TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE RAILWAY LINE COMPLETED BETWEEN SYDNEY AND NEWCASTLE IN THE EARLY 1900's A SMALL RURAL VILLAGE DEVELOPED ON THE FAR NORTHERN FRINGES OF SYDNEY AT THE LOCATION OF THE MODERN-DAY SUBURB OF ASQUITH . AT THE TIME IT WAS SAID THAT KANGAROOS OUTNUMBERED THE INHABITANTS. AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR HOWEVER THE AREA BENEFITED FROM THE RAPID GROWTH OF THE GREATER SYDNEY CONURBATION AND TODAY ASQUITH IS A BUSY SUBURB ON SYDNEY'S OUTER EDGE.

THE HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN ASQUITH GOES BACK TO THE PURCHASE OF A BLOCK OF LAND BY THE THEN PARISH PRIEST AT CHATSWOOD, FR BARRY, FOR THE FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHURCH. IN 1913 ASQUITH BECAME PART OF THE NEW PARISH OF WAITARA, AND IN THE 1930's A CHURCH FOR THE AREA WAS BUILT. IN 1951 ASQUITH WAS DECLARED A PARISH WITH BEROWRA AS A STATION. BEROWRA WAS ITSELF DECLARED A PARISH AND SEPARATED FROM ASQUITH IN 1973 BUT IN THE EARLY YEARS OF THE 21st CENTURY DECLINING PRIESTLY NUMBERS FORCED A TWINNING OF THE TWO PARISHES. FROM JULY 2006 THE TWO WERE ONCE AGAIN AMALGAMATED IN A SINGLE PARISH UNDER THE NAME OF KU-RING-GAI CHASE CATHOLIC PARISH.

THE FIRST CHURCH OF ST PATRICK WAS ERECTED IN 1938 AS A STATION CHURCH OF WAITARA AND AS IT WAS COMMON AT THE TIME TO DO, IT WAS A MULTI-PURPOSE BUILDING THAT WAS USED AS A HALL AND A SCHOOL, AS WELL AS THE CHURCH FOR SUNDAYS.

IN 1954, NOW A FULLY-FLEDGED PARISH CHURCH, IT WAS EXTENDED BY A NEW SANCTUARY, BAPTISTRY, SACRISTY AND A CONFESSIONAL TO REPLACE THE CRAMPED BROOM CLOSET THAT HAD DONE SERVICE TO THE PARISHIONERS IN THAT ROLE UP TILL THEN.

IN 1959 AFTER THE NEW SCHOOL WAS COMPLETED, OLD ST PATRICK'S BECAME SIMPLY A CHURCH ONCE MORE UNTIL IT WAS REPLACED BY THE NEW CHURCH IN 1970. IT WAS THEN CONVERTED INTO A LIBRARY AND CLASSROOMS FOR THE PARISH SCHOOL'S USE.

THE 1970's PARISH CHURCH OF ST PATRICK WAS CONSTRUCTED TO AN UNUSUAL, IN FACT FOR THE TIMES ALMOST FUTURISTIC, DESIGN. THIS WAS INTENDED TO MEET THE NEW REQUIREMENTS OF AN ALL-EMBRACING WORSHIP SPACE IN ACCORD WITH THE NEW THINKING ON THE MASS AS A GATHERING TOGETHER OF A CHURCH COMMUNITY.

ALTHOUGH THE OUTER WALL PRESENTS A BLAND EXTERIOR TO THE STREET, THE INNER COURTYARD, REACHED VIA A SHORT STAIR AND THEN THROUGH AN ARCHED ENTRANCE WAY PROVIDES A LOVELY AL FRESCO NARTHEX SPACE FOR THE INTERACTION OF THE FAITHFUL.

THE CHURCH WAS BUILT FROM GREY TRACHYTE STONE TAKEN FROM THE OLD FLEMINGTON SHEEP YARDS. JOHN KING, THE ARCHITECT, DESCRIBED IT AS 'A SIMPLE AND PEACE FILLED SPACE PERMITTING UNDISTURBED WORSHIP', AN APT WAY OF DESCRIBING GOD'S HOUSE.

