‘Set upon a half acre in a rural landscape'
St Jude is the patron saint of ‘lost causes’, ‘hopeless cases’. ‘When all other avenues are closed, he is the one to call upon. His help often comes at the last moment.’
“Can you believe it? How am I going to work round this for heavens sake?”
Well, the only lost cause is me, but I will be redeemed when I am the instrument in showing you the way to… I was going to say salvation… but let’s just settle for glorious lifestyle and sound investment.
First, a bit of history:-
A certain Henry Fleming settled in the Macdonald Valley in early 1816. Ultimately his holdings ended up in the hands of his eldest son Joseph, but later, with his other three sons, John, Henry and George. It was George, who in 1869 sold to the Bishop of Newcastle, for 10 shillings, the two roods (half acre) that the church now sits on.
This church was built in 1918, but there was a structure which predates it.
Rev. Joseph Anthony Baoke became the first minister here in 1876.
He is buried on the site, as is George Fleming. There are seven known graves in the small cemetery and it was only used between the years of about 1883 to 1904.
The church was still being used occasionally for services right up to the 1970’s.
It is constructed of random stone and mortar and is rendered. It has stood the test of these ninety one years and has been lovingly cared for the last sixteen by the present owners Margaret and Phillip. During their tenure they have diligently taken responsibility for a lot of restoration and undertaken the respectful guardianship of the souls resting here.
I don’t intend to give endless descriptions of everything, as the photos will do most of that job. I have uploaded plenty and I have more; but of course nothing is quite like coming to see it.
I want to just say a couple of things though.
By accident or design; I don’t...