St Mary's Church and Graveyard

Statement of Significance

The following information is extracted from the Register of Heritage Places Assessment Documentation for St Mary’s Church & Graveyard (P02496) St Mary’s Church, comprising a red brick, timber and corrugated iron church (1869, 1903), associated graveyard (1838+), mature trees, and brick and timber lych gate (1959), has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons: • the place is historically and scientifically important as an example of a nineteenth century Anglican Parish Church dating from the 1860s, set in a graveyard dating from the 1830s, and for the evidence of a continuous development of burial practice from the first decade of settlement of the colony; • the place has a close association with European settlers of the Swan Valley, some of whom are buried in the graveyard; • the place is an example of a simple, colonial church adapted and enlarged in the Victorian Academic Gothic revival style, and is typical of the local architecture built by settlers to replicate their way of life in Britain; • the place contributes to the community’s sense of place for the role played by religion in the early years of the settlement of the area and as a reminder of the colonial development of the Swan Valley; and, • the place is of social value as an active church and as a burial ground for parishioners.

Physical Description

St Mary’s Church, comprises of a red brick, timber and corrugated iron church (1869, 1903), associated graveyard (1838+), mature trees, and brick and timber lych gate (1959). The Church and Graveyard are located on a separate lot at the western extremity of Yule Avenue, which runs through and services Swanleigh Precinct. The church is located in the graveyard. The church is a Victorian Gothic style building built in red brick, with flemish bond, and a steeply pitched roof, clad in corrugated iron sheeting. Lancet windows are filled with stained or grisaille glass. The interior walls are plastered, the floor is tongue and groove jarrah boarding and the timber-boarded roof and trusses are exposed internally. The graveyard contains burials and grave markings dating from the earliest burial in 1838. Both the Church and Graveyard are in sound condition and have been subjected to major conservation works

History

In 1836, a Mission Grant of 866 acres, Swan Location 12 at the Swan, was made to the Colonial and Continental Society in London, formerly the Western Australian Missionary Society, which had been founded in London in 1835 by Captain Frederick Irwin. Irwin, Commandant of the 63rd Regiment, established the Society to promote his objective of bringing Church of England clergymen to the Colony to minister to the settlers and the Aboriginal population. Irwin had arrived in Western Australia in 1829 as part of a military unit assigned to defend the Colony. Irwin was a deeply religious man who, from 1831, established “The Church in Irwin’s house” at Henley Park beyond Guildford. In 1839, Frederick Irwin built a small mud church at the Upper Swan. In the same year, William Mitchell was responsible for the establishment of a small octagonal mud brick church at Middle Swan. The church at Middle Swan, dedicated to St. Mary, was opened in the presence of the Governor on 29 November 1840, as a memorial to Lucy Yule, wife of Magistrate T. N. Yule. Her grave was the first burial in St. Mary’s Graveyard. All three churches established by William Mitchell were consecrated in 1848 by Bishop Short of the Adelaide Anglican Diocese, which until 1856 included the whole of Western Australia. St. Mary’s at Middle Swan was consecrated on 21 November 1848. By 1868, the original mud brick church of St. Mary at Middle Swan had deteriorated to such a degree that complete replacement was necessary. The first part of the present church was consecrated on 10 March 1869. The Chancel and Vestry of St Mary’s Church were added in 1876. In 1888, the nave of St Mary’s Church was extended westwards and the porch was relocated at the entrance at the west end. The north and south transepts of St Mary’s Church were added in 1903. The roadway into the Swanleigh Precinct was rebuilt in 1968 by the Swan Shire and Swanleigh Council, following fifty years of complaints, discourse and patching. It was named Yule Avenue in memory of Mrs. Lucy Yule. Mrs Yule’s grave is the oldest in St. Mary’s Graveyard, dating from 1838. In 2004, St Mary’s Church and Graveyard remain in use as a place of worship.

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity - High Authenticity - High

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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