Colonial ecclesiastical architecture


Gothic - St Mary's Catholic Cathedral, Cnr. Patrick and Harrington Streets, Hobart

As in Britain and Europe, so in colonial Australia, Gothic was the style of predominant architecture cstyle chosen for churches. There was the odd exception - with the building of St Mark's Pontville, St Thomas' Anglican Church at Avoca (1842) the Presbyterian Church at Glenorchy and New Town Congregational church, colonial architect James Blackburn was the first to introduce the Romanesque style to Australian church architecture. Otherwise, Gothic ruled.


Romanesque - New Town Congregational Church, New Town Road, New Town

Originating in 12th century France that, the Gothic style flourished during the high and late medieval period and lasted well into the 16th century. A series of Gothic revivals began in mid-18th century England, spread through 19th-century Europe and their colonies, and continued, largely for ecclesiastical and university structures, into the 20th century.

The Gothic style - expressed most powerfully in the great churches and cathedrals of the world - evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture. The Gothic style, when applied to an ecclesiastical building, emphasizes verticality and light. This appearance was achieved by the inclusion of certain architectural features, which together provided an engineering solution. The structural parts of the building ceased to be its solid walls, and became a stone skeleton comprising clustered columns, pointed arches and ribbed vaults and flying buttresses.

Most Gothic churches, unless they are smaller chapels, are of the Latin cross (or "cruciform") plan, with a long nave making the body of the church, a transverse arm called the transept and, beyond it, an extension which may be called the choir, chancel or presbytery.

In Gothic Architecture the pointed arch is used in every location where a vaulted shape is called for, both structural and decorative. Gothic openings such as doorways, windows, arcades and galleries have pointed arches. Gothic vaulting above spaces both large and small is usually supported by richly moulded ribs.

Having their grounding in the architectural schools of Britain, Australia's colonial architecture followed the style and trands of mother England. The designs of Cathedrals and larger churches were lifted straight out of the copybooks of Gothic church architecture. Smaller regional churches, particularly of the Christian denominations that were restricted in what they could build because of lack of funds, introduced elements of Gothic architecture to what were essentially simple Georgian structures made out of freestone, so as to make them easily identifiable as places of worship.

Tasmania's Colonial Churches
The churches here are representative of the hundreds of churches across Tasmania that were erected in the 19th century. It is by no means a complete list, neither is a church's exclusion an indication that it is of lesser importance or significance that those listed.



Christ Church Anglican Church
Cnr Wellington and William Streets, Longford

Sited in an attractive and expansive church yard in the centre of the historic town of Longford, Christ Church was constructed between 1839 and 1844 to the design of Robert de Little and consists of a broad buttressed nave with cast iron columns (added in 1878). de Little (1808-76) came to the colony in 1830 and established himself in Launceston as a builder and architect.

The magnificent five-light east window, with Perpendicular Gothic tracery, depicting Christ and the Four Evangelists, was made by William Wailes, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1842 and was probably the earliest figural window in the country. The carved altar in arts and crafts idiom was designed by Alexander North. The sandstone exterior is dominated by an imposing west-end tower which was completed as recently as 1960 through the raising of the stonework by around 5 metres.



St George's Anglican Church
Gordon Street, Sorell

There are three National Estate listed churches in Sorell. Of the three, St George's Anglican Church is the most impressive. Built in 1826 and rebuilt in 1883, is of a gothic style, characterized by its gabled iron roof, with closed eaves and walls. The walls are made of coarse sandstone and have buttresses at regular intervals. As well as the church, there is an adjacent graveyard, featuring graves dating back to the 1830 s, and grounds which now contains the Sorell Visitors Information Centre and a small park. Whilst the church is of a simple design, but up close the workmanship is outstanding.



St Andrews Uniting (Presbyterian) Church
Evandale

A much admired example of Greek Revival Architecture, St. Andrews is recognised as the best preserved or restored place of worship in Tasmania. The Governor, Sir John Franklin, laid the foundation stone in 1838, the church was opened two years later. Since its door opened, St Andrew's has served the Presbyterian Congregation of Evandale and its surrounding environs and lately as the Uniting Church of Australia. Its first minister, Rev. Robert Russell, was a young Scot when he arrived in Evandale to commence his parish duties on the 9th April 1838. At that time there was no church building and services were being held in private residences.



