No. 1511 - Wayatinah - St Luke's United Church (1955-1971)
Wayatinah is a former Hydro Electric Commission village located in the Central Highlands. The name was adopted in 1951 on the suggestion of the HEC for the village developed for workers on the power schemes in the area. 'Wayatinah' is an aboriginal word meaning “brook” or “stream”.
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 power stations. This brought English, Polish, German, Italian, Scandinavian and other migrants together with Tasmanians, creating lively and diverse communities.
Construction of Wayatinah village began in the early 1950s and was used to house Hydroelectric workers through to the 1980s. In addition to the usual public buildings such as a school and community hall, two churches were established at Wayatinah, St Luke’s, a United Church and St Joseph the Worker Catholic Church. Both churches were demountable buildings transported from decommissioned Hydro villages.
In the history series, ‘Hydro Construction Villages’, author Sarah Rackham writes:
“In the period the religious needs of the community were met by Rev. W. Warburton who was living at [the Hydro village] Tarraleah, and Father J. Flannery at Bronte Park…. Reverend Warburton asked for the building used by the Sunday school at Bronte Park to be moved to Wayatinah to enlarge the church building which had itself been an ex-army church in the Butlers Gorge Village. This was agreed and in June 1955 the enlarged building was ready for use. It was called St Luke’s Church”.
In 1971 services ceased at St Luke’s however plans for a new church were for the village were mooted but never realised. In 1979 a room in the Wayatinah Community Centre was converted into a chapel where monthly services were held.
I have yet to find a photograph of St Luke's, the original demountable church. The photograph below is of the Wayatinah Community Centre where a chapel was established in 1979.
Rackham, Sarah and Woodberry, Joan and Tasmania. Hydro-Electric Commission. Public Relations Department. Hydro construction villages. Volume Two. Butlers Gorge, Bronte Park, Trevallyn, Wayatinah / written and compiled by Sarah Rackham ; edited by Joan Woodberry Public Relations Dept., Hydro-Electric Commission, Tasmania [Hobart] 1982
Henslowe, Dorothea I and Hurburgh, Isa Our heritage of Anglican churches in Tasmania. Mercury-Walch, Moonah, Tas, 1978.
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 power stations. This brought English, Polish, German, Italian, Scandinavian and other migrants together with Tasmanians, creating lively and diverse communities.
Construction of Wayatinah village began in the early 1950s and was used to house Hydroelectric workers through to the 1980s. In addition to the usual public buildings such as a school and community hall, two churches were established at Wayatinah, St Luke’s, a United Church and St Joseph the Worker Catholic Church. Both churches were demountable buildings transported from decommissioned Hydro villages.
In the history series, ‘Hydro Construction Villages’, author Sarah Rackham writes:
“In the period the religious needs of the community were met by Rev. W. Warburton who was living at [the Hydro village] Tarraleah, and Father J. Flannery at Bronte Park…. Reverend Warburton asked for the building used by the Sunday school at Bronte Park to be moved to Wayatinah to enlarge the church building which had itself been an ex-army church in the Butlers Gorge Village. This was agreed and in June 1955 the enlarged building was ready for use. It was called St Luke’s Church”.
In 1971 services ceased at St Luke’s however plans for a new church were for the village were mooted but never realised. In 1979 a room in the Wayatinah Community Centre was converted into a chapel where monthly services were held.
I have yet to find a photograph of St Luke's, the original demountable church. The photograph below is of the Wayatinah Community Centre where a chapel was established in 1979.
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| A chapel was created in the Wayatinah Community Centre in 1979. A photograph of the original demountable church, St Luke's, has yet to be found. Photo: Libraries Tasmania: Item Number: SLT23/1/101 |
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| Wayatinah Village in the late 1950s. Lloyd Jones - QVMAG 20:16:P:0492 |
Rackham, Sarah and Woodberry, Joan and Tasmania. Hydro-Electric Commission. Public Relations Department. Hydro construction villages. Volume Two. Butlers Gorge, Bronte Park, Trevallyn, Wayatinah / written and compiled by Sarah Rackham ; edited by Joan Woodberry Public Relations Dept., Hydro-Electric Commission, Tasmania [Hobart] 1982
Henslowe, Dorothea I and Hurburgh, Isa Our heritage of Anglican churches in Tasmania. Mercury-Walch, Moonah, Tas, 1978.
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