St John's Anglican Church, also known as St John the Evangelist Anglican Church, is a heritage-listed

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 ...

on York Street in ,

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. The church is the oldest consecrated church in Western Australia, consecrated in October 1848.

History

The church was built by the people of the town, with construction commencing in 1841 and completed in 1844. The church was

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

on 25 October 1848 by

Augustus Short Augustus Short (11 June 1802 – 5 October 1883) was the first Anglicanism, Anglican bishop of Adelaide, South Australia. Early life and career Born at Bickham House, near Exeter, Devon, England, the third son of Charles Short, a London bar ...

, Bishop of Adelaide, who introduced John Ramsden Wollaston as its clergyman. At this time the church would have been able to accommodate the entire population of the town, 170 people. Construction of the

rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, p ...

commenced in 1850 and was completed the same year. Originally it was a single story stone building, however a second storey was added in 1875. A second rectory was built behind the original one in 1980. The first recorded Anzac dawn service was held by the church in 1930. The church, rectory, hall and peppermint trees were listed on the register of the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

in 1978. From 1968 to 1979

Warwick Bastian Warwick Shaw Bastian (4 December 1914 – 4 October 1979) was an Anglican bishop in Australia. He was the assistant bishop of the Diocese of Bunbury (with the title bishop of Albany) from 1968 to 1979. Early life Bastian was born in 1914 in Su ...

was the coadjutor bishop of Bunbury, with the title Bishop of Albany. During that time, he based himself at St John's. Canon Edward Argyl was appointed as the parish priest in 2011 until his death in 2015.

Description

The church is a stone building with gabled roofs covered in shingles. The aisle of the church is made from thick blocks that had been made in England. The stone walls are thick and the building also has stone foundations; the stone was thought to be quarried from nearby

Mount Melville Kardarup/Mount Melville is a south-western suburb of Albany in southern Western Australia, west of Albany's central business district. Its local government area is the City of Albany. Mount Melville is named after the natural granite massif t ...

and Mount Clarence. The walls are so thick that no

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act ...

es are required. The original building is now the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

of the present church, with the gallery behind built in 1852. The tower and porch were completed in 1853. The tower is topped with battlements on the parapet.

References

Notes

Bibliography

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External links