March 20, 2025 • 15 mins
This week we look at our state's old churches...
While some still operate in the spirit which they were intended, others sit empty and in desperate need of some TLC - enter the savvy minded business community, who are working to give them a new lease on life, from breweries to homewares shops and everything in between.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Wow, iHeart Essay.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Hi, I'm Jackie Loom with iHeart Essay, a brand new
show covering all the biggest issues and best stories from
around the regions. Adelaide is of course known as the
city of churches, but there are so many beautiful and
historic places of worship right across our state. While some
still operators churches, others sit empty and in desperate need
of some TLC into the savvy minded business community who
(00:24):
are working to transform them and give the tired buildings
a new lease on life. Churches across our regions are
popping up as retail stores, wineries and restaurants. I spoke
to Adelaide University architect David Kroll about how the buildings
can and should be converted.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
There is evidence that all the buildings are an asset
to communities, even if they're not you in the same use,
but just as a just having basically some old architecture
in an area, it usually their economic benefits to that
it makes the area usually more appealing, you know, rather
than only having new buildings for example. So I would
(01:00):
say it's a good idea to not just knock things
down that because let's say Australia doesn't have as much heritage, maybe,
let's say, as some European countries. Right, So I would
say it's good to be mindful of the old buildings
that are there. And then having said that, I mean,
there are a lot of really good examples of adaptive
re use of older buildings being changed, being used for
(01:23):
new purposes and also combined with you know, new extensions
or alterations you know, to the buildings, and actually that
then makes them even more attractive. So something that's really
common is that old buildings they leave the facade and
get rid of everything else. From an archical point of view,
that feels quite shallow and that doesn't sort of have
(01:46):
the same that's not really respecting the archicral heritage.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
The preference, I suppose from an architect like yourself would
be to keep the inside much the same as they
were historically.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
As well, I wouldn't say the same, I would say
just simply so working with heritage to simply means working
with it. Right. So, even let's say, even if you're
like let's say in Venice or you know, in cities
that have a lot of you know, old beautiful buildings,
they're actually very often very good at doing new architecture,
but that relates to the old building or you know,
(02:19):
has sort of has a connection to it. And I
think often actually you can feel, you know, people who
old buildings have a certain charm to them, and so
people who would do that, they would also be interested
in keeping some of that character of that of the church, right,
quite desirable, desirable, right, yeah, definitely, Yeah, So I think
that's great. Seems certainly that if there are kind of
(02:42):
planning restrictions and so on, it usually they are more
basically if you can demonstrate that what you're doing is
actually considered and respecting that heritage and and but also
contributing to the town on community and so on, then
I think the planners are much more favorable. You know,
we'll look at that much more favorably.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
The uniqueness, I suppose of the building and the age
of it, you know, we don't build anything like that anymore.
Does bring people into towns. And if they can make
this church that is otherwise going to be demolished into
something that's usable in any way, shape or form, I suppose.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
That's a win.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
I know I've seen some churches also being converted into housing,
so also a shame because I do feel like there
is a need for some communal social spaces in areas.
I mean, I think, to me, it's nice if actually
build heritage is celebrated, you know, rather than you know,
they have to keep it and then they sort of
(03:36):
just painted all in cream. You know, that's easily like
to me, that's the worst case. You know, it's almost like,
you know, they turn into a wedding cake, you know.
Somehow people some always think heritage is about sort of
just keeping everything as existance, not really it, you know,
things change, of course.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Michael Quile from Heritage says is there are a whole
host of advantages to keeping a church in a community.
Speaker 5 (03:58):
Churches are quite adapt they're valued by the whole community.
It's fair to save and if you don't go to church,
you'd still probably think it has value in your town.
There a historical landmarks for people, and certainly why we
list them often the marker of you know, when a
community was established in the size of it. They certainly
have social value by everyone, not just those people that
(04:21):
go to them. But if they're no longer needed by
a community and as sold, they offer some opportunities for
some people for adaptive reuse. The best adaptive reuse is
to another church because the purpose fi and that has
happened in the state. They're rare, but they do occur.
(04:42):
It does occur. Example of thinking of is up at
Munter a Uniting church was sold and another church group
has since purchased it who has a sort of a
ministry right through the mid North. So they're very happy
they've got somewhere to meet.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Now, what does the rebirth of a church for a
community both socially and economically.
