The Repatriation General Hospital Chapel

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The Repatriation General Hospital in Daw Park is closing. Many of the services currently provided on the site will be shifted to other hospitals in the Southern Adelaide Local Health Network. Certain buildings will remain, including the museum , the chapel and the Remembrance Garden . The shiny new ViTA building (providing 120 private beds for rehabilitation medicine) will also remain, as will Orthotics and Prosthetics SA and the Flinders University Health Sciences Building.

Walking through The Repatriation General Hospital is an interesting, almost nostalgic experience, an atmosphere perhaps amplified by its impending demolition. The site is sprawling and leafy with an overall atmosphere similar to Hampstead Rehabilitation Centre in Northfield. Its past as a Military Hospital built in 1942 to care from wounded veterans returning from World War II creates an interesting, difficult to describe feeling, almost as if walking through an outdoor museum or a piece of Adelaide's history.



Scattered throughout the hospital site are numerous plaques and information boards. Some of these are informative while others honour those who served in Australia's military past. While admiring some flowers or creeping vines it is easy to be surprised by a half hidden commemorative plaque.



The Repat's Chapel is easy to find and visible from the car park. The side entrance is lined by white 'peace roses' through the Howard Pope Garden opened on 11 November 1998 (dedicated to the memory of World War I veterans). The chapel It is open daily from dawn to dusk; a plaque welcomes visitors of all faiths to 'pause, reflect and remember.'



On entering the chapel, the most striking feature are the stained glass windows. Coruscating light streaming through them creates an interesting kaleidoscope of argent colours over the orderly pews. The stained glass windows do not portray scenes of a religious nature but instead depict a variety of scenes, many of which have a military sentiment. The bottom of each stained glass windows describes the emotion of the scene above. Such descriptors include 'compassion,' 'vigilance,' 'sacrifice,' 'liberty,' 'love' and 'courage.' Many small commemorative shields also adorn the walls.









To the side of the chapel is a quiet room and one other interesting feature is that it is bifid, with the pews able to face different directions to provide services for Roman Catholics (where the pews face the western end) and Protestant and Church of England faiths facing the other end.



If you're at the hospital waiting for a friend or relative to be discharged, attending an appointment at the outpatient clinics, wandering through the Repat Op Shop or visiting the Remembrance garden, a short stop to view the magnificent stained glass windows in the Repat chapel may be an interesting addition to your day.

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