New Norcia WA, Monastery

New Norcia, WA may 1, 2015
Now this is a standout attraction in WA. 'Attraction' isn't really the right word, New Norcia is a town, but a town with a difference. It is a monastery town, completely owned and operated by the Benedictine monks, who came here in 1842 as missionaries to the natives, and stayed. At the height of the monastery, there were 80 or so monks and of course the town expanded along with the monastery. The monastery at one time held 900,000 acres of land, and the size and style of the buildings reflects the results of their hard work and good management. The town expanded even more when they established not one, but four boarding schools in 1901. The schools were to provide education and training to the white children, the natives, girls and boys, all totally segregated.

Today, the schools are used for various other functions, mainly concerned with visiting school groups and people studying the Benedictine philosophy. The monastery itself is still operational but only has a handful of monks, something like 8 or 10, and they still produce wine, beer, olives, bread.

Given that the Great Northern Highway runs right through the middle of the town and that a few hundred road trains a day rumble through, it is a very peaceful and serene place. The road trains are causing a real problem, in that the vibrations are slowly but surely destroying the hand made bricks of the the buildings close to the road. This town is ecstatic that a bypass has finally been approved and funded!

Naturally, there are also 4 church / chapels, not including those inside the monastery itself, the schools, a flour mill, a hotel which was a hostel, a roadhouse, museum, and heaps of other stuff. We elected to take the two hour walking tour with a guide, which was really good, she was probably the best tour guide we have ever had. The monks are totally self sufficient and employ everyone who works in town. You can only live in town if you work for the monks. We also went inside the museum and art gallery, which is pretty special, with a vast range of artefacts from daily life, as well as ecclesiastical ones, some dating from the 1840s. The art gallery is interesting in that in later years the abbot of the time started to collect old paintings depicting religious scenes. In 1986, the biggest art theft in WA history took place when 25 of these paintings were stolen; only 24 were recovered and restored and are still on display.

Anyhow, some snaps to give you some idea of the place:

St Gertrudes. New Norcia WA

Abbey Church. New Norcia WA

Inside the grounds of the monastery. New Norcia WA

Inside the grounds of the monastery. New Norcia WA

Inside the grounds of the monastery. New Norcia WA

St Ildephonsus. New Norcia WA

The Abbey church. New Norcia WA

Abbey church on right, monastery ahead. New Norcia WA

St Ildephonsus. New Norcia WA

St Gertrudes. New Norcia WA

St Gertrudes. New Norcia WA