147 Woodhouse Grove, Box Hill North VIC 3129

The history of the former Wesleyan Chapel - Source: Victorian Heritage Database Report

This building was built by Mr. Joseph Aspinall one of the early settlers in the Box Hill area. He was also a councillor for Box Hill, an orchardist, member of the first Nunawading District Road Board and foundation member of the Box Hill Cemetery Trust. On January 15, 1884, he was appointed shire secretary until October 11, 1887. He was a Methodist who made his home at the north end of Aspinall Road available for the first services in the district.

Aspinall acquired 49 acres from Jon Dane, grantee for Crown Allotment 12, in the Woodhouse Grove area in 1851. There was no grant of crown land, and not even a very good prospect of starting a school, but Joseph was a staunch Methodist. Woodhouse Grove had taken its name from a Methodist college in Yorkshire. He set aside half an acre of his land and persuaded his friend Ben Lawford who bought his property from Aspinall’s original purchase to act as Secretary of the building committee.

Construction of the chapel commenced in 1855 using locally quarried Koonung Creek sandstone (Aspinall had previously worked a quarry on the Collingwood Flat).

Woodhouse Grove was opened by the Rev. Daniel Draper on Good Friday 1856, and its anniversaries are dated from then; but the Argus, which rarely mentioned Nunawading at all, reported on 2 January 1857 that the foundation stone had been laid by Mrs. Draper on Friday 26 December 1856 before a crowd of about 150 including some who were journeyed out from Collingwood and Boroondara.

Statement of Significance - Last updated on - September 11, 2002

What is significant?
The former Woodhouse Grove Wesleyan Chapel was constructed in 1855-56. It was one of the first church buildings to be built in the Box Hill area, and the oldest surviving church building in the municipality. It has been in continuous use as a church since its construction and is now known as The Grove Uniting Church. The Woodhouse Grove Chapel is a small rectangular building of coursed freestone with stone quoining at the corners. It has round-arched timber framed windows with cream brick surrounds and keystones. It is a simple single roomed building with a porch to the Woodhouse Grove elevation.

How is it significant?
The Woodhouse Grove Chapel is of historical, aesthetic and architectural significance to the State of Victoria.

Why is it significant?
The Woodhouse Grove Chapel is of historical importance as an early intact building within the broader context of Victoria and in particular in the Whitehorse area. The Woodhouse Grove Chapel is important as it demonstrates the early establishment of individual towns around Melbourne that later became part of and were enveloped by greater Melbourne. The chapel is a remnant of the original small, once rural towns that grew up around Melbourne in the nineteenth century.

The Woodhouse Grove Chapel is of architectural and aesthetic significance as an unusual example of a Georgian detailed Wesleyan chapel. The chapel demonstrates an early use of cream brick and a rare use of the local Koonung Creek stone. The chapel is important as a substantially intact 1850s building which has undergone little alteration on the exterior or interior.

A plaque was unveiled by the Mayor of Box Hill, Councillor Ray Hill marking the recognition of the chapel building by the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) at a thanksgiving service held at the church on Sunday 17th November 1974.

The City of Whitehorse Heritage Review completed by Allom Lovell & Associates in 1999 identified the chapel as being of State significance and recommended it for inclusion in the Victorian Heritage Register. Source:Victorian Heritage Database Report

The building is on the Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) Number - H2010
and is protected by a Whitehorse Council Heritage Overlay - HO99.Source: Victorian Heritage Database Report.

Has the developer submitted plans on how this building will be incorporated into their proposed development and used? Will the developer maintain the building in its original condition? Will the building be altered in any way? Has Heritage Victoria been consulted in regards to how the building is to be restored and maintained? Has the National Trust been consulted in regards to how the building is to be restored and maintained?

The development of eight double storey dwellings will overwhelm and destroy the context of this building.

Further information in regards to plans to develop the site at 147 Woodhouse Grove, Box Hill North. The land the Chapel is on and surrounded by is also covered by a Significant Landscape Overlay (SL09) and a Vegetation Protection Overlay (VPO 05),these protections must be enforced.

If this application is approved it will set a precedent for the heritage value of Council Heritage protected buildings/land to be undermined - the Chapel at 147 Woodhouse Grove is covered by a HO99 and the vegetation is covered by a SL09 and VP05. Why have a HO99, SL09 and VP05 capability if a developer can get permission to override them whenever they wish to further develop properties? The developer knew when they bought the site that it was covered by heritage protections. It obviously was seen as having heritage value in the past when classified and it is now still more valued for its heritage given current building developments in Whitehorse generally and Box Hill in particular.

The site should be converted into a park and the Chapel converted into a museum to show the religious, cultural and educational development of the area as well as the development of quarrying. The site must be preserved and protected for current and future generations.

This application must not be approved by Whitehorse Council.

This is a significant heritage structure in this neighbourhood. The application should not be approved.

A building of such significance can not be lost amongst a high density housing development. Whitehorse council is losing parkland every day and preserving the integrity of this building and surrounds should be of upmost importance.

Keeping the building for community use and celebrating its significant history should include keeping its immediate surrounds in a manner that celebrates the space. Some housing may be inevitably be built on that block of land, but significant space, including parkland should be considered.

The proposal will detract from the integrity of the old church which is tremendously important for its heritage value.

This site should not be compromised and the neighborhood character of the site should not be destroyed.