I’m not much of a Sunday church goer, but what wonderful heritage we have with our churches in Bathurst.
If you get the chance, any day of the week check out the magnificent Coburn paintings hanging in the Anglican Cathedral in Church Street, and my favourite, the organ and sensational balconies inside the Uniting Church in William Street – did you know it can sit 800 people?. Over in Kelso of course is Holy Trinity which dates to 1834 and is the oldest church in inland Australia.
Recently I met some friends at the Church Bar in Ribbon Gang Lane for a gluten-free pizza and a number of bottles of Renzaglia methode Rural. While we started better than we finished, it was an opportunity to yarn with a Sydney journalist, who is writing an article on adaptive re-use of heritage buildings – yes there are a few here in the big B. He wanted to know all about the Ribbon Gang who were hung in the laneway in 1830. If we craned our necks, we could almost see their ankles dangling outside the window, and I recalled one of the 10 crying out “I told me mother I wouldn’t die wiv me boots on”, and he kicked them off as the noose tightened.
Gruesome – yes, but true.
What a terrific job they have done on the adaption of the old building there – its cool and trendy, and a great social relax.
Thought of the month: “after 350 columns it’s over and out from Humble”
by a humble heritage advocate – September 2026, column #350
