Built on Burke Road on a rise between the busy shopping strips that make up the Camberwell Junction and the grand catholic Our Lady of Victories Basilica, stands the striking Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist Church of England.
Almost since the beginning of 1863, Church of England Services have taken place on the site where Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist Church of England stands. In 1863, Camberwell was not the affluent and well established inner city Melbournian suburb that it is today; rather it was a small rural outpost of Melbourne. Therefore the first church, known simply as the Church of England at Camberwell, was little more than a small Victorian Gothic church of brick and stone. However Camberwell, like most of Melbourne, grew as a result of the Gold Rushes and by 1869 an additional chancel had been completed to make allowances for a congregation of around 200 people. As Camberwell's citizenry swelled in number and wealth, so too did their places of worship, and by 1887 Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist Church of England was enlarged and added to. There was no shortage of money, as by this time Camberwell was the home of wealthy industrialists, businessmen and pastoralists as well as a backbone of respectable middle class white collar workers, so the church's windows were filled with elegant and costly stained glass from companies like Mathieson and Gibson, Brooks, Robinson and Company and artists like William Montgomery. Further additions were made on the cusp of the Great War in 1914, and finally a towering spire was added after the War in 1924. In 1930 three stained glass windows by Australian husband and wife artists Christian and Napier Waller featuring the Apotheosis of David were added.
By the outbreak of the Second World War, Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist Church of England was an enormous brick an sandstone Victorian Gothic edifice, recognised as a local landmark, and a source of great pride for its wealthy and respectable congregation. Seating over 800 people, it continued to be a place of worship and many happy occasions until the night of the 18th of March 1955, when as a result of an arson attack, the grand building was destroyed by fire. Only the bell tower and spire survived, standing defiantly against the odds, pointing to the heavens.
Devastated by the arson attack, the congregation of the church rallied and engaged successful ecclesiastical architect Louis Williams to design a new Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist Church of England. The foundation stone for the new church was laid by the then Archbishop of Melbourne, The Most Reverend J. J. Booth on the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels on the 29th of September 1956. Rising like a phoenix from the ashes, the new Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist Church of England was completed within two years, finished in November 1957. Sadly, it was discovered several years after its completion, that the belfry and tower of the old Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist Church of England were seriously damaged by the heat of the 1955 fire. Constructionally compromised and therefore a danger not only to the congregation, but any passerby on busy Burke Road should the tower and spire fall into the thoroughfare, the remnants of the old church had to be demolished.
The current Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist Church of England building is architecturally very striking. The vast red brick facade rises vertically towards the sky with very little external decoration and is a fine example of Post-War Ecclesiastical architecture. In the wake of the Second World War, faced with austerity and building material shortages as well as the decimation of a workforce skilled enough to architecturally enhance revivalist buildings, architects had to re-think their designs to please their conservative clients who did not want the flat-roofed, glass encrusted boxes that were in vogue in architecturally avant-garde post-war America. Their answer was that between 1940 and 1960, they designed simplified versions of medieval churches. This link back to the more peaceful past, whilst managing the current difficulties of labour and building supplies worked beautifully. Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist Church of England is an ultra-stripped back, simplified version of a Romanesque church. It maintains a traditional rectangular shape, features a traditional pyramidal roof and has aisles that flank the central nave. Its front facade has a post-war Art Deco feel, particularly around the front porch which has elegant brick detailing and a very stylised Art Deco sandstone eagle - an attribute of Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist - above the door. This link to the past is enhanced by the two Old English Gothic style wrought iron lamps that flank the portico's outer doors. A traditional Gothic window with simplified sandstone tracery appears on the facade and is imbedded into a rounded arch which is more shallow than pre-war examples. The church's slender lancet windows have semicircular heads and feature for the most part, latticed plain glass. This allows the church's interior to be flooded with natural light even on a cloudy afternoon, such as the one when I visited Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist Church of England. Some describe the building as elegant, others austere, but the general consensus is that it is one of Louis William's finest architectural works from his very large output of work.
Inside the light filled church, the use of stained glass is at a minimum, yet there are three examples which are a throwback to Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist Church of England's glorious stained glass past. When the arsonist attack in 1955 raised the church, so many magnificent, historical and valuable stained glass windows were lost to the conflagration including the three stained glass windows by Australian husband and wife artists Christian and Napier Waller of the Apotheosis of David (shepherd, king and builder) installed in 1930. As part of the church's re-building, Napier Waller (Christian had died by 1955) was commissioned to create three new stained glass windows in memory of those from Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist Church of England who served in the two World Wars. Saint Columba, Saint Alban and Saint Aidan were unveiled in 1961. Installed to the left of the narthex, the three windows are set into their own bay with Saint Columbia on the left, Saint Alban in the middle and Saint Aidan on the right. Designed in post-war Art Deco style, Saint Columbia has an inscription which comes from Psalm 107:23 "They do business in the great waters", Saint Alban has an inscription from Psalm 76:8 "The earth trembled and was still" and Saint Aidan has an inscription from Psalm 18:10 "He did fly upon the wings of the wind".
Louis Reginald Williams (1890 – 1980) was born in Hobart, Tasmania and attended school at Queen’s College. His father was a furniture manufacturer, and the family was very religious. Louis’ interest in churches guided him into choosing a career in architecture. He was trained by architect Alexander North, with whom Louis eventually formed a joint partnership when they moved to mainland Australia and set up an architectural firm, Williams and North, in Little Collins Street in Melbourne. Although Louis was commissioned to design commercial buildings and houses, it is for his ecclesiastical buildings that he is best known. He worked mostly in either traditional Gothic or Arts and Crafts styles. Not only was he concerned about the exteriors of his churches, but the interiors as well, and he maintained a group of skilled craftsmen whom he trusted to create his designs for furniture and fittings to harmonise with the buildings he created. He also advised on stained glass, lighting and even mosaic tiling, and no detail was too small for Louis. He designed churches throughout Australia for the Church of England, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Methodists and the Christian Scientists. His career lasted for nearly sixty-five years until he was in his mid eighties.
