Unveiling of the Toodyay plaque 14 November 2022
The foundation stone of the Catholic Church of St John the Baptist was laid in January 1863 by Father Martin Griver. He was assisted by Fr Francis Salvado, the Parish priest, and Fr Venanzio Garrido from the New Norcia mission. By Christmas 1864, the church was completed and had been blessed. The church's transept was used for a time as a school room for Catholic children until 1884 when the Sisters of Mercy came to Toodyay.
In 1920 the west wing was added. One hundred years later, the church was deconsecrated on 17 November 1863, and a new brick church with same name, across the road, was consecrated on the same day. The new church with the same name was completed, next to St Aloysius (in the Catholic Precinct grounds), and the older church was de-consecrated and sold into private ownership.
This is a rendered brick and corrugated iron building with tall pointed arch lancet windows. It has pointed pinnacles to the entrance porch and main facade. In the gable end a round window has been incorporated into rendered cross.
The Old Roman Catholic Cemetery is situated in Duke Street, Toodyay, near the rear of the old Toodyay Hospital.
Burials at this site commenced after the completion of the St John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church in 1863.
In 1945, the wooden headboards were destroyed in a bushfire.
