THE MOST CHURCH-LIKE CHURCH ON THE ISLAND

Late last year the Buckland Church, an hour north-east of Hobart, was purchased by the local community. At 177 years old, the historic St John Baptist Church is entering a new era of life.

The 1840s was a significant era of change for the Church of England in Tasmania. In 1846, the first University College in Australia was opened - Christ College at Bishopsbourne and in 1847, the Hutchins School in Macquarie Street was to open. At Buckland, the first archaeologically correct, true early Medieval English Church in Tasmania started construction in 1846 and later consecrated in 1850. After local populations complained to secular authorities in Hobart about the lack of any clergy to service the growing settlement of Prosser Plains (now Buckland), all it took was 25 pounds and the first chaplin in the region Rev F.H.Cox to instigate the construction of a new church for the community of Buckland. It would be a replica of a parish church in England in the village of Cookham Dean, built to the design of architect Crawford Crupps Wegman of Sussex in the Rev Cox’s native county.

While being constructed by convict men, the Reverend conducted his services at the local Police Magistrates office. A different kind of ministry!

Excited for its completion, the then-26 year old Revered Cox proclaimed, “now I can say boldly, and, I trust, without self-congratulation, that the little church of St John Baptist, Prosser Plains, will by far be the most church-like church in the island.” His statement ‘church-like church’ was in reference to contemporary attempts to find the oldest and truest examples of English Gothic, as an expression of an appropriate architecture for the Church of England. Prior to the building of St John Baptist Buckland, churches in Tasmania were typically Georgian boxes, ornamented with Greek revival, Romanesque or ‘Gothick’ ornaments. Bringing a taste of home to Tasmania, Rev Cox transported an iconic stained glass window (the building’s ‘East Window’) from his English home that would be installed in the new church. A feat in itself, the window is estimated to originate in the 14th century, surviving hundreds of years and sailing across many oceans. The triple chancel window depicts the life of St John and the crucifixion of Jesus across 10 panels and four individual windows sitting above. The right light showing graphic imagery of the beheading of St John is considered the most controversial scene ever depicted in a stained glass window anywhere in Australia. St John’s head is shown being handed to the King’s daughter on a platter with his decapitated neck spurting blood below. Cheery.

The church sits within a stone-walled yard that contains tombs and headstones of many prominent local families and surrounded by now-mature Victorian trees - mainly pines, forming a pinetum, as well as an arbutus and red holly (lamb of God). This setting is now considered very rare and despite its age, the church is in remarkably good condition and resembles the manners of a country church of rural medieval England, transposed to 1840s rural Tasmania.

As a church constructed on half public funds and half from contributions from neighbourhood parishioners, the building came full circle in late 2022 when Friends of Buckland Church (FOBC) collectively purchased the building through a mammoth fundraising project. The group is working to preserve and revitalise the church into a community space for everyone to enjoy. FOBC will also continue to operate the cemetery. FOBC are always looking for physical and financial help to maintain and repair the structure and its surroundings. See how you can help. www.fobc-tas.org.au.