No. 821 - Hamilton - St Stephen's Catholic Church (1958-2008)

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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 was sold in 2011. The church was soon after converted into a house.

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 Stephen's at Hamilton - Source: Libraries Tasmania

                      The church in 2011 before its sale - source: Courtesy of PRD Real Estate

                          The church in 2011 before its sale - source: Courtesy of PRD Real Estate

                The original Catholic church at Hamilton.  Source: Libraries Tasmania PH30-1-746


Sources:

The Mercury, Tuesday 9 November 1948, page 5
The Mercury, Wednesday 7 November 1951, page 7
The Mercury, Wednesday 5 November 1952, page 21

Southerwood, W. T.  Planting a faith in Tasmania : the country parishes / [by] W. T. Southerwood  [W. T. Southerwood] [Hobart]  1977

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