No. 1256 - Pyengana - St Michael and All Angels' Anglican Church (1894)

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Pyengana is a dairy farming district approximately 30 kilometres west of St. Helens in Tasmania’s North East. The district was previously known as Upper George's River. Settlement began when George and Margaret Cotton established a property called St Columba in 1875. Before the 20th century Pyengana enjoyed significant growth as a result of tin mining activity. A butter factory was established in the 1890s followed by a cooperative cheese factory in 1902.

Two churches were were established at Pyengana; a Catholic Church, St Augustine’s, which opened in 1923; and an Anglican church, St Michael and All Angel’s, which was established in1894.

St Michaels and All Angels church was opened by Bishop Montgomery on Sunday 9 September 1894. The church was built at a cost of £65 under the direction of the rector of St Helens Parish, Reverend Owen Jackson. Later land surrounding the church was dedicated as a cemetery by Bishop Mercer.

St Michael’s was one of 76 churches Anglican churches listed for sale to raise $8.6 million to fund redress for survivors of child sexual abuse. Strong community opposition resulted in the church being taken off the list.


A link to a complete list of burials with photographs of headstones can be viewed here: St Michael and All Angel's Cemetery











Sources:

The Mercury, Monday 10 February 1936, page 2
North-Eastern Advertiser, Friday 15 September 1944, page 2
North-Eastern Advertiser, Tuesday 26 September 1944, page 2

Henslowe, Dorothea I and Hurburgh, Isa Our heritage of Anglican churches in Tasmania. Mercury-Walch, Moonah, Tas, 1978.



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