When Roy and I last visited Canberra, we stood at the top of Duntroon and looked out over the city. We noticed a very prominent Church from the top of the hill and learned from the signs at that it was called St Johns and was built by the Campbell family who owned Duntroon. We were surprised to discover that the Church had been there longer than the city and decided that on our next visit we would have to see it close up. So that is just what we did.
St Johns and the adjacent schoolhouse, were built between 1841 and 1845 on land donated by Robert Campbell who owned Duntroon Station. The Campbells also donated over 2000 pounds towards the construction of the Church and schoolhouse. Soon, the Church and schoolhouse were the centre of life in the community. Being built at such an early time, St Johns is not only much older than the city of Canberra, it is actually the oldest continually running social institution in the area! The graveyard surrounding the Church is the original Canberra cemetery and the schoolhouse (now the Schoolhouse Museum) was the earliest educational institution in the area.
The building materials used in constructing St Johns were collected nearby, with blue stone being quarried at Mount Pleasant for the walls and the interior being finished with local cedar. Even the roof was shingled with local timbers! Sandstone, quarried at Black Mountain was used for the extensions. The stained glass window in the Eastern end of the building, above the altar, was actually one of the first made in Australia! That particular window is a memorial to Robert Campbell who contributed so much not just to the Church but to the early life of Canberra. There are several other memorials inside the Church dedicated to pioneers of Canberra, and many of these pioneers are buried in the cemetery surrounding the Church. If you would like to learn more about the role of St Johns in Canberra life, click here or here.
Although initially completed in 1845, the Church has had additions made over time with the original tower being destroyed by lightning and suffering a subsiding foundation. The new tower, still standing, was built between 1865 and 1878 - it took longer to build than the whole of the original Church! The Church was also extended between 1872 and 1874. Over time it has undergone both additions and restoration, as many similar Churches in Australia have done.The Church even has two special stones in the walls of its entrance, one from St John the Baptist in Brinklow, Warwickshire, England which was built in 1215 (the year when the Magna Carta legal charter was first issued). There is another stone from Westminster Abbey. The first stone was exchanged with St Johns in Brinklow in 1948. A stone from Canberra's St Johns is built into the wall of the Brinklow Church. The stone from Westminister was added to St Johns just before the Queen visited in 1954. If you would like to learn more about the stones, click here.