St Bartholomew's Anglican Church And Cemetery, Prospect
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St Bartholomew's Anglican Church and Cemetery is a heritage-listed former
Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...
and
cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...
at Ponds Road,
Prospect Prospect may refer to: General * Prospect (marketing), a marketing term describing a potential customer * Prospect (sports), any player whose rights are owned by a professional team, but who has yet to play a game for the team * Prospect (minin ...
,
City of Blacktown Blacktown City Council is a Local government in Australia, local government area in Western Sydney, situated on the Cumberland Plain, approximately west of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Esta ...
,
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
, Australia. It was designed by Henry Robertson and built from 1838 to 1840 by James Atkinson. It was added to the
New South Wales State Heritage Register The New South Wales State Heritage Register, also known as NSW State Heritage Register, is a heritage list of places in the state of New South Wales, Australia, that are protected by New South Wales legislation, generally covered by the Heritag ...
on 2 April 1999. Since 2000, it has been owned by
Blacktown City Council Blacktown City Council is a Local government in Australia, local government area in Western Sydney, situated on the Cumberland Plain, approximately west of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Esta ...
, which had previously leased the site since 1972.


History


Aboriginal and European settler history

The area of
Prospect Reservoir The Prospect Reservoir is a heritage-listed potable water supply and storage reservoir created by the Prospect Dam, across the Prospect Creek located in the Western Sydney suburb of Prospect, in New South Wales, Australia. The eastern boun ...
is an area of known Aboriginal occupation, with favourable camping locations along the Eastern Creek and Prospect Creek catchments, and in elevated landscapes to the south. There is also evidence to suggest that the occupation of these lands continued after European contact, through discovery of intermingled glass and stone flakes in archaeological surveys of the place. The area was settled by Europeans by 1789. Prospect Hill,
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
's largest body of igneous rock, lies centrally in the
Cumberland Plain The Cumberland Plain, also known as Cumberland Basin, is a relatively flat region lying to the west of Sydney CBD in New South Wales, Australia. An IBRA biogeographic region, Cumberland Basin is the preferred physiographic and geological term ...
and dominates the landscape of the area. Very early after first settlement, on 26 April 1788, an exploration party heading west led by Governor Phillip, climbed Prospect Hill. An account by Phillip states that the exploration party saw from Prospect Hill, "for the first time since we landed Carmathen icHills ( Blue Mountains) as likewise the hills to the southward". Phillip's "Bellevue" (Prospect Hill) acquired considerable significance for the new settlers. Prospect Hill provided a point from which distances could be meaningfully calculated, and became a major reference point for other early explorers. When
Watkin Tench Lieutenant General Watkin Tench (6 October 1758 – 7 May 1833) was a British military officer who is best known for publishing two books describing his experiences in the First Fleet, which established the first European settlement in Australia ...
made another official journey to the west in 1789, he began his journey with reference to Prospect Hill, which commanded a view of the great chain of mountains to the west. A runaway convict, George Bruce, used Prospect Hill as a hideaway from soldiers in the mid-1790s. During the initial struggling years of European settlement in NSW, Governor Phillip began to settle time-expired convicts on the land as farmers, after the success of
