THE PARISH OF Creswick

Our Parish

The Parish of Creswick includes the church communities of Creswick and Clunes.( Clunes Church was closed and sold in 2018)

The first parish building in Creswick was a timber church-school which was completed in early 1856. In 1858, land was acquired in Bailey St. Clunes where a small chapel was built and in 1859 a school was built at Coghills’ Creek. At this time, the parish was served by priests based in Ballarat. In 1859, a priest (Fr McGirr) served the combined parishes of Creswick and Daylesford. Creswick and Daylesford were jointly served until in June 1862 Creswick when it got its first resident priest.

The first presbytery in Creswick was a red-brick building built in 1867 and was replaced by the current grey brick building in 1966. The current bluestone church in Creswick was completed in 1872, although the sacristy and sanctuary were added in 1938. The history of the parish is given in much greater detail in the book written by the then Parish Priest, Mgr. James McInerney, called “Murderer’s Bell” published for the centenary of the church in 1972.

The original chapel built in Clunes was replaced by a Gothic-styled timber church in 1866. The current bluestone church building was begun in 1872 and officially opened in June 1874. The timber church was moved to a site immediately behind the current church and was used as a school until it closed in 1926. In 1903, fire destroyed a house used as the presbytery and a new red-brick presbytery was officially opened in January 1905. A more detailed history of the St Thomas Aquinas was written and printed in a small booklet by Ros O’Brien in 1998.

Our parish currently includes about 250 families with the average Sunday Mass attendance of about 120 people. There are about 20 baptisms, 5 marriages, and 12 funerals performed annually. Our primary school has an enrolment of between 100 and 110 children coming from about 60 families. Our parish supports the local secondary schools in Ballarat – St Patrick’s College, Loreto College, and Damascus College. The parish covers the area of Creswick, Sulky, Wattle Flat, Springmount, Newlyn (part), Broomfield, Allendale, Kingston, Smeaton, Clunes, Glendaruel, Tourello, Coghill’s Creek, and Bald Hills.