All Saints Anglican Church

Rookwood Necropolis remains the largest necropolis in

the Southern Hemisphere and the largest still operating Victorian Era cemetery. When it opened in 1867, it was very much a “city of the dead,” complete with its own railway line. The All Saints Anglican Church was first built as a railway station for Rookwood. It was originally known as Cemetery Station No. 1.

After a fire destroyed the roof of the station, Reverend E. G. Buckle purchased the ruins around 1951 for £100. He then had it carefully dismantled stone by stone and shipped to Ainslie. It was rebuilt there in 1957, with a few alterations, such as the bell tower being switched to the opposite side of the structure. A locomotive bell from the Wolgan Valley Railway was donated by the Australian Railway Historical Society in 1958 to act as the church’s bell.