Sesquicentenary of St Mary`s ChurchPrint Page

The plaque commemorates the sesquicentenary of the laying of the foundation stone of St Mary`s Church in October 1846.

The original St Mary's Anglican church was built of native timbers on donated land on the Onkarparinga Road midway between the Sturt and Brownhill Creek crossings.The first service held there was conducted on 4 July 1841 by Reverend  C. B. Howard, then took alternate Sundays with James Farrell.

• It has been called the third Anglican church in the colony, the first being Trinity Church in 1836. St John`s Church on Halifax Street, the contender for second place,however, did not hold its first service until 24 October 1841.

The church was built by voluntary labour, of stringybark (possibly Eucalyptus obliqua or Eucalyptus baxteri) timber, on land donated by John Wickham Daw (c. 1797–1872), and all materials and furnishings were paid for by voluntary contributions. The name was chosen by Daw in recognition of his home parish St Mary Abbotts of Kensington, England.

This structure was always intended to be temporary, and the foundation stone for a new building was laid at the present site, some 200 metres south of the original, on 27 October 1846 by Miss Fanny Conway.

ST. MARY'S CHURCH.-—The foundation-stone of a church near the old wooden building known as St. Mary's Church was laid on Tuesday last, in the presence of the Colonial Chaplain, the Rev. Messrs Woodcock and Newenham, and some of the settlers in the neighbourhood. The church is to be built by Mr Moses Garlick, after a very neat plan of his own; and we are glad to hear that nearly sufficient funds have already been provided for the erection by the liberality of those settlers for whose especial accommodation it is designed. 
South Australian Gazette and Colonial Register (Adelaide, SA ),
31 October 1846.

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