A history of the Church

Anglican ministry to the Central West began in Carcoar in 1845. The first Rector made periodic visits to other centres. The first service for Anglicans in Orange (then Blackmans Swamp) was in 1846 at the Five Ways where the Congregational (now Uniting) church stands. Orange was proclaimed a village that year.

In June 1851, The Reverend Philip Agnew (Chaplain to Bishop Broughton of Sydney) officiated under a tree in the encampment at Ophir which was attended by 500 people. Between 1851 and 1855 he maintained a monthly ministry to Orange.

In October 1855 Bishop Barker of Sydney, confirmed a number of people in the Orange Court House. A plaque commemorating his visit can be found on the verandah of the old Court House. It was reported that year that there were 1200 members of the Church of England in Orange.

A public meeting decided that the house be built forthwith for a resident clergyman and a Building Committee was appointed. The first Rectory was built in 1856, a timber residence next to what is now called the Bluestone Hall. The present Rectory dates from about 1865 and is one of the oldest continually inhabited residences in Orange.

The second-storey balcony was added after 1909. A shingle roof can be found underneath the corrugated iron roof!