The South Sea Islander Wall, Grange Road, Mon Repos, is approximately 1580 metres in length, of which 307 metres is within the Mon Repos Conservation Park. Approximately 20 metres of the eastern or seaward end of the wall has been covered by drifting sand. A gap of 88 metres exists in the wall near its mid-point, with no obvious evidence that a wall previously existed in the area.
The wall has an average height of approximately 1.4 metres, an average width of approximately 1.8 metres at the base and an average width of approximately 1.2 metres at the top surface.
The wall is of similar construction to that at the former Sunnyside Sugar Plantation on Windermere Road [Sunnyside Sugar Plantation (former) Remains, QHR 601700]. There are believed to be only 6 similarly intact dry-rubble walls surviving in the Bundaberg district, of which the Mon Repos wall is a good example.
","history":"The South Sea Islander Wall, Mon Repos was constructed in the c1884 probably using South Sea Islander labour.
Mon Repos Sugar Plantation was established in 1884. By 1887 Mon Repos was Millaquin Refinery's major juice supplier. A relative latecomer to Bundaberg's sugar boom, Mon Repos Plantation was owned by Augustus Purling Barton. Barton was born into upper class English society in 1834 and arrived in Melbourne in 1855. In 1863 Barton had taken up Moolboolaman station in the Kolan. Barton led the life of a squatter for about twenty years. Then, in the early 1880s, he acquired a stake in the Woongarra. He constructed a large home which he intended as a coastal retreat or town house, where his family could get away occasionally from station life. He named the home 'Mon Repos' [French for 'My Rest'].
The first cane from Mon Repos plantation was harvested in 1882 and crushed at neighbouring mills. By 1884, Barton was operating his own juice mill. Over the years, he expanded his plant. During 1886, Barton had acquired Drynie, a small mill in the Burdekin district and re-erected it with additions in the Woongarra. Mon Repos plantation soon absorbed its neighbour Duncraggan. In 1887, Barton's juice mill was one of Millaquin refinery's major suppliers of juice. Mon Repos juice mill was converted to a complete sugar mill in 1887-88 and Barton continued to expand. Summerville mill and plantation were acquired in 1892, with the mill closing and the cane from the plantation crushed at Mon Repos. Two years later, Barton absorbed The Grange plantation.
In 1896, the Queensland National Bank gained control over the Millaquin refinery. In 1899, the negotiations began between Barton and the Queensland National Bank, an agreement was reached, and the Bank purchased Mon Repos mill and plantation. The name Mon Repos was changed to Qunaba [from Queensland National Bank]. Bundaberg Sugar Pty still owns a parcel of land on which the wall is located.
Barton was very much in favour of using South Sea Islander labour. The Woongarra area was covered with rocks, which were gathered and stone walls built around the cane fields. South Sea Islanders had been working on other sugar plantations in the Bundaberg district from at least the mid-1870s. They were not brought directly to Bundaberg until 1879, but prior to this planters obtained Islanders via Maryborough, whose sugar industry had been established in the late 1860s.
Herbert Turner later wrote of the work of South Sea Islanders in clearing the land on Woongarra farms:
. . . a large portion of the Woongarra land contained more or less loose rocks. After the tree stumps had been collected in heaps and burnt, the next job was to deal with the stones. Where possible they would be broken into convenient size for handling, loaded onto drays, and carted to the farm boundary lines, and there built up as stone wall boundary fences averaging five feet in height and four feet in width. A number of these stone walls are still in existence. The large stones would either be drilled and blasted with dynamite to a convenient handling size, or snigged by horse team to the boundary line. [Turner, 1955]
Local tradition also records that:
Wooden sleds, pulled by draught horses, followed around the paddocks as the land was being cleared. Rocks unearthed during this process were placed on the sled. Big rocks which would not fit on the sled would be broken up with spalling hammers. These pieces would then be placed on corn bags, an Islander on each corner, which would then be carried to the sled. When full, the sleds were taken to the end of the paddock where they were unloaded. [L'Oste-Brown, 1995]
The dry-rubble boundary walls were constructed in layers, with larger stones placed around the outside and smaller stones used for the infill. This seems to have been a common construction method in the Woongarra, but the origin of the technique has yet to be established. The South Sea Islander Wall, Mon Repos was constructed in the c1884 probably using South Sea Islander labour.
","criteria":"The South-Sea Islander Wall, Mon Repos, survives as important evidence of the enormous contribution made by South Sea Islanders to the establishment of a viable sugar industry in Queensland. In particular, it remains as testament to their contribution to the development of the sugar industry in the Bundaberg region, one of the most affluent sugar districts in the state. The wall is also important physical evidence of the manual nature of this contribution, for without the availability of indentured labour, Woongarra Scrub farmers could not have converted their lands to an activity as initially labour-intensive as sugar growing.
|The boundary wall, which is over one and a half kilometres metres in length, survives as one of the longest, most intact examples of its type in the Bundaberg district, which around the turn-of-the-century was chequered with such structures. Further, the South Sea Islander Wall, Mon Repos is significant for its rarity.
|The place is significant also for its potential to contribute to further study, and better understanding, of the role of South Sea Islanders in Queensland history.
|Although diminished in length, what survives is substantially intact, and provides a good example of dry-rubble wall construction employed in the Bundaberg district in the late 19th century.
|Importantly, it has a strong association for the present local South Sea Islander community with the experiences of their ancestors in Queensland.
|The place has an important association with the exploitation of the large South Sea Islands workforce employed in the Bundaberg district in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion C | Criterion D | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15137,"place_ref":600362,"name":"Bundaberg School of Arts","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"184 Bourbong Street","suburb":"BUNDABERG","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The former School of Arts is a substantial 2 storey rendered brick building in classical revival style and is located close the major intersection of the Bundaberg central business district. It is now bracketed by more modern buildings.
The School of Arts is rectangular in plan and has a hipped roof clad in corrugated iron with cast iron cresting. It is concealed from the street by a parapet with Italianate balusters topped by cement urns. The most striking feature of the building is a 2 storey arcaded verandah along the street elevation which returns for 3 bays on each side. The arcades are constructed of rendered brick and consist on both levels of a central arch topped by a small triangular pediment and flanked by large arches. These are formed of pilasters with Corinthian capitals on masonry plinths supporting a semicircular arch with a cental key and edge mould. Cast iron balustrading links the plinths. The panels between arch, cornice and pilaster are decorated with a wreath and ribbon design in render.
Timber verandahs at each side of the building have recently been reconstructed according to their original form and the walls behind them are of exposed brick. The brick at the rear of the building has been rendered. Double hung sash windows with round headed fanlights echo the arcade at the front of the building, as do arches across the interior hallways.
The interior of the building is intact and well detailed. The ground floor walls are plastered brick and there is a central hall from which the former library and offices are reached. The main staircase at the rear of the hall is semicircular in plan and has two niches and a window in the stairwell and a turned timber balustrade leading to a first floor landing. This is joined to the former reading room by a short hall which has smaller rooms to the left and right. The partition walls are of narrow tongue and groove vertical boarding and there are timber ceilings and cornices.
The doors have fretted transoms with a lyre and acanthus design, a classical reference appropriate to centre dedicated to education and the arts.
","history":"The former School of Arts is a substantial masonry building in classical revival style and was constructed in 1888-9 as the third school of arts building on this site.
The Burnett area, in which Bundaberg lies, was first settled by Europeans in the 1840s and 50s as a series of pastoral runs. In the late 1860s, as good agricultural land around Maryborough began to be scarce, agriculturalists and timbergetters became interested in land on the navigable Burnett River to the north. The foundation settlers of Bundaberg selected land in 1867-68 under the 'Sugar and Coffee Regulations' stemming from the Crown Lands Alienation Act of the 1860s which aimed to promote agriculture and closer settlement. The site of Bundaberg was officially surveyed in 1869. Coastal traffic grew, and copper was first mined at Mt Perry in 1871, which enabled Bundaberg to develop as a port and supply centre, in spite of competition from Maryborough for this trade. Although the higher southern bank of the river was officially surveyed as the town site, both sides soon developed wharves and buildings and were initially linked by ferry, then by bridges in the 1870s. Sugar plantations were established in the surrounding area and were to become the basis for the city's wealth as the industry boomed from the 1880s to the 1920s.
In 1871, 3 allotments in Section 20 at the corner of Bourbong and Barolin Streets were reserved for a School of Arts. At this time the population of Bundaberg was about 100. Shortly afterwards, the institution opened in a simple weatherboard structure with little pretension to style, but which had a reading room and a library composed largely of fiction books. It was also used as a venue for meetings and for church services.
The first Mechanic's Institutes or Schools of Arts were established in Britain in the early 1800s and were intended to assist self improvement and to promote moral, social and intellectual growth, by providing lectures, discussions and lending libraries to a rising middle class. At the time there were no free public libraries and books were expensive, so that access to books by borrowing as subscribers provided an important service. The first School of Arts committee in Queensland was established in Brisbane in 1849 with the aim of 'the advancement of the community in literary, philosophic and scientific subjects'. As towns and districts became established, local committees were formed to set up schools of arts, which became one of the principal sources of adult education. The government recognised this by making land available, subsidising books and assisting with building costs.
A new timber School of Arts building in Bundaberg was constructed on the same site in 1880. The library received a considerable boost from the donation of 3 cases of English classics, ordered from London at a cost of £100, by a Mr McIlwraith, later to become Premier of Queensland and a life member of the School of Arts. The Book Committee also purchased a further 1400 volumes for the new building, the foundation of a library of notable quality.
Although the building was larger than the first, this was a decade when the modest timber buildings of the early settlement were being replaced with handsome masonry structures reflecting Bundaberg's prosperity. A larger and more prestigious building was needed for the School of Arts. Fortunately, the reserve had by now become very valuable real estate, being located at the corner of the intersection which held reserves for the post office, municipal chambers and bank. It was also much larger than required and in 1887 the Committee petitioned the Legislative Assembly to permit them to divide the land and sell part of it to finance a building in keeping with the town's current position and future needs. An Enabling Act was passed to allow this and the surplus land was sold for £3400.
