COONABARABRAN IS AN ATTRACTIVE TOWN ON THE CASTLEREAGH RIVER NORTH-WEST OF SYDNEY. A SMALL POLICE FORCE WAS POSTED TO THE TOWN IN 1857 BUT IT WAS IN THE 1870's THAT THE TOWN REALLY BEGAN TO DEVELOP LEADING TO IMPROVED ROADS AND SERVICES, NEW AND MORE SPECIALISED STORES, BANKS, THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AN AGRICULTURAL SHOW AND A BRIDGE OVER THE CASTLEREAGH IN 1885 (REPLACED IN 1926). DURING THE 1890's DROUGHT CAUSED EXTENSIVE ECONOMIC HARDSHIP TO THE AREA BUT THE TOWN WEATHERED THE DEPRESSION AND SETTLED DOWN AS A SERVICE CENTRE FOR THE SURROUNDING WHEAT AND SHEEP FARMS. A TOURIST ORIENTATION SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN IN OPERATION AS EARLY AS 1904 WHEN COONABARABRAN BECAME KNOWN AS THE 'KATOOMBA OF THE NORTH WEST' AND TODAY THIS PRETTY LITTLE TOWN REMAINS A POPULAR TOURIST DESTINATION AS THE 'GATEWAY' TO THE WARRUMBUNGLE MOUNTAINS.

THE FIRST CATHOLIC CHURCH IN COONABARABRAN WAS ERECTED IN 1875 WHEN IT WAS PART OF COONAMBLE PARISH. FROM 1876 COONABARABRAN ALONG WITH THE REST OF THIS PARISH WAS PART OF THE MAITLAND DIOCESE REVERTING TO BATHURST DIOCESE IN 1887. IN 1888 A GROUP OF SISTERS OF ST JOSEPH CAME FROM PERTHVILLE TO OPEN A NEW SCHOOL AND ESTABLISHED THE FIRST PERMANENT CATHOLIC PRESENCE IN THE TOWN. FOUR YEARS LATER THE FIRST RESIDENT PRIEST WAS APPOINTED TO THE NEW PARISH WHICH AMONG OTHER STATIONS INCLUDED BARADINE, PURLEWAUGH, BINNAWAY AND BUGALDIE. LATER THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF THE PARISH WAS TRANSFERRED TO COOLAH. IN 1986 BINNAWAY REVERTED TO COONABARABRAN. THE PARISH TODAY IS THUS MUCH THE SAME AS WHEN IT WAS FIRST FORMED ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN YEARS AGO.

IN 1875 THE FIRST CHURCH, A CLASSIC LITTLE BUSH CHURCH, WAS BUILT IN COONABRABRAN ON THE SITE OF THE PRESENT INFANT'S SCHOOL. FROM 1888 TO 1901 IT DOUBLED AS THE SCHOOL AND THEN FROM 1929 WAS USED EXCLUSIVELY AS A SCHOOL BUILDING. IT WAS SUBSEQUENTLY REPLACED BY THE NEW INFANT'S SCHOOL IN 1959.

IN 1901 A SECOND LARGER CHURCH WAS BUILT ADJACENT TO THE FIRST ALLOWING THE LATTER TO BE USED EXCLUSIVELY FOR THE SCHOOL. IT SERVED AS THE CHURCH UNTIL 1929 WHEN IT TOO WAS CONVERTED INTO A CLASSROOM (BELOW). FOLLOWING EXTENSIVE RENOVATIONS THE BUILDING IS STILL USED BY THE SCHOOL TODAY.

THE THIRD CHURCH WAS BUILT IN 1929 AND WAS ALWAYS MEANT TO BE USED AS A CHURCH ONLY TEMPORARILY BEFORE BEING CONVERTED TO SCHOOL USE. IT WAS THEREFORE QUITE IRONIC THAT CIRCUMSTANCES RESULTED IN ITS BEING USED AS THE PARISH CHURCH FOR SOME THIRTY SEVEN YEARS, A LONGER PERIOD THAN THAT OF BOTH ITS FORERUNNERS.


