All Saint's Newstead

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Newstead is a small rural town situated 16 km from Maldon and Castlemaine on the Pyrenees Highway on the banks of the Loddon River.

The town of Newstead is set in a farming district and very close to Lake Cairn Curran with a popular Caravan Park located at Welshman's Reef. The district also has the Muckleford and Sandon State Forests situated to the north east and south west of the town respectively.

After the discovery of gold at Clunes in 1851, Newstead became a suddenly populous town. Crowded with prospectors and others, it became a place where churches were urgently needed.

All Saints Newstead was consecrated in 1868. Described in the Castlemaine Mail as ‘an elegant edifice’, it cost £450 to build, and ministry was mostly in the hands of Mr B. Rodda, a stipendiary reader who received a salary of £143, with a travel allowance of £30.

All Saints was part of the Parish of Loddon, which was centered at Muckleford and had churches at Harcourt, Campbells Creek, Guildford, Newstead, Sandon, Yandoit and Campbelltown. The All Saints church bell came from the Muckleford church in 1935, when Muckleford was closed.

The church hall was originally the Newstead Baptist church, moved to the Anglican site from the other side of the Loddon.

All Saints Newstead became part of the Parish of Maldon in 1946.

It is interesting that through all the musical chairs of changed boundaries, Newstead and Yandoit have always been in the same parish.