150 year old church faces demolition

on Jan4 2010.. by Reader | Print the article

I would like to bring to your attention the recent decision by the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle to demolish the 150year old St Clements Church located at Camberwell via Singleton.

In March 2008 an arsonist broke into the building and caused extensive damage to the interior. Some of the furniture and effects were saved and have been restored by the generosity of many people in the Singleton Area.

Since the fire in 2008 the Anglican Church delayed the final decision – until just before Christmas when it broke the news to the elderly parishioners. I must add at this point, that a structural engineer found the exterior of the building sound, bar some roof restorations which are relatively minor.

Also, a decision is that the "rising damp" issue has to be fixed prior to the commencement of the new works. They expect the parishioners to fund the rising damp repairs. There is some question as to whether they are necessary.

The insurance company has now paid out on the claim, $375,000 on a building that was insured for $1.7million. This money sits in a bank account in Newcastle, and "will be used somewhere in the Singleton Parish."

Aside from the religious aspects of this building, it is too beautiful to be destroyed. Historically, the parish registers survived the fire, and provide an irreplaceable insight in the the construction and planning, and subsequent events for the past 153 years. It also details the life of the village of Camberwell which it has served for the same number of years.

A public meeting will be held on 16 January 2010 at 10am at Singleton Bowling Club (Club Singleton), 50 Pitt street Singleton.

I would urge anyone from Singleton and the surrounding districts to attend. We will need all the voices we can muster to change the church’s decision.

Thank you
Janene Smith

More information at www.stclements.info

Reader is the author | Email this author | All posts by Reader | Topic: Camberwell, Letters, Meeting | Tags: None

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