Christ Church Castlemaine

Visitors, locals and parishioners frequently say "It's a beautiful church". In particular, visitors are often amazed, favourably comparing the church to others they've visited in England and elsewhere. The church has particularly benefited by commemorative donations of distinctive stained glass windows.

On 21st February 1858 Bishop Perry dedicated the completed Christ Church after four tough years of crumbling foundations, wrangling between builders and architects, changed plans, and starting from scratch. The Rector, Rev'd Barlow said: "This hill is no longer the mount of rumblings and thunder, but is the hill of peace and blessing." 

So in1858 they celebrated. There were three services that day and the voices of the choir and the sound of the harmonium filled the air. The doors were all open and the celebrating crowd was spread widely over the hill.

Christ Church continues to have a full choir, with church music an ongoing focus. Celebration through music has always been a feature of Christ Church: at weekly worship services, through beautiful music and liturgy every Christmas and Easter, weddings galore, the jubilation of peace after two world wars, through the Festival Eucharist as part of the program in the exhilarating early days of the Castlemaine State Festival, with many from the Christ Church Choir being founding and long-serving Festival volunteers, and now through the richness of a Jazz Mass annually on the Sunday of the Castlemaine Jazz Festival, and a regular concert program initiated by the Parish. Beautiful music and song has also supported family and friends through many funerals, followed by sad/happy celebrations of life in the Parish Hall. Music, joyful and serene, continues to enhance the worship services and the monthly Sunday Evensong.

The National Trust lists 'Christ Church & Organ' as having 'State' level significance, noting it is "One of the oldest substantial churches on the Victorian goldfields, of great interest for its use of local sandstone and for details such as the rose window and the faces carved on the crockets. This is a particularly charming and intact church, integrally involved in the history of the Castlemaine goldfield" Read more by the National Trust on the Christ Church Organ and early Castlemaine HERE 

And scroll down for a full Statement about Christ Church from the Heritage Register of Victoria
and for more about the carved faces !​

A downloadable guide to the interior of Christ Church will be posted on this page soon
​ Scroll down for photos of some of the exterior carved faces​

Victorian Heritage Register 
​Christ Church Castlemaine is also listed on the Victorian Heritage Register. Key points from its STATEMENT OF CULTURAL HERITAGE SIGNIFICANCE are quoted below or click HERE for the full statement.

"The foundation stone for Christ Church, Castlemaine was laid on February 24th 1854 ... The church is a Gothic style stone building comprising a nave, chancel, transept and vestry. The flags in the church are from regiments which served in Victoria during the gold rush days. The present pipe organ was built by George Fincham in 1888 and re-built in 1953 with further restoration in 1992. The chancel and vestry were added in 1892. The large east window was placed as a memorial of sixty years of Queen Victoria's reign in 1897. Christ Church is of historic and architectural significance to the State of Victoria ... [and} is one of the oldest substantial churches on the Victorian goldfields and is particularly notable for its relative intactness. Christ Church is architecturally significant for its use of local sandstone, its rose window and its detailing, including the carved faces on the crockets ..."

Crockets are exterior curled decorative features used in Gothic and Gothic Revival churches (named after the curved top of a Bishop's or shepherd's crook, as in Jesus the shepherd of people).
At Christ Church crockets are used to frame the window arches. Delightfully, carved stone faces have been added, two per window. Not gargoyles as they don't function as spouting, they are akin to a mascaron - a Gothic architectural ornament originally intended to frighten evil spirits from entering a building.  When Christ Church was built many centuries after Gothic times, people were less superstitious. Architectural ornaments like these were added as decoration, often human in appearance. The 'faces' at Christ Church are mostly human-like, though some are quite distorted or mask-like.
It's both interesting and good fun to speculate whether the faces were based on real people. Perhaps they are faces of parishioners at the time (although only one or two women are depicted) or faces of the builders themselves that adorn the stone they crafted into this beautiful building. 
​
​You are most welcome to attend a service or event at Christ Church or enjoy its garden, and spend some time inside the church when it is open to visitors. 

St John's Chewton

Faithful, steadfast, friendly, and committed to all the local people, these words all describe the St John's Church community since it first gathered at Forest Creek right through to the present day. Resilient is another word that comes to mind.

