(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: Church at risk
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”
ALL SAINTS’, WEST FOOTSCRAY
(ANGLICAN)CORNER OF BALLARAT ROAD AND MAY STREET, WEST FOOTSCRAY A fine example of 1960s “contemporary”. This church, ultra-contemporary for its time, seems to have escaped the notice of heritage consultants and architectural historians. Possibly that is because of its locality, on the corner of one of the most dispiriting suburban roads in a shabby partContinue reading “ALL SAINTS’, WEST FOOTSCRAY”
THOMSON MEMORIAL CHURCH, TERANG
(PRESBYTERIAN)PRINCES HIGHWAY, TERANG A superb church which must be preserved at all costs. This is a magnificent church which would not be out of place as a provincial cathedral – indeed it is more imposing than some of the cathedrals of rural Australia. As a building it is a product of generosity and imagination. AsContinue reading “THOMSON MEMORIAL CHURCH, TERANG”
ST AGNES’S, BLACK ROCK
(ANGLICAN)ARKARINGA CRESCENT, BLACK ROCK Rus in urbe beside the bay. St Agnes’s is a country church in a suburb. It was in the country, more or less, when it was built, and has kept that air, even to the extent of acquiring a thoroughly unsuitable flat-roofed extension at the front for before- and after-service get-togethers,Continue reading “ST AGNES’S, BLACK ROCK”
ST GEORGE’S, GEELONG
(PRESBYTERIAN)CORNER OF LA TROBE TERRACE AND RYRIE STREET, GEELONG Closed and to all appearances forgotten. This is one of those mysterious cases where a church shuts its doors after a service and shut they stay without anything further happening. Time goes by and no attempt seems to be made to reopen the building or toContinue reading “ST GEORGE’S, GEELONG”
HERE TODAY... 