THE NEW CHURCH WAS A SIGNIFICANTLY MORE SUBSTANTIAL STRUCTURE THAN EITHER OF THE PREVIOUS STRUCTURES BEING MADE OF BRICK WITH THE MOCK BUTTRESSES WHICH WERE TYPICAL OF CHURCHES BUILT AT THE TIME. IN 1966 IT WAS CONVERTED INTO CLASSROOMS AND AS WITH THE ITS PREDECESSOR IT IS STILL IN USE TODAY (LEFT & BELOW).

ALTHOUGH THE TEMPORARY THIRD CHURCH HAD PROVED MORE ENDURING THAN EXPECTED BY 1966 THE PARISH WAS FINALLY IN A POSITION TO ERECT A PURPOSE-BUILT CHURCH BIG ENOUGH TO CATER FOR THE SIZE OF THE TOWN. IT WAS PERHAPS UNINTENTIONALLY A SYMBOLIC GESTURE TO THIS FINAL SEPARATION FROM THE CHURCH/SCHOOLS OF THE PAST THAT THE NEW CHURCH SHOULD BE BUILT ON A SITE ADJACENT TO THE PRESBYTERY.

THE YEAR OF THE CHURCH'S CONSTRUCTION WAS OF SIGNIFICANCE FOR ITS ARCHITECTURAL FORM. CHANGES TO THE LITURGY IN THE AFTERMATH OF VATICAN II WERE ALREADY BEING TRIALLED IN SEVERAL PARISHES AND THE YEAR FOLLOWING ITS CONSTRUCTION IS GENERALLY CONSIDERED THE BREAKTHROUGH YEAR FOR THE NEW MASS. THUS THE CHURCH WAS BUILT TO RESPOND TO TWO QUITE DISTINCT IMPERATIVES - TO HOLD TO THE PAST AND LOOK FORWARD TO THE FUTURE. FROM THE OUTSIDE IT IS THE FUTURE WHICH IS NOTABLY PREDOMINANT WITH NO MARKED ARCHITECTURAL DIVISIONS BUT RATHER A SINGLE ALL-EMBRACING SPACE WHICH HAS BEEN CONTAINED WITHIN A HIGH-PITCHED A-FRAME SHELL THAT IS HIGHLIGHTED BY A MODERNISTIC FREE-STANDING TUBULAR CROSS.

ON ENTERING INTO THE INTERIOR OF THE CHURCH ONE IS IMMEDIATELY AWARE OF ITS TRADTITIONAL LAYOUT DESPITE THE 1960's MINIMALISM AND THE RE-ORDERED SANCTUARY OF THE 1970's. LEFT OF THE ENTRANCE LIES THE FORMER BAPTISTRY SEPARATED BY ITS IRON GRILLE WHILE AHEAD AT THE FRONT OF THE CHURCH THE SIDE ALTARS ARE STILL IN PLACE THOUGH NOW SADLY DISUSED. THIS IS A CHURCH THAT WAS ALWAYS MODERN IN THE ASTHETIC SENSE RATHER THAN IN THE BROADER ECCLESIASTICAL SENSE.

AHEAD THE EAST END IS DOMINATED BY A RAISED SANCTUARY NOTABLE FOR ITS SPARE BEAUTY. THE PLAIN STONE TABLE ALTAR AND BOXY TABERNACLE FORM AN IMMEDIATE VISUAL FOCUS OF ATTENTION. FRAMING THIS KEY FOCUS IS A TRIANGLE FORMED BY THE AMBO, CRUCIFIX AND THE FONT. THERE ARE TWO PARTICULARLY ATTRACTIVE FEATURES THAT STAND OUT ON FIRST VIEWING. THESE ARE FIRSTLY THE SUSPENDED SANCTUARY LAMP AND SECONDLY THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS.

