No. 616 - Waratah Presbyterian Church - "Why send a man to Waratah?"

-
Waratah is a former mining town located approximately 80 kilometres south of Burnie. Waratah was briefly the site of the largest tin mine in the world. The town had its beginnings in 1871 when James "Philosopher" Smith discovered tin at Mount Bischoff. The population of Waratah reached 2500 at its peak but is now under 300. It was connected to the Emu Bay Railway by a branch line, which was opened in 1885 then closed in 1940. The Van Diemen's Land Company surveyors were responsible for naming the town.

Five religious denominations were established at Waratah including a Presbyterian church. The Presbyterians were the last denomination to build a church and also the first to leave. The drive to establish a church at Waratah came from the Presbyterian General Assembly and a lack of local support may explain why the church closed only 7 years after it had opened.

At the Home Mission Festival held at Launceston in 1911, Reverend P. Hope, Convener of the Home Missions urged for the establishment of a church at Waratah:

“People said: Why send a man to Waratah, where there are already a Catholic priest and an Anglican and a Methodist worker? But these three men, straining body and soul in their work, had only attached 500 people to their congregations, and what about the other 2,000 or 2,500 people? They must realise that they were not a denomination working in rivalry with other denominations; the work was a bigger thing than the church, and he trusted that all the churches were all working in the same cause”.

By the end of 1911 Presbyterian services were being held in Waratah’s Athenaeum Hall and within 18 months a church was under construction. The church opened in late October 1913 but there are only passing references to the event in local and regional newspapers.

By 1920 reports indicate that the church was operating only periodically. In 1923 a decision was made to sell the building and tenders for the church’s sale and removal were advertised in January 1924. The building was purchased by the Anglican Church and removed to Ridgley where it reopened as the Holy Trinity Anglican church in October 1926.

The church at Waratah - Photo supplied by Anne Dunham

One of the few harvest festivals held at the church.

The church at Ridgley.  It is now the premises of a hairdressing business. Photo supplied by Anne Dunham

Advertisement for the church's sale and removal in 1924 (The Advocate)

Sources:

The Mercury,  Tuesday 19 September 1911, page 6
Zeehan and Dundas Herald, Tuesday 13 May 1913, page 1
Examiner, Saturday 26 July 1913, page 8
Examiner, Monday 20 October 1913, page  6
The Mercury, Tuesday 2 December 1913, page 3
Advocate, Saturday 12 January 1924, page 3
Daily Telegraphy, Friday 8 October 1926, page 8
Advocate, Wednesday 20 October 1926, page 4







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