Inside every church architect there lurks a cathedral or church of large and flamboyant proportions.
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In some there are also small, graceful village or country churches.
One such noted architect who turned his craft to both styles was Alexander North. Born in October 1858 at Huddersfield, Yorkshire, he trained in art and architecture in London and studied on the Continent.
North was attracted to Gothic styles and the late Victorian ‘Arts and Crafts’ movement.
For health reasons he migrated to Hobart in 1883, where he was employed for a few years in public works. He married Lucy Marianne Hamilton Morgan in 1885 at the Church of St John the Baptist.
While in Hobart North designed several churches, including the Church of St Michael and All Angels at Bothwell, dubbed the ‘Cathedral of the Midlands’.
His works can also be seen in all Australian states, Fiji, England and the Continent.
The Norths moved to Launceston, where he embarked on three major church works: a chancel and crossings for the Church of Apostles in 1888; a similar structure for Holy Trinity in 1902, his home parish; and leaving a grand 1938 plan for St John’s to replace the convict-built tower of 1825. These were among his grand designs in Northern Tasmania.
Two of his smaller pretty churches in Launceston are St Oswald’s, Trevallyn and St Aidan’s, Newstead.
But North’s country churches are in a class of their own; at Beaconsfield, Exeter and Inveresk to name a few. Holy Trinity, Beaconsfield is lined with Tasmanian blackwood.
In Launceston, Alexander North joined a private partnership with LG Corrie who retired in 1893 leaving the business to North. He had a number of partnerships, including NH Dunning, AH Masters, and FJ Heywood.
Alexander North died in May 1945. A former colleague, HS East, designed a little church at Rowella, West Tamar.
He also designed for the family a Rose Window in memory of North and his wife. The window has been moved several times due to church closures.
It has a plaque which explains the journey to its present home.
The Rose Window, originally in the sanctuary at St Stephen’s, Rowella, was given by the North children in memory of their parents. The church and window were dedicated on June 4, 1950.
It was then an altar frontal at Montgomery Park Chapel.
When that closed the window was returned to the North family, who donated it to Holy Trinity, Launceston.
In 2015 it was mounted in the north wall of the narthex with back lighting.