The new building was designed by Anton Hettrich, a local architect who was born and trained in Germany. In 1884 he commenced practice in Bundaberg and immediately won a competition for the design of the Town Hall. After winning the competition for the design of the School of Arts in 1888 he went briefly into partnership with William Champ, a builder, in order to carry out this and several other large commissions. Hettrich became a long standing member of the School of Arts Committee and taught drawing and German there. His practice was very successful and only his pupil, Frederick Faircloth, gained a similar dominance in local architectural work. By 1897 Hettrich had designed more than 300 buildings in the area. He moved away from Bundaberg in1900 to supervise work on the Gympie Court House for the Department of works and later moved to Brisbane.
The successful tenderer for the work was a Mr Calvert and work commenced on 2 June 1888 with the old building being moved to the rear of the site to allow continuation of services. The Trustees took possession of the completed building on 16 April 1889 for a cost of £3300. It had a library and rooms available for rental on the ground floor, with a committee room to the rear. On the upper level was a large reading room opening out on to the verandah, a natural history museum and chess rooms. G.H. Bennett, President of the School of Arts Committee, expressed their satisfaction in the 'elegant and substantial edifice, so suitable in every way for the purpose for which it was designed.'
From 1889 the School of Arts offered technical classes in a variety of practical subjects including drawing, shorthand, bookkeeping, typing, dressmaking, millinery, chemistry, dairy work, manual training and carpentry. These were so successful that in 1898 a timber hall designed by Frederick Faircloth was built behind the School of Arts to accommodate them. This had a stage and piano and was hired out when not in use, thus expanding the activities of the institution, and was enlarged soon after it was built. However, in 1908 the Technical Education Act shifted responsibility for provision of such classes to the government, a factor in the demise of Schools of Arts generally.
Membership of the School of Arts was by subscription and membership numbers were never large. Running the institute was largely a voluntary affair and those involved in the work included many prominent local people, a number of whom were mayors. A gallery was added to the library in the early 1900s, although membership dropped with competition from other activities. However, membership rose again in the 1920s necessitating an extension of the library and this may have been why the western verandah was enclosed at this time. Even during the Depression when the cessation of government subsidies to Schools of Arts spelt the end for many, the Bundaberg institution continued to do well.
In 1928 the construction of the AMP building next door blocked light into the rooms on that side and the eastern verandah was removed, that on the west being removed a few years later. Alternatives for education and leisure activities and the Libraries Act of 1943, which provided for free lending libraries, all contributed to the gradual closure of Schools of Arts around the state. Bundaberg's museum collection was broken up after World War II, but the earnings from rentals and the excellent library helped the School of Arts to survive. In 1969, the Bundaberg and District Museum was formed and moved into the hall the following year.
The School of Arts library remained the only lending library in Bundaberg until the 1970s, when the city council conducted a feasibility study with a view to establishing a free public library. The future of the building was uncertain at this time and members of the Bundaberg Historical Society led public support for retention of the building. In 1976 repair work was carried out by the Bundaberg City Council with the aid of a National Estate grant. The hall was demolished and the museum moved into the School of Arts building. The land, building and assets were transferred by the Trustees of the School of Arts to the Bundaberg City Council on 1 January 1979. The library was transferred to the former Customs House and Commonwealth Bank in Quay Street in 1981. The Bundaberg Art Society then used the library room and other rooms in the School of Arts as an art gallery and offices. In 1988 the museum moved into a new building and in the late 1990s the art gallery also moved out. The building continues to serve the people of Bundaberg by being available for hire for cultural and community purposes.
","criteria":"The Bundaberg School of Arts is important as part of the network of Schools of Arts which sprang up in any town of consequence in Queensland during the 19th and early 20th centuries and were a measure of prosperity and progress. The scale and style of the building amply demonstrate the wealth and importance of Bundaberg as a sugar city at this period. Schools of Arts were community based and played a valuable role in the dissemination of information and the provision of facilities for lectures, meetings, games of skill and community events. They were an important stage in the development of adult education in Queensland.
|The building is a good example of a major regional School of Arts which provided a library, reading room, committee room and museum.
|It is a well designed and imposing building, which by its form, scale and location near a major intersection, makes a major contribution to the townscape of Bundaberg.
|The building has strong associations with the community of Bundaberg, as an educational and cultural facility and as a source of civic pride for well over a century.
|The building is one of the most important works of prolific local architect Anton Hettrich and also has associations with him as a long standing member of the School of Arts committee and as a teacher of drawing and German at this institution.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15138,"place_ref":600363,"name":"Commercial Bank of Sydney (former)","alternate_name":"National Australia Bank","street_address":"191-193 Bourbong Street","suburb":"BUNDABERG","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The former Commercial Bank of Sydney is situated on the corner of Bourbong and Maryborough Streets, Bundaberg. It is a substantial, two-storeyed, rendered brick building in boom-era 'Italianate' style, built to the street alignments of the block, and has a square plan form and wide surrounding verandahs to both levels. The verandahs on the rear [north] side have been enclosed.
The building has a hipped slate roof with a centre well. Chimneys extend from the roof on the south and north west sides. Dominant cylindrical metal vents project from the roof with two on the front [south] elevation and one on each of the other elevations. Four shaped turrets with cast iron lace rails have been removed from the intersections of the ridges. Cast iron lace ridge capping has also been removed.
The first floor verandahs are supported by paired cast iron columns with corinthian capitals; these are in turn supported by masonry plinths. Between these are cast iron balustrades with timber hand rails. These columns support a dentiled soffit. Similarly paired cast iron columns support the first floor balcony and the ground level balustrade has moulded concrete balustrading with hourglass-shaped balusters. The corners of the ground floor verandah are visually strengthened by construction in masonry with recessed arcading. The ground floor verandah is paved in polychromatic geometric tiles.
A double-storeyed wing with an attached single-storeyed section with hipped slate roofs extends from the rear of the building. Attached to this is a single-storeyed lean-to.
The main entrance off Bourbong Street is accentuated by a masonry pediment sitting on plastered brick piers that rise above the gutter line of the roof. At ground level the entrance is in the form of a portico beneath the verandah which has recessed semi-circular openings and a wrought iron entrance gate.
Paired double-hung sashes with semi-circular heads and hood moulds with supporting decorated stops are located each side of the main entrance door. A secondary entrance is located on the east side with single double hung windows and French doors. There are single double hung windows on the west side. At first floor level shuttered french doors open onto the verandahs from each room.
Entry into the banking chamber is via a set of heavy timber doors with semi-circular hopper window that features a pair of peacocks in etched glass. To the left of the entry is the banking chamber and to the right two offices and the east side entrance hallway. Three rooms extend north from the north west corner behind these offices. A secondary stair rises to the first floor in this area. None of the original banking chamber fittings exist although the space has remained intact and the original coffered lath and plaster ceilings exist although they are damaged. Cast iron columns at the rear of the banking chamber support an upper storey wall, and beyond this is a room running off the banking chamber to the north. Original timber architraves and skirting survive in the principal offices.
Access to the first floor is via a timber return stair with turned balusters. The stairwell windows and entry door have leadlight glazing with a central diamond pattern with bird designs. A green marble fireplace with cast iron grate and ceramic tiled reveal is in the office adjacent to the side hallway and main stair.
The upper floor, which was formally the manager's residence, retains its original configuration of six rooms surrounding a central hall running off the main stair landing. Each room opens out onto the surrounding verandahs via french doors with timber shutters on the outside. Three original marble fire places exist at the first floor level.
The northern verandah, which has been enclosed, is supported on cast iron columns and connects to toilets and a secondary stair.
To the north of the main building is a detached, single-storeyed, gabled roof brick stables building. Its Maryborough Street elevation retains an early hoist and doors to the hayloft in the roof space, and the whole appears to be substantially intact.
The bitumenised courtyard between the main building and the stables building is enclosed along Maryborough Street by a timber paling fence with capping rail. There are double gates in this fence which allow vehicle access to the site. To the east of the main building, fronting Bourbong Street, there is a low masonry fence with a small pedestrian gateway enclosing parking space accessed from the side street. The rear of the site, fronting Post Office Lane, is enclosed with a modern wire fence.
","history":"This large, two-storeyed brick premises and detached stables building, designed by Sydney architect George Allen Mansfield, were purpose-built for the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Ltd in 1891 as their Bundaberg branch office and manager's residence. They were constructed at the tail end of a period of strong economic prosperity throughout regional Queensland, and at a period when Bundaberg in particular was booming as a sugar town.
Although pastoralists had occupied the Bundaberg district from the early 1840s, the town of Bundaberg was not established until the late 1860s. Early forays by Darling Downs squatter Henry Stuart Russell [1842], and by government surveyor James Charles Burnett, who in 1847 surveyed the river later named after him, initiated the first wave of non-indigenous settlement in the lower Burnett. Sustained frontier conflict characterised the period from the 1840s to the 1860s, as pastoralists establishing sheep runs [and cattle from the 1860s] clashed with indigenous people intent on resisting the white invasion.
In 1847 Burnett reported unfavourably on the navigability of the Burnett River, and during the early pastoral period Maryborough functioned as the principal port for the Burnett district. However, with timber getters moving into the Burnett from 1866, coastal shipping was soon attracted to the Burnett River. In addition, 1860s government encouragement to closer settlement, through new land and immigration acts and the Sugar and Coffee Regulations of 1864, enticed selectors to take up agricultural land along the Burnett River flats, which were found suitable for the cultivation of sugarcane, maize and coffee, in the second half of the 1860s. In 1869, the town of Bundaberg on the Burnett River was surveyed, to serve the newly emerging agricultural district dependent on the coastal shipping trade.
Prior to 1872 there were no banking facilities in Bundaberg. A Customs House was established on the Burnett River but duties had to be paid in Maryborough. In April 1872 a representative from the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Ltd [the CBC] arrived in Bundaberg to assess whether the town could support a bank, and left town promising that a branch would be established within the next few months. However, the day after his departure, a representative of the Bank of New South Wales rode into Bundaberg from Maryborough with the news that a branch of the BNSW was to open for the transaction of business. The Commercial Banking Company of Sydney opened as promised in June 1872, but the BNSW had already secured most of the banking business in the town, and the CBC was forced to close its Bundaberg branch in October 1873.
