The Buildings

St John the Evangelist Church 1899-1915 

The town of Collie was proclaimed on the 13 December 1897. The first Anglican Church in Collie was a small wooden building known as St John the Evangelist Church. This was built in 1899 and licensed for public worship in April 1900. However, it was not long before the parishioners realised that their small church was not going to hold the ever-increasing congregation, so they began to raise funds for a new, larger building. 

In 1912 the Bishop of Bunbury, The Right Reverend Frederick Goldsmith had gone to England to ask for financial assistance for the struggling parishes in his Diocese.
Mrs Nora Noyes answered this call and asked that the new church be built in a mining town to honour the interests of her late husband Colonel Arthur Noyes. Mrs Noyes asked that the Collie congregation purchase the land for the building and then furnish the building. The Collie parish gratefully accepted her generous offer. 

St John's was moved next door to make way for the new church and was used as the Church Hall until it burnt down in 1932. 

 All Saints Anglican Church 1915

The Foundation Stone for the new Church was laid by His Excellency Sir Harry Barron on the 15 May 1915. The Collie Mail newspaper reported in full the Foundation Stone Ceremony and gave the Church a copy of the article in gold lettering. A framed copy of this newspaper article can still be found in the Collie Church. The Collie Mail article is available here

The Architects were Messrs. Eales and Cohen from Perth. All Saints Anglican Church is a red brick church with a Marseilles tile roof in Romanesque style. As such the Church has a semi-circular Apse projecting eastward, a Dome over the High Altar and a Campanile (tall bell tower) which was completed in 1928. The external walls combine red brickwork with stucco render forming a number of intricate patterns. The Church is 23.47 metres long and 8.534 metres wide with seating for over 200 people. The nine different types of bricks were commissioned from brickworks in Armadale Western Australia. 

Mrs Noyes had specifically asked for the best available Western Australian craftsmen be involved in the building. The altar, altar rails, lectern, pulpit, pews and flooring were all made of polished jarrah. The ceiling was made of dark stained jarrah. The original windows were green glass set in leadlight. The estimated cost of the building was 2 000 Pounds. All Saints Church was consecrated on the 3rd November 1915 by Bishop Goldsmith. The first Rector of the Church was Revd. Canon Burns.