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ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH

Location Byaduk Lutheran Church Road BYADUK, Southern Grampians Shire File Number 531 Level Stage 2 study complete

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Statement of Significance

What is significant?
The Zion Lutheran Church is located in Byaduk Lutheran Church Road, 5kms from Byaduk. The existing church, built in 1902 is the third. The first, of wattle and daub, was opened about 1857 and the second, of timber, in 1886. A Mr Murch of Hamilton built it but the designer, if any, is not known. The church is built in a simple Gothic revival style with patterned brickwork. The complex includes a Sunday school and cemetery. The Lutherans around Byaduk were a branch of the main community located to the east of Hamilton and focussed on the communities of Tabor and Tarrington. The communities looked to their origins in South Australia for leadership and belonged to the Evangelical Lutheran Church, under the Synod in that state rather than the Victorian or General Synod. The presence of a cemetery at the rear of the complex is unusual. The church, school and cemetery are in very good condition and have a high degree of integrity.

How is it significant?
The Zion Lutheran Church is of historic, architectural and cultural significance to the community of Byaduk and the Southern Grampians Shire.

Why is it significant?
The Zion Lutheran Church complex is historically significant as the continuing spiritual, educational and social focus of one of the several branches of German Lutheran settlement in the Shire. It is architecturally significant because the church, through its use of a simple design, humble materials and the Gothic revival style reflects the spiritual values as much as the means of the congregation. Similarly, the timber Sunday school reflects the congregation's efforts to maintain its cultural as well as spiritual identity. The presence of the cemetery within the church yard is significant because it demonstrates the congregation's desire to maintain links across generations.