PICTURESQUE piece of Armidale history may have a brighter future, thanks to the efforts of local volunteers.
The Perrott Chapel – St John’s Anglican Church Kellys Plains which in 2008 was gifted to The Armidale School by the Perrott family – was for decades a spiritual and community hub of its locality. TAS revived community services there in 2012, and ahead of the next community service three weeks away, a group of TAS Old Boys and current parents spent part of last weekend lopping dead branches from elm and pine trees, painting the graveyard fence and clearing the gutters of debris. Future work will include selective removal of elm suckers and volunteer hawthorns and some dangerous and large dead trees.
Built in 1923 by the Perrott family, the brick church replaced an earlier weatherboard structure constructed in 1896 and consecrated a year later. There is a handsome gravestone for Robert Issell Perrott and his wife, Fanny Marianne Perrott, although other family members were also buried on the site.
With no power, water or toilet at the site, the church has a certain charm, but the school believes sensitive improvements will only enhance its amenity.
The chapel will be the setting for the opening of this year’s New England Bach Festival, with a harpsichord recital by Erin Helyard at 2pm preceded by a talk on the history of the chapel by Christine Perrott.
The following Sunday, a community service conducted by TAS chaplain Rev Richard Newton at 11.30am with a morning tea to follow. All are invited to attend.
ENDS
Photos:
(1) Steven Broun clears the gutter around the belfry at the Perrott Chapel (St John’s Kellys Plains) at a working bee on Sunday.
(2) Volunteers carry out maintenance work at St John’s Kellys Plains, also known as the Perrott Chapel.
For more information on this release contact Tim Hughes on 0409 662 420
