St Peters Church Cooks River

I’ve been meaning to write about this little historical oasis for some time now. St Peters Cooks River Church is Sydney’s oldest church that was built by free men, not convicts & the 3rd oldest Anglican church in Australia. It was designed by Architect Thomas Bird & built by Henry Knight. The church was consecrated in 1840. St Peters Cooks River Church is located at 187 Princes Highway St Peters & is in the Marrickville Local Government Area.  This church gave the suburb of St Peters its name.

St Peters Cooks River Church still functions as an active church & has a congregation who are devoted to keeping the church alive, active & relevant to the needs of the local community. The St Peters Cooks River History Group protect both the church & the grounds preserving it for future generations & are rightly proud of

Trees in the grounds of St Peters Church Cooks River

their church & grounds. On the first Sunday Saturday of every month the church offers a sketching group, self-guided historical tours & there is afternoon tea, all free of charge. I have heard they have live music playing on occasions.  The sketching group is a great idea because it is a remarkably picturesque place.

From the St Peters Cooks River History Group website – The Foundation stone was laid in 1838.  St Peters Anglican Church Cooks River was completed in November 1839 & is one of the oldest churches in Sydney. It is listed with the Heritage Council of NSW & includes a historic Victorian Graveyard. The church includes over 15 stained glass windows & is home to a Brindley & Foster tracker action pipe organ which was installed in 1880.

The stained glass windows date from the 1870-1880s & all but 2 windows were made in memory of a congregation member who died. The ‘Smith’ window in memory of Clara Amellia Smith depicts the Sturt’s Desert Pea, the Native Rose, the Sarsaparilla Yellow Pea & the Native Fuschia Flannel Flower, highly unusual for a stained glass church window.

There are many Eucalypts in the graveyard

The interior of the St Peters Cooks River Church is simple, but very beautiful. I like the building very much.  What is outstanding for tree lovers is that all the pillars that support the vaulted ceiling (which in itself is a masterpiece) are made from several intact trunks of Ironbark trees taken from the area when it was heavily forested.  These are very tall pillars & in extraordinary good condition.

The grounds of St Peters Cooks River Church are peaceful despite being situated directly on the Princes Highway with in excess of 62,000 vehicles passing by each day (2006 statistics). Once you enter the large original gates you enter a quite world with St Peters Cooks River Church surrounded by many graves & trees.

A large flock of Ravens live there & come to check out anyone walking around lending an air of authenticity to the graveyard.  We visited on a sunny day, but I can imagine how the birds could appear on an overcast & dark winters day, especially if any photos or film taken were shot in black & white.  There is also a very friendly & gregarious cat owned by the Minister & his family who live in the new Rectory on church grounds. The old Rectory still stands, but is used for other purposes.

This is the tree from South Africa. It has small pale-yellow fruit in Winter

The trees are mainly Brush Box, Tuckaroo, Melaleuca & a variety of Eucalypts giving the grounds an Australian feel. There are also Ornamental Pear trees &  an Oak tree.  To the left of the church near the current entrance is an enormous & very beautiful tree that I was told hails from South Africa.  I’d be grateful if anyone could tell me what species of tree this is.

Unlike Camperdown Memorial Cemetery in nearby Newtown, the trees have not been planted at the head of gravestones, but between the rows of graves & in spaces without graves.  Most of the gravestones are simple affairs, but there are a couple of larger, more ornate graves closer to the front door of the church. There is subsistence in many of the graves so the trees serve another purpose of keeping the ground together.

Along the perimeter is self-seeded Tree of Heaven. Though a weed & not actually an attractive plant, its perfume is divine.  I imagine the whole property is filled with perfume during hot summer nights.

The St Peters Cooks River History Group have a great website with many in-depth articles regarding the history of the church, the area & the people who lived & worked here.  It is well worth a visit.   http://stpeterscooksriverhistory.wordpress.com/

A section of the cemetery

I found this description of the area around the Cooks River from their website & though not about the church or the trees, is very interesting reading –

I went to explore a road I had long wished to see, beyond the big house, Mr. Holt’s. After passing the lodge of the Warren (as it is styled), the road quite lost its highway appearance & became a genuine country road, with a rough stone wall on one side (a rare thing in these country roads) & on the other side, the fence of a small farm. Down we came to the river, which was approached by a road passing through a rather pretty low shrub. Then over the rustic wooden bridge & up the other side, under the shade of overhanging acacia trees, with grey rocks jutting out from the steep hill in front, two or three pretty little houses giving a little appearance of life to the scene. Then the road wound up, in a very English looking fashion, only those flat castor plants don’t look like England, nor the maiden hair by the road side. At the top of the hill, a very lovely view appeared far beyond. The hill sloped steeply down to Arncliffe, which looked very pretty, & then the land stretched away in half wooded plain, until in the distance you had a perfect view of Botany Bay, which was as blue as it could be, & the heads stood out so clear against the great blue Pacific.’

I have set up a collection of photos of the St Peters Cooks River Church, the cemetery & the trees on Saving Our Trees Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/savingourtrees/sets/72157624919700053/

A large flock of resident Ravens

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