Old St Phillip’s, Church Hillundated

St Phillip’s at Church Hill, with its distinctive, almost 50-foot high (15 metre) crenelated tower, stood near Lang Park from 1810 to 1856. Scots Church, seen in the background of this painting, was built in 1827.

This was the second St Phillip’s to be built in Sydney. The original St Phillip’s (the first church built in Australia), was a simple wattle and daub construction built five years after the arrival of the First Fleet, in 1793. It lasted only five years before being burnt down by convicts.

Governor Hunter laid the foundation stone for the second church in 1800, but the building was not consecrated until Christmas Day 1810.