St Andrews Anglican Church Braidwood, NSW

St Andrews Anglican church would have to be one of the prettiest churches in Braidwood, and surrounding NSW regions. I took a few photos yesterday while we were visiting my parents, as the church top can bee seen from their cottage and is just a few steps away.

The foundation stone was laid 9th November 1881 and completed mid 1892. The tower was added 1899/1900 and was used as an official lookout during World War II. The church was built using local granite and was designed by Cyril Blacket, an architect and artist. I found a snippet from the Library of NSW:

"Edmund Thomas Blacket, 1817-1883, arrived in Sydney in 1842 and was appointed Valuator to the Bourke Ward of the City of Sydney and inspector of Church of England Schools. In 1849 he was appointed to the office of Colonial Architect and five years later he resigned and was commissioned to design the first buildings for the University of Sydney. Over the next thirty years he ran a very large and successful private practice with a variety of ecclesiastical, residential and commercial work. The firm's name was changed to Blacket and Son in 1880 when Edmund Blacket had his son Cyril, an experienced architect, work with him. He died in 1883 and it was completed by his sons Cyril and Arthur, a surveyor who had no formal training in architecture, under the name of Blacket Bros. "

The church has gargoyles on the tower which is not often seen in many country churches. The gargoyles have open mouths to drain away water from the building and to prevent water running down the stonework.

photo source

photo source

Taken from the Church website :

"St Andrews has a pipe organ with 665 pipes built by Mr W G Rendell (1853-1934), installed and commissioned in 1904 and rebuilt in 1975 by L S Waters of Adelaide. The organ still remains the most original sample of Rendell's work in New South Wales."

I hope you enjoyed the tour. I will feature some more heritage buildings and places soon. Have a lovely week, and don't forget to enter my giveaway! Closes 28th February at 11:59 PM Australia EST.