Saturday, September 06, 2008

Wee old churches

(My favourite Woy Woy churches)

It pissed down all yesterday and rained out my walkies. Below is a post I've been meaning to put up for a while. I like the shape of wee old churches. These ones are all on Blackwall Road, going away from the station in the order they are here. (Map)

Seventh Day Adventist Church Blackwall Road Woy Woy

Seventh Day Adventist Church Blackwall Road Woy Woy. It's set back from the road a bit and easy to miss. Locals, it's between KFC and the optometrist near Westpac.


Seventh Day Adventist Church Blackwall Road Woy Woy

It has a lovely door.


St John the Baptist, Blackwall Road Woy Woy

St John the Baptist, Blackwall Road Woy Woy. On the roundabout near the Roosters and the Thai restaurant.

It used to have a couple of lovely shady trees out the front but they went. Then some silly bugger has built a giant silver cake across the road.

There's units round it now. Rather nice units actually. In sympathy with the old brick and flat arches of the church. Before the units there was some old school buildings.


St John the Baptist, Blackwall Road Woy Woy

Old St John's also has a lovely door.


St David's Blackwall Road Woy Woy

St David's Blackwall Road Woy Woy

Very plain inside but a charming exterior. If you look on the left edge of the picture, just above the fence, you can see more units being built behind the church. They're finished now. Units for Dear Old Things.


St Luke's Blackwall Road Woy Woy

St Luke's Blackwall Road Woy Woy

St Luke's Blackwall Road Woy Woy, now the Woy Woy Environment Centre. My favourite. Built in 1908, a stripped-down version of Carpenter Goth. The style is circa 1840 - circa 1890 but it can be years between the plans being drawn up and the building actually starting.


Wee old churches of Blackwall Road Woy Woy

The green dots are the wee old churches.

From the top they are:
Seventh Day Adventist
Old St John's (twin dots, upper, lower dot is the giant silver cake)
St David's
St Luke's, now the Woy Woy Environment Centre

I rambled on a bit about wee old wooden churches a bit in 2005.

The red line of dots is the old WWII emergency airstrip.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was baptised at St Lukes but I dont know if it was at this one or the St Lukes thats just past the primary school in blackwall road

Spike said...

St David's is just past the primary school, the blue school, on the same side of the road. But I've got a feeling it was St Luke's for a while. Don't quote me on that but, my tempeture's going up again.

Jimmy Little said...

My memory is that St Lukes was originally the tiny little wooden thing way up Blackwall Road (my brother was baptised there in the early 1960's); the replacement (brick — woohoo!) CofE church further down (up) Blackwall Road (built in the early-mid 1960's) was also named St Lukes (and the old church was left to become a sad and unconvincing series of coffee shops or whatever...).

Anonymous said...

the st lukes I was talking about is the Jimmy little mentioned just past the primary school on the opposite side to the school next door to a little op shop

Jimmy Little said...

I just had to look this up :-). There's a St Lukes website (of course!) here that mentions that the new St Lukes opened in 1975, which is about a decade later than I remember. Oh well. And check out the St Lukes slogan here:
'If you love to eat, this is the Parish for you!'. Right ho! Doncha just love 'em :-).

Anonymous said...

I mustve been baptised in the old church then if it opened in 75 I was baptised in 1970

Spike said...

the replacement (brick — woohoo!) CofE church further down (up) Blackwall Road (built in the early-mid 1960's) was also named St Lukes

Jimmy, you're right. That brick job is so boring I'd forgotten the bastard even existed!

Michael, you picked a lovely old church to get baptised in.

The pair of you, interesting info, thank yer.