History
In 1872 two acres of Crown Land on the foothill of Arthur’s Seat was made available to the Church of England, and in 1876 a meeting was held to talk about the possibility of erecting a church, but no progress was made.
In 1877 a further meeting was called. It was decided that it was impractical for members of the Church of England to erect a church solely for themselves, and it was resolved that members of all protestant denominations be invited to assist in the proposal to construct a building of non-denominational character. The site eventually selected was situated on the corner of the Esplanade (now Pt. Nepean Rd) and Heales St, and after a few false starts regarding the building, the first service was held on the 18th May 1879 by the Rev. Thomas Quinton, who had become the Vicar of Mornington.
The first reference to the church of St Mark’s was made at a meeting of the building Committee in 1883. Prior to that, all matters relating to any proposals were spoken of as ‘The Church of England’.
About 1885, the new Parochial District of Sorrento was formed which included Dromana, Rye, Boneo, Rosebud and Portsea, and in 1886 the Rev. A.P. Chase became the first Vicar.
Unfortunately harmony in the Union church was never quite achieved and eventually the church was sold in 1891 under tender to the Presbyterian Church. The balance after business was then divided amongst the three participating member churches (the Church of England, the Presbyterian Church and the Independent Church).
From this point on the Church of England congregation worshipped in the Mechanics Institute and the congregation began to work in earnest towards a Church of their own. Eventually the present site on the corner of Pt Nepean Rd and O’Donohue St, was purchased and plans drawn up for the building. On November 7th, 1892, the foundation stone was laid, and on April 7th 1893, St Mark’s was dedicated, but remained part of the Parochial District of Sorrento.
In 1960, St Mark’s Dromana, together with All Saints Rosebud, and St Katherine’s McCrae separated from the Parish of Sorrento to become part of a new parochial district. The new parish’s first vicar was the Rev. John Davies.
In 1987 the Diocese was concerned at the imbalance which had occurred in the Parish of Dromana due to the large population growth in Rosebud. The solution proposed was that a new parish of Rosebud be formed, joining All Saints Rosebud and St Katherine’s McCrae. As this left St Mark’s with insufficient numbers to be viable as a ‘stand-alone’ parish, it was further proposed that St George’s Red Hill be excised from Flinders and join with Dromana. Thus in 1988 St Mark’s Dromana and St George’s Red Hill became one parish. Where formerly there had been two parishes, each with three churches, there would now be three parishes each with two churches.
In August 2010, the Diocese de-amalgamated these two centres and St. Mark’s looks forward to a bright new future serving the community of Dromana and surrounds as a parish in its own right.
A record of the Vicars over the years may be found here.
References:
St Mark’s in Time, Rosemary Kerr, 1992.
On Eagles Wings. A History of the Anglican Parish of Sorrento-Rye, David Wood, 1985.
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St Mark’s (as part of the Parochial District of Sorrento).
1886-1890 The Rev. Arthur Chase
1891-1898 The Rev. Frederick Willcox
1899-1902 The Rev. Mervin Whitton
1903-1914 The Rev. Edwin Charles Rodda
1914-1915 The Rev. Richard Sherwood
1916-1918 The Rev. Eric Thornton
1918-1920 The Rev. William Henry Henderson
1920-1923 The Rev. Edwin Warner
1923-1924 The Rev. Frank Ellis Thornton
1924-1926 The Rev. Harry Joseph Harvey
1926-1935 The Rev. Charles Lee
1935-1941 The Rev. Godfrey Hughes
1941-1947 The Rev. Clifton Plessy Brown
1947-1959 The Rev. E.D. Kent
(continued at Sorrento/Rye until 1969)
St Mark’s (with Rosebud & McCrae).
1960-1974 The Rev John Davies
1974-1984 The Rev. Eddie Smith
1984-1988 The Rev Murray Morton
(continued at Rosebud/McCrae until his retirement in April 2010)
St Mark’s (with St George’s Red Hill)
1988-1995 The Rev. Bill Peacock
1995-2004 The Rev. Peter Williams
2004-2009 The Rev Brian Westaway
St Mark’s (as an independent Parish)
2010-(Feb) 2022 The Rev Paul Woodcock
The stained glass windows in St Mark’s were all installed by Brooks Robinson, a major stained glass firm which came into existence in Melbourne in the 1850’s as importers of glass but who by the 1880’s were producing their own.
Their firm was very large and their premises were in Elizabeth St. Melbourne. They employed a number of different glass artists over the years, so there is often considerable variation in the style and quality of their windows. Generally, the earlier glass, before the First World War, is much better than the later.
One of the reasons for this is the lesser standard of training of artists at this later time, as well as the difficulty of getting really good artists to do glass work. Most firms also tended to re-use old “cartoons” (life-size drawings) rather than drawing new ones, so it had become a bit of a “production line”.
There is glass by this firm in most Melbourne and Victorian churches.
Construction of the Neo-Gothic style St. Mark’s church building was commenced in 1892 and the first service was held in it in April 1893.
The church was constructed using rusticated limestone with red brick quoins and features rendered parapets at the gable end.
St. Mark’s is the Mornington Peninsula’s third oldest Anglican stone church and is only pre-dated by St. John’s in Sorrento (1874) and St. Andrew’s in Rye (1882).
A Narthex (entry foyer) was added in 1981, requiring demolition of the then Vestry. A transportable building was installed in 2012 adjacent to the Narthex. It is affectionately referred to as ‘Mark’s Place’.
