Cherry Church
Caring for your Heritage
Cherry Church is now 170 years old; it has kept the Christian Faith in worship, service and teaching, and God willing it will continue this for at least another 170.
The church comes under State heritage so its structure and the headstones in the grounds cannot be touched except with the approval of the Heritage Adviser of Onkaparinga City (Andrew Stevens). So we are under that classification and work under his guidance in maintaining the structure and graves. Recently we replaced cement pointing that was done earlier by members who were unaware that cement prevented the movement of water. This in turn stopped the wall breathing and caused rising damp.
Pictured Jim Ward in red cap and Andrew Stevens in white panama inspecting the grave fence
Isaac Jacobs Grave
Isaac Jacobs’ grave is fenced with a wooden fence which originally was erected to protect it from animals wandering over the grave. He was interred in 1865 and was the last person buried in the churchyard. From then on the Cherry Gardens cemetery on Cherry Gardens Road was used. The fence is certainly the oldest in the Fleurieu and possibly in the state and the Jacobs family has cared for it all those years. Unfortunately wood rot and ants have caused the corner posts to rot off and the rails holding the pickets are equally affected. Being under State Heritage the Church and the Jacobs family have sought to replace the fence with an exact copy and is seeking approval by Onkaparinga City. Our resident Architect James Ward has done the drawings and they will be submitted for a Heritage Grant to assist in funding the project.
Better Access to the meeting room
Currently access to the new meeting room is via the Church
which is inappropriate and a little difficult. Our architect has come up with a plan which allows both church and community members to access the new meeting room at ground level around the porch of the Church into the memorial garden, then directly into the new meeting room. In 1936 the porch was built to celebrate the Centenary of the establishment of the state and as the Church is over 100 years old the porch is also under Heritage classification.
The path around the porch will be wide enough for wheelchair access at ground level to the meeting room. The wall of the porch facing the road has had soil pushed against it by road building during the 1960s and now is causing rising damp in the wall. We are seeking, in conjunction with Council to dig a path around the western end of the porch removing the soil, therefore protecting the wall of the porch from damp. All these works are intended for better community access.
Cherry Church Contacts
• Pastor: 0404 008 372
• Chairperson Congregational Council: Darryl Dyson, 0412 075 063
Website http://cherrygardensunitingchurch.org/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CherryGardensUnitingChurch/
87 Hicks Hill Rd, Cherry Gardens
Services held on Sundays at 9.30am