Churches of Tasmania

St John’s Anglican church is Launceston’s oldest place of worship. The bicentenary of the first Divine Service, held on Friday 16 December 1825, is celebrated this year. Before the construction of St John’s was completed, religious services were conducted in various buildings which were prepared as temporary places of worship. One of these included a converted blacksmith’s shop in Cameron Street where parishioners were summoned to “Divine worship” by an iron drum. The early history of the Anglican church at Launceston (and George Town) is closely bound up with the life of Reverend John Youl (1773 – 1827), the first chaplain appointed in the north of Tasmania.  This blog entry reproduces a paper read by Rev. W. R. Barrett to the Northern Clerical Reading Union which he delivered in 1928. The paper focuses on the life of John Youl and his work in George Town and Launceston. The following extract was published in the Launceston Examiner: It is my purpose in this paper to put toge...

Tunnack is small rural town about 20 kilometres south of Oatlands which was predominantly settled by Irish migrants in the mid-19th century. The district was densely settled under the Waste Lands Act of 1863, which sold cheap land in small lots for clearing and farming. The settlement was officially proclaimed in 1871 and adopted the name ‘tunnack’ which is derived from the local Aboriginal word for cold. Religious life in the Tunnack district was dominated by Catholic and Presbyterian communities reflecting the significant numbers of Irish and Scottish settlers. Unlike most rural towns, an Anglican church was never established. However, the Methodists were active at Tunnack from the 1870s and a church was eventually built in 1903. Little is known about the small weatherboard church which functioned for only about five or six years. In August 1902 the Midlands News reported: “A public meeting was held here [Tunnack] to arrange for the erection of a new Methodist Church. The attendance...

Lymington is a coastal settlement south of Cygnet. It was the site of a convict probation station established in the 1840s and by the late 19th century it had developed as an orchard-growing district. St Teresa’s replaced St Patrick’s Convent School at Upper Lymington which had been established in 1900 [ See No.1623 ]. The new convent school, which also served as a church, was built at a more central location. The foundation stone for the new school was laid by the Archbishop of Hobart, Dr. William Hayden on Sunday 21 December 1930. The Mercury reported: “The parish priest (the Rev; A. Cullen) explained the reasons that had prompted them to abandon the old convent at Lymington, and concentrate on the new and central position. He said he had personally purchased 10½ acres of land for the purpose, and deemed it the greatest honour of his life to be able to give the deeds to the Archbishop that day…. The Catholic schools were the very heart of the church, and he hoped that the new school...

Kamona is a rural district approximately 15 kilometres southwest of Scottsdale, situated on the eastern side of the Sideling Range. With the development of the Scottsdale-Branxholm railway in 1909, the area opened up for development. In 1910 the district’s name changed from Billycock Hill to Kamona, which is part of the aboriginal word for “venom", the full word being "kamona moina”. Kamona’s church was originally a State school built by volunteer labour in 1908. When a new school was built in 1915 the old school building was adapted for use as a church. Over the years it was used as a place of worship by Presbyterians, Methodists, the Salvation Army and by the 1940s as a Gospel Hall. The church was in use well into the mid 1950s. It is not known when religious services ceased or what has become of the building. There is a surprising number of reports about the Kamona church given the relative isolation of the district and its small population. A small selection of these rep...

Belle Vue is a property overlooking the South Esk river east of the Midland Highway near Epping Forest. Belle Vue was originally granted to Launceston brewer William Barnes, who managed nearby Clyne Vale. It is likely that Barnes did not occupy the property, for he soon exchanged it for land near his brewery in Launceston, which he named Trevallyn. In 1828 David Gibson of Pleasant Banks acquired the land on which Belle Vue now stands. A stone building had been erected on the property by the 1840s and the estate was managed until James Gibson (1829-1906), son of David Gibson, took up residence in the 1850s. The Eskvale Presbyterian chapel was built in the vicinity of Belle Vue in 1846. In 1885 the Eskvale chapel was closed following the construction of a new Presbyterian church at Epping Forest. The land on which the chapel stood was sold to Gibson in 1885. It is likely that it was about this time a private chapel was built at Belle Vue. While little information is available about th...

