ACT Heritage Library Manuscript Collections

HMSS 0459 Anglican Church of St John the Baptist Precinct Maps and Plans

The Anglican Church of St John the Baptist, Canberra, traces its history to the earliest days of European settlement in the Canberra district. The site for the church was chosen in 1840 by Robert Campbell, owner of Duntroon estate, and William Broughton, Bishop of Australia. Its foundation stone was laid by the Reverend Edward Smith, Rector of Queanbeyan, on 11 May 1841. The church and its burial ground were consecrated by Bishop Broughton on 12 March 1845.

The Campbell family was an early and substantial benefactor of the church. The original portion of the church is thought to have cost £2000, of which Robert Campbell paid half and the rest was paid for by the NSW Government. The nearby schoolhouse, built around the same time as the church, accommodated a Denominational (Church of England) School from 1848 to 1880.

From 1865 to 1877, St John’s benefited from a major building program at the end of which the building closely resembled its current appearance. From 1865 to 1870 a new sandstone tower designed by Edmund Blacket was built, and from 1872 to 1874 the nave was extended and a chancel added. The church’s east window, installed at this time, was made in Sydney and is an early example of Australian stained glass. Work on the spire commenced in 1876 and was completed by the end of 1877.

St John’s Churchyard is an important part of Canberra’s history. Being one of only a few in the district, the headstones provide information on early settlers who lived in the area as well as later arrivals in the early years of the national capital. The first burial in the churchyard was on 3 May 1844. The churchyard was closed to most burials from 1937 when the government opened a new cemetery in Woden in the south of Canberra.

The transition from being a small, rural community to a place of national importance resulted in St John’s taking on a role in the life of the nation. In September 1915 the memorial service for the late Major General Sir William Bridges, mortally wounded at Gallipoli the previous month, was the first occasion on which the government used the church for a state ceremony. It was the first of many official ceremonies to be held at the church.  In May 1927 a funeral with full Air Force honours was held for Flying Officer Francis Ewen whose aircraft crashed during a flypast by the Royal Australian Air Force at the opening of the new Parliament House. Many years later, the only Governor General to die in office, Viscount Dunrossil, was buried in its churchyard in February 1961.

To meet the needs of a growing congregation  a new and spacious parish centre was opened in 1959 providing meeting facilities for a wide range of church and community organisations.

Since the 1970s St John’s has become a city church with parishioners drawn from across Canberra in addition to surrounding suburbs. From this time the church was also becoming more widely known outside the ACT as a result of visits by members of the Royal family, a visit in 1994 by Desmond Tutu, Archbishop of Cape Town, and the decision by the former Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, to give interviews to the media after attending services at the church.

This Collection contains 32 drawings and plans of St John’s over a number of decades including floor, site, landscape and location plans, as well as surveys.