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CHURCH OF CHRIST

Other Name

TRINITY CHURCH

Location

275 LATROBE TERRACE GEELONG, GREATER GEELONG CITY

File Number

606035

Level

Registered

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CHURCH OF CHRIST SOHE 2008
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1 church of christ trinity
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Statement of Significance

The Church of Christ was built in 1858 by Fullager, Hagery & Co. to a design by the architectural firm Backhouse & Reynolds. The bluestone building in Early English Gothic style was built for the Free Church of England and was originally known as the Trinity Church. The Church of Christ acquired the building in 1914.

The Church of Christ, Geelong is of architectural and historical significance to Victoria.

The church is historically significant for its associations with Church of England congregations in Victoria. It has importance in religious history as the only surviving example of a Free Church of England in Victoria. The Free Church of England was formed in England in 1844 and a congregation established in Geelong in 1857. Although the church followed the moral and doctrinal precepts of the Anglican Church, it believed in freedom from Episcopal jurisdiction in other matters, especially regarding the choice of minister for a congregation. The church also has religious associations with the Church of Christ, a denomination with both British and American origins, introduced to Victoria in 1853 and established in Geelong in 1857.

The church is architecturally significant as an extraordinary example of the Early English Gothic style of architecture. Although the building displays characteristic features such as lancet windows and a spire in simple broach form, it also includes highly distinctive elements such as the seven transverse gables and the extremely squat tower.

The building is historically significant for its association with the prominent army captain and the first police magistrate of Geelong, Foster Fyans. Fyans was one of the founders of the Free Church of England in Geelong and instigated the purchase of land for the congregation.

Group

Religion