No. 513 - West Kentish Baptist Church

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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 explored and surveyed the area with a party of 20 probationary convicts. 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. This weatherboard building served the Baptists for 75 years before it was replaced by a modern brick structure in 1968. The church was opened in July of that year by the General Secretary of the Baptist Union, the Reverend E. Watson.  The design of the building, which represents the shape of an ark, is very similar to that of the Cluan Baptist church which opened in 1975. [see No. 204]

The church was closed and sold in 2011 and has since been converted into a home.

The church in 2011 - photo courtesy of realestate.com.au

The church in 2011 - photo courtesy of realestate.com.au

The church in 2011 - photo courtesy of realestate.com.au
The location of West Kentish in North West Tasmania - source: placenames.gov.tas.au


Sources:

The North Coast Standard, Saturday 24 October 1891, page 2 
The North West Post, Saturday 24 October 1891, page 2

Hemsley, Jennifer Around the country circuits : reminiscences of the Baptist Church family throughout "Tassie's top half". Regal Press, Launceston, Tas, 1996.

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