The Cloisters, Perth

The Cloisters is located at 200 St Georges Terrace, opposite its intersection with Mill Street in Perth, Western Australia. It is a two-storey dark coloured brick building, which terminates the vista at the top of Mill Street and is a landmark in the rise of the street to the ridge of the plateau.

The Cloisters is one of a small number of remaining convict-built colonial buildings of the mid-nineteenth century in the central area of Perth.

It was designed by Richard Roach Jewell for Bishop Mathew Blagden Hale and constructed in 1858 as a secondary school for boys. It was established and funded with a grant from the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge and Bishop Hale's own donation. The school was called the "Perth Church of England Collegiate School" (colloquially known as "Bishop Hale's School"), and was the first secondary school established in the Swan River Colony.

The architectural style of the building was derived from St. James's Palace, Hampton Court, parts of Eton College, and Fulham Palace. The Tudor embellishments tied the structure to the history of the English monarchy (the head of the Church which Hale served) while signifying the power and authority of England under which government the colony was founded, the gothic features signifying the moral and temporal authority of the Church. Students at the school included John Forrest, who became the first Premier of Western Australia and then Federal Treasurer, Alexander Forrest who become the Lord Mayor of Perth, Stephen Henry Parker, Sir Edward Wittenoom, Frank Wittenoom, Maitland Brown, William Samson, John Bateman, Fredrick Brockman, George Roe and Augustus Roe.

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