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FORMER WELSH METHODIST CHURCH
791 CARNGHAM-LINTON ROAD SNAKE VALLEY, PYRENEES SHIRE

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Victorian Heritage Register
WELSH METHODIST CHURCH SOHE 2008
WELSH METHODIST CHURCH SOHE 2008
WELSH METHODIST CHURCH SOHE 2008
WELSH METHODIST CHURCH SOHE 2008
H02007 snake valley wesleyan front 02
H02007 snake valley wesleyan memorial 02
H02007 snake valley wesleyan rear 02
H02007 snake valley wesleyan rear vestibule 02
H02007 snake valley wesleyan tower detail 02
H02007 snake valley wesleyan tower front 02
H02007 snake valley wesleyan tower rear 02
H02007 snake valley wesleyan plan
Snake Valley Wesleyan Front
Snake Valley Wesleyan Tower Deterioration
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Statement of Significance

What is significant?

By 1908 the Snake Valley/Carngham Methodists were seeking to replace their existing church which was dilapidated and too small for their requirements. The Honourable Philip Russell, a local pastoralist, had made a bequest of £1000 for the construction of buildings in his memory. The Methodists borrowed £300 from the bequest to build their new church. Russell's son George laid the memorial stone for the new Carngham Methodist Church in October 1908. A time capsule beneath the stone included a document claiming this to be the first building erected in Australia by the 'concrete hollow wall principle'. An architect was involved but is not known.

The building is designed in a simple Norman style. The nave has an iron clad (originally Marseille tile) gable roof with narrow eaves on the sides and gable. The ceiling is coved at a high level with a softwood board lining. The timber trusses are built up out of three layers with the inside layer shaped into Gothic tracery. The positions of the three trusses are reflected on the outside of the building with simple buttresses. The windows and the tower door have concrete lintels with semicircular heads. The windows originally had diamond leaded lights. The tower on the side of the nave to the front has tapering corner buttresses and a crenellated top. A small porch is located to the rear on the opposite side.

The blocks are T sections and are laid with a skin on either side and joined by the legs of the Ts internally. This forms a series of cavities similar to those of the hollow concrete blocks which would soon become the norm. They blocks were made on site using aggregate apparently derived from the mullock heaps in the township. The Anglican Church Hall built in Linton in the following year uses similar but more sophisticated T shaped blocks.

Why is it significant?
The Snake Valley Wesleyan Church is of architectural and historical significance to the State of Victoria.

How is it significant?

The Snake Valley Wesleyan Church is of architectural significance as the first known example of a building constructed in Victoria using concrete blocks to form a hollow cavity wall. The church is also significant as the first of only two known buildings in Victoria constructed with a cavity wall using T shaped blocks.

The Snake Valley Wesleyan Church is of historical significance as the second Methodist Church in Snake Valley/Carngham and for its connection with the development of Snake Valley from a gold rush settlement into a more established community.

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    • Permit Exemptions

      FORMER WELSH METHODIST CHURCH - Permit Exemptions

      General Exemptions:

      General exemptions apply to all places and objects included in the Victorian Heritage Register (VHR). General exemptions have been designed to allow everyday activities, maintenance and changes to your property, which don’t harm its cultural heritage significance, to proceed without the need to obtain approvals under the Heritage Act 2017.

      Places of worship: In some circumstances, you can alter a place of worship to accommodate religious practices without a permit, but you must notify the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria before you start the works or activities at least 20 business days before the works or activities are to commence.

      Subdivision/consolidation: Permit exemptions exist for some subdivisions and consolidations. If the subdivision or consolidation is in accordance with a planning permit granted under Part 4 of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 and the application for the planning permit was referred to the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria as a determining referral authority, a permit is not required.

      Specific exemptions may also apply to your registered place or object. If applicable, these are listed below. Specific exemptions are tailored to the conservation and management needs of an individual registered place or object and set out works and activities that are exempt from the requirements of a permit. Specific exemptions prevail if they conflict with general exemptions.

      Find out more about heritage permit exemptions here.

      Specific Exemptions:

      General Conditions: 1. All exempted alterations are to be planned and carried out in a manner which prevents damage to the fabric of the registered place or object. General Conditions: 2. Should it become apparent during further inspection or the carrying out of alterations that original or previously hidden or inaccessible details of the place or object are revealed which relate to the significance of the place or object, then the exemption covering such alteration shall cease and the Executive Director shall be notified as soon as possible. General Conditions: 3. If there is a conservation policy and plan approved by the Executive Director, all works shall be in accordance with it. General Conditions: 4. Nothing in this declaration prevents the Executive Director from amending or rescinding all or any of the permit exemptions. General Conditions: 5. Nothing in this declaration exempts owners or their agents from the responsibility to seek relevant planning or building permits from the responsible authority where applicable.

      Exemptions:
      * Conservation works according to the recomendations of a professionally prepared conservation management plan approved by the Executive Director

      Permit Exemption Policy

      FORMER WELSH METHODIST CHURCH - Permit Exemption Policy

      There are a number of types conservation work which should be undertaken on the Valley Wesleyan Church. These include repairs to the block-work of the tower, replacement of corroded roofing and roof plumbing, reconstruction of the lead lighting to the windows and reconstruction of the front picket fence. While it is desirable for such works to occur, some oversight would be required to ensure that they are executed according to Burra Charter principles. In order to ensure this, a permit application will be required for conservation works unless they are undertaken according to the requirements of an conservation management plan approved by the Executive Director, in which case they will be exempt from permit requirements.

      Erection of a new toilet block on the site would be permitted but would be subject to a permit application to allow control of the design and location.

Public contributions

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