Speaker 5 (05:02):
Certainly if it's another church again, it bring people in,
but with the limited hours. Often if it gets used
for other purposes, say a restaurant or an office or
a shop, I guess that keeps the building active. Buildings
that people are often interested in new uses should always
ideally be uses that allow the community to still be
(05:23):
able to go into the space and look at it,
so it does attract interest. Of course, the biggest economic
advantage of adaptively use of a heritage building is environmental outcomes.
We're reusing a building already built, not building a new
one from scratch, so it's huge savings in the embodied
energy of materials, actual material costs and the development process
(05:45):
is usually quicker and construction because you already had the
building there.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
And their heritage listings would make some changes to the
buildings quite difficult. Are there special considerations when maybe renovating
a church to turn it into say a restaurant or
store for example.
Speaker 5 (06:01):
We say anything can be done if it's done in
a sensible way generally, or done and changed in a
way that we don't lose understanding the heritage value of
the place. So new uses that maintain a big sort
of chapel or church interior relatively intact with some of
those features that tell the story, things like stained glass windows.
(06:23):
Usually there may be an autar, still, there might be
an organ there's still those sort of things. If their capped,
we're quite flexible in how they use the space.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Do you reckon that history makes people want to live
in a city or town. Do you find these to
be quite a draw card?
Speaker 5 (06:39):
I think so. I would do that. Others would do too.
It's people want to live in a community with an identity,
I think. But historic areas are very much a bit
of a magnet. We've had anecdotal evidence that people like
to live in historic areas because they know the nighbor
(06:59):
next door is not going to knock down the house
and build two two story places on the boundary too.
So it's a lot of I guess street scouts certainty
and character certainty, and that's worth quite a bit from
most people.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
We'll have more after the break.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
I hardesisode, I Heartesso.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Welcome back. I just spoke to an architect and a
representative from Heritage Essay about how churches around the state
are being restored and repurposed. Some examples of this are
the Port Lincoln Methodist Church built back in nineteen o eight,
which is now a homewares shop called the Bay Room.
The Saint Aloisious Church, which was built in eighteen seventy five,
is now the home of Claire Valley's oldest winery, seven
(07:44):
Hill Sellars, and the Sterling Church, built in eighteen sixty eight,
is just weeks away from opening as restaurant Aptus. And
of course there are so many more. That includes Laura
Baptist Church built in eighteen seventy five, which is now
a brewery. Little Blessings began op in the Mid North
last year and we'll celebrate their first birthday in just
three weeks time. Our reporter Brooks Saychell spoke to the
(08:07):
owner Cat Bleazing about their year's long restoration project.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
My husband and I have been looking around for a
tree change for a while, and we've been visiting lots
of towns in the region, you know, looking for a
great place to set up. And we always had this joke,
because our surname is Bleazing, but we often get called Blessing.
We always had this joke that we would love to
have a church and we'd call it Little Blessing. And
we happened to be sitting across the road in the
(08:32):
Laura Caravan Park here and someone asked us what we
would like and we told them that how we love
a church, and they pointed across the road and they said,
this one is about to come up to sail. So
we were in the right place at the right time,
and here we are.
Speaker 4 (08:47):
It was honestly, it was fate by the sounds of things.
Speaker 6 (08:49):
What were some of the challenges that you've faced during
the conversion process.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
It took a lot longer than what we thought it would,
as most of renovations do, and probably a little bit
more money. We leveled part of the floor out because
I had a had a slope straw from the center
to the back mm so new pews could people in
the pews that could see over the top, and we
didn't think that was a great idea for people who'd
(09:15):
been drinking tables and chairs, so we had to cut
the floor and lift that up. So that was a
really big project.
Speaker 4 (09:21):
Wow, that sounds pretty hectic.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
It was. It was pretty hectic.
Speaker 6 (09:24):
Probably.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
The other challenge for us is we had to do
a lot of new pipework and electrical work and yeah,
that on the property that wasn't already here, so that
took a lot of time as well over winter, loss
of mud, lots of ditches outside.
Speaker 6 (09:38):
But yeah, it sounds like you had your own work
cut out for you, that's for sure.
Speaker 7 (09:42):
We did.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
We did. Indeed, there were times when we thought what
have we done? But yeah, you just did just plow through.
Speaker 4 (09:49):
What keep going and it's all been worth it.
Speaker 6 (09:51):
I know that you're the only church brewery in Australia.
Speaker 4 (09:56):
Is that a bit of a drawer card?
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Yeah, it is the real point of difference in the region.
People love coming here to see something different and hang
out in the church.
Speaker 4 (10:06):
Cool.
