Mount Hawthorn Uniting Church

Statement of Significance

The Mount Hawthorn Uniting Church is a good example of the Interwar Austerity style which demonstrates the aspirations and the limited resources of the local parish in the late 1930s. The place contributes to the streetscape and has associations with the Presbyterian Church, the Uniting Church and local community.

Physical Description

The modest single storey church is constructed of concrete blocks. It has a gabled roof with a simple gable roofed entrance porch facing the street. The entrance to the porch is flanked by a pair of Tuscan columns. The gables are timbered with sheeting infill, although the main gable also incorporates a circular/florette shaped stained glass window. The small timber windows are rectangular but the lights are shaped as gothic-styled arched windows. Central on the grassed site it is setback from the street frontage. Painted exterior

History

Kalgoorlie Street was part of what was referred to as the Leederville Extension Estate. Residential lots were released for sale in about 1896, but the area was slow to develop. The street was listed in Wise's Post Office Directories in 19014 for the first time but there was no houses built. In 1905 there was one resident listed in Kalgoorlie Street, George Belstead and in 1915 there were seven. The street was about two thirds built out by 1937, as development spread westward across the suburb and in 1949 there appeared to be only three of four empty blocks. Presbyterianism can trace its roots back to the 16th Century European Reformation and to John Calvin, a French Protestant (1509 - 1564). This form of Calvinism developed in Scotland before it was unified with England in 1707. The Mount Hawthorn Presbyterian Church 'first stated in the Kindergaten in Woodstock Street. This was part of an outreach from the North Perth congregation. The ladies , with the help of maybe a retired person, would make bricks for the proposed church.. This went on for years. It must have been a very pleasant thing for these girls to faithfully work and made those cement bricks' (Freese) Jurjen Freese, who worked in the building industry and was also a member of the congregation, helped with the installation of the windows and doors. The foundation stone for the building was laid in April 1937 and the church was opened in February 1938. It was situated in a pleasant position position opposite Menzies Park and close to transprt (trams on Scarborough Beach Road) and to Mount Hawthorn Primary School on the opposite side of the main road. The double lot on the south side of the new church was occupied by a wood yard at the church was built. The rectangular section of the church at the rear, which formed the building into an L-shape, was a later addition. On 22 June 1977, the Presbyterian, Congregational and Methodist Church parishes amalgamated to form the Uniting Church to become the third largest Christian denomination in Australia. In December 2003 Mount Hawthorn's Uniting Church made history when it joined forces with the Mount Hawthorn Anglican Parish. The new group occupied a complex on Green Street which included a church, community hall and meeting rooms and the Kalgoorlie Street building was left vacant.

Integrity/Authenticity

mostly intact

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.