No. 1644 - Taranna - Congregational Church
Taranna (an Aboriginal word for wallaby) is a small settlement about 15 kilometres north east of the Town of Nubeena on the Tasman Peninsula. Taranna was previously known as 'Old Norfolk’ and the settlement was the site of the Norfolk Bay Signal Station. The Taranna Sawmill was the main industry at the settlement in the early 20th century.
Little information is available about the former Congregational Church at Nubeena. In the book ‘Congregationalism in Tasmania’ Theo Sharples states that in the late 1880s:
“Rev. James Button had charge of Port Arthur, Bream Creek and Carlton. In 1894, he reported having the oversight of nine preaching places in houses, schools and a hotel, and of riding on horseback 20 miles a day, six days a week, to perform his duties. By 1896, preaching places included Green’s Creek, Port Arthur, Swan Bay and Wedge Bay (Nubeena). Taranna was included when Rev. James Hebblethwaite succeeded Mr. Button in 1898…. By 1930, the Peninsula was divided into Home Mission districts based on Bream Creek and Taranna, with a minister stationed at each place… The Taranna pastorate included Taranna, Koonya, Nubeena, Saltwater River, Port Arthur and Eaglehawk Neck…”
Amongst these settlements only Nubeena, Saltwater River a Taranna had churches built. The year in which the Taranna church was built is not known but it was probably in the early 1920s as references to it appear in newspapers at this time.
A move to build a church began around 1911. In May of that year an article in the Daily Post outlined developments taking place in Taranna :
“There is also some talk of a Congregational Church. One hopes that [it] will be carried to fulfilment. The Congregational Union has a piece of ground in a very central part of the township, where a church would be a great improvement”.
In July 1911 The Mercury reported that “subscription lists were out for a new church”. In 1912 Taranna’s Public Hall was completed and it is likely that this was used as a place of worship until a church was eventually built in the early 1920s.
In 1938 a report mentions that three Congregational churches on the Tasman Peninsula, namely: Nubeena, Saltwater River and Taranna, had all been renovated, and that the Congregational Union had contributed an amount of £9 towards this with the remainder borne by the local congregations.
As a remote district, the Tasman Peninsula presented a challenge in meeting the spiritual needs of its scattered inhabitants. The Congregational church’s work also extended to meeting other basic needs of the community. In June 1843 the Launceston Examiner reported:
“An ambulance is now stationed at Sorell to serve surrounding districts. About three months ago Dr. Moore, in his capacity as chairman of the Congregational Union of Tasmania, visited various settlements in the Sorell district and Tasman Peninsula, and as far as Port Arthur. While travelling over this extensive territory he was impressed with the fact that, although the Health Department supplied two doctors, one at Sorell and one at Port Arthur, there were no facilities for conveyance to hospital other than by getting an ambulance from Hobart, which in many cases was a distance of 100 miles. Added to this, no ferry service was available at night. There are two hospitals in the district - one at Sorell and one at Koonya. Dr. Moore visualised an ambulance service being established at Sorell so that cases could be moved at night to either of the country hospitals and taken to Hobart in the morning. Dr. Moore returned to Launceston and left the suggestion in the hands of his friend and colleague, Pastor M. S. Mead, the minister in charge of Sorell and district churches…the idea continued to be worked out by Pastor Mead, and the first ambulance of theservice has now materialised…”.
The challenge of servicing the Sorell district and the Tasman Peninsula in the 1940s is highlighted in another article published in the Hobart Mercury:
“In spite of war-time conditions, the Congregational churches of Tasmania are carrying on their work in country centres. For many years there has been an understanding among the free churches as to which country districts each should work In. The Congregationalist for close on a century have worked in the territory from Sorell to Port Arthur. A truck has been put into commission by the home mission department to be used in the service of eight home mission churches…This work is in charge of Pastor S. M. Mead who usually conducts five services each Sunday, travelling more than 100 miles to do so. The truck is available also for transportation of the sick to hospital…. Few realise the extent of the work of the home mission department, and the great sacrifices made by the men who carry on the work, receiving, for most, meagre allowances. South of the field carried on by Pastor Mead is another large district in the charge of the Rev. Frank Crocker, who works In Taranna, Oakwood, Premaydena, Nubeena, Saltwater River, and Port Arthur. He travels by horse and trap, or bicycle, and often on foot…In other parts of Tasmania other free churches are similarly strengthening the work of the Church and carrying on humanitarian work”.
Given the remoteness of the church few of its activities were publicised in Hobart newspapers.
The date of the church’s closure is not known but this would have occurred in the 1950s, well before the establishment of the Uniting Church in 1977. A photograph of the church is held by the Tasmanian Archives and this will be published in a future update of this article. The church is now known as ’Church Mouse Cottage’, located on the Port Arthur Highway, is located alongside the former Congregational Manse.
