Located on Flynn Street in Bunbury’s suburb of Wollaston is the nationally significant St Mark’s Anglican Church.
Also affectionately known as the old Picton church, this small, weatherboard building with a sheoak shingle roof is surrounded by the graves of many pioneers.
The architect, co-builder and pastor, Reverend John Ramsden Wollaston celebrated its opening with a congregation of approximately 100 parishioners on September 18, 1842.
Wollaston’s diary entry on the September 20, 1842 reads: “On Sunday last the 18th instant occurred the most important event of my life - the opening of my new church”.
Originally, the cruciform construction consisted of wattle and daub walls using pit-sawn timber.
The thatched roof of reeds and sedges were obtained from the estuary.
Remarkably, the church opened debt free, the total cost being £129.1.10.
This historic landmark is a contemporary tourist magnet.
Its existence is entirely due to the convictions and hard labour of the Wollaston family.
John was born in London March 28, 1791. He was ordained a priest in 1815 and married in 1819.
He ministered in English parishes until the British Government offered him the position of Colonial Chaplain.
Subsequently, Reverend Wollaston, his wife Mary, three sons and two daughters emigrated.
He celebrated his 50th birthday on the Henry before arriving at the Swan River Colony on April 20, 1841.
When advised that his £100 stipend would not be paid until a place of worship was constructed, Reverend Wollaston transported his family and chattels down to the Leschenault Inlet.
He purchased an established property from Captain FC Coffin, former commander of the American whaleboat Samuel Wright that had sunk during a July storm in 1840.
Wollaston named his property ‘Charterhouse’ in memory of his former school.
In need of his promised stipend, on February 28, 1841, Reverend Wollaston wrote: “I must endeavour to raise the building as soon as possible. My neighbours are very liberal in assisting me all they can, but much labour and expense must fall to my share”.
On the May 10, 1842, Reverend Wollaston diarised: “My church is at last begun”.
It took four months to complete.
Situated in the beautiful Preston River meadowland, this sacred space offered our pioneers a place to worship and bury their dead.
When Reverend Wollaston transferred to Albany he gifted his church to Anglican Trustees.
He was elevated from Colonial Chaplain at Bunbury (1841-1848) to the first Archdeacon in Western Australia.
He died in Albany in 1856 aged 65.
Over the decades, preservation of this iconic sanctuary was due to the actions of Reverend Arnold Fryer (1936), Bishop Warwick Bastion (1952) and Reverend Reg Hodge (1969).
St Mark’s is now in the care of the Carey Park Parish.
It continues to offer a timeless ambiance that directly connects us to our colonial past.
This article was prepared by the Bunbury Historical Society to acknowledge the 176th Anniversary of the Opening of Wollaston’s Church, September 18, 1842.
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