Armadale Wesleyan Church & Wesley Hall
86B Kooyong Road, ARMADALE VIC 3143 - Property No 10911
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Statement of Significance
What is significant?
The Armadale Wesleyan Church of 1886 by Terry & Oakden and Wesley Hall by Haddon & Henderson of 1928, to the extent of their original fabric. The interwar church spire by architect Louis Williams and brick fencing are also of contributory significance.
The modern building linking the church and hall is not significant.
How is it significant?
The Armadale Wesleyan Church and Wesley Hall are of local historical, social and aesthetic significance to the City of Stonnington.
Why is it significant?
Historically, for its associations with the patrons of the church and hall. James Munro donated land to the Wesleyan congregation which allowed the construction of the 1886 church, and laid the foundation stone. Munro was a prominent local resident, wealthy businessman and member of the state Legislative Assembly. The patron of the 1928 hall was Mrs ER Moran. Her husband, Thomas Edwin Moran, ran Moran & Cato, the largest chain of grocery stores in Australia in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. After his death in 1890, at the age of 30, his wife succeeded him in the business. The family were devout Methodists who lived in Malvern and Mrs Moran was a philanthropist in her later years, establishing a scholarship at the University of Melbourne, among other things. (Criterion H)
The church also has associations with its designer, architect Percy Oakden of Terry & Oakden. It is typical of his use of polychrome brick. (Criterion H)
Wesley Hall also has associations with the architects Haddon & Henderson, and is one of Robert Haddon's final works before his death in 1929. (Criterion H)
Socially and historically, as the centre for the local Methodist community since 1886. Its social significance broadened even further when the congregations of this and St Andrew's Presbyterian (Methodist) Church merged in 1979. (Criterion A & G)
The complex is aesthetically significant as a local landmark on a prominent corner site, and for the rich polychrome and polytextural expression of the two buildings. (Criterion E)
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Armadale Wesleyan Church & Wesley Hall - Physical Description 1
The Armadale Wesleyan Church is on the north-east corner of Kooyong Road and Clarendon Street. It sits behind a small garden bordering the two streets, and the main entrance is on Kooyong Road. The red-brick Wesley Hall sits behind it, fronting on to Clarendon Street. It is linked to the rear of the church by a modern, red-brick building whose facade is continuous with that of Wesley Hall.
The Church
Armadale Wesley Church of 1886 is a polychrome brick church in a basic plan of nave, transept and apse. There is a later tower above the entrance at the west end. The walls are primarily Hawthorn brick (dark red-brown) laid in a Flemish bond, with accents of bright red and cream bricks plus limestone dressings. The lancet windows all have red and cream banding around their tops, suggesting a Saracenic influence in the design, which was a popular polychrome church design idiom. There are also narrow red and red and cream bands along the elevations corresponding to the springing heights of the lancet arched windows and doors. Just below the apex of the west and transept gables is a slit-like aperture (for ventilation?) with exaggerated polychrome brick voussoirs in a round arch. Apart from the polychromy details, the design is rather simple and planar.
The facade (west end) has a parapeted gable at its centre, flanked by an unusual hipped roof detail on the north side and a tower on the south. Apart from the tower, the facade is symmetrical, with matching doorways on either side and three stepped lancet windows at the centre. The corners of the church are marked by brick buttresses with limestone dressings, and the side elevations are divided into bays of two windows each by buttressing.
The gabled roof is covered in slates, with triangular mental ventilators along each side, ornamented with a trefoil-shaped grille.
The base of the tower was built along with the rest of the church and has the same brickwork and lancet-shaped doorway framed with polychrome brick. It sits slightly proud of the facade. The upper two levels were added in the interwar period and were constructed in clinker brick. The detailing is also quite different to the rest of the church, with triangular brick mullions between the narrow windows at the top, and geometric concrete dressings at their top. The spire has adopted the form of a broach spire, with a four-sided base and tapering octagonal cap. It is covered in diamond-shaped copper tiles. The design and materials of the tower do not sit comfortably with the 1886 church.
The south transept, which overlooks Clarendon Street, is articulated in a similar way to the facade. It has three large lancet windows (largest in the centre), with polychrome banding around the windows and across the elevation. There is a slit-like aperture at the apex with brick voussoirs, as on the facade.The Fence & Garden
The Hall
Along the two street frontages of the Church is a narrow garden. It is bounded by a low clinker-brick fence with tall pillars and wrought iron inset. There are fine-quality, decorative wrought-iron gates at the main entrance. The fence appears to be of a similar interwar date to the tower. There is also a raised garden bed at the south-west corner of the garden with a rubble-stone retaining wall, of a type which was also popular in the interwar era.
Wesley Hall of 1928 is an attractive red-brick building which was built to boundary on Clarendon Street. It has a parapeted gable front articulated by very slight brick buttresses dividing the facade into three bays. The gable parapet extends outward at its base, supported on corbel tables. The central bay holds three lancet windows. They have trefoil-shaped heads.
While not displaying the bold polychromy of the earlier church, the hall does display a subtle and attractive use of multiple colours and textures. There is dark-brown brick banding around the windows and extending horizontally from them. And there is a band of pressed terracotta tiles below the apex. It sits above a terracotta plaque with the words 'Wesley Hall' in relief.
The east side elevation has rectangular windows with paired trefoil sashes, lending a Tudor aspect to the building. They have diamond-shaped panes. The windows are divided by brick buttresses. The west elevation, where the original entrance was, has been obscured by a modern link building.
The gabled roof is covered in Marseille tiles. It has a long ridge ventilator of unusual and elegant design - it is raised on tiny 'legs'.
While the Arts & Crafts styling and use of varying materials was rather retarde for 1928, this is a very attractive and elegantly detailed building.
There is a ledged timber gate with decorative strap hinges on the east side of the building, which appears to be contemporary with it.Armadale Wesleyan Church & Wesley Hall - Historical Australian Themes
Themes from Stonnington Thematic Environmental History:
10.2 Worshipping
10.2.1 Founding Churches
10.2.3 Churches as a reflection of social and economic status of suburbsHeritage Study and Grading
Stonnington - Churches and Halls in the City of Stonnington - Heritage Citations Project 2010
Author: Context Pty Ltd
Year: 2010
Grading: A2
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ARMADALE PRIMARY SCHOOLVictorian Heritage Register H1640
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ARMADALE HOUSEVictorian Heritage Register H0637
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FORMER ES&A BANKVictorian Heritage Register H1691
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