Speaker 6 (10:06):
What's been the local community reaction since you guys first opened.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
The local community here is unbelievably supportive. They are so
good to us and we try and give back to
the community as much as we can because we're so
grateful for that. And they regularly visit the former church
community that we used to be a Baptist church here.
Oh yeah, since moved to another building in the main street,
(10:31):
and they are fully supportive. You know, the pastor comes
and visits regularly. So yeah, we have an outstanding community
in Law and the surrounding region.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
Oh wonderful. That's so sweet.
Speaker 6 (10:44):
What's your favorite thing about the building?
Speaker 1 (10:47):
This is a crazy storyday we signed a contract, some
of the last members of the church took us to
one of the marborial windows and said, oh, these are
the people who've built the church, because it's got.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Their name in them.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Momor and they had a son who married a Bleaving
and we found out that it was my husband's second
great aunt and she was the last founding member of
this church. And we were just absolutely blown away. And
I think that we're just meant to be here and
look after the church.
Speaker 4 (11:17):
That's amazing. It's literally fate.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
It is literally fake.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Thanks for that Brooke and finally today situated in the
bones of the eighteen fifty four Bethany Chapel in McLaren
Vale is Samson Tall Winery, which began pouring wines in
December twenty eighteen. I spoke to the owner of the
cellar door, Paul Wilson, about the property's long history and
many iterations.
Speaker 7 (11:38):
The church was built in eighteen fifty four, which is
pretty early on for the McLaren Var region. The church
was called Bethany Chapel, which was named that way because
it's the same distance from the center of McLaren Var
as Bethany Chapel was from the center of Jerusalem. It
was an active church right to the late nineteen sixties,
(12:02):
so well over one hundred years. They were Wesleyans, so
quite serious and teetotal. There was a temperance society based
here called the Band of Hope, so slightly ironic that
it's now winery.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
And the name Samson Tall. He himself came over and
settled in McLaren Vale all those many years ago, and
he was the one who gave up some land for
the church.
Speaker 7 (12:22):
Is that correct, Yes, it is correct. Sampson Tall is
buried in the graveyard at the back of the church.
He emigrated to McLaren Vale in eighteen thirty nine. He
came out here to an eighty acre block of land
which the church has situated on, sailed out here on
the Lady Caroline with his wife and three children. Being
(12:45):
a religious man, he wanted to give back, so he
cut off a little one and a half two acre
block in the corner of his original property and donated
that to the community. And that's the lamor on now.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Architects took preserving and celebrating heritage buildings. The people before
you did a lot of the leg work, perhaps in
making sure it's still standing. But how has the original
facade and inside been kept very small?
Speaker 7 (13:14):
It would be hard to change the style and it's
literally just one room with some steps in the middle.
The walls are made from a building technique called cop
Three of those walls are still still there with the
one that fell out, and the church was a ruin
in the ninth and certainly was the one brief to
(13:34):
the designer of the winery was that they needed to
be respectful and match the pitch of the church in
the design, and that they were certainly very successful with
doing that.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Hadn't these sorts of things not gone on, do you
think it would still be standing.
Speaker 7 (13:50):
Yeah, So Christian Doug Hayward or the couple that originally
did it up, and certainly they bought it as a ruin.
It had been left a long time before the church
got around for selling it. It's a really lovely story
for Doug and trist because they the church had advertised
the sale and they'd really just come to have a
(14:12):
bit of a sticky beat because their parents had been
married here. And then they heard a few sort of
negative comments by people that were looking at the church
in terms of, you know, knocking it down or letting
it fall over all that sort of thing, and they
wrote a letter to the church basically explaining their story
and saying, you know, please don't sell it to anyone else.
(14:34):
We will take on the task of doing it up
and hopefully preserve it for another hundred odd years. And
then the church obviously connected with that story and sold
it to them specifically, and then they undertook all the
renovations basically to shore up the walls and the roofs,
and so it's got a little bit of a legacy
there of people that have connected with it and really
(14:57):
loved the property. It's basically been us through those type
of hands, at least in the recent history.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Do you think it will ever go full circle and
go back to being a church.
Speaker 7 (15:07):
Everything's possible, but I think it's pretty happy being a
winery at the moment. There'd have to be some fairly
large changes, but then you know changes are happening, so
you never know.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
There are definitely so many beautiful old churches being given
a second chance in our modern world. Let's hope they're
all still standing one hundred years from now. That's it
for this week. Don't forget. You can hear iHeart Essay
in the iHeart app or wherever you get your podcasts.
