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Walk around the beautiful bluestone church, opened in 1872, designed by architects Davidson and Henderson, it has Ceres sandstone trim and slate roof. Look carefully at the spire and you will see the kangaroo gargoyles. Inside you will see the beautiful choir gallery. The building is registered as a heritage place by the Heritage Trust. An earlier brick church (below) was built in 1857 a little north east of the cemetery by Edward Stevens and James Jarvis. This early building also served as a night school..
Francis Ormond of 'Borriyalloak' was so anxious for a new church to be built that he subscribed 300 pounds, (about one fifth of the total cost) to start a building fund in the hope of encouraging others to do likewise.
Francis Ormond valued education so much that as a young man he ran classes at night for the children of his employees. When he saw the need, he would offer money to partly fund a project on the condition that others would subscribe and become involved. In this way he became a benefactor of many causes, including Ormond College and the Working Men's College in Melbourne (the fore-runner of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, RMIT)
The first Presbyterian church, built in the cemetary.
