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• 140 years
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The information on
this website relates
to the heritage of St John's Anglican
Church, Cooks Hill, Australia. For information on the current life of the
parish please see www.saintjohns.com.au

St. John’s is the oldest, still existing, church building in the Newcastle district and is on the Register of the National Estate and has a Permanent Conservation Order under the State Heritage Act 1977. It was built for the largely mining population of Newcastle as Bishop Tyrrell had noted that only the wealthy of the district attended Christ Church and in order that the people may be “reclaimed from practical atheism”.

The new parish included the suburban area at that time as far as Waratah, Lambton, Adamstown and Cardiff in addition, of course, to its mining core in the Glebe and Merewether. In 1856 a school and parsonage were commenced on 1½ acres of land “at present in a state of bush and abutting on the Lake Macquarie Road” (later to become Darby Street). The land was donated by the Australian Agricultural Company (AA Coy) and the new parish was founded on March 1, 1856 by Bishop Tyrrell.

The building of the church also commenced in 1856. The foundation stone was laid on Saturday 27th September and the building consecrated on February 20th, 1860. The AA Coy made the money available mainly through the efforts of Walter Stevenson Davidson, a director and a banker who co-instigated in 1854 a fund to provide money for the construction of churches and schools in this area where the Company had derived considerable wealth through mining and agriculture.

The church is Victorian Gothic with paired stone lancet windows set in walls of hand-pressed red sandstock bricks. Unfortunately these began to weather in a very short space of time and the exterior was cement rendered in 1864. The Newcastle earthquake of 1989 caused considerable damage to all the church buildings and at that time parishioners had a rare opportunity of seeing the church much as it would have looked when first completed as to enable repairs the cement render had to be removed.

The interior is similarly modest and effective and is much as it was when first completed with high pitched, hand cut timber roof trusses and painted hammer beams of cedar. Over time changes have been made to the layout.

The Organ -

Ordered from J.W. Walker of London and erected in St. John’s in 1866 it was restored to its original condition in 1971 by Mr. Arthur Jones of Sydney. The case and pipe front were completely restored and a new 30 note Royal College of Organists pedal board fitted. The organ was prepared for two more ranks of pipes but to date these have not added.

Parish Hall -

Commenced before the church, the Parish Hall was used for worship until completion of the church building. Its function was that of a school and there were 147 pupils in its heyday. It evolved into a community centre for the village of Cooks Hill but returned to being a church hall earlier this century. In more recent times it fell into disrepair and in 1984 a grant was made from the Commonwealth Government under the Community Employment Program for restoration. It took 6 months and brought into use the upstairs rooms (originally a dwelling for the Sexton) and provided a clean, modern kitchen and a spacious main hall. About 400 people attended the thanksgiving service to mark the completion and re-opening of the hall by the then Governor of N.S.W. Sir James Rowland and also the church’s 125th anniversary.

The Rectory (Parsonage) -

The third rectory on the site, built in 1910, was also seriously damaged in the 1989 earthquake and permission was given for it to be demolished in 1992.

A new Rectory, after gaining approval from the Diocesan Property Approvals Board, the Heritage Council and finally the City Council was completed in June 1993. The design of the new Rectory had to be in sympathy with the adjacent church and hall.

Further and more detailed information is available for inspection on application to the parish.