WESLEY CHURCH (1857-58)
124-148 LONSDALE STREET MELBOURNE, MELBOURNE CITY
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Statement of Significance
This place is included on the Victorian Heritage Inventory, for its potential to contain historical archaeological remains associated with the settlement and growth of early Melbourne. Under the terms of the Heritage Act 2017 there is protection for all historical archaeology sites and objects in the state.
Please visit the Heritage Victoria website to find out more about the Heritage Inventory.
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WESLEY CHURCH (1857-58) - History
Heritage Inventory History of Site: Date of first documented occupation, 1850Heritage Inventory Description
WESLEY CHURCH (1857-58) - Heritage Inventory Description
Site of many now demolished structures particularly towards Little Lonsdale Street. 1850 and 1855 maps - school. Architectural design competition for church 1857. Cost ₤26,000. Architect: Joseph Reed. Foundation stone laid 1st December 1857, building opened 1858. 1866 map - church; 1880 Panorama - shows large church and associated buildings. 1905 map - shows detail of church, associated buildings and yard areas.
Heritage Inventory Significance: WESLEY CHURCH, 124-148 LONSDALE STREET, WAS ERECTED IN 1857-58. A DESIGN COMPETITION HAD CHOSEN JOSEPH REED ARCHITECT. THE CONTRACTOR WAS MR. FORSYTH. THE PRESENT BUILDING IS CONSTRUCTED IN BLUESTONE WITH FREESTONE MOULDINGS AND IS DOMINATED BY A TOWER AND SPIRE. IT IS A MONUMENT TO DANIEL DRAPER, THE CHURCH CHAIRMAN FOR THE PORT PHILLIP AREA. HE INITIATED ITS CONSTRUCTION AND DEFENDED ITS GOTHIC STYLE WHICH WAS CONSIDERED BY SOME TO BE POPISH. WESLEY CHURCH HAS BEEN THE FOCUS OF METHODISM IN VICTORIA SINCE 1858 AND IS ASSOCIATED WITH MANY NOTABLE CHURCHMEN, PARTICULARLY DANIEL DRAPER AND SIR IRVING BENSON. IT IS A DISTINCTIVE EXAMPLE OF THE PROTESTANT GOTHIC REVIVAL AND IS ESSENTIALLY A HALL CHURCH IN GOTHIC DRESS. THIS GOTHIC DRESS HOWEVER COMPRISES ONE OF REED'S FINEST COMPOSITIONS WITH ITS DISTINCTIVE SPIRE, CONICAL ROOF AND GABLES AISLES. THE ORIGINAL GALLERY (NOW PAINTED) ON FOUR SIDES OF THE CHURCH IS AMONG THE MANY NOTABLE INTERNAL FEATURES. SEVERAL MINOR INTERNAL ALTERATIONS HAVE TAKEN PLACE, THE SANCTUARY HAS BEEN MODERNIZED, THE ENTRANCE CORRIDOR IS NOW A CHAPEL WITH AN INTRUSIVE CERAMIC TILE FLOOR, THE REAR OF THE CHURCH PROPER HAS BEEN GLAZED IN TO BECOME A VESTIBULE. THE SPIRE, WHICH ONCE SUPPORTED A RIOT OF GABLES AND CROCHETS, HAS BEEN SHEATHED IN COPPER, TWO PINNACLES ARE MISSING FROM THE EAST ENTRANCE. OF NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE. VICTORIAN CHURCH SURVEY - STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: WESLEY CHURCH COMPLEX IS THE MOST SUBSTANTIAL GROUP OF NINETEENTH CENTURY CHURCH BUILDINGS IN CENTRAL MELBOURNE AND OF GREAT IMPORTANCE HISTORICALLY AND ARCHITECTURALLY FOR THE THE SURVIVAL OF SUCH AN EARLY (1857-1860) MAJOR CHURCH GROUP, BUILT WITHIN JUST 20 YEARS OF THE FIRST SETTLEMENT AT MELBOURNE BY BATMAN AND FAWKNER. THE CHURCH, ORIGINAL PARSONAGE AND OLD SCHOOL HOUSE BUILDINGS ARE ALL STILL THERE, UNLIKE THE OTHER CENTRAL MELBOURNE CHURCH SITES. WESLEY CHURCH IS A FINE DESIGN AND OF SPECIAL IMPORTANCE AMONG VICTORIAN CHURCHES FOR THE COMBINATION OF A GALLERY ON ALL SIDES WITH A CRUCIFORM FLOOR PLAN, THE FORMER BEING THE ADAPTATION OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY CLASSICALLY STYLED CHURCH OF ENGLAND CHURCHES TO THE WESLEYAN MEETING HOUSE, WHILE THE LATTER IS EXTREMELY RARE IF NOT UNIQUE FOR A METHODIST CHURCH IN THIS STATE. THE SPIRE IS THE OLDEST SURVIVING SUCH FEATURE IN CENTRAL MELBOURNE AND MOST PROBABLY IN VICTORIA AND WAS MOST LIKELY THE FIRST SPIRE TO BE BUILT IN VICTORIA. THE USE OF A GOTHIC STYLE FOR THE DESIGN OF THE BUILDING INSTEAD OF THE SIMPLE CLASSICAL REVIVAL CHURCHES BUILT BY THE METHODISTS IN BRITAIN AND PORT PHILLIP PREVIOUSLY MARKED A MAJOR CHANGE AND WAS INFLUENCED BY THE EMERGING POPULARITY OF THE STYLE AND THE WISHES OF THE CONFERENCE CHAIRMAN, REV D J DRAPER. FIRST WESLEYAN SERVICES WERE HELD IN MELBOURNE IN THE SAME YEAR THAT THE SETTLEMENT WAS FOUNDED AND THIS COMPLEX, AS WELL AS OTHER CHURCHES, WERE BUILT OUT OF THE PROCEEDS FROM THE SALE OF THE SECOND CHURCH COMPLEX FOR ITS LAND VALUE IN THE ECONOMIC BOOM YEARS WHICH FOLLOWED THE DRAMATIC INFLUX OF POPULATION BROUGHT HERE BY THE LURE OF GOLD IN THE EARLY 1850'S. ACKNOWLEDGED AS THE SOMEWHAT DEPRESSED, LESS ATTRACTIVE PART OF THE CITY IN 1857, THE NATURE OF WESLEY CHURCH'S SURROUNDINGS HAS SEEN THIS BUILDING SURVIVE IN A SURPRISINGLY INTACT STATE, THOUGH ITS LANDMARK ROLE HAS BEEN LOST DUE TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF HIGH RISE BUILDINGS ON ALL SIDES. THE REMOVAL OF ALL THE MOULDINGS AND COPPER SHEET CLADDING OF THE SPIRE, WHICH WAS EXPERIENCING SERIOUS DECAY PROBLEMS AS EARLY AS THE 1880'S, IS THE MOST EXTENSIVE AND UNSYMPATHETIC CHANGE. THE LATER ELABORATE CENTRAL ROSTRUM, WHICH REPLACED THE ORIGINAL SIDE PULPIT, CENTRAL COMMUNION TABLE AND OPPOSITE SIDE READING DESK HAS BEEN REMOVED, BUT OTHERWISE THE CHURCH IS VERY LARGELY INTACT. WITHIN THE WESLEYAN METHODIST CHURCH, THE WESLEY CHURCH WAS THE HEAD OF A VERY LARGE AND IMPORTANT CIRCUIT AND AT ITS GREATEST EXTENT INCLUDED ALL THE CHURCHES IN SOUTH AND PORT MELBOURNE, NORTH AND WEST MELBOURNE, CARLTON, FLEMINGTON, FOOTSCRAY AND SUNBURY. THIS CHURCH HAS FUNCTIONED AS THE CENTRAL MISSION SINCE CIRCA 1900.
Archeological Potential: Remnant Structure,Site
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FORMER CARLTON AND UNITED BREWERYVictorian Heritage Register H0024
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ROSAVILLEVictorian Heritage Register H0408
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MEDLEY HALLVictorian Heritage Register H0409
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