History of St Paul's Frankston

On 9th July 1856 Charles Griffin, Chancellor of the Diocese of Melbourne, applied for two acres of land on the Frankston Reserve, as recommended by the Rev’d Samuel Taylor, then Circuit Minister from St. Andrew’s Brighton.

On 30th September 1856 the appropriation of the land for “Church of England” purposes was approved by the Executive Council. The appropriation included the present site of the Church building and halls plus the Vicarage land and the land now occupied by St. Paul’s Court Nursing Home. The Park site was used for school, church and burial ground.

A school building was erected on the church site in 1857 and was used both for education and worship purposes until the completion of the church in 1887

The foundation stone for a Church building was laid on 2nd February 1875 by Miss A.M. Baxter but the Church was not completed until 5th February 1887.

February 21st 1888 St Paul’s licensed as a place of Worship.

February 7th 1889 Frankston a separate parish with responsibilities for Somerville and Langwarrin

August 27th 1894 Frankston becomes a separate parish without Somerville and Langwarrin

The north and south transepts, St Richard’s Chapel, Chancel, Sanctuary and Vestries were added in 1933 but a fire on the October 26th 1957 left only the Sanctuary intact. Most church records were also destroyed by the fire.

The foundation stone tells us that the building of the current Church commenced on 2nd May 1959.

A Church building is only consecrated once it is paid for. St. Paul’s was consecrated on 18th December 1966.

During the Revd. Albert Church’s tenure a number of important initiatives took place:

• St Paul’s School, which had outgrown its site, relocated and became Woodleigh School, a secondary school with Minimbah as its junior campus;
• St Luke’s Anglican Church, East Frankston
• St Paul’s Court for the elderly was begun
• St Paul’s Op Shop, the first on the Peninsula and the brainchild of the Vicar’s wife Betty, opened.

St. Silas’, Seaford, another offspring of this period, closed in June 1987, but there is a permanent reminder of it in St. Paul’s Memorial Garden, where its foundation stone was relaid in August 2000

Length of tenure seems to have been something of a tradition at St Paul’s.

Previous Vicars