THE STARK BEAUTY OF THE SANCTUARY (RIGHT) IS IMMEDIATELY EVIDENT ON CLOSER INSPECTION. ALL DISTRACTING DECORATION HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM THE SANCTUARY LEAVING THE EYE TO FOCUS ON THE SIMPLE ELEGANCE OF THE SANDSTONE TABLE ALTAR (BELOW) AND THE LOVELY CARVED ROSEWOOD CRUCIFIX. THE HIGH ALTAR, DESPITE ITS MODERNITY, LOOKS LIKE AN ALTAR (UNLIKE MANY OF THE TEMPORARY ALTARS INSTALLED IN THE WAKE OF VATICAN II). THE TABERNACLE, A PLAIN BOX SET ON A SHELF BELOW THE CRUCIFIX, OCCUPIES THE POSITION OF HONOUR APPROPRIATE FOR THE BLESSED SACRAMENT. ITS SUCCESS AS THE CENTRAL FOCUS OF THE SANCTUARY IS ACHIEVED THROUGH THE FELICITOUS POSITIONING OF THE KEY ELEMENTS OF THE ALTAR, TABERNACLE AND CRUCIFIX (>>>).

LIKE THE REST OF THE CHURCH THE NAVE IS NOT DIVIDED INTO DISTINCT SEGMENTS BUT FORMS A SINGLE SPACE. A FEELING OF IMMENESNESS IS CREATED BY THE HIGH PITCHED ROOF AND THE LIGHT FLOODING INTO THE NAVE FROM THE WEST WINDOW (LEFT). IN THE FAR CORNER, ENCLOSED BY IRON GRILLS AND NO LONGER IN USE, IS THE FORMER BAPTISTRY (BELOW).

AT THE WEST END OF THE CHURCH IS A WIDE NARTHEX PROVIDING A SPACE FOR GREETINGS AND FAREWELLS. IN THIS AREA ARE TWO BRASS PLAQUES WHICH MARK THE BLESSING AND OPENING OF THE CHURCH ON NOVEMBER 13 1966 BY BISHOP THOMAS AND AS WAS QUITE COMMON IN THE 1960's THE DEDICATION OF THE CHURCH AS A WAR MEMORIAL.


BESIDE THESE TWO PLAQUES THERE IS THIS TRADITIONAL CRUCIFIX WHICH HAS BEEN MOUNTED AS A MEMORIAL (RIGHT).


WITH THE TRANSFER TO THE NEW CHURCH SEVERAL ITEMS WERE SAVED FROM THE OLD AND GIVEN A HOME IN THE NEW. AMONG THESE WERE THE STATUES ON THE SIDE ALTARS AND THE SANCTUARY LAMP AND ESPECIALLY THE LOVELY BAS-RELIEF STATIONS OF THE CROSS (LEFT) HANGING IN THE NAVE.

BARADINE IS A SMALL TOWNSHIP OF SOME FIVE HUNDRED INHABITANTS LOCATED IN THE GOORIANAWA VALLEY ON THE SOUTH-WESTERN EDGE OF THE PILLIGA SCRUB SOME 40 KM FROM COONABARABRAN. THE AREA WAS PROCLAIMED A VILLAGE IN 1865 BUT IT WAS THE EXPLOITATION OF THE TIMBER OF THE PILLIGA THAT LED TO THE GROWTH OF THE TOWN IN THE EARLY 1900's. MONEY FLOWED INTO THE TOWN DURING THIS PERIOD AND IT STILL SHOWS EVIDENCE OF ITS EARLIER IMPORTANCE. ECONOMIC CHANGES IN THE LATER 20TH CENTURY SAW THE TOWN DECLINE INTO A SMALL QUIET RURAL SERVICE CENTRE.

BARADINE WAS REGULARLY VISITED BY PRIESTS FROM COONABARABRAN FROM THE EARLY 1900's. BY THE 1920's IT HAD BECOME OF SUFFICIENT IMPORTANCE TO MERIT A CHURCH OF SUBSTANCE AS WELL AS A CONVENT SCHOOL OPENED IN 1926. LOCAL CATHOLICS WERE VERY ACTIVE IN SUPPORT OF THE CHURCH PRESENCE A TRADITION THAT BARADINE PARISHIONERS CONTINUE TO HOLD FIRMLY TO THIS DAY.

AS BARADINE DEVELOPED SO THE DESIRE OF LOCAL CATHOLICS FOR A CHURCH AND A SCHOOL SO THAT THEY COULD PRACTICE AND PASS ON THEIR FAITH GREW AND IT WAS LARGELY AT THEIR URGING THAT THE CHURCH OF ST JOHN THE BAPTIST WAS BUILT IN THE EARLY 1920's. THE STYLE OF THE CHURCH WAS AN IDIOSYNCRATIC GOTHIC WITH INTERESTING BUTTRESSES AND A COMPACT CHANCEL WHICH WAS CONVERTED DURING THE RE-ORDERING INTO THE ENTRANCE PORCH.

