ST JOHN’S ANGLICAN CHURCH

St John’s Anglican Church sits by Church Road on the hill overlooking the centre of Walhalla. It has a simple attractive interior, and outside there is a plaque giving a brief history which reads:

The Rev. W. H. Cooper conducted Church of England services on the Stringer’s Creek Goldfields as early as 1866.

In 1872 land was acquired for a permanent place of worship. Considerable fundraising then followed to finance the construction of a building. In 1873 Peter Tainsh completed the church which was opened on April 6th of the same year by Bishop Perry. The Rev. A. Brown was appointed its first resident minister.

Due to the decline of the town’s population, the original church was relocated to Wonthaggi in 1918. The current smaller church was built from materials from the dismantled vicarage soon after, and was opened in 1919.