ACCESS TO THE INNER CHURCH IS GAINED VIA A FORECOURT WHICH ITSELF FORMS AN AL FRESCO EXTENSION OF THE CHURCH INTERIOR AND FROM WHICH IT IS SEPARATED BY FULL-LENGTH GLASS PANELS.

THE WEST FRONT OF THE CHURCH IS IN FACT LOW, BUT RISES TO ITS FULL HEIGHT ABOVE THE CHANCEL - THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF THE IMPOSING TRADITIONAL FACADE. THE FRONT WALL OF THE NAVE IS COMPOSED OF GLASS DOORS PROVIDING BOTH LIGHT AND INGRESS AT ONE AND THE SAME TIME. THIS FEATURE COMPENSATES FOR THE DELIBERATE LACK OF WINDOWS IN THE STRUCTURE OF THE CHURCH.

TWO INNOVATIONS OF INTEREST IN THE DESIGN ARE FIRST A ROUND TOWER WHICH HOUSES THE BLESSED SACRAMENT CHAPEL AND THE SECOND THE PLACING OF THE SACRISTY AT THE NAVE ENTRANCE TO ENHANCE THE INTERACTION OF THE CELEBRANT AND WORSHIPPERS.

AS VIEWED FROM THE OPPOSITE ANGLE THE DISTINCT FORTRESS-LIKE TOWER FEATURE DOMINATES THE WHOLE CHURCH, AND LIFTS IT ABOVE THE BANALITY WHICH IS SO OFTEN TO BE FOUND IN MANY MODERN BUILDINGS.

THIS RARE STRUCTURAL FEATURE ACHIEVES TWO QUITE DEFINITE PURPOSES. IT IS FIRST THE PLACE OF RESERVATION AND SECOND ACTS AS THE CHANCEL IN OLDER CHURCHES DID TO GIVE AN EXTERNAL DEFINITION TO A HOLY SPACE WITHIN THE CHURCH ENSURING EXTERNAL FORM BECOMES A WAY TO SHOW FORTH THE INTERNAL PURPOSE. IN THIS THE ARCHITECT HAS MOST BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN TRANSLATING A QUITE TRADITIONAL DESIGN CONCEPT INTO A DECIDEDLY MODERN IDIOM.

THE TINY WINDOW TO BE SEEN AT THE BASE OF THE TOWER ALSO SERVES A SYMBOLIC PURPOSE IN PROVIDING A HALO OF NATURAL LIGHT AROUND THE TABERNACLE INSIDE AS CAN BE SEEN IN THE PHOTO SHOWN BELOW.

THE INTERIOR HAS WITHIN A NUMBER OF EFFECTS DESIGNED TO MAKE THE SACRAMENTAL SPACE THE LOCUS OF THE WHOLE LITURGICAL ACTION. THE SANCTUARY ITSELF FORMS A TOTAL COMPLEX FOR THE CELEBRATION OF THE CHURCH'S MOST VITAL RITUALS, THE EUCHARIST AND BAPTISM, SO IT WAS INTENTIONALLY KEPT SIMPLE IN ORDER THAT THE OPTICAL FOCUS BE SQUARELY UPON THE ALTAR, A PLAIN RECTANGULAR STONE BLOCK WITH A MATCHING AMBO ON THE RIGHT SIDE.

THE STONE FONT STANDS IN A SEMI-CIRCULAR RECESSED BAPTISTRY TO THE RIGHT. BEHIND THE ALTAR IS A CELEBRANT'S CHAIR MADE OUT OF THE SAME TRACHYTE STONE AS THE CHURCH AND A DOMINATING CRUCIFIX HANGING ABOVE IT. ALONG THE WALL ARE GROUPED THE MODERN SET OF STATIONS OF THE CROSS TOGETHER WITH THE LOVELY CARVED MADONNA.

