The Christ Church Tarraville, built in 1856, is one of the last remaining public monuments to a once-thriving frontier seaport town. The church is a rare surviving example of drop-slab construction and features a unique rectangular timber Victorian gothic revival design. The congregation is celebrating the church's 170th anniversary and the work that has gone into ensuring it remains Victoria's oldest active timber church.
Christ Church Tarraville celebrates its 170th anniversary this weekend, marking a significant milestone in the history of the once-thriving frontier seaport town . The Anglican church, built in 1856, stands as one of the last remaining public monuments to a bygone era.
Architecturally unique, the church features a rectangular timber Victorian gothic revival design and is a rare surviving example of drop-slab construction. The congregation is celebrating the church's 170th anniversary and the work that has gone into ensuring it remains Victoria's oldest active timber church. Original sketches of the church show the decorative, evangelical design of JHW Pettit and George Hastings. The building's ability to withstand the test of time is a testament to the skills of builders past.
Yarram Anglican parish member Fred Wright, who has helped maintain the building, said the original construction was based on a Scottish design. The heritage-listed Christ Church is a popular tourist attraction. The church's upright beams are slotted with crossbeams painstakingly cut and assembled so that the yellow bark timber could be tessellated into place without nails. Nails became a necessary addition when the original shingle roof had to be replaced with galvanised iron in the 1900s.
Nails are not required for tongue and grove drop slab construction.
"It's quite a substantial building and it's a very important part of our cultural history of our traditions," Mr Wright said. "It's old English, and the majority of people who moved into these areas were from the United Kingdom area, a lot of Scottish, Irish and English. It's part of Australia's history.
" Tarraville, situated on the Tarra River, is 175 kilometres south-east of Melbourne in South Gippsland. The area is home to the Brataualung clan of the Kurnai people. By 1844, Tarraville became the largest town in Gippsland, with 50 predominantly brick buildings, including hotels, numerous stores, a police station, courthouse, jail and later schools and a mechanics institute hall.
The town's history is closely tied to the nearby Port Albert, which was the only place people could land from a boat due to the Koo Wee Rup swamps and lack of reliable roads. The first priest of Tarraville was the Reverend Willoughby Bean, an English free settler who had migrated to Gosford, New South Wales, where he farmed about 800 hectares.
Suffering financial hardship, the aspiring clergyman returned to England to pursue theological studies in 1843 before Bishop of Melbourne Charles Perry posted him to Tarraville as an ordained priest in 1848. His parish posting encompassed a vast area comprising Warragul in the west, Tarwin in the south and Omeo in the east, nearly a third of what would later become the state of Victoria.
Traversing uncleared forests, bush scrub, marshes and crossing rivers on horseback with a buggy, Reverend Bean facilitated prayers and performed Sunday services in homesteads, courthouses and woolsheds. Camping, sleeping at farms, pubs and shanties, he met labourers, stockmen, storekeepers and publicans. He officiated marriages, births and burials, no matter what denomination, recording them diligently in his hand-ruled, hand-sewn registers, which he carried in his saddlebag.
After eight years as an itinerant priest, £456 was raised from Church of England authorities in Melbourne, local subscriptions and donations from Rev Bean's English connections to fund a parish church. Constructed on the banks of the Tarra River, the first service at the Christ Church Tarraville was held at 11:30am on Sunday, June 8, 1856, attracting a full house of parishioners from across the district.
According to the original paperwork, it was designed to accommodate 180 people, but I think they must have been pretty small," Mr Wright said of the compact original wooden pews still intact. The bell, made in London, dated 1858, was installed in a bell tower two years later. A plaque acknowledging Tarraville's most famous parish member, contralto opera singer Ada Crossley (1874-1929), as a choir leader and organist remains on the wall.
As the building never had power connected, replica recesses for kerosene lamps are fixed to the walls, pulpit post and ceiling, with only one original wall recess remaining. From gateway to ghost town, neighbouring Yarram eclipsed Tarraville as a city centre as Tarraville's population decreased from the late 1870s, with better roads and the completion of the railway connecting Melbourne to Sale in 1878
Please follow us on Google to support us Christ Church Tarraville 170Th Anniversary Frontier Seaport Town Drop-Slab Construction Victorian Gothic Revival Design Anglican Church Heritage-Listed Tourist Attraction
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Workers ruminate on the 'Boag's ghost' as brewery reaches end of lifeWorkers share their stories as 145 years of local legends and history come to an end with Launceston's iconic brewer announcing it will end local production.
Read more »
Sinatra and Rihanna’s favourite Sydney restaurant celebrates 70 yearsThe Italian icon also boasts autographs from Harrison Ford and ABBA in its guestbook.
Read more »
Dragons strip coach of absolute power over player signingsThe Dragons have made a series of recruitment blunders over the past decade. This is how they plan to prevent history from repeating.
Read more »
Community Celebrates as 30-hectare Property Saved from Development and Set for Ecological RestorationAfter a 60-year battle against developers, a 30-hectare property in Aireys Inlet adjacent to the Great Otway National Park has been secured for environmental restoration. Non-profit BioDiversity Legacy has taken a 99-year lease, planning to reinstate a natural floodplain to improve water and soil health. The project aims to connect habitats for vulnerable species like the white-footed dunnart and swamp antechinus, following a successful smaller-scale restoration nearby.
Read more »
‘It’s time to come home’: Why Volpato finally picked the Socceroos over ItalyFreshly minted Socceroo Cristian Volpato admits he was genuinely torn about which country to represent – a dilemma he said that millions of Australians with heritage from other countries could relate to.
Read more »
From Mother Teresa's Fitzroy Foundations to a 2026 Courtroom: A Minister's Journey Supporting a Marginalised MotherA Uniting Church minister recounts a poignant 2026 court case where she helped a non‑citizen mother secure paternity recognition, reflecting on the legacy of Mother Teresa's 1970s compassion work in Fitzroy and the enduring need for community guardianship.
Read more »