St Thomas' Anglican Church, North Sydney

St Thomas' Anglican Church, North Sydney, is a large suburban church in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney, located in North Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. It is listed on the local government heritage register^[1] and the (now defunct) Register of the National Estate.^[2]

St Thomas' Anglican Church
33°50′01″S 151°12′21″E
Location	Church Street, North Sydney, New South Wales
Country	Australia
Denomination	Anglican Church of Australia
Website	www.st-thomas.org.au
History
Status	Church
Founded	1843
Dedication	Thomas the Apostle
Dedicated	1884
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Architect(s)	Conrad Martens (original church) Edmund Blacket (current church) Cyril Blacket (nave)
Architectural type	Victorian Academic Gothic
Years built	1884
Administration
Diocese	Sydney
New South Wales Heritage Database (Local Government Register)
Official name	St Thomas' Church
Type	Local government heritage
Criteria	a., c., d., f., g.
Designated	2 August 2013
Reference no.	I0885
Type	Built
Category	Church
Builders	J. Jago

History

Following the development of the north shore of Sydney harbour from the 1820s onwards, land was set aside for an Anglican church in North Sydney (then called St Leonards), which was designed by Conrad Martens and opened in 1846.^[3] Martens himself carved the baptismal font, which is still in use today.

As well as Martens, early members of the church included Alexander Berry, James Milson and George Barney.^[4] As well as a memorial to Barney, the church also has a stained-glass window in memory of James Graham Goodenough.^[3] Both Edward Wollstonecraft and Owen Stanley are buried in the church cemetery.^[3][5] A plaque commemorating the church's founders was unveiled by the Governor of New South Wales, Lord Wakehurst, in 1938.^[6]

As the population of North Sydney grew, a larger building became necessary. The cornerstone of the new Gothic Revival church, designed by Edmund Blacket, was laid in 1881 by the Prince of Wales (later George V), and construction was completed in 1886.^[7] At at length of 160 feet, it is the longest Anglican church is New South Wales.^[3] In 1904 a three-manual pipe organ, built by William Davidson of Sydney, was installed - the largest tracker organ in New South Wales at the time. It was later removed, and parts were reused in the current Norman and Beard organ installed in 1974.^[8][9]

On Sunday 20 October 2024, during their tour of Australia, King Charles III and Queen Camilla attended a church service at St Thomas.^[7][10] The sermon was preached by the Most Rev. Kanishka Raffel, Archbishop of Sydney.^[11]

The Church by the Bridge is a church plant of St Thomas.^[12]

Rectors

Rectors of St Thomas have included:

• Rev. William Clarke (first rector)^[13]
• Rev. George Charles Bode (until 1880)
• Rev. Stephen Henry Childe (1880–1913)^[14]
• Rev. Horace Crotty (1913–1919)
• Rev. Harold Napier Baker (1919–1945)
• Rev. William John Siddens (1945–1970)
• Rev. Harry Edwards (1970s)^[8]
• Rev. Simon Manchester (1989−2020)^[15]
• Rev. Micky Mantle (2021−present)^[16]

References

1. "St Thomas' Church". New South Wales Heritage Database. Office of Environment & Heritage. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
2. The Heritage of Australia, Macmillan Company (1981), p.2/48
3. St Thomas' Anglican Church, North Sydney: history. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
4. "THE CHURCHES". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 31, 394. New South Wales, Australia. 15 August 1938. p. 7. Retrieved 4 October 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
5. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 September 2007. Retrieved 3 April 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
6. "Founders of St Thomas Church". Monument Australia. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
7. Sydney Anglicans, "Guess who's coming to church", 20 October 2024. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
8. Sydney Organ, St Thomas' Anglican Church. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
9. Geoffrey Cox, Kelvin Hastie and John Maidment, Lost Pipe Organs of Australia: A Pictorial Record, No. 39 "North Sydney, New South Wales: St Thomas' Anglican Church" (2017). Retrieved 24 October 2024.
10. BBC, "King Charles begins Australia tour with church service", 20 October 2024. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
11. Reuters, "Britain's King Charles meets cheering Australian crowds, says 'great joy' to return", 20 October 2024. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
12. Church by the Bridge website. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
13. Jarrod Hore, "The Voices of an Eloquent Earth: Tracing the Many Directions of Colonial Geo-Theology", in New Earth Histories: Geo-Cosmologies and the Making of the Modern World, edited by Alison Bashford, Emily Kern and Adam Bobbette (University of Chicago Press, 2023), pp. 93−96. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
14. "Obituary". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 28, 201. New South Wales, Australia. 24 May 1928. p. 4. Retrieved 28 July 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
15. St Thomas' Anglican Church, North Sydney: Teaching from Simon Manchester. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
16. St Thomas' Anglican Church, North Sydney: About us. Retrieved 24 October 2024.