In 1979, Peter and Vanessa Williams moved to the Batemans Bay area with their three-year-old daughter, Jessica, in search of an ideal spot to set up a pottery.
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They arrived in partnership with Massey Heust, a Melbourne potter.
Peter was an arts teacher at Echuca Technical School and Vanessa was working at the Echuca Hospital when they decided on their lifestyle change.
Peter was to be the painter and decorator; Massey was to be the potter; Vanessa was to be the technician.
They found their ideal site at Mogo: St Marys Church on the hill, which had been decommissioned. Peter and Venessa knew it was their perfect property and purchased it from Father Stack in 1980.
Just before the Mogo Pottery opened in Christmas 1980 the partnership was dissolved and Massey went his own way, leaving Peter and Vanessa "the accidental potters" of Mogo.
Their recollections of Mogo in 1980 were of a garage, Mrs Collins' general store and Post Office, Tim Sullivan's nursery and a few locals living in the main street.
Peter and Vanessa lived at Fairview Drive, Lilli Pilli, and commuting to Mogo daily.
They had their eye on the Catholic Church on the corner of Church and Orient Streets, Batemans Bay, which was earmarked for demolition.
After much negotiations the purchase was made and in 1987 the church was moved to Mogo, to the back of the pottery, where it became Peter and Vanessa's home.
They concentrated on making the pottery an icon, but also had time to join the Progress Association. Vanessa was involved in the Mogo School P&C, where their daughter Alice attended.
More donors are needed
Peter and Vanessa celebrated 40 Christmases at their pottery, until that fateful day when the Clyde Mountain Fire roared through Mogo, destroying their dreams and historic buildings. All that remains are the Moruya granite foundations and a handrail personally made for them by Hans Brosch. At the back of the church sits a small graveyard with unmarked graves. It is known to be the resting place of a baby Keating, and a baby Connell.
Seven months after the fires, Peter and Vanessa are ready to rebuild the church on the hill, the Mogo Pottery - as close as possible to its original state. It will be the third building on the footprints of the original 1872 St Mary's Church.
The second church was built in 1915 from community fundraising and donations and when Father Cassidy blessed it, £56 had been raised - plenty to pay off the new church's £30 debt, with some left over.
Now the third building will also be funded by donations. Two Go Fund Me pages have raised almost enough, but further donations would be much appreciated. Google Peter and Vanessa Williams Mogo Go Fund Me to complete this most iconic building.
