St Hilda's Church (Anglican)

Statement of Significance

St Hilda’s Church at 13 Glebe Street is an exemplar of the comparatively rare Interwar Romanesque style. It houses the oldest font in Australia, of Anglo Saxon origin, it was moved to St Hilda’s when St John’s Anglican Church in Milligan Street was demolished in 1928. The Church has associations with Archbishop Riley and his son Tom, and William Loton.

Physical Description

St Hilda's Anglican Church is a robustly designed parish church with a gable front to View Street and a hipped southern end following the line of the semi-octagonal sanctuary, buttressed walls and entrance porch in brick and stone. The porch has stone quoins, a shallow pointed arch entrance and a simple triangular pediment, featuring a cross decoration in the stucco. The porch extends to the footpath. The stonework continues as a wide band around the building. The windows also feature stone surrounds. The church has internal aisles for the length of the nave, which terminate before the sanctuary. The end wall of the sanctuary is solid with an inset stone cross and foundation stone, while the other walls have lancet windows with stained glass set in leadlights.

History

Glebe Street was known as Rose Street until 1927 when the name was changed because the Anglican Church (then known as the Church of England) owned much of the land. In about 1900, the first Anglican Sunday School and services for the parish known as All Saints Woodville were held at the home of Mrs Hahn on the corner of Olive and View Streets, North Perth. Reverend John Alles of St Paul's Church in Carr Street, West Perth took the first church services in GIBSON: Hall (corner of Daphne and Angove Streets) and in the North Perth State School. In 1904 a wooden building transported from Canning Mills, and erected on the corner of Rose (Glebe) and View Streets in 1904, was consecrated as St Hilda's North Perth. It was named after St Hilda of Whitby (Yorkshire, UK) a nun who died in 680. St Hilda founded a new monastery at Whitby, high on a hill overlooking the ocean, thre remains of which are still in existence. St Hilda's Anglican School for Girls in Mosman Park was also named after her and the school has friendship links with St Hilda's School in Whitby. Lay assistants helped Reverend Allas and other clergymen until 1909 when the first resident rector, Reverend Harold Merryweather was appointed. He boarded initially in a house on the corner of Fitzgerald Street and Grosvenor Road until September 1910 when he moved to St Paul's rectory. A church building fund was implemented in 1910 and the minutes of the Vestry meeting on 16 June stated that 'Mr Prior moved and seconded by Mr Barnes that the sum of 12 pounds by paid into the government Savings Bank as a nucleus of the Church Building Fund'. In 1914, Rev C. L. (Tom) Riley, son of Archbishop Riley, was appointed rector of St Hilda's. Initially he lived with his parents at Bishop House, traveling to his parish by motor bike. The foundation stone for St Hilda's Church was laid on 24 July 1915, by William T. Loton, MLA, and the church was consecrated on 10 October that year by the Reverend's father, Archbishop Riley. The rectory was also completed in 1915, and Reverend Riley moved in. It was later the birthplace of his son, Reverend Canon L.W Riley. In 1919 Wise's Post Office Directories listed Reverend R. Coverdale as the resident clergyman at No. 19 Glebe Street. This was due to 'Tom' Riley's overseas service as a Chaplain in the 10th Light Horse during World War 1. In 1920 it was Reverend Riley again. In 1922 Reverend Joshua Williams took over and by 1927 the incumbent was Reverend William Patrick. The Montessori High School operated (possibly in the club rooms) for a few years from 1923 onwards under principal, Mrs A McNamara and in 1936 the Glebe View Tennis Courts were constructed. By 1940 Reverend Patrick had become Canon Patrick and he was still there in 1949, the last year the Directories were printed. In 1954, St Hilda's Church was completed with the addition of the entrance porch, chancel, sanctuary, choir and priest vestries. The additions were consecrated on 12 December 1954 by Archbishop Robert Moline. In 1974, the site of the original weatherboard church and the land occupied by the tennis courts were sold and part of the proceeds was used to finally pay off the 1954 additions. A house was purchased in Coolbinia for use as a rectory and the original rectory was demolished. A parish centre was built on the site. St Hilda's boasts the oldest font in Australia. It is of Anglo-Saxon workmanship and dates from the 9th or 10th Century and Reverend William Patrick arranged for it to be transferred to St Hilda's when St John's Anglican Church in Milligan Street was demolished in 1928. In 1975 the year of the church's diamond jubilee there were plans to erect a Parish Centre, which it was hoped would be a fitting memorial to the original church. The laneway at the rear of this is owned by the church but is open for public use. In 2003 - the year of the child - the husband and wife team of Reverends Sue and John Meagher introduced a 'tot church', a servie for under fives during which they were encouraged to sing, play and instrument or dance in the aisles. A 'blessing of the animals' was also held annually, which commemorates the life of St Francis of Assisi and locals were encouraged to take along their pets. Reverend Shane Hubner, a Anglican Minister from Queensland was appointed as the Rector in November 2004 and in 2008 he was still in residence. It remains in the Perth Diocese.

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