No. 1558 - Buckland - St John the Baptist Parish School (1846)
This article is one of a series about buildings associated with Tasmania’s historical churches. These buildings include Sunday schools, parish halls, convents, schools and residences of the clergy. Ancillary buildings are often overlooked and rarely feature in published histories. My aim is to create a simple record of these buildings, including of those which no longer exist.
Buckland is a small historic village on the Tasman Highway about 70 kilometres east of Hobart. It was originally known as Prossers Plains, after a convict Thomas Prosser, who escaped in 1808 and evaded authorities by hiding out in the area. In 1846 Governor Franklin renamed the settlement in honour of Dean Buckland, a well-known geologist. The main attraction in the village is the church of St.John the Baptist.
Reverend Frederick Cox was one of six ordained ministers secured for Van Diemen’s Land by Bishop Francis Nixon. Cox arrived in Hobart in February 1846 and was given charge of the Prossers Plain district which had neither a church or schoolroom. Cox conducted his services at the local Police Magistrate’s office while the church was being constructed.
The construction of a Sunday school or parish school, as it was called, began before work on the church began. When the church’s foundation stone was ceremonially laid in August 1846 the ‘school-house’ adjoining the church was described as “rapidly approaching completion”. The building would have been in use by the beginning of 1847. As the church was only completed in 1849 and consecrated in the following year, it is likely that the parish school was used as a place of worship for a period of about 18 months.
The architect responsible for the design of the school is not known. It is possible that the plans for the school were provided by Reverend Cox who had adapted the plans of the English revivalist architect, Richard Cromwell Carpenter, for the Buckland church.
The photograph of the parish school shows that the building stood at the eastern end of the church grounds on the site of the “new” cemetery established shortly after the turn of the 20th century.
A history of St John the Baptist church can be found on this link: [No. 421]
Sources:
Buckland is a small historic village on the Tasman Highway about 70 kilometres east of Hobart. It was originally known as Prossers Plains, after a convict Thomas Prosser, who escaped in 1808 and evaded authorities by hiding out in the area. In 1846 Governor Franklin renamed the settlement in honour of Dean Buckland, a well-known geologist. The main attraction in the village is the church of St.John the Baptist.
Reverend Frederick Cox was one of six ordained ministers secured for Van Diemen’s Land by Bishop Francis Nixon. Cox arrived in Hobart in February 1846 and was given charge of the Prossers Plain district which had neither a church or schoolroom. Cox conducted his services at the local Police Magistrate’s office while the church was being constructed.
The construction of a Sunday school or parish school, as it was called, began before work on the church began. When the church’s foundation stone was ceremonially laid in August 1846 the ‘school-house’ adjoining the church was described as “rapidly approaching completion”. The building would have been in use by the beginning of 1847. As the church was only completed in 1849 and consecrated in the following year, it is likely that the parish school was used as a place of worship for a period of about 18 months.
The architect responsible for the design of the school is not known. It is possible that the plans for the school were provided by Reverend Cox who had adapted the plans of the English revivalist architect, Richard Cromwell Carpenter, for the Buckland church.
The photograph of the parish school shows that the building stood at the eastern end of the church grounds on the site of the “new” cemetery established shortly after the turn of the 20th century.
A history of St John the Baptist church can be found on this link: [No. 421]
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| Buckland parish school - an undated Kodak postcard which is probably a reproduction of an earlier photograph. |
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| The school stood on the site of the new cemetery. |
Sources:
The Courier, Wednesday 19 August 1846, page 3
The Mercury, Friday 17 August 1900, page 3
The Mercury, Wednesday 2 August 1905, page 8
The Mercury, Wednesday 20 March 1946, page 4
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