St Peter's Church 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 ...

precinct on the corner of Bourke Street and St Peters Street, in the inner city

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 ...

in the

City of Sydney The City of Sydney is the Local government in Australia, local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the Greater Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament ...

local government area of

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 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 and is listed on the (now defunct) Australian

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 ...

History

The former church was built in 1866-67, with a vestry addition between 1871-83. It was designed by O. H. Lewis, son of Colonial Architect

Mortimer Lewis Mortimer William Lewis (1796 – 9 March 1879) was an English-born architect, surveyor and public servant who migrated to Australia and became Colonial Architect in the colony of New South Wales (now a state of Australia) from 1835 to 1849. Le ...

, and is his only known work. The church hall, designed by Benjamin Backhouse, was built in 1873. In 1924, the church purchased five terrace houses along Forbes Street on land they had long sought to obtain and demolished them to create an entry and forecourt area. It was associated with a number of prominent Sydney figures, including ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'' owner Charles Kemp, Assistant Commissioner-General Henry Connell, businessman Lebbeus Hordern and author

Patrick White Patrick Victor Martindale White (28 May 1912 – 30 September 1990) was an Australian novelist and playwright who explored themes of religious experience, personal identity and the conflict between visionary individuals and a materialistic, co ...

. Hordern and Kemp were honoured with stained glass windows. Amidst declining congregations and finances, the church became a branch of St John's Anglican Church in 1986 and was closed in March 1993. It was sold to SCEGGS Darlinghurst in September 1993. The former church is now the school's Great Hall, while the former hall was refurbished in 1998 to serve as its Playhouse. The school has used the former church for Easter and Christmas services.

Description

The former church is a two-storey sandstone building with a gabled slate roof, designed in the English Gothic Revival style. It consists of a

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 ...

with two aisles, a vestry and

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

. The former hall is a single-storey brick building with a sandstone base. The upper hall was divided into three spaces as part of the 1998 refurbishment, while the lower hall retains its two original principal spaces.

Heritage listing

St Peter's Church and Precinct was listed on the

on 2 April 1999.

References

Bibliography

Attribution

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Peter's Church, Darlinghurst

Darlinghurst, New South Wales

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

Articles incorporating text from the New South Wales State Heritage Register Churches completed in 1867 Religious organizations disestablished in 1993 1867 establishments in Australia Victorian architecture in Sydney Gothic Revival architecture in Sydney Gothic Revival church buildings in Australia New South Wales places listed on the defunct Register of the National Estate New South Wales Heritage Database