THE PRESENT CHURCH INTERIOR IS THE RESULT OF AN INTERNAL RE-ORDERING OF THE CHURCH UNDERTAKEN DURING THE 1980's. AS ORIGINALLY BUILT THE CHURCH WAS ORIENTED IN THE OTHER DIRECTION AND TERMINATED IN A COMPACT LITTLE CHANCEL UNIQUELY MARKED BY THREE NARROW GOTHIC POINTED ARCHWAYS.

IN THE RE-ORDERING OF THE 1980's THE CHURCH WAS TURNED 180 DEGREES WITH THE OLD CHANCEL CONVERTED INTO THE ENTRANCE AND A NEW SACRISTY AND SANCTUARY BEING CONSTRUCTED AT THE FORMER WEST END. THE NEW SANCTUARY CONSISTS OF A SIMPLE WOODEN ALTAR, A WOOD-PANNELLED WALL, A TRADITIONAL CRUCIFIX AND IMPRESSIVE TABERNACLE.

IN SPITE OF THIS GRAND RE-ORDERING THE CHURCH RETAINS A TRADITIONAL FLAVOUR EVIDENCED BY THE ROW OF CANDLES FLANKING THE TABERNACLE AND THE FATIMA SHRINE WITH ITS STATUE OF OUR LADY OF FATIMA GIVEN A PLACE OF ESPECIAL HONOUR IN THE SANCTUARY.

BINNAWAY, SETTLED IN THE MID-1800's, WAS ONCE A THRIVING RAIL HUB BUT WITH THE CLOSIN DOWN OF THE RAILWAY IT DWINDLED TO A SMALL RURAL SERVICE CENTRE FOR THE SURROUNDING AREA.

A STATION OF COONABARABRAN FROM THE EARLY 1900's, IT PASSED TO COOLAH (1955), THEN TO MENDOORAN (1964), BACK TO COOLAH (1974), FINALLY RETURNING TO ITS FIRST PARISH IN 1986. FROM 1933 BINNAWAY WAS SUBSTANTIAL ENOUGH TO SUPPORT A CONVENT SCHOOL RUN BY THE BATHURST SISTERS OF MERCY WHO MAINTAINED IT UNTIL 1969 WHEN A LACK OF ENROLLMENTS LED TO ITS CLOSURE.

THE GROWTH OF BINNAWAY LED TO A DESIRE ON THE PART OF LOCAL CATHOLICS FOR A CHURCH IN WHICH TO CELEBRATE MASS AND THIS WISH WAS GRANTED AROUND 1930 WITH THE BUILDING OF ST PETER & ST PAULS CHURCH. LIKE MANY RURAL CHURCHES IT WAS A LOCAL PROJECT AND WAS IN STYLE SOMEWHAT IDIOSYNCRATIC. COMPOSED OF A TALL BOX LIKE NAVE AND A SMALL CHANCEL IT CLEARLY STOOD OUT IN THE TOWN. A PORCH WAS ADDED LATER. DUE TO THE HIGH COSTS OF UPKEEP IT WAS SOLD IN THE 1980's AND BECAME A HOME. IT WAS THEN REPLACED BY THE OLD SCHOOL.

IN 1969 THE LITTLE CONVENT SCHOOL CLOSED AND THE FOLLOWING YEAR IT WAS DECIDED TO CONVERT THE OLD SCHOOL BUILDING INTO A NEW CHURCH AS THE COSTS OF THE UPKEEP OF THE OLD CHURCH WERE PROHIBITIVE AND THE SCHOOL BUILDING WAS IN BETTER REPAIR. TWO OUT OF THE THREE CLASSROOMS WERE CONVERTED INTO THE CHURCH AND THE THIRD BECAME A SACRISTY. BUILT IN 1939 THE BUILDING ITSELF WAS PLAIN AND FUNCTIONAL WITH THE SOLE CONCESSION TO ITS RELIGIOUS PURPOSE A LARGE AND DOMINATING CROSS PLACED CENTRALLY ON THE ROOF. SINCE 1970 THIS FORMER SCHOOL BUILDING HAS CONTINUED TO SERVE THE CATHOLICS OF BINNAWAY AS THE STATION CHURCH. IT HAS THUS MAINTAINED THE TRADITION STARTED WITH THE FIRST ST PETER AND PAUL'S EIGHTY YEARS AGO.

