St Mark's Anglican Church, Picton, placed on heritage register

11/12/96

The State Government has moved to protect the heritage values of one of the oldest surviving churches in Western Australia.

Historic St Mark's Anglican Church, built in Picton in 1842, has been placed on the Heritage Council of Western Australia's interim register of heritage places.

Heritage Minister Richard Lewis said the church was built by the Reverend John Wollaston, the Colonial Chaplain of Bunbury and the first Archdeacon of WA.

Mr Lewis said the church was an important reminder of the Preston River settlement of the 1840s and a well-known historic site in the Bunbury region.

"Rev Wollaston organised the construction of the church to provide a place of worship for the early settlers of the district," he said.

"The church was built by Wollaston, his sons, agricultural servants and parishioners at his own cost, with help from donors.

"It was done as a condition of his receiving a stipend to act as Colonial Chaplain. This stipend was compensation for his having migrated to be the chaplain for the failed Australind settlement of the WA Australian Land Company."

Mr Lewis said the churchyard site was part of Wollaston's historic farm, which he held from 1842 to 1850. Part of the land was originally owned by the State's first Governor, Sir James Stirling.

"Wollaston sold all his holdings to Henry Sillifant, a well-known whaler, when he was posted to Albany in 1848," he said.

Mr Lewis said St Mark's was believed to have been partly built by Wollaston's servant John Moore, who had particular skill with timber and clay construction and was also believed to have built the nearby historic Picton Inn.

The small, human-scaled cruciform chapel was regarded as a creative achievement of great merit.

Comprising a gutterless roof, clad with timber shingles, St Mark's was lined with untreated boards carried on exposed steep pitched rafters. The walls were clad with weatherboards and lined with painted matchboards.

The associated grave monuments and markers included carved marble monuments, cast and wrought iron fences and unusual timber boards similar to bedheads.

The graveyard recorded the surnames of most of those associated with the Preston River settlement, including Clifton, Forrest, Hales, King, Ramsay, Rose, Bunbury-Richardson and Scott.

Mr Lewis said St Mark's was a well-known and highly regarded local historical site, mentioned in nearly all histories of the Bunbury region.

"St Mark's is set in a scenic riverine precinct with a number of regularly spaced historic homesteads of the lower Preston River," he said.

"It is important evidence of the Preston River settlement and can tell us much about the way of life of these early settlers.

"St Mark's is a well-preserved and cared for member of what is an endangered class of structures.

"It is in very good condition, with most of the fabric in a stable and well-maintained state after being restored in the late 1960s.

"It also has a high degree of integrity, continuing to be a place of worship after this role declined over the years.

"As such it deserves the protection and recognition of the State's heritage laws."

Media contact : Bronwyn Hillman 222 9595, 221 1377