Holy Trinity Church, Kelso

The MM challenge this week is for "ancient buildings". Not many of those in Australia but I have a nice old church to share with you. This is the first inland church in Australia (1834) and the first Australian church to be consecrated by a bishop. There is a pioneer graveyard where there is a relation of mine buried. We don't know a lot of detail but the story goes to say he died as an infant the day they arrived in Kelso with his family, after the long journey from England in the early 1830's.

The church is significant because of the site's links to early settlement and has had continued use and limited disturbance of the church, rectory and buried ground since that time. The cemetery dates from 1826 (11 years after settlement).

In 1821 there were 287 people in Bathurst, 210 of them convicts. They did not count the original inhabitants the Australian Aboriginal people until 1967.


Another interesting snippet of history is that this was in the Diocese of Calcutta, yes that is in India....

I attended a service there once and went to the rectory for a Tupperware party...the church stands on top of a hill with lovely views around the countryside.