Broken Head church is slated for sale, but it was built as a memorial for three local soldiers lost in the First World War

The 99-year-old chapel, which started with a land donation and 50 pound bequest, has been much more than a church ‒ it was built in honour of three Broken Head soldiers who were killed in service.

For the Broken Head community, St Oswald’s has been much more than a church.

It has hosted services, weddings and christenings aplenty, but it’s the history of the place, part of Byron’s Anglican parish, that has made its planned sale difficult for some to accept.

The church, opposite the community hall on Broken Head Road, is a memorial to three Broken Head soldiers who died in the First World War: Arthur Beaumont Goard, Jacob Frederick Flick and Frank Kimpton.

The Anglican Diocese of Grafton has confirmed its closure of St Oswald’s – which hosted a final thanksgiving service on June 5 – along with St Mark’s in Nimbin and its St Aidan’s in Eureka.

But some hope the 99-year-old Broken Head chapel, could be saved from being privately sold.

Family connections

Kathryn Peart, who lives in Newcastle but has the strongest of family ties to the church, said the plans for the church were saddening.

Her great-uncle Arthur Beaumont Goard – a Broken Head dairy farmer – left an area of land containing the one acre property where the church now sits, to her great-grandfather when he died at Passchendaele in the First World War.

“(Arthur) gave it in his will to my great grandfather,” she said.

“Then my great grandfather gave an acre (for the church).”

Her great-grandfather was principal of Byron Bay school from 1908 to 1915.

Arthur Beaumont Goard, who had been a lay preacher in Byron, also left a 50 pound bequest to go toward the building of a new church.

The community rallied and raised another 550 pounds for the rest of the building fund.

“I used to holiday up there in my early 20s not realising the connection I had,” Ms Peart said.

She said in recent years, she had grown passionate about knowing more about that connection.

“I understand if the congregation has dropped down,” she said.

“I totally understand that.”

But Ms Peart said she’d love to see the facility given back to the community.

“I think that’s the best outcome for it, because it can still remain a memorial to the three soldiers and still remain intact,” she said.

“I think it’s a wonderful thing for (the community) to have done, as a memorial to three people that gave the supreme sacrifice.

“They may have paid the money to maintain it over some years, but technically the land and the actual building themselves (were donated).”

Ms Peart travelled up to Broken Head for the final service, which she said was “really emotional”.

RSL “disappointed”

Former Byron Bay RSL sub branch president Rob Asquith said it was a difficult time for the community.

“This is a dedicated memorial that was donated to you and you want to go and sell it,” he said.

He said the diocese offered to place a plaque on the church – but this would be moved to the Byron Bay church when the property is sold.

Mr Asquith said the diocese was “missing the point”.

“From our perspective it’s just very disappointing that something that’s been donated to them in honour of the lives that were lost in World War One from Broken Head men (will be sold),” he said.

“I don’t think we can change their decision.

“We’re all disappointed the decision has been made especially since it turns 100 next year in 2022, they couldn’t even wait for that.”

“Incredibly moving” final service

Byron-based member of the Legislative Council Ben Franklin attended the final service at St Oswald’s.

“It was incredibly moving because this had obviously been such a significant hub for this community for decades, for generations,” Mr Franklin said.

“It was so full they had to have overflow outside.”

Mr Franklin said while the church itself was “a really central part of that community”, it was made “more significant” by the fact it was a memorial to three local men.

He said while he’d spoken with the diocese about possible community-focused outcomes for the building, its planned sale was ultimately a matter for the diocese, which holds the title deed.

“That’s a decision that they have to make and … I’m not going to comment on the internal financial dealings of the church,” he said.

He said in a time with “significantly declining congregations in particular areas” assets like St Oswald’s could be onerous for the diocese to maintain.
“Of course it doesn’t make it any easier for the community,” he said.

Mr Franklin, a congregant of another Northern Rivers Anglican Church, said declining congregations in some areas, and the loss of small regional churches, was a cause for some concern.

“Of course we live in a society where there’s clearly fewer people going to church and clearly the congregations are becoming older but to those people it is a really critical and important link to obviously not only their faith but also to their community,” he said.

“I hope that people will be able to find, when those churches do close, that they’ll be able to find another place, another hub where they can go and meet with friends and have a spiritual journey that’s relatively close.

“But of course it’s a challenge. The world is changing.

“We just have to … make sure that we don’t lose the value and experience and integrity of what made community so important in the past.

“I do worry that we live in a time where people aren’t as focused on their communities as much.”