No. 1471 - New Norfolk - Wooden Chapel at "The New Norfolk Hospital for the Insane" (c.1900)

-
It is not my intention to delve into the complex history of New Norfolk’s ‘mental institutions’ but a brief outline is necessary for some context with regard to places of worship established at the institution. There are five distinct phases in the history of the 'hospital':

The New Norfolk Lunatic Asylum (1829-1859)
The New Norfolk Hospital for the Insane (1859-1915)
The New Norfolk Mental Diseases Hospital (1915-1937)
Lachlan Park Hospital (1937-1968)
Royal Derwent Hospital (1968-2001)

Before the 20th century religion and worship had a minor role in the institution. However it is interesting that plans for the original asylum included a chapel (see illustration below). The intention was that the asylum was to house the colonies 'invalid convicts' and as well as convicts classed as ‘lunatics’. The provision of a chapel was in keeping with the belief that religion was a critical part of the process of a convict's moral improvement. However, as the convict ‘invalid hospital’ developed as a ‘lunatic asylum’ this became redundant and the planned chapel was never built.

During the era of the ‘Hospital for the Insane’ (1859-1915) religious services were held. By this time the hospital accommodated ‘paying patients’ who were housed in separate facilities. A dining hall served as a concert room and chapel. By the turn of the 20th century a purpose built wooden chapel was constructed although it seems that this was not used for long. The building was later converted for use as a school room for young patients and was also used as an occupational therapy building.

The old wooden chapel has survived and until recently it was the premises of the “Patchwork Cafe” in the historical Willow’s Court complex.


The old wooden chapel - source LINC Tasmania - (courtesy of Historical Information Centre, New Norfolk)


The chapel housed the Patchwork Cafe until 2021.

The Chapel at its original site. Source: Libraries Tasmania PH30-1-5093

Libraries Tasmania PH30-1-5093

Part of a plan of the chapel proposed in 1829 but never built.  Source: Libraries Tasmania - PWD266-1-1432-2


Sources

Newspapers:

Colonial Times, Tuesday 29 April 1845, page 3
Mercury, Wednesday 27 May 1885, page 3
Mercury, Thursday 2 February 1888, page 4
Mercury, Monday 22 April 1940, page 6
Huon and Derwent Times, Thursday 25 April 1940, page 6

Websites:

https://willowcourtproject.com/royal-derwent-ward-descriptions/
http://www.willowcourttasmania.org
https://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/R/Royal%20Derwent%20Hosp.htm
http://www.willowcourttasmania.org/2017/11/17/patchwork-cafe/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Welcome to Churches of Tasmania

-
Image
I love history and photography and also have an interest in architecture. When I started this blog in 2017 I had the goal of photographing every historical church in Tasmania. This was initially driven by the proposed mass sell-off of Anglican churches. I was concerned that these buildings would be modified and no longer be accessible once in private hands. As the years have passed this goal has changed to writing short histories of each and every church built in Tasmania, of which there are about 1600.   My earliest posts are rather amateurish but my research and writing has improved somewhat over the years.  In time my hope is to revise and update every article to a publishable standard. I have received an overwhelming amount of material from followers of the blog and I will incorporate this into the articles in the revision phase. Eventually I hope to publish the best of the articles. At present the blog attracts about 1000 views per day and I hope that this will continue to grow. 
Read more

No. 624 - Dunalley - St Martin's Anglican Church - "In grateful memory of the men who fought in the Great War"

-
Image
Dunalley is village on the Arthur Highway approximately 60 kilometres east of Hobart. It stands on the narrow isthmus connected to the Forestier Peninsula. The Denison Canal runs through the village and connects Blackman Bay and Fredrick Henry Bay. Dunalley was badly affected by bushfires in January 2013 with the town losing over 60 buildings including the Police Station and school. St Martin’s is the only public building left standing after the fires. St Martin’s Anglican has recently featured in the news following its sale. It is one of over 50 churches to be sold to meet the Anglican Church’s commitment to the National Redress Scheme. St Martin’s is an unusual church into two respects. Firstly, it is constructed from stone from the former Government stores at the old Coal Mines penal station at Saltwater River, which is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. Secondly, the church was built as a memorial to the men of the district who fought and died in the Great War. As such, the buildin
Read more

No. 592 - Gretna - St Mary the Virgin - "Worthy of Imitation"

-
Image
Gretna is a small township in the Derwent Valley approximately 60 kilometres from Hobart. The area was originally known as Stony Plains Hut and Macquarie Plains. The name Gretna was adopted in the early 20th century. The origin of this name comes from a local farm called ‘Gretna Green’ and also an Inn established in the 1860’s which bore the same name. Another Inn, the Woolpack Inn, was the scene of a gunfight between the bushranger Martin Cash and members of the local constabulary. Gretna’s only church stood a few hundred metres from the inn and Cash and his gang hid in the bush near the church until nightfall prior to raiding the Inn. For many years St Mary’s was known as “The Woolpack Church”. St Mary’s the Virgin was built in 1847 and was opened and consecrated by Bishop Nixon on 1 June 1848. At the service, Edward Terry, the owner of Askrigg estate presented the deed of land on which the church was built to Bishop Nixon. Before the church was erected it is believed that Anglican s
Read more