St Peters Church

About

St Peter's Anglican Church is a heritage-listed Anglican church located at 187-209 Princes Highway in St Peters, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the oldest churches in Sydney. Designed by Thomas Bird, the church is sometimes referred to as St Peter's Church, Cooks River, as it is located in the Anglican Parish of Cooks River, New South Wales. The church is listed on the NSW State Heritage Register and on the (now defunct) Register of the National Estate. The Cooks River, named by James Cook in 1770 when he sailed into Botany Bay, is crossed by the Princes Highway, about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) to the south of the church. The suburb of St Peters, in which the church is located, was named as a result of the area's proximity to the church.

The church site forms part of the core of the territory of the Darug Coastal Nation. The geological formation of the study area is described as part of the Wianamatta Group and chiefly Ashfield Shale resulting in clay soils supporting an indigenous forest vegetation structure dominated by Turpentine and Ironbark tree association.

Early colonial land grants and settlement (1799–1826)

The church site forms part of the land granted to Thomas Smyth in 1799 following the colonial invasion of the east coast of New South Wales. Lands including the study area were acquired by Robert Campbell and the original grant was referred to as Bulanaming was subdivided and 6 acres 14 perch, on the higher ground on the low ridge between Gumbramorra Creek to the north west and Shea's Creek to the south east, were reserved for the erection of a church. Much of the indigenous forest was cleared to obtain timber and get access to the relatively fertile soils for agricultural pursuits. This resulted in an open landscape character with scattered remnant trees.

Thirteen of the forty two allotments of Campbell's subdivision were purchased by Alexander Brodie Spark along with three smaller grants on the southern side of the Cooks River in 1826. Spark was an established Sydney merchant, a leading member of the community and a considerable land speculator holding land at the Glebe, Potts Point and the Hunter Valley besides his Cooks River land. Spark was a classically educated man and this possibly influenced his decision to name his major Cooks River property "Tempe" after the Vale of Tempe, a beautiful valley in ancient Greek legend which lay at the foot of Mount Olympus. Spark employed architect John Verge to design his Tempe house. He had previously (1831) employed Verge to design "Tusculum" on Woolloomooloo Hill (Potts Point) but apparently preferred the Cooks River property by moving to the Tempe estate in 1833 to oversee the implementation of the new residence and its picturesque garden setting. Spark and his estate played a key role in the establishment of a community at St Peters and in the building of the St Peter's Anglican Church.

Spark was one of the original trustees of St. Peter's Anglican Church, St Peters. When Spark died he was buried in St. Peter's graveyard. The location of the grave is uncertain.

Construction and early years (1838–1864)

The Cooks River area was popular as a location for well-to-do estates from the mid-1800s onwards. It was not until the 1880s that the Cooks River area was closely settled. The church site comprising 6 acres 14 perches was transferred by Campbell, in December 1837, to the "Bishop of Australia" for the erection of the church.

Spark, as the largest landowner in Campbell's subdivision, was highly active in the local community and was involved in business dealings with many of his neighbours including John Lord who was his co-director of the Bank of Australia. Bishop Broughton proceeded to establish the church and tenders were called for the erection of the church appearing on 16 March 1838 to the designs of the architect Thomas Bird.

Spark may have been influential in the selection of the architect who had worked with him on another project (the Sydney Exchange Building) and had engaged Bird to work on improvements to his residence "Tempe" in April 1839. Spark was elected as one of the five trustees as elected on 16 April 1838. The other trustees were; The Lord Bishop of Australia, Robert Campbell, John Lord and David Chambers. A temporary church was constructed of ironbark slabs on a stone foundation on the land dedicated by Campbell, and intended, as a permanent church site, to the north of the site of the intended permanent structure. This was opened 13 May 1838.

A foundation stone was laid on 13 July 1838 and the church licensed on 20 November 1839. Spark hosted the celebrations for the licensing and afterwards at his residence Tempe House. The church was described at the time of the licensing that ; "it was a handsome building in the Gothic style" and "the church is surrounded by a handsome railing, has a steeple, spire etc." The contractor was Henry Knight of Macdonaldtown.

