It’s a wonder it was built at all: Talk by author and photographic exhibition

When: 28 October 2023  at 1.30pm
Where: 61 Queens Parade, Clifton Hill
Entry: by donation
RSVP: Contact John Andrews 0439 614 461

On Tuesday 3 October and Sunday 8 October 2023 the church of St. John the Baptist, Queens Parade, Clifton Hill celebrates its consecration centenary. It was the second Catholic parish church in Melbourne to be consecrated. It is considered to be one of the most beautiful Catholic churches in Melbourne.

The Consecration took place on 3 October 1923 with Archbishop Daniel Mannix, Melbourne’s fiesty and sometimes politically controversial archbishop officiating at the elaborate overnight and daytime ceremonies. On Sunday 7 October the parish came together for a celebratory Mass with Mannix and former parish priest, John McCarthy and then Bishop of Sandhurst (Bendigo) officiating. It was followed by a parish celebration and a students’ picnic on the Monday.

The church is an architectural and artistic gem. It took 31 years (1876-1907) to complete, and was heavily influenced through its architect, John Bunn Denny by the ideas of Augustus Pugin, the leader of the Catholic Revival Movement in England. It is equally remarkable that such a grand church should be built in the poor Irish Catholic suburb of Clifton Hill, aided by parishioner and printer, Thomas Edmund Verga who contributed about half of the cost of the building and its interiors. This included its front and rear stained-glass windows, manufactured by John Hardman and Company of Birmingham. Other stained-glass windows on the side walls followed in 1928-29. The church also contains the second largest interwar Fincham organ in Victoria.

A photographic exhibition of the church’s and parish’s history is viewable, 24 September- 29 October when the church is open.

On 28 October at 2pm in the church John will give a talk, ‘It’s a wonder it was built at all’ outlining the history behind the building of the church, its first stained glass windows and the subsequent growth of an active Irish Catholic community centred on their local church. The talk is open to all.

For further information, contact the Consecration Centenary Committee on 0439 614 461 or register your attendance at office@olsc.org.au.

Photo: Queens Parade, July 1893m, Museums Victoria Collections, Item 773214