52 Hampden Road
An afternoon tea of tea and plum cake probably attracted people to the opening of the Congregational Sunday School, now the Battery Point Community Hall, in February 1850. Purpose-built as a Sunday school, children were expected to attend all day!
The building was extended in the 1860s and in 1918 was bought by the Methodists for a Methodist Mission Hall and Sunday School. It operated until the 1950s, when it was marked for demolition to build a service station. Community support rallied behind Miss Dorothea Henslowe to raise money to purchase the hall as a community centre.
Well-known at the time for running historic walks around ‘the Point’, Miss Henslowe used the hall as a meeting place for small children, older boys and elderly people for many years. One afternoon a week, a group of about 30 children, who would otherwise be playing on the streets, would turn up for activities and games followed by lemon syrup and biscuits. Although she was strict, Miss Henslowe was greatly loved as:
They know I am on their side, which most adults are not, and they know I love them.
The Henslowe Park adjacent to the hall in Francis Street was named in her honour in 1990.
Today, the hall continues to provide a popular meeting place and events venue, as it has for over 100 years. It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of the hall in the maintenance of the strong sense of community that still characterises Battery Point today.
… The first day I came, the lady came around with a plate and I thought I was getting money – so I took two shillings out of the plate and put it into my pocket!
Listen
I remember coming to the Battery Point Community Hall; we went to Sunday school here. The first day I came, the lady came around with a plate and I thought I was getting money – so I took two shillings out of the plate and put it into my pocket!
– Lynn Bluett talking about his childhood in the 1950s
An earlier photograph of the Battery Point Community Centre 1980s
Source
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery Q17139
The elevation of the Battery Point Community Hall 1866
This plan shows an earlier façade in classical form on the left hand side.
We went to the Methodist Church in what is now the community hall… We went to Sunday school every Sunday afternoon… They read Scriptures to you, Bible studies and all that sort of thing – to tell you the truth, I hated it!
– Battery Point resident talking about her childhood between the wars
Source
Detail from Plan – Elevation and site plans of additions to the Congregational Church School House, Hampden Road, Battery Point, F. Butler Architect, Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office NS663/1/56
Battery Point Hall Plan 1866
This plan shows a footprint of an earlier building in ghost form and a part plan of the Sunday School including benches in U-shape. The plan also allowed for future extension.
Source
Detail from Plan – Elevation and site plans of additions to the Congregational Church School House, Hampden Road, Battery Point, F. Butler Architect Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office NS663/1/56
Plan of the Hall
This 1911 plan of the hall, then a Sunday school, shows the main hall and the associated extension which was actually part of the original 1851 building. The building does not yet have the entrance foyer or the facilities section that were added later.
Source
Hobart City Council Drainage Plan 1911
Battery Point Community Hall by Kaleb 2015
Source
Albuera Street Primary School
Battery Point Hall 2015
Throughout its history, the Battery Point Community Hall has been a local meeting place for many groups including political associations (1800s) and the Battery Point Temperance League (1900s). In the 1970s, It was used as a planning centre for the long battles to save the historic fabric of the suburb from unsuitable development.
Photo
Robert Vincent
Part of the original 1851 Sunday School building on the site 2015
This is now a meeting room at the side of the hall.
Photo
Robert Vincent
A typical Sunday school bench 2015
While the children knelt at the pews, many an initial was carved on the seats. When we had the classes, real woollen curtains were pulled across the hall on steel rods to make classes more private.
– Battery Point resident talking about her childhood in the 1930s
Photo
Private collection
Inside the Battery Point Hall 2015
I still remember at 11 years of age repeating the pledge ‘I refrain from intoxicating liquors as beverages’ a pledge all of my family have kept.
– Battery Point resident talking about her childhood in the 1930s
Photo
Private collection
WWI Memorial Board 2015
The names with a crown beside them denote the fact that they gave their lives for their country.
Photo
Private collection