Convent Chapel Northampton

In April 1919 Hawes had just completed the Sacred Heart Convent  for the  Presentation Sisters in Northampton .  The Sisters were using a room on the ground floor of the convent building as a chapel so Hawes drew plans for an oratory for the sisters which would have cost £200. 

If built, the chapel would have been another of   Hawes' 'Gems’ in  the Mid-West of WA.  The design incorporated  many of Hawes’ signature features  which make his buildings so unique and attractive. His detailed plans show that it would have had the stripes of St Francis Xavier Cathedral and the elaborate baroque altar which he had already built in the Anglican Church of  St Paul’s in The Bahamas, and which would be closely imitated in Our Lady of Mt Carmel in Mullewa.  The Rood Triptych he had previously used  at Gunnerton, Caldey and Deadman's Cay, and the tracery in the sanctuary end window can be found in the church at Mullewa. 

In 1936 the Hawes designed Church of Our Lady of Ara Coeli was built next door to the Convent and  Hawes incorporated a nun’s tribune, similar  to that in  St Francis Xavier Cathedral, in the Church.