No. 1505 - Butlers Gorge - Anglican Chapel (1947)

Butlers Gorge is a former Hydro Electric Commission village located in the Central Highlands region. It forms a part of the Derwent scheme that comprises eleven hydroelectric power stations. Butlers Gorge Power Station was the first station built in the scheme and its workers’ settlement was the first true villages built by the Commission. Tasmania’s vast hydro-electric scheme dates back to 1914 when the Tasmanian Government bought a small electricity company in financial difficulty and created the Hydro-Electric Department. The first power station at Waddamana in the Great Lake Power Scheme was opened in 1916. Over a period of 80 years, 30 power stations and 54 major dams were built. Construction camps and villages were built to support major projects and during this period 10 villages were established, most of which had a full social infrastructure including a school, public hall and a church. After the Second World War, large numbers of migrants were recruited to construct dams and ...