No. 1482 - Upper Natone - Methodist Church (1942)

Upper Natone is a rural area located about 25 kilometres south of the town of Burnie in the North West region of Tasmania. The name is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning ‘peak’.

Methodist services were initially held in the Upper Natone Hall which opened in 1934. In 1941 the Burnie Advocate reported that at the quarterly meeting of the Burnie Methodist Circuit a decision was made to move the Methodist church at Upper Stowport to Upper Natone.

In January 1942 the Advocate reported that the new church at Upper Natone was almost completed. A subsequent report advised that the church was to officially open on Sunday 22 February with two services conducted by Revered W. J. Wilson. On the same day a concert was held in the Upper Natone Hall in aid of church funds.

Methodist services were held up at Upper Natone until the late 1950s. The date of the church’s closure is not known. I have yet to find a photograph of the church. A photograph of the Upper Natone Hall has been used to illustrate this article as it was used for Methodist services for about seven years. The whereabouts of the church building is not known but like so many small rural churches it may have been repurposed for use as a barn or farm shed.

Upper Natone Hall (Google Street-view 2023)

A barn close to the Upper Natone Hall. The old church could very well have been repurposed for use as a farm building in the district. (Google Street-view 2023)


Sources:

Advocate, Wednesday 17 October 1934, page 6
Advocate, Friday 10 January 1941, page 2
Advocate, Saturday 24 January 1942, page 4
Advocate, Saturday 21 February 1942, page 4
Examiner, Monday 19 June 1944, page 4



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