Gilgandra’s historic St Ambrose Memorial Anglican Church has suffered dangerous structural damage and is in need of costly and extensive repairs.

The church has been standing since 1922, however, two years ago the building’s foundation became unstable, and the site was closed for safety.

Now, the Save St Ambrose Committee is relying on community funding to restore the monument and re-open it to the public. 

St Ambrose Memorial Church, also known as the ‘Coo-ee Church’, was originally built as a memorial to those who died in service or were killed in action during the First World War.

St Ambrose is a unique part of Australian history. It was from the footsteps of St Ambrose, marching from the town of Gilgandra, that the Coo-ee March became the first ‘snowball’ recruitment march in the nation. 

The Coo-ee Church was funded in part by the St Ambrose Church in Bournemouth in recognition of the Coo-ee March, a record-breaking recruitment effort for the time.

Over its century-long lifespan, St Ambrose Church has seen countless baptisms, confirmations, burials, and marriages. It is an integral part of the town of Gilgandra, and Australian history. 

“[St Ambrose Church has] lots of cosmetic damage,” said Stuart Border, deacon of the St Ambrose Anglican Church and member of the Save St Ambrose Committee. 

“But the lateral structural damage is the real problem. That’s what gave people a scare two years ago and forced us to close the church.”

A scope of works for stabilisation of the church foundations was completed earlier this year, along with a site-wide survey. Works to underpin and stabilise the foundations are planned to begin next January; the Save St Ambrose Committee need to secure funding by Christmas.

Save St Ambrose Committee member Madeline Foran explained that the committee did have enough funds to cover these initial works, but after a recent site inspection the costs went up significantly. 

“Gilgandra has this magnificent building of international importance, and we need help to keep it standing,” she said.

Recently, the Australian National Trust has opened an account for the St Ambrose, granting donations to the church restoration efforts a tax-deductible status.