Centenary of St James` ChurchPrint Page

An Altar was installed to mark the centenary of St. James Church which was the first stone church to be consecrated west of the Blue Mountains.

The altar is made of imported slabs of white Italian marble, all 150 millimetres thick, which came from the same quarry at Carrara as the marble used by Michelangelo.

It is recorded that James Gunther was attached to the mission station at Wellington from where he came to Mudgee at the invitation of Mr. Cox. He brought his government allowance with him, which assisted the establishment of a district minister for Church of England families. Armstrong records that in the early 1860s Rev. Gunther came to Rylstone once a month for an Anglican service. He says the services were first conducted in Mr. Blackstone's wool shed. According to Hardwick's map of the settlement, this would have been in the vicinity of Calderwood. Armstrong says "later the services were held in a building used as a school on Church Hill in the town".

In June 1857 an application for a National School stated "The Church of England hall was available as a temporary schoolroom but would have to be used as a church on Sundays". Armstrong recollects the present building was commenced about 1857 and that shortly after its completion, the Rev. George Gurney, the first resident Church of England minister, was appointed and that the building was enlarged to its present size during the time of Rev. Mullins." The church was consecrated in October, 1864 by Bishop Barker, Bishop of Sydney. The original section of the church was built by John Purvis, a local stonemason.
A History of Rylstone 1820 - 1988 (p. 9) 

Location

Details

Dedication