St Bartholomew's Church, Burnley

About

St Bartholomew's Church, Burnley, is the Anglican parish church of the small suburb of Burnley, historically considered part of Richmond, in inner-suburban Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Known colloquially as "St Bart's", the parish is in the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne and is well known as belonging to the Anglo-Catholic or High Church tradition. Its congregation is active in various ministries around Richmond and beyond. It has an opportunity shop which operates out of the parish hall.

The church and adjacent hall complex are located at 290 Burnley Street, Richmond, on the western side of Burnley Street at the corner of Boyd Street, halfway between Swan Street and Bridge Road.

Although St Bartholomew's is the Anglican parish church of Burnley, the parish land and buildings are located in Richmond, as Burnley Street is the suburban boundary: Burnley to the east and Richmond to the west.

In 1870, land was granted to the Anglican Church by the Victorian government. In 1883, as settlement in the area had developed fully, a committee was formed to raise funds for the purpose of constructing a new church in Burnley.

The decision to name the new church after St Bartholomew is thought to have been a result of two factors: one of the predominant local industries in Burnley in the 1880s was tanning (St Bartholomew is the patron saint of tanners ) and the meeting which led to the erection of the first wooden church building took place in August; St Bartholomew's feast day is 24 August.

The first church building, a Gothic style wooden hall, was formally opened on 22 January 1885 at the south-eastern corner of Swan Street and Burnley Street, adjacent to the present Burnley railway station. This building served both as a Sunday school hall and place of worship, and was served initially by clergy from neighbouring St Stephen's Church, Richmond.

Rapid growth in the parish meant that pressure mounted for St Bartholomew's to be made a separate parish. This was achieved in 1890, when the Parish of Burnley was constituted and the Reverend Henry James Powell was inducted as the first vicar of Burnley. A measure of Powell's success in his new role can be seen in building extensions: within twelve months it was necessary to double the size of the church.

The collapse of the economic boom in Melbourne, and the long economic depression throughout the 1890s, meant that plans to build a brick church building did not eventuate until 1908.

The new brick church building was designed by the well-known Melbourne architectural firm of Thomas Watts and Sons. A founder of the Victorian Institute of Architecture, Thomas Watts had been responsible for some lavish Victorian era mansions in Melbourne's inner suburbs and was soon to direct the relocation of St James' Old Cathedral to its present site in West Melbourne. Watts' design for the new St Bartholomew's Church, in the Arts and Crafts movement style, included an entrance porch facing Swan Street and a tower with an octagonal spire at the north-west corner. The foundation stone was laid in July 1910 and the new church building was dedicated and opened December the same year. The original wooden building remained in use as the parish hall.

The first church building, a Gothic style wooden hall, was formally opened on 22 January 1885 at the south-eastern corner of Swan Street and Burnley Street, adjacent to the present Burnley railway station. This building served both as a Sunday school hall and place of worship, and was served initially by clergy from neighbouring St Stephen's Church, Richmond.

Rapid growth in the parish meant that pressure mounted for St Bartholomew's to be made a separate parish. This was achieved in 1890, when the Parish of Burnley was constituted and the Reverend Henry James Powell was inducted as the first vicar of Burnley. A measure of Powell's success in his new role can be seen in building extensions: within twelve months it was necessary to double the size of the church.

The collapse of the economic boom in Melbourne, and the long economic depression throughout the 1890s, meant that plans to build a brick church building did not eventuate until 1908.

The new brick church building was designed by the well-known Melbourne architectural firm of Thomas Watts and Sons. A founder of the Victorian Institute of Architecture, Thomas Watts had been responsible for some lavish Victorian era mansions in Melbourne's inner suburbs and was soon to direct the relocation of St James' Old Cathedral to its present site in West Melbourne. Watts' design for the new St Bartholomew's Church, in the Arts and Crafts movement style, included an entrance porch facing Swan Street and a tower with an octagonal spire at the north-west corner. The foundation stone was laid in July 1910 and the new church building was dedicated and opened December the same year. The original wooden building remained in use as the parish hall.

The parish land was relocated in 1925 to the present site on the north-western corner of Burnley and Boyd Streets.

Various factors contributed to this decision: most notably the 1910 building had been weakened by ground vibrations generated by being situated between the busy tramway in Swan Street and the railway line directly behind the original property. Further difficulties were raised by the heavy industry then still in the neighbourhood. The limitation on the size of the site made expansion of the buildings to accommodate additional activities, such as a parish kindergarten, impossible. By the 1920s the original location was no longer central to the majority of worshippers, an issue raised as early as 1915, and a quieter location was also considered desirable.

The relocation was accomplished by the purchase and demolition of several workers' cottages at the corner of Burnley and Boyd Streets.

Gawler & Drummond, prolific and prominent Melbourne architects whose later work was to include the Grainger Museum at the University of Melbourne, prepared the plans for a new brick church building and adjacent hall complex; the substantial hall complex is located immediately to the south of the church.

As many of the construction materials from the Swan Street church building were reused, including the bricks, flooring and roofing both internally and externally, the church building features an unusual blend of architectural styles, representing both Arts and Crafts and early Art Deco.

Elements of Thomas Watts and Sons' Arts and Crafts designs were copied for the four-bay nave, transepts and chancel with adjacent vestry and organ chamber. However, the crenellated brick bell tower, baptistery and "west" front facing Burnley Street show some features of early Art Deco design.

The pews, choir stalls, pulpit, memorials, pipe organ, stained glass windows, leadlights, and altar from the Swan Street church were also transferred to the present church building.