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Primitive Methodist Church

Location Camp Street, TALBOT VIC 3371 - Property No B1635 File Number B1635 Level Local

[1/1] B1635 Primitive Methodist

Statement of Significance

An unusually sophisticated and relatively large example of a Primitive Methodist Chapel, erected in 1870/1. The novel facade combines the idea of Classical temple front with that of a Roman triumphal arch, the latter breaking into the pediment, and the prominent fan-shaped nameplate is equally idiosyncratic. The origin of the design is said to be that of A Hallen, local carpenter, who acted as architect, but it is almost identical to an undated and anonymous chapel at Mount Gambier, South Australia, and both of these designs bear a generic resemblance to the Bible Christian Chapel at Waterdale, South Australia.
At the time of construction, the local congregation appears to have been pre-eminent amongst Primitive Methodist churches in Victoria and Tasmania, for the history of the denomination's progress in these regions was published in Talbot in the 1870s.