No. 1481 - Upper Stowport - Methodist Church (1908)

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Upper Stowport is a rural district in the hill country south east of the city of Burnie. It is an area that was first settled by employees of the Van Diemen's Land Company.

In 1908 the North West Post carried a short report describing the opening of a new Methodist Church at Upper Stowport on Sunday 10 May:

“The new Methodist Church at Upper Stowport was officially opened on Sunday last by Mr G. G. Pullen, of Penguin, who preached an eloquent sermon from Luke xv, 13. The building was filled to overflowing, people being present from Stowport and several of the surrounding districts. Mrs Somerville presided at the organ. Tho opening ceremonies will be brought to a close to-day by a concert and coffee supper. The new building is very roomy, of Gothic design, and is lined inside with T. and G. pine”.

The church was almost lost in bushfires in the summer of 1912. The North Western Advocate and the Emu Bay Times reported:

“Stowport is again under a cloud of smoke. For several days bush fires, fanned by a strong southerly wind, have been working their way through the district, …Mr. Bonney's house was burnt completely in the early hours of Sunday morning. The Methodist chapel at Upper Stowport, and Mr. P. Hall’s house narrowly escaped destruction, and the Anglican Church was only saved by the unremitting exertions of Mr. John Sturzaker and his neighbours.…”.

By the 1930s it appears that services were only held occasionally in the church. In 1934 the Advocate reported that at a meeting of the Burnie Methodist Circuit that “the question of conducting services at Tewkesbury and Upper Stowport [be] left to the minister, with power to make the best arrangements possible”.

In 1940 the Methodist Circuit decided to remove the building to Upper Natone. The church was reopened at Upper Natone on Sunday 20th February 1942.

The history of the Methodist movement at Upper Natone will be the subject of an upcoming article. A photograph of this church has yet to be found.



Sources:

North West Post, Wednesday 13 May 1908, page 2
North Western Advocate and the Emu Bay Times, Thursday 14 May 1908, page 2
North Western Advocate and the Emu Bay Times, Thursday 22 February 1912, page 1
Advocate, Saturday 14 April 1934, page 3
Advocate, Friday 25 October 1940, page 2
Advocate, Friday 10 January 1941, page 2
Advocate, Saturday 21 February 1942, page 4


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