| Historical notes: | Historical overview:
The "Eora people" was the name given to the coastal Aborigines around Sydney. Central Sydney is therefore often referred to as "Eora Country." Within the City of Sydney local government area, the traditional owners are the Cadigal and Wangal bands of the Eora.
The Sydney Glebe lands were granted to the Church of England in 1789. In 1828 "to relieve the pressing needs of clergy"”, Glebe was subdivided into 28 allotments and all but three lots (numbers 7,8 and 28) were offered for sale. Lot 28 was set apart for the residence of the Archdeacon and all revenue derived from the area retained for the Church and School Corporation "to and for the personal use and occupation of the Archdeacon of New South Wales and his successors forever". It was first known as the Archdeaconry. When in 1836 Dr WG Broughton was consecrated Bishop of Australia, the Archdeaconry became known as the Bishopthorpe Estate. This portion of Glebe was a part of the Parish of Christ Church St. Lawrence. In 1856 Bishopthorpe was divided into 238 allotments and offered on 99-year leases. "The subdivision has been on the most liberal scale – the streets being of the full proclaimed width of 66 ft with lanes 16.5 ft wide. The allotments all have 40 ft frontages by depths averaging about 120 ft, thus affording ample space for good improvements and a plot of garden ground for each. The situation is a most desirable one close to the city boundary but exempt from taxes and enjoying consistent communication with all parts of the city." The Bishopthorpe leases required all buildings to be constructed either of stone or brick. Other conditions prohibited the erection of more than two dwellings on an allotment and required buildings to face the main roads. No restrictions, however, were placed on the use to which buildings could be put. Corner shops accompanied the development of Bishopthorpe, and became an integral part of domestic retailing, providing basic necessities to customers who lived nearby. An array of retail shops stretched along Glebe Point Road from Broadway to St Johns Road, and within these estates could be found bakeries, blacksmith’s shops, iron foundries, Sharp Brothers cordial factory, the Waratah Stove works and Conlon’s pottery in Broughton Street. By the early 1960s many of the leases dating from the subdivisions of the mid-nineteenth century had expired and reverted to the Church. In 1971, the Church decided to sell of these holdings. The estate was purchased by the Commonwealth Government on 12 August 1974. for $17.4 million, 723 properties used as family dwellings and 27 commercial properties. (125 Glebe Estate properties had been sold prior to Commonwealth acquisition. )
The Church
This parish was created in 1856 when the Bishopthorpe Estate was subdivided and sold on leasehold (previously this portion of Glebe had formed part of the parish of Christ Church St Lawrence). The Rev. William Macquarie Cowper (1810-1902), the first Australian-born Anglican clergyman and a godson of Governor Macquarie was chosen as the incumbent of the new parish. The first services were taken in Cowper’s house until a church and school hall were built in 1857 at the south-western corner of St John's Road and Glebe Point Road. The school hall was designed by Edmund Blacket (1817-1883) in an early Gothic design. It was damaged by fire in 1972 and later demolished (although some of the the sandstone blocks and other features have been retained at the Adey Family’s Darling Mills Restaurant, 134 Glebe Point Road, Glebe).
Rapid population growth in the mid 19th century necessitated the need for a larger church, which was designed by Blacket's office, on the opposite corner to the hall. The foundation stone was laid on 15 April 1868. Whilst Blacket took a keen interest in the design of the church, it is attributed largely to the work of his assistant John Horbury Hunt (1838-1904). It is of Romanesque design built in Pyrmont sandstone and was opened on 21 December 1870. Particularly handsome, the church furniture and the pulpit were built based on Edmund Blacket's sketches.
In 1873, the parsonage, built to the design of Edmund Blacket was completed and in 1897 the Record Reign Hall on the opposite side of St Johns Road was opened.
Cyril Blacket, as Diocesan Architect, designed and supervised the construction of the stone fence and lych gates (completed 1901), the choir vestry and porch (1909) and the completion of the tower and spire (1911). The original tower of St. John's was built only to the height of the nave wall. The tower was built as a memorial to the Fourth Rector, Rev SS Tovy and the stone work for the upper part of the tower was carried out by Aaron Loveridge.
In 1963 the original parsonage was demolished for the construction of St John's Retirement Village and a new rectory completed to the north of the church building.
In 1994, the church was raided by thieves and number of items stolen including the lectern, bible, cross from the communion table, communion vessels and the baptismal ewer. Only the communion vessels were recovered.
The church has undergone extensive restoration to the west wall in 1988, which was in danger of collapsing, and the organ was restored in 1994. |