No. 291 - All Saints' at Melton Mowbray "The Generosity of the Parishioners"

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All Saints’ at Melton Mowbray is situated alongside the old Congregational Chapel which opened in 1864.  After its closure the chapel was used as a State school between 1901 and 1939.  It was also used for Church of England services before All Saints’ was built in 1937.  It was transferred to the Church of England in 1942 for use as a church hall and Sunday school.  There is very little information about All Saints’ in the online newspaper collection on Trove.  There is one report from The Mercury on the foundation stone laying ceremony held in June 1937:

“The foundation stone of a new Church of England at Melton Mowbray was laid by the Bishop of Tasmania (the Rt Rev Dr R S Hay) before a large gathering of parishioners and visitors on Saturday afternoon. … The land on which the new church is being built was given by Miss Wylie and the construction of the new building has been made possible by the generosity of parishioners. … Afternoon tea was provided by women helpers in the old school building in which up to the present Church of England services have been held”.

All Saints’ opened in September 1937 and was consecrated in March of the following year. I have not managed to locate reports on either of these events.  All Saints’ and the adjacent Congregational chapel are listed to be sold off to met the Anglican Church’s commitment to the national redress scheme.  Hopefully its cemetery will be protected as it contains headstones and graves of historical significance, including that of Samuel Blackwell, the founder of the Melton Mowbray hotel and a pioneer in the Tasmanian horse racing industry.



Photograph: Duncan Grant 2018
Photograph: Duncan Grant 2018

Photograph: Duncan Grant 2018

Photograph: Duncan Grant 2018

Photograph: Duncan Grant 2018

Photograph: Duncan Grant 2018

Samuel Blackwell's Headstone

 Sources:

 Mercury, Monday 21 June 1937, page 3

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

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