THE VARIOUS ITEMS OF SANCTUARY FURNITURE SHOWING THE ALTAR AND SKYLIGHT DIRECTLY ABOVE IT TO SHED LIGHT DIRECTLY ON TO THE FOCUS OF THE SACRED MYSTERIES (LEFT), THE CRUCIFIX AND CELEBRANT'S CHAIR (TOP RIGHT) AND THE BAPTISTRY (BOTTOM RIGHT).

ONE OF THE MOST UNIQUE FEATURES OF A CHURCH FULL OF SUCH FEATURES IS THE BLESSED SACRAMENT CHAPEL LOCATED IN THE BASE OF THE CIRCULAR TOWER. UNLIKE THE MAIN CHURCH WHICH IS A PLACE OF SACRAMENTAL ACTION THE CHAPEL IS PRIMARILY A PLACE FOR ADORATION AND DEVOTION AS WELL AS SMALL WEEKDAY MASSES. TO THE LEFT IS A STATUE OF THE CHURCH PATRON SAINT, ST PATRICK.

PICTURED BELOW IS THE POWERFUL ARCHED ENTRANCE TO THE CHAPEL (LEFT) AND THE INTERIOR OF THE CHAPEL WITH THE TABERNACLE BACKLIT BY THE SMALL WINDOW IN THE OUTER WALL (RIGHT). VARIOUS DEVOTIONAL PICTURES COMPLETE THE CHAPEL DECORATIONS.

AMONG THE MANY ART WORKS IN THE CHURCH ARE (FROM LEFT TO RIGHT) THE STATUE OF ST JOSEPH THE WORKER ON THE WALL OF THE CHAPEL, THE LOVELY CARVED WOODEN STATIONS OF THE CROSS AND THE MADONNA AND CHILD ON THE RIGHT-HAND WALL OF THE CHURCH.

BEROWRA ON THE OUTER FRINGES OF SYDNEY WAS LARGELY A PRODUCT OF SYDNEY'S URBAN EXPLOSION AFTER WORLD WAR II. IT IS NOTED FOR ITS ATTRACTIVE BUSHLAND VISTAS AND SPECTACULAR VIEWS OF THE GALSTON GORGE AND HAS BECOME TODAY A POPULAR RESIDENTIAL SUBURB FOR YOUNG FAMILIES AND RETIRED COUPLES.

BEROWRA BEGAN AS A STATION OF ASQUITH IN THE 1950's AND BY THE EARLY 1970's HAD GROWN SUFFICIENTLY TO WARRANT ITS OWN CHURCH DULY CONSTRUCTED IN 1970. THIS WAS FOLLOWED BY A PARISH SCHOOL OPENED IN 1971 BY THE SISTERS OF MERCY FROM ASQUITH CONVENT. IN 1973 BEROWRA BECAME A PARISH SO MAKING IT THE MOST NORTHERLY OF THE SYDNEY URBAN PARISHES AND A FOUNDATIONAL PARISH OF THE NEW DIOCESE OF BROKEN BAY IN 1986. IT WAS TWINNED WITH ITS FORMER PARENT PARISH IN 2002 AND ON JULY 1st 2006 THE TWO SEPERATED PARISHES WERE ONCE AGAIN UNITED IN ONE PARISH - THE KU-RING-GAI CHASE CATHOLIC PARISH.

THE PARISH CHURCH WAS ERECTED IN 1970 AS A CHURCH / HALL. IN STYLE IT IS A PLAIN RECTANGULAR BUILDING WITH A MINIMALIST LOOK. ITS PURPOSE IS DECLARED BOLDLY BY A LARGE FREE-STANDING PLAIN WOODEN CROSS PLACED OUT FRONT OF THE CHURCH.

SEEN FROM THE STREET, THE CLEAN LINES AND LOW BOX-LIKE DESIGN OF THE CHURCH ARE OBVIOUS. THE PRETTY GROUNDS AND SEVERAL NATIVE TREES GIVE THE CHURCH A QUITE IDYLLIC AND AUSTRALIAN SETTING.

