UNITING CHURCH AND SUNDAY SCHOOL

14 -26 WILSON STREET LONG GULLY, GREATER BENDIGO CITY

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Victorian Heritage Register

UNITING CHURCH AND SUNDAY SCHOOL SOHE 2008

Statement of Significance

• Additional Place Information

  • History

    UNITING CHURCH AND SUNDAY SCHOOL - History

    Contextual History:History of Place:
    Methodism began in the mid-eighteenth century in England through the evangelical preaching of John and Charles Wesley, clergymen of the Church of England. Although remaining within the established church, John Wesley organised his followers into religious societies, introduced a system of itinerant and local preachers and developed an organisation governed by an annual conference. It was not until four years after Wesley’s death in 1795, the Methodists broke away from the Church of England to become a separate denomination. The Methodists opposed the Calvinistic doctrine of predestination and election; believing instead in universal redemption and the doctrine of Christian perfection. Some groups broke away from the main Wesleyan Methodist Society to form other divisions, including the Methodist New Connexion, the Primitive Methodist Connexion and the Bible Christians.
    
    The Wesleyan movement coincided with the Industrial Revolution in England and made its biggest impact on the burgeoning industrialised working masses. The notion that salvation was available to everyone, including the poor, appealed to those from the mining and manufacturing towns of Britain who had become increasingly alienated from the established church. They were particularly attracted by the notion of spiritual equality between cleric and layman, whereby certain laymen were able to perform most of the functions of an ordained minister. This allowed the organisational genius John Wesley to form a circuit system whereby several lay preachers served the local communities, whilst ordained ministers would oversee the circuit, administering sacraments as required. Able to rely on unordained preachers, the Wesleyan Methodists established themselves easily in the goldfields where they became the strongest denomination.
    
    Methodism was introduced in Port Phillip from the earliest years of European settlement. Before the Rev Joseph Orton held the first Methodist service by a clergyman in 1836, lay people already gathered in homes for prayer and worship. The first church was built on the north-west corner of Swanston Street and Flinders Lane in 1839.
    
    Before the arrival of the first Methodist minister, John Christian Symons in 1852, laymen, often diggers, conducted their own services on the goldfields. Many Cornish and Yorkshire miners, “aflame with the fire of Methodism” ensured that the gullies rang with the sound of singing and preaching and won a singular respect among wild and reckless men. Symons had been sent by Rev Daniel Draper from Adelaide to follow the Methodist miners who flocked to the new goldfields. Symons, stationed at Castlemaine, had been instructed to keep the Methodist miners together and to collect money from them for the churches they had left behind. The Rev Thomas Raston arrived in Sandhurst in August 1852 to take charge and by the end of 1853, five places of worship were in use. The Sandhurst Circuit was established in 1854.
    
    The Rev Ditterich looked back at his time in the Sandhurst circuit:
    
    It is a circuit of great congregations, of immense Sunday schools, of active Endeavour Societies, of soul shaking revivals, of glorious singing powers. The lack of natural picturesqueness is fully atoned for by the varied and inspiring nature of the spiritual landscape.
    
    History of Place:
    
    Long Gully was the most thickly populated of the gullies to the west of Bendigo. Cornish miners, many of them from South Australia, were concentrated in the western gullies where their experience in sinking deep shafts often proved richly rewarding. Long Gully became the centre of Bendigo’s “Little Cornwall” and with it came the Cornish traditions of saffron cakes and pasties and hard-working, God-fearing Methodism.
    
    The first Methodist services in Long Gully were held in a slab hut and sometimes in private houses. In 1865 a new church designed by Vahland and Getzschmann was built by Mr Patterson. Vahland and Getzschmann were again used as architects for the new church built on the same site, to the west of the old church, in 1877. The new church was built by Mr Patterson (carpentry), Mr Marks (brickwork), and Manley and Harris (masonry). A small arcade linked the church with the 1865 building which was then used as the Sunday School. A pipe organ, built by Alfred Fuller of Melbourne, was installed in 1882 at a cost of £300. Tenders for a new gallery and pulpit were called in 1893 and a kindergarten room was added c1910. The church still retains its strong Cornish links.
    COMPARISON:
    
    Long Gully Methodist Church should be considered in the context of Vahland’s work and in Methodist architectural history.
    
    W C Vahland:
    
    W C Vahland was born in 1828 in Hanover, Germany and received his professional training as an architect in Germany. After practising for several years in Germany, he came to Australia, arriving in Melbourne in 1852 and then travelling on to Bendigo where he tried his luck at gold mining. Unsuccessful as a miner, he started business as a builder and carpenter. In 1856 he set up an architectural practice. He designed many important buildings in and around Bendigo, some of them in partnership with Getzschmann. They include:
    
    Bendigo Town Hall, 1859, 1883-85. H117
    
    Anne Caudle Centre (formerly the Bendigo Benevolent Home), 1860, 1868, 1872. H992
    
    Former Colonial Bank, Bendigo, 1887. H1020
    
    Former Union Bank, Bendigo, 1876-77. H121
    
    Goldmines Hotel, Bendigo, 1872. H827
    
    Other churches by Vahland include:
    
    St Kilian’s Catholic Church, Bendigo, 1888. An impressive timber church. Recommended for inclusion on the Heritage Register.
    
    St John’s Presbyterian Church, Bendigo, 1890-91. A distinctive church with eclectic detailing and a massive tower. Currently being assessed as part of the sector process.
    
    St Luke’s Anglican Church, White Hills, 1863. This small church is of interest for its early use of bichrome brick. Currently being assessed as part of the sector process.
    
    St Liborius, Eaglehawk, 1868. One of the most charming works by Vahland. Recommended not to be included in the Heritage Register.
    
