Oatlands, TAS - St Paul's Catholic

History and Architecture:

St Paul's Church is a two-compartment church with nave, separately expressed chancel, south porch, a sacristy against the chancel north wall and a bellcote astride the nave west gable.  It has a rood screen across the chancel arch, one of only seven surviving Pugin rood screens in situ anywhere in the world.  The church is constructed from coursed sandstone and has corrugated iron roofs and a scraped interior, originally plastered.  Its chancel furnishings, all original, are for the medieval English Use of Sarum, the normal Pugin arrangement, and include evidence of a filled in Easter Sepulchre, an extremely rare occurrence in Gothic Revival buildings confined in fact to just some of Pugin's buildings worldwide.  The style of the church is Early English Gothic for the nave and Flowing Decorated Gothic for the chancel,

The Foundation stone was laid on 9th April 1850. The Church was designed in 1843 by Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin England's greatest Early Victorian architect and designer who was a close friend of the first Bishop of Hobart Town Robert William Wilson.

The Church was opened by Bishop Wilson on 26 February 1851.

Father James Ryan, extensively altered the old Pugin-designed presbytery. The work was completed by his successor Father Denis Murphy. Father James Barry and Father Richard Scafi, served 'pro tern' at Oatlands prior to Father Murphy's appointment. Father Murphy also renovated the church during the 1930's. He relocated the choir area and re-floored the building over Father Keohan's grave and send the road screen to Hobart for French polishing.