Murchison, VIC - St Brigid's Catholic

History and Architecture:

The Original church was a wooden structure of the following dimensions: Nave 40ft. x 20ft, Sanctuary 14 ft x 14 ft, Sacristy 14ft x 14 ft, height of walls 15 ft. The windows, ten in number, are of cathedral glass. The whole of the inside woodwork is of the best, both in material and workmanship. The building was carried out by day labour, under the supervision of the Rev. Fr. O'Connell, the Parish Priest.

For twenty-seven years, Murchison Catholics attended Mass celebrated by visiting priests in a variety of venues. By the turn of the century, they were in the charge of a priest who had a special zeal for establishing the faith with the permanency of a church building in the towns where he ministered. Fr. Tom O'Connell came to Tatura in 1896, where he was to stay for the next forty-nine years. In a short time he was to built new churches at Rushworth and Murchison. In 1900 St. Mary's Church, Murchison, was opened by the Rev. Dr. Revile, Coadjutor Bishop of Sandhurst.