The Sunday School Hall, a distinctive landmark on Hoddle Street, and part of St Philip's Parish complix throughout the first fifty years of Anglican ministry within Collingwood, started its life as a prefabricated church on the Hobson Bay foreshore. Originally commissioned by Bishop Perry and the Society for the Promoting of Christian Knowledge (SPCK), the building was first erected from iron cladding on a timber framework and was consecrated in Bristol, England. It was then dismantled and shipped to Melbourne in some 50 to 60 crates but without accompanying plans. The only guidance as to its construction was the picture above which was in the Illustrated London News of 30th April, 1853

After the erection of a new church by the Williamstown parish, the "Iron Pot" was transported to its final site on Hoddle Street, Collingwood in 1875 where it was to be used as the Parish Hall and Sunday School room until 1918. It was then demolished to make way for a new brick Gothic-style building that reflected the look of St Philip's Church.