Carnamah's Church Hall of Saint George

Thanks to Rev. Father Ted Doncaster we have received two photographs of Saint George's Church Hall in Carnamah, which he took in May 1953. The hall was the first dedicated place of Anglican worship in Carnamah. It was located on the corner of Niven Crescent and Lang Street - further back but on the same land as the present-day Church of the Holy Apostles.

Lot 20, a portion of Lot M1354 of Victoria Location 1936, had been given by Mrs Annie Niven of Carnamah as a church site in 1931-32 and the adjacent Lot 21 was purchased in 1936.

A Grand New Year's Ball was held at the end of 1935 to raise funds for a building and it was an outstanding success with many visitors from Three Springs, Winchester, Waddy Forest and Coorow. The money raised at the ball was extended with public subscriptions and an interest free loan of £170 from the Diocesan Council.

The North Midland Times newspaper, 8 November 1935

The weatherboard, asbestos and iron roofed hall was built on the land and licensed by Archbishop Le Fanu on 7 April 1936. The building was lined on the inside only to dado height (sufficient to protect the walls from chairs) and had no ceiling. The altar had formerly been the altar of Saint Alban's in the Perth suburb of Highgate. In 1938 a living room was added for the use of the Rector.

When the Church of the Holy Apostles was built in 1964 it became the parish hall until it was demolished in about 1973.

Our thanks to Father Ted for filling gaps in our information on the hall and for lending us his negatives before they join the rest of his private archive within the collection of the State Library of Western Australia.

We depend on the public sharing their photographs with us. If you have any taken in Carnamah we'd love to borrow them, take high-quality digital copies and return them. Jill Tilly in Carnamah or Andrew S. Bowman in Perth can collect and drop them back to you. Please e-mail mail@carnamah.com.au or call 0457 911 984 if you can help.