Through the looking (stained) glass: Art at the heart of Wesley Place

The Wesley Place precinct is filled with historical art and innovative infrastructure – from the 19th century paintings that line the church halls, to the city’s first towering pipe organ.

Through our heritage restoration works, we are ensuring that these cultural items and images will live on and remain in Wesley Place, bringing music and colour for future generations to enjoy.

People, paintings and pipe organs

The Wesley Church building was designed by architect Joseph Reed, who also designed the Melbourne Town Hall and was famed for his English Gothic style and symbolic architecture. He created the Church building in the shape of a cross and caused a bit of a stir at the time with a style very different to the city’s traditional architectural norms.

In fact, the church was full of “firsts” for Melbourne’s early community. For many years, the  53m spire was the tallest structure on the Melbourne skyline, and to this day remains a significant marker of the precinct. 

Inside, Australia’s first pipe organ filled the halls with music.  Built in Lancashire, England, the organ arrived in Melbourne in September 1842.  It was rebuilt in 1987 and to this day remains one of the inner city’s most significant musical artefacts.

Elsewhere in the Church, two famous paintings by famed Australian artist Rupert Bunny (1864-1947) still hang - namely “The Prodigal Son” and “Abraham’s Sacrifice” - both given to the church in 1934. And outside, a statue of John Wesley stands tall in front of the church – a landmark for the precinct, sculpted by the British sculptor Paul Raphael Montford in 1935.