St Elizabeth’s Anglican Church
Broomehill began as a railway siding, about eight kilometres from the township of Eticup on the Broomehill-Kojonup Road. With the opening of the Great Southern Railway, Eticup began to decline and many businesses moved to Broomehill.
St Elizabeth’s Anglican Church
The fact that the church originally began its life as a police station and courthouse make it extremely uncommon and Its existence is testimony to the effort the community was prepared to put in to obtain their own place of worship. The church was purchased and renovated with funds raised by local people and represents the country philosophy of community self-help.
George Temple-Poole
Photo courtesy Sophie West
The police station and courthouse were built in 1892 under the direction of the chief architect of the Public Works Department, George Temple-Poole. When the new police station and quarters was built in 1951, the old station was not needed.
In the same year, a school was opened in Broomehill and the school in the Eticup church closed. Church services continued at Eticup until around 1920, while Anglican services at Broomehill were held in the local hall. As early as 1939, a fund was established to move the Eticup Church to Broomehill and rebuild it as a memorial to pioneers in the district. World War II interrupted these plans, although it was re-established in 1948.
Funds were raised through various stalls, a ball, and by cropping a paddock made available on `Ulupna`, a property owned by Mr Bert Patton. Labour and equipment for the planting and harvesting were donated by the residents of Broomehill. This paddock became known locally as the Church Paddock. Approximately £2,000 was raised for the church fund.
Instead of rebuilding the Eticup church, the community decided to purchase the old Police Station and Courthouse and convert it into a church. The purchase went ahead, with an offer of £450 ($900), and plans for the alterations were drawn up by Forbes and Fitzhardinge. The foundation stone of the new church was laid on 18 April 1953, by Mr and Mrs V. Greenslade, who were ‘active church-people’. St Elizabeth’s Anglican Church was consecrated the ‘Church of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary’ on 25 July 1953.
Modifications to transform the police station into a church were quite extensive. The altar was built with bricks from the old Eticup church and a local identity donated a bell. Internal walls and chimneys were removed, new windows inserted, the verandah was enclosed, and a belfry was added to the roof. The stained-glass window at the back of the church was dedicated to Lieutenant Frank Richardson, killed in action in New Guinea in December 1943, aged 20.
This Church took its name from St Elizabeth of Hungary who fed the poor of her country. Her husband was a heathen and had forbidden her to do so. One day she crept out of the palace with a basket of bread for the needy and her husband caught her. Miraculously, when he looked into the basket, it was filled with roses.
Regular services are no longer held at the church because of the declining town population.
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