The church was rebuilt after a fire in 1874 and was damaged in the 1989 earthquake, but still stands today as a symbol for the faithful in Morpeth and beyond.

The Reverend Canon Sonia Roulston has extended an invitation to all in the community to join the ­celebrations for a significant milestone.

“Since those early days, the people of St James’ Morpeth have continued to serve God, the parish and the diocese faithfully,” she said.

“The parish has lived through the ups and downs many parishes have experienced, maintaining a faithful, cheerful and welcoming life.

“On Sunday, we will celebrate and give thanks for 175 years of faithful life and ministry here and for the great gift the parish has been given from God, through Edward Charles Close, and in the lives of the many faithful clergy and parishioners.

“This is a rich treasury.”

It all started on the battlefields of the Peninsular War in Spain. The church’s benefactor, Lieutenant Edward Charles Close, in the heat of fierce battle made a vow to God that if his life were spared he would as soon as his means permitted, build a church as a thanks offering.

That work began in January 1837.

Local sandstone and timbers were used in the construction of the church which was completed at the end of 1840.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported on December 31, 1840, the opening and consecrations:

“The Lord Bishop of Australia, Bishop Broughton, proceeded by the Victoria steamer, on Monday evening to Morpeth, to consecrate the new church lately erected by EC Close Esq, to be called St James.

“The ceremony will take place this day (Thursday) at 4pm. This edifice has cost about 1500 pounds besides which Mr Close has given land for a parsonage and burial ground, most valuably situated making this gentleman’s gift to the church equal to at least £3000. Such instances of munificence rarely are recorded.”

In 1848, with the founding of the diocese and the arrival of Bishop William Tyrrell, Morpeth became the home of the bishop and the heart of the diocese.

The first bishops lived in Closebourne House Morpeth, and moved to Newcastle in 1911.

These bishops were part of the parish life.

A stained-glass window from parishioners will be gifted and installed at St James’ Anglican Church Morpeth for its 175th anniversary.

Descendants of Edward Charles Close, who paid for the church’s ­construction, will attend a parish ­celebration on Sunday, July 26.

Worship will be led by diocesan Bishop Greg Thompson at 10am.

An old-fashioned BYO picnic lunch will follow in the church and rectory grounds. An anniversary dinner will be held at East Maitland Bowling Club on Saturday, July 25 and bookings can be made through the parish.

A stonework repair fund has been established to maintain the church and an anniversary book will be published and sold over the weekend.

The aisle of the nave is set with tiles from Duckenfield Park homestead and were a gift from the Eales family.

The unusual pulpit is a replica of a 13th century monastic lectern in Beaulieu Abbey, Hampshire.

The baptismal font was designed by architect Edmund Blacket and positioned in 1864 during alternations.

Next to it stands the paschal candle, a symbol of the light of Christ.

The memorial plaques in the church were moved to the baptistry in the 1980s.

The eagle is the traditional symbol of St John, the fourth evangelist, and is a sign that the good news of Jesus Christ, is taken to the ends of the earth.

The lectern is a memorial to the first Anglican Bishop William Tyrrell who died in 1879.

In the baptistry is a wood carving of St James, the church’s patron saint.

He is also the patron of Spain.

Legend has it his bones were found at Compostella in the north west of Spain in the early middle ages.

Pilgrimages from Paris to Santiago de Compostella continue today. James ­carries his staff of pilgrimage and a book of the gospels.

At the front of the church stands a ­statue of the blessed virgin Mary cradling her son Jesus. 

This statue, a memorial to faithful parishioner Sid Stephens, was dedicated in 2005.

These statues were made by Austrian woodcarver Engelbert Piccolruaz of Marrickville, Sydney.

The foundation stone is on the floor near the chancel arch and was laid by Edward Close, the 13-year-old son of Lieutenant Charles Edward Close.

He was 51 years old when he relaid the same foundation stone when the church was rebuilt after a fire in 1874.

The beautiful oak in the church grounds was planted by Mrs Brown of High Street, Morpeth, in her yard from an acorn picked up in Hyde Park, London, by her neighbour Mr Hill.

He was on leave during World War I and posted it home to his wife to plant.

When the tree was big enough it was replanted at St James.

St James was built to fulfil a vow.

Lieutenant Edward Close promised God that if he survived the Spanish Peninsular War he would build a church as an act of thanksgiving.

Close survived, and the foundation stone was laid on January 2, 1837.

The construction of sandstone walls, using locally quarried stone lined with handmade bricks, was carried out over three years.

The church was completed in 1840 and consecrated on December 31, with St James as its patron.

In the early 1860s, architect Edmund Blacket was engaged to design and ­implement additions and changes to the building to accommodate the growing congregation. 

This included the addition of the ­sanctuary and sacristy, the chancel arch and the carved stone pulpit.

In 1874, the church suffered major damage from a fire in the roof and another architect John Horbury Hunt was engaged to oversee the repairs.

Hunt included the walls of the nave in the repairs and raised them by an extra two courses.

He removed the original internal brick lining to these walls and built a new ­hammer beam style of roof which resembles the hull of a timber ship.

Professor AP Elkin, historian, anthropologist and sometime rector of the parish wrote of his design: “A thrilling conception and most remarkable feature.”

The roof framing is visible today.

The roof was clad with slate shingles which were removed in the 1940s.

The style of buttresses were changed from the original rounded parapet style to the square shape visible along the outside of the church today.

The tower remained the same height which is what gives the appearance of the tower being out of proportion to the rest of the church.

The church suffered major structural damage in the Lower Hunter and Newcastle earthquake in 1989.

Sydney architects Woodhouse and Danks were engaged to oversee repairs.

The repairs  took almost 12 months to complete.

The beautiful east window was installed in 1871 in memory of Edward Charles Close who died on May 7, 1866.

The magnificent five-column stained glass window represents in the central spaces the Last Supper, Jesus crucifixion and resurrection.

These panels are crowned by a rose window, placed in an eastern church 

wall, depicting Christ Pantocrator – ruler of all.

Bishop Tyrrell designed the window to create beauty in his church and to teach the central truths of the Christian faith.

The full impact of this window is best experienced when the rising sun’s rays ­filter through the coloured glass.

There are many fine stained-glass ­windows inside St James’ Church.

In the porch there are two windows on opposite walls which remind visitors of the time when St James was the parish church for the bishops of the Newcastle diocese.

One window is in memory of William Tyrrell, the first Bishop of Newcastle, the other is of George Stanton, the third Bishop. 

Their bodies are buried at Morpeth.

At the front of the nave, adjacent to the chancel arch is a three panel stained-glass window of three apostles – Peter, James and John.

The western wall between the tower and the nave originally opened into a gallery and this is where the first organ was located.

The present instrument is one of few surviving William Davidson organs, installed in 1877.

Originally it was constructed in the front left corner of the chancel but it obscured the window and part of the chancel arch.

Operated with air generated by ­bellows, there is a permanent mark against the stone where the person who pumped the bellows stood, behind a timber screen.

In the 1940s, it was decided to electrify the air pump to the organ and shift it to its present location at the back of the nave.

The organ was renovated in 2004 by Peter Jewkes of Sydney.

The cedar pews and the carved ends are from locally cut cedar and were placed in the church in 1864.

They survived fire and suggestions in the 1960s to cut off the carved tops of the pew ends because they blocked the view of the altar. 

They are testament to more than a century of use, including initials carved in them by former students of the Church of England Grammar School.