St John's Anglican Church, Albany, Anglican church building at York Street, Albany, Western Australia
St John's Anglican Church is a stone building on York Street in Albany, with walls 540 millimetres thick and stone foundations, likely quarried from Mount Melville and Mount Clarence. The original 1844 building now forms the nave; a gallery was added behind it in 1852, and the tower and porch were completed in 1853. The tower parapet is topped with battlements, and the aisle blocks, 22 centimetres thick, were made in England.
St John's was built by the townspeople between 1841 and 1844, and consecrated on 25 October 1848 by Augustus Short, Bishop of Adelaide, who introduced John Ramsden Wollaston as its clergyman. At the time it could seat the whole town, about 170 people. The first recorded Anzac dawn service was held here in 1930.
The first recorded Anzac Day dawn service was held by the church in 1930, a tradition that began here. From 1968 to 1979 Warwick Bastian, coadjutor bishop of Bunbury with the title Bishop of Albany, was based at St John's. Canon Edward Argyl served as parish priest from 2011 until his death in 2015.
St John's stands on York Street in Albany, with the tower and porch at the 1853 front and the original 1844 nave behind. The stone walls are 540 mm thick, so the interior stays cool; the aisle blocks, 22 cm thick, were made in England. Look for the battlements on the tower parapet.
The first recorded Anzac Day dawn service was held by the church in 1930, a fact often missed by visitors. The church, rectory, hall and surrounding peppermint trees were listed on the National Trust register in 1978. Warwick Bastian, coadjutor bishop of Bunbury with the title Bishop of Albany, was based at St John's from 1968 to 1979.
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