A BERRIMA church that has historical significance equal to London’s Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament has been given a new lease on life.
The two historic London structures featured design concepts by renowned British architect Augustus Pugin, who also designed Berrima’s St Francis Xavier Catholic Church in 1942.
The Berrima house of worship, typical of an early English Gothic-style village church, is one of the few intact and essentially unaltered Pugin-designed buildings still standing in Australia.
A $120,000 restoration of St Francis Xavier’s will allow it to continue to form a popular backdrop for many a wedding or baptism and monthly Catholic Masses well into the future.
The church, which is part of the St Paul’s (Moss Vale) Parish, has been restored with funding made available through the Federal Government’s Heritage Grants under the strict conditions that it be done in accordance with heritage requirements.
Moss Vale builder Phillip Marshall, of P. and J. Marshall Builders, has overseen the restoration project.
A new hardwood timber floor, chemical treatment to protect the sandstone walls from salt erosion and the installation of guttering and downpipes to reduce moisture problems are just some of the works done on the church.
Floor bearers weakened by termites have been replaced, under floor ventilation has been installed and new electrical wiring put throughout the building.
St Paul’s Parish priest Fr Jaroslaw Zan said he was grateful that the restoration work had been undertaken.
“Without these works the building would have deteriorated to the point where it could have become unsafe and unusable,” he said.
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The land on which the church was built in 1851 also holds historic significance.
It takes pride of place on the site of the Berrima stockade, on the corner of the Old Hume Highway and Berrima Road, Berrima.
It was a site where road gangs that worked on construction of the Great South Road were housed.
When the gangs left Berrima in 1838, the Catholic Chaplin of NSW, Father John McEncroe, applied to the government for the land for the purpose of building a church and school.
The foundation stone was laid for the building by the first Catholic Bishop in Australia, John Bede Polding, in 1847, but construction of the church by builder William Munro didn’t start until two years later after he completed work on Berrima’s Holy Trinity Anglican Church.
Fr Zan praised the work of the builder and the commitment of the team of volunteers
that made the project possible.
He said there was still more work to be done when more funds became available.
“The roof requires replacement, we would like to re-install the original altar rails and we would like to construct a new gate, fence and driveway to enhance the heritage value of the property,” he said. “We would certainly welcome any further
grants or donations
that would make this work possible.”
The first monthly Mass in the restored St Francis Xavier Catholic Church will be conducted on Sunday from 11am.
Fr Albert Wasnoiski, who will stand in for Fr Zan, will conduct the Mass.
All interested people are welcome to attend.
A cup of tea and opportunity to inspect the church works will be available after the Mass.
Mass is conducted on the first Sunday of each month at 11am. The church is also available for weddings and baptisms.
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