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CASTERTON CHURCH AND RESIDENTIAL PRECINCT (WEST HILL)

Location HENTY STREET, CASTERTON, GLENELG SHIRE Level Recommended for Heritage Overlay

[1/1] 52436 Casterton Residential

Statement of Significance

What is significant?
The Casterton Church and Residential Precinct (West Hill) is located along the Glenelg Highway, west of the central shopping area, overlooking the township. Generally, the built fabric shows a good range of houses and cottages dating from the 1856 (when the first land sales took place in this area) through to the mid twentieth century, as well as three fine churches and one former church, built in 1865, now used as the Masonic Lodge. A memorial to the Boer War, World War One and World War Two is located in a triangular reserve in the Henty Street road reserve at the extreme west of the precinct. The street is lined with Corymbia ficifolia (Red Flowering Gum), planted as street trees along most of Henty Street in the early twentieth century. Overall, the precinct is in very good condition and retains a very high degree of integrity.

How is it significant?
The Casterton Church and Residential Precinct (West Hill) is of historic, cultural, social and architectural significance to the Glenelg Shire.

Why is it significant?
The Casterton Church and Residential Precinct (West Hill) is of historic significance as it shows the growth and development in its built form of the town of Casterton from the mid 1850s through to the mid twentieth century. It is a representative example of the pattern of development of residential buildings around religious buildings often occurred in small country towns in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Of further historical significance is the town's role as a major service and religious focus for the surrounding area, being the second largest township in the Shire. It is of cultural significance for its range of churches and their residences, including the former Presbyterian Church (now Masonic Lodge), dating from 1865, the Methodist Church and manse, dating from 1877, Christ Church Anglican, dating from 1866 and the current Scot's Uniting Church, dating from 1908. Of further interest is the absence of the Catholic Church from this precinct. It is of social significance as the focus for the community's religious and spiritual needs, and better housing in the township, away from the 'miasmas' which were feared in the nineteenth century, and as a continuity of the 'better' part of town. The architectural significance of the precinct lies in a range of buildings constructed from local materials over a long period of time, ranging from the fine brick and stone religious buildings through to the humble timber cottages which remain.