Trinity Uniting Church Brighton

Trinity Uniting Church Brighton
Black Street Church
Trinity Uniting Church, Brighton
Trinity Uniting Church Brighton Location of the church in Greater Metropolitan Melbourne
Trinity Uniting Church Brighton
37°54′46″S 144°59′43″E / 37.912679°S 144.995177°E / -37.912679; 144.995177
Location	15–17 Black Street, Brighton, City of Bayside, Melbourne, Victoria
Country	Australia
Denomination	Uniting
Previous denomination	Congregational
Website	trinitybrighton.org.au
History
Former name(s)	Congregational Church, Brighton
Status	Parish church
Founded	1853 (as a parish)
Founder	Rev. Henry Kidgell
Dedication	Trinity
Dedicated	1991
Consecrated	2 December 1875
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Architect	Charles Webb
Architectural type	Church
Groundbreaking	15 June 1875 (fountain stone)
Completed	1875; 151 years ago (1875)
Construction cost	£2,836
Specifications
Materials	Polychrome bricks timber stained glass
Administration
Division	Synod of Victoria and Tasmania
District	Presbytery of Port Phillip East
Clergy
Pastor	Rev. Dr. Kevin Kim
Victorian Heritage Register
Official name	Former Congregational Church
Type	Registered place
Designated	22 April 1989
Reference no.	H0724
Heritage overlay no.	HO75
Category	Religion

The Trinity Uniting Church Brighton is a Uniting church building, located at 15–17 Black Street in Brighton, in the City of Bayside, in the south eastern suburbs of Melbourne, in Victoria, Australia.

Built in 1875 on the traditional lands of the Bunurong people as a Congregational church, the church building was added to the Victorian Heritage Register on 22 April 1989; and was also added to a non-statutory list by the Victorian branch of the National Trust on 10 May 1984.

History

A formal parish of the Congregational Union of Australia was established in 1853 by the Rev Henry Kidgell, from Brighton, England. Wooden church buildings were completed in November 1853 and October 1859. The current brick church was built in 1875 and referred to as the “Black Street Congregational Church”. The church was designed by architect Charles Webb and constructed by builder James Bonham on the site of a previous timber church. The former timber church building was relocated on the one-hectare (two-acre) site for use as a Sunday school.

Following the formation of the Uniting Church of Australia in 1977, the former Congregational church became a Uniting church, called the Black Street Church. Following extensive renovations in 1991, during which the congregation worshipped at the New Street Uniting Church, upon return to Black Street, the parish and church were renamed as Trinity Uniting Church Brighton.

Description

The building is tuck-pointed using black and cream polychrome bricks with a minimum of reds. The main facade comprises two turrets flanking a rose window and porch. The exterior is intact except for the vestry addition at the rear. The interior of the building contains a sloping timber floor, timber screens, Kauri pine pews, and a central pulpit. The ceiling is exposed varnished pine lining supported by king post trusses. The walls are painted render with a stencilled dado border, paint finished mouldings to windows and door openings, and stained glass by Ferguson and Urie.

The building is a substantially intact structure with finely executed detailing and is one of a small number of intact, extant Webb churches in Melbourne. The entry is marked by a memorial lych-gate constructed in 1954 and a large Moreton Bay fig, thought to have been grown from seedlings supplied in June 1869 by the horticulturalist Dr Ferdinand von Mueller.

The organ was built in 1884 by George Fincham at a cost of £420 and remains in an exceptional state of originality. It is located within the apse, with an extended mechanical action console placed before the later pulpit. The three-tower Kauri casework containing attractively stencilled pipes is notable. The restoration by the South Island Organ Company Limited, completed in 1996, saw the removal of varnish from the casework and console, and the complete and sensitive refurbishment of the action, wind system, and pipework.

See also

• Architecture of Melbourne
• List of places on the Victorian Heritage Register in the City of Bayside

References

External links

• Official website