The Historic Perspective
As the original Parish Church of the City of Sydney, St. Philip's has seen the
city grow from an English penal settlement into the vibrant, bustling,
world city it is today.
For over two centuries
those who have worshipped at St Philip's have witnessed incredible change.
Not only has the face of the city altered - its buildings, its means of
transport, its streets and thoroughfares - but also its people, and their
ways.
One only has to read of the ministry of the parish when meeting the
needs of a penal colony; its links to the beginnings of the education
system; its early work with aborigines and its role in the establishment of
law and representative government in New South Wales.
St Philip's was there during the gold rush, the depression of the 1890s,
the Boer War, and at Federation.
The Parish saw her sons march off to war in 1914 and again in 1939.
She buried her parishioners during the great influenza pandemic that
followed the First World War. The schools established by St Philip's have
educated the city's young.
St. Philip's also watched as people moved out of the city and into the
suburbs only to visit the city as workers in the office blocks and to shop.
Now the church is in its third century of ministry the role is changing
again. The city remains, tourists come and go and people are returning to
the city to live. Where offices stood, now we see apartments.
St. Philip's has shared much of the life and times of Sydney... and the
people and families it serves. St Philip's - a living, vibrant place,
bringing Christ to the city it calls home.
The Original St. Philip's
Sydney's first church was a wattle and daub chapel built at what is now
the corner of Bligh and Hunter Streets. It was in this building that
Australia's first Christian service in a building took place on 25th August
1793.
A T-shaped building, with a thatched roof and an earthen floor, it could
seat 500. During the week it served as a schoolhouse where the Reverend
Richard Johnson, the colonial chaplain, and his wife, Mary, taught between
150 and 200 children.
Chaplain Johnson took the Word to the aboriginal people and the convict
population held him in deep affection. Yet on the evening of 1st October
1798 his chapel was burnt down.
Later that month the Governor, John Hunter, initiated work on what he
saw to be a substantial stone church. It was to rise on land at Church Hill
in what is now Lang Park. Just across the road from the present church.
On 1st October 1800, prior to his being sworn in as the new Governor,
Captain Philip Gidley King laid the foundation
stone on what was to become the first St Philip's. In 1802 he proclaimed Australia's
first two parishes as St Philip's (Sydney)
and St John's (Parramatta).
'Old' St Philip's served Sydney
from this date until 27th March
1856 when the present church was consecrated.
The first St Philip's (1798 - 1856) was
built on what is,
today, Lang Park
Education became a State responsibility in 1880 however St Philip's
continued the work commenced by Richard and Mary Johnson in the wattle and
daub chapel. St Philip's Church School opened in 1812. As well, the church
commenced 'ragged schools' for orphans and in 1845 an evening school for
young men. St Philip's Grammar School opened in 1850.
And in passing, the original church had become the first church building
to be lit by gaslight in Australia in 1841.
The Current Building
New South Wales' fourth
Governor, William Bligh, worked hard for an early completion of the church
- which was dedicated to the memory of St Philip the Apostle. It is a
strongly held view that Bligh would not have been deposed had the colony's
then Principal Chaplain, The Rev Samuel Marsden, been in Sydney
at the time. He wasn't; for he was in England recruiting clergy for the
colony.
The choice as the Assistant Chaplain, who was to become the first (and
only Rector) of 'old' St Philip's, was the 28 year-old The Rev William
Cowper.
Cowper arrived in Sydney on 18th August 1809, with his second wife (his
first having died shortly before his appointment) and four young children.
He preached his first sermon in St Philip's on 20th August, within 48 hours
of his arrival.
Rev William Cowper, who was
Rector of St Philip's for 49 years. His son -William Macquarie Cowper - the
first clergyman to be born in the colony followed him as Rector for 11
years.
In the chancel of the current
church there is a tablet to the memory of the Venerable William Cowper, who
in his 49 years as the Rector of both the first and second St Philip's is
remembered as one " who gave himself wholly to the work of the
ministry".
Among his distinguished children
were Charles Cowper (later Sir Charles), five times Premier of New South
Wales and the Very Reverend William Macquarie Cowper for 44 years the Dean
of Sydney and the second Rector of St Philip's.
Map showing the relationship between the old and new St. Philip's
St Philip's - Birthplace of a
Nation's Faith
The modern-day St Philip's can justify
its claim to be the finest example of Gothic architecture in any parish
church in Australia.
The foundation stone of the current St Philip's was laid on 1st May 1848,
by the Rector, Reverend William Cowper.
Work was delayed during the gold
rush, when the workers forsook their tools for the goldfields in 1851.
However, Bishop Barker, Bishop of Sydney and Archdeacon Cowper consecrated
the new church building on 27th March 1856. It had cost sixteen thousand
pounds, entirely raised by the congregation.
The church's architect was Edmund
Blacket, in fact it was the last church to be
designed by him in the classic English Gothic Perpendicular style, a style
also to be used, by him, for Sydney
University and St Andrew's
Cathedral. It has been said St Philip's has an impressive homogeneity
whereby everything from the window tracery to the mouldings
on the base of the columns being correctly 15th Century in style.
The current building was consecrated in 1856.
This picture taken, we believe, in the 1890s or early
1900s, shows the once extensive churchyard
setting.
It is thought that Blacket made the
main body of the church's stained glass windows. Whilst the East Window was
imported from England and cost 200 pounds.
1873 saw the arrival of a new
organ, to replace the original item mounted in the west gallery Blacket
placed the new organ in a separately roofed organ chamber on the northern
side, near the choir.
1890 saw great renovations at St
Philip's. In that year the pews were modernised
and the chancel and aisles tiled, at the same time the current pulpit and
reading desk were installed along with a Gothic reredos
(which replaced the original commandment boards which can now to be in
the west porch).
The tower has ten bells. The original peal of eight was
donated by the Hon. John Campbell in 1872, a ninth
bell was added in 1888 to commemorate the centenary of the founding of the
Colony of NSW. The tenth
being installed 1898 in remembrance of Charles Moore. If you would like to know more
about the White Chapel Foundry then
click here.
The current church in more recent times - the
city is closing in.
Number six bell being replaced on 10 April 2001, this
bell was made by the same foundry as the originals - The Whitechapel Bell Foundry, London,
UK.
This company is said to be the oldest bell manufacturer in the world, and
Britain's oldest company in continuous existence, dating from 1570)
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