In the boom years of the 1880s Bundaberg developed as an important sugar town, with growth sustained into the 1920s following the establishment of private sugar mills and a refinery. By 1883 a branch of the CBC had been re-established in Bundaberg, possibly in rented premises in Barolin Street. Although the CBC had purchased from the Crown two 32 perch allotments at the corner of Bourbong and Maryborough Streets in June 1882 [the land was only proclaimed as available for purchase on 21 April 1882], the Bank did not build on this site until the end of the decade.
By the 1880s, Bourbong Street had been consolidated as the principal commercial street in Bundaberg, and a number of bank buildings were erected here during the sugar boom. These included fine new premises for the Queensland National Bank, completed in 1887.
The CBC commissioned Sydney architect George Allen Mansfield to design their Bundaberg premises. Mansfield designed at least five bank buildings for Queensland - premises for the Bank of New South Wales at Ipswich (1861-62), Brisbane (1864-65), and Bowen (1865-66), and premises for the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney at Rockhampton (1885-86) and Bundaberg (1891).
The Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Ltd's building at the corner of Bourbong and Maryborough Streets, Bundaberg, functioned as banking premises for over a century. In 1973, the CBC sold part of the block to the west, fronting Bourbong Street, but retained the remainder of the site. In 1981-83 the CBC merged with the National Bank of Australasia to form the National Australia Bank Ltd. The former CBC bank at Bundaberg remained a branch of the NAB until closed in 1996 and sold to private interests later that year.
","criteria":"The former Commercial Bank of Sydney at Bundaberg, completed in 1891, is important in demonstrating the development of early competitive banking facilities in rural Queensland; in illustrating an economic boom period in Queensland's history; and in illustrating the evolution of Bundaberg as a regional centre.
|The main building, together with an early and rare surviving detached brick stables building, is important in illustrating a way of life no longer practiced.
|It is architecturally significant as a surviving, substantially intact example of 1880s boom-era architecture. It is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of its type: a substantial two-storeyed brick building which combined banking chamber and offices and bank manager's residence; which is designed to accommodate the warm Queensland climate, as illustrated by the wide surrounding verandahs to both levels and numerous windows and french doors; and which is designed to impress.
|The place has aesthetic value, derived from its strong streetscape presence, form, materials, and the craftsmanship of the joinery, stained glass and overall construction.
|It is important for its association with the expansion of the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Ltd in the late 19th century and the role the Bank played in the development of regional Queensland at this period. It is also illustrative of the Queensland commercial work of Sydney architect George Allen Mansfield, who designed at least five bank buildings erected in Queensland in the period 1861-1891.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15139,"place_ref":600364,"name":"Bundaberg War Memorial","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Bourbong Street","suburb":"BUNDABERG","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The First World War Memorial is situated at the main intersection of Bundaberg on a traffic island consisting of alternating bands of grass and concrete running parallel to Bourbong Street. The height of the memorial complements the adjacent Post Office tower.
At 38 feet high, the memorial is of a massive scale and comprises a pedestal surmounted by a column and a digger statue.
The monument sits on a large trachyte and granite pedestal comprising a central recessed square pillar with engaged square pillars at each corner. The central pillar sits on a simply detailed trachyte base and is flanked by sections of banded stone. The central section of each face bears the cut and gilded names of one local soldier who served in the Boer War and the 277 who served in the First World Wars. Commemorative plates to later conflicts have been added to the pedestal.
The corner pillars sit on trachyte bases and have small cornices surmounted by rusticated stone blocks from which red granite pillars rise. The whole of the pedestal is surmounted by a large frieze and cornice.
Above the cornice sits an octagonal two stepped base of trachyte surmounted by a circular step. This forms a base for a red granite column with a marble Ionic order capital.
Surmounting the column is a marble digger statue, which is life-sized. The soldier stands with his head bowed and his hands are resting on a rifle which is reversed. He carries a backpack and his right leg is bent to create a relaxed stance.
","history":"The Bundaberg War Memorial was incomplete when it was first unveiled on Anzac Day 1921, as the statue had not arrived from Italy. Later in the year, it was unveiled in its complete form. It was designed by Bundaberg architect, F H Faircloth and the masonry contractors were Anselm and Odling of Sydney. The granite, trachyte and marble memorial honours one local man who served in the Boer War and the 227 local men who served in the First World War.
Bundaberg owes its survival to the growth of the sugar industry in the 1880s. The Millaquin refinery and private milling companies invested in the area and by 1920 the city had become directly and indirectly dependant on the sugar industry.
The impetus for a memorial in Bundaberg originated with the local Soldiers' Reception Committee. On 15 May 1920, the foundation stone was laid by General Sir William Birdwood.
The base and column were created in Sydney, which may explain the use of trachyte, a material more commonly used for memorials in New South Wales than in Queensland.
Australia, and Queensland in particular, had few civic monuments before the First World War. The memorials erected in its wake became our first national monuments, recording the devastating impact of the war on a young nation. Australia lost 60 000 from a population of about 4 million, representing one in five of those who served. No previous or subsequent war has made such an impact on the nation.
Even before the end of the war, memorials became a spontaneous and highly visible expression of national grief. To those who erected them, they were as sacred as grave sites, substitute graves for the Australians whose bodies lay in battlefield cemeteries in Europe and the Middle East. British policy decreed that the Empire war dead were to be buried where they fell. The word 'cenotaph', commonly applied to war memorials at the time, literally means 'empty tomb'.
Australian war memorials are distinctive in that they commemorate not only the dead. Australians were proud that their first great national army, unlike other belligerent armies, was composed entirely of volunteers, men worthy of honour whether or not they paid the supreme sacrifice. Many memorials honour all who served from a locality, not just the dead, providing valuable evidence of community involvement in the war. Such evidence is not readily obtainable from military records, or from state or national listings, where names are categorised alphabetically or by military unit.
Australian war memorials are also valuable evidence of imperial and national loyalties, at the time, not seen as conflicting; the skills of local stonemasons, metalworkers and architects; and of popular taste. In Queensland, the soldier statue was the popular choice of memorial, whereas the obelisk predominated in the southern states, possibly a reflection of Queensland's larger working-class population and a lesser involvement of architects.
Many of the First World War monuments have been updated to record local involvement in later conflicts, and some have fallen victim to unsympathetic re-location and repair.
Although there are many different types of memorials in Queensland, the digger statue is the most common. It was the most popular choice of communities responsible for erecting the memorials, embodying the ANZAC myth and representing the qualities of the ideal Australian.....loyalty, courage, youth, innocence and masculinity. The digger was a phenomenon peculiar to Queensland, perhaps due to the fact that other states had followed Britain's lead and established Advisory Boards made up of architects and artists, prior to the erection of war memorials. The digger statue was not highly regarded by artists and architects who were involved in the design of relatively few Queensland memorials.
Most statues were constructed by local masonry firms, although some were by artists or imported.
The Bundaberg digger was imported from Italy and is constructed of Italian marble. The completed memorial, at a cost of £1,650 was the third most costly to be erected in Queensland. It is a major regional memorial and one of the two most intact digger memorials that remain in their original settings of intersections.(The other is located in Aramac). It is an unusual example of the work of F H Faircloth.
F H Faircloth was born in Maryborough in c1870. He was articled to Bundaberg architect Anton Hettrich before establishing his own practice in 1893. In 1894 he became an Associate of the Queensland Institute of Architecture, becoming a Fellow in 1899. Although he lived in Bundaberg the whole of his professional life he did not involve himself with the community, preferring to dedicate his life to his architecture. He was responsible for rebuilding much of the Childers Central Business District after the fire of 1902 and also for many substantial buildings in Bundaberg.
The masons, Anselm and Odling were a large firm that had agencies throughout Australia and in London and Italy. It is through these contacts that they were able to import Italian marble digger statues into Australia. They were extensive suppliers of masonry materials and were constantly in pursuit of memorial work.
","criteria":"War Memorials are important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history as they are representative of a recurrent theme that involved most communities throughout the state. They provide evidence of an era of widespread Australian patriotism and nationalism, particularly during and following the First World War. The monuments manifest a unique documentary record and are demonstrative of popular taste in the inter-war period.
|The major regional memorial is an uncommon example of one that is still situated in an original and intact setting and records local participation in the South African Boer War as well as the First World War.
|The monuments manifest a unique documentary record and are demonstrative of popular taste in the inter-war period.
Erected in 1921, the memorial at Bundaberg demonstrates the principal characteristics of a commemorative structure erected as an enduring record of a major historical event. This is achieved through the use of appropriate materials and design elements. As a digger statue it is representative of the most popular form of memorial in Queensland
|This particular statue shows uncommon detailing such as the inclusion of a backpack and an unusual choice of materials. It is of aesthetic significance for its high degree of workmanship, materials and design, creating a dominant landmark within the streetscape.
|It has a strong association with the community as evidence of the impact of a major historic event and also with Bundaberg architect, F H Faircloth.
|It has a strong association with the community as evidence of the impact of a major historic event and also with Bundaberg architect, F H Faircloth.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15140,"place_ref":600365,"name":"Bundaberg War Nurses Memorial and Park","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Bourbong Street","suburb":"BUNDABERG","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Memorial Pavilion is situated in a triangular shaped park planted with palm trees opposite the Bundaberg Base Hospital. The park is at the junction of two main streets in Bundaberg with the pavilion facing the corner.
The pavilion itself is approximately 7 metres long and 4 metres wide and has white painted stucco walls and a terracotta tiled roof. All fours sides have arched openings with piers between. There are three openings on the long sides and two on the short sides. High on the exterior wall of the southern face is bronze lettering explaining the purpose of the pavilion.
Internally, the pavilion has a concrete floor with two timber and iron park benches in the centre. Leaded marble plaques are located at the top of the interior walls. The first is an honour roll which lists the names of the local nursing sisters who served the First and Second World Wars. The names of the two who died on service are identified with a leaded cross. The second marble plaque records the details of the commissioning and unveiling of the pavilion.
","history":"The Bundaberg War Nurses Memorial was officially opened on 15 October 1949 by the Mayor of Bundaberg, Alderman F H Buss. It is thought to have been designed by Bundaberg architect E H Boden. The memorial honours the 12 local women who served as nursing sisters in the First World War and the 4 who served in the Second World War, two of whom died, one (Sister Pearl Mittelheuser) in a Japanese prisoner of war camp and the other (Sister Joyce Whyllie) in the sinking of the Centaur.