THE SCHOOL BUILDING WAS NOT OF COURSE DESIGNED AS A CHURCH AND THIS IS OBVIOUS FROM THE INTERIOR. NONETHELESS ALL OF THE ESSENTIALS OF A CATHOLIC CHURCH ARE CONTAINED WITHIN IT AND THE FAITHFUL HAVE MADE A DETERMINED EFFORT TO BRING BEAUTY TO THEIR NEW CHURCH INCLUDING THE LOVELY STATUE OF OUR LADY (LEFT), THE ATTRACTIVE STATIONS OF THE CROSS (ABOVE) AND THE LARGE CRUCIFIX (RIGHT).

BUGALDIE (BUGALDI), A TINY HAMLET ABOUT HALF-WAY BETWEEN COONABARABRAN AND BARADINE, TODAY CONSISTS OF LITTLE MORE THAN A SMALL CLUSTER OF HOUSES AND THE GENERAL STORE.

BUGALDIE WAS SERVED FROM COONABARABRAN FROM THE EARLY 1900's ON BUT WITHOUT A CHURCH UNTIL ST JOSEPH'S WAS BUILT IN THE 1930's. THE CHURCH WAS CLOSED IN THE 1960's AND BECAME DERELICT. IT WAS SOLD IN THE 1980's. TODAY THE SADLY NEGLECTED CHURCH IS PRIVATELY OWNED.

PURLEWAUGH IS A TINY HAMLET ON THE QUIRINDI ROAD EAST OF COONABARABRAN. LITTLE MORE THAN A CLUSTER OF HOUSES TODAY IT WAS ONCE A SERVICE CENTRE FOR THE SURROUNDING AREA.

PURLEWAUGH WAS ONE OF THE OLDEST STATIONS SERVED FROM COONABARABRAN WITH A LARGE POPULATION OF FARM WORKERS BUT CHANGES IN AGRICULTURE LED TO A DECLINE IN POPULATION. AS A RESULT THE CHURCH WAS CLOSED IN THE LATE 1980's AND THE BUILDING WAS THEN SOLD. FOR A TIME IT WAS USED AS AN ART GALLERY BUT FOR SEVERAL YEARS HAS BEEN UNUSED AND NEGLECTED.

COONABARABRAN IS UNUSUAL IN HAVING THREE SIGNIFICANT CATHOLIC CENTRES. AS THE PARISH CENTRE COONABARABRAN CONTAINS THE PRINCIPAL COMPLEX OF BUILDINGS INCLUDING THE PRESBYTERY BUILT IN 1917 WHICH REPLACED AN EARLIER BUILDING OF 1888, A SCHOOL AND CONVENT, THE THIRD SINCE THE PERTHVILLE SISTERS OF ST JOSEPH ARRIVED IN THE TOWN. THE FIRST CONVENT LATER BECAME THE FIRST PRESBYTERY AND THE SECOND BUILT IN 1894 WAS SUBSEQUENTLY DEMOLISHED TO MAKE WAY FOR SCHOOL EXPANSION. THE LOCAL ST VINCENT DE PAUL CONFERENCE MAINTAINS A VINNIES RETAIL OUTLET. AT BARADINE THERE IS A PRESBYTERY ONCE USED FOR OVERNIGHT STAYS BY PRIESTS AND A JOSEPHITE CONVENT AND SCHOOL OPENED IN 1926. BINNAWAY ALSO POSSESSED A CONVENT AND SCHOOL OPENED BY THE BATHURST MERCY SISTERS IN 1933.

WHEN THE FIRST RESIDENT PRIEST ARRIVED IN 1892 THERE WAS NO PERMANENT ACCOMODATION AVAILABLE FOR HIM AND IT WAS NOT UNTIL 1894 THAT HE WAS ABLE TO MOVE INTO THE FIRST CONVENT ON THE CORNER OF ROBERTSON & CASSILIS STREETS. THIS HOUSE REMAINED THE PRIEST'S HOME UNTIL IT WAS REPLACED IN 1917.

