operative which trades in Australia under the Devondale label, and has a dairy processing plant just north of the town producing milk-based products for Australian and overseas markets. First settlement of the area by Europeans occurred in 1845. The Post Office opened as Koorooman on 1 October 1887 and renamed Leongatha in 1891 when a township was established on the arrival of the railway. The Daffodil Festival is held annually in September. Competitions are held and many daffodil varieties are on display. A garden competition is also held and there are many beautiful examples throughout the provincial town. The South Gippsland Railway runs historical diesel locomotives and railcars between the market and dairy towns of Nyora and Leongatha, passing through Korumburra.
Detail of a Stained Glass Lunette in St Laurence’s Catholic Church – Corner Ogilvy and Brumley Streets, Leongatha
St Laurence's Catholic Church on the corner of Ogilvy and Brumley Streets, Leongatha is named after Lorcán Ua Tuathail, also known as St Laurence O'Toole (1128 – 14 November 1180) the Archbishop of Dublin at the time of the Norman invasion of Ireland. He played a prominent role in the Irish Church Reform Movement of the 12th century and mediated between the parties during and after the invasion. St Laurence's Catholic Church was officially opened on 16 November 1913 after Bishop Patrick Phelan of the Sale Diocese had laid the foundation stone on the 26th of April. Dr Mannix, Coadjutor Archbishop of Melbourne preached the occasional sermon at the Pontifical High Mass, which was celebrated by Bishop Phelan who dedicated the Church to St. Laurence O'Toole.
The original plans for the Catholic Church prepared by Melbourne architect, Charles I. Rice, were for a brick building in the Romanesque Style including a belfry with an estimated cost of £7,000. It was decided to proceed with only part of the original plan, omitting the belfry, sanctuary and part of the nave, and the modified building was constructed by F. and E. Deague of Fitzroy for the sum of £3,200. In 1938, the present cream cement render was added to the exterior.
The construction of the church to replace the original wooden building of 1895 was the highlight of the ambitious building program initiated by Dean P. J. Coyne soon after he was appointed to the newly created Leongatha Parish in 1901, which began with the construction of the Presbytery in 1904. After the construction of the new Church, the old wooden church was moved to a site adjacent to the Presbytery and renovated to become the new Catholic School. The adjacent convent was completed in 1914 and was followed by the final building, the new Church Hall, in 1927. Dean P. J. Coyne was held in high regard by his Parishioners, and the title of Monsignor was conferred by the Pope in 1933. When he died in September of the following year, his remains were interred in the grounds of the Church and a memorial erected.
St Laurence's Catholic Church at Leongatha is a rendered brick structure with a gabled terra cotta shingle roof. It has a notable Spanish Baroque south front with a matching porch now under reconstruction in an extended form. Centrally on the ridge stands a tall louvered lantern capped by a cupola. The church is a simple gable with no aisles and the nave is lit by semi-circular arched windows with arched tracery in each bay which is defined externally by piers with capitals. At the front and side boundaries, the original cast iron fence with rendered piers, basalt base and wrought iron gates remain. A steel belfry behind the fence to the east has been removed. The building was originally in brick, with only the mouldings rendered, in which form it approaches the Romanesque “blood and bandages” style, but the south front is closer in form to a Dutch colonial or Spanish Baroque in form. In rendered form it has a strong impression of Spanish Mission style. The omitted belfry may have given further clues. The front facade is symmetrical with a full width projecting porch. It steps through two major levels, each defined by intersecting piers and scrolls. It is divided into three parts by piers at the side and piers flanking a central segmental three part window. The side piers have half round caps while the inner piers have scrolls against the raised pediment. The pediment is capped with a cross mounted on a projecting pedestal. The central window has a wide architrave and heavy hood mould with brackets above it. To either side are oculi windows. The porch front is divided into three parts with half round capped piers, the central panel containing the arched entry door and a triangular parapet with a central rendered arched panel containing a cross. The side panels have arched windows and semi-circular pediments.
The interior has a segmental barrel vault ceiling, paneled with strong arches at the caps of pilasters defining each window bay. The piers have ionic capitals below a string course defining a wide blocking course with a Baroque capital bearing a shield and flanked by elaborate scrolls. In the cove above, below the segmental arch, are further plaster decorations around a shell motif focused on the pilasters. Cast plaster stations of the cross are hung on either side of the pilasters. Across the south end of the nave, one bay deep is a balcony carried on a pair of cast iron columns on either side of the central aisle. This has a bulging ogee balustrade decorated with elaborate plaster swags, scrolls and shields and has a central projection over the aisle. The architrave below the balustrade is decorated with swags meeting at plaques with full relief babies faces. The ceiling panels have large suspended circular plaster panels concealing vents in each structural bay. The balance of the bay is decorated with scroll panels with a central motif and arched ends against the cove. The whole of the plaster decorations are picked out in elaborate paint work and gilding.
Leongatha is a town in the foothills of the Strzelecki Ranges, South Gippsland Shire, Victoria, Australia, located 135 kilometres south-east of Melbourne. The town is the civic, commercial, industrial, religious, educational and sporting centre of the region. The Murray Goulburn Co-operative Co. Limited, is a farmers' co-operative which trades in Australia under the Devondale label, and has a dairy processing plant just north of the town producing milk-based products for Australian and overseas markets. First settlement of the area by Europeans occurred in 1845. The Post Office opened as Koorooman on 1 October 1887 and renamed Leongatha in 1891 when a township was established on the arrival of the railway. The Daffodil Festival is held annually in September. Competitions are held and many daffodil varieties are on display. A garden competition is also held and there are many beautiful examples throughout the provincial town. The South Gippsland Railway runs historical diesel locomotives and railcars between the market and dairy towns of Nyora and Leongatha, passing through Korumburra.