I'm Jackie Limb. Join us again next week for more
of the stories you want to hear. I Heart Essay
The Voice of South Australia
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Essays
Wow, iHeart Essay.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Hi, I'm Jackie Loom with iHeart Essay, a brand new
show covering all the biggest issues and best stories from
around the regions. Adelaide is of course known as the
city of churches, but there are so many beautiful and
historic places of worship right across our state. While some
still operators churches, others sit empty and in desperate need
of some TLC into the savvy minded business community who
(00:24):
are working to transform them and give the tired buildings
a new lease on life. Churches across our regions are
popping up as retail stores, wineries and restaurants. I spoke
to Adelaide University architect David Kroll about how the buildings
can and should be converted.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
There is evidence that all the buildings are an asset
to communities, even if they're not you in the same use,
but just as a just having basically some old architecture
in an area, it usually their economic benefits to that
it makes the area usually more appealing, you know, rather
than only having new buildings for example. So I would
(01:00):
say it's a good idea to not just knock things
down that because let's say Australia doesn't have as much heritage, maybe,
let's say, as some European countries. Right, So I would
say it's good to be mindful of the old buildings
that are there. And then having said that, I mean,
there are a lot of really good examples of adaptive
re use of older buildings being changed, being used for
(01:23):
new purposes and also combined with you know, new extensions
or alterations you know, to the buildings, and actually that
then makes them even more attractive. So something that's really
common is that old buildings they leave the facade and
get rid of everything else. From an archical point of view,
that feels quite shallow and that doesn't sort of have
(01:46):
the same that's not really respecting the archicral heritage.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
The preference, I suppose from an architect like yourself would
be to keep the inside much the same as they
were historically.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
As well, I wouldn't say the same, I would say
just simply so working with heritage to simply means working
with it. Right. So, even let's say, even if you're
like let's say in Venice or you know, in cities
that have a lot of you know, old beautiful buildings,
they're actually very often very good at doing new architecture,
but that relates to the old building or you know,
(02:19):
has sort of has a connection to it. And I
think often actually you can feel, you know, people who
old buildings have a certain charm to them, and so
people who would do that, they would also be interested
in keeping some of that character of that of the church, right,
quite desirable, desirable, right, yeah, definitely, Yeah, So I think
that's great. Seems certainly that if there are kind of
(02:42):
planning restrictions and so on, it usually they are more
basically if you can demonstrate that what you're doing is
actually considered and respecting that heritage and and but also
contributing to the town on community and so on, then
I think the planners are much more favorable. You know,
we'll look at that much more favorably.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
The uniqueness, I suppose of the building and the age
of it, you know, we don't build anything like that anymore.
Does bring people into towns. And if they can make
this church that is otherwise going to be demolished into
something that's usable in any way, shape or form, I suppose.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
That's a win.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
I know I've seen some churches also being converted into housing,
so also a shame because I do feel like there
is a need for some communal social spaces in areas.
I mean, I think, to me, it's nice if actually
build heritage is celebrated, you know, rather than you know,
they have to keep it and then they sort of
(03:36):
just painted all in cream. You know, that's easily like
to me, that's the worst case. You know, it's almost like,
you know, they turn into a wedding cake, you know.
Somehow people some always think heritage is about sort of
just keeping everything as existance, not really it, you know,
things change, of course.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Michael Quile from Heritage says is there are a whole
host of advantages to keeping a church in a community.
Speaker 5 (03:58):
Churches are quite adapt they're valued by the whole community.
It's fair to save and if you don't go to church,
you'd still probably think it has value in your town.
There a historical landmarks for people, and certainly why we
list them often the marker of you know, when a
community was established in the size of it. They certainly
have social value by everyone, not just those people that
(04:21):
go to them. But if they're no longer needed by
a community and as sold, they offer some opportunities for
some people for adaptive reuse. The best adaptive reuse is
to another church because the purpose fi and that has
happened in the state. They're rare, but they do occur.
(04:42):
It does occur. Example of thinking of is up at
Munter a Uniting church was sold and another church group
has since purchased it who has a sort of a
ministry right through the mid North. So they're very happy
they've got somewhere to meet.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Now, what does the rebirth of a church for a
community both socially and economically.
Speaker 5 (05:02):
Certainly if it's another church again, it bring people in,
but with the limited hours. Often if it gets used
for other purposes, say a restaurant or an office or
a shop, I guess that keeps the building active. Buildings
that people are often interested in new uses should always
ideally be uses that allow the community to still be
(05:23):
able to go into the space and look at it,
so it does attract interest. Of course, the biggest economic
advantage of adaptively use of a heritage building is environmental outcomes.
