_{THE CHURCH BUILDING}

_{The Australian Agricultural Company (AAco) built St John’s Church in 1833 to serve the village it had founded seven years earlier. It thus began as a company chapel for a company town.}

_{Sir Edward Parry, the company commissioner, with his wife Isabella, was dedicated to the religious, moral and educational welfare of the company’s servants and their families. He directed the building of the church at his own expense.}

_{The builder was Thomas Laman, the company’s 26-year-old supervising carpenter. Described by Sir Edward as a man of “steady praiseworthy conduct”, he conducted church services at Stroud before the church was built.}

_{The walls are of local brick, the joinery of waxed local cedar. The cedar furniture is original.}

_{Notable features are the gallery, the fine barrel vault ceiling, the matching high pulpit and reading desk, the semi-circular raised sanctuary and the wave-like design of the pew backs.}

_{THE RECTORY}

_{Built in 1836 by the AAco it maintains its early colonial character and design despite undergoing a number of alterations and additions mainly due to a fire in 1859. The damage is not readily apparent but the eastern wing was completely destroyed, The existing verandah is not original . However the original style and historical significance of the building remain intact.}

_{THE HALL}

_{The hall was built in a similar style to the other buildings, Colonial Georgian of sandstock brick. The building originally consisted of one large space with a central fireplace on the north wall. Over the years unsympathetic additions have been made including a timber addition on the eastern facade. Internally little remains of the original furnishings, but the timber door and latch to the main space remain in place and the fireplace and its surround were recently restored in the original style.}

_{History-makers linked with Stroud NSW}

2004: Restoration brick layers photographed beside the grave of Thomas Laman.