St Phillip's Anglican Church & Cemetery

Values

The place has aesthetic value as a stone & brick church in the Victorian Gothic style with an associated cemetery located in a picturesque rural setting.

The place has associations with the development of Culham and in particular with the local Anglican Parish from 1850s up to the present day.

The place has associations with pioneers of the Culham area, the Phillips, who donated the land towards the construction of the church and were highly influential in its construction.

The place is believed to be the second oldest still operating Anglican Church in WA.

The place is one of only a few extant churches dating from the 1850s in the Wheatbelt area.

Physical Description

The place comprises a church, cemetery, wc, front entry gate and fence, and plantings such as pencil pines. The church is of stone construction (1852) with brick gable infills (1857) and a steep CGI clad roof. There are brick quoins to openings, including the arched leadlight windows, and the building has a separate rendered front porch. Steel braces have been installed on the south-east side of the building. The cemetery has headstones and railings.

History

In 1847, the Church of England constituted a new diocese of South Australia which included all of Western Australia until 1856. In 1849, Bishop Augustus Short, the first Bishop of Adelaide, visited his brother in law SP Phillips at Culham, and recognisiong the need for a church Phillips donated 12 acres of land for the purpose, and started a building fund. In 1850, the timber was cut, and by 1852, the stone walls had been constructed, and the building was roofed with flat sheets of iron. (shipments of sheet iron were available in Perth from late 1840s). The first service was held in April 1853, even though the church wasn’t finished, and in November 1854, Simon Martin and Emily Doust were married in the church even though it was in a bad state of repair. The Phillips family departed for England, and the church fell into disrepair. When the Phillips returned, work was resumed, and the church opened on 19 July 1857, and was celebrated with a dinner at the Culham homestead that evening. Although a Bishop of Perth had been consecrated in 1856, St Phillip’s was not consecrated until September 1895, when the Right reverend GOL Riley, the 3rd Bishop and 1st Archbishop traveled to Culham. Special permission is required to be buried in Culham Cemetery; a person must be a descendant of someone already interred. The church is the second oldest active Anglican church in Western Australia, (Oldest is St John’s in Albany) and still a cemetery. The church is still an active worship centre with monthly services and special services at Christmas, Easter and Harvest.

Integrity/Authenticity

High

Condition

Sound

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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