Centenary, St Anthony's - Gungal, NSW, Australia
S 32° 16.265 E 150° 29.870
56H E 264322 N 6426767
At the front of the beautiful Gothic-styled Catholic Church is the Commemorative Plaque for the Centenary in 2011.
Waymark Code: WM104XE
Location: New South Wales, Australia
Date Posted: 02/26/2019
Views: 1
The parish of Merriwa was established in the late 1800's (1874), but was so vast that in 1904 this block of land was purchased for the proposed church. By November 1910 the construction was well advanced. From the history of Gungal webpage: " The builder was Walter Barrett of Muswellbrook. Work was carried out by skilled contractors as well as local volunteers. The main construction material was brick which was made at Gungal.
"An article in the Merriwa & Cassilis Standard Nov 1910 described “the great sacrifice and .. wonderful courage (of the Gungal parishioners) in undertaking the work (building the church) which promised to be a credit to them and an ornament to the district.”
"St Anthony’s was blessed and opened on May 9th, 1911 by the Bishop of Maitland Patrick Vincent Dwyer.
"Father William Edmund O’Reilly was resident priest of the parish when St Anthony’s Catholic Church was built in 1911. He had been appointed to Merriwa Parish in 1886." [ex-Gungal history:
St Anthonys ]
The engrave brass plaque on the front of the Church reads:
Celebrating the Centenary
of
St Anthony's Catholic Church
Gungal
1911 - 2011
Address: 2755 Golden Highway, Gungal, NSW, 2333, Australia
Visited: 0724-5, Friday, 21 September, 2018
The Church also gets used for weddings, and five yearly gatherings of the locals, past and present.