St Joseph’s, Murrurundi

One of the town’s earliest settlers, Thomas Haydon, was a devout Catholic and he donated land for a church and cemetery. After Fr “Dean” Lynch married Thomas Haydon to Margaret Wightman on 18 May 1841, Fr Lynch blessed and laid the foundation stone for St Joseph’s Church. The small wooden chapel was completed before the end of 1841. When the church needed repairs, Thomas Haydon continued to pay for the upkeep. As the Catholic population grew the parishioners and Haydon decided St Joseph should have a church more fitting of St Joseph’s honour, so in 1853, Thomas enthused parishioners both Catholics and Protestants to subscribe towards a new church. Thomas Haydon died on 2 November 1855 and work on the church halted. When no tenders were received to continue the work, Haydon’s widow agreed to supply the stone. In 1860 the new sandstone church of St Joseph’s was completed. It was consecrated by Archbishop Polding on 19 February 1860. The altar of St Joseph’s is made up of 1000 pieces of marble and has been registered by the National Trust. Behind the church is the cemetery which contains the tombs of town founders Peter Haydon (died 1842) and his brother, Thomas Haydon (died 1855).