Despite the
convention of avoiding two churches in a suburb, two Baptist churches were
built in St Kilda reflecting its dual character. In 1876, the Particular
Baptists built a polychromatic hawthorn-brick church on St Kilda Hill at
16 Crimea Street. The architect of this attractive gable-roofed,
rectangular building was Thomas Matthews. The polychromatic brickwork on
the buttresses and window surrounds is a simple but original use of this
decorative technique. Particular Baptists were strongly Calvinist and
believed Christ died for the elect, the Church. Within forty years the
congregation had dwindled and the church was closed in 1922 and sold to
the Balaclava Lodge of Freemasons. Since then it has operated as Masonic
Temple 162.[1]
[1] Nigel
Lewis and Associates, St Kilda Conservation Study, Area 1: Final
Report, City of St Kilda and the Historic Buildings Preservation
Council, September 1982.