by Cathy Jones 2024
St. David’s Presbyterian Church (now known as Cornerstone Presbyterian Community Church) is located at 96a Barker Road (corner of Barker Road and Marion Street) Strathfield and was built in 1938. The Church is located on the 1841 Joseph Newton grant and was built on land measuring 60 x 231 feet.
The first Strathfield Presbyterian Church was built in 1921 at 90 Homebush Road Strathfield (corner Alviston Street). On 24 May 1938, a meeting was held at Strathfield Council Chambers to consider forming a new branch of the Presbyterian Church in the western Strathfield area[1]. At this time most of the western area of Strathfield remained undeveloped with mainly open paddocks with a smattering of houses. However as development would inevitably progress westward, there was the likelihood that with new and growing populations new members would support an additional Church in the Strathfield district[2].
The Presbyterian Church (NSW) Property Trust purchased Lot 14 DP 12714 in June 1928[3]. The land was subject to a covenant that required that erection of a building was valued at minimum £600 and was constructed in brick, stone or such material[4].
The architect George Bosanquet Gray, 375 George Street, Sydney, was engaged to prepare plans for the erection of a Presbyterian Church in Barker Road, Strathfield. Gray (d.1957) was a Sydney architect (based in Kingsford NSW) with significant experience in the design of Presbyterian churches as well as domestic architecture. His other church designs included (but not limited to) St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Maroubra[5] (1934), North Strathfield Presbyterian Church (1938), Camden Presbyterian Church[6] (1938), Castle Hill Presbyterian Church[7] (1939), Padstow Presbyterian Church (1953), Glenbrook Presbyterian Church (1953) and Taralga Presbyterian Church (1953).
An application was made to build a Church to Strathfield Council by the Trustees Presbyterian Church, Assembly Hall, Margaret Street, Sydney on August 16 1938. The application was for the construction of a brick Church at an estimated cost of £1200. The builder was R G Yale, 303 Maroubra Bay Rd, Maroubra.
St. David’s Presbyterian Church was opened on 17 September 1938 by the Rt. Rev. E Norman McKie.[8]
An application was approved in May 1941 for the erection of a school hall. This was constructed of wood and fibre and valued at £300[9]. A further application was made and approved in 1950 to construct a brick school hall of minimum six rooms. The construction estimated value was £4400 and the builder was J Cordukes of Strathfield[10]
St David’s is listed as a heritage item of Strathfield Council’s Local Environmental Plan. The Statement of Significance (from 1986 Fox & Associates Strathfield Heritage Study) states:
“This small brick church displays detailing of the period…Brick detailing can be seen to the gable ends, window heads, corbels above the entry and to the buttresses. An asymmetrical façade has a flat roof over the entry and a gable roof over the church. Internally the church appears to be intact with Oregon trusses and stained glass windows. The pews, lights and organ speakers were all built by the parishioners. St David’s is well maintained externally and internally and is of local significance for its architectural detail and as part of the late 1930s and 1940s development on the Strathlea and Strathlora Estates.”
References
Architects Roll of New South Wales for Year 1941. (1941, January 31). Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales (Sydney, NSW : 1901 – 2001), p. 492. Retrieved July 16, 2021, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article220094972
Business Opportunities (1923, July 4). Construction and Local Government Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1913 – 1930), p. 8. Retrieved July 18, 2021, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article109762443
Church Foundation Stone (1953, July 2). Nepean Times (Penrith, NSW : 1882 – 1962), p. 3. Retrieved March 7, 2024, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article100973271
Contracts Let. (1938, July 19). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954), p. 6. Retrieved July 16, 2021, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17496456
CONTRACTS LET. (1938, August 23). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954), p. 9. Retrieved March 7, 2024, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17495169
East, J. (2016), Checklist of Romanesque-Inspired Architecture in Australia Part 1: New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory
FOUNDATION STONE (1938, September 18). The Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1910 – 1954), p. 11 (NEWS SECTION). Retrieved April 22, 2023, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230804525
NEW CHURCH (1939, July 12). The Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate (Parramatta, NSW : 1888 – 1950), p. 11. Retrieved March 9, 2024, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article106198370
NEW CHURCH AT MAROUBRA. (1934, November 6). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954), p. 3. Retrieved March 7, 2024, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17130413
New Presbyterian Church at Camden. (1938, June 23). Camden News (NSW : 1895 – 1954), p. 1. Retrieved March 9, 2024, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article140594784
Opportunities for Business (1938, July 20). Construction (Sydney, NSW : 1938 – 1954), p. 20. Retrieved July 16, 2021, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article222852280
NSW Land Registry, Certificate of Title v.4942 f.205 and v.4071 f.94
St David’s Presbyterian Church West Strathfield: A fiftieth history, 1988
Strathfield Council, Building Registers Vol. 5 and Vol.6
Footnotes
[1] St David’s Presbyterian Church West Strathfield: A fiftieth history, 1988
[2] St David’s Presbyterian Church West Strathfield: A fiftieth history, 1988
[3] Certificate of Title v.4071 f.94
[4] Certificate of Title v.4942 f.205
[5] SMH 1934 November 6
[6] Camden News 1938
[7] Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate 1939
[8] The Sun 1938
[9] Strathfield Council Building Register Book 6, building application 82/1941
[10] Strathfield Council Building Register Book 7 building Application 337/1950
