The Former Manse and St Andrew's Presbyterian Church - Camp Street, Daylesford
Located at number 19 Camp Street in the former Gold Rush town of Daylesford, the former St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church offers wonderful views as it looks down from the high side of the road, across the township, now known for its natural mineral springs and day spas.
Built in 1903 under the benefaction of Jessie Leggatt, who laid the foundation stone on the 9th of December that year, St Andrew’s is not unlike the Castlemaine Presbyterian Church in Lyttleton Street. Built of red brick with sandstone detailing, St Andrew’s has been built in a Picturesque Gothic style with adaptations of both Florentine and Pauduan Gothic. It features a splendid slate roof, and has been built in a symmetrical style, with two hexagonal towers to either side of the enclosed loggia entrance. The taller of the towers on the left hand side serves also as the church’s belfry and has a crenellated parapet and a copper covered spire. The gable over the front doors is pierced with a traceried window with two mullions in early English decorated style. The small gables of the transepts are pierced with single mullioned windows of the same period. The interior is filled with magnificent original features including stained glass windows, ceiling roses, cathedral ceilings, lovely old floorboards and an extremely rare church organ.
In the intervening years since 1903, Daylesford has gone through many changes, going from a town populated by citizens seeking to make their fortunes in gold, to those come to seek rest and relaxation in this now resort town in central Victoria. With parish numbers dwindling, the Presbyterian Church has seen fit to close the doors of St Andrew’s, opting for a smaller and less formal presence in the town’s community centre. At the time of photographing, St Andrew’s is up for sale, and has had council approval for the construction of apartments and town houses in the rear of the property and the adaptation of the church itself into a single or multiple dwellings. With an asking price just short of one million dollars, to date there has been very little interest in the property, and so St Andrew’s falls slowly, but surely into decay as neglect sinks in. The grass grows high around its bluestone foundations; graffiti denigrates Jessie Leggatt’s memorial plaque in the entranceway; the painted archway above the gates rots, save for the faded letters that spell out St Andrew’s in weathered greyish white flecks, and the old weatherboard Sunday School sags into the briars. A large holly tree, planted when the church was first built still sits at the side, waiting, like the church, for a new lease of life like other former churches in the area.
Located next door, the former manse of St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church also offers wonderful views as it looks down from the high side of the road.
Built in 1903, the same year as St Andrew's Church under the benefaction of Jessie Leggatt, the manse is a typical piece of Edwardian architecture, built in the Mock Tudor style so popular thanks to the Arts and Crafts Movement in England. The manse is dominated by two matching gables featuring ornate Arts and Crafts fretwork. The rough cast barge boards beneath the eaves are very Arts and Crafts inspired, as is the choice of red brick to build the manse with. The plain glass windows are also in keeping with the Arts and Crafts Movement, as is the simple fretwork of the central balcony and enclosed portico. The stained glass windows on the red brick ground floor are obviously more Art Nouveau influenced.
Arts and Crafts houses challenged the formality of the mid and high Victorian styles that preceded it, and were often designed with uniquely angular floor plans. This house's floor plan appears to be more traditional than others, with a central hallway off which the principal rooms were located.
With parish numbers dwindling, the Presbyterian Church sold the manse, and today it has a new lease of life as a boutique bed and breakfast. The owners, capitalising on the fantastic views the manse has to offer, have converted the upper storey's rooms into luxury suites including the "Green Room" and the "Blue Room".
The Former Manse and St Andrew's Presbyterian Church - Camp Street, Daylesford
Located at number 19 Camp Street in the former Gold Rush town of Daylesford, the former St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church offers wonderful views as it looks down from the high side of the road, across the township, now known for its natural mineral springs and day spas.
Built in 1903 under the benefaction of Jessie Leggatt, who laid the foundation stone on the 9th of December that year, St Andrew’s is not unlike the Castlemaine Presbyterian Church in Lyttleton Street. Built of red brick with sandstone detailing, St Andrew’s has been built in a Picturesque Gothic style with adaptations of both Florentine and Pauduan Gothic. It features a splendid slate roof, and has been built in a symmetrical style, with two hexagonal towers to either side of the enclosed loggia entrance. The taller of the towers on the left hand side serves also as the church’s belfry and has a crenellated parapet and a copper covered spire. The gable over the front doors is pierced with a traceried window with two mullions in early English decorated style. The small gables of the transepts are pierced with single mullioned windows of the same period. The interior is filled with magnificent original features including stained glass windows, ceiling roses, cathedral ceilings, lovely old floorboards and an extremely rare church organ.
In the intervening years since 1903, Daylesford has gone through many changes, going from a town populated by citizens seeking to make their fortunes in gold, to those come to seek rest and relaxation in this now resort town in central Victoria. With parish numbers dwindling, the Presbyterian Church has seen fit to close the doors of St Andrew’s, opting for a smaller and less formal presence in the town’s community centre. At the time of photographing, St Andrew’s is up for sale, and has had council approval for the construction of apartments and town houses in the rear of the property and the adaptation of the church itself into a single or multiple dwellings. With an asking price just short of one million dollars, to date there has been very little interest in the property, and so St Andrew’s falls slowly, but surely into decay as neglect sinks in. The grass grows high around its bluestone foundations; graffiti denigrates Jessie Leggatt’s memorial plaque in the entranceway; the painted archway above the gates rots, save for the faded letters that spell out St Andrew’s in weathered greyish white flecks, and the old weatherboard Sunday School sags into the briars. A large holly tree, planted when the church was first built still sits at the side, waiting, like the church, for a new lease of life like other former churches in the area.
Located next door, the former manse of St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church also offers wonderful views as it looks down from the high side of the road.
Built in 1903, the same year as St Andrew's Church under the benefaction of Jessie Leggatt, the manse is a typical piece of Edwardian architecture, built in the Mock Tudor style so popular thanks to the Arts and Crafts Movement in England. The manse is dominated by two matching gables featuring ornate Arts and Crafts fretwork. The rough cast barge boards beneath the eaves are very Arts and Crafts inspired, as is the choice of red brick to build the manse with. The plain glass windows are also in keeping with the Arts and Crafts Movement, as is the simple fretwork of the central balcony and enclosed portico. The stained glass windows on the red brick ground floor are obviously more Art Nouveau influenced.
Arts and Crafts houses challenged the formality of the mid and high Victorian styles that preceded it, and were often designed with uniquely angular floor plans. This house's floor plan appears to be more traditional than others, with a central hallway off which the principal rooms were located.
With parish numbers dwindling, the Presbyterian Church sold the manse, and today it has a new lease of life as a boutique bed and breakfast. The owners, capitalising on the fantastic views the manse has to offer, have converted the upper storey's rooms into luxury suites including the "Green Room" and the "Blue Room".