The Church of England

The first Anglican service was held in 1854 in a building long since demolished (it is thought to have stood on land now owned by Mr. I. Hovey). The service was taken by a young divinity student named Stanley Lowe. In 1855 the Presbyterians erected a small building for use as a church and school, and the Anglicans were granted permission to use it for Sunday worship. In 1858 the Anglicans built a combination school-church building on their land near the cemetery. The stone building was opened on 19th Sept. 1858 by Archdeacon Stretch of Geelong. The parish was run by curates from Christ Church until the appointment of a resident clergyman in 1889, Rev. A. Maxwell. In the same year, the original stone building was demolished, and much of the stone was transported to the present site in the town, where a new church was built in the grounds of the house purchased for a vicarage (Dr. Wilders house). Mrs Moriarty donated 1200 Pounds towards the building. The Church Messenger (March 1890) records. "A very handsome and commodious church of stone has been erected at Inverleigh. The building planned by Mr A. E. Clarke, is both substantial and beautiful. The foundation stone was laid by Mrs Moriarty on 16th July last year. The church was opened by Bishop Field Flowers Goe, on 2nd Feb.1890 with a solemn Dedication Service."

The bluestone vicarage was built by Dr. Jenkins some time in the early 1850's. Dr Wilders owned it for many years before selling it to the Anglican Church.

The following table shows the Clergy of the Church of England.

NAME	TIME SERVED
Stanley Lowe	1874 - a divinity student -held an Anglican service in the town
A series of lay readers followed under the direction of Arch Deacon Stretch
A.F. Donaldson	1858
W.T. Price	1885-86
J. Cameron	1886-87
H.E. Potter	1887-89
All resident in Geelong and based at Christ Church.
A. Maxwell (first Vicar)	1889-1903
H.J. Harvey	1903-1905

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