Back to search results » Back to search page »

NORTH ESSENDON UNITING CHURCH

Other Names

North Essendon Presbyterian Church , Alexander Smith Memorial Church

Location

132 KEILOR ROAD,, ESSENDON NORTH VIC 3041 - Property No 197154

File Number

036

Level

Included in Heritage Overlay

[1/1]
Second church, fronting Keilor

Statement of Significance

What is significant?
The former Presbyterian Church at 132 Keilor Road, North Essendon, is a pink brick church in the Perpendicular Gothic style, evident in its implied verticality, narrow windows, four-centred arches and square tower. Designed by prolific Presbyterian architect J.F.D. Scarborough, it was erected in 1937 to replace a timber church erected on the same site some 13 years earlier.

How is it significant?
The former Presbyterian Church is of aesthetic, architectural and historical significance to the City of Moonee Valley.

Why is it significant?
Historically, the church is significant for its associations with the burgeoning residential development in North Essendon during the inter-war period. Although laid out in the 1880s, the estate on which the church stands did not seriously develop until the 1920s; the first church was erected in 1923, and further development over the next decade prompted the erection of the present church in 1937.

Aesthetically, the church is significant as a fine and intact example of an inter-war church in an academic Perpendicular Gothic style. Although a stark, stripped version of this style was commonly used by architects such as Louis Williams, this more academic manifestation was relatively uncommon in Melbourne at that time. With its distinctive squat tower, implied verticality and unusual pink brickwork, the church remains as a prominent element in this prominent streetscape.

Architecturally, the church is a particularly fine example of the work of J.F.D. Scarborough, a prolific architect who undertook many commissions for the Presbyterian Church during the inter-war period. It stands out amongst Scarborough's ecclesiastical oeuvre for its use of the unusual Perpendicular Gothic style, and as such is most comparable to his celebrated prize-winning design for the Littlejohn Memorial Chapel at Scotch College (1934).

Group

Religion