AMONG THE BUILDING'S KEY FEATURES ARE SEVERAL LARGE GLASS SIDE DOORS THAT PROVIDE NATURAL LIGHTING FOR THE HALL-LIKE NAVE AND THE UNOBTRUSIVE STYLING BLENDING INTO THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT.

THE LARGE WOODEN CROSS OUTSIDE THE CHURCH IS A MIRROR OF THE CROSS OUTSIDE THE ASQUITH CHURCH AND EMPHASISES THE CLOSE CONNECTION THAT EXISTS BETWEEN THEM. BELOW IS THE MAIN DOORWAY WHOSE STYLE REFLECTS THE FUNCTIONAL LINES THAT ARE THE HALLMARK OF THE OVERALL DESIGN OF THE CHURCH.

INSIDE THE BUILDING IS EVIDENTLY A FUNCTIONAL STRUCTURE COMPRISED OF A PLAIN ENCLOSED RECTANGULAR SPACE LINED ALONG TWO SIDES WITH FULL-SIZE CLEAR GLASS DOORWAYS ALLOWING THE CHURCH TO BE LIT BY THE NATURAL LIGHTING OF THE SUN.

THE PLACE OF THE SEATING BLOCKS WAS DICTATED BY THE BOXY SHAPE OF THE CHURCH BEING SET IN ROWS LOOKING TOWARDS THE SANCTUARY. THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS HAVE BEEN HUNG ALONG THE ARCHITRAVE.

AT THE DISTANT END OF THE NAVE IS A VERY MINIMALIST SANCTUARY WITH A VOTIVE SHRINE TO THE RIGHT. THE SIMPLE WOODEN FURNITURE OF THE SANCTUARY CONTINUES THE SCHEMA OF SEVERE FUNCTIONALITY THAT IS NOTABLE THROUGHOUT THE CHURCH AND SEEN IN THESE PHOTOS BELOW.

ON THE LEFT CAN BE SEEN THE VERY SIMPLE SANCTUARY FURNISHINGS COMPRISING A TABLE ALTAR AND AMBO IN BLONDE WOOD AND A PLAIN CHAIR. AN UNUSUAL AUMBREY-STYLE TABERNACLE IS SET INTO THE WALL BENEATH THE CRUCIFIX, HERE HIDDEN BY THE FAN. TO THE RIGHT IS A SMALL VOTIVE SHRINE WITH ITS STATUES OF OUR LADY AND THE SACRED HEART PLACED IN INTRIGUING BOX LIKE STRUCTURES.

BROOKLYN IS A HISTORIC FISHING VILLAGE SET ALONG THE BANKS OF THE HAWKESBURY RIVER NORTH OF SYDNEY. FOUNDED BY CAPTAIN PHILIP WITHIN A FEW MONTHS OF THE LANDING AT SYDNEY COVE IT IS TODAY BEST KNOWN AS THE POPULAR TOURIST STEP-OFF POINT FOR BOATING ACCESS TO THE LOWER HAWKESBURY AND TO BROKEN BAY.

BROOKLYN WASN'T A PARTICULARLY STRONG CATHOLIC TOWN AND SO THE CATHOLICS THERE RELIED ON OCCASIONAL VISITS BY THE PRIEST FROM WAITARA OR THE MONTHLY VISITS BY THE SISTERS OF MERCY WHO TRAVELLED UP BY TRAIN AFTER THE GREAT NORTHERN LINE WAS COMPLETED. IN 1907 HOWEVER THE SISTERS ARRIVED PERMANENTLY TO FOUND THE GIRL'S SCHOOL WHICH LATER BECAME AN ORPHANAGE.

IN 1914 SUFFICIENT FUNDS WERE RAISED FOR A CHURCH / SCHOOL TO BE BUILT WHICH TOOK ITS NAME - ST CARTHAGE - FROM THAT OF THE SCHOOL. THE LITTLE CHURCH HALL CONTINUED TO SERVE THE SMALL CATHOLIC COMMUNITY AND THE GIRLS AT THE ORPHANAGE UNTIL 1967 WHEN THE COMPLETION OF THE NEW CONVENT CHAPEL REMOVED ITS NEED. THE BUILDING WAS LATER DEMOLISHED AS NO LONGER SECURE.

