Sacred Heart Church, Calwell

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This small church is a reminder of the early Catholic communities in the Tuggeranong Valley. It was built in 1902 by voluntary labour and financed by the local Catholics on land leased at a nominal rent of one shilling per year from James Cunningham, the owner of Tuggeranong Station.

 

It is a Federation Carpenter Gothic style church with weather board walls and corrugated iron roof. The church served the Catholic community of the area who would meet each week for Sunday mass, some traveling great distances by horseback to worship and then they would picnic under the pine trees they had planted.  Their priest Father Hagan would travel from Queanbeyan in his buggy with his favourite horse Laddie.

 

It remains the oldest Catholic Church still functioning in the Australian Capital Territory. It was moved in 1985 to accommodate roadworks for the suburb of Calwell. It moved 100 metres to the north and is now part of the St Francis of Assisi Parish Centre and School.

Cathedral in the pines : Sacred Heart Church, Tuggeranong, ACT 1902-2002
Author: Maher, Brian     Family History ACT Library:  AA7/85/09

  • Sacred Heart Church, Calwell
    Sacred Heart Church, Calwell
  • Inside the Entrance of Sacred Heart Church, Calwell
    Inside the Entrance of Sacred Heart Church, Calwell
  • The Altar, Sacred Heart Church, Calwell
    The Altar, Sacred Heart Church, Calwell
  • First Mass by Father Vivian Morrison in Sacred Heart Church
    First Mass by Father Vivian Morrison in Sacred Heart Church
  • Presentation to Father Vivian MORRISON Family
    Presentation to Father Vivian MORRISON Family
  • Pioneering Families Pew Plates
    Pioneering Families Pew Plates