Site Details

St Mary's, Alice Springs


General Significance Description History Gallery Resources

Status
Permanent Declaration

Type
Place

Nominated
02/JUN/23

Nomination Accepted
02/JUN/23

Assessment Report Considered
01/MAY/25

Comments Sought
19/FEB/26

Provisional Declaration
26/FEB/26

Recommended
13/APR/26

Signed By Minister
12/MAY/26

Gazetted
21/MAY/26

Publish Notice Of Declaration
21/MAY/26

Also Known As
St Mary's Hostel

Statement Of Heritage Value
Summary Statement
St Mary’s, Alice Springs is of cultural significance to the Northern Territory because of its strong association with government policies that resulted in Aboriginal children of mixed descent being removed from families and institutionalised in Christian missions for much of their childhoods.
The site on which St Mary’s was located also has special associations for Arrernte peoples because of their continuing cultural associations with the site.
St Mary’s was one of four Northern Territory missions funded by the Commonwealth government after the Second World War to implement policies aimed at assimilating Aboriginal children of mixed descent into a non-Aboriginal way of life, with an emphasis on Christian values. It is rare as the best surviving example of these missions and the only one to have retained a significant number of buildings and features able to demonstrate and evoke memories and stories of this history.
St Mary’s was established in 1946 by the Church of England on the outskirts of Alice Springs. The site exhibits strong aesthetic characteristics that have been consistently recognised in the historical record. These characteristics include St Mary’s idyllic setting beside the Todd River, the presence of a large number of river red gums on site and its location next to the striking Mount Blatherskite. An ancient river red gum, known as the ‘tree of knowledge’, is an especially significant landscape feature for former residents, as is the Todd River which represents the place where families camped to be close to their children.
In terms of built heritage, the remnant chimney and fireplace from the original Lady Gowrie Rest Home (built in 1944) and known by the children as the ‘staff house’, is highly significant as representing the mission’s foundational building.
St Mary’s Chapel, built in 1954, is the most distinct surviving building on the St Mary’s site. Its central location within the grounds demonstrates the focal point of religious instruction within the Hostel. The Chapel’s diminutive stature is strongly evocative of the spiritual work of a mission with limited resources whose principal congregation was children. The Chapel was built from cement brick, later rendered an ochre red. The gable roof is sheeted with corrugated iron and crowned with a Celtic style cross above the main entry doors. The Chapel consists of the main rectangle hall (nave) flanked by two annexes, the western annex being a later addition. Its northern wall has two distinct brick buttresses. The Chapel forecourt contains an extant bell and bell tower, remnants of the original breeze block fence and a concrete path leading to the main entry doors. The Chapel houses the significant Robert Czakó mural which was painted to occupy the entire space behind the distinctive altar, which was built from local stone.
The four extant cottage homes built from blockwork between 1958-68 at St Marys represent changing philosophies regarding the institutionalisation of children, particularly the transition from dormitory based accommodation to a ‘family’ cottage home system. The Yellow Cottage, built in 1958, was the first of these cottages. Other buildings and features that were part of the mission and are important and tangible reminders of those days include: the footprints of the original girls’ and boys’ dormitories (no longer extant); the communal dining room and kitchen; the ‘farm house’; the old tennis courts that children used as a playground; and remains of the swimming pool that had been dug and built by hand by the children and mission workers.
The committal of young Aboriginal children to St Mary’s by government resulted in loss of family and kinship relationships, and loss of knowledge of language, Country and culture. The Hostel was frequently understaffed, overcrowded and operated with limited resources and untrained staff. There is evidence that some children suffered serious abuse while there. St Mary’s is a direct and tangible reminder of past government policies and the community that residents forged through their experiences of such policies. It continues to occupy an important place in Central Australian and broader Northern Territory stolen generation history. Shared historical experiences have resulted in a powerful and enduring St Mary’s identity and connection with place. It represents a site of living heritage.
St Mary’s Chapel has become the place that former St Mary’s residents and staff gather for special services, reunions, meetings, sharing stories, truth-telling and healing. As such it represents a site of resilience and courage where survivors of past government policies gather to advocate for recognition and reparation, provide guidance and information to stolen generation communities and the wider public and honour the community and family that they have built.
St Mary’s has strong and special associations with former St Mary’s residents, their families and communities, missionaries and staff who worked at the Hostel and the Church of England.

Value
Historic & Indigenous