Aerial photo of Loreto Abbey Mary’s Mount

This aerial photo of Loreto Abbey, Mary’s Mount is estimated to have been taken c.1930, possibly as early as the late 1920s.

The tennis courts that can be seen in ‘the Paddock’ on the northern side were built in 1923. An aerial photo of Wendouree in 1934 shows all houses built on the land to the west of the school.

The central part of the school is still clearly recognisable in a current aerial photograph: the Chapel, and front façade consisting of the Abbey building and Residence building frame the circuit of the front drive.

Other key features:  

• St Anne’s Primary School in the southeast corner, with a fenced in garden. The Gatekeeper’s Lodge is just in front, beside the school gates.
• To the right of St. Anne’s is St. Joseph’s Grotto, and the Cemetery where Mother Gonzaga Barry is buried.
• Extensive vegetable gardens filled the rest of the eastern side of the grounds.
• The low, narrow buildings beside the three-storey Residential Wing are the music cells. These were relocated in 1953 to make room for the new St. Anne’s Wing, which was opened in 1955.
• Behind the Residential Wing is the ‘old’ tennis court.
• At the back, along Wendouree Parade (hidden behind trees) is St Cecilia’s Hall. Built in 1903, it would eventually be replaced in 1974 by the new Gonzaga Barry Wing, which housed the library, science rooms and a hall with a stage and music rooms. This was in turn partly replaced by the Mulhall Centre, opened in 2016.
• The ‘Paddock’ (where the current school oval is) housed more tennis courts, and the Infirmary (an 1880s brick building in the southwest corner).