No. 542 - Cressy Wesleyan-Methodist Church

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Cressy is a small country town approximately 15 kilometres south of Longford. The town’s name is taken from the Cressy Company, a company formed in England in the 1820’s to run large agricultural farms in the colony.

Methodist activity at Cressy began in 1839 when a branch of the Wesleyan Missionary Society was established under the ministry of Rev. William Simpson. Services were held in the home of Mr. William Brumby, who later donated land for building a church. In 1855 the first Sunday school was commenced under the superintendency of Mr Francis Burton. Under the ministry of Mr. Hutchinson a weatherboard church was built by Mr. John Wright, of Longford, and opened on November 3, 1867. The Launceston Examiner published a brief report on the church’s official opening: 



“A neat little chapel capable of seating comfortably 200 persons, erected by the Wesleyans [in] the township of Cressy, was opened for public worship.… Three services were held; the Rev. James Hutchison officiating morning and evening, and John Crooks, Esq., in the afternoon. At each service the building was filled to overflowing”. 


In 1909 Mr. Basil Archer offered land for a cemetery at a reduced sum of £30, himself paying the cost of transfer, fencing as well as financing the transaction.
In 1913 the church began to sway with the wind, so the roof was strutted to strengthen the framework. Further work to strengthen the church’s structure took place in 1933.

The old church was eventually replaced by a modern brick in 1968 before the formation of the Uniting Church in 1977. The church since closed and the building has been converted into a house.

The original Wesleyan-Methodist Church at Cressy.  Photo supplied by Ivan Badcock

Examiner, 25 July 1867

The brick church built in 1968 to replace the original church 

Sources:

Launceston Examiner, Thursday 25 July 1867, page 7
Launceston Examiner, Saturday 23 November 1867, page 4
Examiner, Wednesday 16 August 1939, page 10

Stansall, M. E. J and Methodist Church of Australasia Tasmanian Methodism, 1820-1975 : compiled at the time of last Meeting of Methodism prior to union. Methodist Church of Australasia, Launceston, Tas, 1975.

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