St James' Anglican Church, Morpeth
St James' Anglican Church is a heritage-listed Anglican church precinct at 19 Tank Street, Morpeth, City of Maitland, New South Wales, Australia. The original design has been attributed to Edward Charles Close, with later additions by Edmund Blacket and John Horbury Hunt and built from 1837 to 1875 by E.C. Close and James Sherwood. The precinct also includes the St. James' rectory and parish hall (formerly schoolhouse). The property is vested in the Trustees of Church Property for the Diocese of Newcastle.It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 27 January 2017.
Morpeth, New South Wales
The river port grew steadily throughout the 1830s; St James's Church, Tank Street, was built from 1837 to 1840. It was partly designed by John Horbury Hunt and now has a Local Government Heritage listing. A major merchant at this time was James Taylor, who built a bond store circa 1850, located near the bridge and now heritage-listed. The town continued to expand. Morpeth Court House was built circa 1861 in a Greek Revival style; the police station followed in 1879. The construction of the Great Northern Railway in 1857, bypassing Morpeth, meant that Newcastle developed as the regional port. Morpeth became less significant commercially, but still survived as a township with its own history and heritage.