All Saints' Anglican Church, Condobolin

About

The All Saints' Anglican Church is a heritage-listed Anglican church located at McDonnell Street, Condobolin in the Lachlan Shire local government area of New South Wales, Australia. The church was possibly designed by Edmund Blacket and was built from 1878 to 1879 by Mr Brinsmead. It is also known as All Saints Anglican Parish Church. The property is owned by the Anglican Diocese of Bathurst. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 May 2008.

The Wiradjuri are an Aboriginal Australian group of people from central New South Wales. In the 21st century, major Wiradjuri groups live in Condobolin, Peak Hill, Narrandera and Griffith. There are significant populations at Wagga Wagga and Leeton, New South Wales and smaller groups at West Wyalong, Parkes, Forbes, Cootamundra and Young.

The Wiradjuri were the largest Aboriginal group in New South Wales. For tens of thousands of years they occupied a large area in central NSW, from the Blue Mountains in the east, to Hay in the west, north to Nyngan and south to Albury : the South Western slopes region:

The Wiradjuri are identified as a coherent group as they maintained a cycle of ceremonies that moved in a ring around the whole tribal area. This cycle led to tribal coherence despite the large occupied area. Occupation of the land by the Wiradjuri can be seen by carved trees and campsite remainders. Carved trees are more commonly found around the Macquarie and Lachlan rivers in the north rather than the Murrumbidgee in the south. Campsites, which indicate regular seasonal occupation by small groups, have been found on river flats, open land and by rivers.

Clashes between European settlers and Aboriginal people were very violent from 1821 to 1827, particularly around Bathurst, and have been termed the "Bathurst Wars". The loss of fishing grounds and significant sites and the killing of Aboriginal people was retaliated through attacks with spears on cattle and stockmen. In the 1850s there were still corroborees around Mudgee but there were fewer clashes. European settlement had taken hold and the Aboriginal population was in decline.

The name Condobolin is suggested by some to have evolved from the Aboriginal word "Cundabullen" for shallow crossing. The crossing was located a short distance below the junction of the Lachlan River and the Goobang Creek. Others suggest that the town's name from the Wiradjuri word for " hop bush ", or "hop brush".

The area was explored by John Oxley in 1817 and Thomas Mitchell in 1836. The "Condoublin" run was established by 1844 ( Historical Towns Directory. Hallmark Editions: Australian Heritage Magazine). There had been squatters in the district since Mitchell's 1836 exploration. Closer settlement of the area began in 1880 when the large runs were broken up into smaller holdings.

The town of Condobolin was proclaimed in 1859. The railway arrived in 1898, and the town's population boomed, assisted by finds in 1885 of copper north of the town and in 1896 of gold in the district, north-west of the town. A major copper and gold mine was in operation at Condobolin from 1898 until around 1910. Agriculture is still a major influence on the town, production having expanded with the damming of the Lachlan River in 1935 by the Wyangala Dam. Wheat, barley, canola, wool, sheep and cattle are produced in the district. In more recent years irrigation has brought horticulture and cotton to the Lachlan River area.

The foundation stone of All Saints' Condobolin was laid on 24 July 1878 by Bishop Samuel Marsden, grandson of Samuel Marsden, the famous Anglican colonial priest. The first service in the new Church was conducted on 4 January 1880. Prior to construction of the church, it appears that services were initially held in the open air. In about 1872 services were held in the home of Mr Piercey, the Schoolmaster. Subsequently, services were held in the Courthouse until the new church was built. At this time priests would travel from Forbes to Condobolin to conduct the services.

The first Anglican priest resident in Condobolin was the Rev. G. Soare who was licensed to reside at the Naroonage. He resigned in 1876 and was succeeded by The Rev. Samuel Hart. In 1879 Rev. Hart resigned and in that same year the Parish of Condobolin was established. On 21 December the Rev. Henry Thomas Holliday was licensed as Assistant Minister, under the superintendency of the Rev. E. Dunstan (Rector of Forbes) and appointed to reside at Condobolin. He arrived in Condobolin just after the completion of All Saints' Church and conducted the first service on 4 January 1880.

