1853
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MAITLAND-NEWCASTLE
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PARISH OF ST BRIGID RAYMOND TERRACE |
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FOUNDED 1853 |
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DIOCESE MAITLAND-NEWCASTLE |
| PARISH CHURCH | STATION CHURCHES | HISTORIC CHURCHES | OTHER BUILDINGS |
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PARISH CHURCH OF ST BRIGID |
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| RAYMOND TERRACE WAS GAZETTED IN 1837 AND LAND SALES BEGAN IN 1838 AND IT BECAME AN IMPORTANT SHIPPING CENTRE IN THE 1840S FOR WOOL CARTED BY ROAD FROM NEW ENGLAND. IN 1848 THERE WERE 263 RECORDED INHABITANTS. SHIPPING CONTINUED INTO THE 1920S BUT THE TOWN HAD LONG BEEN IN DECLINE BY THEN AS TRAFFIC WAS DIVERTED TO NEW ENGLAND WHEN THE HUNTER RIVER BEGAN SILTING UP. THE RAILWAY TO MAITLAND ALSO BYPASSED THE TOWN, THE WHEAT WAS HIT BY WHEAT RUST AND THE WINEGROWERS MOVED ON TO BETTER PASTURES ELSEWHERE IN THE HUNTER VALLEY. THE ARRIVAL OF INDUSTRY IN THE 1930S REVIVED THE LOCAL ECONOMY. TODAY RAYMOND TERRACE IS ESSENTIALLY AN OUTER SUBURB OF AN EXPANDING NEWCASTLE CONURBATION AND A BUSTLING COMMERCIAL AND SERVICE CENTRE. THE PARISH OF RAYMOND TERRACE IS ONE OF THE OLDEST IN THE DIOCESE HAVING BEEN ESTABLISHED IN 1853. ORIGINALLY IT STRETCHED ALL THE WAY TO TAREE UNTIL THE LATTER BECAME A PARISH IN THE 1870's. TODAY THE PARISH COVERS THE URBAN CENTRE OF RAYMOND TERRACE AND THE SEMI-RURAL LOCALITY OF MEDOWIE ON THE SHORES OF PORT STEPHENS. NEXT |
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| THE HISTORIC CHURCH OF ST BRIGID WAS BUILT IN 1862 WITH SUBSEQUENT RENOVATIONS IN 1981. BUILT OF LOCAL SANDSTONE IN SIMPLIFIED GOTHIC, IT IS TYPICAL OF MANY CHURCHES BUILT AT THE TIME. COMPRISING A NAVE WITH A HIGH GABLE IN PLACE OF A TOWER, A SMALL NORTH-EAST SACRISTY AND A LARGE SOUTHERN PORCH. A SOUTH-EASTERN SACRISTY AND CHANCEL WERE ADDED AT A LATER DATE. THE CHURCH AS WAS COMMON AT THE TIME FORMS THE CENTREPIECE OF A WHOLE COMPLEX INCLUDING A CONVENT AND HALL. NEXT |
 | FROM THE REAR THE MASSING OF THE ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS OF THE SOUTH SIDE CAN BE EASILY DISCERNED, ESPECIALLY THE LARGE TRANSEPT LIKE SACRISTY. THE CHURCH IS SURROUNDED BY SEVERAL TREES AND BUSHES WHICH SERVE TO SOFTEN THE LINES OF THE BUILDING IN CONTRAST TO THE NORTH SIDE WHICH IS OPEN AND EXPOSED. THE ADDITIONS DONE IN CEMENT RENDER ARE CLEARLY NOTICEABLE FROM THE BACK AS IS THE MORE ASSERTIVE STYLE OF THE BUTRESSES. ALTHOUGH IN KEEPING WITH THE OVERALL STYLE OF THE CHURCH THESE ADDITIONS LACK THE DELICACY OF THE ORIGINAL SANDSTONE. NEXT |
| THE CHANCEL SEEN FROM THE BACK IS TRADITIONAL IN BEING DISTINCT FROM THE NAVE. A TRIPLE LIGHT LANCET ADORNS THE EASTERN WALL. A STRONGLY TRADITIONAL NOTE IS STRUCK BY THE LARGE LOURDES GROTTO IN THE ANGLE BETWEEN THE PORCH AND SACRISTY. THIS IMPRESSIVE STRUCTURE DOMINATES THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE CHURCH AND CONTAINS MANY VOTIVE TABLESTS DATING BACK TO THE EARLY 20th CENTURY. TOP STATION CHURCHES |  |
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| STATION CHURCHES | |
| MALLALUBA | MEDOWIE |
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| CHURCH OF OUR LADY HELP OF CHRISTIANS, MALLABULA | |
