St Aidan's Anglican Church Blackheath

The Parish of Blackheath
St Aidan’s Rectory and Church

The original rectory of Blackheath, is still standing on the corner of Hat Hill Road and Wentworth Street, was built very early in the 1880s and services were held in the large front room. In 1884, the central section of St Aidan’s was erected and consecrated, financed in part by the efforts of Rev Edward Symonds, the Curate-in-Charge. There was a period of quiet struggle until the mid-nineties when the village started to grow with the development of the area as a holiday centre. The north aisle was added a few years later and the south aisle shortly after that. Truly a prime example of Australian ‘additive’ building, yet it produced a quaint, picturesque design, with some beautiful carved oak furnishings and a lively little pipe organ. The completed additions were dedicated on 6 December 1902, by the Rt Rev W Saumarez Smith, the carved oak pulpit being dedicated as a memorial on the occasion.
     Since the 1880s, St Aidans has remained a centre of faith and witness served by a succession of six curates-in-charge, followed by 25 Rectors and Acting Rectors. As far as can be seen, the Sunday School has functioned with few interruptions since before the turn of the 19th century.
     The congregational numbers have had many ups and downs, often reflecting the fluctuating fortunes of Blackheath. It may surprise present residents of Blackheath to know that, in the 1930s, the population of Blackheath varied, winter to summer, by a ratio of more than three to one. A good commentary on these leaner periods is given in a Parish Paper of 1959 by the Rev A R A Freeman.
     In 1912 the Conventional District of Blackheath with Medlow Bath was raised to the status of ‘the Parish of Blackheath with Medlow Bath’. This continued until 1966 when the Parish of Mount Victoria was divided so that Hartley and Hampton went to the Parish of Littleton and Mount Victoria and Mount Wilson/Mount Irvine joined Blackheath.
     The present hall was built in 1959 and owes its church-like design to the virtual re-use of the plans of the Anglican Church at Hazelbrook.
     Due to the state of repair of the old Rectory, a decision was taken in 1975 to sell it and build a new one of brick alongside.
     In 2004 the little church at Medlow Bath was closed and the church at Hampton seconded to the nearby parish of Oberon.

(Adapted from ‘A Hundred Years of Worship 1884-1984’ written by Lewis Hodgkinson for the Centenary of St Aidan’s)

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