Nile Chapel
Deddington Road, Deddington

Built in 1840, this Chapel located at Deddington, Tasmania is on land gifted from Robert Pitcairn. Brothers Robert and Thomas Pitcairn arrived in Hobart, Van Diemen's Land on the ship "Portland" on 10th September 1824 holding letters of Recommendation. Thomas received a "Grant of Land" of 640 acres at Mills Plains, now Deddington, where he took up occupancy in 1826. Robert subsequently received another Grant of Land of 800 acres in 1829 adjoining and it is from this subsequent Grant that he gave an "Allotment upon which was erected the Chapel.

The Chapel was built by Public Subscription on this "Gifted Land" with Land Ownership being transferred to The Residents of Deddington in 1849. From 1865 the Chapel began use as the Local School and continued for this purpose until 1885. It was again used for the same purpose in 1912. The graves present include Colonial Artist John Glover and his wife Sarah (nee Young) and their sons Henry & John Richardson Glover. The Chapel is still in use today.



St Luke's Uniting (Presbyterian) Church
Bothwell

St Luke's Uniting (Presbyterian) Church was built in 1831 to a design by John Lee Archer. The dripstones were carved by Daniel Herbert. St Luke s has what appears to be carvings of a Celtic god and godess beside the front doors. They have been attributed to the convict sculptor, Daniel Herbert, who was also responsible for his excellent work on the bridge at Ross. No attempt has been made to remove them even though their identity is now known. In an ironic twist, Governor Arthur is said to have ordered the architect, John Lee Archer, to change the rounded windows because they were 'unchristian'.



The church has what appears to be carvings of a Celtic god and godess beside the front doors. They have been attributed to the convict sculptor, Daniel Herbert, who was also responsible for the excellent work on the bridge at Ross. No attempt hs been made to remove them even though their identity is now known. In an ironic twist, Governor Arthur is said to have ordered the architect, John Lee Archer, to change the rounded windows because they were 'unchristian'. The church was used by both Presbyterian and Anglican worshippers for over 60 years.



Penguin Uniting Church
Main Road, Penguin

Penguin Uniting Church is a beautiful old timber church with some particularly attractive decorative flourishes. The original Primitive Methodist Church opened on 14 January 1866 but was later destroyed by fire. Prominent north-west architect and builder William Henry Morris created the current structure which opened on 10 May 1903. The interior features examples of Morris s carvings including the handrail on the gallery. The church's distinctive key-hole stained glass windows are unique.


St Stephens Anglican Church

Nearby St Stephens Anglican Church on Main Road was built on land given by Alexander Clerke from his Coroneaugh Estate in 1874, with the first service being conducted by Rev. S. B. Broome on Sunday, 17th January, 1875. Its construction - a bluestone base and timber with a shingled roof and bellcote - is typical of the materials available in the local area at the time.

It is a simple church which comprises of a nave, chancel and vestry. The interior of the church is lined with blackwood that was grown in the district, and the altar was built in memory of the local men killed during World War 1. A small church of only 8 metres x 5 metres when constructed, it was enlarged in 1900, with the old church being sawn in two, the eastern end was stubbed up  and made the chancel, while the other half was added to and became the vestry.

St Andrew's Anglican Church
Lonsdale Promenade, Westbury

The town of Westbury was envisaged as a major town in North West Tasmania by the early colonial government, as evidenced by the large number of streets surveyed (only a few were developed), and its two large churches - the bluestone Holy Trinity Catholic Church, designed by Henry Hunter, Tasmania's most prolific Victorian architect, and St. Andrews Anglican Church, opposite the village green.

The latter's foundation stone was laid by Lieutenant Governor George Arthur in 1836. The nave was opened in 1842, the church was consecrated in 1851, the tower was added in 1859 and the chancel was completed in 1890. The church is noted for its fine carvings particularly 'The seven sisters' chancel screen. They were all completed by Mrs Ellen Nora Payne who was born and grew up in the village.



St James Anglican Church
15 Smith Street, Waratah

Waratah's 19th century prosperity from it being home to the richest tin mine in the world (Mt Bischoff) is perfectly expressed in the small community's church which was built in 1880. In 1889 the Mt Bischoff mine was being lit by electricity. The mine manager, H.W.F. Kayser had the electric light connected to the church. Thus St James became the first church in Tasmania to use an electric light, it being lit by hydro electric power.

A simple, weatherboard Victorian Carpenter Gothic ecclesiastical buildin, it features steeply pitched gable roofs and decorative barge boards. The doors and window all have lancet arched tops and there is a small steel structure holding bell.



