(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: Country Churches
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”
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”
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 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 PATRICK’S, ROKEWOOD
(ROMAN CATHOLIC)COLAC-BALLARAT ROAD, ROKEWOOD One more disposal in what looks like a clearance sale. The Roman Catholic authorities in Ballarat are at it again, selling off a perfectly good solid church building which will now be mutilated architecturally by being put to some secular use, probably as someone’s house. They’d hardly got the very handsomeContinue reading “ST PATRICK’S, ROKEWOOD”
ST PHILIP THE EVANGELIST, RUPANYUP
(ANGLICAN) CROMIE STREET, RUPANYUP Architect Louis Williams at his best. The last ten years or so have been bad enough for churches in urban Victoria, with closures planned or effected, but in the country they have been disastrous. Scores of churches have shut down, as rural populations decline and townships are turned into ghosts ofContinue reading “ST PHILIP THE EVANGELIST, RUPANYUP”
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”
ALL SAINTS’, BLACKWOOD
FORMERLY ANGLICAN, (BYERS ROAD, BLACKWOOD) A mine of history shut down and sold. Another plain and simple country church transformed into a house. This one had quite a history behind it. Melbourne was but thirty years old when All Saints’ was consecrated on 29 October 1865 by Victoria’s first Anglican bishop, Charles Perry (1807-1891). ItContinue reading “ALL SAINTS’, BLACKWOOD”
HERE TODAY... 