St Anthony of Padua, Gungal, NSW, Australia
S 32° 16.265 E 150° 29.870
56H E 264322 N 6426767
This quaint Catholic church is halfway between Denman and Merriwa, and was built in 1911.
Waymark Code: WM104CK
Location: New South Wales, Australia
Date Posted: 02/23/2019
Views: 1
This beautiful, brown-brick, Gothic styled church is well maintained, tho it may not have weekly meetings. It has forest-green painted corrugated iron roofing, cream highlights over the Gothic-arched doorways and windows, with flying buttresses in good condition. It celebrated its Centenary in 2011, per the brass plaque at the front. The plaque reads:
Celebrating the Centenary
of
St Anthony's Catholic Church
Gungal
1911 - 2011
From the Gungal local history webpage is the following information extracted:
"The Catholic Parish of Merriwa was officially established in 1874 and was originally a large area extending from Gungal to Uarbry. Because the parish was so large, the priest arranged with families living in country areas to celebrate Mass in their homes regularly. These became known as Mass Stations. Early Mass Stations in the Gungal Area were at Eugene & Caroline Nebauer, or Charles & Rosina Stair."…
"In 1904 a block of land was purchased to build a church and construction was well advanced by Nov 1910. 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.
"…In 1926 a fine altar was constructed for the church by Andrew Parkinson of Muswellbrook. The installation was described in the Muswellbrook Chronicle 15th June 1926." [ex-Gungal history: St Anthonys
Address: 2755 Golden Highway, Gungal, NSW, 2333, Australia
Visited: 0724-5, Friday, 21 September, 2018