Construction started on St. Stephen the Martyr Anglican
Church in High St., Penrith in August 1837 with the foundation stone
laid on 22nd November 1837 by William Grant Broughton, the
Bishop of Australia.
Prior to its construction, religious services were held in the
Penrith Court House. Mr. John Tindale provided the impetus for
construction by giving the land upon which the church stands, the good
people of Penrith having donated £450, tenders were called in the Sydney
Herald for persons willing to "Contract for the Stone, Brick
and Carpenter's Work, and also the Plastering of the Church to be
erected at Penrith"
The contract was awarded to James Atkinson of Mulgoa, who it is
reported, turned up at a parish meeting with a written tender of
£1,389 and a suggested amendment for the vestry.
The Gothic style building was completed in 1839, being built of
Flemish bond brickwork with stone trims and a shingle roof.
The main body is 36 feet x 58 feet and the 3 story tower is 18 feet x 14
feet x 42 feet high. It houses the vestry and a bell, inscribed
"Penrith 1838"
The church was consecrated on Tuesday 16th July, 1839.
Reverend Henry Fulton
was the first clergyman. It
appears that pews were rented at this time as it has been recorded that
in 1839, pew rents from parishioners totalled £76.
The records show the first baptism was that of Susannah Jackson on 6th
October, 1839 and the first marriage was celebrated between Josiah
Workman and Elizabeth Ogden on the 14th October, 1839
The church exterior was renovated in 1906 when the walls were
cemented and the shingle roof replaced by fibrous cement tiles.
The clock was added as a memorial to the memory of Frederick Charles
Higgins and his wife Florence Ethel Higgins by their daughters.
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