On a gently sloping hill, a short drive north of Orange, sits the small yet stately St Phillip’s Church, a landmark of the historic hamlet of March that has stood for a century and a half.

This Sunday, the community is invited to attend a special service of thanksgiving to mark the 150th anniversary and celebrate the important role the small church has played in the lives of so many in the district.

Established in the mid-1850s, March was once a focal point for the surrounding landholders and miners, who flocked to the area, with a public school, post office, and general store.

St Phillips was built on land donated by wealthy local landholder William Dale, with the first service given on June 19, 1876.

Over the decades since, the church has witnessed weddings, christenings, and final farewells for generations of locals, including current Church Warden Russell Culverson and his aunt Helen Millsteed (née Culverson), who cared for the church and graveyard for many decades.

“The first Culverstone we know of who came out from England was Cornelius; he's buried in the Orange cemetery, and as far as we know, all the other Culversons are buried out here,” said Russell, who is the sixth generation of his family to live in the district.

“Just before Helen pulled up here,” Russell continued. “There was someone visiting a deceased relative, and nearly every time we are up here mowing or something, there is someone here putting flowers out or doing something like that.”

Remarkably, the church itself remains largely unaltered from its original form, with the same windows, floorboards and church pews that have served for more than a century. The original kerosene lamps still hang from the ceiling, even though they have been superseded by electric lights.

“I remember coming here occasionally as a kid, and I got married here, had two of my children christened here,” Russell said of the old church.

“I was married here too,” added Helen. “I've been coming here all my life… I remember, I was prepared for confirmation at the front gate in a car!”

Russell and Helen are far from the only ones with strong ties and memories of the old church. Russell said they hope to see many familiar faces back at St Phillips for the anniversary celebration this Sunday.

“We are trying to just make everyone aware, all the families that might have a connection to this church or to the Parish of East Orange, or just the local area, they are all certainly invited to come along on Sunday, the 28th of June at 2pm and then we will have afternoon tea at Mortimer’s Wines,” he said,

“It will be a service of thanksgiving, and I'm sure there will be quite a lot of reminiscing afterwards.”

St Phillips is located at 768 Burrendong Way, March.