The town of Bundaberg profited from the growth of the sugar industry in the 1880s. The Millaquin refinery and private milling companies invested in the area and by 1920 the city had become directly and indirectly dependant on the sugar industry.
The impetus for a war nurses memorial was initiated by the West Bundaberg Progress Association who approached the City Council and requested that the parcel of land be made available to them for beautification purposes. At the time of unveiling, it was the only tribute to war nurses in Australia. The unveiling ceremony was attended by a large crowd of civilians and fifty nurses in white uniforms formed a guard of honour. Many people were thanked at the unveiling, including architect E H Boden who also formally opened the steel entrance gate to the park.
Many local companies and individuals contributed to the construction of the memorial. These included architect E H Boden, local monumental mason Zero Ziegler, who donated the marble honour roll and Mr Cunnington, the Bundaberg City Gardens Curator, who supervised the layout and planting of the park.
Eric Hawksley Boden was born in Brisbane. He became an architectural cadet with the Queensland Government in 1909 before working for architects in private practice in Brisbane. In 1922 he travelled throughout Europe and Africa. He was registered as an architect in Queensland in 1929 and opened his own practice in Maryborough in 1938. Boden also served in the Second World War as the architect for USA forces in Townsville.
The firm of Zero Ziegler was founded in Bundaberg in 1902 as Ziegler and Sons. They provided many memorials throughout South East Queensland and are still operating as monumental masons.
The pavilion was constructed at a cost of over £1000 which was raised in seven weeks by public subscription and fund raising by the Bundaberg General Hospital and the women of the Red Cross.
Australia, and Queensland in particular, had few civic monuments before the First World War. The memorials erected in its wake became our first national monuments, recording the devastating impact of the war on a young nation. Australia lost 60 000 from a population of about 4 million, representing one in five of those who served. No previous or subsequent war has made such an impact on the nation.
Even before the end of the war, memorials became a spontaneous and highly visible expression of national grief. To those who erected them, they were as sacred as grave sites, substitute graves for the Australians whose bodies lay in battlefield cemeteries in Europe and the Middle East. British policy decreed that the Empire war dead were to be buried where they fell. The word 'cenotaph', commonly applied to war memorials at the time, literally means 'empty tomb'.
Australian war memorials are distinctive in that they commemorate not only the dead. Australians were proud that their first great national army, unlike other belligerent armies, was composed entirely of volunteers, men worthy of honour whether or not they paid the supreme sacrifice. Many memorials honour all who served from a locality, not just the dead, providing valuable evidence of community involvement in the war. Such evidence is not readily obtainable from military records, or from state or national listings, where names are categorised alphabetically or by military unit.
Australian war memorials are also valuable evidence of imperial and national loyalties, at the time, not seen as conflicting; the skills of local stonemasons, metalworkers and architects; and of popular taste. In Queensland, the soldier statue was the popular choice of memorial, whereas the obelisk predominated in the southern states, possibly a reflection of Queensland's larger working-class population and a lesser involvement of architects.
Many of the First World War monuments have been updated to record local involvement in later conflicts, and some have fallen victim to unsympathetic re-location and repair.
Although there are many different types of war memorials throughout Queensland, apart from honour boards, this is the only known one that honours the role of women in the First World War.
","criteria":"War Memorials are important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history as they are representative of a recurrent theme that involved most communities throughout the state. They provide evidence of an era of widespread Australian patriotism and nationalism, particularly during and following the First World War.
|This particular memorial is rare as the only war nurses memorial, other than honour boards, in Queensland and the only known one in Australia. It is also an uncommon example of a memorial still situated in its intact setting.
|The monuments manifest a unique documentary record and are demonstrative of popular taste in the inter-war period.
Erected in 1949, the memorial at Bundaberg demonstrates the principal characteristics of a commemorative structure erected as an enduring record of a major historical event. This is achieved through the use of appropriate materials and design elements.
|The memorial and its setting are significant for their contribution to the aesthetic qualities of the townscape and creates a conspicuous landmark at the junction of tow major streets.
|It has a strong and continuing association with the community as evidence of the impact of a major historic event and as the focal point for the remembrance of that event.
|It also has special association with the local firms and individuals involved in its erection including architect E H Boden, monumental masonry firm Zero Ziegler and Gardens Curator Mr Cunnington.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15142,"place_ref":600367,"name":"Kennedy Bridge","alternate_name":"Saltwater Creek Road Bridge","street_address":"Bourbong Street","suburb":"BUNDABERG","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Kennedy Bridge joins Bourbong Street and Bourbong Street East over Saltwater Creek. It has a single metal truss span of 48.8 metres and metal lattice trusses with a curved upper chord. It carries a 7.3 metre roadway and a footpath. The metal deck spans between the lower chords of the trusses.
Flanking the entrances to the bridge and rising above the trusses are 'L' shaped concrete pylons, square in appearance from the roadway. They are neo-classical in influence and have a Doric style entablature on a rusticated base. There are lights on decorative metal brackets facing the approaches.
Repair work to the bridge was carried out in 1991 and it has since been repainted. It remains in very much its original form.
","history":"The Kennedy Bridge is a single span metal truss bridge crossing Saltwater Creek, an arm of the Burnett Rive, at Bundaberg. It was constructed in 1899 and was the smaller of two technically and visually related bridges designed by A.B. Brady for Bundaberg.
The Burnett area was first settled by Europeans in the 1840s and 50s as a series of pastoral runs. In the late 1860s, as good agricultural land around Maryborough began to be scarce, agriculturalists and timbergetters became interested in land on the navigable Burnett River to the north. The foundation settlers of Bundaberg selected land in 1867-68 under the 'Sugar and Coffee Regulations' stemming from the Crown Lands Alienation Act of 1860s which aimed to promote agriculture and closer settlement. The site of Bundaberg was officially surveyed in 1869. Coastal traffic grew, and copper was first mined at Mt Perry in 1871, which enabled Bundaberg to develop as a port and supply centre, in spite of competition from Maryborough for this trade. The provision of amenities was therefore of importance to the development of Bundaberg and this included bridges.
Although the higher southern bank of the Burnett River was officially surveyed as the town site, both sides developed and were initially linked only by ferry. Prior to 1872, Saltwater Creek, an arm of the River, prevented the movement of vehicular traffic between the town and most of the Woongarra. Government action was urged in 1872 and money voted for the construction of a bridge. However, every tender exceeded the government estimate. The difficulty was solved when local property owner, Walter Adams, assisted the project by deliberately underbidding. A timber bridge, known as Adam's Bridge, was built and was the first in the district. It was replaced by another timber bridge in 1878.
In the 1880s, Bundaberg boomed with the growth of the sugar industry in the region. Handsome and substantial masonry buildings began to rise in the city as evidence of its growing importance and prosperity. It was planned to replace the timber bridges, weakened by heavy traffic, by bridges not only stronger, but more in keeping the general upgrading of civic buildings.
As a parallel project, two bridges of related design by A.B. Brady were constructed; the Burnett River Bridge from Quay Street and the much smaller Kennedy Bridge across Saltwater Creek which opened in December 1899. It was funded under the Local Works Loan Act of 1880 and the Bundaberg Council and Woongarra Divisional Board bore two-thirds of its cost. It provides an example of co-operation between urban and rural local authorities for the advancement of the district in general.
The Kennedy Bridge is a reduced version of the Burnett River bridge which was opened on 24 August 1900. Both have similarities in structural design and appearance to the 1897 Victoria Bridge in Brisbane, which was demolished in the 1960s. All were designed by engineer and Government Architect, Alfred Barton Brady.
A.B. Brady was born in 1856 and received his training in England. He became one of Queensland's most important early engineers and served the state in various departments for 37 years. He worked initially with the railways from 1885, then from 1889 with the Public Works Department, and then as Government Architect and engineer for bridges from 1892. Although Brady designed many important and handsome public buildings, his forte was bridge design and he designed a number of notable bridges. The Kennedy Bridge is interesting as an example of his work which is still in use and little altered.
","criteria":"Kennedy Bridge, opened in 1899, is important in illustrating the development and importance of Bundaberg in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as the centre of one of Queensland's most significant sugar-growing regions.
|It is an important example of its type and is similar to, and closely associated with, the Burnett River Bridge, which was opened in 1900.
|(Criterion under review)
|(Criterion under review)
|It is important as a design of Alfred Barton Brady who, during 37 years of work for several departments of the Queensland government, made a major contribution to the development of the state in both architectural and engineering design.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion F | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15143,"place_ref":600368,"name":"Burnett Bridge","alternate_name":"Burnett River Traffic Bridge","street_address":"Quay Street","suburb":"BUNDABERG","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Burnett Bridge connecting Quay Street, Bundaberg with Perry Street, North Bundaberg, runs roughly south-southeast – north-northwest across the Burnett River, which is approximately 200m wide at this location. The bridge is 412m in length, spanning between concrete abutments at either end. It consists of eight spans of riveted steel trusses, supported by metal and concrete piers. Four of the spans bridge the river and the other four span across the flood plain located on the northern bank of the river. The bridge carries a single lane of traffic in each direction and a footpath on the eastern side of the bridge.
\nEach span consists of hogback through trusses[23] featuring curved top chords and horizontal bottom chords, of rivetted steel plates, with diagonal lattice members between. The trusses are paired along the lengths of the roadway, their top chords connected by metal braces and lattice struts. The bridge carries a 2-lane roadway supported on metal troughs, filled with concrete and located between the lower chords of the trusses. The footpath has a riveted iron lattice balustrade and is cantilevered along the downstream (east) side of the bridge.
\nThe spans are supported on seven piers. Each pier consists of twin cast-iron columns filled with concrete, featuring a stamped arch detail to their collars. Between the columns is metal bracing forming a circular pattern. There are metal rocker and roller bearings between the piers and the bottoms of the trusses.
\nThe concrete abutments at each end of the bridge have four square columns, a shorter pair at the road ends and a taller pair at the bridge ends; sweeping walls, and classical style decorations in cement render. The shorter columns carry metal gas lamp posts (electric lights have replaced the original gas lamps). There are also two stone plaques on the east side of the southern abutment.