Spark appeared the major agitator for the church as he had approached the Governor to gain additional funds for the church and a parsonage. In his diary Spark records the acquisition of a Seraphin (organ), font and Communion Service.

The building was constructed of sun dried bricks, ironbark internal columns ( from nearby Gannon's Forest), plaster vaulted ceiling and imported stained glass windows from England. The church footprint measured 90 feet by 35 feet and fronted the main road, Cook's River Road (now Princes Highway ). The bricks were made by Henry Knight, who ran a steam brick-making machine in the 1840s. He was responsible for the first practical experiment in the field of individual home ownership for the working population. He subdivided his land at Macdonaldtown and sold it for 1 pound per foot on long terms, free of interest. In 1872 he was elected to the first Council of the borough of Macdonaldtown (later Erskineville ) and became Mayor.

The parsonage was a single storey verandahed structure located behind the church and towards the south west and apparently had a timber shingled roof (probably local Casuarina glauca shingles). The graveyard was enclosed by a curving picket fence in between the church and the main road to the south east corner. It was consecrated on 26 December 1840 with the first burial taking place in 1839. Gates to the burial ground were repaired in 1841 and the painted fencing completed in 1845. Further repairs to the fencing were carried out in 1848 and 1852.

All of these built facilities underwent change in this period with the parsonage undergoing works in the form of a new well and an extension of the chimney in 1841 and a building survey was conducted in 1843. Repairs were carried out in 1847 and 1849. Additions were made to the parsonage in the 1860s when Reverend King was in occupation and these appear to have been prepared by the architect John Bibb in 1855. Bibb was requested to prepare an estimate for repairs to the parsonage and a plan for a Schoolmaster's residence which was completed in 1856.

The extent of the works is unclear; however the Vestry Minutes give some explanation with the addition of outbuildings (stables) in 1862 and two wooden rooms added to the parsonage together with painting and plumbing works in 1865. The western wall of the Church now has stone buttresses on either side of the main entrance and these may date from this period involving the advice of the Sydney architects, Edmund Blacket, James Hume and Henry Robertson. The architectural details of these buttresses are different from the others dating to the original construction of the church.

The work appears to be that of Edmund Blacket as the appointment of Hume or Robertson was ruled out due to their negative assessment of the condition of the Church. The main church building fabric was impacted by white ants (termites), a lack of sub-floor ventilation and poor drainage and was described as dilapidated. James Hume recommended the demolition of the building and another built alongside the existing building. This was not an option so Edmund Blacket was appointed to carry out repairs, and according to the Vestry Minutes, he prepared specifications for stone and brickwork with the repairs completed in 1847.

Within the church, internal columns were replaced, due to damage by white ant activity, and the western wall propped up due to its detachment from the body of the building in 1846.

By 1851 further repair work was carried out to infill openings in the walls of the church and by 1863 a suggestion made for the inclusion of a gallery in the church. A day school was established in 1848 following the acquisition of a school allotment in 1847, its fencing and building a schoolhouse in 1855, and a schoolmaster's residence in 1856. The school continued to hold the denominational school of St Peter's Church until 1880–1881 when it merged with the present public school.

In this period the graveyard was extended by 1868 with a further extension in 1874 and ultimately the last burial took place in 1896. Also by 1868 the Cooks River Road frontage was defined by a dwarf stone wall, timber paling and rail fence with centrally located gates together with a northern gate (built 1865). In 1864 a new gallery was completed for the west end of the church building to accommodate the growing needs of the congregation, and in 1865 an addition to the parsonage saw symmetrical gabled wing buildings attached to the earlier structure. In 1866 (29 May) and in 1867 (5 July) plants were sent from the Sydney Botanic Gardens for the then rector the Reverend George King for use within the grounds and to improve the landscape setting of both the church and the adapted parsonage complex.