Something new from time to time (you know how it is!)

Faith can move mountains and a dynamic priest-architect can build cathedrals in the bush.

420 kilometres north of Perth, Western Australia, is the relatively small town of Geraldton, significant as the regional port for the Grain Belt of W.A. and its massive coal & mineral exports. With a population of less than 22,000, it is not otherwise remarkable apart from a fine climate, great windsurfing and a good location on the road north. But those with half an eye for architecture will be astonished by the Cathedral of St Francis Xavier. A Cathedral in a town this size! Just look!! (All photos courtesy of and copyright © Peter Ledger)

South aisle Geraldton cathedral - or is it the Mezquita in Cordoba?

St Francis Xavier Cathedral from the south-west

and then look inside!

Where are we now? Byzantium? No, it's still that same port and beach resort on the road north from Perth to Monkey Mia & Ningaloo !

But a remarkable man passed this way in the first part of the twentieth century: Monsignor John Hawes, a priest with the vision, drive and physical energy to leave behind in this relatively remote area (as viewed from S.E.England, anyway) an array of amazing buildings, of which this is probably the most remarkable.

He was also responsible for the church at Mullewa, 100 km inland, (the link refers to Hawes as "architect, foreman and labourer") as well as a large number of other strange and interesting buildings in the area.

The work on the cathedral started in 1916, a year after Hawes arrived in Geraldton and was completed in 1938. The next year, he left Western Australia and spent most of the rest of his life as a hermit in the Bahamas, where he had worked as an Anglican priest before converting to Roman Catholicism.

But why mention this extraordinary man on this site? The answer is that part of his plan involved calling in the aid of artists from the other side of the globe - and the two Margarets contributed a number of windows in both Geraldton and Mullewa, works which, once dispatched, they had no expectation of ever seeing again. Some appear elsewhere on this site but the new pictures from Peter Ledger enable a fresh look at some in exquisite detail. If you are using Bill Gates's software, hover over the pictures to see captions.

Mozilla Firefox may be superior in some ways - but not in this!

the Agony in the Garden: in the background, Judas is coming with the high priests.

Most of the Rope windows at Geraldton are by Marga, for example the one on the left, a memorial to Bishop William Kelly. The agony in the garden, the flagellation of Christ and his mocking are all vividly drawn.

Below are 2 panels from Mullewa, Tor's first:

Top part of Tor's memorial window for Bishop Kelly in Mullewa

Marga's Gloria in excelsis Deo in Mullewa

There are more windows from Geraldton and Mullewa elsewhere on this site.

For Marga: click here and follow the links

For Tor: do the same

If you are ever in W.A., pay a visit!!