The historic Lalla Road Presbyterian Church has gained a new lease on life after being purchased by Ian and Rose Lake of Lalla Road Vineyard.
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What was once a rundown and vandalised church will now be turned into Lalla Road Vineyard’s new cellar door, where it will be renovated and restored for future generations to enjoy.
Mr Lake said the church had an interesting history.
“The church originally was situated, not in its current form, up at Browns Mountain. It was dragged down here [to Lalla] on a bullock sled in about 1928 or 1929,” Mr Lake said.
“They would have cut two large logs out of the forest and shaped the front of them so it had a rounded nose like a shed, and then put two cross members on, and the church would have gone on that,” he said. “Then they would have dragged it with ten or twelve bullocks down the hill.
“It was reopened in about 1930 or 1931, and it stayed there for many, many years. My builder, Roger Hume, went to Sunday School there.
“It has a lot of history, and it was being swallowed up by the bush there, it was in danger of burning down … it has been extensively vandalised.”
Mr Lake said the process of moving the church had taken a few months.
“We had to wait for the ground to be dry and firm, and then building approvals, planning approvals, and getting the stumps in,” he said.
Now, Mr Lake said he plans to make the church beautiful again.
“It’s going up amongst the trellis, and it’s going to become the cellar door for the vineyard here.
“It’s lovely inside … it’s all baltic pine, and it’s got stencils of crosses and burning bushes around it, and the old pulpit is still there.
“There will be a modern extension going on the back so that there will be proper toilets and kitchens, but it’ll made a really great cellar door.
“It will look beautiful. We’ll make it look beautiful again.”
Mr Lake said he had been told an interesting story about the history behind the church, but has been unable to find any written evidence.
“The congregation so hated the minister when the church was up at Browns Mountain that they took the church off him, and put it on the bullock sled, and dragged it down the hill.
“I can’t find any evidence, but it’s a good story,” he said.