St Jude's Church, Randwick

St Jude's Church

St Jude's Church is an Anglican church in Randwick, a suburb of Sydney, Australia. It is part of a significant heritage group that includes the church, cemetery, rectory and original Randwick Borough Chambers, later converted to church use. The group is located on Avoca Street, Randwick, and has a federal heritage listing.^[1]

History

The existing church was built to replace a smaller church/school building that had been built in 1857 on what was later to be the site of Randwick Post Office. The new church was designed by Edmund Blacket along the lines of St John's Church at Randwick, Gloucester. The new Blacket church was completed in 1865, but was modified significantly by H.M.Robinson, whose alterations were carried out in 1889.

The church cemetery is located west of the church. It was established in 1843, before the church was built. It has a federal heritage listing.

Immediately south of the church is the rectory, a two-storey stone house built in 1870. Immediately north of the church is the original Randwick Borough Chambers, a two-storey sandstone building designed by Thomas Rowe. It was built in 1862 and features Gothic detailing that includes a carved stone head over the front door. It was later acquired by the church to be used as the verger's residence, to be later converted to the St Jude's Parish Centre. Immediately north of the Parish Centre is the School Hall, which is not heritage-listed.

A notable internee was judge, politician and chancellor of Sydney University, William Montagu Manning, who was buried at St Jude's in 1895. Another was Archibald Mosman, after whom the suburb of Mosman was named. His grave is maintained by the Municipality of Mosman.

St Jude's has one of the oldest English-style "full circle ringing" bell-towers in Australia^[2] Its current ring is of eight bells founded by John Taylor Bellfounders in 2000 with a tenor of 14 hundredweight.^[3] The ringers are affiliated with The Australian and New Zealand Association of Bellringers and have been active since and 1864.^[4]

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  St Jude's Rectory

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  Former Borough Chambers, later acquired by St Jude's

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  Grave of William Montagu Manning

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  Grave of Archibald Mosman

References

1. The Heritage of Australia, Macmillan Company, 1981, p.2/60
2. "The Six Ringing Towers of Sydney". The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954) (NSW). 4 February 1947. p. 2. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
3. Chester, Mike (2006). "Randwick: S Jude". Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
4. "RANDWICK, ST JUDE'S". ANZAB Tower Directory. Australian and New Zealand Association of Bellringers. Retrieved 5 April 2014.

Coordinates: 33°54′43″S 151°14′33″E / 33.9119°S 151.2424°E