AS AN AMALGAMATION OF TWO EXISTING PARISHES KU-RING-GAI CHASE POSSESSES THE PAROCHIAL STRUCTURES OF BOTH. THE NORTH SYDNEY SISTERS OF MERCY ESTABLISHED A CONVENT AND PARISH SCHOOL AT ASQUITH IN 1958 AND LATER THE PARISH SCHOOL AT BEROWRA IN 1971. THE SAME ORDER ALSO OPENED A CONVENT AND ST CARTHAGE'S SCHOOL AT BROOKLYN IN 1907. THIS LATTER BECAME ST CATHERINE'S GIRL'S HOME IN 1931. IN 1951 A COTTAGE WAS PURCHASED NEXT DOOR TO THE CHURCH IN ASQUITH TO USE AS A PRESBYTERY BUT THIS WAS DEMOLISHED WHEN THE LAND WAS SOLD IN 2005 FOR A NEW TOWNHOUSE DEVELOPMENT ONE OF WHICH IS INTENDED AS A NEW PRESBYTERY. A PRESBYTERY FOR BEROWRA PARISH WAS PURCHASED AT BEROWRA HEIGHTS IN 1973 AND THIS SERVES AS THE CURRENT RESIDENCE OF THE PARISH PRIEST. THE PARISH RENTS OFFICES IN HORNSBY FOR USE AS AN PARISH OFFICE PENDING A NEW PARISH CENTRE AT BEROWRA HEIGHTS. THE CATHOLIC WELFARE AGENCY, CENTACARE, MAINTAINED THE SHERBROOK RESIDENTIAL CARE AND THE STEPHEN STREET ACCOMODATION FACILITIES WITHIN ASQUITH PARISH FOR SOME YEARS UNTIL BOTH WERE CLOSED. THE ST VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY MAINTAINED A STORE IN BEROWRA UNTIL QUITE RECENTLY WHEN IT TOO WAS CLOSED. THE DIOCESE OWNS A HOUSE IN BROOKLYN FOR CLERGY USE.

WHEN THE NEW PARISH OF BEROWRA WAS FORMED IN 1973 A FIRST PRIORITY WAS FOR ACCOMODATION FOR THE NEW PARISH PRIEST. TO THIS END A SIMPLE BUNGALOW NEXT DOOR TO THE CHURCH WAS PURCHASED (LEFT) AND THIS SERVED AS THE PRIEST'S RESIDENCE TILL THE PARISH WAS TWINNED WITH ASQUITH AND LOST ITS PRIEST.


IN 2005 WHEN THE ASQUITH PRESBYTERY WAS SOLD FOR PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT THE OLD BEROWRA PRESBYTERY WAS USED AS THE TEMPORARY RESIDENCE OF THE PARISH PRIEST OF THE TWIN (NOW AMALGAMATED) PARISHES PENDING COMPLETION OF THE ASQUITH DEVELOPMENT WHICH WILL COMPRISE A NEW PARISH PRESBYTERY.


THE FUTURE OF THE OLD BEROWRA PRESBYTERY HOUSE ONCE THE TOWNHOUSE DEVELOPMENT IN ASQUITH IS COMPLETED IS AT THIS TIME STILL OPEN TO A BROAD VARIETY OF POSSIBLE PARISH USES.

SOME OF THE INFORMATION AND PHOTOS ON THIS PAGE WERE OBTAINED FROM THE BOOKLET ST PATRICK'S ASQUITH PRODUCED BY THE PARISH OF ASQUITH IN THE LATE 70's. IT IS HERE ACKNOWLEDGED WITH GRATITUDE. I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO THANK FR ROBERT BORG, PARISH PRIEST OF KU-RING-GAI CHASE, WHOSE SUPPORT AND HELP FOR THIS PROJECT HAS BEEN UNSTINTING.