James Ruse James Ruse (9 August 17595 September 1837) was a Cornish farmer who, at age 23, was convicted of burglary and was sentenced to seven years' transportation. He arrived at Sydney Cove, New South Wales, on the First Fleet with 18 months of ...
at Rose Hill. On 18 July 1791 Phillip placed a number of men on the eastern and southern slopes of Prospect Hill, as the soils weathered from the basalt cap were richer than the sandstone derived soils of the Cumberland Plain. The grants, mostly 30 acres, encircled Prospect Hill. The settlers included William Butler, James Castle, Samuel Griffiths, John Herbert, George Lisk, Joseph Morley, John Nicols, William Parish and Edward Pugh. The arrival of the first settlers prompted the first organised Aboriginal resistance to the spread of settlement, with the commencement of a violent frontier conflict in which
Pemulwuy Pemulwuy ( /pɛməlwɔɪ/ ''PEM-əl-woy''; 1750 – 2 June 1802) was a Bidjigal warrior of the Dharug, an Aboriginal Australian people from New South Wales. One of the most famous Aboriginal resistance fighters in the colonial era, he is n ...
and his
Bidjigal The Bidjigal (also spelt Bediagal, Bejigal, Bedegal or Biddegal) people are an Aboriginal Australian people whose traditional lands are modern-day western, north-western, south-eastern, and southern Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia. The ...
clan played a central role. On 1 May 1801 Governor King took drastic action, issuing a public order requiring that Aboriginal people around
Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...
, Prospect Hill and
Georges River The Georges River, also known as Tucoerah River, is an intermediate tide-dominated Ria, drowned valley estuary, that is located in Sydney, Australia. The Georges River is located south and south-west from the Sydney central business district, w ...
should be "driven back from the settlers" habitations by firing at them'. King's edicts appear to have encouraged a shoot-on-sight attitude whenever any Aboriginal men, women or children appeared. With the death of Pemulwuy, the main resistance leader, in 1802, Aboriginal resistance gradually diminished near Parramatta, although outer areas were still subject to armed hostilities. Prompted by suggestions to the Reverend Marsden by local Prospect Aboriginal groups that a conference should take place "with a view of opening the way to reconciliation", Marsden promptly organised a meeting near Prospect Hill. At the meeting, held on 3 May 1805, local Aboriginal representatives discussed with Marsden ways of ending the restrictions and indiscriminate reprisals inflicted on them by soldiers and settlers in response to atrocities committed by other Aboriginal clans. The meeting was significant because a group of Aboriginal women and a young free settler at Prospect named John Kennedy acted as intermediaries. The conference led to the end of the conflict for the Aboriginal clans around Parramatta and Prospect. This conference at Prospect on Friday 3 May 1805 is a landmark in Aboriginal/European relations. Macquarie's "Native Feasts" held at Parramatta from 1814 followed the precedent set in 1805. The ''
Sydney Gazette ''The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser'' was the first newspaper printed in Australia, running from 5 March 1803 until 20 October 1842. It was a semi-official publication of the government of New South Wales, authorised by Governo ...
'' report of the meeting is notable for the absence of the sneering tone that characterised its earlier coverage of Aboriginal matters. From its commencement in 1791 with the early settlement of the area, agricultural use of the land continued at Prospect Hill. Much of the land appears to have been cleared by the 1820s and pastoral use of the land was well established by then. When
Governor Macquarie Major General Lachlan Macquarie, CB (; ; 31 January 1762 – 1 July 1824) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Scotland. Macquarie served as the fifth Governor of New South Wales from 1810 to 1821, and had a leading role ...
paid a visit to the area in 1810, he was favourably impressed by the comfortable conditions that had been created.