    Churches:
    
    The National Trust’s Victorian Churches lists a total of 15 churches in the category Low and Mixed Gothic: Idiosyncratic Gothic, including the following:
    
    St Liborius Church, Panton Street, Eaglehawk, 1868. Features a distinctive corbelled-out bell tower. Currently being considered for inclusion on the Register.
    
    Congregational Church Lyttleton Street Castlemaine, 1861-62. A mannered brick Gothic church with a highly distinctive facade by architect William Spencer.
    
    The church was built after the Methodists had moved away from John Wesley's original concept of the church as a "plain and decent" preaching-house to an acceptance of more elaborate and substantial Gothic style structures with the construction of the Lonsdale Street Wesleyan Church in 1857. Previously, the Gothic style had been shunned for its papist associations. Nevertheless, the Methodist churches were usually distinguished from Roman Catholic and Anglican churches by their layout. Preaching was central to the Methodist service, as was hymn singing, and this is often reflected in an auditory-style interior with an emphasis on the pulpit and the pipe organ and choir gallery.
    
    Other Wesleyan Methodist churches on the Heritage Register include:
    
    Uniting Church, cnr Sydney Road and Bell Street, Coburg, chapel: 1849-57 (H962). The earliest known surviving Methodist chapel in Victoria. Its simple design is representative of the early Methodist churches reflecting John Wesley’s belief in “plain and decent” preaching houses.
    
    Wesley Church, 124-144 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, 1857-58 (H12). Designed by Joseph Reed, this church is of great significance in the history of Wesleyan Methodism and in the development of Victorian church architecture. It was the first Gothic church to be built by the Methodists in Victoria and made the style acceptable not only to the Methodists but also to other nonconformist churches. At the time of its construction, it was claimed to be the finest Methodist church in the world.
    
    Former Wesleyan Methodist Church, 167 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda, 1857-58 (H818). One of the first Gothic style Methodist churches in Victoria, its perpendicular tracery, matching door panelling and the low pitched roof distinguish the building from the standard Crouch and Wilson Methodist style.
    
    Former Methodist Church, California Gully, (Greater Bendigo) 1875 (H692). Designed by architects McPherson and Laurie, the church is notable for its exceptionally fine wall and ceiling decorative scheme.
    Associated People:
    
    
    

    Permit Exemptions

    UNITING CHURCH AND SUNDAY SCHOOL - Permit Exemptions

    General Exemptions:

    General exemptions apply to all places and objects included in the Victorian Heritage Register (VHR). General exemptions have been designed to allow everyday activities, maintenance and changes to your property, which don’t harm its cultural heritage significance, to proceed without the need to obtain approvals under the Heritage Act 2017.

    Places of worship: In some circumstances, you can alter a place of worship to accommodate religious practices without a permit, but you must notify the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria before you start the works or activities at least 20 business days before the works or activities are to commence.

    Subdivision/consolidation: Permit exemptions exist for some subdivisions and consolidations. If the subdivision or consolidation is in accordance with a planning permit granted under Part 4 of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 and the application for the planning permit was referred to the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria as a determining referral authority, a permit is not required.

    Specific exemptions may also apply to your registered place or object. If applicable, these are listed below. Specific exemptions are tailored to the conservation and management needs of an individual registered place or object and set out works and activities that are exempt from the requirements of a permit. Specific exemptions prevail if they conflict with general exemptions.

    Find out more about heritage permit exemptions here.

    Specific Exemptions:

    EXEMPTIONS FROM PERMITS:
    (Classes of works or activities which may be undertaken without a permit under
    Part 4 of the Heritage Act 1995)
    
    General Conditions:
    All exempted alterations are to be planned and carried out in a manner which
    prevents damage to the fabric of the registered place or object.
    Should it become apparent during further inspection or the carrying out of
    alterations that original or previously hidden or inaccessible details of the
    place or object are revealed which relate to the significance of the place or
    object, then the exemption covering such alteration shall cease and the
    Executive Director shall be notified as soon as possible.
    If there is a conservation policy and plan approved by the Executive Director,
    all works shall be in accordance with it.
    Nothing in this declaration prevents the Executive Director from amending or
    rescinding all or any of the permit exemptions.
    Nothing in this declaration exempts owners or their agents from the
    responsibility to seek relevant planning or building permits from the
    responsible authority where applicable.
    
    Exterior
    Minor repairs and maintenance which replace like with like.
    Installation or repair of damp-proofing by either injection method or grouted
    pocket method.
    Repair of fences and gates.
    Regular garden maintenance.
    Installation, removal or replacement of garden watering systems.
    
    Interior
    Painting of previously painted walls and ceilings provided that preparation or
    painting does not remove evidence of the original paint or other decorative
    scheme.
    Removal of paint from originally unpainted or oiled joinery, doors,
    architraves, skirtings and decorative strapping.
    Installation, removal or replacement of carpets and/or flexible floor
    coverings.
    Installation, removal or replacement of hooks, nails and other devices for the
    hanging of mirrors, paintings and other wall mounted artworks.
    Refurbishment of toilets including removal, installation or replacement of
    sanitary fixtures and associated piping, mirrors, wall and floor coverings.
    Installation, removal or replacement of kitchen benches and fixtures including
    sinks, stoves, ovens, refrigerators, dishwashers etc and associated plumbing
    and wiring.
    Installation, removal or replacement of electrical wiring provided that all
    new wiring is fully concealed and any original light switches, pull cords,
    push buttons or power outlets are retained in-situ. Note: if wiring original
    to the place was carried in timber conduits then the conduits should remain
    in-situ.
    Installation, removal or replacement of bulk insulation in the roof space.

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  Bendigo

  09/07/20

  UNITING CHURCH - UNITING CHURCH AND SUNDAY SCHOOL - SACRED HEART CATHEDRAL