Anglican Church of St Alban the Martyr and St Phillips

Services at St Albans are held on the first Sunday of every month at 10am. Addditional services are held for the Folk Festival (closest Sunday to Anzac Day, 9.30am), St Albans Day (closest Sunday to June 22nd, 10am) and the Rural Fire Service (start of the fire season).

Services at St Phillips, Upper Macdonald, are held on the fourth Sunday of of every second month at 10am (11am in February & October). The 11am services in February and October are followed by a picnic lunch. If you can, bring a plate to share, if you can’t, just come. We are never short of food! Regular 10am services are April, June, August. No service in December.

Easter Services, St. Albans
Good Friday 10am and Easter Sunday 10am.

Christmas Service, St Albans
Christmas Eve, 6pm Carols and Readings. Cake & bubbly from 5.30

HISTORY

The first church at St. Albans was proposed in 1842 and Thomas Thompson, Joseph Fernance, Charles Jurd, John Fleming & George Preston were appointed as trustees to oversee the construction.  A timber church was completed the following year and opened with great pomp with a service conducted by the Rev. Mr. Simpson.

However, the building mostly functioned as a school house and Sunday services were taken by the Rev. Pryce who was also the schoolmaster. It seems that the timber building burnt down and a stone church was built in its place but the date (circa 1863) is not clear.  IN 1878 the stone church was already reported to be “somewhat out of repair” which seems surprising.  The church was rebuilt in 1896-1897 using a good deal of stone from the previous church.  The architect was Mr. S. Rigg and the builder was Mr. JB Stephens of Sackville Reach.  The new church was inaugurated on the weekend of 6th/7th November 1897 but it was not entirely complete. In particular there were as yet no windows, the opening being filled with wood cut to shape. Leadlight windows were planned and were estimated to cost 25 pounds, and the interior plaster was not yet painted.

On Saturday the 6th a grand entertainment was organized under the supervision of the Rev. F.A. Cavell, the incumbent. A 40-foot (12m) table was set up outside the church and 140 adults and 60 children sat down at 6pm to a tea prepared by the ladies of the parish. At 8pm all moved on to a musical performance in the church, but the crowd was too great and some 40 people had to listen from outside.

On Sunday 7th a service was held at 3.30pm and about 70 people attended.  This was said to be three times the usual congregation, but still seems rather poor when 200 had attended the party!  jSome things it seems never changed.

New information researched by Rev. Peter Inman, largely from the Windsor and Richmond Gazette for Saturday November 20th, 1897, which you can read online here.

There used to be an old wooden church, St John the Baptist, at Fernances, just beyond the northern end of the common. (It was often called ‘the Common Church’). It was built in 1906 but fell out of use in the 1950s. (After the great flood of 1947 many people left the valley and congregations fell considerably. Older people say that the valley almost died.) By the 1980s St John’s was in a very poor state, being used as a hayshed with a big hole in the roof, and all doors and windows missing. It belonged to St Alban’s parish, and in 1983 Father John Price, the then Rector, proposed moving it lock, stock and barrel, to St Albans to be converted into a Church Hall.
Thanks to Fred Robinson and Ian Elton for the photograph, date unknown, and to Warren Bailey and Don McKillop for additional information.

Luckily help was at hand since local resident Don McKillop had a business doing just this sort of thing, moving whole buildings from place to face. The stately progress from above the common to beside St Albans Church is documented below.

St Phillips St Phillips St Phillips St Phillips