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Welcome to Churches of Tasmania

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I love history and photography and also have an interest in architecture. When I started this blog in 2017 I had the goal of photographing every historical church in Tasmania. This was initially driven by the proposed mass sell-off of Anglican churches. I was concerned that these buildings would be modified and no longer be accessible once in private hands. As the years have passed this goal has changed to writing short histories of each and every church built in Tasmania, of which there are about 1600.   My earliest posts are rather amateurish but my research and writing has improved somewhat over the years.  In time my hope is to revise and update every article to a publishable standard. I have received an overwhelming amount of material from followers of the blog and I will incorporate this into the articles in the revision phase. Eventually I hope to publish the best of the articles. At present the blog attracts about 1000 views per day and I hope that this will continue to grow. 
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No. 1504 - Hobart - Bathurst Street - Union Chapel (1864)

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The Playhouse Theatre on Bathurst Street has been used as a venue for public entertainment for almost a century. The building was constructed in 1864 as a chapel for a Congregational sect led by Reverend John Wilkes Simmons. Following Simmons’ death in 1900 the chapel became the home of the Helping Hand Mission which was administered by Hobart’s Congregational Church. [ See No. 1362 ] In 1935 the building was sold and used as a cinema. In 1938 the former chapel was purchased by Hobart Repertory Theatre Society and was reopened as the Playhouse Theatre. The history of the Union Chapel is closely bound up with its founder, Reverend John Wilkes Simmons. Simmons was born in Birmingham in 1831 and upon completion of his schooling he trained for the ministry. He was ordained in 1856 and took charge of an Independent Church at Olney, Buckinghamshire. In 1860 he joined the London Missionary Society with the intention of engaging in missionary work in the Pacific ‘South Sea Islands’. He left
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No. 1503 - West Kentish - Baptist Church (1891-1968)

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West Kentish is a village on the Kentish Road that leads to Lake Barrington west of Sheffield. It is named after Government Surveyor Nathaniel Kentish, who, with a party of 20 probationary convicts explored and surveyed the area. In earlier times the area around West Kentish was sometimes referred to as “Promised Land”. The first Baptist church at West Kentish opened in October 1891. The weatherboard church served the Baptists for 75 years before it was replaced by a modern brick structure in 1968. The Baptists commenced meetings at West Kentish in 1890 with services held in a barn on the property of Angus McNab. In 1891 McNab donated land for the construction of a church built by voluntary labour which included James Boutcher; Ben Martin; Archie McNab as well as the Davis; Jubb; May and Nibbs families. The North West Post records that a tea meeting was held on Wednesday 22 October to celebrate the opening of the church: “…A good many went out from Sheffield, shopkeepers in particul
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No. 1502 - Strahan - Holy Trinity Anglican Church (1892)

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Strahan is a small town on the west coast lying at the western end of the Lyell Highway. It was originally developed as a port of access for the hinterland mining settlements. The town was known as Long Bay or Regatta Point until 1877, when it was formally named after the colony’s Governor, Sir George Cumine Strahan. The first Anglican service at Strahan took place in October 1887 and was held in the Custom’s shed. A Sunday school was established in 1889 and in 1890 an acre of land was purchased off Mr Gaffney for the sum of £50. Until the opening of Holy Trinity Anglican church in 1892, services were held in the Strahan Court House. In April 1891 plans for a weatherboard church were approved and construction by the contractor, Mr Goddard, commenced later in that year. In May 1892 The Tasmanian reported: “Rev. Oberlin Harris paid his usual monthly visit to Strahan…in the afternoon, in company with two of the church managers, he visited the new church in Harvey-street, which is nearly c
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No. 1501 - Bronte Park - St Paul's non-denominational Protestant Church (1952-1959)

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Bronte Park is a former village on the Central Plateau built by the Hydro Electric Commission. It was established to house workers constructing the Tungatinah and Nive River schemes. By the early 1950s it accommodated 700 workers and the village had a store, police station, post office, school, cinema as well as two churches. When construction work ended in the late 1950s most of the workers left. The remains of the village were sold to a private operator in 1991. Tasmania’s vast hydro-electric scheme dates back to 1914 when the Tasmanian Government bought a small electricity company in financial difficulty and created the Hydro-Electric Department. The first power station at Waddamana in the Great Lake Power Scheme was opened in 1916. Over a period of 80 years, 30 power stations and 54 major dams were built. Construction camps and villages were built to support major projects and during this period 10 villages were established, most of which had a full social infrastructure including
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No. 1500 - Bronte Park - St Michael the Archangel Catholic Church (1952-1959)

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Bronte Park is a former village on the Central Plateau built by the Hydro Electric Commission. It was established to house workers constructing the Tungatinah and Nive River schemes. By the early 1950s it accommodated 700 workers and the village had a store, police station, post office, school, cinema as well as two churches. When construction work ended in the late 1950s most of the workers left. The remains of the village were sold to a private operator in 1991. Tasmania’s vast hydro-electric scheme dates back to 1914 when the Tasmanian Government bought a small electricity company in financial difficulty and created the Hydro-Electric Department. The first power station at Waddamana in the Great Lake Power Scheme was opened in 1916. Over a period of 80 years, 30 power stations and 54 major dams were built. Construction camps and villages were built to support major projects and during this period 10 villages were established, most of which had a full social infrastructure including
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No. 1499 - Invermay - Tibetan Buddhist Institute

