Investigations into possibility of setting up mission sites in Western Australia began in 1883 by Fr. Duncan McNab. In 1884 he examined the Kimberley region and found a suitable place here in the Peninsula. The first settlement took place in 1885 when he built a church at Goodenough Bay, a little north of Disaster Bay, on the eastern side of the Dampier Peninsula. At this embryonic stage the mission suffered many setbacks due to illnesses, harshness of the land and the scarcity of both finance and human resources. Thus, it was not until late 1890 that the Church’s missionary work among the Aborigines developed in the Kimberley with the arrival of the French Trappists in response to Bishop Gibney’s invitation. They selected an area of good natural springs on the Western side of the Peninsula a few kilometres inland from Beagle Bay. The site was chosen because it was where large numbers of Aboriginal people congregated.

The Pallottines Fathers and Brothers, then known as the Pious Society of Missions, took charge of the Beagle Bay mission in June 1901. There has always been a Pallottine presence here except for a period of about six months after Br. William Schreiber retired to Rossmoyne during the early part of 1996.

The Aboriginal people from Beagle Bay were actively involved in the spreading of the Catholic faith in Western Australia. During the 30’s, long before the concept of Lay Missionaries were thought of, Aboriginal people from Beagle Bay went down to Tardun in the Murchison area to help the Pallottine priests and brothers to start up the Mission farm. In 1934, Rockhole Station 23 kilometres west of Hall Creek was established with the help of Aborigines from Beagle Bay to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the desert people. From Rockhole Station other missions were set up at Balgo and Billiluna. Then in the late 50’s more Aboriginal "Lay Missionaries" went to help out at La Grange Mission south of Broome. Vincent Pallotti’s vision of every baptized person being an apostle, actively participating in the life of the Church, was being actualized here at Beagle Bay years before the Second Vatican Council acknowledge it officially.

After the Swan River settlement was established in 1929, it was inevitable that explorations to the northwest would take place. Thus, in 1838 Beagle Bay was named after HMS Beagle, the vessel in which J.C. Whickham surveyed the north-west coast when he discovered the bay on the 24th of January.

A little over half a century later Beagle Bay became the bedrock of Catholicism for the Kimberleys. It all began when Bishop Gibney invited the French Trappists to establish a mission there. Bishop Gibney placed Beagle Bay under the special protection of the Sacred Heart by naming the Mission "Notre Dame du Sacre Coeur" of the Kimberley. Today the statue of the Sacred Heart takes a prominent place above the church's entrance keeping a watchful eye over the community.

By the end of 1890 two Trappist Fathers, Ambrose Janny and AIphonse Tachon, began fulfilling the vision of Bishop Gibney of bringing the Good News of Jesus Christ to the Kimberley. When the French Trappists were no longer able to support Beagle Bay Mission, Bishop Kelly of Geraldton invited the Pallottines Fathers and Brothers to take over from the Trappists. Thus, on the 12th of June 1901, Propaganda Fide officially transferred Beagle Bay Mission to the care of the Priests and Brothers of the Society of Catholic Apostolate, then known as Pious Society of Missions.

On the 31st of January 1904, the mission suffered a great loss when Fr. Henry Rensmann, a talented linguist who was able to preach in Nyul Nyul after only a few months, died at the age of 27 years. He was the first priest to be buried in the Beagle Bay Mission cemetery.

In the same year Fr. Thomas Bachmair was sent to fill the vacancy caused by Fr. Rensmann’s death. Fr. Bachmair later became the protagonist for the building of the new mission church. Perhaps if Fr. Rensmann had not drowned on that fateful day we may not have the church that we have today.

In 1907, after approaching various religious orders Bishop Gibney finally persuaded the St. John of God Sisters to come to Beagle Bay. By 1910, the mission school ran by the sisters had 44 girls and 40 boys.

