The Auld Kirk is situated on the western bank of the beautiful Tamar River, north of the Batman Bridge. The church was built by convicts (who were housed at Blackwood Hills) and free labour. The building of the church began in early 1843 at the instigation of the Reverend Alexander McKenzie and Mr James Reid, of Richmond Hill. Reverend Mckenzie was the first minister appointed to the area and it was he who built up a congregation while the church was being built. He resigned in 1845 and returned to Scotland. The Reverend James Garrett arrived in July 1846, and was the first minister to take a service in the church. He faithfully served the church for 28 years, before passing away in 1874.
A bell was donated to the Kirk and erected by Frances Wilmour. The bell is now hanging in the belfry of the Glengarry Presbyterian Church, where it was taken after the disastrous fire which gutted the Kirk on September 6th, 1900.
The church became known as ‘the church with a tree’. There are various paintings of the church which show the tops of wattle trees growing inside the church above the walls. It is said that eight bundles of bark were stripped from them when they were finally removed.