St Paul's Anglican Church, Carlingford
St Paul's Anglican Church is a heritage-listed former Anglican church building and former bookshop at 346 Marsden Road, Carlingford, City of Parramatta, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is also known as St Paul's Church of England and The Old Church Bookshop. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999. History On 4 February 1847 William Mobbs donated of land for an Anglican church bounded on the north by Marsden Road. The land was conveyed to Reverend George Edward Weaver Turner, then the incumbent of St. Anne's Church at Ryde. Mobbs had inherited of land at Carlingford from his father, also called William Mobbs. Mobbs' gift was intended to provide not only a site for a church but also a burial ground adjacent to the church. Unfortunately, the nature of the shale foundation close to the surface of the ground made it unsuitable for grave digging. William Mobbs then made a further gift of o from the family land closer to his own home, "Stonehaven", and on the north of Marsden Road; access to the burial ground being made by a lane leading from Marsden Road. This explains why the cemetery of St Paul's Church is so far from the building itself. William Mobbs himself was first person laid to rest in the cemetery on 14 July 1851. The church was opened and consecrated by the Rt. Rev. William Broughton on 4 July 1850. An unusual aspect of the church opening was that the building had been entirely paid for when it was completed. This allowed for the consecration of the church at opening, as this cannot take place until all debts have been cleared. The Sydney Morning Herald observed at the opening of the church: "It was truly a delightful sensation of surprise with which we behalf the beautiful little church which has been so unostentatiously raised in the wilderness and of which we had scarcely heard before its consecration was announced. The whole of the chancel fittings and communion service were provided by a few friends of the incumbent (Rev Turner), through the kindness and zeal of Mr. Acton Sillitoe, who, on hearing that there was a lack of means to bring the building to a state of completion, collected in a few days upwards of 35 ponds". "The Font was presented by Mr. Charles Moore, of the Botanic Gardens, (a well known figure in our history), and a handsome set of books was presented by the Bishop from the Society for the promotion of Christian knowledge. It is highly creditable to the Trustees that, unlike most of our newly erected churches, this building is entirely debt free". The masonry work was carried out by Richard Marshall, who quarried and dressed the stone on his own property near Jenkins Road, Carlingford. The Rev. Turner continued as incumbent of Carlingford until 1860. The Parish was a large one when Rev. Robert Taylor became rector in 1860 of St Paul's Castle Hill, St