St. Bartholemew's Church

Prior to 1836 the building of churches in New South Wales had been a haphazard responsibility of the government. In 1836 the Church Act came into force to promote the building of churches and chapels and provide for the maintenance of Ministers of Religion. The Act immediately led to a spate of church building. St. Bartholemew's Church of England was built by pioneers of Prospect with funds collected from 1837. In August 1838 tenders were called for the construction of St Bartholomew's Church. The contract was won by James Atkinson of Mulgoa who was building three other churches at the same time: St Peter's at Richmond, St Mary Magdalene at St Mary's and St Thomas' at Mulgoa. His contract was with the trustees, William Lawson, Robert Crawford and Nelson Simmons Lawson. The original contract sum for the building was 1,250, half of which was borne by private subscription and half by the Colonial Treasury. Henry Robertson is thought to have been the architect for the building although it is highly possible that William Lawson, a surveyor by training, was designer of the church. Lawson (1774–1850) who crossed the Blue Mountains with
Gregory Blaxland Gregory Blaxland (17 June 1778 – 1 January 1853) was an English pioneer farmer and explorer in Australia, noted especially for initiating and co-leading the first successful crossing of the Blue Mountains by European settlers. Early life ...
and
William Wentworth William Charles Wentworth (August 179020 March 1872) was an Australian statesman, pastoralist, explorer, newspaper editor, lawyer, politician and author, who became one of the wealthiest and most powerful figures in colonial New South Wales. He ...
in 1813, lived in a house in Prospect called Veteran Hall (Lawson was a lieutenant in the NSW Veterans' Company, hence the name). Built in 1810 as a small cottage, it was extended to a forty-room mansion in 1822. Lawson's descendants continued to improve the house until the 1880s. It was demolished in 1926 and its site is now within the Prospect Reservoir grounds. Lawson married Sarah Leadbeater on Norfolk Island while serving there and they had 11 children between 1803 and 1826. William Lawson was buried on 16 June 1850. One of their daughters, Sophia, was born at Prospect, and when she died in 1906, was the last surviving child. The family vault at St. Bartholemew's shelters the remains of several members of this large family. In April/May 1841 the church and cemetery were consecrated. The earliest burials, on 18 July 1841, were Ann and Margaret Goodin, the 25 and 9 year old daughters of early settlers James and Ann Goodin. The first minutes of the vestry meeting are dated 1842 and refer to the opening of the parish registers by the Rev. H. H. Bobart, who was the rector of St. John's, Parramatta. By 1891 over 360 burials had been recorded in the Parish Register. From the turn of the century to 1941 there was a substantial increase in the annual number of burials, reflecting the development of the district with the subdivision of farms into suburban allotments, the encroaching metropolitan area and the industrial development with the development of metal quarries, saw mills, brick and tile works and Bonds cotton spinning mills. The sale of burial plots was discontinued in 1992, with burials only taking place in already purchased plots until the expansion of the cemetery in 2023. The condition of the church deteriorated throughout the mid-twentieth century, and a dwindling congregation and lack of financial support led to its closure in 1967. The last service was held on Christmas Eve that year. A group of citizens interested in preserving the church formed The Prospect Trust in November 1967 under the chairmanship of Robert Brown. In late 1969 the
City of Blacktown Blacktown City Council is a Local government in Australia, local government area in Western Sydney, situated on the Cumberland Plain, approximately west of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Esta ...
commenced negotiations with the Church of England Property Trust. A fifty-year lease over most of the property was obtained by Council in 1975. In 1978 $20,000 was made available from National Estate Funds towards restoration provided the funds be administered by the
National Trust of Australia The National Trust of Australia, officially the Australian Council of National Trusts (ACNT), is the Australian national peak body for community-based, non-government non-profit organisations committed to promoting and conserving Australia's Ind ...
. In 1982 a Permanent Conservation order was placed on the site. A further $100,000 were allocated for restoration by the Minister for Public Works subject to Blacktown Council meeting this amount on a dollar for dollar basis. Blacktown Council requested the Minister's offer be deferred until Council had negotiated the leasing arrangement into purchase of the building by them or the Department of Environment and Planning. Fire destroyed much of the contents of the church and severely damaged the roof in November 1989. Parts of the original box pews and joinery, an 1850s organ brought to St Bartholomew's in 1888, a pulpit and lecterns from 1908 and all pressed metal ceilings were lost. In 1991 work commenced to repair the roof and brickwork damaged by the fire. From 2000 to 2001 the Church was completely restored, including interiors and windows with the use of Centenary of Federation funding. The restoration received an
EnergyAustralia EnergyAustralia (formerly TRUenergy) is an electricity generation, electricity and gas retailing private company in Australia. It is one of the "big three" retailers in the National Electricity Market. It generates electricity primarily using ...
National Trust Heritage Award in 2004. In October 2015, the state government gave the City of Blacktown a parcel of land surrounding the cemetery, allowing the council to proceed with plans to extend the cemetery to meet the needs of the area's growing population. , this has not yet taken place, with the Council continuing to advertise that no new burial licenses can be purchased, with burials only able to take place where rights were purchased prior to 1992.


Modifications and dates

* 1858repairs to ceiling of the church, covering the original plaster ceiling with fabric * 1880sstone tablet placed above entrance door bearing the date 1842 * 1887church ceiling covered with timber * reroofing with corrugated iron * 1907repairs and ceiling covered with pressed metal * chancel floor raised by the addition of a new floor over the existing one. Dias added * 1940sstone tablet above entrance door altered to read 1841 * timber roof framing in church reconstructed * 1950metal ceiling refixed after removal of previous ceilings * 1970brick base of hall renewed * 1977doors and Windows removed from church and replaced with steel plate * 1989fire destroyed much of the contents of the church and severely damaged the roof * 1991work commenced to repair roof and
brickwork Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called '' courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall. Bricks may be differentiated from blocks by ...
damaged by the fire * ?security fencing erected around church and inner part of cemetery after the fire * 2000–2001church completely restored with use of Centenary of Federation funding


