No. 1602 - Cape Barren Island - The Church of the Epiphany (1942)
Cape Barren Island is the second largest island in the Furneaux Group. It is situated at the southern end of Flinders Island and separated by the Franklin Sound. The island is also known as truwana, an Aboriginal word meaning 'sleeping water’. In 1881 Cape Barren Island Reserve was established for the descendants of Aboriginal women and European sealers living in the Furneaux Islands of Bass Strait.
The Church of the Epiphany is the second Anglican church built on Cape Barren Island. The history of the first church and the involvement of the Anglican Church in establishing an aboriginal mission is described in a previous article on ‘Churches of Tasmania’ which can be found on the link here: No.1590 - Cape Barren Island - Church at The Corner.
By the 1930s the original church, built in 1893, was in a serious state of disrepair. In 1937 Reverend S.C. Brammall, the Flinders Island chaplain, complained: “If the wind blows before they go into the building…they do not go in”.
Despite the church’s poor condition it remained in use and some remedial work was done to the building. In 1937 the Mercury reported:
“Good reports have been received from Cape Barren Island settlement, which for years has been a mission outpost of the Church of England. The Church gives an annual grant for the work there. It has its licensed visiting lay reader, who supplies church services and conducts a Sunday school. Recently, under his leadership, and by the co-operation of the families settled there, a new porch has been added to the church. A few years ago it was repaired, but it is an old building, and must soon be replaced”.
The construction of a new church, funded by the Anglican Diocese, began in 1941. The church was designed by architects East, Roy, Smith and Willing of Launceston. It was a simple Tudor style timber church which somewhat resembles St Thomas More’s Catholic Church at Newstead which was designed by East in 1936.
In February 1941 a site for the church was selected near the school and construction began in August of the same year. The Church of the Epiphany was officially opened and dedicated in February 1942. The Mercury reported:
“The Bishop of Tasmania (the Rt. Rev. Dr. H. S. Hay) has returned to Hobart from Flinders Island and other Island in the Furneaux Group which he visited with Archdeacon H. B. Atkinson. At Cape Barren Island the Bishop dedicated the new Church of the Epiphany, which replaced the church dedicated in 1893 by Bishop Montgomery. The ceremony, in which residents of Flinders Island joined, was well attended. The church was furnished by St David’s Cathedral”.
It is unclear when the Church of the Epiphany was last used although the building still stands and it appears little altered since it opened almost 90 years ago.
In close proximity to the church is the Cape Barren Island War Memorial which was originally erected to commemorate those from the district who served in World War One. Cape Barren Island is very significant in Australia’s war and Aboriginal history as it had the highest enlistment rate per capita of any other town or place in Australia, with the vast majority of enlistments being Aboriginal men.
In the year 2000 the Cape Barren Island community refurbished and updated the memorial to include the names of island veterans who served during World War Two and the Vietnam War. The new honour roll lists 23 World War Two veterans and merchant mariners.
Sources used and links for further information:
The Church of the Epiphany is the second Anglican church built on Cape Barren Island. The history of the first church and the involvement of the Anglican Church in establishing an aboriginal mission is described in a previous article on ‘Churches of Tasmania’ which can be found on the link here: No.1590 - Cape Barren Island - Church at The Corner.
By the 1930s the original church, built in 1893, was in a serious state of disrepair. In 1937 Reverend S.C. Brammall, the Flinders Island chaplain, complained: “If the wind blows before they go into the building…they do not go in”.
Despite the church’s poor condition it remained in use and some remedial work was done to the building. In 1937 the Mercury reported:
“Good reports have been received from Cape Barren Island settlement, which for years has been a mission outpost of the Church of England. The Church gives an annual grant for the work there. It has its licensed visiting lay reader, who supplies church services and conducts a Sunday school. Recently, under his leadership, and by the co-operation of the families settled there, a new porch has been added to the church. A few years ago it was repaired, but it is an old building, and must soon be replaced”.
The construction of a new church, funded by the Anglican Diocese, began in 1941. The church was designed by architects East, Roy, Smith and Willing of Launceston. It was a simple Tudor style timber church which somewhat resembles St Thomas More’s Catholic Church at Newstead which was designed by East in 1936.
In February 1941 a site for the church was selected near the school and construction began in August of the same year. The Church of the Epiphany was officially opened and dedicated in February 1942. The Mercury reported:
“The Bishop of Tasmania (the Rt. Rev. Dr. H. S. Hay) has returned to Hobart from Flinders Island and other Island in the Furneaux Group which he visited with Archdeacon H. B. Atkinson. At Cape Barren Island the Bishop dedicated the new Church of the Epiphany, which replaced the church dedicated in 1893 by Bishop Montgomery. The ceremony, in which residents of Flinders Island joined, was well attended. The church was furnished by St David’s Cathedral”.
It is unclear when the Church of the Epiphany was last used although the building still stands and it appears little altered since it opened almost 90 years ago.
In close proximity to the church is the Cape Barren Island War Memorial which was originally erected to commemorate those from the district who served in World War One. Cape Barren Island is very significant in Australia’s war and Aboriginal history as it had the highest enlistment rate per capita of any other town or place in Australia, with the vast majority of enlistments being Aboriginal men.
In the year 2000 the Cape Barren Island community refurbished and updated the memorial to include the names of island veterans who served during World War Two and the Vietnam War. The new honour roll lists 23 World War Two veterans and merchant mariners.
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| The Church of the Epiphany: Photograph - ianhelenoscar Flickr |
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| The original church. Source: Cape Barren Island Church c.1893 Photograph: Bishop H.H. Montgomery - Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales. |
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| The interior of the church. Photograph: Markchew Photography - Instagram |
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| The Church of the Epiphany taken at the time of its opening in 1942. Photograph courtesy of the Anglican Archdiocese of Tasmania |
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| Architects East, Roy, Smith and Willing's concept drawing of the church (1941) |
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| A detail of taken from the concept drawing. |
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| The War Memorial outside the church was refurbished in the year 2000. Source: Vetaffairs |
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| The Cape Barren Island War Memorial with the Church of the Epiphany in the background: Photograph - ianhelenoscar Flickr |
Sources used and links for further information:
Mercury, Monday 16 August 1937, page 3
Mercury, Friday 10 September 1937, page 11
Examiner, Monday 17 February 1941, page 4
Examiner, Wednesday 30 July 1941, page 6
Examiner, Saturday 22 November 1941, page 6
Mercury, Thursday 19 February 1942, page 2
Vetaffairs, May-June 2000, page 6
Stephens, Geoffrey & Anglican Church of Australia. Diocese of Tasmania, (issuing body.) The Anglican Church in Tasmania : a Diocesan history to mark the sesquicentenary, 1992. Trustees of the Diocese, Hobart, 1991.
https://monumentaustralia.org.au/display/70129-cape-barren-island-war-memorial
Links with further information about the War Memorial:
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