Sources:
Little information is available about the former Congregational Church at Nubeena. In the book ‘Congregationalism in Tasmania’ Theo Sharples states that in the late 1880s:
“Rev. James Button had charge of Port Arthur, Bream Creek and Carlton. In 1894, he reported having the oversight of nine preaching places in houses, schools and a hotel, and of riding on horseback 20 miles a day, six days a week, to perform his duties. By 1896, preaching places included Green’s Creek, Port Arthur, Swan Bay and Wedge Bay (Nubeena). Taranna was included when Rev. James Hebblethwaite succeeded Mr. Button in 1898…. By 1930, the Peninsula was divided into Home Mission districts based on Bream Creek and Taranna, with a minister stationed at each place… The Taranna pastorate included Taranna, Koonya, Nubeena, Saltwater River, Port Arthur and Eaglehawk Neck…”
Amongst these settlements only Nubeena, Saltwater River a Taranna had churches built. The year in which the Taranna church was built is not known but it was probably in the early 1920s as references to it appear in newspapers at this time.
A move to build a church began around 1911. In May of that year an article in the Daily Post outlined developments taking place in Taranna :
“There is also some talk of a Congregational Church. One hopes that [it] will be carried to fulfilment. The Congregational Union has a piece of ground in a very central part of the township, where a church would be a great improvement”.
In July 1911 The Mercury reported that “subscription lists were out for a new church”. In 1912 Taranna’s Public Hall was completed and it is likely that this was used as a place of worship until a church was eventually built in the early 1920s.
In 1938 a report mentions that three Congregational churches on the Tasman Peninsula, namely: Nubeena, Saltwater River and Taranna, had all been renovated, and that the Congregational Union had contributed an amount of £9 towards this with the remainder borne by the local congregations.
As a remote district, the Tasman Peninsula presented a challenge in meeting the spiritual needs of its scattered inhabitants. The Congregational church’s work also extended to meeting other basic needs of the community. In June 1843 the Launceston Examiner reported:
“An ambulance is now stationed at Sorell to serve surrounding districts. About three months ago Dr. Moore, in his capacity as chairman of the Congregational Union of Tasmania, visited various settlements in the Sorell district and Tasman Peninsula, and as far as Port Arthur. While travelling over this extensive territory he was impressed with the fact that, although the Health Department supplied two doctors, one at Sorell and one at Port Arthur, there were no facilities for conveyance to hospital other than by getting an ambulance from Hobart, which in many cases was a distance of 100 miles. Added to this, no ferry service was available at night. There are two hospitals in the district - one at Sorell and one at Koonya. Dr. Moore visualised an ambulance service being established at Sorell so that cases could be moved at night to either of the country hospitals and taken to Hobart in the morning. Dr. Moore returned to Launceston and left the suggestion in the hands of his friend and colleague, Pastor M. S. Mead, the minister in charge of Sorell and district churches…the idea continued to be worked out by Pastor Mead, and the first ambulance of theservice has now materialised…”.
The challenge of servicing the Sorell district and the Tasman Peninsula in the 1940s is highlighted in another article published in the Hobart Mercury:
“In spite of war-time conditions, the Congregational churches of Tasmania are carrying on their work in country centres. For many years there has been an understanding among the free churches as to which country districts each should work In. The Congregationalist for close on a century have worked in the territory from Sorell to Port Arthur. A truck has been put into commission by the home mission department to be used in the service of eight home mission churches…This work is in charge of Pastor S. M. Mead who usually conducts five services each Sunday, travelling more than 100 miles to do so. The truck is available also for transportation of the sick to hospital…. Few realise the extent of the work of the home mission department, and the great sacrifices made by the men who carry on the work, receiving, for most, meagre allowances. South of the field carried on by Pastor Mead is another large district in the charge of the Rev. Frank Crocker, who works In Taranna, Oakwood, Premaydena, Nubeena, Saltwater River, and Port Arthur. He travels by horse and trap, or bicycle, and often on foot…In other parts of Tasmania other free churches are similarly strengthening the work of the Church and carrying on humanitarian work”.
Given the remoteness of the church few of its activities were publicised in Hobart newspapers.
The date of the church’s closure is not known but this would have occurred in the 1950s, well before the establishment of the Uniting Church in 1977. A photograph of the church is held by the Tasmanian Archives and this will be published in a future update of this article. The church is now known as ’Church Mouse Cottage’, located on the Port Arthur Highway, is located alongside the former Congregational Manse.
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| Church Mouse Cottage on the Port Arthur Highway is the former Taranna Congregational church. The former Congregational Manse is located is located next to the church. |
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| Taranna, Norfolk Bay, Tasmania. R.C. Harvey - c.1910 Photograph (Libraries Tasmania) |
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| The Congregational Church Ambulance Service was active in the Tasman Peninsula in the 1940s. Examiner, Saturday 5 June 1943 |
Sources:
Daily Post, Saturday 11 May 1911, page 11
Daily Post, Thursday 8 February 1912, page 2
Daily Post, Thursday 7 May 1914, page 3
The Mercury, Tuesday 1 October 1918, page 4
Daily Telegraph, Friday 23 November 1917, page 8
The Mercury, Saturday 12 February 1921, page 11
The Mercury, Monday 20 April 1925, page 3
The Mercury, Monday 15 June 1925, page 3
The Mercury, Thursday 22 August 1929, page 5
The Mercury, Thursday 18 August 1938, page 6
Mercury, Tuesday 26 May 1942, page 4
Examiner, Saturday 5 June 1943, page 6
Sharples, Theo E., Congregational Union of Tasmania. Congregationalism in Tasmania, 1830-1977 : a brief history / compiled by Theo E. Sharples Congregational Union of Tasmania Hobart 1977.
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