Saint John the Evangelist - Wallerawang, NSW
Posted by: 
Tuena
S 33° 24.052 E 150° 04.660
56H E 228202 N 6300453
Saint John the Evangelist Church is a rare example of a major church building erected by private philanthropy.
Waymark Code: WMKMW1
Location: New South Wales, Australia
Date Posted: 05/04/2014
Views: 1
The church was conceived by Mrs Georgina Abbot as a memorial to her parents, Mr & Mrs James Walker & her first husband Mr. Edmund Barton. The first colonial settler in the Lithgow-Wallerawang district was James Walker. He was given a grant of 2000 acres in 1823 & by the end of 1840, James Walker held an immense tract of country under licence and was running 1487 cattle and 20,534 sheep. In 1854 he was the holder of 16 stations with an area of 470,000 acres.
Georgina Walker-Barton commissioned Edmund Blacket in 1880 to design St John The Evangelist Church. Georgina mainly financed the construction of the church. The reflection of religious philanthropy is an important theme in Lithgow (the main commercial centre in the district) with five other churches in the area being privately funded.
The church was officially opened in 1881 as a 'union' or public dual-denomination church for use by both the Presbyterian and Anglican denominations. It was given to both denominations on 18 November 1952. In the year 2000 the church was ordered closed as the tower was in danger of collapse. At the same time a proposal was put to sell the church. A community group - The Friends of St Johns was formed & grants obtained to repair the tower. The sale was withdrawn.
The Anglicans relinquished their fifty per cent share of St Johns in 2002, selling it to The Friends. When repairs were completed, St Johns was re-opened on 14th May 2006.
"The Friends of St Johns" and Bowenfels Presbyterian Parish are now joint owners.
Architecturally the church is an imposing Victorian Gothic style. The tower is topped with battlements and pinnacles of a real 'Carpenters' Gothic type and has interesting animal face gargoyles.
I obtained this information from two sources:
Environment & Heritage NSW Government: (
visit link)
Wallerawang Branch Library: (
visit link)