The Sheffield Murals

"STILLNESS AND WARMTH"
Painted by: John Lendis assisted by Diane Whiting Date
Completed: December 13, 1986

This was the first Mural to be painted in Sheffield as part of the Murals Project.
It features Gustav Weindorfer, the man responsible for having Cradle Mountain / Lake St Clair declared a National Park.

The theme is taken from the words of Weindorfer's diary, as shown in the Mural:
"When the ground is all covered in snow, I do build a big fire, open my door, seat myself very, very quietly in front of the blazing logs and presently, they come in, one by one, the wild animals, without their usual fear of man or of one another and share with me, in the stillness, the grateful warmth."

Weindorfer was born in Austria and came to Melbourne in 1900 to work at the Austrian Consulate.

He met his wife-to-be, Kate Cowle, while they were members of the Victorian Field Naturalists' Club and when they married in 1906, they came to Tasmania spending their honeymoon on top of Mt. Roland.
They built Waldheim Chalet at Cradle Mountain and after Kate died in 1916, Gustav lived there alone until his death in 1932.

"CHRISTIAN HERITAGE"
Designed and painted by: Cheyne Purdue

In the early 1860's Mrs. Eliza von Bibra stands on the verandah of her West Kentish home ready to teach the first Sunday School, while her husband Francis guides the first clergyman through the bush to the new settlement.
He was Rev. Jesse Pullen, Wesleyan Methodist Clergyman from Deloraine.

The first church was erected by the Methodist pioneers at Barrington.
Some Christian Brethren preachers held evangelistic meetings in the farmers' barns in the early 1870's.
Many responded, and the first Gospel Hall was erected in 1874.

One of these Evangelists, Chas. Perrin from Ireland, aged 33 died and was buried at Forth.

The Christian Brethren pioneers named such places as Paradise, Beulah and the Promised Land.

In the mid 1880's, the Anglican Minister from Latrobe commenced visiting the Kentish district, which resulted in building St. Barnabus Church of England in Main Street.
It was dedicated in 1891, during the Bishop's first visit to Sheffield.
He also visited a working bee at Beulah where a block was being cleared for a second church.

The Salvation Army held their first street meeting in the mid 1880's and later erected a building on the road to the Promised land -
The West Kentish Presbyterians are having a wedding there.
It was one of three Presbyterian churches in Kentish.

Following the visit of a Baptist Pastor in the late 1880's a Baptist Tabernacle was erected in 1891 and other district churches were built at about the same time.
The Sheffield church was burnt down in a spectacular fire in 1930.

The tents depict the beginning of Christian camping in Tasmania.
Both Baptist and Christian Brethren camp work was originated by Kentish Christians.

In 1922 the foundation stone of the Holy Cross Roman Catholic church in High Street was laid.
On that ccasion Joseph Lyons, later Prime Minister, appealed to the crowd to give funds to the project.

The mural concludes with the Risen Christ pointing to the workers' mission fields, where about sixty Kentish descendants have taken their faith .... some like Bert Overton of India, giving their lives to bring the "Good News" to others.

In 1988 this mural was located at 55 Main Street, Sheffield, behind the "Cradle Mountain Beauty" mural, on the property of what was then the Westpac Bank.
Relocation of the bank branch and subsequent sale of the site necessitated the removal of the mural.

In September 2002 the mural was relocated to the current site (beside the visitor centre).
At the same time a new panel was added to each end of the original mural and the total area was restored by artist Cheyne Purdue.