History - Entally Chapel

Entally Chapel

The quaint Entally Chapel sits on the southern side of the main House, with its traditional singled roof, and stone walls. Designed by Tasmania’s first architect, John Lee Archer, in 1835, it wasn’t actually built until many years later in the 1850’s.

In the late 1800’s, the chapel is described as being covered in ivy, with the vigorous growing vine attaching itself to every nook and cranny. An organ was placed just inside the door – this was brought back from England in 1868 where Thomas III had purchased it for £500, as it had formerly been in the crypt of St Paul’s Cathedral in London. After Thomas III’s death, this organ was moved to St Andrew’s Church at Carrick, where it still resides today, along with a gold cup used for Communion Services. This cup was a copy of one found in the stone tomb of Hilary, the Bishop of Chichester in 1848, which Thomas III bought back from England in 1854. 

Regular services were conducted by Thomas Reibey III, or by one of the neighbourhood clergymen. It continued to be use as a place of worship by the Hadspen congregation until 1918 – even after Thomas III’s death in 1912.

Although it was built as a place of worship for the staff working on the Estate, the chapel saw four marriages in its first sixty years. The first was a marriage of James Moncrieff to Esther Elizabeth Davis in 1886, then May Bellinger was married to James Eastoe in 1902. May’s father was a coachman at Entally to Thomas III, and his other daughter Ethel Ida Bellinger also was married in the chapel, to C. Preddy of Longford in 1903. And in 1906, Mabel Cobbett was married to Chester Allwright – Thomas III was present at this one, aged 85, and toasted to the health of the bride and groom. Today it still hosts the occasional wedding, but with current wedding trends moving towards garden ceremonies, the chapel is used only on days of bad weather.

Currently, the chapel overlooks the vineyard on the south side, and the rear courtyard on the north. It’s recently had new shingles in 2019, and in December 2021, all the original furnishings & items were returned to it from the Church of the Good Shepherd in Hadspen. They include the altar and coverings, a pair of brass candlesticks, gilded and coloured reredos, with a wooden cross and symbolic paintings, a carved lectern and pews, and a Bible gifted to Thomas III and Catherine on their wedding day in 1842. The return of these items is thanks to our amazing Friends of Entally volunteers, who worked tirelessly to get these items returned to their rightful home, upon the sale of the Church of the Good Shepherd.