\nFeatures of Burnett Bridge also of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nFeatures of Burnett Bridge not of state-level cultural heritage significance are:
\nThe Burnett Bridge, opened in 1900, is a road bridge over the Burnett River at Bundaberg. It consists of eight 51.82m spans of hogback lattice girder steel trusses (totalling 414.6m) supported on seven piers, each formed by two cast-iron cylinders filled with concrete; plus two concrete abutments.[1] Constructed by John McCormick & Son, to a design by the Queensland Government’s then Architect and Engineer for Bridges, Alfred Barton Brady, it was a result of the growth and prosperity of Bundaberg due to the local sugar industry; is an important example of a hogback lattice girder steel truss bridge; has landmark aesthetic qualities; and is the longest 19th century metal truss bridge still in use in Australia.
\nBundaberg is part of the traditional land of the Bailai, Gurang, Gooreng Gooreng, Taribelang Bunda People.[2] The Burnett River area’s first non-indigenous settlement occurred in the 1840s, and by the 1860s there were five pastoral stations on the lower Burnett River: Tantitha, Kolan, Barolin, Bingera, and Branyan. In the late 1860s, agriculturalists and timber-getters arrived and the first land selections at Bundaberg were made on the north bank of the Burnett River, under the 'Sugar and Coffee Regulations' stemming from the Crown Lands Alienation Act 1860.[3] This Act also allowed for European settlers to legally dispossess Traditional Owner groups from their ancestral land.[4]
\nLocal farmers initially grew maize and had also commenced growing sugar cane by early 1869, when a sawmill was completed on the north bank of the river. The township of Bundaberg, on the higher south bank of the Burnett River, was surveyed in 1869. Bundaberg also developed as the port for the copper from mines at Mount Perry from 1871.[5]
\nThe local sugar industry boomed during the 1880s, with sugar plantations crushing cane at their own sugar mills, and farmers sending cane juice to refineries. The first South Sea Islander indentured labour had arrived in Bundaberg in 1879. The sugar plantation system, which relied heavily on South Sea Islander labour, reached its peak in Queensland in the early 1880s – but the Queensland Government, seeking to promote European closer settlement, passed legislation in 1885 to end recruitment of South Sea Islander workers from 1893. Although this time frame was later extended, the system of large sugar plantations, with their own sugar mills and a South Sea Islander workforce, was replaced by the 1910s by small farmers supplying co-operative central sugar mills. [6]
\nAs Bundaberg thrived during the 1880s, the need for road and railway bridges over the Burnett River, linking the two sides of the town, became more acute. These would replace the hand-operated punt then in use (later the steam ferry punt ‘Transit’, which arrived c1889).[7] A railway, constructed from the north side of the Burnett River at Bundaberg, reached Mount Perry in 1884, and the railway from Maryborough to Bundaberg was opened in 1888. Until a railway bridge was completed over the Burnett River, passengers travelling between Maryborough and Mount Perry had to transfer between railway lines using the punt. By the mid-1880s, local authorities were lobbying the Queensland Government for a separate traffic (road) bridge, as well as a railway bridge, over the Burnett River, or a combined railway/road bridge.[8] A railway bridge was constructed first, the tender for construction being accepted in 1889. Utilising a mix of steel lattice girder spans and timber spans (all spans since replaced), this bridge opened in mid-1891.[9]
\nA separate road bridge, viewed as also important for the continuing progress of Bundaberg, took longer to realise. This was funded under The Granville and Burnett Bridges Act, passed in late 1889 to finance road bridges at Maryborough and Bundaberg. Under this Act, the Queensland Government would fund up to half of the bridges’ cost (to a maximum of £22,500 for the Burnett Bridge). The Council of the Municipality of Bundaberg and the Board of the Division of Gooburrum split the remaining cost of the bridge between them, borrowing the funds from the government and repaying the loans and interest within 40 years, under the terms of The Local Works Loans Act 1880. The local authorities were allowed to form a joint local authority to manage the bridge and collect tolls to maintain the bridge and repay the loan (a Burnett Bridge Board was established in May 1900). After the loan was repaid, the tolls could be abolished.[10]
\nPlans for the Burnett Bridge were prepared by November 1890, by Alfred Barton Brady, then Engineer for Bridges at the Public Works Department, but the 1890s economic depression delayed work for eight years. Brady’s 1890 plans envisaged eight 170ft (51.8m) spans of ‘steel lattice hogback girders’ (414.6m in total), supported over the river by four piers, each consisting of braced pairs of cast iron cylinders; and over the land (floodplain) on the north bank by three concrete piers. The abutments and their wing walls would also be concrete. There would be a 24ft (7.3m) wide carriageway, supported by steel trough plates between the girders, and a 6ft (1.8m) footway, of corrugated steel plates on steel cantilevers, on the downstream side. Although fresh plans were prepared in 1897, the only major change was the replacement of the three concrete piers with cast iron cylinders.[11]
\nAlfred Barton Brady (1856-1932) was a civil engineer and architect. Born in Manchester, England, and trained as an architect from 1872, he worked on railway, gasworks, waterworks and drainage projects before he and his wife Lucy, nee Bywater, emigrated to Queensland in 1884. He served Queensland for 37 years from 1885 – initially working in the Railway Department as supernumerary Assistant Engineer, Southern Division, and later as Assistant Engineer of Bridges, Southern and Central Division from 1887. He then worked for the Public Works Department from 1889 as Engineer for Bridges; was appointed Government Architect and Engineer for Bridges in 1892 and was also Under Secretary of the department from 1901.[12]
\nAlthough Brady designed many important and handsome public buildings, including customs houses at Rockhampton, Townsville, Maryborough and Mackay c1900-02, his speciality was bridge design. Some of his notable works, other than the Burnett Bridge, include the Victoria Bridge in Brisbane (1897, six 51.8m spans of hogback lattice girder trusses) [QHR 600303, abutments only are extant]; the Kennedy Bridge over Saltwater Creek in Bundaberg (1899, single 51.8m span hogback lattice girder truss) [QHR 600367]; and the Macintyre River Bridge, at Goondiwindi (two 36.6m spans of hogback lattice girder trusses, 1914-5). His other important bridges included the Herbert River Bridge at Gairloch, near Ingham (1891, concrete) [QHR 602591], and the Lamington Bridge, Maryborough (1896, concrete) [QHR 600721]. Retiring in 1922 and dying in Sydney in 1932, Brady had proven to be one of Queensland's most important early engineers.[13]
\nTenders for the Burnett Bridge were called in late 1897, and again in early 1898. The contract of John McCormick and Son (also spelled ‘McCormack’ in some sources) was signed on 24 March 1898, with work to be completed by 23 September 1900. The firm had also worked on the Albert Bridge at Indooroopilly (1895, two spans of 103.7m hogback girder trusses) [QHR 600232], as well as the 1897 Victoria Bridge, and the 1899 Kennedy Bridge. Its work on the Burnett Bridge began on 14 June 1898.[14] The two cylinders forming each pier were sunk by dredging with a single chain ‘grab’, until the riverbed became too hard and compact for this method; then excavation was completed by divers, supplied with air under pressure by a steam compressor delivering into a receiver on the river bank.[15]
\nThe Burnett Bridge, located about 230m downstream from the railway bridge, was officially opened on 24 August 1900 by Queensland’s Governor, the Rt Hon Charles Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington.[16] With a contract cost of £59,070/16s, it had a total length over the abutments and wing walls of 1430ft 4in (436m), and a clear length between the concrete abutments of 1352ft 4in (412.2m). The roadway was 33ft (10m) above the high-water mark, ordinary spring tides, and 5ft 9in (1.8m) above the height of the 1890 flood level. The ‘hog-backed lattice type’ girder trusses were 22ft (6.7m) deep in the middle, and 10ft (3m) deep at their ends, and were braced overhead with light transverse lattice girders and diagonal bars. The twin cast-iron cylinders of the seven sets of piers were filled with Portland cement concrete and connected by wrought-iron riveted ‘diaphragm’ bracing plus heavy cast-iron spandrels below high-water level. Sunk to rock 59-71ft (18-21.6m) below high-water, the cylinders were 7ft (2.1m) in diameter below high-water level, and 5ft (1.5) diameter above. The steel troughs of the bridge’s decking were filled with concrete, with ‘tarred metal’ laid above to form the road; while the cantilevered footway consisted of corrugated steel plates, covered in cement and coke concrete, finished with asphalt, and had a parapet of wrought-iron latticework with a hardwood handrail. Each span of the bridge was lit by two overhead gas lamps, with Welsbach patent incandescent gas burners, and there were four large lamps on concrete columns at the abutments.[17]
\nWhen opened, the Burnett Bridge was the fourth longest metal truss bridge (in total length of metal truss spans) in Australia, after the first Hawkesbury River rail bridge in New South Wales (1889, 7 x 126.5m Baltimore truss spans, replaced 1946); the Algebuckina railway bridge in South Australia (1892, 19 x 30.5m lattice truss spans, decommissioned); and the Burdekin River railway bridge in Queensland (1899, 6 x 76.2m Pratt trusses, decommissioned) [QHR 600442]. In 2022, the Burnett Bridge is the longest 19th century steel truss bridge still in use in Australia.[18]
\nThe toll for the Burnett Bridge was officially abolished on 1 January 1913; and the toll collectors’ cottages, built west of the southern approach to the bridge, adjacent to the old punt ferry cutting (still extant in 2022, within Maryborough Street road reserve), were demolished in the 1950s.[19] Control of the bridge was handed from the Burnett Bridge Board to the Department of Main Roads in the early 1960s.[20]
\nMinor changes to the bridge over time have included the replacement of the gas lamps on the abutments and overhead lattice girders with electric lighting; and alterations to the footway, (narrowed to 1.1m, and cantilevers strengthened, in the 1950s – later widened to 1.8m, with new handrails, in 1989, and resurfaced in the 2000s). During the 1950s, brick walls were added at the abutments, to support the edges of the end troughs and the end cross girders, and inspection tunnels were cut into the side walls of the abutments. To strengthen the bridge, Macalloy tension rods were added to each lower chord, and six longitudinal beams were bolted to the troughs within the roadway. In the 1970s, drainage holes were cut into the bottom of the deck troughs to reduce corrosion; the cross girders were replaced at the piers; and a new support system for carrying cables was devised, to avoid drilling into the truss members. A vehicle guardrail was installed in 1982; the road surface was upgraded and thickened, and a pathway was formed below the southern abutment, in the 1990s. In 2002, the bridge load limit was set at 42.5 tonnes.[21]
\nAlthough the Tallon Bridge (road) was built 800m upstream in the 1990s, the Burnett Bridge remains an iconic part of the city's transport system, linking the two sides of Bundaberg across the Burnett River.[22] It is an intact and visually impressive legacy of the engineering design skill of A B Brady
The Burnett Bridge (1900), an intact example of a hogback lattice girder steel truss bridge, was funded under the Granville and Burnett Bridges Act 1889 and is important in illustrating the growth and prosperity of Bundaberg due to the sugar boom in the district in the 1880s. Government expenditure on the bridge reflected its location in one of Queensland’s most prosperous sugar-growing regions.
