| Anglican Church of the Annunciation, Broome | |||||||||||||
| Location: | 21 Hamersley Street, Broome, Western Australia | ||||||||||||
| Country: |  Australia | ||||||||||||
| Denomination: | Anglican Church of Australia | ||||||||||||
| Previous Denomination: | Church of England | ||||||||||||
| Consecrated Date: | 12 June 1903 | ||||||||||||
| Status: | Church | ||||||||||||
| Functional Status: | Active | ||||||||||||
| Style: | Federation Carpenter Gothic | ||||||||||||
| Years Built: | 1903 | ||||||||||||
| Construction Cost: | £300+ | ||||||||||||
| Parish: | Broome | ||||||||||||
| Diocese: | North West Australia | ||||||||||||
| Province: | Western Australia | ||||||||||||
| Minister: | Michael Baines | ||||||||||||
| Assistant: | Matt Morrison | ||||||||||||
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The Anglican Church of the Annunciation is a historic church in Broome, Western Australia. Also known as the Pro Cathedral of the Annunciation and The Little White Church,[1] the wood and corrugated iron structure was opened in 1903, and has been continually used as a church.[2] [3] [4] [5]
The church is a single-storey building with a timber frame and corrugated iron cladding. The gable roof is also made from corrugated iron. There is a verandah at the front, and the building is raised up from the ground, sitting on concrete stumps. The rectory is located to the north, adjacent to the building.[2] The bell tower is located south of the church, ; previously it was behind the church to the north.
Broome was established in 1883,[4] and initially only had infrequent Anglican services from the Roebourne parish.[2] In the early 1900s, the rise of Broome's pearling industry started an economic boom,[4] and as a result an Anglican church was needed to serve the town.[3] The community began organising and fundraising in 1902,[6] [7] and decided on the name, Church of the Annunciation, at a special general meeting of the parishioners of the newly constituted parochial district of Broome.[8] More than £300 was raised in three months, and by December tenders had been accepted to build the church, with building materials sourced from Fremantle.[9] The church opened the next year on Easter Day, 12 April 1903, and was consecrated on 12 June by Bishop Riley.[2]
Broome became the seat of the North West Diocese in 1910, which made the Church of the Annunciation the pro-cathedral. In 1965, with Broome's population decreasing, the diocese moved its headquarters to Geraldton, with the church assigned to the Derby parish.[2]
The church has survived various cyclones, the 1944 Japanese attack on Broome, and the low points of Broome's boom-and-bust cycle.[4] Repairs were made several times since the 1970s. French doors were replaced with hopper windows in 1973; the walls, roof and ceiling were repaired in 1976; likewise the belfry in 1985;[2] and further work on the ceiling and floors in 1990.[3] The latest repairs in 2019 involved replacing termite-damaged exterior panels, relocating the bell tower, and heritage restorations, including painting the building its original white colour, from which it derived the colloquial name The Little White Church.[4]
The church was given a permanent entry on the Register of the National Estate on 18 April 1989, listed on the State Register of Heritage Places on 2 September 1997, and added to the Shire of Broome Municipal Inventory on 28 August 2014.[1]
The church has a 250kg (550lb) bronze bell in its bell tower. It was cast in 1902 by John Taylor and Company, well-known founders in Loughborough, England, who also cast the Great Paul bell for St Paul's Cathedral in London, the largest bell in Britain from 1881 to 2012.[4] It arrived in 1902,[9] donated by Siebe Gorman of Siebe Gorman and Co, a successful manufacturer and supplier for the pearl-diving industry. Their rival, Heinke and Co, donated the church's "magnificent organ".[4] The impressive, expensive gifts are evidence of the wealth in Broome at the time.[4] The bell's origin was rediscovered by a carpenter working on the 2019 renovation and relocation of the bell tower.[4]