No. 1498 - Springfield - "The Church" (2020)

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Springfield is a rural area which lies approximately 5 kilometres south of Scottsdale in north-east Tasmania. Although Springfield never developed into a town, the district was settled in the 1870s with a post office opening in 1876 followed by a school and public hall.

The district once supported four churches with the Wesleyan Methodists being the first to establish a church in 1871. Anglicans at Springfield used the Wesleyan church until they opened their own church in 1884. St Paul’s church was officially opened on Sunday 23 March 1884 Sunday school was built in 1894 on a site near the old Springfield shop at the intersection of South Springfield Road and the Tasman Highway. In 1923 the building was moved to a new location. In 2019 it was moved a second time and it now stands alongside the Springfield Hall where it is used as a church by an Amish family, the McCallums’.

The Church’s new location is on the South Springfield Road adjacent to the Springfield Public Hall. In 2023 St Mark’s Anglican Sunday school hall at Bridport was also relocated to Springfield and is on the same property where it is used for farm workers accommodation.

Fortnightly services are held at ‘The Church’. Further information about the ‘The Church’ has been placed in a link at the end of this article.

The Church with the Springfield Public Hall in the background - Google Streetview


Photograph: thechurchatspringfield.com.au



St Paul's School in the process of being moved to a new site. Photograph - Drone shot by Jeff Jennings - published in the North Eastern Advertiser.



Photo: thechurchatspringfield.com.au

St Mark's Sunday school hall at Bridport was moved to Springfield in 2023.



 Sources and further Information:

https://thechurchatspringfield.com.au

https://northeasternadvertiser.com/featured-articles/sunday-school-breathes-new-life
1/5 (4 March 2020)

https://www.examiner.com.au/story/5716646/meet-the-mccallums-one-of-australias-few-amish-families/

North Eastern Advertiser, Wednesday 25 January 2023, page 1

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