Skip to content

Down The Creek Traditional Cache

This cache has been archived.

The Mavericks: At the request of the guardian this cache is now permanently removed.

More
Hidden : 5/14/2010
Difficulty:
1 out of 5
Terrain:
1 out of 5

Size: Size:   small (small)

Join now to view geocache location details. It's free!

Watch

How Geocaching Works

Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions in our disclaimer.

Geocache Description:

The Church of Christ the King is of significance to the Territory for its historical, architectural and social values.
'Down the Creek' refers to the move from Pine Creek to Tennant Creek. You are looking for an 200mL Sistema container.

There are few buildings of historical importance in Tennant Creek. Most of the early buildings were constructed out of corrugated iron and have simply disappeared. One of the most notable buildings is the Roman Catholic Church of Christ the King (turn left off Paterson Street at Windley Street) which was originally built at Pine Creek in 1904. As Pine Creek declined and Tennant Creek grew, the decision was made in 1936 to dismantle the building and transport it to the new settlement.
Unfortunately, the trip commenced at the start of the wet season and, while the first truck made it, the second got bogged in a creek and overturned. The third returned to Pine Creek to await improved weather. This left the front door in Tennant Creek, the back door 700 km north at Pine Creek and the side walls scattered along a creek at Daly Waters. Thus the locals started referring to the building as 'The Longest Church in Australia'. It was the first church to be built between Alice Springs and Katherine and its unique use of corrugated iron, caneite, masonite and recycled telegraph poles for support stumps, make it a rare, if eccentric and somewhat makeshift, example of original Australian vernacular architecture.

The Church has been subject to considerable works in the past and whilst it retains its basic mid-late 1930s form and exterior design, little original or early fabric remains intact. The roof over the nave, sacristy and front porch is hipped with a gable roof over the sanctuary and residential (now choir and office space) areas. The walls consist of cream-coloured colorbond with the new timber fascias and bargeboards painted red-brown. Internally, the walls are lined with plasterboard and the arch has been removed and squared-off. The floor consists of polished timber boards. Corrugated galvanised iron clad, timber and iron frame, flat iron spire, lined masonite and caneite louvre windows, Presbytery attached on iron piers which are the old telegraph poles.

The Sidney Williams hut, just north of the church, is remarkably intact, retaining much of its original door and window furniture in working condition in addition to its roofing, framework and cladding.

Congratulations to Kwaianna for FTF

Additional Hints (No hints available.)