|The Burnett Bridge is an important example of a 19th century metal truss bridge in Queensland. Highly intact and the longest of its type in Queensland, the bridge displays the principal characteristics of its type, including its: hogback through trusses; cast metal column piers with circle bracing; concrete abutments; classical style ornamentation; cantilevered footway with metal lattice balustrade; and metal lamp posts.
|The Burnett Bridge has aesthetic importance for its beautiful attributes. Through its well composed design of repeated elements arranged symmetrically, restrained classical ornamentation, the piers and their circle bracing, and the lattice balustrade with curved brackets to the footway, the bridge is an attractive and well-designed example of a metal truss bridge.
\nThe Burnett Bridge is also important as a landmark in Bundaberg and has been a popular subject of photography over time. Its scale and length spanning over the Burnett River and its flood plain make the bridge an impressive feature of the Bundaberg city centre, visible from a multitude of vantage points along both riverbanks.
|As his longest metal truss bridge design and an excellent example of his work, the Burnett Bridge has a special association with its designer, Alfred Barton Brady (Engineer for Bridges at the Public Works Department), an important engineer who made a significant contribution to the built heritage of Queensland.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15144,"place_ref":600369,"name":"East Water Tower","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"17 Sussex Street","suburb":"BUNDABERG","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The East Water tower is a cylindrical brick tower topped by a steel tank and is situated on an open grassed area at the corner of Sussex and Princes Streets.
It is constructed of red-brown glazed bricks which are tuck pointed and set on concrete footings with an in situ concrete slab. The tower supports a circular steel water tank and is 35 metres high with a diameter of 9.5 metres at the base. The walls of the tower taper from a thickness of 91.5 cm at the base, to 35.5 cm at the top of the structure. There is a ground level entrance on the north/south axis.
The tower has 8 stories each being indicated by a band of projecting bricks and has four windows with round-headed arches interspersed with four blind windows of the same form at each level.
The steel tank on the top of the tower is circular with a dished base and is approximately 3 metres deep. It rests on a sandstone plinth. There is a timber framed access walkway with a handrail around the base of the tank.
The interior has timber floors supported by timber framing and linked by a timber staircase, which runs around the exterior walls of the tower. The interior is plastered and has timber framed doors and windows with sandstone sills.
The tower is surrounded by lawn. There are perimeter plantings to adjacent blocks but no fence.
","history":"The East Water Tower was erected for the Bundaberg Municipal Council in 1901-1902 to provide suitable water pressure as part of Bundaberg's new reticulated water system.
The Burnett area was first settled by Europeans as a series of pastoral runs in the 1840s and 50s. In the late 1860s, as good agricultural land around Maryborough began to be scarce, agriculturalists and timbergetters became interested in land on the navigable Burnett River to the north. The foundation settlers of Bundaberg selected land in 1867-68 under the 'Sugar and Coffee Regulations' stemming from the Crown Lands Alienation Act of 1860s which aimed to promote agriculture and closer settlement. The site of Bundaberg was officially surveyed in 1869. Coastal traffic grew, and copper was first mined at Mt Perry in 1871, which enabled Bundaberg to develop as a port and supply centre, in spite of competition from Maryborough for this trade. Although the higher southern bank of the river was officially surveyed as the town site, both sides soon developed wharves and buildings and were initially linked by ferry. In the 1870s the first bridges were built, as ferries could no longer cope with increasing traffic across the river. It was in the 1880s, however, with the successful establishment of the sugar industry in the region, that Bundaberg boomed. Handsome and substantial masonry buildings began to rise in the town as evidence of its growing importance and prosperity. Important civic works were also carried out such as the installation of gas street lighting and the sealing of major roads with asphalt. It was in this period of civic development that the Bundaberg Municipal Council considered the provision of a reticulated water supply.
Bundaberg's water supply was initially derived from a series of water holes and lagoons around the settlement. By the 1880s, as the town developed, the provision of a reticulated water supply became important, not only for domestic use, but to allow road sprinkling to keep down dust and to make it possible to fight fires, a major cause of destruction where timber buildings crowded commercial areas. The colonial government in September 1887 gazetted loan conditions for a reticulated town water system for Bundaberg. A scheme to bring water from the dam on the permanent lagoon at Baldwin Swamp in East Bundaberg to a storage reservoir at Tantitha Park, utilizing an elevated tank to improve water pressure, was presented to the council by Councillor W H McCann. His scheme formed the basis of plans prepared in 1889 by W C Clements, a hydraulic engineer based in Rockhampton.
The plans were submitted to Brisbane for government appraisal. The government engineer, J B Henderson, thought them unsuitable. Amongst other suggestions for improvement he recommended a brick water tower rather than the simple elevated tank proposed. An amended proposal was drawn up which followed this suggestion but did not go ahead. In April 1896, Henderson travelled to Bundaberg and met the Mayor and Councillors to discuss the water supply and appears to have been asked by them to take on the work.
James Baillie Henderson was born in London in 1836 and trained as an engineer in Scotland. He arrived in Victoria in 1861 and worked on the Coliban water scheme and the water supply system for Bendigo. Moving to Queensland in 1878, he became resident engineer of northern waterworks and in 1883 took up the new position of government hydraulic engineer. He travelled widely in Queensland and was instrumental in the discovery and exploitation of artesian water. He instituted Queensland's first flood warning system and retired in Brisbane in 1916.
In October 1898 a detailed proposal was supplied to the Council costed at £18,804 plus working expenses. The Council then applied for a loan of £20,000 which was secured in the Parliamentary estimates for 1899-1900. Tenders were called for the pipes in September 1899 and for the tower in December of that year, but were not accepted for either job because the costs of labour and materials had risen. The Council consequently obtained a further loan and accepted a tender from local contractor N C Steffensen at a cost of £3859.
Steffensen began work on the tower in April 1900 although his work was delayed by difficulties in sourcing suitable bricks. In order to obtain the quality and uniformity necessary for this project, bricks were obtained from Virginia brickworks in Brisbane. The tower was completed in 1902 and was considered a masterpiece of brickwork. The Bundaberg Foundry made the tank, pipes and fittings. The system brought water from the Baldwin Swamp utilizing a steam pump located in a pump house near the edge of the swamp. It was pumped up the tower to the holding tank, the height of which provided pressure by gravity. Water was supplied to the major sections of the town by pipes and hydrants were constructed in the main street in 1902.
Locating an underground water source solved problems with the quality of the water initially obtained from an open waterhole at the swamp. A large well supplied by 4 bores was constructed and by 1907, 16,000 gallons daily were being supplied. Subsequently other water towers were built around Bundaberg, although the east tower remains the most striking in appearance.
Because of the flat nature of the terrain, the tower is a landmark and in its early years, people climbed the tower to obtain views of the area. There are also local stories of children playing racing games up and down its staircase. Proof of this unofficial public use remains in the form of graffiti scratched on the interior walls of the tower. These date from the early 1920s until the latter half of the 20th century.
The tank remains a water storage facility, but has been roofed and was recently lined with concrete.
","criteria":"The East Water Tower was a key element in Bundaberg's first reticulated water system, constructed in the early 1900s. It marks an important stage in the development of the city's infrastructure and helps to illustrate the development of Bundaberg as a major regional city serving one of Queensland's most significant sugar-growing regions.
|It is the only circular brick water tower known in Queensland and is a good and intact example of a late 19th century technology, being designed to increase water pressure to allow a reticulated water supply system to operate effectively in a very flat terrain.
|It is the only circular brick water tower known in Queensland and is a good and intact example of a late 19th century technology, being designed to increase water pressure to allow a reticulated water supply system to operate effectively in a very flat terrain.
|The East Water Tower is a well-executed and distinctive structure that has a strong visual presence in a flat and open townscape. Its design transcends the purely functional and the tower appears to have been intended as a pleasing element in the landscape. The exterior suggests a Renaissance influence in its use of arched actual and blind windows encircling each floor level.
|The water tower has a strong connection with the life and work of James Baillie Henderson, the first government hydraulic engineer in Queensland.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15145,"place_ref":600370,"name":"Saltwater Creek Railway Bridge","alternate_name":"Millaquin Bridge","street_address":"Quay Street Woongarra Line","suburb":"BUNDABERG","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Saltwater Creek bridge includes one 50 foot plate girder span with steel cross girders and longitudinals, seven 20 and two 26 foot timber spans, supported on seven timber piers, two concrete cylinder piers, and two timber abutments.
Bundaberg embankment.
4x1x2x20 foot (6.1m) timber longitudinals, concrete abutment, common braced timber trestles, (two on timber foundations) or a common concrete pier (piers 1 to 5).
1x2x2x26 foot (7.9m) timber longitudinals, common braced timber trestle on a concrete foundation (pier 5), common cast iron cylinders with screw piles (pier 6).
1x2x50 foot (15.2m) half-through plate girders with steel cross girders, steel longitudinals, common cast iron cylinder piers with screw piles (piers 6 and 7).
1x2x2x26 foot (7.9m) timber longitudinals, common cast iron cylinders with screw piles (pier 7), common braced timber trestle (pier 8).
3x1x2x20 foot (6.1m) timber longitudinals, common braced timber trestles (piers 8 to 11).