We're reusing a building already built, not building a new
one from scratch, so it's huge savings in the embodied
energy of materials, actual material costs and the development process
(05:45):
is usually quicker and construction because you already had the
building there.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
And their heritage listings would make some changes to the
buildings quite difficult. Are there special considerations when maybe renovating
a church to turn it into say a restaurant or
store for example.
Speaker 5 (06:01):
We say anything can be done if it's done in
a sensible way generally, or done and changed in a
way that we don't lose understanding the heritage value of
the place. So new uses that maintain a big sort
of chapel or church interior relatively intact with some of
those features that tell the story, things like stained glass windows.
(06:23):
Usually there may be an autar, still, there might be
an organ there's still those sort of things. If their capped,
we're quite flexible in how they use the space.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Do you reckon that history makes people want to live
in a city or town. Do you find these to
be quite a draw card?
Speaker 5 (06:39):
I think so. I would do that. Others would do too.
It's people want to live in a community with an identity,
I think. But historic areas are very much a bit
of a magnet. We've had anecdotal evidence that people like
to live in historic areas because they know the nighbor
(06:59):
next door is not going to knock down the house
and build two two story places on the boundary too.
So it's a lot of I guess street scouts certainty
and character certainty, and that's worth quite a bit from
most people.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
We'll have more after the break.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
I hardesisode, I Heartesso.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Welcome back. I just spoke to an architect and a
representative from Heritage Essay about how churches around the state
are being restored and repurposed. Some examples of this are
the Port Lincoln Methodist Church built back in nineteen o eight,
which is now a homewares shop called the Bay Room.
The Saint Aloisious Church, which was built in eighteen seventy five,
is now the home of Claire Valley's oldest winery, seven
(07:44):
Hill Sellars, and the Sterling Church, built in eighteen sixty eight,
is just weeks away from opening as restaurant Aptus. And
of course there are so many more. That includes Laura
Baptist Church built in eighteen seventy five, which is now
a brewery. Little Blessings began op in the Mid North
last year and we'll celebrate their first birthday in just
three weeks time. Our reporter Brooks Saychell spoke to the
(08:07):
owner Cat Bleazing about their year's long restoration project.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
My husband and I have been looking around for a
tree change for a while, and we've been visiting lots
of towns in the region, you know, looking for a
great place to set up. And we always had this joke,
because our surname is Bleazing, but we often get called Blessing.
We always had this joke that we would love to
have a church and we'd call it Little Blessing. And
we happened to be sitting across the road in the
(08:32):
Laura Caravan Park here and someone asked us what we
would like and we told them that how we love
a church, and they pointed across the road and they said,
this one is about to come up to sail. So
we were in the right place at the right time,
and here we are.
Speaker 4 (08:47):
It was honestly, it was fate by the sounds of things.
Speaker 6 (08:49):
What were some of the challenges that you've faced during
the conversion process.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
It took a lot longer than what we thought it would,
as most of renovations do, and probably a little bit
more money. We leveled part of the floor out because
I had a had a slope straw from the center
to the back mm so new pews could people in
the pews that could see over the top, and we
didn't think that was a great idea for people who'd
(09:15):
been drinking tables and chairs, so we had to cut
the floor and lift that up. So that was a
really big project.
Speaker 4 (09:21):
Wow, that sounds pretty hectic.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
It was. It was pretty hectic.
Speaker 6 (09:24):
Probably.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
The other challenge for us is we had to do
a lot of new pipework and electrical work and yeah,
that on the property that wasn't already here, so that
took a lot of time as well over winter, loss
of mud, lots of ditches outside.
Speaker 6 (09:38):
But yeah, it sounds like you had your own work
cut out for you, that's for sure.
Speaker 7 (09:42):
We did.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
We did. Indeed, there were times when we thought what
have we done? But yeah, you just did just plow through.
Speaker 4 (09:49):
What keep going and it's all been worth it.
Speaker 6 (09:51):
I know that you're the only church brewery in Australia.
Speaker 4 (09:56):
Is that a bit of a drawer card?
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Yeah, it is the real point of difference in the region.
People love coming here to see something different and hang
out in the church.
Speaker 4 (10:06):
Cool.
Speaker 6 (10:06):
What's been the local community reaction since you guys first opened.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
The local community here is unbelievably supportive. They are so
good to us and we try and give back to
the community as much as we can because we're so
grateful for that. And they regularly visit the former church
community that we used to be a Baptist church here.
