No. 1578 - Bothwell - 'The United Episcopalian and Presbyterian Sunday-school' (1867)

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Bothwell is one of the oldest settlements in Tasmania and it is also one of the most important Georgian towns in the State. It is situated on the Clyde River, about 75km miles north of Hobart. The majority of the first settlers in the region were from Scotland. Bothwell once had four churches of which the Anglican, Uniting (Presbyterian) and Catholic churches remain.

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 that no longer exist.

The former Sunday school at Bothwell is associated with the iconic St Luke’s Uniting Church. St Luke’s is amongst the oldest original Tasmanian churches. Building began in 1830 and was completed by the following year. Unusually, the church was shared Presbyterians and Anglicans with the majority of subscribers being Presbyterian. The relationship between the two congregations was sometimes fractious and complicated but it was used by both groups until 1891, after which the Presbyterians gained sole use of the church when the Anglicans built St Michael’s and All Angels’.

In 1867 a Sunday school hall was built for the combined Anglican and Presbyterian congregations. The building, which is located on Alexander Street, was acquired by the Country Women’s Association in the 1960s. The first Tasmanian CWA branch was formed at Bothwell in August 1935.

The foundation stone for the Sunday school was officially laid by Governor Sir Thomas Gore Browne on 16 March 1867. The building was designed by Hobart architect Edward Casson Rowntree. A report in the Hobart Mercury described the building as follows:

“The school-room, which is of fine white free stone, and handsomely and substantially built by Messrs. Easton of this township (the carpenter's work having been done by Messrs. Anderson and Stevens) consists of one room only, 30 foot by 18 feet, and 11 feet high, and has a side and back entrance, the front part of the building showing a handsome face to Alexander street, in which it is placed, and indeed is a great ornament to that street. The total cost amounted to £210 0s. 6d., exclusive of over £20 worth of gratuitous labor given in cartage of material by the inhabitants”.

The building was officially opened on Thursday 3 October 1867 as the "United Episcopalian and Presbyterian Sunday-school". The hall is still the meeting place of Bothwell’s Country Women’s Association.

The former United Episcopalian and Presbyterian Sunday-school' on Alexander Street


Sources:

Mercury, Thursday 28 March 1867, page 3
Mercury, Thursday 25 April 1867, page 3
Mercury, Thursday 10 October 1867, page 2
Tasmanian Times, Thursday 10 October 1867, page 4

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