Churches of Tasmania

New Town is a northern suburb of Hobart. It is also one of Hobart’s oldest suburbs and consequently the area contains many historic churches. New Town became a municipality in 1907 but was absorbed into greater Hobart in the 1920s when its municipal status was relinquished. New Town’s former Congregational Church is a lesser known church designed by James Blackburn (1803–1854), civil engineer, surveyor and architect. Blackburn was transported to Van Dieman’s Land for forgery and arrived in Hobart in 1833. He was employed in the Department of Roads and Bridges until pardoned in 1841. Blackburn was one of Tasmania's most original, technically proficient and imaginative architects. Examples of his work include Holy Trinity Hobart, the Congregational Chapels at Bagdad and Cambridge; St Mark's Pontville, St Matthew's Glenorchy, and Sorell Presbyterian Church. The New Town Congregational Church reflects Blackburn’s hallmark Victorian Romanesque style. The church’s closure and

Rosny is an eastern suburb of Greater Hobart located on the banks of the Derwent River. The suburb spreads around the western slopes of Rosny Hill. The name is taken from Rosny Point, originally named Canadian Point. This was changed to Rosny after an ancestor of Walter Bethune, who was granted the land in 1820. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) first appeared in Tasmania in the 1850s when missionaries began to proselytise in Hobart. Despite local opposition congregations were established in Hobart in 1894 and in the Upper Huon in 1899. The first chapel opened in 1924 at Lefroy Street, North Hobart, followed by a chapel built at Glen Huon in 1927. The 1950s was a time of growth for the LDS and the chapel at Rosny was the first to be constructed following the acquisition of nineteen sites across Tasmania for an ambitious building program. Prejudice towards the LDS by traditional churches, due to its unorthodox beliefs, presented a challenge when it came to purchasin

Newstead is a Launceston suburb situated on the east side of the city centre. It is named after "Newstead House" which was built and named by Ronald Campbell Gunn in 1855. The Newstead Evangelical Presbyterian church is located on Birch Street opposite the grounds of Launceston United Soccer Club. The building was previously used by the Orthodox Coptic Christian Church, “St Demiana & St. Abraam Church and Mission”. The Evangelical Presbyterian Church acquired the building in 2016 and relocated to Newstead from the Youngtown church on Talune Street. The Evangelical Presbyterian Church was established in 1961. It is a small denomination with representation in Tasmania, Queensland and New South Wales. The church was founded in Tasmania and the ordination of its first ministers took place in Launceston: “The historical scene was then set for the actual birth of the EPC. It took place on Thursday evening, the 28th. September, 1961, in "Chalmers Hall", Frederick

Rosny is an eastern suburb of Greater Hobart located on the banks of the Derwent River. The suburb spreads around the western slopes of Rosny Hill. The name is taken from Rosny Point, originally named Canadian Point. This was changed to Rosny after an ancestor of Walter Bethune, who was granted the land in 1820. The Seventh-Day Adventist Church was established in Tasmania in 1888. The denomination originated in the USA in the 1860’s and in 1885 a group of Adventists travelled to Australia and began preaching in Melbourne. After a church group was established in Melbourne in 1886 members moved on to Sydney, Adelaide and Hobart. Public tent meetings were held in Sandy Bay in 1888 which led to the establishment of a church at Collinsvale and later at Hobart and Launceston. The Rosny Adventist church is located at Riawena Road. It is one of thirteen Seventh Day Adventist churches in Tasmania. A unique feature of the church is that it is used as a funeral chapel. (Phillip Stephen Funeral C

Hamilton is small historic town on the Lyell Highway located approximately 70 kilometres from Hobart. The town was named by Governor Arthur after Hamilton on the Lower Clyde in Scotland. From the time of Hamilton’s settlement in the 1820s only two religious denominations have been established; St Peter’s Anglican church and St Stephen’s Catholic church. In fact two Catholic churches were built at Hamilton. The first church opened in 1856 and this was replaced by a second church in 1958. The earlier stone church suffered from significant structural problems and by the 1940s fundraising began build a new church. In 1953 an annual fair raised an amount of £350 paving the way for construction to begin. The new church was a timber building of a modern design and was built in 1958 on a site close to the original church. After the original church was demolished the stone was taken to Tinderbox where it was used in the construction of a house. St Stephen’s closed in 2008 and the building w

Epping Forest is a small settlement on the Midland Highway approximately 25 kilometres north of Campbell Town. Governor Macquarie, on his first trip in 1811, named the area after the woodlands of Essex in England. Locally know as Epping, it was officially named "Epping Forest" in the1960s to avoid confusion with Epping in NSW. A Presbyterian church once stood at the intersection of Belle Vue Road and the Midland Highway. It opened in 1885, replacing an earlier Presbyterian church located about 2 kilometres to the east further down Belle Vue Road. This was known as the Esk Vale church which had opened in 1846 [ see No. 521 ]. By the 1880s Epping Forest had become the population centre of the district and local Presbyterians were inconvenienced by having to walk or ride to services at Esk Vale. In 1884 the Presbyterian Synod received a petition bearing 57 signatures requesting that the church be removed to Epping: “The petition of the undersigned sheweth - That the church a

Lutana is a northern suburb of Hobart located on the western shore of the Derwent River and adjacent to the Risdon zinc smelter and refinery. Lutana was originally called Risdon Rise. Following a naming competition run by the Electronic Zinc Company in 1920, when building their new housing estate, the name Lutana was chosen. Lutana is an aboriginal work for ‘moon’. The Lutana Revival Centre is located in a hall at the end of Lucinda Parade on a hilltop overlooking Lutana and the Derwent River. The church was established in 2012.  The Revival Centre is a part of Revival Centres International, a pentecostal church which back to 1948. Most pentecostal churches have fractious and complex histories of schisms and this is also true of Revival Centres International. The movement which was founded by Lloyd Longfield has grown into an international church with its headquarters in Melbourne and has centres in 22 countries. Over the years we’ve been known as Revival Centres of Australia, Reviva

Waratah is a former mining town located approximately 80 kilometres south of Burnie. For a brief time Waratah was 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. Six religious denominations were established at Waratah including the Methodists who built three churches: A Wesleyan Methodist church (1878 -1912) [ see No. 778 ] A Primitive Methodist church (1882-1894) [ see No. 616 ] A new church built after the Methodist Union of 1902 (1912-1949) The focus of this article is Waratah’s second Methodist church which opened in 1912 and was later removed to Upper Burnie in 1950. Waratah’s first Wesleyan Methodist church, a small weatherboard building, opened on Sunday 14 April 1878. A report at the time of its opening noted that: “The building, though small, is a very neat one, and no doubt suited to present r