Oh yeah, since moved to another building in the main street,
(10:31):
and they are fully supportive. You know, the pastor comes
and visits regularly. So yeah, we have an outstanding community
in Law and the surrounding region.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
Oh wonderful. That's so sweet.
Speaker 6 (10:44):
What's your favorite thing about the building?
Speaker 1 (10:47):
This is a crazy storyday we signed a contract, some
of the last members of the church took us to
one of the marborial windows and said, oh, these are
the people who've built the church, because it's got.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Their name in them.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Momor and they had a son who married a Bleaving
and we found out that it was my husband's second
great aunt and she was the last founding member of
this church. And we were just absolutely blown away. And
I think that we're just meant to be here and
look after the church.
Speaker 4 (11:17):
That's amazing. It's literally fate.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
It is literally fake.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Thanks for that Brooke and finally today situated in the
bones of the eighteen fifty four Bethany Chapel in McLaren
Vale is Samson Tall Winery, which began pouring wines in
December twenty eighteen. I spoke to the owner of the
cellar door, Paul Wilson, about the property's long history and
many iterations.
Speaker 7 (11:38):
The church was built in eighteen fifty four, which is
pretty early on for the McLaren Var region. The church
was called Bethany Chapel, which was named that way because
it's the same distance from the center of McLaren Var
as Bethany Chapel was from the center of Jerusalem. It
was an active church right to the late nineteen sixties,
(12:02):
so well over one hundred years. They were Wesleyans, so
quite serious and teetotal. There was a temperance society based
here called the Band of Hope, so slightly ironic that
it's now winery.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
And the name Samson Tall. He himself came over and
settled in McLaren Vale all those many years ago, and
he was the one who gave up some land for
the church.
Speaker 7 (12:22):
Is that correct, Yes, it is correct. Sampson Tall is
buried in the graveyard at the back of the church.
He emigrated to McLaren Vale in eighteen thirty nine. He
came out here to an eighty acre block of land
which the church has situated on, sailed out here on
the Lady Caroline with his wife and three children. Being
(12:45):
a religious man, he wanted to give back, so he
cut off a little one and a half two acre
block in the corner of his original property and donated
that to the community. And that's the lamor on now.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Architects took preserving and celebrating heritage buildings. The people before
you did a lot of the leg work, perhaps in
making sure it's still standing. But how has the original
facade and inside been kept very small?
Speaker 7 (13:14):
It would be hard to change the style and it's
literally just one room with some steps in the middle.
The walls are made from a building technique called cop
Three of those walls are still still there with the
one that fell out, and the church was a ruin
in the ninth and certainly was the one brief to
(13:34):
the designer of the winery was that they needed to
be respectful and match the pitch of the church in
the design, and that they were certainly very successful with
doing that.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Hadn't these sorts of things not gone on, do you
think it would still be standing.
Speaker 7 (13:50):
Yeah, So Christian Doug Hayward or the couple that originally
did it up, and certainly they bought it as a ruin.
It had been left a long time before the church
got around for selling it. It's a really lovely story
for Doug and trist because they the church had advertised
the sale and they'd really just come to have a
(14:12):
bit of a sticky beat because their parents had been
married here. And then they heard a few sort of
negative comments by people that were looking at the church
in terms of, you know, knocking it down or letting
it fall over all that sort of thing, and they
wrote a letter to the church basically explaining their story
and saying, you know, please don't sell it to anyone else.
(14:34):
We will take on the task of doing it up
and hopefully preserve it for another hundred odd years. And
then the church obviously connected with that story and sold
it to them specifically, and then they undertook all the
renovations basically to shore up the walls and the roofs,
and so it's got a little bit of a legacy
there of people that have connected with it and really
(14:57):
loved the property. It's basically been us through those type
of hands, at least in the recent history.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Do you think it will ever go full circle and
go back to being a church.
Speaker 7 (15:07):
Everything's possible, but I think it's pretty happy being a
winery at the moment. There'd have to be some fairly
large changes, but then you know changes are happening, so
you never know.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
There are definitely so many beautiful old churches being given
a second chance in our modern world. Let's hope they're
all still standing one hundred years from now. That's it
for this week. Don't forget. You can hear iHeart Essay
in the iHeart app or wherever you get your podcasts.
I'm Jackie Limb. Join us again next week for more
of the stories you want to hear. I Heart Essay
The Voice of South Australia
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Essays
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com