Leongatha, South Gippsland, Victoria

Leongatha is a town in the foothills of the Strzelecki Ranges, South Gippsland Shire, Victoria, Australia, located 135 kilometres south-east of Melbourne. The town is the civic, commercial, industrial, religious, educational and sporting centre of the region.

St Laurence's Catholic Church at Leongatha was built in 1904 and replaced the original wooden building which was constructed in 1895. The church is a rendered brick structure with a gabled terra cotta shingle roof.
It has a notable Spanish Baroque south front with a matching porch. Centrally on the ridge stands a tall louvered lantern capped by a cupola.
At the front and side boundaries, the original cast iron fence with rendered piers, basalt base and wrought iron gates remain.
The building was originally in brick, with only the mouldings rendered, in which form it approaches the Romanesque style, but the south front is closer in form to a Dutch colonial or Spanish Baroque in form.
In rendered form it has a strong impression of Spanish Mission style.