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NORTH ESSENDON UNITING CHURCH
132 KEILOR ROAD,, ESSENDON NORTH VIC 3041 - Property No 197154

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Moonee Valley City

Second church, fronting Keilor Road

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Statement of Significance
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Statement of Significance

What is significant?
The former Presbyterian Church at 132 Keilor Road, North Essendon, is a pink brick church in the Perpendicular Gothic style, evident in its implied verticality, narrow windows, four-centred arches and square tower. Designed by prolific Presbyterian architect J.F.D. Scarborough, it was erected in 1937 to replace a timber church erected on the same site some 13 years earlier.

How is it significant?
The former Presbyterian Church is of aesthetic, architectural and historical significance to the City of Moonee Valley.

Why is it significant?
Historically, the church is significant for its associations with the burgeoning residential development in North Essendon during the inter-war period. Although laid out in the 1880s, the estate on which the church stands did not seriously develop until the 1920s; the first church was erected in 1923, and further development over the next decade prompted the erection of the present church in 1937.

Aesthetically, the church is significant as a fine and intact example of an inter-war church in an academic Perpendicular Gothic style. Although a stark, stripped version of this style was commonly used by architects such as Louis Williams, this more academic manifestation was relatively uncommon in Melbourne at that time. With its distinctive squat tower, implied verticality and unusual pink brickwork, the church remains as a prominent element in this prominent streetscape.

Architecturally, the church is a particularly fine example of the work of J.F.D. Scarborough, a prolific architect who undertook many commissions for the Presbyterian Church during the inter-war period. It stands out amongst Scarborough's ecclesiastical oeuvre for its use of the unusual Perpendicular Gothic style, and as such is most comparable to his celebrated prize-winning design for the Littlejohn Memorial Chapel at Scotch College (1934).

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- Physical Description 1
  
  NORTH ESSENDON UNITING CHURCH - Physical Description 1
  
  The second church, fronting Keilor Road, is a pink brick building comprising a rectangular nave with steep terracotta-tiled roof, and a squat but prominent square tower on the street front. The side walls are divided by squat buttresses into bays, each containing small windows with four-centred arches. The central tower, surmounted by a low pyramidal roof, is embellished with Perpendicular Gothic detailing including corner buttresses, relatively narrow openings with four-centred arches and matching brick dripmoulds, and loopholes (arrow slits). At ground floor, the tower has a small doorway to each side, forming a porch, while the upper level has two pairs of lancet windows to each side, containing louvred vents.
  
  The church is substantially intact and is in excellent condition.
  
  Historical Australian Themes
  
  NORTH ESSENDON UNITING CHURCH - Historical Australian Themes
  
  THEMATIC CONTEXT
  8.6 Worshipping
  
  8.13 Living in cities and suburbs
  
  Heritage Study and Grading
  
  Heritage Study and Grading
  
  Moonee Valley - City of Moonee Valley Gap Heritage Study
  
  Author: Heritage Alliance
  Year: 2005
  Grading:
- Show:
- ESSENDON HOTEL
  
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- ESSENDON NORTH PRIMARY SCHOOL NO. 4015
  
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