No. 881 - Ravenswood Gospel Chapel

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Ravenswood is a suburb north of Launceston which was one part of the former St Leonards Municipality. The suburb is named after the farmstead ‘Ravenswood’ which was established in the 1830s.

The Ravenswood Gospel Chapel once stood near the intersection of Henry Street and Wildor Crescent before it was demolished in the 1970s. The chapel was originally the Ravenswood Christian Mission Hall, established by Henry Reed’s Christian Mission Church. The Mission opened in March 1883 and was built on land belonging to Robert Gibton.

The Mission Hall operated for 25 years before it came under the control of the Baptists in either 1907 or 1908. A photograph published in the Weekly Courier (1909) shows the old Mission Hall opposite the Ravenwood Methodist Church adjacent to the old Ravenswood cemetery.

The Baptist Mission fell under the authority of the Cimitiere Street Baptist Tabernacle. The Baptist’s used the hall until the late 1930s when it was closed for a period of time before reopening briefly in 1950. Following this the hall was acquired by the Christian Brethren who used the building until the 1970s. The site of the Gospel Chapel is now occupied by the Launceston Revival Centre. 



    The Ravenswood Gospel Chapel on which was located on Henry Street. c.1970 Source:   
                                                Libraries Tasmania - LPIC 108/1/73


      The Mission Hall, later the Gospel Chapel, stands to the right of the Ravenswood Methodist 
          Church. The building was renovated by the Baptists in 1950.  Photo: Weekly Courier 1909.


Sources:

Launceston Examiner, Thursday 29 March 1883, page 3
Daily Telegraph, Monday 25 June 1883, page 3
Daily Telegraph, Friday 28 December 1883, page 3
Examiner, Wednesday 17 October 1906, page 5
Daily Telegraph, Wednesday 17 October 1906, page 4
Examiner, Friday 14 June 1907, page 4
The Weekly Courier, Thursday 16 December 1909, page 19
The Mercury, Friday 28 June 1935, page7
Examiner, Tuesday 12 March 1946, page 5
Examiner, Tuesday 31 January 1950, page 3
Examiner, Friday 27 February 1953, page 3

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