The Little Eucharistic Brothers of Divine Will are a Catholic ‘contemplative-active’ community of men who settled at a rural property outside in Dover in 2014. The community was formed in Perth in 2013 and had previously been associated with the Apostles of Perpetual Adoration, a Public Association of Christ’s Faithful established in the Archdiocese of Perth to promote perpetual Eucharistic adoration. in 2025 the Little Eucharistic Brothers of the Divine Will relocated to St James’ at Cygnet where they are based in the old St James’ Convent. A private chapel, or Oratory, will feature at the Cygnet Convent as it did at the Dover Beit Achim (House of Brothers). The former convent at Cygnet Sources and Further Information: https://hobart.catholic.org.au/vocations/lay-religious-orders/little-eucharistic-brothers-of-divine-will/ https://littleeucharisticbrothers.org/ https://hobart.catholic.org.au/2021/03/15/little-eucharistic-brothers-of-divine-will-become-public-association-of-christs-fa...

This article is one of a series about buildings associated with Tasmania’s historical churches. These buildings include Sunday schools, parish halls, convents, schools and residences of the clergy. Ancillary buildings are often overlooked and rarely feature in published histories. My aim is to create a simple record of these buildings, including of those that no longer exist. Lymington is a coastal settlement south of Cygnet. It was the site of a convict probation station established in the 1840s and by the late 19th century it had developed as an orchard-growing district. St Patrick’s Convent School was located midway between Lymington and Wattle Grove.  In the early 1890s Archbishop Murphy promised the Catholic community of Cygnet that a community of nuns would be established to run a Catholic school for the district. Father O’ Flynn welcomed a small group of three Sisters; M. Joseph; M. Hyacinth, and M. Magdalen, as they arrived aboard the S.S. Nubeena. Following the establish...

Nubeena is a small town on the western side of the Tasman Peninsula. It is approximately 13 kilometres northwest of Port Arthur. The town was previously named Wedge Bay. The Church of Christ at Nubeena is located at the corner of Nubeena Back Road and Nubeena Road opposite the original church [ See No 1583 ] where the final service was held on 12 December 1971. The first communion service at the new church was held on Sunday 19 December 1971 with Church Elder Len Munday presiding. The building was officially open in June of the following year. The Church of Christ is the only place of worship in Nubeena. The only other religious denominations which have had churches in the town were the Baptists and Congregationalists while the Anglican’s worshiped in the Nubeena Hall. The church in the 1970s. Photo: Church of Christ, Tasman Peninsula Centenary Celebrations Photograph - Derek Flannery - churchesaustralia.org Sources and Further Information: Neville, C.C., 1979: Church of Chri...

Rossarden is a former tin mining town in north-east Tasmania. In the 1930s a settlement was established at a site below Stack’s Bluff following the opening of the Aberfoyle Tin Mining Company, which began operating in September 1932. A dramatic drop in metal prices in the 1970s saw the mine’s production decline and its eventual closure in 1982. The town’s population dropped from a peak of over 500 when the mine was fully operational to approximately 60 permanent residents today. ‘Church News’ of 1957 states that a house was to be converted to serve as an Anglican church at Rossarden. In August 1958 a further article in ‘Church News’ remarked that there was “hope to start building soon”.  The church was dedicated as the ‘Church of the Transfiguration’ due to Rossarden’s location in the mountain heights. The church was either removed or pulled down in the late 1970s or early 1980s following the collapse of mining operations. At the time of writing this article a photograph of the bui...

Zeehan is a town on the West Coast region approximately 40 kilometres from Queenstown. As a significant mining town it became the administrative centre for a number of mining companies in the region. Zeehan was established in the early 1880s and by the turn of the 20th century it had become Tasmania's third largest town. Zeehan takes its name from Mount Zeehan which had been named by George Bass and Matthew Flinders after Abel Tasman's brig ‘Zeehaen’. In 1890 the Anglican community at Zeehan built a “church room” at a cost of £250. During Reverend King’s tenure (1890-1893) a second more substantial “temporary” church was built. This was completed in July 1891. [ See No. 1611 ] Fifteen years were to pass before further progress was made in building a permanent church. Foundation Stone for St Luke’s was laid on Sunday 10 November 1907 by Bishop Mercer. and the church was officially opened and dedicated by Archdeacon Beresford on 11 August 1909. A report in the Zeehan and Dundas ...