Woodhouse Grove Wesleyan Chapel
| Woodhouse Grove Uniting Church | |
|---|---|
Woodhouse Grove Uniting Church Location of the church in Greater Metropolitan Melbourne | |
Woodhouse Grove Uniting Church | |
| 37°48′08″S 145°07′56″E / 37.802205°S 145.132106°E | |
| Location | 147 Woodhouse Grove, Box Hill, Melbourne, Victoria |
| Country | Australia |
| Denomination | Uniting (1977—2022) |
Previous denomination |
|
| Website | manninghamuc.org |
| History | |
| Status | Closed (in 2022) |
| Consecrated | Good Friday 1856 or 1857 |
| Architecture | |
Functional status | Chapel (closed) |
Architectural type | Church |
| Style | Victorian Georgian |
Years built | 1855-1856 |
| Completed | 1856 |
| Closed | 2022 |
| Specifications | |
| Materials | Stone; brick; tiles |
| Administration | |
| Division | Synod of Victoria and Tasmania |
| District | Presbytery of Yarra Yarra |
| Parish | Manningham Uniting Church |
Official name | Woodhouse Grove Wesleyan Chapel |
| Type | Registered place |
| Designated | 19 December 2002 |
| Reference no. | H2010 |
| HO99 | |
Category | Religion |
The Woodhouse Grove Wesleyan Chapel, also known as the Woodhouse Grove Uniting Church, is a Uniting former church building, located in Box Hill, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Located on the traditional lands of the Wurundjeri, the former church was added to the Victorian Heritage Register on 19 December 2002 in recognition of its architectural, aesthetic, and historical significance.[1] The Victorian branch of the National Trust added the former church to its non-statutory list of heritage properties on 23 November 1961.[2]
Administration
In c. 2015, the Manningham Uniting Church was formed through the merger of The Woodhouse Grove at Box Hill, together with nearby Uniting churches at Doncaster East, Doncaster, and Templestowe. Whilst, in 2019, the Uniting Church retained the Woodhouse Grove church property, it was repurposed for limited use as a church with the remainder of the site set aside for residential housing.[3] In November 2022, the Heritage Council of Victoria conditionally approved proposed modifications to the church property.[4]
The last church service at the historical church was on 26 June 2022.[5]
Prior to its closure, The Woodhouse Grove Uniting Church was part of the Manningham Uniting Church, a parish within the Presbytery of Yarra Yarra, in the Synod of Victoria and Tasmania.[6]
Description
The former Woodhouse Grove Wesleyan Chapel was constructed between 1855 and 1856 in the Victorian Georgian style using local Koonung Creek stone and bricks.[7] It was one of the first church buildings to be built in the area, and the oldest surviving church building in the City of Whitehorse.[1] The first service in the chapel was on Good Friday in either 1856 or 1857.[8]
The chapel is a small rectangular building of coursed freestone with stone quoining at the corners. It has round-arched timber framed windows with cream brick surrounds and keystones. It is a simple single roomed building with a porch. The chapel is a remnant of the original small, once rural towns that grew up around Melbourne in the nineteenth century and has undergone little alteration on the exterior or interior.[1]
See also
- Architecture of Melbourne
- Australian non-residential architectural styles
- List of Uniting churches in Melbourne
References
- ^ a b c "Former Wesleyan Chapel, Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) Number H2010, Heritage Overlay HO99". Victorian Heritage Database. Heritage Victoria. Retrieved 15 June 2026.
- ^ "Wesleyan Church - Box Hill (National Trust list), Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) Number H2010". Victorian Heritage Database. Heritage Victoria. Retrieved 15 June 2026.
- ^ Southwell, David (15 October 2019). "Using church property to build mission work". Uniting Church in Australia, Synod of Victoria and Tasmania. Retrieved 15 June 2026.
- ^ Determination: Former Wesleyan Chapel (H2010) (PDF). Heritage Council of Victoria (Report). 9 November 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2026.
- ^ "Closing churches". Victorian Council of Churches. 19 April 2023. Retrieved 15 June 2026.
- ^ "Presbytery map". Presbytery of Yarra Yarra. 2026. Retrieved 15 June 2026.
- ^ "Box Hill North, VIC - Wesleyan Methodist (Former)". Australian Christian Church Histories. 20 March 2024. Retrieved 15 June 2026.
- ^ Allom Lovell & Associates (1998). "Building citations: Former Woodhouse Grove Wesleyan Chapel" (PDF). City of Whitehorse Heritage Review. Retrieved 15 June 2026.