St John the Baptist Anglican Church, Richmond, Heritage Anglican church in Richmond, Australia

St John the Baptist is a small, single-storeyed timber church with a gabled corrugated iron roof, chamferboard walls now covered by aluminium sheeting, and low concrete stumps. A skillion-roofed extension with several rooms sits at the rear, and an open verandah runs across the front. Inside, the nave and sanctuary measure about 7 by 9 metres, lined and furnished in silky oak, including eight pegged pews, exposed scissor trusses and the altar table.

The church was built in 1909 by Mr. Moore of Hughenden as Richmond grew during the sheep and cattle grazing boom. Before the permanent building was completed, worshippers gathered in a dance hall attached to a local hotel, supported by community donations.

The dedication to St John the Baptist was chosen in 1907, when plans for the church were approved. Services were monthly, with the rector travelling from Hughenden, and a Bush Brother was appointed to Richmond by 1913, lodging in a room and verandah added to the vestry. The front fence and steel entrance gates were dedicated in 1951.

The church stands in the front half of a flat, grassed block on Crawford Street, one block from Goldring Street, Richmond's main street. Entry is through decorative wrought steel gates along a path flanked by two trees, with a steel bell tower to the north-west. The building sits on low concrete stumps.

The building was funded through donations gathered from residents who believed in creating a permanent place of worship together. This community support shows how central the church became to Richmond as both a spiritual and social gathering point.