Address: Illawara Hwy, Sutton Forest NSW 2577
A brief history
On 1 January 1840 an area of land containing 52 acres in all designated Portion 81 was conveyed to John Cosgrove by the Crown.
On 23 June 1854 John Cosgrove conveyed to the Catholic Church under trust an area of 3 acres, 1 Rod and 3 Perches “To permit and suffer to be erected and built upon the land a church or chapel.”
Original trustees were Archbishop John Bede Polding, Rev. Robert Simon Downing and John Cosgrove.
A Catholic school opened on the site in the 1840’s and then closed for a period and reopened in 1852.
In 1857 a new school and residence were being built in the village under the Denominational School Board.
During 1863 the school had an enrolment of 55 pupils housed in a slab building in good repair. The building was also used for church purposes. The school closed in 1869.
The station church at Sutton Forest is described by Father Rioradan (Parish Priest of Berrima in 1878) as a timber building 56 feet by 15 feet with seating for 72 people – the chapel being in a bad state of repair.
Tenders had been called for the 
erection of a new church with £150 in hand and a further £150 promised. Mr. R. Metz a well known Berrima tradesman won the tender and was contracted to build the new church for the sum of six hundred and fifty four pounds; the building to be of stone in the clear 53 feet by 25 feet and walls 16 feet high.
On the 27th October the foundation stone was laid by Archbishop Vaughan and was opened for worship in 1879.
It would appear that extensive repairs were carried out to the building around 1900 when the original shingle roof was replaced with iron. (B.L.)
VIRTUAL TOUR OF ST PATRICK’S CHURCH
Click here to take a virtual tour of St Patrick’s Church, Sutton Forest.
Virtual tour created by Fr Joseph Maria Buckley, OSPPE.