Steeped in history, this Old Colonial Romanesque building once served as the first Congregational Church in Tasmania. The original predominantly single storey, stone building is intact externally. The setting is undisturbed, amid a number of magnificent heritage properties, on the main street of a township that has seen little change. The symmetrical front of the church bears the date A.D.1840 beneath the parapet. Believed to be designed by convict architect James Blackburn, it is a sandstone rectangular building with a hipped roof, moulded parapet and prominent quoins (angled cornerstones) over arched windows and doorway at the front. The back of the church is gabled, with two windows set high up and a chimney. There are five stunning twelve paned original windows on each side of the building.
Today the property offers modern convenience within a heritage frame work. Internally, there are exposed sandstone walls, ceiling beams, a Huon pine staircase and many interesting architectural features and finishes. The living accommodation is to the rear and is rustic in style. The spacious eat-in family kitchen offers excellent storage and a large Smeg stove with gas hobs and electric oven. The long dining table sits under the enormous original windows that provide an abundance of natural light. Close by, the bathroom is also blessed with original features such as the exposed sandstone fire place. Upstairs is one large bedroom/sitting room with open fire and Baltic pine ceiling. The second double bedroom is opposite the bathroom on the ground floor. Off the kitchen is an intimate separate lounge/sitting room with access to the church hall at the front of the building. The hall is substantially original, has a second level or mezzanine level, and is appropriate for development as a business subject to council approval. The design and construction of internal spaces are in a form that can be readily reversed with little effect on the existing fabric if ever the building were again to be used as a hall and the current floor plan is flexible.
Set well back from the street faade and the original church is a new garage/workshop the form of which is ?low key? and follows a character of many similar outbuilding found in the area. The property is zoned Village (historic precinct special area) and it is in the municipality of the Southern Midlands Council. Kempton contains a remarkable number of early buildings. In 1820 Green Ponds was the name being applied both to the township, which was being established at the time, and to the district. After 1850 the town was known as Kempton while Green Ponds remains the name of the district to this day.