St. George’s Anglican Church

St. George's Anglican Church was the second church built on the Morilla Street site. The original building was one of five district Churches of England built in 1912, all were built in a similar style.

The other four churches were St. Peters in the Pines at Cumborah, consecrated 18 July 1912, St. John the Evangelist at Carinda, consecrated 28 April 1934, St. Mary the Virgin at Marra Creek, consecrated 6 August 1913 and All Saints at Angledool, consecration uncertain.

In 1933, a cyclonic wind blew the little church over, leaving it standing at an ungainly angle and structurally unsound. A Sydney newspaper captioned a photo of the propped-up church: 'Church at Lightning Ridge is well supported!' The church was rebuilt perpendicular to the street and consecrated on 14 September 1935.

The original St. George’s Anglican Church from 1935 was acquired by the Serbian Orthodox Church and can be seen on Pandora Street as part of the Serbian Orthodox complex. The modern Anglican Church, Lightning Ridge Community Church, stands in its former location in Morilla Street.

Article: Edited by Russell Gawthorpe. LRHS research compiled by Len Cram and Barbara Moritz. Sources: Lightning Ridge - The Home of the Black Opal: Unique to the World, Gan Bruce, 1983, p. 157; Lightning Flash Newspaper, 29 December 1977, 5 February 1981, 25 August 1988; “In Journeyings Often”, Rev. G. W. Lovejoy, 1940, p. 85; Walgett Spectator, 18 November 1931; '‘Out of Plumb!’, Daily Telegraph, 23 March 1933, p. 14.