","history":"Agitation for a railway from Bundaberg to the Woongarra district began in the 1880s and a line was surveyed during 1889-91. In the absence of funds for government construction and with the support of the railway commissioners, Robert Cran of the Millaquin sugar refinery near Bundaberg, was authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1892, to construct a private railway from Bundaberg to the sugar refinery. Plans were prepared for the bridge in 1893. Tenders were called by the government and a contract for construction was awarded to James Overend in January 1894. The railway was opened for traffic on 9 July 1894.
The railway was acquired by the State Government on 3 December 1912. In 1917 an Act of Parliament approved the acquisition of the railway to Woongarra. In 1918 the State Government acquired the extension of the railway which had been constructed by the Shire Council.
In 1965 plans were prepared for strengthening the bridge with steel girders suitable for a 12 ton axle loading. This was subsequently undertaken with re-used girders from the Gold Coast.
","criteria":"A late 19th century bridge which is the second oldest extant with screw piles in Queensland, on what was constructed as a private railway to government standards.
|(Criterion under review)
|A late 19th century bridge which is the second oldest extant with screw piles in Queensland, on what was constructed as a private railway to government standards.
|(Criterion under review)
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion C | Criterion D | Criterion F","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15304,"place_ref":600529,"name":"Splitters Creek Railway Bridge","alternate_name":"Splitters Creek Railway Bridge (Sharon)","street_address":"Bundaberg - Mount Perry Line","suburb":"SPLITTERS CREEK","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The bridge comprises two 60 foot plate girder spans with timber longitudinals and timber approach spans including 36 foot spans strengthened with strut and crown, other spans by truss and tie rods. Metal girders are continuos over two spans and support cross-girders at lower flange level. These carry longitudinal timber stringers on which the rails rest.
Oakwood embankment.
2x1x2x20 foot (6.1m) timber longitudinals, common timber trestles, (piers 1 to 3).
2x1x2x36 foot (11.0m) timber longitudinals with understrutting, common timber piers on concrete bases (piers 3 to 5).
3x1x2x36 foot (11.0m) timber longitudinals with undertrussing, common timber piers on concrete bases (piers 5 to 8).
2x2x60 foot (18.3m) riveted half-through continuous plate girders with steel cross girders, timber longitudinals, common timbers piers on concrete bases (piers 8 to 10).
3x1x2x36 foot (11.0m) timber longitudinals with undertrussing, common timber piers on concrete bases (piers 10 to 13).
12x1x2x36 foot (11.0m) timber longitudinals with undertrussing, common timber piers on concrete bases (piers 13 to 25).
3x1x2x20 foot (6.1m) timber longitudinals, common timber piers on concrete bases (piers 25 to 28).
Concrete abutment.
","history":"The contract for the first section of the Mount Perry railway was awarded to J. & A. Overend and Company in November 1878. Progress on the railway was delayed during 1879 by construction of the bridge over Splitters Creek. The original design required screw pile foundations, but a deep bed of boulders was encountered and cast iron caissons, later filled with concrete and brickwork, had to be sunk instead. Work was further delayed by an unsuccessful attempt by the contractors to use coffer dams to aid the sinking of the piers.
The bridge was completed in 1880 with the use of compressed air equipment obtained from the engineer for the Fitzroy River bridge. The contract was completed in February 1881 at an additional cost of #1,461 due to the difficulties experienced in building the bridge. The railway was opened for traffic between North Bundaberg and Moolboolaman on 19 July 1881.
The bridge's aging plate girders and long timber spans caused restrictions on the use of heavy engines on the line and as early as 1916, no two attached PB15 or B15 class locomotives were permitted n the bridge at the same time. By 1958 two attached locomotives were allowed on the bridge at the same time if sanctioned by the District Superintendent and only at a speed not exceeding 4 miles per hour. By 1971 two attached diesel-hydraulic locomotives were allowed on the bridge at the same time provided the train was stopped before crossing and the speed did not exceed 4 miles per hour.
The last operating section of the railway, from North Bundaberg to Gin Gin including the bridge, was closed to traffic on 25 January 1993.
","criteria":"(Criterion under review)
|A late 19th century timber trestle bridge, representative of a type once more widespread in Queensland, with riveted half-through continuous plate girder main spans which are the oldest extant of their type in Queensland.
|A late 19th century timber trestle bridge, representative of a type once more widespread in Queensland, with riveted half-through continuous plate girder main spans which are the oldest extant of their type in Queensland.
|(Criterion under review)
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion E","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15382,"place_ref":600607,"name":"Apple Tree Creek War Memorial","alternate_name":"Apple Tree Creek","street_address":"Bruce Highway","suburb":"APPLE TREE CREEK","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The First World War Memorial is situated facing the road in a landscaped area within the Apple Tree Creek sports ground which encompasses a cricket ground, rodeo ring and small band rotunda.
The memorial comprises a pedestal surmounted by a small concrete obelisk. It is surrounded by an octagonal enclosure of concrete kerbing with a decorative cast iron fence comprising thin pickets with fleur-de-lis finials. The posts are also cast iron and surmounted by Latin crosses. In front of the enclosure is a painted timber fence with a centrally placed cast iron gate.
The monument is of Helidon sandstone and sits on a granite base with rough stone faces, margined and chiselled around. Surmounting this are another two steps, both smooth-faced. The lower step has a chamfered top and the words Apple Tree Creek Roll of Honour carved in high relief on the front face. The upper step has plain faces and is capped by cyma recta mouldings.
Surmounting this is the pedestal dado comprising a recessed square marble pillar with engaged columns at each corner. It has recessed marble plaques to each side recording the leaded names of the 77 local men who served in the First World War, the names of the fifteen who fell being on the front face.
The columns have capitals of scrollwork and acanthus leaves which support a large cornice made up of cyma recta and torus mouldings. Above this is a small square pedestal with crossed flags carved in relief on the front face and capped by a small cornice. This forms the base for a small concrete obelisk with tapered sides and a flat top.
The nearby band rotunda is constructed of timber with a corrugated iron pavilion style roof topped by a finial. It is octagonal in shape and is raised on hight stumps. It is accessed by a staircase on one side and a simple timber balustrade spans between iron columns which are located at each point of the octagon. There are acroteria at each corner.
","history":"The Apple Tree Creek War Memorial was unveiled on 20 March 1921. It was designed and produced by A L Petrie of Toowong, Brisbane at a cost of £230. The stone memorial honours the 77 local men who served during the First World War, including the 15 who died.
Apple Tree Creek developed as a farming community in the 1870s and 80s. The Central Sugar Mill opened in 1895 boosting the economy of the district and by the outbreak of the First World War there were fifty farmers registered in the Post Office Directory, a school, hotel, and store. The 77 men who volunteered from this district represented a substantial proportion of their generation and a movement to commemorate their participation began in 1917.
Prior to the erection of war memorials, Queensland had little public sculpture and there were few statues or monuments of note even in Brisbane. Although Queensland did send a contingent of men to South Africa during the Boer War (1899 - 1902) memorials to soldiers who served in this war are uncommon. Australia's participation in the First World War (1914 - 1918) however, had an immense impact on the population. The national loss was 60,000 dead and 152,000 wounded from a population of approximately 5 million. Almost 1 in 5 men who went to fight died and their bodies were not returned for burial. The battles were fought in countries far from Australia and even after the war visiting cemeteries in the countries where Australians fought was not possible for most families. The impetus for the creation of memorials as an expression of public mourning was therefore very strong and they became a focus for an outpouring of grief.
As substitute war graves they became symbols of remembrance which were treated with reverence and respect. The prominent siting of war memorials and the materials, designs and symbolism used in their construction were meant to honour those who served, ensure lasting remembrance of the dead and draw the attention of the 'rising generation' to their noble example. The memorials also served as an acknowledgment of what was seen as a coming of age for Australia as a nation and memorials honour those who died as having made 'the supreme sacrifice ' for the good of nation and empire. As memorials were funded by the community, they are true public expression of both grief and national pride and were erected in almost every community. No war since has triggered this kind of response., the dead of World War Two being commemorated largely by adding their names to World War One memorials or by dedicating practical projects to their memory.
The Apple Tree Creek memorial was funded by public subscription and prominently positioned in the local recreation reserve. This not only provided an attractive setting, but was a community gathering place and was sited opposite the local school. It was unveiled on 20 March 1921 and was originally crowned with a 'digger' statue. Although not highly regarded by artists or architects, this design was the popular choice of Queensland communities, perhaps seeming more personal to families and representing the qualities of the ideal Australian. Most statues were constructed by local masonry firms, although some were imported. They varied slightly in design, presumably to suit the needs of the communities who commissioned them. Originally a captured gun or 'war trophy' contributed to the setting, however, this has now gone. The pedestal of the memorial is a standard A L Petrie design, first used in 1918 at Ebbw Vale.
Andrew Lang Petrie was the grandson of Andrew Petrie, an early colonist of Queensland and a prominent architect-builder. When Petrie Senior died in 1872, he was succeeded by his son John. In 1880, A L Petrie joined his father to form the partnership John Petrie and Son, based at Fortitude Valley with branch masonry works at Toowong Cemetery and Townsville. In 1888, A L Petrie became general manager of the firm but was forced into insolvency in 1894. It was not until 1903 that he was able to re-open the monumental masonry business at Toowong Cemetery where many Queensland memorials were produced.
In the mid 1970s the memorial was vandalised. The surviving pieces of the statue were removed and put in storage at the RSL sub-branch at Childers. The statue was replaced by a concrete obelisk until a new digger was unveiled on 18 August 1999 by the Honourable Bruce Scott.
The reserve also contains a band rotunda in the vicinity of the memorial. This was built in 1911 for the Apple Tree Creek Citizens' Brass Band. It was in regular use for the first decades because many houses lined the creek at that time. By 1975 it had became derelict and underwent extensive repair and reconstruction in 1983. It is one of the few buildings remaining from the early settlement of the area and contributes to the aesthetic qualities of the park.
","criteria":"War Memorials are important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history as they are representative of a recurrent theme that involved most communities throughout the state. They provide evidence of an era of widespread Australian patriotism and nationalism, particularly during and following the First World War.
|The War Memorial is important as a documentary record of those who volunteered for war service in the Apple Tree area as other records are generally organised by name or unit, making it difficult to determine the origin of individuals.
|It its also a demonstration of popular taste in the inter-war period.