IN 1917 A NEW PRESBYTERY WAS BUILT ON THE CORNER OF NAMOI AND CASSILIS STREETS (NEXT TO THE PRESENT CHURCH). THIS WAS A FEDERATION ARTS AND CRAFTS STYLE SANDSTONE BUNGALOW SET IN A LOVELY TREE-FILLED GARDEN. AFTER 90 YEARS SERVICE THIS BUILDING (<<<) REMAINS THE CATHOLIC PRESBYTERY TODAY.

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OTHER BUILDINGS

BARADINE PRESBYTERY

PRIOR TO THE EASING OF THE FASTING LAWS AND THE ADVENT OF CHEAP FAST CAR TRAVEL IN THE POST WAR ERA IT WAS GENERALLY NECESSARY FOR THE OFFICIATING PRIEST TO TRAVEL TO A STATION THE NIGHT BEFORE SO THAT HE COULD HEAR CONFESSIONS, DO BAPTISMS AND THEN BE AVAILABLE FOR EARLY MORNING MASS THE FOLLOWING MORNING. THIS REGIMEN OF COURSE NECESSITATED A PLACE FOR THE VISITING PRIEST TO SLEEP OVERNIGHT AND THERE WERE A NUMBER OF OPTIONS USED BY PARISHES TO PROVIDE THIS.

AT BARADINE THE OPTION CHOSEN WAS TO CONSTRUCT A SMALL HOUSE FOR THE USE OF THE VISITING PRIEST. KNOWN LOCALLY AS THE 'LITTLE VATICAN' IT WAS ERECTED BY THE PARISHIONERS AND WAS IN ESSENCE A FIBRO 'GRANNY FLAT' THOUGH LARGER THAN THE USUAL PRIEST'S OVERNIGHTER. IT WAS NO DOUBT SOMETHING OF A JOYFUL SIGHT FOR A WEARY PRIEST ON HIS ARRIVAL. WITH THE CHANGES FOLLOWING VATICAN II EARLY MASSES WERE NO LONGER REQUIRED AND MODERN CARS MADE THE 50KM DRIVE SEEM LIKE A PLEASANT STROLL SO THE BUILDING WAS TURNED OVER TO THE SCHOOL WHO HAVE USED IT FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES EVER SINCE.

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OTHER BUILDINGS

RELIGIOUS ORDERS

PARISH DIRECTORY

FOR MOST OF ITS HISTORY THE PARISH CHURCH OF COONABARABRAN HAS BEEN KNOWN SIMPLY AS ST LAWRENCE'S. THIS HAS CAUSED SOME CONFUSION AS TO WHICH ST LAWRENCE THE CHURCH WAS DEDICATED. FROM THE RECORDS IT APPEARS THAT THE CHURCH WAS DEDICATED TO ST LAURENCE O'TOOLE A COMMON DEDICATION IN THE TWO IRISH DOMINATED DIOCESES TO WHICH COOONABARABRAN BELONGED. THE PLAQUE IN THE NARTHEX REFERS SPECIFICALLY TO THE CHURCH OF ST LAWRENCE O'TOOLE THOUGH RETAINING THE INCORRECT SPELLING OF THE NAME. THIS WAS A NOT UNCOMMON ERROR AMONG CHURCHES DEDICATED TO ST LAURENCE. FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS PAGE I HAVE CORRECTED THE NAME OF THE PARISH TO ST LAURENCE O'TOOLE WHILE RETAINING THE COMMONLY ACCEPTED SPELLING OF ST LAWRENCE FOR THE PARISH CHURCH AND SCHOOL.

INFORMATION AND SOME PHOTOS ON THIS PAGE WERE OBTAINED COURTESY OF THE COONABARABRAN DPS LOCAL & FAMILY HISTORY GROUP AND THEIR ASSISTANCE IS HERE AKNOWLEDGED WITH GRATITUDE. AN ESPECIAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT IS HERE MADE TO MARY DOOLAN WHOSE ESSAYS NUN'S STORY AND SCHOOL STORY WERE AN INVALUABLE AID TO PARISH HISTORY.