ST MARKS CHURCH
A MISSION THAT STARTED OVER 160 YEARS AGO
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.
