Geelong, VIC - Church of Christ (20416)

History and Architecture:

The Free Church of England was formed in the early 1850s by the Reverend G Brough, as a local breakaway group from the Anglican Church in Australia. The church was closed in 1875 and reopened for a short time in 1884.

In 1914 the Church of Christ acquired this unusually designed early English Gothic Church, with the most distinctive side gables and short tower and spire. The Church has interesting associations with the history of the Anglican congregations in Australia and is a notable work of prolific mid Victorian architects, Backhouse and Reynolds.

The foundation stone was laid on 29 September 1858. The celebrated architectural partnership of Backhouse and Reynolds designed this early English Gothic Church and stone masons, Fullager, Hagery and Company erected this bluestone structure in squared, random coursed rubble.

The building is of interest for the narrow transverse gables of the nave and their thin lancet windows, and the diminutive slate-covered broach spire.