No. 1621 - Rossarden - 'Church of the Transfiguration' (1958)

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Rossarden is a former tin mining town in north-east Tasmania. In the 1930s a settlement was established at a site below Stack’s Bluff following the opening of the Aberfoyle Tin Mining Company, which began operating in September 1932. A dramatic drop in metal prices in the 1970s saw the mine’s production decline and its eventual closure in 1982. The town’s population dropped from a peak of over 500 when the mine was fully operational to approximately 60 permanent residents today.

‘Church News’ of 1957 states that a house was to be converted to serve as an Anglican church at Rossarden. In August 1958 a further article in ‘Church News’ remarked that there was “hope to start building soon”. 

The church was dedicated as the ‘Church of the Transfiguration’ due to Rossarden’s location in the mountain heights. The church was either removed or pulled down in the late 1970s or early 1980s following the collapse of mining operations. At the time of writing this article a photograph of the building has not been found. 


A Rossarden scene with the school in the foreground - Libraries Tasmania

A typical Rossarden street - photo Philip Dennis


Sources:

Rossarden, A look at a small tin mining town; Rossarden Progress Association (2004); Archived website; http://store.odi.statelibrary.tas.gov.au/2004/7/005/index.htm

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.

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