St John the Evangelist Anglican Church, Stroud

About

St John the Evangelist Anglican Church, also known as St John's Anglican Church, is a heritage-listed Anglican church at Cowper Street, Stroud, Mid-Coast Council, New South Wales, Australia. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.

The church was built in 1833, having been funded by Sir William Parry, the Commissioner of the Australian Agricultural Company and built by convict labour with construction supervised by the company's chief carpenter, Thomas Laman. The village of Stroud had been established by the company as part of a million-acre grant in the region it had received for its farming operations. A Congregationalist company chaplain, Charles Price, was initially in charge of the church, before William Cowper became the first Anglican rector in 1836. The company passed ownership of the church to the Anglican Church in 1853.

The Church is a finely crafted and subdued example of early architecture that predates the influence of ecclesiology. Its design, although subdued reflects the religious philosophy of Parry and the governments attitude to Church construction at that time. Incredibly, few changes have been made to the building, and it remains to this day, essentially as it was designed and constructed in 1833.

Built in 1833 by Thomas Laman in the Old Colonial Gothik style, the church has an unscholarly application of medieval motifs upon a simple classical form, built in a traditional manner with construction techniques and materials typical of its period.

Externally the Church presents a simple yet eloquent façade. A small square bellcote on the ridge of the gabled roof marks the western façade. A centrally placed porch on the southern side and a vestry on the north have the effect of making the building symmetrical on its east and west axis. Both eastern and western facades originally contained gothic arched lancet windows with wooden Y tracery and a little quatrefoil cut into the space at the top of the Y. These simple pointed lancet windows are still symmetrically arranged on the facades. However, the most eastern windows on the northern and southern facades have since been replaced with new designs and stained glass as memorial windows.

The original furnishings of the interior are still in use to this day and are surprisingly still in good order for their age. Internally, the plaster barrel vault ceiling is crowned with a simple cornice with fluorescent lights concealed above the wooden architraves. The gallery located at the western end of the building and intended as a memorial pew is approached by steps from the nave and has rods for curtains. Balancing pulpits flank the semicircular-railed sanctuary against the eastern wall.

The internal joinery and fittings are of waxed local cedar, including the altar and seating in the form of benches with decorative shaped backs. The brick walls are plastered intern and in good condition. The doors are of uncommon design, yet all consist of six panels and many still have their original latches.

The condition of the built church is in very good physical condition due to its restoration in the early 1980s. However, some brickwork is deteriorating due to rising damp. Roof gutters, downpipes and drainage lines are in good condition and dispose of stormwater adequately.

The fine cedar joinery appears in excellent condition and the stained glass windows are in good order, although some of the more recent repairs to the windows could be considered inappropriate in that they obscure some of the glass.

Access to the roof was not gained and this should be inspected to ensure the structure is in a stable condition and no pest attack is occurring. The slate roof appears to suffer water ingress as a result of inadequate lap of the original slate installation. It is apparent that this problem is gradually worsening as slates slip and fixings fail, and there is immediate potential for water damage to interior fixtures and finishes, in particular the existing ceiling, if this problem is not immediately remediated. It is anticipated that relaying of the slates and rebedding and pointing of the ridge capping will be required to rectify this problem.

The effect of rising damp and deterioration of the brick surfaces near ground level should be regularly monitored over the next 12 months to establish whether the deterioration si continuing or whether it was halted by the 1983 restoration.

The condition of the built church is in very good physical condition due to its restoration in the early 1980s. However, some brickwork is deteriorating due to rising damp. Roof gutters, downpipes and drainage lines are in good condition and dispose of stormwater adequately.

The fine cedar joinery appears in excellent condition and the stained glass windows are in good order, although some of the more recent repairs to the windows could be considered inappropriate in that they obscure some of the glass.

Access to the roof was not gained and this should be inspected to ensure the structure is in a stable condition and no pest attack is occurring. The slate roof appears to suffer water ingress as a result of inadequate lap of the original slate installation. It is apparent that this problem is gradually worsening as slates slip and fixings fail, and there is immediate potential for water damage to interior fixtures and finishes, in particular the existing ceiling, if this problem is not immediately remediated. It is anticipated that relaying of the slates and rebedding and pointing of the ridge capping will be required to rectify this problem.

The effect of rising damp and deterioration of the brick surfaces near ground level should be regularly monitored over the next 12 months to establish whether the deterioration si continuing or whether it was halted by the 1983 restoration.

The St John the Evangelist Church, Parsonage and Parish Hall form a highly significant group in every sense of the word. Historically, it is significant for its links to A.A. Co. and Sir William and Lady Parry, and subsequent A. A. Company Commissioners. The role of the Parish Hall as a school provides links to early education systems in New South Wales. The Church has been credited as being "perhaps the finest and certainly the most intact Anglican Church in Australia which predates the influence of ecclesiology".

Together, the group forms an aesthetically significant group of Colonial Georgian Buildings which remain virtually unaltered since construction. Socially, the group continues to remain a focus of religious and community life in Stroud, a role served by each building from its moment of completion.

St John the Evangelist Anglican Church was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register 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.

The St Johns group of buildings in Stroud is historically significant for its close associations to the Australian Agricultural Company and its place in the establishment of the town of Stroud. The group remain an integral and undiminished assembly of buildings, which in their context reveal an important historical phase in the pattern of development in New South Wales.