No. 1337 - Battery Point - Methodist Mission Hall (1911-1958)

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Battery Point is an historical inner suburb on the east side of Hobart, fronting onto the Derwent River. The suburb’s name is derived from Mulgrave Battery was established in the 1818 for coastal defence purposes.

The Battery Point Community Centre on Hampton Road is a former Congregational Chapel and Sunday school built by the Brisbane Street Congregational Church in 1850. This article is a brief review of a forty year period when the building was used as a Methodist Mission Hall.

In 1911 the Congregational Hall was purchased by the Methodist Church. The Methodists had used the building before it was purchased and where a Sunday school was already established.

During the Methodist era the Hall was available for use by the local community and was engaged for public events and political meetings. In the 1950s the Methodists announced their intention to sell the property and a proposal was made to demolish the building and redevelop the site as a service station. Led by Dorothea Henslowe, the community rallied to save the Mission Hall and a fundraising campaign was initiated to purchase it as a community centre. This was successful and in 1958 the Methodist’s sold the building to the Battery Point Community Association.

In 1987 a small park beside the Community Hall was renamed Henslowe Park in recognition of the significant role she made in its establishment.



Sources:

Examiner, Friday 27 October 1911, page 7
The Mercury, Wednesday 29 November 1911, page 3

https://www.batterypointhall.org.au/history-of-the-community-centre/
https://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/AWE0326b.htm
https://batterypointwalk.au/locations/battery-point-community-hall/



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