Wollaston College (formerly John Wollaston Theological College) is an Australian educational institution inPerth, Western Australia, established in 1957. It provides tertiary-level courses in theological education, professional development in theology and leadership for those working in Anglican schools and agencies, as well as forms candidates for ordination in theAnglican Church of Australia. Wollaston Theological College is a constituent college of theUniversity of Divinity.^[2]

The first theological college for the Perth diocese wasSt John's College, founded byCharles Lefroy in 1899 and which closed in 1929. From its closure in 1929 to the opening of Wollaston in 1957, 49 candidates were sent to theEastern States for theological training: 23 toSt Barnabas' College, Adelaide, 14 toSt John's College, Morpeth, six toSt Michael's House,Crafers, three toRidley College,Melbourne, two toSt Francis's College, Brisbane, and one toMoore College, Sydney.^[3] It speaks for thechurchmanship of Perth at the time that only four candidates attended the two Evangelical colleges (Ridley and Moore).

In 1950 the Perth Diocesan Synod resolved to establish a theological college.^[4] In 1956 the City of Perth agreed to sell five acres to the Diocese,^[5] and in the same year the Rev Tony Pierce was appointed first warden.^[6]Archbishop Moline's intention was to have a college that was neither 'high' nor 'low'.^[7] The college was located in the Perth suburb ofMount Claremont. Its centrepiece was the chapel designed by noted architectJulius Elischer, influenced by Le Corbusier's Notre-Dame du Haut in Ronchamp, France. The founding and only warden of this period of full-time post-secondary residential theological education was C. A. Pierce, chaplain of Magdalene College, Cambridge and a noted New Testament scholar.^[8]

From 1957 to 1970 ordinands from Perth and the other Western Australian dioceses undertook a largely residential program based on Wollaston, typically studying for the Licentiate or Diploma in Theology of the Australian College of Theology. The course program changed significantly over the years. Initially the intention was that students should complete the ThL (Licentiate in Theology) in the first two years of residence, followed by a third year of Honours.^[9]

In 1970 under new archbishop Geoffrey Sambell the Diocese of Perth changed its policy, with the result that the first two years of training for ordination candidates were spent at a residential theological college elsewhere in Australia, followed by a third year of practical training based at Wollaston with ordination to the diaconate at the start of that year. This directly led to the resignation of Pierce as warden.^[10][11] For more than a decade students from Western Australia were again sent away to study, and the Wollaston campus became in large part a retreat and conference centre for the diocese. While the name "John Wollaston Theological College" was retained, wardens of this period were administrators sometimes engaged in retreat conducting and spiritual direction, as well as working with the deacon interns and in post-ordination training.

When local theological education recommenced in 1983 in conjunction with the Perth College of Divinity and Murdoch University at the initiative of Archbishop Peter Carnley, Wollaston again become a centre for local formation of degree-seeking students, but on a non-resident basis and not as the primary center for teaching. It has continued in this mode, with some changes in specific programs; in 2020 Murdoch University announced its intention to cease theological teaching and Wollaston announced a partnership with the Theological School of Trinity College, Melbourne, to teach for degrees of the University of Divinity.^[12]

In 2022, Wollaston Theological College became a full constituent college of the University of Divinity and offers a range of fully accredited undergraduate and postgraduate awards.^[13]

The chapel, which has no dedication, is the dominant feature of the college site. It was designed by the Hungarian-born Perth architect,Julius Elischer. There is no set place for the altar or any furniture, to enable it to be configured in multiple ways. The design is based strongly onLe Corbusier's Chapel ofNotre-Dame du Haut inRonchamp, built ten years earlier. (Elischer had worked under Ferninand Streb, a pupil of Le Corbusier's.^[14]) Like Notre Dame du Haut, the stark white interior is punctuated by deep-set windows of different coloured glass. The architect's vision was of a 'tent of meeting'. It was consecrated in April 1965 byMichael Ramsey, the thenArchbishop of Canterbury.^[15]

In 2023 the chapel was awarded theRichard Roach Jewell Award for Enduring Architecture by the WA Chapter of theAustralian Institute of Architects, recognising its design, longevity and cultural significance. Reverend Dr Raewynne J. Whiteley, Warden of Wollaston Theological College accepted the award alongside the architect's wife and daughter.^[16]

• Claude Anthony Pierce, 1956—1970^[17]
• Richard Franklin Appleby, 1972—1975^[18] Appleby was subsequentlyDean of Bathurst, 1980–83,Assistant Bishop of Newcastle, 1983–92,Bishop of the Northern Territory, 1992—1999.
• David Oswald Robarts, 1976—1979^[19] Robarts was subsequentlyDean of Perth, 1979—1989.
• John Warren Forsyth, 1979—1982^[20]
• Dennis John Reynolds, 1983—1985^[21]
• George Edward Trippe, 1985—1990^[22]
• Roger Thomas Sharr, 1992—2000^[23]
• Nigel Leaves, 2000—2009^[24]
• ?, 2009—2015
• Gregory John Norman Search, 2015—2020^[25]
• Ric Barrett-Lennard, 2021 (acting)^[26]
• Raewynne Whiteley, July 2022—April 2024^[27]

• Rev'd Dr Christy Capper
• Dr Mark Jennings
• Associate Professor Robert Myles

• Anglican seminaries and theological colleges
• Education in Perth, Western Australia
• 1957 establishments in Australia
• University of Divinity
• Educational institutions established in 1957

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