Former Fitzroy Methodist Church and Mission Hall

The Fitzroy Methodist Church was constructed on this site in October 1860. This was an imposing bluestone structure with a grand organ, and during the late 19th century it was home to a large congregation of up to 1500 people. By the mid-20th century this had declined considerably, and by the 1960s, the church's main function was in anti-poverty activism and social outreach. This area of southern Fitzroy had long been considered a "slum", and had been extensively catalogued during the 1930s by the influential Methodist social reformer F. Oswald Barnett. This area was therefore a key target for regeneration by the Housing Commission of Victoria, which had been formed partly in response to social activism by figures such as Barnett. In order to build the Atherton Estate which now stands on this site, the HCV demolished the church in 1969. This led the National Trust to increase their efforts to preserve the Mission Hall which stood behind the church, and which was also constructed from bluestone. Despite the campaign to save the hall, it was demolished in the same year; as historian Miles Lewis has described it, "one of Fitzroy's most interesting buildings disappeared."

Please login to comment on this item