Millicent Spencer
The 145-year-old Wollert Church has found a new place to call home just 10 kilometres up the road in Mernda.
As part of the Epping Road upgrade the historically significant weatherboard church built in 1878 has been preserved and relocated to the Carome Homestead.
Major Road Projects Victoria (MRPV) acquired the original church site as part of the Epping Road Upgrade and preserved the building before passing it on to Working Heritage to manage.
Working Heritage chief executive Ross Turnbull said the company is looking forward to the opportunities the Wollert Church will provide for the community.
“We envisage the church will be used for the local community who will be able to hire it at an appropriate community rate,” he said.
“Heritage provides connection to the local area and place, and I am confident that residents will be pleased to see it in really good condition.”
Mr Turnbull said the opportunity to relocate the church from Wollert to Mernda was unique.
“Buildings don’t often get picked up and preserved, so we were lucky this was able to be moved and reconstructed,” he said.
“It’s a great way to provide a facility for the community that makes use of a beautiful old building.”
Mill Park MP Lily D’Ambrosio said it was fantastic the church could be restored to its former glory.
“It is a fantastic outcome for the community that we have been able to preserve a part of Wollert’s history by relocating this historic church from Epping Road to Carome Homestead,” she said.
The church was built to serve the local Methodist congregation and held its first service in 1878. The building later became the central hub of the community as the Uniting Church, along with the nearby post office, holding its final service in July 2006.
Mr Turnbull said an official opening ceremony of the Wollert Church will take place in the coming months.