All Saints Church
Port Arthur Penal Settlement, Tasman Peninsula

The ruins of the church and the Commandant's House stand on the highest ground at either end of the Port Arthur penal settlement, as if to express the absolute authority of God and the State, and the belief that religion played a vital role in the process of reform. Australia's first non-denominational church, it was built 1836-41 to house up to 1,000 worshippers every Sunday; the convicts sat on the stone-flagged floor of the main body of the building, watched over by armed guards, while the free people sat on raised wooden pews to the left and right, behind a curtain, so they did not have to look upon the convicts.

It was a free church - Anglicans and Catholics worshipped together - until 1843 when the newly appointed chaplain, a Church of Ireland clergyman, vented his hatred of Catholics from the pulpit, which led to Catholics refusing to attend his services and eventually getting their own services in another building.

It is said that the church was never consecrated so Catholics could also use it, but others believe it was because an inmate, one Joseph Shuttleworth, was murdered with an axe by William Riley, as they were digging the foundations of the church in 1835.

The church's wooden spire blew down in 1876 and the building was gutted in a bushfire in 1884. Sections of the church have been rebuilt and stabalised throughout the 20th century.


St Andrews Presbyterian Church
36 St John Street, Launceston

A fine propertioned stuccoed brick church with well crafted Gothic details and tower on its eastern side supporting a delicate Freestone octagonal spire. The walls are buttressed with angled buttresses on corners. All buttresses topped with pinnacles. Built in 1867, the church is one of the few remaining works of a distinguished Tasmanian architect Henry Clayton.



St John's Anglican Church
36 St John Street, Launceston

A remarkable eclectic structure of unfinished design, the building is a successful combination of Georgian "gothik" (naive adaption), Byzantine and Gothic Revival, and an art nouveau adaptation of late Gothic Revival design styles.

A large cruciform design parish church of brick, sandstone and concrete,it was built in three main stages. The oldest section (1825) by David Lambe is a naive adaption of Georgian "gothick". The later structure (1901-11 and 1938) chancel transepts and crossing, is a unique mixture of Byzantine and Gothic elements. The nave (1938) is neo-Gothic with art nouveau decoration.

The foundations of St. John s Launceston as a parish date from the arrival of the Revd. John Youl in 1819, in Port Dalrymple. Divine Service (as Sunday services were called) were held under the trees or in a blacksmith s shop; when wet. Youl called his congregation together by striking an iron barrel with a mallet, walking through the settlement in his canonical dress . When it first opened its doors in 1825, the parish church existed under the Diocese of Madras, Calcutta in India.



Brickendon Chapel
Brickendon Farm, Longford

Part of the world heritage-listed Brickendon Farm village, Brickendon Chapel is an enchanting Victorian Picturesque Rustic Gothic building featuring steep pitched shingle roof, original stained glass windows and the mellow timbers of its huon pine pews. Built around 1856, it has a high pitched shingled gabled roof, belltower and gabled foyer. The chapel is highly decorative with many neo-gothic features including brick buttresses and decorative fascias and stained glass windows.

The Farm Village, of which the chapel is an integral part, was the hub of Brickendon, a 465 hectare grant taken up by William Archer in 1824 on land opposite his brother at Woolmers, where he developed a new and innovative farming enterprise. William developed Brickendon into a mixed farming enterprise with cropping being a major focus, using a convict workforce of up to 50 people who lived in the tiny village he created. By the 1840's Brickendon was highly regarded as one of the best farms in the colony.



Anglican Church of the Good Shepherd
59 Main Street, Hadspen

Thomas Reibey, a wealthy landowner of nearby Entally estate, later a state politician & premier, had agreed to provide the funds for the construction of the church. The building's design was based on St Mary s parish Church, Lutterworth, England. Reibey had WG & E Habershon of London draw up plans in 1857. Construction, estimated to cost 1000 pounds, began in 1868 with locally sourced stonework by Robert Sleightholm whom Reibey had met on a ship from England.

Midway through construction, a scandal erupted around Reibey and a married woman. Her husband raised the issue with the bishop, but no action by the Church again with the Church of England Synod in England. Nonetheless, the Bishop had refused to construct the bluestone church with 'tainted funds'. Reibey subsequently took libel action but his complaint was dismissed and the Jury stated that the allegations against him were true. Thus the foundations with no roof stood for 93 years, even though both Reibey and his wife Catherine were buried in the graveyard behind it. The church was finally completed in 1961. The old and new sections are clearly defined by the different colour of the stone used in construction.



