Rose Window, Winthrop Hall, the University of Western Australia

A view of the large rose window on the eastern wall of Winthrop Hall at The University of Western Australia. Inside the hall, the rose window is a focal point above the dais. Rose windows were popular decorative features of Romanesque and especially Gothic architecture in England and Europe by the thirteenth century.

About Winthrop Hall:

Winthrop Hall was designed by Melbourne architect Rodney Alsop. It was built in a Romanesque style, typified by its rounded arches, columns, arcading, sturdy walls (they are 9ft thick) and large square tower. The architect described the style as being of Italian ancestry, but notably “anglicised and adapted to the local conditions” (See Western Mail, 21 April 1932, pp.14: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article38891565). Winthrop Hall, Hackett Hall to its east, and the Great Gate and the Arts and Administration Building to its west were designed and built together as a group of University Buildings. They were funded by a bequest from The University of Western Australia’s first Chancellor, Sir John Winthrop Hackett (1848-1916), and were officially opened at a ceremony on 13 April 1932. Based on photographs taken by Rodney Alsop, Winthrop Hall’s architect, in Italy in 1925, the design for the rose window is likely to be based on one at the Basilica of San Francesco in Assisi. (See R. J. Ferguson, Crawley Campus: The Planning and Architecture of the University of Western Australia, University of Western Australia Press, Perth, 1993, p.41).The Basilica of San Francesco was built between 1228 and 1253. For an image of its rose window, visit: http://www.therosewindow.com/index-rose2.htm