aquilareen
Naracoorte St Thomas Aquinas Catholic church
The stone of the tankstand matches the church!
Foundation stone 7 Mar 1937 by Archbishop Andrew Killian, architect Herbert H Jory, Mount Gambler coraline limestone, opened 27 Jun 1937. Earliest services began in Institute. First church foundation stone 16 Apr 1883 by Bishop Christopher Reynolds, opened Feb 1884, used as schoolroom until 1953. Church hall built 1957 from old school materials. New hall foundation stone 8 May 1988 by Monsignor Robert F Aitken, also has 1883 foundation stone.
“the church, had it been three times its size, would have been crowded. As it was, only a comparatively, small number of those desirous of witnessing the ceremony were able to gain admittance. The church, which is a neat little edifice, was hung with a number of pictures, and the altar was decorated with flowers.” [Border Watch 27 Feb 1884]
“‘That little church on the hill, which was built 54 years ago,’ said Father Sparkes, indicating the existing Catholic Church across the road, ‘has outlived its suitability as a place of Divine worship’.” [Narracoorte Herald 12 Mar 1937]
“Ruskin, prince of architectural writers in English, lays it down as a norm that, taking it by and large, a church should be architecturally as beautiful as possible, and structurally as faithful as possible. That both conditions are fulfilled in the building at Naracoorte seems evident from even a cursory glance at the plans and specifications. . . The facade is in the manner of the English village church. Here pleasing effects are obtained by grille openings in pressed cement, and, notably, by a rose window towards the apex filled with choice glass of many tints. Six buttresses in stone impart an air of great strength and solidity to this northern aspect.” [Southern Cross 18 Jun 1937]
Naracoorte St Thomas Aquinas Catholic church
The stone of the tankstand matches the church!
Foundation stone 7 Mar 1937 by Archbishop Andrew Killian, architect Herbert H Jory, Mount Gambler coraline limestone, opened 27 Jun 1937. Earliest services began in Institute. First church foundation stone 16 Apr 1883 by Bishop Christopher Reynolds, opened Feb 1884, used as schoolroom until 1953. Church hall built 1957 from old school materials. New hall foundation stone 8 May 1988 by Monsignor Robert F Aitken, also has 1883 foundation stone.
“the church, had it been three times its size, would have been crowded. As it was, only a comparatively, small number of those desirous of witnessing the ceremony were able to gain admittance. The church, which is a neat little edifice, was hung with a number of pictures, and the altar was decorated with flowers.” [Border Watch 27 Feb 1884]
“‘That little church on the hill, which was built 54 years ago,’ said Father Sparkes, indicating the existing Catholic Church across the road, ‘has outlived its suitability as a place of Divine worship’.” [Narracoorte Herald 12 Mar 1937]
“Ruskin, prince of architectural writers in English, lays it down as a norm that, taking it by and large, a church should be architecturally as beautiful as possible, and structurally as faithful as possible. That both conditions are fulfilled in the building at Naracoorte seems evident from even a cursory glance at the plans and specifications. . . The facade is in the manner of the English village church. Here pleasing effects are obtained by grille openings in pressed cement, and, notably, by a rose window towards the apex filled with choice glass of many tints. Six buttresses in stone impart an air of great strength and solidity to this northern aspect.” [Southern Cross 18 Jun 1937]