ALL SAINTS CHURCH
PORT AUGUSTA CATHOLIC
PAUL SCOTT
This rather grainy satellite view of the Church shows its location on the corner of the Augusta Highway and Flinders Terrace, with entry off Flinders Terrace. The Church building forms part of an enclosed area: it is the building to the left of the photograph. The building has a fan shape, with the sanctuary to the geographical west. On this site we find it convenient to use liturgical directions, rather contrarily placing the sanctuary in an Easterly (capital E) direction, renaming the other directions accordingly.
I have been unable to find a floor plan of this Church, but we shall have no problems in navigating our way around.
A brief history of the Church is given below. However, if you want to begin your tour of the Church immediately, tap / click on START . You can also access intermediate points in the tour by a tap / click on the following links:
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HISTORY
The original All Saints Catholic Church graced the present site for nearly 100 years. When the Church held its first service in 1883, the present site was just a sandhill on the edge of town.
The Diocese of Port Augusta was canonically erected by Pope Leo XIII on 10 May 1887, the same day the Pope elevated the See of Adelaide to a metropolitan archdiocese and placed the new diocese in its province. All Saints became the ‘Cathedral for the Diocese of Port Augusta’: the original All Saints Catholic Church was an important parish in South Australia. Its first Bishop was the Right Rev Dr John O’Reilly whose newly formed diocese embraced a vast area of 777,000 km² and had a Catholic population of 11,000 people.
At that time priests travelled for many days at a time, usually on horseback or by buggy, to visit their parishioners. They travelled along rough and dusty tracks, often in scorching heat, and slept under the stars or were given shelter at isolated station homesteads.
The first priest to be based in Port Augusta was Father Bernard Nevin who occupied the new presbytery next door to the church. Father Nevin also established a Catholic school with the sisters of St Joseph on Flinders Terrace site now occupied by the Wadlata Outback Centre.
On 5 August 1951 the seat of the diocese was moved from Port Augusta to Port Pirie, with the name of the diocese being also changed to ‘the Diocese of Port Pirie’.
On 7 December 1975 the last service was held in the original All Saints church and the demolition began the following week. The demolition was made necessary by the realignment of the main Augusta Highway. The new Spanish inspired church and parish house designed by Father Leo Dundan (1970 -– 1980), was officially opened on 24 October 1976. The bell tower at the original church was never completed to its full height, so the bell was housed in a separate wooden structure adjacent to the Church. The bell was cast in Dublin, Ireland. It features a symbol of a shamrock with a harp, and was named after Bishop Murphy, the first Bishop of Adelaide.
More than 600 people witnessed the opening ceremony which commenced with the ringing of the Murphy Bell, now housed in a new bell tower which was renovated in 2003.
A bottle found under the foundation stone contained a ‘proclamation document’, some current coins of the realm, a Medal of the Sacred Heart, a Medal of our Lady of Lourdes, and a copy of the ‘Port Augusta Dispatch’ dated 1 July 1882.
Old Church ...
– Largely taken from the Church information board on Flinders Terrace.
