St Francis Church

Divine Accommodation

 

Carisbrook

In the Central Goldfields of Victoria

 

The history of the Catholic Church in Carisbrook

Father Thomas Bassett of Castlemaine first established the Roman Catholic Church in a tent in 1854. Carisbrook was chosen as the site for the Catholic buildings because it was an established centre of growing importance in 1853.

Father Richard Fennelly, the third parish priest to be placed at Carisbrook built the church as it stands today, naming it after his favourite saint, Saint Francis Xavier.

Records indicate that a Roman Catholic school was in operation in 1860 and Father Fennelly, keen to give pupils a Catholic Christian education, purchased an iron building 60 by 35 feet in 1864

Built in the 1860s, Saint Francis was constructed for a grand sum of 1500 pounds, operating as a place of worship with a school room attached.

The foundation stone was laid in 1864 and The St. Francis Xavier Church opened in 1866.

The Carisbrook Parish covered a huge area in its beginning, embracing Avoca [ 1856 ], Maryborough [ 1859 ], St. Arnaud, Kerang, Swan Hill, Bet Bet [ all 1862 ], Tarnagulla, Inglewood, Talbot and Majorca[ all 1864 ]

Citing repairs needing to be done to the roof and a new Catholic Church wanted for Maryborough Saint Francis Xavier Church was sold  in 1971.

Father Flannagan was the last Catholic priest in Carisbrook.

We are the second private owners, having purchased the church in October 2000 as a "renovators' delight".

Our aim is to restore this beautiful building to its former glory, thus preserving it and its history for future generations.

The only structural alterations we have made have been the building of a mezzanine bedroom, installing a staircase where one of the vestries used to be and building a spa bathroom  and above it an ensuite bathroom complete with bidet in the other vestry.

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