NORTH BENDIGO SUNDAY SCHOOL (FORMER)

Constructed in 1915 by the Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst, the former North Bendigo Sunday School at 14 Lobb Street, North Bendigo is a Gothic-influenced timber building with a distinctive steep-pitched roof.

None of the other buildings on the site are of significance.

The former Sunday school is of local historical, rarity and representative significance to the City of Greater Bendigo.

The former Sunday school at 14 Lobb Street, North Bendigo is significant as evidence of the expansion of the city’s outer suburban areas in the early twentieth century, with this Sunday school one of a number developed in Bendigo’s emerging suburbs at this time. The subject property is also of interest as an early building in Lobb Street. It was constructed in 1915, nine years after the street was gazetted. The Sunday school was developed on a miner’s right, with the land not acquired by the Catholic Church until 1949. (Criterion A)

While the number of timber church or other ecclesiastical buildings in Greater Bendigo is unknown, there appear to be relatively small number surviving. (Criterion B)

The former Sunday school is a good representative example of a timber Sunday school or church hall design of the early twentieth century. Alterations and additions to adapt it to residential use have impacted on its original presentation and on some of the original detailing, however the building remains relatively intact externally and the changes are generally reversible. (Criterion D)