The St John's Anglican Church, officially known as the Church of St. John the Evangelist, is a heritage-listed active

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 located at 120 Darlinghurst Road in the

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 ...

suburb of

Darlinghurst Darlinghurst is an inner-city suburb in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district (CBD) and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the Ci ...

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. The church and its associated buildings were 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. It was also listed on the former

Register of the National Estate The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heri ...

.The Heritage of Australia, Macmillan Company, 1981, p.2/79

History

The foundation stone for St John's Church was laid in December 1856, and the church opened in 1858. The initial building (stage 1), consisting of the nave, aisles and north porch, was designed by architectural firm Goold and Hilling. Allowances were made to add the chancel, tower and transepts at a later date. In 1871, a church benefactor described this initial building, while fine from the inside, "unsightly from the road and a discredit to the parish".Notes from the work of the historian Paul Egan - taken from "A Stroll around St John's" 24/1/1993 In 1871,

Edmund Blacket Edmund Thomas Blacket (25 August 1817 – 9 February 1883) was an Australian architect, best known for his designs for the University of Sydney, St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney and Goulburn Cathedral (St. Saviour), St. Saviour's Cathedral, Goulbu ...

commenced work on the ornate tower and spire, which is the major feature of the building. The transepts, tower and spire were added by 1875, and the chancel by 1875. Because Blacket's additions are so prominent, St John's "now owes precious little of its outward appearance to Goold and Hilling" (Herman), though Blacket's design work is seen only in the large windows at the end of each transept, the tower and spire, the floor tiling and the reredos.

Description

St John's is a large

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 ...

structure designed in the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

style and built in the 19th century. It features a square tower, pinnacled spire, slate roof and dressed stonework. The walls of the tower are of dressed ashalr in 12" courses, sparrow picked generally with tooled margins. The

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spire ...

is of stone and has an early stone

fleur-de-lis The ''fleur-de-lis'', also spelled ''fleur-de-lys'' (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a common heraldic charge in the (stylized) shape of a lily (in French, and mean and respectively). Most notably, the ''fleur-de-lis'' ...

on top. A lightning conductor is mounted on top and runs down the east face of the spire. The tower is independent of the original 1858 church on a separate 1872 foundation and consists of four storeys. The ground floor of the tower serves as a

porch A porch (; , ) is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance to a building. A porch is placed in front of the façade of a building it commands, and forms a low front. Alternatively, it may be a vestibule (architecture), vestibule (a s ...

to the west entrance, the first floor is used for the bellringers, the second floor to keep noise of bells from the church and the ringers and for an inoperative clock, while the third floor is open to the air by four large windows. The former rectory, located next to the church, is a two-storey building in the

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

style. It was built . As was common practice in the

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

period, the building is composed predominantly of rendered brick. The rectory is state heritage-listed along with the church. It is now leased as an office. The church was fortunate in its ministers, notable for their length of incumbency: Revs. Thos. Hayden, 1856–1882 (26 years); A. W. Pain, 1883–1902 (19 years); E. C. Beck, 1902–1923 (21 years) ; C. A. Lucas, 1924– ... John McKnight, 1984–1989, W. J. Lawton 1989–1999 ... Matthew Wilcoxen 2021–

Social programs

* Anglicare: operates twice weekly to provide emergency relief * Financial Counselling Service: available three days weekly * Legal Counselling and Referral: available two days weekly * Narcotics Anonymous: meets Tuesday and Thursday in the church hall * Pastoral Care for Elderly or hospitalised: regular services provided for Elizabeth lodge and St Luke's * Community Assistanced Program: operates from Rough Edges Coffee Shop to provide short-term or long-term emergency help

Drop-in centre

In 1987, a drop-in centre called PJ's was opened by a St John's outreach worker and volunteers in St Peter's Church Hall, Darlinghurst. It operated consistently until 1994, when it had to close because St Peter's Church was closed down. The clergy from St John's searched for a place that was suitable for a new drop-in centre and decided to utilise the basement of the parish hall in Victoria Street. A new centre called Rough Edges was opened in 1996, fronting directly onto Victoria Street. It operated under full-time managers, supplemented by volunteers, until 2010; since then it has been staffed entirely by volunteers. It opens six nights of the week (Sunday to Friday from 7:30 to 9:00 pm). Drinks and food are given away for free after having been donated by Oz Harvest and other community groups such as St Mark's Darling Point, Govinda's and others.

Heritage listing

The item is significant because it is part of one of the few unaltered Edmund Blacket buildings in Australia. St John's Anglican Church, Darlinghurst was listed on the

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. St John's Church with its rectory, grounds and fence form the most intact 19th century group of church buildings in Sydney. The church building with its tower, spire, transepts and chancel is one of the few unaltered Edmund Blacket buildings in Australia and is the most richly executed Gothic Revival parish church in Australia. The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales. The tower and spire make a major contribution to the Darlinghurst streetscape, with the advantage of a prominent position 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 tower and spire dominate the surrounding buildings and mark a place of peace and refuge in Kings Cross. St John's reflects the growth and changes of the local community over the years. The place possesses uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales. It is one of the most intact 19th Century group of church buildings in Sydney, and one of the few unaltered Edmund Blacket buildings in Australia. The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural or natural places/environments in New South Wales. St John's church is an excellent example of the English "medieval parish church" style built in Australia during the 19th Century.

Notable people

* Emmeline M. D. Woolley (1843 – 18 March 1908), organist for ten years * Vera Purdy (née Garnett; 1909–1940), prostitute and underworld figure, and Charlie Purdy (1905–1962), Australian and New Zealand boxer, were married at the church in January 1930

Gallery

Image:1StJohnsRectory1.JPG, St John's Rectory Image:1_St_Johns1.jpg, St John's, interior Image:1_Rough_Edges.jpg, Rough Edges Image:1_St_Johns_Darlinghurst.jpg, Main entrance of church

References

Bibliography

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Attribution

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint John's Anglican Church, Darlinghurst Anglican church buildings in Sydney Anglican Diocese of Sydney New South Wales places listed on the defunct Register of the National Estate

Edmund Blacket buildings in Sydney Edmund Blacket church buildings Darlinghurst, New South Wales Churches completed in 1858 1858 establishments in Australia Gothic Revival architecture in Sydney Gothic Revival church buildings in Australia Victorian architecture in Sydney