In March 1852, six months after the discovery of gold near Mount Alexander, an estimated 25,000 hopeful diggers were living along the creeks that flowed from the low mountain. Forest Creek became the "go to"place. Many found gold, others died. Some diggers had their families with them, the Children's Cemetery at Pennyweight Flat attesting to the harshness of the living conditions. News of the gold rush spread to other countries and ships from many parts of the world brought eager men and women to Port Phillip. At the height of the rush, on one day late in September 1852, a recorded 3,000 people arrived at Forest Creek.

A canvas town grew there, with butchers, bakers, gold buyers, lemonade sellers, blacksmiths, druggists, and traders of all manner of goods, as well as a post office, and 'offices' for newspaper and government representatives. Church services were held in the open or in tents, with Rev'd John Gregory being one of the first Church of England ministers to regularly visit and lead worship at Forest Creek. The faith community strengthened and St John's was planned. It was important to have schooling for the children so St John's school was established in temporary premises, before the church was built.
​The school continued until 1870 when it joined with the new government primary school.

Structures of wood, brick and stone were soon being built at Forest Creek along the road that led from the diggings to the Gold Commissioner's Camp 4 km to the northwest where Barker's, Campbell's and Forest Creeks converged. A town plan with street grid was laid out there and in 1853 was named Castlemaine.
 
In 1857 the growing township at Forest Creek diggings was named Chewton. St John's Church was built there in 1858. One third of the cost was paid for by the Church of England (renamed Anglican Church much later) with the remainder undertaken by the parishioners, a debt they worked hard to clear over the following decades.

By the late 1850s the surface gold that had been easy for the first diggers to find had all been dug and fossicked. Deeper mining was needed. In the 1860s ten quartz crushing mills served the local mines. Chewton had a busy commercial sector, with a mining survey office, two banks, a court, 14 hotels, and buildings not tents for the butchers, grocers and blacksmiths.

On 15 November 1901 the Mount Alexander Mail headlined the devastating "cyclone" that swept through North Castlemaine, Wesley Hill and Chewton: 
"ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF DAMAGE.
ONE LIFE LOST AND MANY PERSONS INJURED.
A SCENE OF DESOLATION. HUNDREDS RENDERED HOMELESS.​
... We have heard of the damage done by sieges and bombardments, but it could not be worse than that wrought by
the 20 minute cyclone yesterday.​"

St John's Church in Chewton was one of the buildings that was flattened. "Demolished" was the word used by the Mail's reporter.

Just short of one year later, on 4 November 1902, that newspaper featured:
"CHEWTON
The Church of England at Chewton which it will be remembered was entirely destroyed by the cyclone of November last, has now been entirely re-built owing to the energetic work of the members of the congregation, especially the ladies; assisted by donations from all the other denominations in the district." A new chancel and vestry were added. The original bricks were used in the rebuilding and the church has fortunately stood fast since then.

Chewton Parish was originally paired with the Parish of Fryerstown with the Rector living in the latter. Even with two communities, it was a struggle to pay the stipend, and for quite some years there was a lay leader (a person who leads worship and prayer, and preaches, explaining key parts of the Bible, particularly about Jesus Christ;  however not authorised to offer communion or marry people; he was often a volunteer).  Later, in 1970, St John's became a part of the Parish of Castlemaine sharing a Rector and resources.

More recently, the population of the always energetic and resilient township of Chewton is again growing. St John's Chewton is a beautiful small church and a joyful, friendly community.

Visitors and newcomers are most welcome to any of the services or gatherings at St John's. 

Contact details and addresses for each of the Churches are HERE

There is more information about the history of the Parish of Castlemaine including acknowledgements and texts for further reading on this website's Early History page HERE

St John's Church and Christ Church both have Historic Overlays in the Victorian Planning Scheme that is administered locally by Mount Alexander Shire.

​
[before publishing: still to come a photo or two here and a couple more of St John's in photo gallery above]


Many centuries ago, and since, churches were often built with spires. At the base of the spire the sound of the bell was amplified, reaching over a great distance, as call to worship, or warning. The spire was also a marker, visible from afar, guiding travellers to the shelter and safety of a town or village, or the sanctuary of the church itself.

And the tall, tapering shape of a spire drew the eye upward, representing connection between the earthly world and the divine. Neither Christ Church nor St John's have a spire. But each has their original bell, though they are quieter than ones housed in towering spires. And the churches still perform the same functions of welcome, connection, shelter, sanctuary, and as symbols of sustained spiritual faith.

The churches of this parish are both
signpost and welcome mat to all​