Project Status: Closed

Heritage listing: Signadou and Blackfriars Precinct

The Signadou and Blackfriars Precinct was provisionally registered on the ACT Heritage Register on 31 May 2018.

Provisional registration lets you know why the Heritage Council thinks a place or object is important to the ACT and you, its residents. During consultation on the provisional registration, you can tell the council what you think about their initial assessment or if there is other information to consider.

Since the 1960s, the Signadou and Blackfriars Precinct has made an important contribution to the educational development of the ACT, providing the rapidly growing national capital with teaching staff during a time of unprecedented growth of the Catholic school system in the ACT and region. The opening of the Blackfriars Priory and Signadou Teaching College occurred during a formative period of educational development in Canberra when the Catholic Church was making considerable investments in the sector. The place represents a distinct phase of local history in the Catholic Church, wherein different orders were consolidating and uniting with increased presence within the ACT.

The outcome

The Heritage Council decided to progress to full Heritage Registration for the Signadou and Blackfriars Precinct in February 2019.

How your feedback made a difference

Comments on the provisional registration are required to address the relevant heritage significance criteria as outlined in s10 of the Heritage Act 2004.

Four submissions were received during the public consultation period.

One submission suggested the place may meet additional heritage significance criteria. The Council considered these suggestions against the necessarily high thresholds required by the heritage significance criteria and against the Heritage Assessment Policy (2018), and decided to maintain its assessment against criterion (a).

What’s next?

The Signadou and Blackfriars Precinct has been registered on the ACT Heritage Register. See more about the register at https://www.environment.act.gov.au/heritage/heritage_register