Ebenezer Uniting Church

Ebenezer
Historic 'Macquarie' town located on the banks of the Hawkesbury River
Ebenezer is located 69 km north west of Sydney and only a few kilometres from the larger centre of Wilberforce. It is a typical, early 19th century village which straggles along the roads rather than being compactly established around a village centre.

Visitors to the area should continue through Wilberforce on King Road (do not take the Singleton-Putty Road). Ebenezer is a small and pretty village which can claim to have the oldest standing Presbyterian Church in Australia and the oldest existing school building in Australia.

The church was built in 1808-9 by Scots, most of whom had emigrated from London, and looks more like a crofterıs cottage than a church. It is open from 10.00 a.m. - 3.30 p.m. daily. The history of the church is interesting. The area was settled in 1803 by a number of free settler families who sailed to Australia on the Coromandel in 1802. They were not all Presbyterians but one of their number, James Mein, was an elder of Galashiels kirk and he started holding informal services in his house at Portland. Out of these meetings grew the desire to build the church at Ebenezer. There was a plan to build a schoolhouse at the same time and it seems the original church was divided with half the building being used as a schoolhouse and the other half as a place of worship. The schoolmaster's residence is now used to serve Devonshire teas.

It should always be remembered, when absorbing history such as that at Ebenezer, that nearly every historic building has been tampered with. Ebenezer Church is no exception. The stone entrance porch was added in 1929 and the eastern vestry is as recent as 1966. The cedar bookcase in the porch belonged to the first minister, Dr John McGarvie, who lived in Ebenezer from 1826-1831.

Things to see:  

Ebenezer Church
Now known as Ebenezer Uniting Church it is the oldest church in Australia. Its restoration has been done with much care and a recognition of the church's importance. It is still used and worshippers can attend a Sunday service at 8.30 a.m. While the church seems to have been completed between 1807-9 it was not finally fitted out until 1817. Its location on the banks of the Hawkesbury is particularly beautiful.

John Turnbull's House
From Ebenezer Church and Schoolhouse it is necessary to return to Tizzana Road and proceed towards Tizzana Winery. It is worth searching for the house of Turnbull which is behind new houses opposite the golf course. This house, which dates from around 1820, was built on an 1804 grant by John Turnbull, an enthusiastic supporter of the church at Ebenezer. The house was used by the famous Presbyterian minister, John Dunmore Lang, when he preached at Ebenezer in 1823-24. It is a gracious and impressive house which has been sympathetically restored. It is not open to the public.

Tizzana Winery

Tizzana Winery
Continue along Tizzana Road until you reach Tizzana Winery. The winery promotes itself as 'a touch of Tuscany on the banks of the Hawkesbury River'. The large stone winery was built in 1887 by Dr Thomas Henry Fiaschi (he was a distinguished doctor who is remembered by the huge and much loved bronze boar outside Sydney Hospital) who had emigrated to Australia from Florence in 1875.

Fiaschi was a strong advocate of the judicious use of wine. He told a meeting of the Australian Trained Nurses Association in 1906 that 'I consider the temporate use of wine a valuable support to healthy man in this thorny path of life, and that the judicious use of it has proved itself to me of incalculable benefit in the treatment of the sick and convalescent.' Spoken like a true wine grower.

The Tizzana winery is open for tastings and local wines, as well as wines from other small vineyards, can be purchased.

	Caravan Parks
	Hawkesbury Waters Leisure Park Port Erringhi Rd Ebenezer NSW 2756 Telephone: (02) 4579 9253