No. 33 - The Holy Trinity Anglican Church Beaconsfield - Foundation Stone and Fire-Bell

-
The present church in Beaconsfield which was opened in 1909 replaced an earlier church built in 1878 when the township was called Brandy Creek, a consequence of the colour of its water.

The foundation stone was laid by Bishop Dr. Mercer of Tasmania on 2nd August 1907. Later that evening he gave a "most interesting" lecture entitled “The diminutiveness of man: What about the of primitiveness of woman?” In a cavity under the foundation stone, “was placed a jar containing a short history of the church with the daily papers of August 2 and also the names of wardens at Rosevears and Frankford churches. The architect  was Alexander North of Launceston and was of weatherboard design with a tower of 50ft in height. The tower of the church was however not completed until 1924 “owing to the war breaking out”. In 1937, The Examiner reported that one of the three fire bells at the Central Fire Station was transferred to the Anglican Church in Beaconsfield. The bells had become redundant with the installation of a telephone system to brigade members’ houses. I assume that it is still hanging there?
The Holy Trinity Church still serves the community of Beaconsfield and is listed on the Tasmanian Heritage Register. It has been re-clad with metal sheeting in more recent times. It is described as a Federation Arts and Crafts church with a prominent tower and cupola.






Weekly Courier Beaconsfield Anglican Church

The original weatherboard church at Beaconsfield. Image taken off interpretation sign outside of the church.
SOURCES USED

The Examiner Saturday 3 August 1907
The Examiner Monday 5 August 1907
The Examiner Wednesday 19 March 1924
The Examiner Wednesday 15 September 1937
Daily Telegraph Saturday 3 August 1907
Daily Telegraph Thursday 11 July 1907




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Welcome to Churches of Tasmania

-
Image
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. 
Read more

No. 624 - Dunalley - St Martin's Anglican Church - "In grateful memory of the men who fought in the Great War"

-
Image
Dunalley is village on the Arthur Highway approximately 60 kilometres east of Hobart. It stands on the narrow isthmus connected to the Forestier Peninsula. The Denison Canal runs through the village and connects Blackman Bay and Fredrick Henry Bay. Dunalley was badly affected by bushfires in January 2013 with the town losing over 60 buildings including the Police Station and school. St Martin’s is the only public building left standing after the fires. St Martin’s Anglican has recently featured in the news following its sale. It is one of over 50 churches to be sold to meet the Anglican Church’s commitment to the National Redress Scheme. St Martin’s is an unusual church into two respects. Firstly, it is constructed from stone from the former Government stores at the old Coal Mines penal station at Saltwater River, which is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. Secondly, the church was built as a memorial to the men of the district who fought and died in the Great War. As such, the buildin
Read more

No. 592 - Gretna - St Mary the Virgin - "Worthy of Imitation"

-
Image
Gretna is a small township in the Derwent Valley approximately 60 kilometres from Hobart. The area was originally known as Stony Plains Hut and Macquarie Plains. The name Gretna was adopted in the early 20th century. The origin of this name comes from a local farm called ‘Gretna Green’ and also an Inn established in the 1860’s which bore the same name. Another Inn, the Woolpack Inn, was the scene of a gunfight between the bushranger Martin Cash and members of the local constabulary. Gretna’s only church stood a few hundred metres from the inn and Cash and his gang hid in the bush near the church until nightfall prior to raiding the Inn. For many years St Mary’s was known as “The Woolpack Church”. St Mary’s the Virgin was built in 1847 and was opened and consecrated by Bishop Nixon on 1 June 1848. At the service, Edward Terry, the owner of Askrigg estate presented the deed of land on which the church was built to Bishop Nixon. Before the church was erected it is believed that Anglican s
Read more