About Pugin > Existing Australian buildings
Pugin's Australian buildings are scattered widely along Australia's eastern seabord, from St Stephen's, Brisbane, in sub-tropical southern Queensland to St John the Evangelist's, Richmond, some 2,000km away in the cool temperate island State of Tasmania.
Queensland
Image: Stephen Kerin
Brisbane
St Stephen's Chapel, Elizabeth Street, next to St Stephen's Cathedral. Designed 1842, constructed 1849–50. Small two-compartment church with western bellcote. Restored 1999. Open daily.
Download an essay on St Stephen's Church(pdf/1.4MB)
New South Wales
Image: Ian Stapleton
Berrima
St Francis Xavier's Church, south end of the village beside the turn-off to Moss Vale. Designed 1842, constructed 1849–51. Small two-compartment church with western bellcote, sedilia and Easter sepulchre recess. Unaltered. Normally closed. For entry enquiries phone the Moss Vale Parish Office on +61 2 4868 1931.
Download an essay on St Francis Xavier's Church(pdf/2.3MB)
Image: Brian Andrews
Sydney
Former St Mary's Cathedral Chapter Hall, St Mary's Road, next to St Mary's Cathedral. Designed 1842, as a school, constructed 1844–5. Plans modified prior to construction. To view the interior enquire at the adjacent Sydney Archdiocesan Archives Office on weekdays during office hours.
Image: Jude Andrews
Balmain, Sydney
Former St Augustine of Hippo's Church, Eaton Street, next to the present church. Designed 1842, same plans as Berrima. Constructed 1849–51, but a north-east tower and spire substituted for the western bellcote. Nave extended and west porch added by 1864. North porch demolished in 1906 and sacristy demolished in 1922 to make room for the present church and presbytery respectively. The spire also demolished. For entry enquiries phone the Parish Office on +61 2 9810 1157.
Image: Don Richardson
Chippendale, Sydney
St Benedict's Church, corner of Broadway and Abercrombie Street. Designed 1842, constructed 1845-56. Triple-gabled with south-west tower and spire. Shortened by 26 feet (7.9 metres) and nave widened by 13 feet (4.0 metres) to the designs of Sydney architect Austin McKay in 1942, to make way for the widening of Broadway. Now the chapel for Notre Dame University Broadway campus. Open daily.
Image: Jude Andrews
Ryde, Sydney
St Charles Borromeo's Church, corner of Charles Street and Victoria Road. Designed 1842, constructed 1855–57. Small aisled church with western double bellcote. All but the facade and westernmost bay demolished in 1934, the remnant subsumed into a large new aisled clerestoried church designed by Fowell & McConnel architects, Sydney, as its south porch. The old nave columns and arches, as well as the windows, were re-cycled into the new church. Open daily.
Download an essay on St Charles Borromeo's Church(pdf/1.6MB)
Image: Brendan Lennard
Parramatta, Sydney
St Patrick's Cathedral, corner of Victoria Road and Marsden Street. Designed 1842, constructed 1854–81. Un-aisled with western tower and spire. Demolished but for the tower and spire in 1935 and a larger aisled clerestoried church, designed by Sydney architect Clement Glancey, built against the tower using detail elements from old church. Became a cathedral in 1986 and was gutted by fire in 1996. Glancey building repaired, with some alterations, and used as part of large new cathedral, opened in 2003. Open daily.
Tasmania
Image: Brian Andrews
Colebrook
St Patrick's Church, corner of Yarlington Road and Arthur Street. Designed 1843, constructed from a detailed scale model 1855–7. Aisled and clerestoried, with a triple bellcote to the nave east gable, sedilia and rood screen. The bellcote fell in a storm in September 1895 and was reinstated in 2007. Rood screen intact and in situ. Normally closed. For entry enquiries phone the Archdiocese of Hobart Heritage Office on +61 3 6224 5920 or Gail Hughes-Gage in Colebrook on +61 3 6259 7263.
Image: Brian Andrews
Oatlands
St Paul's Church, Gay Street. Designed 1843, constructed from a detailed scale model 1850–1. Small two-compartment church with a western bellcote, sedilia, rood screen and evidence of an Easter sepulchre. 1930s addition of a small stone enclosure around the west door. The interior scraped of plaster in 1959. Rood screen intact and in situ. Normally closed. For entry enquiries phone Irvin kean in Oatlands on +61 3 6254 1167.
Image: Brian Andrews
Richmond
St John the Evangelist's Church, St Johns Circle. Nave of 1836–7 by Henry Edmund Goodridge of Bath, England. A truncated tower, spire, chancel and sacristy constructed in 1859 using details derived from a detailed scale model of an 1843 Pugin design. Present spire is the third one. Baptismal font designed by Pugin in 1843 and carved by men in the employ of George Myers, his favoured builder. Open daily.