According to Roman Catholic Church records, the first Mass to be celebrated near Bathurst, was by John Therry in early November 1830, when he was called from Sydney to attend the execution of a convict.

[1] With a Catholic population of 535, towards the end of 1839 work was commenced on the parish church situated on the corner of George and Keppel Streets – St. Michael's.

Today the diocese covers an area of 103,560 square kilometres (39,980 sq mi) and comprises the territory immediately west of the Great Dividing Range.

Commissioned by Dean Grant, the church was erected at a cost of £12,000 under the supervision of local architect, Edward Gell, initially dedicated to Saint John the Baptist.

[1][6] The cathedral was built in the early English style, constructed with red brick and locally cut sandstone facings.

Gell's parish church terminated at the end of the nave with a small temporary chancel until such time as funds would allow for a more suitable sanctuary to be built.

In 1897 the temporary chancel was replaced by a larger one more in keeping with the cathedral's status and it was at this time that the east windows and marble altar were also installed.

As the mother church of one of the oldest dioceses in New South Wales, the cathedral has seen many changes over its lifetime making it truly a historical document in stone.

In spite of all the changes however the cathedral is today substantially the same imposing building planned and built by Dean Grant as his visionary 'cathedral' for Bathurst over a century ago.

The interior consists of an aisled nave with rounded sandstone piers and pointed Gothic arches which leads up to a distant sanctuary bathed in a mystical gloom.

After Vatican II the mensa was moved forward in order to accommodate the novus ordo with the bishop's throne and celebrant's chairs set behind it.

Some of the sandstone from the 1800s has not weathered well and shows extensive fretting and disintegration, while early brickwork, decorative stained glass windows and copper and slate roofing also need repairs.

A public appeal was launched with expectations of raising A$2.5 million with the work to be completed by 2015 when the diocese celebrates its sesqui-centenary and the city its bicentenary.