No. 168 - Barton - Isis Hall (1931)

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Barton is a locality centred on the intersection of Barton Road and Macquarie Road in the Epping district. The River Isis flows through the area and it lends its name to a public hall built in 1931.

Presbyterians in the Barton area gathered for worship from the 1890s when monthly services were held in the Barton Mill. In the 1920s Anglicans gathered for worship in a shearing shed owned by Thomas Dowling

By the late 1920s efforts gathered pace to build a hall at Barton which would have the dual purpose of a public hall and a place of worship. The foundation for a hall were dug in late 1928 and the building was completed in mid 1931. In March 1930 a speech given at the opening of a fundraising fair confirms the use of the hall as a place of worship:

Mr. William Lockett, of Campbell Town, presided, and outlined the object of the fair. He said he considered a hall was necessary in the locality. ….When the hall was erected all public functions would be held in it, and the rector of the Anglican Church would have the right to hold church services monthly….”.

Mr Dowling donated the land for the hall which was built alongside the Barton cemetery. The hall was designed by William Lockett and built by ‘Lewis and Masters’ of  Youngtown. The ‘Isis  Public Hall’ was officially on Saturday 6 June 1931.

Religious services were held at the hall by Anglican and Presbyterian congregations. These had probably ceased by the 1950s.  It was later moved to Cleveland to a site next to the old Cleveland school where it was used as a bus shed.  The remains of the hall are still exist an can be seen off the Midland Highway. 

The Barton region has an interesting connection with Launceston. The Kings Bridge Bar and Restaurant near the Gorge was originally the old 'corn mill house' built by Andrew Gatenby after his arrival in Tasmania in 1823. This was the place where Presbyterians worshipped in the 1890s. The mill was located on the banks of the Isis River (once called Penny Royal Creek). It was moved to Launceston and reconstructed at Penny Royal Complex

Further information about the Barton Mill can be found by clicking on the link below.

 The Old Baton Mill


Isis Hall at Barton as it appeared in the 1970's. Source: QVM 1997 P:528 (Clyde V. Coombe)


Photograph: Duncan Grant 2018


Photograph: Duncan Grant 2018

Photograph: Duncan Grant 2018

The old Cleveland School - Photograph: Duncan Grant 2018


The old mill at Barton - Photograph QVMAG



The Cemetery at Barton















Sources:

 Launceston Examiner, Saturday 3 December 1898, page 7
Mercury Tuesday 11 March 1930, page 5
Mercury Thursday 11 June 1931, page 2
The Examiner 26 February 2016

 Henslowe, Dorothea I and Hurburgh, Isa Our heritage of Anglican churches in Tasmania. Mercury-Walch, Moonah, Tas, 1978.

 The Tasmanian Midlands - a pictorial history. Facebook thread - Contributions by Barry Reynolds; 27 March 2018.

Comments

  1. Floody17 July 2020 at 04:51

    The Barton Hall was still there in Sept 1982 as I celebrated my 18th birthday there.

    ReplyDelete

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