St Paul’s launches restoration appeal

AN APPEAL for important preservation and repair works at St Paul’s Anglican Church in Geelong has officially begun.

National Trust Australia (Victoria) chair Kristin Stegley visited the church on January 30 to launch the $500,000 Heritage Restoration Appeal for the church on Latrobe Terrace.

The first sod of the foundation of St Paul’s Church was cut by Victorian Governor Charles La Trobe in 1851.

Built of Waurn Ponds bricks in the Early English Gothic Revival style, the church needs attention to preserve the south-facing brick work, which has suffered from weather and moisture.

The original Penryth roof slates from Wales were replaced from the same quarry in 2006.

“Most churches were built out of stone, but when this was built in the 1850s, it was built from brick,” John Duncan from the church’s Heritage Advisory Committee said.

“The southern wall stays damp, it doesn’t dry out as quickly, and there’s some damp into the wall, so at the moment we’re working on getting all the water off the roof with new rainheads, downpipes and drainage.”

“Where the bricks have been eroded, they’ll have to be removed and turned or replaced, so it’s a very expensive process.”

He said the church’s National Trust Australia (Victoria) account had been open for more than a year and had raised about $130,000 already, but some of that had been spent on hiring a heritage architect to do a report on the building.

“We started off concerned about brickwork, and after we had the heritage architect’s report, we discovered that we needed to address some other issues with the drainage from the roof; and then a small piece of masonry had dropped from the tower, so we had to address that – all this work is hellishly expensive, because you need cherry pickers and so on.”

He estimated the works would take at least two years to finish.

At the launch, the ribbon cut was heralded with bagpipes, followed by a peal of eight bronze bells (purchased by public subscription in 1866) played by regular campanologists, followed by a short recital on the organ by noted organist Tom Healey, director of music at St Paul’s Church.

Attendees included Geelong MP Christine Couzens and City of Greater Geelong councillors Jim Mason and Eddy Kontelj.

Mr Duncan said the launch highlighted the necessity of funding restoration projects of buildings in the heart of the community that were often taken for granted.

He said people might not recall that buildings such as St Paul’s were constructed at the birth of Geelong more than 170 years ago and needed some attention to still be useful and productive, having served and nurtured generations of forebears who made the city their home and what it is today.

Tax-deductible donations to the appeal may be made to St Paul’s Church Geelong Restoration Appeal through the National Trust of Australia (Victoria), Tasma Terrace, 6 Parliament Place, East Melbourne, 3002.