St Thomas' Anglican Church, Mulgoa, Heritage-listed Anglican church in Mulgoa, Australia
St Thomas' Anglican Church is a sandstone Gothic Revival building on a sloping hillside north of Mulgoa township. It has Georgian proportions with early Victorian Gothic details, including the first open timber hammer-beam roof in the colony. The east window is stained glass by Charles Clutterbuck depicting the stories of the Apostle Thomas. The church contains a mechanical organ built in 1868 by J. W. Walker of London, with 56 notes and 159 pipes.
St Thomas' was built from 1836 to 1838 by James Atkinson and William Chisholm to designs by the Reverend Thomas Makinson, the first incumbent, and James Chadley. The land had been granted to the Anglican Church in 1831 by the pioneer William Cox for use as a church and school. The church was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
The graveyard holds clustered headstones and classical sandstone monuments, mainly of the pastoralist Cox family, who donated the land and owned the adjacent Fernhill and The Cottage estates. The east window, by Charles Clutterbuck, depicts scenes from the life of the Apostle Thomas.
The church remains active with regular services and offers good walking access to the hillside setting with views across the surrounding area. Visitors should check ahead for service times and be aware that access may be limited outside scheduled events.
This is the only surviving Gothic Revival rural parish church from the 1830s in New South Wales that retains all its original architectural features. Its rarity makes it an important example of how churches were designed and built in remote colonial communities.
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