Concgregational chapel and schoolroom
Melton Mowbray

The only buildings still standing in the Melton Mowbray townsite these days are Melton Manor - now the Melton Mowbray Hotel - and a simple chapel next door that has served a variety of functions during its life. It was erected in 1866 for use as a Concgregational chapel and schoolroom (in those days churches rand the local schools). From 1901 to 1939 it was used as a state school and in 1942 it was transferred to the Church of England. It was restored in 1990 by members of the Dick family in memory of George Abercromby Dick (1909-1987), owner of nearby Mt Vernon from 1940 to 1967 and for 20 years a trustee of the Diocese.



St Mark's Church
Midland Highway, Pontville

Few travelers driving through Pontville could fail to notice the striking exterior of St Mark's Church, standing on the top of the hill on the north side of Pontville. St Mark's was designed by the convict architect James Blackburn in a very unusual Romanesque style and built between 1839 and 1841 by Joseph Moir from very finely tooled local Brighton white freestone. The design of the church is said to resemble in many respects a church near Lake Maggiore in Switzerland. James Blackburn had been transported from England in 1833 for forgery. Because of his academic qualifications, he was attached to the public Works department and within a few years he had proved his worth by designing plans for a number of churches and public buildings in Hobart and nearby districts.

The building was erected by convict labourers over a period of two years, and took so long because the convicts were often called away for other projects deemed more important. The church was dedicated on the 21st February 1841 by Archdeacon Williams Hutchins. The main facade incorporates a central Norman doorway flanked by raking arcades and low towers. The interior includes elaborately carved furniture by Hobart woodcarver Ernest Osborne. This replaced earlier Tractarian fittings and altar with elaborate hangings.

St Joseph's Catholic Church
Gray Street, Fingal

Three churches in Fingal dominate the freestone buildings of the township. They are St Joseph's (Catholic), St Peter's (Anglican) and the original Presbyterian church (now the Uniting Church). They were built in 1880, 1867 and 1881 respectively, and contain some of the State's finest examples of traditional window leadlighting. St Peter's is the town's oldest church.


St Peter's Anglican Church, Fingal

St Joseph's (1880) is situated on a ridge to the south overlooking the whole town. Stylistic very similar to St Peters Anglican Church nearby, on which it was presumably based, its is a fine Gothic Revival church, with gabled roof and buttresses under the gable ends. Its random rubble sandstone walls have quoins on the corners and around openings.


St Andrew's Uniting Church, Fingal

St Andrew's, formerly Presbyterian Church, is a very well preserved example of Victorian Carpenter Gothic Architecture. This church is an exact replica of the first church built in Derby but is in a far better condition. Captain Samuel Tulloch of Launceston, a great benefactor to Tasmanian Presbyteriansim, was invited to perform the stone laying ceremony on 24th March 1881. Tulloch was a Shetland Islander who had made his fortune as a shipmaster, ship owner and merchant and was a one-time representative in the Tasmanian House of Assembly. The church was completed by July 1881 and opened for service on Sunday the 10th of that month.



St John the Baptist Anglican Church
Duke Street, Buckland

Buckland is a quiet rural village noted for the beauty and historic importance of its St John the Baptist Anglican Church. Its importance is partly its age - it was built in 1846 to a design by architect Crawford Cripps Wegman - and its East Window. There has been much speculation about the age of the East Window with some people claiming that it was originally designed for Battle Abbey in England, a church which dates from 1094. The story is that before the famous Battle of Hastings, which was actually fought at Battle in Sussex, William the Conqueror vowed that if he won he would build an abbey to commemorate his victory. Legend has it that he built the Abbey where the English king Harold II had fallen. The church was pulled down during the Reformation and it is possible that the window may have found its way out to Australia.



The problem, however, is that experts believe the window was created sometime in the fourteenth century (some 300 years after the Battle of Hastings). The mystery of the window probably started because it is accepted that the Reverend F. H. Cox, who was Rector of the church from 1846-48, brought it to Australia when he emigrated from Sussex. One account even has Lord Robert Cecil, the British Secretary of State for the Colonies, giving the window to Cox before he departed from England. Whatever the story it is still remarkable to see a fourteenth century church window in a church which wasn't built until 1846. The church's graveyard is also of particular interest.



