View this post on Hive: Local Tracks: Sacred Heart Church, Calwell

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Sacred Heart Church

Location: Casey Crescent, Calwell

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Hello Steemians, long time no see.

For the past week or so, I haven't been feeling the best so I decided to take it easy and shut off the world for a little while. Even though this might sound off warning bells to some, for me there are times when I find this to be a necessary action in order to refresh my spirit and get back on the horse, so to speak.

Over the weekend and feeling a little refreshed, I took a walk around my local area to get some fresh air and enjoy the sunshine which really helped me clear some of that 'stuff' that floats around in my head.

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Today's photos from that walk, are of the Sacred Heart Church, located in Calwell (Canberra) which is one of the oldest churches in Canberra and the first to be built in the Tuggeranong Valley. If you are interested in knowing more about the history of the church and the area, please follow the links provided below.

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_{This is the sign has been placed onsite as a part of the Canberra Tracks - Heritage Trails, please see below for more information.}

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_{I couldn't resist taking this shot with Chem Trails in the background}

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Sources:

Canberra Tracks - Heritage Trails

Canberra Tracks is a network of heritage signage that incorporates eight self-drive routes leading to many of Canberra’s historic sites. Each sign tells exciting stories from a time gone by and the present day. Canberra Tracks immerses you in the rich tapestry of Canberra’s early beginnings.

Track 8: Tuggeranong Heritage Track - Sacred Heart Church

This heritage-listed building is just one of two wooden churches still in the ACT. It was built with volunteer labour in eleven weeks and cost £200. When it opened in 1902, each family worshipping at the church planted a Radiata Pine to provide shade. This led to the church becoming known as 'the cathedral in the pines'.

As the first church built in the Tuggeranong Valley, Sacred Heart played an important religious and social role for the Catholic pioneers. Although regular Mass ended in 1974, the church is still used for special occasions. It was moved from the Old Cooma Road to this site in 1988 because of the development of the new suburbs of Tuggeranong.

Background Information

History of the Area

European history in the Tuggeranong Valley area of the ACT began when Charles Throsby reached the Murrumbidgee River near where Tharwa now stands, in 1821. In 1823 Captain Mark Currie, RN, led an excursion to the Monaro, crossing the Limestone Plains and Isabella Plains, which they named after the Governor's daughter, Isabella Brisbane (Gillespie, 1991:8). The Valley was gradually settled and came to be centred on the large grazing stations of Lanyon and Tuggeranong (also known as Wanniassa).

Description of the Church

Sacred Heart Church is a Federation Carpenter Gothic style church with extended nave, a sanctuary, a vestry and a porch. It was built in 1902 for the Catholic Parish of Queanbeyan, using voluntary labour. It was originally located near the junction of the road linking Queanbeyan to Cooma (now Monaro Highway) and Brennan's Bridle Track (Sheedy pers. comm.) leading off to Tharwa (now the realigned Casey Crescent).

The walls are weatherboard; some of the boards are becoming cracked and require painting. The roof is steeply pitched and is of corrugated, galvanised iron. There are decorative fretwork bargeboards on the four gables formed at the ends of the main building, the porch and the sanctuary. Finials in the shape of a cross adorn the apex of each of the four gables. There are seven arched windows on each side of the original building, one smaller window on the southern side of the sanctuary and two the same size as the sanctuary window on either side of the porch.

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