HISTORY

St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Talbot has a rich history and is one of the oldest remaining buildings in the town, and its story is intertwined with that of the Talbot township.
By the early 1860s, Talbot was a thriving town of 15,000 people, living mostly in tents. Gold had been discovered 13 years earlier at the nearby town of Amherst, which had sparked a gold rush as miners flocked to the region to search for the precious metal in predominantly alluvial gold fields. Back Creek – as Talbot was known prior to 1861 – had been established in 1854 with substantial finds on the outskirts of the town. With the large influx of people, ministers of various Christian denominations were despatched to the Goldfields to look after residents’ respective pastoral needs.

Prebyterians had long been active in both Talbot and Amherst. In the 1850s services had been held in Mr Stavely’s Store with the Preacher Mr Boag, and a church had been established in Amherst in 1859. At a committee meeting on June 14th, 1859 it was decided to call for tenders for the erection of a Presbyterian church, and the first church was established on April 3rd 1861 on the corner of the Scandinavian Crescent and Bell Street (now the Talbot Bowls) when Rev. J. H. MacLachlan was inducted as the first Presbyterian Minister of Back Creek.  Shortly afterwards, the Rev. Mr. Finlay officiated at Talbot but was later transferred to Dunolly.

The first Presbyterian church was an iron building but it was pulled down on December 5th, 1862 to prevent a fire from spreading through the town according to a letter to the Talbot Leader on April 3rd, 1863.

After the destruction of the first church, the congregation rented the Oddfellows Hall. A deputation on behalf of the Trustees of the Presbyterian Church of Talbot headed by the Chairman of the Amherst Municipal Council, Robert Buchanan Bell , sued Robert Clark, Printer, who gave the order to tear down the church in the County Court but were unsuccessful. The Amherst Borough Council proposed donating £50 to assist with the reconstruction of the church however this was rejected by the Attorney General (1864). After much debate within the congregation as to which would be the most suitable site, the current site in Heales St was finally selected.

On 26th January, 1864, a building committee consisting of Messrs R. B. Bell, Elliot, J. Crooks, Dunlop, McTaggart and Mc Leary was appointed. The local congregation raised £300, the sale of the previous property in Bell St raised a further £350 and the Presbytery provided a further £450 towards the construction of a new church.

On 12th December, 1864 a tender was issued and a design was prepared by Mr Sherwin, a local architect. This unpretentious building was designed in the simple forms of the Presbyterian mode of worship, measuring 56 feet by 28 feet, with walls 16 feet high. It was designed in a Gothic principle which called for bluestone foundations and rendered brick walls with buttresses to support the roof. Today, the building looks almost exactly the same as it did 145 years ago, although the vents in the roof were removed in the 1880s or 1890s presumably to prevent birds, bats and insects entering the building.

The construction contract was let to Mr Meadows of Amherst for £475 10s, who had built several important buildings in the district including the Amherst Hospital, and the foundation stone was laid by Rev Mr. John Nicol on 23rd February, 1865. Rev John Nicol became the first minister of the newly constructed church and would remain with the church for the next 44 years. The total cost of all the construction work, inside and out, was £635. The church was capable of accommodating 255 people in three rows of seats, one against each side of the building, with 2 aisles running down the middle of the building.

The church was named St Andrews after the patron saint of Scotland, and many of the first parishioners were of Scottish descent, including its first minister, the Rev. John Nicol. Almost every Presbyterian church in the Victorian goldfields is called St Andrews.

The church was opened for service on 14th May, 1865, and the opening service was conducted by the Rev. Mr Fraser of Geelong who delivered a lecture on “Things as they might have been”. In addition, speeches were made by Rev John Nicol, Rev. Finlay the Presbyterian Minister from Dunnolly, the Rev. Ralph Barker of the Talbot Church of England, Messrs R. B. Bell, Crooks, Dunlop and others.

St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church was the second permanent church building to be constructed in Talbot after the small Wesleyan Church built in Camp St 3 years earlier and was followed by St Patrick’s Catholic Church, the Primitive Methodist Church and St Michael’s Anglican Church. Today, only St Michael’s Anglican Church remains active and is the central place of worship for Christians of all denominations in the town.

The first anniversary of the church was held on 20th May, 1866 and was officiated by Rev. Fraser of Geelong and was attended by over 400 persons (1866).

Further work was done in 1928 when the church was re-decorated by Mr Wallis from Maryborough at a cost of £40 which included a simple 3 part scheme for the walls and a scroll with the words “Praise waits for thee O God in Zion” over the pulpit. A screen separated the front entrance of the church with the main body of the church although this was removed together with the pulpit when the church was converted into a residence.

The manse associated with the church was constructed c. 1864 – 68 in Bond Street although the construction of the railway in the 1870s curtailed the size of the allotment

The church has remained largely unchanged from it original construction. The earliest known photos of the church from 1908 show roof vents along the roof ridgeline and these are still evident in the ceiling, however they were removed in the in the 1920s, most likely to prevent rain and birds entering the building. Early photos also show stained glass windows at the front of the church, and it is not clear when these were replaced with opaque glass. The small circular window above the entrance is the sole remaining stained glass window, and some of the remaining windows in the church have been replaced with translucent glass to enable views to the exterior of the building. The weatherboard vestry at the back of the church was all but replaced with renovations carried out in 2006 although the shape and dimensions of the replacement remain true to the original shape and appearance.
The last regular sermon was held at the Talbot Uniting Church on 15th December, 2002 under Rev. Ron Allengame. At the end of the service the congregation moved outside the church where a final prayer was made on the street:-

“Give your people the will, loving God to close down this church with the same faith and vision with which it was opened. Let us give thanks for all precious memories, but do not permit us to live in them. Inspire us to move on gratefully and graciously, to worship and witness in new places and in new ways. And may the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing. Amen.”

And with that prayer, St Andrews ceased to exist as a place of worship after almost 138 years.

The property was sold by the Uniting Church in 2004 to the current proprietors, Paul & Yen Jones who have lovingly restored the building to its original grandeur maintaining the buildings original historic appearance.