St Cuthbert's Anglican Church, Darlington

Statement of Significance

St Cuthbert’s Church Darlington has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons: It is significant as a small community church that has ministered to the social and spiritual needs of the Darlington and surrounding community since 1929. It contains important work by the stained-glass Studio of Gowers and Brown and has a good representative example of their technologically innovative dalle de verre work. It adds to the community’s sense of place through its continued support of Christian spirituality, amenity and through its aesthetic contribution to the built environment. It is a simple and well-crafted rustic style building designed by architect George Herbert Parry that merges well with its setting forming a picturesque landmark on the Darlington Road. The lychgate and boundary wall are an important part of the setting of the church and its landmark qualities.

Physical Description

Cuthbert’s Church is located on the corner of Darlington and Hillsden Roads in Darlington on a triangular plot of land that ascends towards the north-east. The property is lot 24 on Hillsden Road (plan 3361) and covers 4274 square metres of well-treed gravel and loamy soil. The picturesque property comprises a stone and clay tile church building linked with a covered walkway to a large brick and clay tile parish hall and facilities building. The block slopes approximately 12 degrees north-east along Hillsden Road and is covered with wild grass, bushland (which includes introduced species) and substantial native trees. Cleared areas are provided for parking and a small patch of grass near the parish hall. A stone wall with a brick and tile roofed lychgate runs for approximately 65 metres along the Darlington Road Boundary. St Cuthbert’s Church has been built in an Inter-War Gothic style with arts and crafts influences in the use of vernacular materials and detailing such as the use of local stone, open eaves with no fascia and half-timbered style battened gable end. The front porch is a recent (2001) steel frame construction with a modern terra cotta Marseilles pattern tiled roof to match the existing church. The porch is linked to a covered walkway of the same construction. The interior features a timber paneled ceiling, seven stained glass windows in the nave section and two concrete and glass windows in the sanctuary, the floor is timber boards. A mosaic depicting the last supper hangs on the eastern sanctuary wall. Recent conservation works to the church include new steps leading on the southern side, water from the downpipes on the southern side is now being discharged away from the building, repairs to cracks in the interior and repainting the interior walls Reverse cycle air-conditioning units have been installed, this comprises two interior units on the interior side of the church’s western wall and two exterior units on the western side of the covered way to facilities buildings. On the northern side of the building, the problem of water discharging directly from the downpipes and onto the ground has not been addressed, nor has the bitumen, which directly abuts the walls, been cut back as recommended in the 2013 Conservation Plan. The crack which have been repaired in the recent works is re-appearing.

History

Assessment 2022 Construction 1925 Architect/designer: Herbert Parry Builder: Eric Bishop Alterations/additions: Lychgate 1955; Porch and Parish buildings 2001 St Cuthbert’s Church, Darlington is situated in the Perth suburb of Darlington, which is approximately 25 kms to the east of the Perth Central Business District. The place comprises a 1925 stone church together with a stone wall along the north-west boundary of the property which is punctuated midway along its length by a lychgate. A brick, facilities building is located to the north of the church. When settlers began arriving in numbers in the Darlington area in 1883 this area had been the home of the Whadjuk Noongar people for over 50,000 years. Whadjuk people of the Swan and Canning River systems were divided into individual family-based groups that had recognised traditional territory and hunting rights in a complex land ownership system. Imposed European style land systems did not recognise these and abolished that traditional ownership destroying the Noongar’s intimate connections with land/country, essential for their livelihood and health. At the time of the founding of the Swan River Settlement in 1829, the Aboriginal group that occupied the land around Darlington were the Beeloo who had winter camps in the Kalamunda and Mundaring districts. The area around Mundaring Weir was of special significance as the swamp pools (Mundjallena) now inundated by the Weir, were the home of a powerful Waugal associated with destructive weather. As Hughes- Hallet (2010) records there are several significant Aboriginal sites in the vicinity of Darlington and the Helena Valley including places associated with the Sacred and initiation 4 traditions. Noongars used the Helena River as a travelling route and had established places for rest along its length. (p. 69). The suburb was first settled by Europeans in 1883, when Dr Alfred Waylen purchased 150 acres on which he established a vineyard that he named ‘Darlington’. Following the construction of Stage 1 of the Eastern Railway line in 1884, the potential of the area for settlement was realised and land around the railway line was sub-divided and released for sale. The developing suburb took its name from Waylen’s vineyard. The Darlington area rapidly grew over the course of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as a picturesque place in the hills and a popular alternative for Perth businesspeople who favoured a bush setting for their homes, commuting to Perth each day on the train. The place also became a popular holiday destination leading to the establishment of holiday homes and boarding houses. Subdivision of larger parcels of land continued over the early twentieth century including that owned by John F Stone, a government worker who resided in Fremantle. Stone died in 1909 and left the land to his wife Amelia who divided the land and sold it off, donating a block to the Diocesan Trustees of the Church of England in Western Australia. It was not until 13 September 1924 that a foundation stone for an Anglican Church, laid by the Archbishop of Perth Charles Riley, was set. This event was well attended by residents and visitors from nearby Greenmount, Bellevue, Midland Junction and the Swan Valley. Don Newman <donn@iinet.net.au> The church was designed by prominent Perth architect, George Herbert Parry and was built of stone and brick by contractor Eric Bishop. It was named after St. Cuthbert’s Church, Darlington in County Durham apparently on the instigation of local resident A O Neville, one-time Chief Protector of Aborigines and a champion and executor of infamous government policies on the removal of Aboriginal children from their families who are now known as the Stolen Generation. The church was completed and consecrated by the Archbishop of Perth on Sunday 1 March 1925. Various furnishings and memorials have been added to the church over the years including the donation of a bell and tower by Helen Lillian Gaze in 1934, in memory of her husband Frederick Owen Gaze who had been killed in World War One. Her son William Frederick Owen Gaze had a mosaic reredos installed (1955-56) on the eastern nave wall depicting Leonard da Vinci’s Last Supper and dedicated to the memory of Ruth Loxton Bennet. In 1955, Mrs Grace Scott-Clark, the widow of the Rev. Scott-Clark, donated funds to construct a stone wall along the Darlington Road boundary and a lych gate, in memory of her husband. The original timber gates were damaged in 1977 through vandalism and were removed for safe-keeping. Vestry member, Brett Payne requested permission to replace the old gates with a set of new ones dedicated to the memory of his father Arthur Richard Payne. The establishment of the Memorial Garden, an idea first raised in June 1982, was developed by parishioners Bill Jones and Mike Tooby (a landscape architect). It was completed around 1985. A significant feature of the church are stained glass windows by the well-known and distinguished stained glass Studio of Gowers and Brown. This includes a pair of concrete and glass windows installed in the sanctuary. Funds from the sale of the nearby Church of the Good Shepherd in Bellevue (c2000) enabled the construction of a Facilities building on the St Cuthbert’s site that included a meeting hall, Sunday school area, toilets and an office for the Rector. The new building, together with a porch that was added onto the church and a covered walkway extending from the porch to the new building was opened in 2001. In 2012 an additional set of rooms were added onto the western side of the Facilities building

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