[4] The earliest remaining parts of the building are one of the first Sydney designs by the colonial architect Edmund Blacket, who later became renowned for his ecclesiastical architecture.[1]: p.

The St John's site has been listed on the Local Environment Plan Heritage Schedule, and the Register of the National Trust of Australia.

5 [9] The first portion of grounds, an area of 1 acre, 2 roods, and 36 perches (a total of 0.698 ha),[1]: p. 49  was provided as a gift by the local landowner Elizabeth Underwood who was subdividing "Ashfield Park".

[10][11] The Bishop of Australia, William Grant Broughton added urgency by expressing his "intention of having a Place of Worship erected immediately, on the allotment of land appropriated for that purpose".[12][13]: p.

2  The exact location was determined in February 1840, and appeals continued to fund a building of sufficient size for the surrounding population.

By the Right Reverend Father in God William Lord Bishop of Australia in the Fourth Year of the reign of Queen Victoria.

49 [21] The following year the colonial architect Edmund Blacket, as one of his first assignments after arriving in Sydney, was requested to inspect the church's walls, then still under construction.

As a result of his report, the walls were demolished and re-erected,[1]: p. 50  although continued funding problems, and the transfer of J. K. Walpole to Windsor[22] caused further delays.

[25] The foundation stone of the addition was laid by Barker on 24 October 1874, and included a copy of Australian Churchman and The Sydney Morning Herald.

[25] Construction of the choir vestry and a wooden porch outside the western door were completed in 1885, and dedicated by Bishop Alfred Barry.[8]: p.

[5] The eight-bell peal was ordered from England after a generous bequest by one of the "Melanesian boys", David Marguay, and subsequent fundraising.

[26] The memorial bells proved depressing amongst the local populace,[1]: p. 150  and were rearranged in 1904, with louvres added to the previously open arches.

8 [29] The 1883 Hill and Son organ, including 844 pipes, costing a total of £550, was installed in 1884,[30][31] and located in the north-east corner of the transept.[8]: p.

The memorial stone for the replacement building was laid by the Primate of Australia, William Saumarez Smith in inclement weather on 2 February 1895.

A block of land, located on what is now the corner of Rectory Avenue and Alt Street, was purchased for £444, and the foundation stone was laid by Bishop Barker in 1880.

21  The current rectory, on the main grounds of the church, was founded by Archbishop John Charles Wright in the same year, during the rectorship of William George Hilliard, and built at a cost of £2500.

[38] Gravel pathways lined with Phoenix canariensis palms, the lawn in front of the church, and the stone churchyard fence were also constructed in the 1920s.[39]: p.

28 The cemetery, which had been in existence since soon after the foundation of the church (the first interment was Frederick Underwood, Elizabeth's 11-month-old grandson, on 1 May 1845),[1]: p. 51  was consecrated by the Archbishop of Sydney, Howard West Kilvinton Mowll, on 8 September 1934.

He was asked by the rector of the time to "set apart the area, containing 4 acres and 4 perches (1.63 ha), as a burial-place for the bodies of Christian people living in and about Ashfield".

[44] A children's playground was installed near the Alt St boundary in 2011, and opened by Ashfield Municipal Council Mayor Ted Cassidy and Strathfield MP Charles Casuscelli.

49 As the population of Sydney's Inner West grew, many of the Anglican churches in the area were established by the congregation of St John's (including four during the final thirty years of the nineteenth century).

[85] Rev J.R Le Huray came to St John's from Holy Trinity Kingsford, where he had served for 27 years as Rector.

112 Catholic education in the area flourished, and seeing this, J. C. Corlette wrote to England to Miss Ellen Clarke, suggesting that she start a school for young ladies in Ashfield.

[5] It has a hammerbeam ceiling with a curved rafter roof with colonettes, plaster walls, and stained glass in every window from a range of periods.

[97] Thomas Walker, a banker and philanthropist who owned and developed Yaralla Estate, is in a family grave with his wife Jane, and daughter Eadith's ashes.

[98][99] Samuel Henry Terry, a wealthy landowner and politician is also buried at St Johns, having spent the last part of his life in an Ashfield residence named The Lilacs.

The rector's notes from the time indicate that many funeral services conducted at the church now preceded burial at Rookwood Cemetery.[39]: p.

A memorial garden for the interment of ashes was opened in the time of J. R. Seddon, providing a popular resting place for the Ashfield community.[8]: p.

8  In Australia's bicentennial year, 1988, a $16,000 grant was awarded for restoration work in the cemetery, at which time some broken gravestones were cemented together, and some illegible ones were 'cut back' and the letters repainted.[39]: p.

[105] Since July 2006 it has run a mothers and children group, which discusses Christian parenting issues, and teaches English to those for whom it is not their native language.