St. David's Church, Riverside

Organization, P211
Biography

St David's Anglican Church Riverside 1921 - 2021

The North Riverside area past Ecclestone Rd and towards Cormiston Rd. is still sometimes known by that name. From the turn of the 20th century, Church of England and Methodist services were held in the school building, but in 1921, land was donated by E.W. Freeland, a significant landowner in the Riverside area, and a building was donated by a Mr Thomson and relocated to the site, on West Tamar Rd. just south of Ecclestone Rd. At that stage, the little church was part of the Exeter parish whose rector was Revd W.S. Williams. 

It was already decided at the time that the district would be handed to the rural dean, Revd E.G. Muschamp, to enable it to be visited by clergy from Launceston. It is not known from where the building was relocated, or what it had previously been used for. The rectangular sash windows were in common use for homes and other buildings during the 19th century. The church was “furnished” at the time of its completion, according to the linked Examiner article.

At the time of its opening, it was called The Church of the Holy Cross, but historical issues of St. John’s Parish Messenger list service times and dates for simply “Cormiston” during the 1940s, and from February 1950 changed to “St. David’s, Cormiston”. More research is needed to find the reason behind that change, although it is possible that it was part of the preparations for a separate parish to be created for St. Oswald's, Trevallyn and St. David's. That parish was inaugurated in 1954, with Revd J.R. (Roy) Brown as the first rector.

The little weatherboard building remained in use as the church until 1963, when it was replaced by the modern brick building still on the site at present. The foundation stone for that church was laid by Bishop Cranswick on the 16th February 1963. It is not known when the old weatherboard building was demolished and replaced with the modern hall and faciilties on that site, but the architecture is very much that of the 1960s, so it must have been soon after the church was completed.

The St. David's congregation became part of the Riverlinks Parish, established in 2004, and incorporating smaller centres on the East Tamar, along with St. Oswald's, Trevallyn, St. Mary Magdalene, George Town, St. Barnabas Newnham and St. Aidan’s East Launceston. The Riverlinks Parish itself was merged with St. John’s Launceston and the parish of St. Leonard’s in 2019 to become All Saints Anglican Network.

The site was sold in 2021, and has now been acquired by the Catholic Church, and renamed St. Francis of Assisi Church, bearing the wrought iron sign removed from the now-demolished church that stood on Pomona Road. The sale of church properties was largely the result of financial pressures on the Anglican Diocese of Tasmania, to fund redress for the victims of abuse exposed by Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse from 2013 onwards.

Related objects
St David’s Anglican Women’s Guild - History (creator)
Trevallyn-Riverside and Riverlinks Newsletters 1999-2019 (creator)
Related person
St. Oswald's Church (connected with)
Online Sources
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