The Catholic Church in Taradale
The village of Taradale is situated on Back Creek, close to where that stream joins the Coliban River. Like Lauriston and many other small settlements in the immediate area, its early fortunes were closely to the local discovery of gold (1852).
The first Catholic school was build in the village in 1857 and records suggest this was a chapel school with Mass held at irregular intervals. We assume the site was a corner block encompassing, Roderick, James and Davy Streets as this site appears on an early (1860) parish plan as ‘Roman Catholic Reserve’. We note however that Ramsdale gives the date of reservation (for a new church) as 1869. However, since the initial reservation was of some 8 acres in 6 lots, we assume she is speaking of a site already within the original government allocation.
This early school was known as St Anne’s and Mass was celebrated there at irregular intervals. However, on the intervening Sundays, the faithful still gathered to say the rosary and to be instructed in the Faith by a layman, Mr. Thomas Hannon who was an Irish immigrant with a good knowledge of theology and Catholic doctrine. Over the years, improvements were made to the building but a hoped-for ‘stand-alone’ church did not eventuate until 1890. Early in that year, tenders were called and the successful applicants were Mr P. Cahill and Mr Kewey, both of Taradale. The accepted price was £352.
In her account of St Mary’s Mission, Ramsdale states the the red bricks used for the church came out from England as ballast. The new church was to be some 49 x 22 feet in dimensions and in the Gothic style. The roof was of slate. Parishioners took on the job of carting stone and sand for the foundations, these items coming from old workings at the Prince of Wales Mine. The building was erected in the space of eight months, a rather substantial achievement given its overall size and height.
The church was formally opened on Sunday 23rd Nov., 1890 and Archbishop Carr dedicated it to Saint John the Evangelist. The Archbishop himself donated £100 to the building fund. Regrettably, we have no details on the internal furnishings of the church and no photographs of the interior. One of the reasons for the paucity of records ins the fact that St John’s had a relatively short life as a church. Once the gold ran out locally, the population declined markedly. The last Mass was said in 1946 and the church was sold in 1972.
Today, the church (now a private residence) features on Taradale’s ‘history walk’ and tourists are given some information concerning the history of the building.
