St Killian`s Church

Bendigo Victoria

St Killian`s Church is the largest timber church in Victoria, an important architectural achievement by W C Vahland. The interior has a delicate hammer beam nave ceiling, a series of aisled arches and an organ from Paderborn in Germany which is the largest nineteenth century German pipe organ in Australia and in keeping with the scale of the building. The church site has historic associations with the establishment of the Catholic church in Bendigo, St Killian`s being the second church built in that location and replacing a former stone structure demolished in 1887. The church and its site are closely associated with Father Henry Backhaus, first Catholic priest in Bendigo, who celebrated open air mass on site in 1852, organised the building of both stone and timber churches, ordered the church organ in 1871 from his home town in Germany and had it re-positioned in the timber church from the stone one prior to that Church`s demolition.

 This site became known as Consecrated Flat, when Father. H. Backhaus celebrated mass here in 1852. A stone church was erected here in 1857 and stood until 1887 when it was demolished because of faulty foundations. The present timber structure dates from 1888 and was intended to serve as a temporary church until the Cathedral was completed by  architect W. C. Vahland and contractor, Z. Button. The organ is considered an integral part of this church, it came from Randebrock in Germany, the home town of the first parish priest in Bendigo, Father Backhaus, who was also responsible for the first Catholic church and the second much larger, timber one, St Killians, in which the organ is now housed.

More information on St Killians Bendigo is available at: http://www.ohta.org.au/organs/organs/StKilians.html