St. John the Baptist's Anglican Church, Ashfield, Sydney

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St John the Baptist Anglican Church is a large Anglican church located between Alt and Bland Streets, Ashfield, in the inner west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The first acre of the grounds was donated by Elizabeth Underwood in 1840 (author unlisted, 2004:4). Further land was purchased from the aforesaid Elizabeth Underwood in 1845 (author unlisted, 2004:10). The church currently has a traditional and a contemporary congregation. The current rector is the Reverend Andrew Katay, the eighteenth holder of the position.

Edmund Blackett in 1842, shortly after arriving in Sydney, was requested to inspect the walls of the church building, then under construction. As a result of his report, the walls were demolished and rebuilt (Coupe & Coupe, 1988:50). Much later, Blackett designed the current transepts and chancel, completed in 1875 (Coupe & Coupe, 1988:93).

St John's was the first church to be established between Sydney and Parramatta (author unlisted, 2004:1), making it among the oldest continuous churches still in existence in Sydney.

[edit] References

• Coupe, Sheena and Robert (1988). "Speed The Plough, Ashfield 1788-1988". Published by The Council of the Municipality of Ashfield, 1988. ISBN 0 9595234 1 3.
• author unlisted (2004). "St John The Baptist, Ashfield, The First 150 Years". Published by the Churchwardens of St John's Anglican Church, Ashfield, 1990. Updated 2004.

[edit] External links

• Church home page