Anglican Church Uraidla

Text: Karen Agutter

Image: SLSA B 24340

This substantial stone church was based on a design by WK Mallyon of Port Pirie and built at a cost of £400 by Thomas Burnett. The 14 x 14 foot chancel, 14 x 7 foot transept and 28 x 20 foot nave meant that the church was capable of seating up to 200 people. The building also housed seven stained glass windows, an altar, lectern and prayer desk, all made of tulip wood, were manufactured by Mr Roads of Yankalilla (South Australian Chronicle, 31 Dec 1892, p. 9). The Chronicle went on to say that the church’s prominent position on the side of the hill ‘greatly improves the appearance of the town’.

The Anglican Church in Uraidla was consecrated by the Bishop of Adelaide on Monday, December 26, 1892. According to the Adelaide Advertiser (29 Dec 1892, p. 7) the Bishop ‘delivered an impressive address, renewing the story of the life and martyrdom of St. Stephen, to whose memory the church was dedicated.’

During the 1930s and 40s regular fund raises were held in aid of the church and the community it served including regular bridge evenings (The Mount Barker Courier and Onkaparinga and Gumeracha Advertiser, 21 Jul 1938, p. 1) and an ‘Australian tea’ which was organised by residents including the Wotton and Elborough families. (The Mount Barker Courier and Onkaparinga and Gumeracha Advertiser, 18 Apr 1940, p. 8)

Today the Church is home to the Lost in a Forrest restaurant.

Do you have memories of this church and the community it served? Contact us at mldhsgateways@mtloftyhistoricalsociety.org.au or drop into the History Centre at the Coventry Library, 63 Mount Barker Road, Stirling.