 | MALLABULA IS ONE OF THE MANY NEW SETTLEMENTS THAT HAVE DEVELOPED ALONG THE PENINSULA BETWEEN THE HUNTER RIVER AND PORT STEPHENS. AN AREA OF MODERN HOUSES AND ESTATES CLOSE TO THE BUSH AND THE TOURIST RESORT OF LEMON TREE PASSAGE. ORIGINALLY A STATION OF RAYMOND TERRACE IT WAS LATER TRANSFERRED TO STOCKTON BEFORE BEING RETURNED TO RAYMOND TERRACE IN 2005. THE SMALL MODERN STYLE CHURCH WITH ITS LOW PROFILE IS TYPICAL OF MANY CHURCHES BUILT IN THE 70's AND 80's. IN FORM A HALL CHURCH WITH THE OBLIGATORY DRIVE THROUGH ENTRANCE, IT NESTLES AMONG THE TREES MARKED ONLY BY ITS UNUSUAL FREE-STANDING CROSS. NEXT |
| THE INTERIOR OF THE CHURCH REFLECTS THE MODERN STYLING EVIDENT IN THE EXTERIOR. A WIDE NAVE FACING A DISTINCT SANCTUARY WITH A PLAIN TABLE ALTAR AND WOODEN PANELLING. A SMALL CRUCIFIX IN THE CENTRE, THE TABERNACLE TO THE LEFT AND THE AMBO TO THE RIGHT CONSTITUTE THE ONLY ADORNMENT WITHIN THE SANCTUARY AREA. AN ATTRACTIVE BLONDE WOOD STATUE OF OUR LADY HELP OF CHRISTIANS THE CHURCH PATRONESS IS PLACED TO THE LEFT OF THE SANCTUARY. TOP STATION CHURCHES NEXT |  |
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| CHURCH OF ST CHRISTOPHER, MEDOWIE | |
 | THE SMALL VILLAGE OF MEDOWIE LIES ON THE THE PENINSULA BETWEEN THE HUNTER RIVER AND PORT STEPHENS. AN AREA OF MARKET GARDENS AND SMALL SCALE FARMING, TODAY IT IS EXPERIENCING A HOUSING BOOM AS PEOPLE MOVE AWAY FROM THE URBAN CENTRE OF NEWCASTLE. THE SMALL WEATHERBOARD CHURCH OF ST CHRISTOPHER DATES FROM THE EARLY 20th CENTURY AND HAS SERVED THE LITTLE COMMUNITY FOR MANY DECADES. IT CONSISTS OF A SIMPLE NAVE AND PORCH IN TRADITIONAL GODBOX STYLE. TODAY IT SEEMS A LITTLE INCONGRUOUS AMIDST THE MODERN BRICK DWELLINGS SPRINGING UP ALL AROUND IT. TOP STATION CHURCHES HISTORIC CHURCHES |
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| HISTORIC CHURCHES | |
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| OTHER BUILDINGS | |
| RAYMOND TERRACE MERCY CONVENT |
RAYMOND TERRACE CHURCH HALL |
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| CONVENT OF ST BRIGID, RAYMOND TERRACE | |
 | THE SNGELTON CONGREGATION OF THE SISTERS OF MERCY ARRIVED IN RAYMOND TERRACE IN 1887 TO ESTABLISH THE PARISH SCHOOL AND REMAINED FOR A HUNDRED YEARS SERVING THE PARISH. THE HANDSOME COLONIAL STYLE CONVENT WAS BUILT IN 1912 NEXT DOOR TO THE CHURCH OVERLOOKING THE PARK OPPOSITE. COMPRISING TWO STORIES SURROUNDED BY A FULL LENGTH COVERED VERANDAH IT IS A MAGNIFICENT EXAMPLE OF AUSTRALIAN COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE. TODAY IT IS USED AS PART OF THE EDUCATIONAL INFRSTRUCTURE OF THE DIOCESE OF MAITLAND-NEWCASTLE. TOP OTHER BUILDINGS NEXT |
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| ST BRIGID'S CHURCH HALL, RAYMOND TERRACE | |
 | ACROSS THE ROAD FROM THE CHURCH IS LOCATED THE PARISH SCHOOL. DIRECTLY FACING THE CHURCH IS THE ORIGINAL BUILDING WHICH SERVED BOTH AS THE SCHOOL AND THE CHURCH HALL. BUILT IN 1920 THE HALL IS A SIMPLE BRICK STRUCTURE BUT IS NOTABLE FOR ITS ORNATE ENTRANCE FACADE THAT GIVES A LOOK OF SUBSTANCE TO THE BUILDING. STRONG SQUARE PILLARS AND CLASSICAL STYLING RECALL MANY COUNTRY HALLS BUILT AT THIS TIME, OFTEN AS THE ONLY BUILDING OF SUBSTANCE IN THE TOWN. A LARGE PORCH FACES INTO THE SCHOOL. TODAY IT FORMS PART OF THE HERITAGE LISTING OF THE ST BRIGID'S GROUP. TOP STATION CHURCHES HISTORIC CHURCHES OTHER BUILDINGS |