The builder of the church was Mr Brinsmead. It was constructed from local bricks and was reputedly the first brick building in Condobolin. The roof was of ironbark shingles (which were later replaced by aluminium tiles) and the furniture was made from local timbers.

Although the records do not state the name of the architect, it is almost certain that it was built from a design by colonial architect Edmund Blacket. Plans of St Augustine's at Bulli (held by the Mitchell Library), designed by Blacket, as originally built before the addition of a sanctuary, are identical to that of All Saints', except that All Saints' has one less window on each side, plus buttresses on the exterior walls. The western walls, windows and bell towers are identical. All Saints' Condobolin is also similar to All Saints' Albion Park which was built of stone in the mid-1870s. It is possible that All Saints' Condobolin adapted a Blacket design that was in general use during the 1870s and 1880s. In her exhibition catalogue on Blacket, the Australian architectural historian Joan Kerr wrote: 'Condobolin Church is another typical rural design. The design has been attributed to Blacket and the style of the building makes this attribution convincing.'

It is thought that the bricks used were the first bricks produced by a Condobolin brickworks, using local clay, giving a characteristic red colouring to the church (the same local bricks were used for the Condobolin Catholic Church in the 1920s).

The windows are by Lyon, Cottier & Co, which created much of Australia's Victorian and Federation -period stained glass. They were the foremost stained glass manufacturers in Australia and became famous in domestic, commercial and ecclesiastical work. Lyon was the window designer and glass painter whilst Cottier kept the firm up to date with the latest overseas developments. Their company had an office in London and Sydney and Cottier also had a studio in New York. John Lamb Lyon won international and national awards for his work. A full set of original Lyon & Cottier windows of the quality of these are rare today.

No documentary evidence has been discovered that determines the exact date of the windows' manufacture. There are few Lyon and Cottier company records surviving. It is estimated that the windows at All Saints were made and installed in several stages between 1880 and the 1890s. More research into the biographical dates and details of the donors and memorial subjects could narrow down the dates of manufacture, i.e. memorial windows would have been installed after the death of the subject and donor windows during their lifetime.

The smaller geometric design of the east window and its importance above the altar suggests that this window was made and installed first, possibly by the time the first service was held. It is in keeping with early-to-mid nineteenth-century Gothic Revival desire to reproduce the smaller scale, "mosaic" quality of medieval windows. It includes smaller pieces of richly coloured glass, less painted details and greater prominence given to the lead lines. It is possible, though speculation only, that the west window was the last to be installed, due to the larger scale of its design, softer colouring, and more fluid, interlacing design, which is suggestive of Art Nouveau influences of the 1890s. All windows share the same borders. The west and nave windows share the small inscription lettering, and the vestry windows and the Richard Little memorial window (northern wall of the nave) share similar painted details and foliated designs. The use of common borders and painted quarries suggest the use of stock designs. Comparisons with other known Lyon and Cottier windows reveal the same painted quarries and design details. The windows are not really 'grisaille' but more accurately described as "geometric" or as quarry glass.

In the late 1920s new ecclesiastical furniture was added to the Church. The furniture is elaborately carved and made in a style called "tabernacle work". The pieces are two Bishop's Thrones, the Altar, Credence Table, Prayer Desk, Lectern and Font. The elaborately carved Font was displayed at the Brisbane Exhibition before being placed in the Church.

In 1940 the shingled roof was replaced by aluminium tiles which caused a sensation at the time, due to the glare caused when the sun shone on it.

In the 1960s cement pathways and surrounds were laid.

In 1978 all the windows were removed and sent to Sydney where they were repaired by Bolton Studios in Ashfield. Restoration involved re-leading the windows, adding false leads to cover cracks in the glass pieces, and some new painted glass pieces.