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St Ambrose Hall 3 Dawson Street, Brunswick – Victoria.

Moreland City - Statement of Significance

St Ambrose’s Hall 3 Dawson Street, Brunswick is of local historical and architectural significance. Erected in 1891, the buildings provide evidence of the expansion of Catholic activity in Brunswick in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Along with the former Presbytery at 33 Saxon Street(qv), the buildings in Dawson Street contribute significantly to the notion of a ‘church reserve’ in the vicinity of St Ambrose’s Church at 289 Sydney Road (qv).

The hall, which is one of only a few nineteenth-century church halls surviving in the City of Moreland, is also of interest for its role as a venue for anti-conscription meetings during the First World War; and for associations with Prime Minister John Curtin (1885-1945), a former pupil of the school and himself a fierce opponent of conscription during that War.

Aesthetically, the school and hall are substantially intact and representative examples of their respective types, distinguished by simple but effective detailing in the Federation and Gothic style respectively. Individually and collectively, the buildings form a significant element in the streetscape.

Contributed by Greg Lynch -