(ANGLICAN)ALBERT STREET, SEBASTOPOL, BALLARAT Roof repairs beyond the parish resources. Well, at least it’s not going to be Heavenly Pizzas or an “Arts Hub”. Sebastopol Anglican church, Holy Trinity, on the southern fringe of Ballarat, has been sold to a Sikh group, who will use it as a centre for their community. From Anglicanism toContinue reading “HOLY TRINITY, SEBASTOPOL”
Tag Archives: 19th Century
DAYLESFORD UNITING CHURCH
CENTRAL SPRINGS ROAD, DAYLESFORD One of the finest spires in country Victoria. Above the trees that cloak the hill on which the pretty central Victorian spa town of Daylesford is built, three silhouettes stand out as you approach from the south: the spiky turret of the state school, the square Italianate tower of the postContinue reading “DAYLESFORD UNITING CHURCH”
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, ST KILDA
(CORNER BARKLY STREET AND ALMA ROAD, ST KILDA) For sale after 170 years. It looks as though redundancy might finally have caught up with St Kilda’s splendid Presbyterian church, a church already once snatched from the jaws of closure. With its soaring 142-foot spire a landmark visible from all over the district, this church isContinue reading “PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, ST KILDA”
NEIL STREET UNITING CHURCH BALLARAT
(FORMERLY METHODIST)CORNER OF NEIL AND MACARTHUR STREETS, BALLARAT Yet another “arts centre”. One by one, they shut down, the Uniting churches of Ballarat. The most prominent, St Andrew’s, and the Pleasant Street church have already long since passed into secular use (see separate posts). Soon the only church left in the city centre will beContinue reading “NEIL STREET UNITING CHURCH BALLARAT”
ALL SAINTS’ OLD CATHEDRAL, BENDIGO
(ANGLICAN)MACKENZIE STREET, BENDIGO Derelict after a century and a half. This unassuming Gothic Revival church in the Early English style on a hill in the heart of Bendigo long did service as a cathedral. It is now derelict and much desecrated by vandals, who invariably, such is the respect for the past (and other people’sContinue reading “ALL SAINTS’ OLD CATHEDRAL, BENDIGO”
AUBURN UNITING CHURCH
(UNITING, FORMERLY METHODIST),CORNER OXLEY ROAD AND HEPBURN STREET, AUBURN A noble bell tower with no bell. This remarkable building might have been designed as a variation on Mark Twain’s description of Maryborough and its grandiose railway station – a “station with a town attached”. This is a tower with a church attached. No Methodist understatementContinue reading “AUBURN UNITING CHURCH”
ST ANDREW’S, ROKEWOOD
(UNITING)FERRARS STREET, ROKEWOOD I spoke too soon. St Andrew’s Uniting, formerly Presbyterian, church at Rokewood was built in 1866, in bluestone with freestone dressings to a design by Alexander Davidson. The spire, with its unusual adaptation of a broach at the base and canopied upper openings, was added in 1905. The building is now forContinue reading “ST ANDREW’S, ROKEWOOD”
ST ANDREW’S, GARDINER
(FORMERLY PRESBYTERIAN, NOW UNITING)CORNER BURKE AND MALVERN ROADS, GARDINER An inner-city church rebuilt on a new site. Is this beautiful bluestone church at risk or not? It is hard to say. A notice on its former website says its congregation was “disbanded” on 10 April 2016 and that the church would become the “permanent spiritualContinue reading “ST ANDREW’S, GARDINER”
ALBERT PARK METHODIST CHURCH, ALBERT PARK
(FORMERLY METHODIST)CARDIGAN PLACE, ALBERT PARK The post-Christian era in plain view. If you want to see what the post-Christian era looks like, Bridport Street in Melbourne’s rich respectable seaside suburb of Albert Park is a one-stop exhibition. At each end of this thronged street stands a large and imposing brick church. At the eastern endContinue reading “ALBERT PARK METHODIST CHURCH, ALBERT PARK”
HOLY TRINITY, GREENDALE
(FORMERLY ANGLICAN)NAPOLEON STREET, GREENDALE Less than half a church, rescued from ruin. This church is not at risk, nor was it ever a completed church, but I include it as a curio of rural architecture. For 86 years it was one of the few genuine ruins accessible from Melbourne. Holy Trinity, or the “half church”,Continue reading “HOLY TRINITY, GREENDALE”
HERE TODAY... 