St John's Anglican Church also known as St John the Evangelist Church, is the historic Anglican parish church of Fremantle, Western Australia. The first Georgian-style church close to the present site was opened in 1843, and then replaced with a larger Gothic building nearby in 1882. The older building was demolished, which allowed Fremantle Town Hall to be built and for the High Street to be extended, giving the Kings Square its current shape.
The present Church of St John is the second of that name in Fremantle. The first was founded after petitions were made in 1839 to the newly arrived Governor of Western Australia, John Hutt, to create an Anglican church on King's Square.[1] It stood at the centre of the square at the end of the High Street. The expense of building the church was underwritten by Daniel Scott, who was an enterprising harbour master and supporter of the Church of England.[2]
The church was opened on 4 August 1843. This church stood for decades but was demolished when the new church was available. The outline of this building is still shown in the pavement[1] and two stained glass windows in the nave of the present church are said to have been moved from this building to the new church. In 1855 a rectory was built.[3]
In 1876, the church applied to the Fremantle City Council for an additional strip of land by the existing church wall, to be given to the Church of England, for a new church.[4] In this application, all of Kings Square was said to have been legally given to the Church of England,[4] though in later years this assertion was thought to be debatable.[5] This application was refused, as the strip was used for storing and preparing stone and some councillors believed the church already had enough land.[4] A year later, the church made a second proposal, offering the council the south-western corner of the square, and a right of way for the extension of High Street through the square, in return for the strip of land and 500 pounds.[6] The council accepted, subject to minor modification.[6]
This new St John's church was completed in 1882 at a cost of £7,500. The cost was defrayed by the demolition of the old church, which allowed the street to continue through what had been Kings Square. Nearly £2,000 was raised by selling the right of way through the land, for the space to build Fremantle Town Hall, and by selling off blocks of land.[3]
An aerial view showing the church in the centre, taken in 1933. It shows the grounds that were open to the public and maintained by the council after 1923.
The new church was designed by William Smith in London[7] and built by Joshua James Harwood who was an architect and Chief Inspector of works. James was also a church warden at St George's Cathedral in Perth.[8] His company, J. J. Harwood and Son, used limestone from a quarry in Cantonment Street. The foundation stone was laid by the second Bishop of Perth, Henry Parry, in 1878. Harwood had the church ready to be consecrated in July 1882.[1] Six years later an organ was installed.[7] The bell turret was a later addition to the building in about 1906.[1]
Just before the First World War the church needed its first repairs because the she-oak shingle roof had exceeded its natural life span. A decision was made to replace it with a better material, Welsh slate.[3] These slates were replaced by shingles made from asbestos in 1975.[1]
A major benefit to the church and the public was negotiated in 1923 when in return for making the grounds publicly available the council agreed to maintain them.[1]
The church was placed on the State Heritage Register in 1997.[9]
The east end has a stained glass window of three panes. They were manufactured by Franz Mayer & Co. in Munich.[7] The windows are entitled "The Appearance in the Upper Room", "Stilling the Tempest", and "Christ and the Magdalen". The first was installed in memory of the head of Fremantle Prison, Henry Maxwell Lefroy, and the other two were for Thomas Brown and Daniel Scott.[3]
The seven lancet stained glass windows on the west wall each show one of the works of mercy. The windows were imported from London and were created by A. L. Moore.[7]
The organ is the first one that was built in Western Australia. It was made by Robert Cecil Clifton in 1884 and it was the first of five that he built in Western Australia.[7] The organ was installed in 1884 at a cost of £600.[3]
Media related to St John's Anglican Church, Fremantle at Wikimedia Commons
Christianity
Western Australia
