No. 1078 - Braeside Road Methodist Church (1905-1968)
Braeside is a rural settlement in the Huon Valley, approximately 2 kilometres south of Franklin, centred along Braeside Road. Orcharding and saw-milling were the main industries in the area around the turn of the 20th century when the settlement had a school and church.
Very little information is available about the former Braeside Road Methodist church. The following is recorded in Max Stansall’s ‘Tasmanian Methodism’:
“During 1863 proposals to hold services in the area then known as Chitty’s Road were put forward. However it was not until 21/1/1897 that the first Trust meeting was held. The church-building was completed between 1900 and 1903 and a Sunday-school was operating some two years later. Evidently the Cause did not flourish for, on 1/4/1968, the Quarterly Meeting authorised the church’s closure”.
A search of newspaper records provides a few further details about the church. In 1900 a report on the annual sessions of the Hobart Wesleyan District Synod records that permission was given for the erection of a church on “Walker’s Road” in the Franklin Circuit. The church is situated about 500 metres from the intersection of Braeside and Walker’s Roads and the latter may have been considered as a possible site for the church.
Reports concerning religious activities at the Braeside church first appear in mid 1905 but no record of the church’s opening are recorded in local newspapers. In 1906 there is a report of a harvest festival at Braeside as well as several reports of the Braeside Methodist choir participating at Methodist festivities at churches at Franklin and Castle Forbes Bay in 1907 and 1908.
Considering that the church closed in the 1960s the building is remarkably well preserved. I have used a Google street-view image of the church captured in 2010, at which time little modification to the original building seems to have taken place. The building was last sold in 2015 and at the time of writing this article it is not known if any further alteration to the church has taken place.
The Mercury, Thursday 15 November 1900, page 3
Examiner, Tuesday 20 June 1905, page 2
The Mercury, Monday 9 October 1905, page 7
The Mercury, Monday 1 October 1906, page 2
The Mercury, thursday 18 April 1907, page 2
Very little information is available about the former Braeside Road Methodist church. The following is recorded in Max Stansall’s ‘Tasmanian Methodism’:
“During 1863 proposals to hold services in the area then known as Chitty’s Road were put forward. However it was not until 21/1/1897 that the first Trust meeting was held. The church-building was completed between 1900 and 1903 and a Sunday-school was operating some two years later. Evidently the Cause did not flourish for, on 1/4/1968, the Quarterly Meeting authorised the church’s closure”.
A search of newspaper records provides a few further details about the church. In 1900 a report on the annual sessions of the Hobart Wesleyan District Synod records that permission was given for the erection of a church on “Walker’s Road” in the Franklin Circuit. The church is situated about 500 metres from the intersection of Braeside and Walker’s Roads and the latter may have been considered as a possible site for the church.
Reports concerning religious activities at the Braeside church first appear in mid 1905 but no record of the church’s opening are recorded in local newspapers. In 1906 there is a report of a harvest festival at Braeside as well as several reports of the Braeside Methodist choir participating at Methodist festivities at churches at Franklin and Castle Forbes Bay in 1907 and 1908.
Considering that the church closed in the 1960s the building is remarkably well preserved. I have used a Google street-view image of the church captured in 2010, at which time little modification to the original building seems to have taken place. The building was last sold in 2015 and at the time of writing this article it is not known if any further alteration to the church has taken place.
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| Braeside Road Methodist church - Google street-view (2010) |
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| Braeside Road Methodist church - Google street-view (2010) |
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| Braeside Road Methodist church - Google street-view (2010) |
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| The church's porch - Realestate.com |
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| The interior of the church (2014) Realestate.com |
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| Braeside Road - location between Castle Forbes Bay and Franklin |
Sources:
Stansall, M. E. J. and Methodist Church of Australasia. Tasmanian Methodism, 1820-1975 / [by M.E.J. Stansall ... et al] Methodist Church of Australasia Launceston, Tas 1975The Mercury, Thursday 15 November 1900, page 3
Examiner, Tuesday 20 June 1905, page 2
The Mercury, Monday 9 October 1905, page 7
The Mercury, Monday 1 October 1906, page 2
The Mercury, thursday 18 April 1907, page 2
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