News

25 March 2008. Essay on St Patrick's, Colebrook, is now online.

The series on this church, which we ran recently in the Friends of Pugin Newsletter, has been consolidated into an essay with additional text and illustrations, and can be downloaded here. You can download other essays on Pugin's works in England, Ireland and Australia here.

Image: Brian Andrews

14 March 2008. Decorated rood screen, St Patrick's Day, 2008.

The decoration of rood screens on festive occasions was a feature of Tasmanian Catholic churches in the latter part of the nineteenth century. This beautiful custom was revived for the first time in well over a century at St Patrick's, Colebrook, for the patronal feast day of St Patrick. The screen, restored in 2006, was decorated with green ribbons and bunches of Tasmanian blue gum, the latter symbolising the adopted homeland - Australia - of so many Irish people.

Image: Jude Andrews

2 February 2008. New town signage for Colebrook, Tasmania.

In what must be a world first a Pugin church features on town signage. The Southern Midlands Council in Tasmania has just installed new town signage on the approaches to Colebrook featuring Pugin's Church of St Patrick and including the words 'Pugin church'. The Foundation's Executive Officer Brian Andrews assisted the Council in this project.

Image: John Miller

31 January 2008. Heritage listing.

On 28 January 2008 Pugin's Church of St Francis Xavier, Berrima, New South Wales, was placed on the New South Wales Heritage Register. This is the culmination of a process initiated in March 2006 by the Foundation's Executive Officer, Brian Andrews.

Image: Ian Stapleton