Mission to Seafarers
"Then I saw an angel flying in mid-heaven with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those on earth, to every nation and tribe, language and people." So goes this verse from the Book of Revelation, which inspired the flying angel insignia of The Mission to Seafarers, a missionary society of the Anglican Church which provides spiritual and practical support to seafarers across 230 ports worldwide.The first seamen's mission was formed in Bristol, England in 1837. Almost 20 years later a Victorian branch was established in an ex-prison hulk anchored off Williamstown. Subsequent locations included a Port Melbourne boathouse, a riverside leasehold from the Melbourne Harbour Trust and now Flinders Street.
Designed by architect Walter Richmond Butler in 1916, the building represents a unique combination of Spanish mission revival and English arts and crafts styles. A monastic-style courtyard, bell tower turret, pepper pot chimneys, projecting gable and oriel windows characterise the administration, residential and recreational buildings. Maritime imagery is evident in the chapel's stained glass windows and the lobby s terrazzo floor. A gymnasium, complete with oculus, was added after completion of the main structure in 1917.
Largely intact, the Mission to Seamen complex carries genuine historic weight. Its architecture is magnified in the face of the Docklands modernity.
Location: 717 Flinders Street, Melbourne