Rudolph Newman, the oldest resident in the community, arrived at Beagle Bay in that same year, 1910, as a 10 year old boy. He can still recall the old mission church made out of rough iron sheets being located in front of the present church’s main entrance, and the mission school located where the church now stands. These old buildings were destroyed by a cyclone a number of years later, which enabled Fr. Bachmair to use the site for the new church.

Rudolph also remembers a lugger named "Namban" bringing in supplies from Broome to Beagle Bay. From the Bay bullock carts were used to complete the final part of the journey to the mission. It was not until 1921 that a proper road to Broome was built by Fr. Droste and goods were able to be brought up by car.

After the old church was destroyed the missionaries desired to build a brick church. In order to obtain proper bricks they had to experiment with different clay mixtures before getting the right proportion of white clay and black mud that formed the right consistency for baking. A kiln for baking bricks and burning shells was built at the back of the blacksmith's building.

For mortar, lime had to be extracted from sea shells. Large piles of shells were collected from the beach by people and brought back to the kiln with bullock carts. Rudolph tells how oyster shells had to be knocked off the rocks with mattocks before loading them onto carts drawn by team of bullocks. In the kiln layers of shells and layers of wood were placed on top of each other alternatively, and shells thus burnt produced white lime. Since cement wasn't available lime was used both for mortar and for plastering walls. Br. Matthias and Br. Anton were the stone masons responsible for the brick work. 60,000 bricks into the church. By 1918, the shell of the church was finished thanks to the brothers, priests and Aboriginal people who worked each day regardless of the weather conditions.

Once the roof trusses were in place and sheeted with corrugated iron the inside of the church was white washed and decorated. Fr. Droste decorated the main brick altar with mother-of-pearl shells and coloured shells embedded into the plaster. He cut letters from shinning mother-of-pearl for an inscription around the tabernacle, "Dominus Deus et Deus Meus: My Lord and My God. The tabernacle was framed with cowrie shells. Two boys, Joseph Neebery and Joseph Gregory helped him to lay the high altar with shells and a mosaic of mother-of-pearl.

The original ceiling was made from bush timber; where strips of mangrove wood were nailed, plastered and set with shells to resemble the sky. This ceiling had to be altered after white-ants destroyed the plaster and woodwork. Flatten kerosene tins were then used to replace the wooden ceiling.

On either side of the arch of the sanctuary, two angels hold a scroll with the words:
"Christus Vincit, Christus Regnat, Christus Triumphat":
Christ Conquers or Overcomes, Christ Reigns, Christ Triumphs.

Br. Frank Hanke made the communion rail from red gum with designs made of shells inset into the wood.

On the left, is the altar of Our Lady with the words, "Tota pulchra es Maria, et macula non est in te": Mary is totally pure and stain is not in thee. On the right is the altar of St. Joseph with a boat symbolising the Church and an inscription: "Joseph, Patron of the Church pray for us!"

The church was blessed and officially opened in August 1918 on the feast of the Assumption by Fr. Creagh, a Redemptorist priest and the Apostolic Administrator of the Kimberleys. There is an inscription of that year, 1918, on the inside wall of the sanctuary. Fr. Thomas Bachmair died of septicaemia ten days after the church was blessed.

Fr Droste then took on the task of completing the building of the church tower. 15,000 double bricks, equivalent of 30,000 normal bricks were used to build the 12 metre bell tower. The base of the wall is 1.2 metre thick. According to Rudolph Newman, two of the bells were a gift from a parish in Germany where Fr. Otto Raible was before coming to Australia May of 1928.

The Stations of the Cross are original paintings by a sister of Fr. G. Hermes. Each Station is framed with shells. Each church door and window is also framed with shells. The original plain transparent glass from the windows were replaced with stained glass by Bishop Raible in 1940. Br. Joseph Tautz and Br. Frank Hanke were the carpenters.

The floor of the church was re-tiled and concreted in the 60's by Fr. Michael Jackson and David (Dicky) Cox. Dicky's parents, David and Lena Cox were the first couple to be married in this church.