No. 714 - Oldina - St Alban's Anglican Church

-
Olinda is a small rural settlement situated approximately 15 kilometres south of the town of Wynyard. The district was previously know as Upper Moores Plains before it was changed to Oldina in late 1910.

An Anglican church, situated at the junction Oldina and Lowries Road, was dedicated to St. Alban in 1924. It is probable that the church was established in a converted building, possibly used for a Sunday school which was established 1911. It was clearly not a new building for in March 1927 the Advocate reported that St Alban’s was temporarily closed when new weatherboards were fitted to the exterior of the building.

While the origins of the building are not clear, the church had been dedicated by Bishop Snowdon Hay 18 months prior to its renovation. The Advocate carried a brief report of the ceremony which took place on Tuesday 18 November 1924:

“The Lord Bishop of the Diocese dedicated the new church at Oldina on Tuesday evening last, in the presence of a large gathering, the building not being big enough to accommodate the congregation, amongst whom were some visitors from Wynyard; and the church wardens of the parish Church. The Bishop was assisted by the Rector, Rev. J. F. C. Ashworth. After the dedication, the Bishop preached an impressive sermon on the witness of the church to the presence of God in our midst. St. Alban's would stand as a witness, not only to the present generation, but to those growing up, in the faith of their fathers…. He congratulated the Rector, also Mr. Bauld, who had given the splendid site on which the church now stood; the ladies of the committee, and Mr. Carson, who had given, valuable assistance. The choir of St. Stephens' Parish Church assisted the hearty rendering of the musical portion of the service….”.

The history of the building is not well documented. The date of St Alban’s closure is not recorded but is was likely in the late 1970s and it would have been removed from the site in the 1980s.


Additional information and sources about the church and building are most welcome as all articles are updated. I can be contacted through this page or my Facebook page "Churches of Tasmania" which is linked here: <Churches of Tasmania>

St Alban's at Oldina (undated) Photograph by Bert Gatehouse - sourced from Yolla and Districts - Then and Now Facebook Group
Notice of the dedication of St Alban's in November 1924 (The Advocate)


Sources:

North Western Advocate and the Emu Bay Times,  Monday 30 January 1911, page 4
Advocate, Saturday 15 November 1924, page 6
Advocate, Thursday 20 November 1924, page 4
Advocate, Saturday 22 November 1924, page 4
Advocate, Monday 24 November 1924, page 4
Advocate, Tuesday 29 March 1927, page 4
Advocate, Thursday 24 November 1927, page 4


Comments

  1. Unknown15 May 2020 at 16:21

    I have a photo of the alter inside the Oldina church.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown15 May 2020 at 16:22

    From Julie Walsh I have a photo of the alter inside the Oldina church

    ReplyDelete
  3. Duncan Grant16 May 2020 at 18:55

    Hi Julie. I would love to put a photo of the altar onto the post if you are able share it? Many thanks, Duncan

    ReplyDelete

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