The Garrison Church was planned at a meeting convened by Reverend William Cowper on 23 December 1839[6] when a resolution passed to petition Governor Major Sir George Gipps for the establishment of the parish.

[11] This Foundation stone of a Church in Honour of the Holy Trinity, erected with the aid of Her Majesty's Government, by the Inhabitants of the Parish of Saint Phillip in the Town of Sydney, and Colony of New South Wales, was laid by the Right Reverend Father in God, William, Lord Bishop of Australia, on the XXIII Day of June, in the year of our Lord MDCCCXL, the IV year of the Reign of Queen Victoria, and the LIII of the Colony, Sir George Gipps, Knight, being Governor.

The Bishop of Australia, Trustee; the Rev William Cowper, chaplain of St Phillips, Major George Barney, commanding Royal Engineers, Robert Campbell junior, merchant, acting Committee for the Building.Building continued slowly due to the depression of the 1840s.

[5] A small adjoining hall was used as a school,[13] and for a time was the headquarters of the 30th Scottish Battalion,[14] which continued its relationship with the church at anniversaries.

The museum was run by Myra Demetriou, who was assisted by other volunteers, many of whom were drawn from the military who attended commemorative services at the church.

By the 1930s the Government resumptions, World War I and the Great Depression had changed the demographic to a poorer, working-class neighbourhood with fewer Anglicans.

During World War II the hall was used as a Church of England National Emergency Fund hostel for servicemen, a function that continued into the 1950s.

Archibald W. Morton wrote the history and included a list of English regiments "who worshiped here during the period the Church was used by the Garrison Forces".

The Church did continue to minister to the troops at the Dawes Battery and other military associations included regular attendance by a squad from the Naval Volunteer Artillery at morning services.

During the early 20th century Charles Rosenthal, a member of the parish, was a part-time commissioned officer serving with the Australian Garrison Artillery and seems to have established a connection between the two.

[20] The site includes the church, parish hall and is defined by the "village square" of Argyle Place public reserve that encompasses; historic residences to the north, mid-nineteenth and early twentieth century residences in Lower Fort Street, including the rectory, commercial premises and the former Army Drill Hall.

Externally the nave comprises a series of buttresses and five windows with stone tracery, label moulds and carved foliage bosses on each of the south and north elevations.

[16] Colonial architect Edmund Blacket made some enhancements to the building in the period 1855-1859,[2] including adding the wine-glass shaped pulpit,[21] and the north-eastern vestry.

[14] The eastern stained-glass window by C. Clutterbuck was purchased for £100[16] in 1860,[2] and has corbels in the form of human heads (traditionally thought to be Queen Victoria and Prince Albert).

[16][24][25] It shows scenes representing the Annunciation, the Adoration of the Shepherds, the Baptism of Christ and the Ascension, and has been called "one of the most beautiful windows in Australia".

[28] One of the stained glass windows, depicting the Angel of Death sheltering a small child, was the subject of an Australian Christmas stamp in 1984.

[37] The church has hosted events for a number of other organizations, including the Naval Brigade in 1905,[38] and a five-day campaign of the Sydney University Evangelical Union in 1940.

The church is one of the earliest extant ecclesiastical structures in the state, while the former school hall is a unique rare survivor of the era.

Consciously sited against the rock scarp and fronting the public reserve of Argyle Place, the mid-nineteenth century setting of the church is unique.

The church and its contents demonstrate the nineteenth century commercial importance of the harbourside suburb, and the political and social status of the parish.

[41][1] Garrison Anglican Church Precinct was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999 having satisfied the following criteria.

[1] The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales.

The Garrison Church is of State significance as an early example of the archaeologically correct Gothic Revival style in NSW.

The Garrison parish hall is of State significance as a rare, possibly unique, extant example of a parochial school erected in the 1840s.