All Saints Church is an Australian Anglican

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

in the Canberra suburb of Ainslie. The church is in the

Anglican Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn The Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn is one of the 23 dioceses of the Anglican Church of Australia. The diocese has 60 parishes covering most of south-east New South Wales, the eastern Riverina and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It st ...

Description

The original building (designed by the Colonial Architect,

James Barnet James Johnstone Barnet, (1827 in Almericlose, Arbroath, Scotland – 16 December 1904 in Forest Lodge, Sydney, New South Wales) was the Colonial Architect for Colonial New South Wales, serving from 1862 to 1890. Early life Born the son of a ...

) started as the First Mortuary station in

Rookwood Cemetery Rookwood Cemetery (officially named Rookwood Necropolis) is a heritage-listed cemetery in Rookwood, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest necropolis in the Southern Hemisphere and is the world's largest remaining operating ...

, Sydney, as noted on a plaque on the church: :"The stonework of this church was originally used to build the first mortuary station on the branch railway to the necropolis rookwood near Sydney. This plaque was presented by the Australian Railway Historical Society to commemorate the old station which was in use from 1868 to 1948." The railway line went underneath the main arch in the building, where the aisle is in the present church. The side aisles are where the platforms for the station were located. Coffins would be taken out on the railway line to the cemetery for burial. The roof of the building burned down in a fire. The Ainslie parish bought the stonework for £A100, and the stonework was transported to Canberra in 1957 where the current roof was built and work undertaken to turn it into the present church. In the process, the bell tower was moved from the left side of the entrance to the right. There are two stained-glass windows from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The east window is from St Clement's, Attercliffe, in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

. There is a second, smaller, window from St Margaret's Bagendon in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

. The church bell was originally on a Shay locomotive owned by the

Commonwealth Oil Corporation Commonwealth Oil Corporation Limited was an English-owned Australian company associated with the production and refining of petroleum products derived from oil shale, during the early years of the 20th century. It is associated with Newnes, Hartley ...

that ran on the former

Wolgan Valley Railway The Newnes railway line (also called Wolgan Valley Railway) is a closed and dismantled railway line in New South Wales, Australia. The line ran for from the Main Western line to the township of Newnes. Along the way, it passed through a tunn ...

in the Blue Mountains, before being dismantled in 1925. The bell was presented to the church by the

Australian Railway Historical Society The Australian Railway Historical Society (ARHS) aims to foster an interest in the railways, and record and preserve many facets of railway operations. It had divisions in every state and the Australian Capital Territory, although the ACT divis ...

in 1958. A stone on the church was set by the High Commissioner for the United Kingdom, Lord Carrington, to mark the blessing of the church on 1 June 1958. The church contains a rare 1857 Bishop and Starr pipe organ, installed in 1989–90 after being transferred from Wealdstone Baptist Church in Harrow, England. All Saints maintains a traditional choir, with a weekly sung Solemn Eucharist and a monthly Evensong from April to September. At the east end of the church is a garden and

columbarium A columbarium (; pl. columbaria) is a structure for the reverential and usually public storage of funerary urns, holding cremated remains of the deceased. The term can also mean the nesting boxes of pigeons. The term comes from the Latin "''colu ...

. The church has several stained glass windows, and gargoyle sculptures on the outside of the building. On the inside stonework are two carved angels. It has two side chapels located on opposite sides of the chancel, one dedicated to the Virgin Mary and the other after

Gethsemane Gethsemane () is a garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem where, according to the four Gospels of the New Testament, Jesus underwent the agony in the garden and was arrested before his crucifixion. It is a place of great resona ...

Heritage list

The church was added to the

Australian Capital Territory Heritage Register The Australian Capital Territory Heritage Register, also known as the Heritage Register ACT was established by the ''Heritage Act 2004'' (Heritage Act) to empower the ACT Heritage Council to record and preserve places and objects within the Austra ...

on 14 September 2000.

Rectors

*Edward Gilbert Buckle, 1959-62. Buckle was later the Assistant Bishop of Auckland. *Francis Robert Woodwell, 1963-66. Woodwell was later Archdeacon of Tumut. *

Neville James Chynoweth Neville James Chynoweth (3 October 1922 – 11 August 2011) was the seventh Bishop of Gippsland from 1980 to 1987. Chynoweth was educated at Manly High School, Moore Theological College (ThL (Hons) in 1949 and a BD in 1969) and the University ...

, 1966-71. Chynoweth was later Bishop of Gippsland. *James Lewis Tregea, 1971-80. * Ronald Earl Moon, 1980-87. Moon was later Dean of Goulburn. *Dennis Arnold Vanderwolf, 1987-98. Wanderwolf was later Dean of Darwin. * Anthony John Parkes, 1998-2004. Parkes was later Bishop of Wangaratta. * Sarah Anne Macneil, 2004-09. Macneil was later Bishop of Grafton. *Michael Faragher, 2009-14. *Lynda McMinn, 2015-current.

Gallery

RookwoodStation.jpg, The Mortuary Station in Rookwood Cemetery State Rail Authority of New South Wales Archives Section, ''How & Why of Station Names: meanings and origins...'', Second Edition, 1982, State Rail Authority of New South Wales, inside back cover Plaque stonework ainslie church ACT.jpg, Stone set on the blessing of the church in 1958 Plaque stonework ainslie church ACT 2.jpg, Plaque on the church

References

External links