St. Raphael’s Church was built at Fern Tree in the 1890’s. Regular strawberry feasts were held from 1892 to raise funds for the building and maintenance of this picturesque church.
The photo at the top of the page is a postcard from our collection. The second photo was taken by Beattie and published in The Weekly Courier of Sunday October 14, 1905, page 17. It shows Fern Tree Hotel at the left rear, and St. Raphael’s at right front.
We are very fortunate that the Church has survived repeated bushfires in the area, and still exists today.
We are working on a document which will further outline the history of this beautiful and historic Church.