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This is the second in a of a series of articles that explores Tasmanian places of worship other than Christian churches. These buildings include mosques; synagogues; temples and gurdwaras. At least seven 'non-Christian' religious denominations have purpose-built places of worship in the Tasmania. According to the 2021 census Buddhists comprise about one percent of Tasmania’s population. There are a number of Buddhist centres across the State. In the 1990s a Tibetan Buddhist Meditation group was established in Launceston. In the year 2000 the group acquired the former Uniting Church buildings located on Bryan Street, Invermay. The new facilities became the home of the Palpung Kagyu Thigsum Chokyi Ghatsal Tibetan Buddhist Institute. The centre is based on the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, a lineage of Buddhism where oral teachings are passed on from master to student. The institute provides meditation classes two times per week as well as daily Tibetan Buddhist prayer practic
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No. 1498 - Springfield - "The Church" (2020)

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Springfield is a rural area which lies approximately 5 kilometres south of Scottsdale in north-east Tasmania. Although Springfield never developed into a town, the district was settled in the 1870s with a post office opening in 1876 followed by a school and public hall. The district once supported four churches with the Wesleyan Methodists being the first to establish a church in 1871. Anglicans at Springfield used the Wesleyan church until they opened their own church in 1884. St Paul’s church was officially opened on Sunday 23 March 1884 Sunday school was built in 1894 on a site near the old Springfield shop at the intersection of South Springfield Road and the Tasman Highway. In 1923 the building was moved to a new location. In 2019 it was moved a second time and it now stands alongside the Springfield Hall where it is used as a church by an Amish family, the McCallums’. The Church’s new location is on the South Springfield Road adjacent to the Springfield Public Hall. In 2023 St Ma
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No. 1497 - Dysart - Camp Woodfield Chapel

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Dysart is a small settlement in rural district which bears the same name. It lies on the Midlands Highway approximately 40 kilometres north of Hobart. Until about 1875 the area was known as Shepton Monacute. The name Dysart was given to the Parish in 1836. It was taken from the property Dysart Park. Camp Woodfield was established as a Christian camp by the Church of Christ in the 1960s. In the 1970s the former St Paul’s Anglican church at Strickland, which had closed in 1969, was moved to Woodfield to be used as a chapel. In 2019 the Woodfield was redeveloped as the Woodfield Adventure Park. In 2023 the property was listed for sale. The chapel at "Camp Woodfield" - Photograph: Camp Woodfield Facebook page  Photograph: Camp Woodfield Facebook page The interior of the Woodfield Chapel. Photograph courtesy of Petrusma Real Estate, Hobart Further Information: https://www.facebook.com/woodfieldvillage/
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No. 1496 - Poatina - Tasmanian Council of Churches - Ecumenical Church (1958)

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Poatina Village is a former village built by the Hydro Electric Commission. It was established to house workers constructing a new hydro-electric scheme at northern end of the Great Lake on the Central Plateau through to the Western Tiers and down to a power station at the base of the mountains. Tasmania’s vast hydro-electric scheme dates back to 1914 when the Tasmanian Government bought a small electricity company in financial difficulty and created the Hydro-Electric Department. The first power station at Waddamana in the Great Lake Power Scheme was opened in 1916. Over a period of 80 years, 30 power stations and 54 major dams were built. Construction camps and villages were built to support major projects and during this period 10 villages were established, most of which had a full social infrastructure including a school, public hall and a church. After the Second World War, large numbers of migrants were recruited to construct dams and power stations. This brought English, Polish,
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No. 1495 - Cygnet - Wesleyan Methodist Church (1879)

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Cygnet is a small coastal town situated about 70 kilometres south of Hobart. It is named after the adjacent bay of Port Cygnet which was 'discovered' by D'Entrecasteaux and named ‘Port des Cygne’ (meaning the port or harbour of swans). The settlement was known as Port Cygnet until 1895 when it was changed to Lovett. In 1915 the town’s name was changed again becoming Cygnet. In 1875 a ‘special correspondent for the Hobart Mercury wrote a detailed description of the settlement at Port Cygnet: “….For beauty of situation and convenience of approach, the township can hardly be surpassed by any of the ports on the Huon. The houses of Port Cygnet, nearly all built of wood, are somewhat scattered, but the nucleus of the township consists of some thirty or forty tenements clustered near the head of the bay, and containing, perhaps, a hundred and fifty inhabitants. Here all the business of the town is transacted. There are two hotels (one near the wharf, kept by Mr. John Russell, an
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No. 1494 - Poatina - Catholic Church (1958)

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Poatina Village is a former village built by the Hydro Electric Commission. It was established to house workers constructing a new hydro-electric scheme at northern end of the Great Lake on the Central Plateau through to the Western Tiers and down to a power station at the base of the mountains. Tasmania’s vast hydro-electric scheme dates back to 1914 when the Tasmanian Government bought a small electricity company in financial difficulty and created the Hydro-Electric Department. The first power station at Waddamana in the Great Lake Power Scheme was opened in 1916. Over a period of 80 years, 30 power stations and 54 major dams were built. Construction camps and villages were built to support major projects and during this period 10 villages were established, most of which had a full social infrastructure including a school, public hall and a church. After the Second World War, large numbers of migrants were recruited to construct dams and power stations. This brought English, Polish
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No. 1493 - Invermay - St Finn Barr's Church Hall (1927-1954)

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St Finn Barr’s Catholic church on Invermay Road opened in August 1954, almost 30 years after the original church burnt down in 1925. Following the destruction of the church and school a Drill Hall on Holbrook Street was used as temporary accommodation until the new school building opened in 1927. A hall within the school was used as a church for 27 years before a new church was built. The foundation stone for the new school and church hall was ceremonially laid by Archbishop Barry on Sunday 7 November 1926. The building was completed in the following year and was opened by Archbishop Barry on Sunday 29 May. A report in Launceston’s Daily Telegraph described the opening ceremony and also included a detailed description of the new convent school and church hall: “Before the blessing of the building, a short preliminary prayer service was held in the central hall, to which His Grace was conducted by Dean Hennessy and Father Cullen… The service finished, Barry was then conducted through
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