No. 405 - St Bartholomew's at Apsley

-
Apsley is a farming district on the banks of the Jordan River near Melton Mowbray in the southern Midlands. Apsley was once the railhead for the Apsley Line that branched off the Hobart-Launceston Main Line. There were two churches at Apsley; St Bartholomew’s Anglican church and a Presbyterian church which opened in 1914.

Land for the Anglican church and cemetery was donated by Russell and Harriet Ibbott of Strathbarton. The church was established with the support of the rector of Bothwell, Reverend S. Martin. Construction commenced on a weatherboard 'Mission Church' in 1908. It was intended that besides being a place of worship, the church would also be available for concerts, meetings and general community events, effectively serving as a public hall for Apsley.

The church opened in 1908 and was dedicated on St Bartholomew’s Day in 1910. The church has strong connections to the Ibbot family. In 1917 a stained glass window was erected to the memory of Corporal Fergus Ibbot, who died of wounds after the battle of El Romani in Egypt. In 1935 Bishop Hay dedicated memorials to two of the founders of the congregation, George and Charlotte Ibbott.

St Bartholomew's has been closed for many years however the building is still being maintained. 

                                                    ************

The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (1069) Corporal Fergus Stanley Ibbott, 3rd Light Horse Regiment, took place at the Australian War Memorial on 5 May 2017.  A video and transcript can be found on this link:  

At the time of the Great War the Apsley district had a population of 160. Seventeen men went to the front and four never returned.  A memorial hall was built in 1922 in their honour.


Photograph: Duncan Grant 2019

Photograph: Duncan Grant 2019

Photograph: Duncan Grant 2019

Photograph: Duncan Grant 2019

Photograph: Duncan Grant 2019

Photograph: Duncan Grant 2019

Photograph: Duncan Grant 2019

Photograph: Duncan Grant 2019

Sources:

Daily Post, Thursday 28 May 1908, page 5
The Mercury, Tuesday 16 October 1917, page 5
Examiner, Saturday 27 May 1922,  page 11 
The Mercury, Saturday 31 August 1935, page 14

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

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