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St Marks Church: A Mission That Started Over 150 Years Ago
- Categorised in: History
This article was written by Akita Olsen.
Looking for a new place for an afternoon picnic?
St Marks Church, or "the Old Picton Church", is the second oldest church in Western Australia. The story starts in July 1840 when an American Whaling ship called the Samuel Wright was wrecked in Koombana Bay, Bunbury (by the way, did you know that there are 29 recorded shipwrecks in Koombana Bay?).
The skipper of the Samuel Wright, Captain Coffin, salvaged some of the timber from the ship and used it to build a cottage in Picton. Two years later, in 1842, the cottage was then purchased by the Reverend John Ramsden Wollaston and his family, who had just arrived in the area.
Reverend Wollaston had arrived with the intention of becoming the chaplain at Australind, but upon arrival he was told that there were no funds to build a church, nowhere to stay, and that his salary would not be paid until he had a church. He was over 50 at the time, but with the help of his sons and the local farmers, he worked as hard and as fast as possible to transform the cottage into a church. It was made from pit sawn timber, wattle and daub walls with rushes for the roof - which ended up costing around 129 pounds.
Although there has been various restorational work done to the building and grounds since then, the church is nearly exactly the same. It was extensively restored in 1942 but the character has been retained. The churchyard contains a graveyard, where many of Bunbury's more famous pioneers including William and Margaret Forrest (the parents of John and Alexander Forrest), Henry and Susannah King (who built King's Cottage), and John and Helen Scott (who were some of the area's earliest settlers).
From the Hyett collection (date unknown)
Recently I visited the church, and when I walked inside it felt very small, and I tried to imagine it having many people fill up the building. On the church's opening day there were about a hundred settlers present. Reverand Wollaston is quoted as saying "On September 18th 1842 occured the most important event of my life... the opening of the new church... the first testimony for God and His church in this district".
The St Mark's Church is set amongst a lovely park/setting in the Picton area, off Flynn Street in Bunbury. It is surrounded by huge trees with a beautiful park and lake with ducks. You can wander through the graveyard, or if you want to have a picnic at the area - there are outside toilets, seats within the park, bins and plenty of parking.
Services are still held in the church each Sunday from 8am.
st marks is one of the nicest church i've every been to.
St Marks Church is an awesome place, I have learnt alot aobut it just by going there.
St. Marks is a lovely church, where i go to feel at peace.
My mum and dad got married next to the lake at the bottom of that hill in the pic above and im doing a project on St. Marks so i was wondering what types of cultures do the people buried com from?
My gggrandfather is buried some in the grave yard no head stone his name is George Robert Payne he arrived too Australind in 1841 and then settled on th Capel river with his wife Julia Payne (nee) Horne
John Ramsden was my great great great Grandfather. I am trying to collect all information concerning my family the Wollaston's. Any help would be of great help. Thank you. Kathy
he was my great great great great grandfather.if you want to find out any thing my uncle kevin parker knows a bit about the family as his mum was a wollaston and he has been reseaching the family.kevin lives in port lincoln
many of my gibson relatives are buried in this church site
My ggg grandmother Anne Iles married her second husband here. He was John Stallard. She worked as a nurse at Bunbury Hospital.
Her son and daughter in law William and Emily Iles lived at Roelands with two daughters Annie and Alice.
If anyone has any information about any of them I would love to get in touch to discuss and share what I have.
Jack Scott married Dolly Cross and my mother was Dorothy Dean. George Scott of Elgin my great uncle, and he paid mosdt of the money for the John and Helen memorial stone next to the war memorial. Arthur Major grandfather of Gerald and Delice Constitution Street was responsible to take the old hand carved head boards down and then arrange the stone ones. The old ones were left to rot. I found John and Helens and it was at Harry's in Mangles street for years! +Ralph was responsible for much of the CofE funds to retsore it I believe. John and Helens house was on the Preston River - right side track, Bunbury side of the bridge near Herb Dennings, so other side of Roes Moorelands.
My great great great grandmother Eliza Pead and her baby daughter Fanny are buried in St Marks churchyard. It is a very special place for me. She arrived in Leschenault on the Barque Diadem in 1841. Before her death she lived with her husband William and 3 small sons in Pead Cottage Myalup. William was a carpenter and helped build the church. If anyone has any information about them please let me know.