Description


Site

St Bartholomew's stands on the hill for which the district is famous – Prospect Hill. It is a conspicuous landmark from which there are fine views from to the Blue Mountains and the City of Sydney. Several mature trees including Mediterranean cypress (''
Cupressus sempervirens ''Cupressus sempervirens'', the Mediterranean cypress (also known as Italian cypress, Tuscan cypress, Persian cypress, or pencil pine), is a species of cypress native to the eastern Mediterranean region and Iran. While some studies show it ha ...
''), arborvitae (''
Thuja ''Thuja'' ( ) is a genus of coniferous tree or shrub in the Cupressaceae (cypress family). There are five species in the genus, two native to North America and three native to eastern Asia. The genus is monophyletic and sister to ''Thujopsis''. M ...
'' species), coral trees (''
Erythrina ''Erythrina'' is a genus of plants in the pea family, Fabaceae. It contains about 130 species, which are distributed in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. They are trees, with the larger species growing up to in height. These species ...
'' species, possibly ''E.indica''), Moreton Bay figs (''
Ficus macrophylla ''Ficus macrophylla'', commonly known as the Moreton Bay fig or Australian banyan, is a large evergreen banyan tree of the mulberry and fig family Moraceae. It is native to eastern Australia, from the Wide Bay–Burnett region of Queensland i ...
''), gums (''
Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of more than 700 species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. Most species of ''Eucalyptus'' are trees, often Mallee (habit), mallees, and a few are shrubs. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalyp ...
spp.''), and Bunya pine (''
Araucaria bidwillii ''Araucaria bidwillii'', commonly known as the bunya pine (), banya or bunya-bunya, is a large evergreen coniferous tree in the family Araucariaceae which is endemic to Australia. Its natural range is southeast Queensland with two very small, ...
''), and African
olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...
(''Olea europaea var.africana'') clumps are found alongside the fence at either side of the entrance gates to the church. Remnants of early post and rail fencing and entrance gateposts are also found. Lower plantings include variegated century plant (''
Agave americana ''Agave americana'', commonly known as the century plant, maguey, or American aloe, is a flowering plant species belonging to the family Asparagaceae. It is native to Mexico and the United States, specifically Texas. This plant is widely cultiv ...
Variegata'').Plant notes by Stuart Read, 2002 The church is surrounded by a graveyard laid out in a grid pattern. It contains
sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
headstones and
columns A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...
and small headstones in
marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...
and
granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...
, many originally bordered by cast iron surrounds.


Church

The building is a plain, rectangular brick structure in the Victorian Georgian style, built on an east–west axis comprising nave, chancel and vestries with a tower at the west end. The tower has a square base with an octagonal
belfry The belfry /ˈbɛlfri/ is a structure enclosing bells for ringing as part of a building, usually as part of a bell tower or steeple. It can also refer to the entire tower or building, particularly in continental Europe for such a tower attached ...
. The belfry roof timbers carry a timber bell supporting frame although no bell is in place. The roof over the chancel and vestries is separate from the main roof over the nave. The entrance to the building is through the tower. There are also entrances to the vestries from the exterior. The external walls are modelled by flat
pilasters In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...
and finely moulded stone
entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...
s carried on carved stone
modillion A modillion is an ornate bracket, more horizontal in shape and less imposing than a corbel. They are often seen underneath a Cornice (architecture), cornice which helps to support them. Modillions are more elaborate than dentils (literally transl ...
brackets A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. They come in four main pairs of shapes, as given in the box to the right, which also gives their n ...
, rectangular openings and blind windows. The
hipped roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downward to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope, with variants including tented roofs and others. Thus, a hipped roof has no gables or other vertical sides ...
, originally shingled, is now clad with corrugated steel. The interior joinery was finely moulded cedar and the interior walls plastered and painted. Each vestry had a fireplace but the
chimneys A chimney is an architectural ventilation structure made of masonry, clay or metal that isolates hot toxic exhaust gases or smoke produced by a boiler, stove, furnace, incinerator, or fireplace from human living areas. Chimneys are typically ...
and mantelpieces have now been removed. The floors are timber. The chancel floor, originally one step above the main floor, has been raised further and a rectangular projecting dais into the main hall added. There is also a small dais in the north western corner of the church on which a font was once placed.


