St Johns Anglican Church complex, Sunday School and Parish Hall
61 Main Street DIAMOND CREEK, NILLUMBIK SHIRE
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Statement of Significance
REVISED STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE, CONTEXT, 2010
What is significant?
The interior and exterior of the c1867 St John's Church of England, the Sunday school and hall with emphasis on pre-World War I fabric (excluding the 1990s additions) and the three coloured glass windows currently suspended in the 1990s entry foyer.
How is it significant?
The church is historically, socially, spiritually and aesthetically significant to the Shire of Nillumbik.
The Sunday school and hall are architecturally and historically significant to the Shire of Nillumbik.
Why is it significant?
The church is historically significant because it was the oldest public building in the former Diamond Creek Shire, is amongst the oldest buildings in the Shire of Nillumbik and is associated with the early settlement of the Diamond Creek district (Criteria A & B). The church is historically, socially and spiritually significant because it has been a place of worship for over 140 years and continues to be, an important meeting place in the Shire (Criterion G). The church is aesthetically significant for the three stained glass windows executed by the noted stained glass manufacturers, Ferguson & Urie, as well as the supporting coloured glass windows in the church (Criteria H & E).
The Sunday school & parish hall is architecturally significant because the hall is a well executed and preserved example of the work of noted church architects, North & Williams (Criteria F & H). It is historically significant because it is connected with local paritioner and Melbourne industrialist, George Pizzey, who bequeathed funds for its construction (Criterion H).
BUTLER STUDY, 2000
The St John's Church of England complex is historically, socially and architecturally significant to the Nillumbik Shire:
. for the association of the church and its site with the early settlement of the Diamond Creek district;
. the age of the church which is the oldest group public building in the former Diamond Creek Shire and among the oldest group of public buildings in the Nillumbik Shire;
. for the three coloured glass windows executed by the noted stained glass manufacturers, Ferguson & Urie and supporting coloured glass attached to the church;
. for the mature planting remnant (oak) which marks the site of the old residence -
. for the design innovation of the church hall, as a well executed and externally well preserved example of the work of the noted church architects North & Williams;
. for the association of the hall with the benevolence of local parishioner and important Melbourne industrialist, George Pizzey.
EXTENT "OF DESIGNATION.(as revised):
Interior and exterior of St Johns Church of England, the Sunday School & Hall with emphasis on pre WW1 fabric and excluding the 1990s additions, the three coloured glass windows currently suspended in the 1990s entry foyer; plus land within the title.
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St Johns Anglican Church complex, Sunday School and Parish Hall - Physical Description 1
DESCRIPTON (as revised)
This is a bichrome (red and cream) brick buttressed, simple Gothic Revival church, formerly with a slate roof but now with a steel deck roof.
The associated Sunday School & Parish Hall is a strong design in the Arts & Crafts manner by one of the style's most noted practitioners, the firm of North & Williams, with characteristically austere interior but with a picturesque exterior distinguished by the terra-cotta shingled bell tower fleche. The external walls are red brick and the roof cladding unglazed Marseilles pattern terra-cotta tiles. The hall has architectural significance within the regional. or metropolitan context (compare with the Ivanhoe parish hall) and the church a strong local historical value.
The integrity of the church has been compromised by the re-roofing with steel deck and the removal of the chancel. This. was carried out as part of a redevelopment of the site in 1993, designed by Keith Butler, which also meant the relocation of the coloured glass windows, formerly over the altar, to the new glazed entry point between the church and hall.
The remaining church interior is simply treated with plastered walls and stained ceiling timbers above scissor trusses. Two pointed coloured glass windows are either side of the former church entry. The design of each is overlaid with a diamond pattern, interspersed with other geometric forms and rich blue and red panes within the border.
In the gable apex is a distinctive three-side coloured window with Latin inscriptions. The Ferguson & Urie windows formerly over the altar and now in the new glazed foyer, have rich and intricately coloured floral and geometric patterns with one scroll stating' Love One Another' and another 'God is Love'. A round window which presumably was in the apex of the chancel gable bares the name 'St John' over a bird of prey. The hall interior is typically plainly but effectively treated with banded stucco and red brick to wall faces, natural timber boarding and unusual strutted ladder trusses to the ceiling, and simple but distinctive tripartite plain and coloured glazing to both -ends of the hall. Glazing to the south side of the hall is set between strongly expressed cemented mullions externally. What is assumed to be the Sunday School room is off the hall. Some new partitioning has been added at the west end. The former weatherboard residence (1912) was relocated to Smiths Gully in the mid _1990s as a private residence and in its place is a new landscaped carpark, with remnant plantings including an oak, and a semi-mature Chinese elm. A picture of the complex from 1967 shows the residence, church and hall (the church and hall separated by a large asphalted area) with mature conifers evident to both the north and the south.
This is a visually prominent and important site in Diamond Creek with associations with the altered former Catholic Church adjoining. Both sites now have associated large carpark areas and the mature planting seen in the 1967 view has been removed although some new landscape has been established at St Johns.
St Johns Anglican Church complex, Sunday School and Parish Hall - Historical Australian Themes
Haven and refuge- rural attractions for various groups
4.5 Making settlements to serve rural Australia
8.6.1 Worshipping together
8.6.2 Maintaining religious traditions and ceremonies
8.6.4 Making places for worshipHeritage Study and Grading
Nillumbik - Nillumbik Shire Heritage Study
Author: Graeme Butler & Assoc
Year: 1997
Grading:Nillumbik - Nillumbik Heritage Investigation
Author: Graeme Butler
Year: 2000
Grading:
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Ellis Gateway at Nillumbik CemeteryNillumbik Shire
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Sugargum, Nillumbik FarmNillumbik Shire
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