Uniting Church, Old Schoolhouse & Curtilage, Coromandel Rd, Ebenezer, NSW, Australia
S 33° 32.201 E 150° 53.444
56H E 304144 N 6287221
Being the oldest standing, and also still in use Church in Australia, it is no surprise that this building is Heritage Listed.
Waymark Code: WMYR3P
Location: New South Wales, Australia
Date Posted: 07/14/2018
Views: 0
This is Australia's OLDEST Church building, being built in 1809 as a 'Non-Conformist' church, for recent immigrants that had taken up farming on 100 acres lots at Portland Head (as it was then known). In 1824 it become the Presbyterian Church, and then in 1977 when many Presbyterian, Methodist, and Congregational Churches combined, it became the Uniting Church.
The Schoolhouse was built in 1810 (now the Rectory, Sunday Schoolroom), with the Schoolmasters House built in 1817 (now the kiosk and information centre). As you walk around the Church and Cemetery you may not realise that you actually so close to the Hawkesbury River, and probably can't imagine that in 1867 the Church was flooded, and all the Cemetery records of burials were destroyed.
A lot of effort has gone into restoring this Historic Church - (
visit link)
From the Australian Heritage Database:
The Church is…"A rectangular stone building with walls 2ft thick, measuring 40ft 8in by 20' overall. Final fitting out accomplished in 1817. The original central doors to each side elevation are blocked up but the original two windows each side remain, having nine pane double timber sashes. The gabled ends are typical of the period while the original timber roof shingles have been replaced by slate. Small porch added 1829. Old grave stones stand nearby."
From the local Tourist Information site:
"Built in 1809, Ebenezer Church is the oldest existing church in Australia and it became the first Presbyterian Church in Australia in 1824. It was a pioneer in education in the colony, beginning a school in 1810. The church is oldest existing school building in Australia. Ebenezer Church overlooks the Hawkesbury River in a rural bushland area that is 12 km from the township of Windsor. The Schoolmaster's House is a two-storey sandstone building, constructed in 1817 as a residence for the teacher and is now open for Devonshire teas and coffees. The first burial was in 1812, the cemetery is one of the most important in AUstralia with six generation buried in its grounds, including some of the first free settlers in the colony."
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visit link)
Address: 95 Coromandel Road, Ebenezer, NSW, 2756, Australia
Visited: 1400 - 1411, Saturday, 24 MArch, 2018
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