page_title: St Andrew's Kirk, Launceston
section_title: Construction
hierarchical_section_title: St Andrew's Kirk, Launceston / History / Construction
caption_attribution_description: English: One of the window pairs in St Andrew's Presbyterian Kirk in Launceston, Tasmania displaying biblical scenes (story of Christ). Original windows date from 1850 but pictorial images as shown were installed around 1930s to celebrate centenary of the Presbytery of Van Diemen's Land in 1831
context_page_description: St Andrew's Kirk, Launceston, is a Presbyterian church in Launceston, Australia serving the Presbytery of Bass. It was the second Presbyterian church to be built in the city of Launceston following the Scotch National Church on Charles Street. St Andrew's is located on St John Street between Patterson Street and Civic Square.
context_section_description: Following calls for a new, larger church, a suitable site was secured closer to the growing business district of Launceston. The land was secured with a petition to Lieutenant-Governor, Sir William Thomas Denison for a lot of land occupied by one of the colony's original watch houses. The Building Committee advertised for plans of a church capable of seating 700 people.
   A total of 14 designs were submitted by eight competitors with the winning design, though significantly smaller than advertised with a capacity of only 320, was won by William Henry Clayton of Norfolk Plains who later went on to become the Colonial Architect for the New Zealand Government. Clayton's plans called for a simple Gothic-inspired church built from local bricks rendered over in stucco with sandstone decorations and spire with entrances off both Patterson and St John Streets.
  On 16 October 1849, the foundation stone for the new church was laid by Lieutenant-Governor Denison. Alongside the foundation stone, a time capsule containing newspapers of the time and various coins including a gold sovereign and a half sovereign was placed. Construction of the church was undertaken by builder William Tyson, himself a member of the congregation for a cost of £3,956 which was paid in 6 installments coinciding with milestones of completion with a timespan of 15 months for works to be done by. The church was officially named and opened to service on 5 December 1850 and within 4 years was debt free.
caption: One of the window pairs depicting the story of Christ
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