Church Hall

The church hall, relocated from its original location in Wetherill Park in 1908, is a one-storey, rectangular building. The exterior walls are
corrugated iron Corrugated galvanised iron (CGI) or steel, colloquially corrugated iron (near universal), wriggly tin (taken from UK military slang), pailing (in Caribbean English), corrugated sheet metal (in North America), zinc (in Cyprus and Nigeria) or ...
over timber framing and the interior walls are timber boarded. The roof is corrugated steel over timber
rafter A rafter is one of a series of sloped structural members such as Beam (structure), steel beams that extend from the ridge or hip to the wall plate, downslope perimeter or eave, and that are designed to support the roof Roof shingle, shingles, ...
s with metal rods. The hall is on a brick base and may have been a prefabricated building.


Condition

The physical condition of the site was reported to be good to excellent as at 9 August 2005. Some elements have been removed for their protection and preservation. There are some problems involved in reinstating them.


Heritage listing

The St Bartholomew's site is closely linked with the development and history of the surrounding area and contains the graves of a considerable number of prominent families from the area since the 1840s. The church is unusually styled for its period and the graveyard is one of the earliest in western Sydney. St. Bartholomew's remains a dominant landmark in the surrounding landscape due to its prominent siting, striking design and mature tree plantings. St Bartholomew's Anglican Church & Cemetery was listed on the
New South Wales State Heritage Register The New South Wales State Heritage Register, also known as NSW State Heritage Register, is a heritage list of places in the state of New South Wales, Australia, that are protected by New South Wales legislation, generally covered by the Heritag ...
on 2 April 1999 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the course, or pattern, of cultural or natural history in New South Wales. The cemetery contains the graves of a number of prominent families and individuals from the founders of the community, including the Lawsons of Veteran Hall (Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth) and the Westons, through to the more recent sporting fame of the Heckenbergs. It demonstrates important family lineages across its entire site from the earliest settlers to their more recent descendants, such as the Leabon and Pond families.Heritage Group, 1994 The church is an unusually detailed and planned church. The division of the east end into three separately roofed compartments may be the only extant example in NSW of this design. It therefore occupies a special position in the architectural evolution of churches in NSW. The church hall provides an element associated with the construction of Prospect Reservoir, a major engineering achievement within the district. The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales. The site is an important surviving fragment of nineteenth century cultural landscape; an historic icon; a virtual oasis, and de facto public heritage green space, in a once notable rural area now surrounded by the effects of rapid urban, industrial and commercial development. It reflects a visual continuity between 19th and 20th century society. This may be seen not only in the chronological continuity of family burials, but also dramatically in the direct accommodation of power transmission towers, the F4 tollway, the modern
Great Western Highway Great Western Highway is a state highway in New South Wales, Australia. From east to west, the highway links Sydney with Bathurst, New South Wales, Bathurst, on the state's Central Tablelands. The highway also has local road names between the ...
route and the first Great Western Highway route. The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group in New South Wales for social, cultural or spiritual reasons. The church is a building closely linked with the development and early history of the district.Historic Buildings Group, 1991 The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales. The church is an extant example of an 1840s church, providing evidence of the Church Act.


See also

* List of former churches in Australia *
Australian non-residential architectural styles Australian non-residential architectural styles are a set of Australian architectural styles that apply to buildings used for purposes other than residence and have been around only since the first colonial government buildings of early Europea ...


References


Bibliography

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Attribution


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Bartholomews Anglican Church and Cemetery Prospect
Prospect Prospect may refer to: General * Prospect (marketing), a marketing term describing a potential customer * Prospect (sports), any player whose rights are owned by a professional team, but who has yet to play a game for the team * Prospect (minin ...
Prospect, New South Wales
Prospect Prospect may refer to: General * Prospect (marketing), a marketing term describing a potential customer * Prospect (sports), any player whose rights are owned by a professional team, but who has yet to play a game for the team * Prospect (minin ...
Cemeteries in Sydney Anglican cemeteries in Australia Churchyards in New South Wales Articles incorporating text from the New South Wales State Heritage Register Churches completed in 1840 1840 establishments in Australia Victorian architecture in Sydney Georgian Revival architecture in Australia