St David's Cathedral
Cnr Macquarie and Murray Streets, Hobart

Built of stone between 1868 and 1936 in Gothic Revival style, St David's is widely regarded as the finest example outside England of the work of the leading Victorian architect, George F. Bodley. It is the second church on the site. The arcaded entry features a large west window with fine tracery in the gable-end balanced by buttressed turrets. Other features include a simple square tower in Oatlands stone, with castellated parapet and quatrefoil tracery to the openings.

Consecrated in 1874 St David's is the Bishop of Tasmania's principal place of teaching. The Cathedral has recently undergone restoration work with a new Narthex, lighting scheme and restored stonework and floor.



Scots Church
25-29 Bathurst Street, Hobart

Formerly St Andrew's Church, Scots Memorial Uniting Church (1834-36) is an early Georgian Gothic stone church, designed by J.E. Addison and built by his firm, Jackson & Addison. It features a central tower-like parapet and four small spires. The parapet crenellations surround the building. The structure was extended three metres in 1860 to accommodate a new organ.

Its neighbouring hall is a simple Colonial sandstone chapel of coursed undressed brickwork, built in 1824 and attributed to W. Wilson. It was the original church and as such is the oldest Presbyterian Church in Australia. Its foundation stone was laid by Lt. Gov. Arthur on 2nd March 1824.

Built of stone between 1868 and 1936 in Gothic Revival style, St David's is widely regarded as the finest example outside England of the work of the leading Victorian architect, George F. Bodley. It is the second church on the site. The arcaded entry features a large west window with fine tracery in the gable-end balanced by buttressed turrets. Other features include a simple square tower in Oatlands stone, with castellated parapet and quatrefoil tracery to the openings.

Consecrated in 1874 St David's is the Bishop of Tasmania's principal place of teaching. The Cathedral has recently undergone restoration work with a new Narthex, lighting scheme and restored stonework and floor.



St Mark's Anglican Church
7 East Westbury place, Deloraine

This church is a fine Gothic Revival brick church designed by W.A. Clayton. With its tall spire and hilltop location, St Mark's dominates the settlement of Deloraine in the best English tradition. The main portion of the church was dedicated in March 1859 and consecrated in March 1860 while the chancel and sanctuary were added in 1878. Its three level octagonal tower with gable top to each face is surmounted by a spire. The church features a rose window to the transept, fine north and south windows with tracery and label moulds and blanked arches to the west facade.


St Lukes Anglican Church, Richmond

St Luke's Anglican Church and St John's Catholic Church
30 Torrens Street and 46 St Johns Circle, Richmond

The Geogrian town of Richmond has two iconic churches - St Lukes Anglican and St John's Catholic Churches. St Luke's is an excellent Georgian stone church designed by one of Tasmnania's most talented colonial architects, John Lee Archer, and erected in 1834-36. The foundation stone laid by Governor Arthur. The clock was installed in 1922 although made in England in 1828 (it had first been installed in the tower of St David's, Hobart). James Thompson, the convict who did the original timber work inside the church, was granted his freedom for his trouble.


St John's Catholic Church, Richmond

High on a rise on the other side of the Coal River is St John's Church (1836). It features a bell tower with buttressed sides. There is also a school house associated with the church built in a Gothic Picturesque style with stucco walls and gable roofs.



Christ Church
Cullenswood

The village of Cullenswood grew out of a pioneer farming property of the same name. Christ Church, Cullenswood, was completed in 1847 and by 1851 Robert had secured his nephew, Dr Samuel Parsons, from Ireland, to take over as the first clergyman. He was installed by Van Diemens Land's first Anglican Bishop Francis Russell Nixon. By this time the Break O' Day Plains was becoming well settled with some six to eight grants issued in the area around Cullenswood. Opened in 1847, the church was built on land donated by Robert Legge, who also covered the costs of the construction of the church and associated buildings.

By 1858 when a Catholic Church was built a few hundred yards to the west of the Anglican Church, there was a Post Office, Store and a hotel called the Tasmanian Inn (This is not to be confused with the Tasmanian Hotel at Fingal) at Cullenswood and until St Marys established as a town some years later, Cullenswood was the main service centre for the eastern end of the Fingal Valley. Today the village of Cullenswood is nothing more than the Anglican Church and its Rectory, both of which have seen better days. The property of Cullenswood, however, has survived well and, along with Malahide at Fingal, is still in the hands of descendants of the original grantees.