In the early 1860s, the site, consisting of a farm of 36 acres, was purchased by settlers in the neighbourhood and vested in the Bishop of Goulburn as trustee.

The foundation stone for the church was laid in November 1863.

It was also at this time the first recorded burial - of Mary Ann Marmont - took place at St John's Bolong Cemetery.

The completed church was blessed and opened in May 1864 by the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of Goulburn.

Originally the church was part of a comprehensive building scheme, which comprised a residence, a church and a school.

In the 1870s, a Post Office was established at Bolong Church and named 'Fullerton'.

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In later years, the residence and the school were dismantled, and the remainder of the building used entirely as a church.

By the late 1930s, the church was needing major repairs and fundraising began for a new church to accommodate the needs of a growing congregation.

World War II slowed the progress of building a new church, but in August 1946, church wardens requested permission from the Diocesan Council to sell 34 acres of their land and apply the proceeds towards the cost of building a new church.

The land was sold privately, with the church retaining a few acres at the cemetery and old church site.

The foundation stone for the new church was laid in October 1946 on a two acre block of land, donated by Harold Croker, further up the hill towards the main road.

Building progress on the new church was slow, possibly due to post-war building material shortages and relying on volunteer labour to do the work.

In February 1947, a severe storm caused extensive damage to the old church.

It is thought that the building was struck by lightning and afterwards it was further damaged by a windstorm, resulting in a large portion of the roof being blown away and the building as a whole was seriously affected.

The Bolong church committee hastily arranged to use the nearby Kempton Hall for their Sunday services, and this arrangement remained in place until the new church was dedicated and opened in October 1951.

At the time of the opening of the new church, there was talk of dismantling the derelict old church building and using the stone to create a memorial.

I suppose we can be thankful this never eventuated and today, the old church remains a beautiful ruin in a peaceful setting by the river, close to the cemetery where the pioneers of the district are laid to rest.

- Greg Davis from Explored Visions by GD

Mr Davis explores and captures historical places including abandoned buildings, bridges, road and railways. He correlated the church's history from newspaper articles published between 1863-1951 in the Sydney Morning Herald, Crookwell Gazette, Burrowa News, Goulburn Herald, Goulburn Chronicle and Goulburn Post.