Thursday, 17 September 2009

St James Anglican Church

St James Anglican Church in King Street is the oldest church building in Sydney. The church was designed in the Old Colonial Regency style by convict architect Francis Greenway and has been in continuous use from its consecration in 1824. I was trying to get here early enough to capture the whole church bathed in morning sunlight but not early enough to avoid the shadows from nearby office blocks; perhaps it’s still the wrong time of year to avoid those. This was my last chance to photograph the church before the scaffolding went up for some restoration work. The copper on the spire is being replaced and it will be a very long time before it obtains that corroded green look again.

13 comments:

  1. That light still looks pretty darn good to me... fine crisp shot and the contrast between old and new is great..

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  2. I have used this excellent example of colonial architecture with students in the past. I hope that the building has heritage protection.

    regards
    Hels

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  3. It is on the Register of National Estate and the National Trust is fundraising for the conservation work.

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  4. Nice shot of the old among the newer buildings. Yes, it will take a while for the new copper to attain a nice patina.

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  5. I think the picture turned out great! That is a beautiful church.

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  6. I really love the architecture of the old structures. Great shot.

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  7. Wonderful combination,old and new.In architecture we must look at the past,not only super modern and hyper constructions.
    Great architecture is what we need.
    Have a nice weekend.
    kostas

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  8. enjoying all the photos here..and especially this one you went to so much trouble to photograph...

    thanks for visiting my sky photos this week!

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  9. Just a thought ... there is a church down on York Street ... http://yorkstreetanglican.com/

    which says "The Chaplain of the First Fleet was the Rev Richard Johnson and he conducted the first Christian service in Australia on 3 February 1788.

    The wattle and daub church built by Johnson in 1793 was burnt down in 1798. A new stone church named St Philip’s was opened in 1810, and this was replaced by the current building in 1856."

    I guess St James is the longest continuous building ...

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  10. That's interesting Julie. I've noticed that there's quite a few churches that claim to be the oldest church in one way or another in Sydney or Australia.

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