St Anne’s Catholic Church and Village

By Cathy Jones

The September-October 2021 issue of the Strathfield Homebush District Historical Society discusses the history of St Ann’s Catholic Church in Strathfield South and the village as first conceived by Father John Joseph Therry in 1847.

Historic St Ann’s Catholic Church is located in St Anne’s Square, the centre of the Village of St Anne’s in Strathfield South.  Located within this Square is Historic St Ann’s Church, the present St Anne’s Catholic Church and St Anne’s Primary School. Historic St Ann’s Church was built between 1859 and 1864 within the Village of St Anne’s.  The Village was laid out by Father John Joseph Therry and the streets of the Village were named for prominent Catholic ecclesiastics of the time. The Village is located at the nine-mile peg out of Sydney and one day’s journey by dray or bullock wagon. It overlooked the first available crossing of the Cooks River (before bridges were built) for those heading to the Illawarra or Goulburn.   The current St Anne’s Church was built in 1966 and the primary school in 1956.

The spelling St Ann’s is used to describe the first Church as it is historically and frequently recorded with this spelling, according to the Friends of St Ann’s Group.  However, generally the Church, the Village and street name is spelt St Anne’s.

Read the newsletter for more information on St Ann’s