THE CHURCH OF SS PETER & PAUL
GAWLER CATHOLIC
PAUL SCOTT
The Church is located in Porter Street, opposite the entrance to Cowan Street. It is constructed of red brick and natural stone, and has a very attractive façade to the street with two ‘round’ towers flanking the central gable. Interestingly, this Church is face to face (or is that back to back?!) with the Anglican St George’s Church, a little way down Cowan Street.
A brief history of this 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
Year Built: 1850 – 1855
Address: Porter Street, Gawler SA 5118
According to the Gawler History Team member Pat Sheahan, the name ‘St Peter and Paul’s, Gawlertown’ seems to have been first used in 1849 in a Parish Register, though the Catholics already had a cottage where Mass was celebrated. In October 1849, a Cistercian was appointed Parish Priest and soon began planning and literally building a Church, with the foundation stone laid on April 2nd, 1850. But by the 1890s, Gawler had outgrown that Church, so, reluctantly, the Parish moved across the road for Mass in the Parish School while the old Church was demolished and the present one built.
By this time, the large Parish was cared for by another religious order, the Carmelites, as we can see on the Italian marble foundation stone, laid in December 1897. On another hot day in October 1898, the new Church was officially opened; gas lights and all. Over the next few years, stained glass windows replaced the original ones, including two by E. F. Troy, behind the main altar.
A fund for completing the interior of the Church was used during the Depression years to add a ceiling and panelling in the sanctuary. Further changes followed Vatican II. Later a ramp was added at the side for wheel-chair access. More recently, thanks to the local sculptor Judith Rolevink, and to generous parishioners, statues of St Paul [2012] and St Peter [2015] stand in the niches left for them in 1898. The Parish is now cared for by another religious order, the Salesians of Don Bosco.
https://gawlerhistory.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=St_Peter_and_St_Paul_Catholic_Church