Unveiled in 1921, the memorial at Apple Tree Creek demonstrates the principal characteristics of a commemorative structure erected as an enduring record of a major historical event. This is achieved through the appropriate use of various symbolic elements including columns and flags.
|It is of aesthetic significance both for its high level of workmanship and design and as a complementary structure within the park setting.
|The memorial has a strong association with the community as evidence of a major historic event which had a personal impact on most families in the district.
|It also has special association with monumental mason A L Petrie as an example of his work.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion C | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15383,"place_ref":600608,"name":"Grand Hotel","alternate_name":"Childers Hotel; Grand Hotel Childers","street_address":"106-110 Churchill Street","suburb":"CHILDERS","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Grand Hotel is prominently situated on the corner of Churchill and McIwraith Streets, Childers. It is a two storey brick building with a trapezoidal plan form that follows the street alignment.
The building has a wide surrounding two storeyed timber verandah with a convex curved corrugated iron roof. The brick walls of the building rise above the verandah at the first floor level and are decorated with a number of raised Greek crosses at the corners, long rendered sign panels and a continuous birdsmouth string course. The cast iron balustrade has been removed and the timber frame has been enclosed with fibre cement sheet. A small section of the cast iron balustrade survives on the southern verandah.
The main roof, which is clad in corrugated iron, is hipped and surmounted by the remains of a 'widows walk'. The decorative cast iron balustrade has been removed from this section of the building. There is a dormer window in the north face of the main roof which has a projecting gabled roof supported by timber brackets and surmounted by a short finial. The gable is infilled with a decorated timber bracket. A decorated cylindrical vent survives on the western face of the main roof.
Built hard up against the west verandah is a is a two storeyed brick building with a rectangular floor plan and hipped roof, which now serves as accommodation, bottle store and kitchen. A single storey convex corrugated iron verandah supported on timber posts is situated on the western elevation. The windows are double hung timber and the pair of windows on the west elevation have hoods. Attached to the east of this what may be the original kitchen, a single storeyed section with a pyramid roof.
The main entrance to the building is through a pair of heavy timber double doors with a half light over to a central hallway. To the west is the bar area, this has been opened up to form one space. Double hung timber windows open out onto the footpath in this area. To the east of the main hall is a large space that runs from the front to the back of the building, the transverse walls have been removed and there is a bar at the south end. This space opens through a single door onto an area beneath the southern verandah. The kitchen and bottle shop runs beside this with the hotel manager's accommodation section over.
The first floor is accessed via a timber half turn stair that has turned newel posts and turned balusters. The stair rises to a landing which has corridors leading off in three directions. These lead to accommodation rooms through four panel timber doors. The rooms are divided with vertical timber tongue and grooved boards mounted on an exposed timber post and rail frame. Each room opens onto the verandah via timber French doors. The south east and south west sections of the verandah has been enclosed for toilets and showers.
","history":"The two story brick Grand Hotel was built in 1899 for JWA Kulick by Bundaberg architect Anton Hettrich on the site of Childers first hotel. The new hotel was one of 5 hotels established in the 1890s in the newly emerging sugar town of Childers.
Following logging of the dense Isis Scrub in the 1870s, Childers, in the heart of the scrub, was promoted in the 1880s by Maryborough interests as an agricultural district. The land in the immediate vicinity of the present town of Childers was surveyed in 1882 into 50 acre farm blocks. There was no official town survey; Childers developed following the private subdivision of portions 870 and 871, at the railhead of the 1887 extension line from Isis Junction. This was opened on 31 October 1887, and was intended principally to facilitate the transport of timber from the scrub.
The coming of the railway not only promoted the development of the town of Childers; it also proved the catalyst for the establishment of a sugar industry in the district in the late 1880s. At the opening of the railway to Childers, Robert Cran, owner of Maryborough's Yengarie mill, announced that he would erect a double crushing juice mill at Doolbi, to supply his mill at Yengarie. This was completed in 1890, with the juice being brought in railway tankers from the Isis. Further expansion of the sugar industry in the Isis was closely related to the activities of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, which erected a central crushing mill in the district 1893-94, and began crushing in 1895. By 1895, at least three other mills had been established in the Isis, with another two under construction, and Childers had emerged as the flourishing centre of a substantial sugar-growing district: in the years between 1891 and 1900 the population grew from 91 to 4000. In 1903 the old Isis Divisional Board (1886) was abolished and Isis Shire proclaimed, with the new seat of municipal government moving from Howard to Childers.
William Ashby was one of the first generation of purchasers of town land following the subdivision of portion 870. He had previously been a publican and in 1886 moved a modest timber hotel in sections from nearby Horton and erected it on his land as the Childers Hotel. This was for several years the only hotel in the town and was described in 1892 as a 'comfortable hostelry'. In 1894 the site was enlarged to its present size when Ashby purchased the adjoining block. In the same year three more hotel licenses were granted for the Queen's Hotel, the Bellevue Hotel, and the Royal Hotel and in 1898 the Palace Hotel opened. In 1897 the Childers Hotel was purchased by Johann Kulick who replaced it with a new two story brick hotel in 1899 to the design of Bundaberg architect Anton Hettrich.
Hettrich (1860-1946) emigrated to Queensland from Germany around 1884 when he set up in practice as an architect in Bundaberg; soon after winning competitions for the Bundaberg Town Hall and the School of Arts. He also designed the Primitive Methodist Church and Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Childers. Frederick Faircloth, who later designed many buildings in Childers, was his pupil.
The new hotel was called the Grand Hotel and photographs show how it dominated the townscape; towering over the row of single story timber shops which lined the southern side of the street prior and the single story timber buildings housing government and banking services on the northern side. In 1902 a devastating fire swept through the southern side of the street, destroying all of the buildings in this block except the brick Grand Hotel. Following this fire, new and elegant brick shops and a new Palace Hotel were constructed which radically altered the appearance of the street and more closely matched the style and detail of the Grand Hotel.
Photographs taken in the early 1900s show that the hotel had decorative cast iron balustrading on the verandahs and a widow's walk at the peak of roof. A 1902 photograph shows a single story brick building with a corrugated iron roof to the rear of hotel as well as a small building with a chimney to the rear of that building. These are presumably service buildings and it is not known if these were part of the new construction or had belonged to the former hotel building. By 1908 the verandah had been extended to the eastern elevation which gave a covered way along the western boundary of the site at ground level. By this time the centre of Childers was a thriving commercial centre and had many new commercial buildings including the Federal Hotel built in 1907-8, across the road from the Grand, by William Ashby.
In 1896 the railway line linked Childers to Cordalba, and later extended on to Dallamil and Booyal, which helped to build the number of settlers in the area and brought more people into Childers for shopping and recreation. As the sugar industry developed, the population of the district was swelled enormously by seasonal workers who came in to cut the cane harvest by hand. Special Saturday trains were laid on to take workers into Childers for shopping and to return them late at night. This influx of business contributed in a major way to the prosperity of the town. The closure of some mills in the Interwar period and the changeover to mechanical harvesting in the 1960s substantially reduced this influx of seasonal labour and the change to road transport saw the closure of rail link to Booyal closed in 1955 and to Childers itself in 1964. The town currently supports two operational hotels, the Hotel Childers and the Grand Hotel.
","criteria":"The Grand is one of a number of hotels which were erected in Childers within a few years of each other in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As a provider of food, accommodation and entertainment, the number and size of hotels in a town were used as an indicator of the prosperity of a district. The Grand, as the earliest of the surviving hotels in Childers, illustrates the unprecedented growth then occurring in the Isis, when Childers was emerging as the flourishing centre of a substantial sugar-growing district.
|The Grand Hotel, by its siting, form and detail is a good example of a late nineteenth century hotel.
|The hotel is a landmark in the main street and the roof has been frequently used as a vantage point for taking photographs of the town. By its scale, form, materials and detail it contributes to the architecturally coherent and picturesque townscape, acting as a visual termination to the visual rhythm of the main shopping block.
|Although some of the decorative elements of the hotel have been removed, it has a special association with Bundaberg architect Anton Hettrich as a fine example of his work.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15384,"place_ref":600609,"name":"Jeffery's Building","alternate_name":"R & D Meats and DJG Fruit & Vegetable shop; Foodland; Childers Medical Centre; Jefferys Building","street_address":"66-70 Churchill Street","suburb":"CHILDERS","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Jeffrey's Building is a single story row of masonry shops on the south side of Churchill Street, Childers main street adjoining the Palace Hotel. In common with other shops on this side of the street, it has a corrugated iron roof concealed by a parapet which is topped by a classical revival pediments and urns, each tenancy being marked by a separate triangular pediment. The central pediment is raised and carried the words 'Jeffery's Building' and the date '1902'in raised letters.
The awning across the footpath is now cantilevered and the building has modern shop fronts. The section of the building occupied as a medical practice has had the shop front reconstructed to resemble its original form.
","history":"The Jeffery's Building was erected in 1902 for Childers businessman Alfred Charles Jeffery following the fire that destroyed most of the south side of Churchill Street, the main street of Childers. It may have been designed by Bundaberg architect, FW Faircloth who was responsible for much of the new building following the fire the effects of which transformed Childers main street from a pioneer frontier township of timber and iron structures to the established centre of the flourishing Isis district with its new more substantial masonry buildings.
Childers is located in what was once the heart of the Isis Scrub. Following logging of the dense Scrub in the 1870s, Childers was promoted in the 1880s by Maryborough interests as an agricultural district. The land in the immediate vicinity of the present town of Childers was surveyed in 1882 into 50 acre farm blocks. There was no official town survey; Childers developed following private subdivision at the railhead of the 1887 extension line from Isis Junction. This was opened on 31 October 1887, and was intended principally to facilitate the transport of timber from the scrub.
The coming of the railway not only promoted the development of the town of Childers; it also proved the catalyst for the establishment of a sugar industry in the district in the late 1880s. At the opening of the railway to Childers, Robert Cran, owner of Maryborough's Yengarie mill, announced that he would erect a double crushing juice mill at Doolbi, to supply his mill at Yengarie. This was completed in 1890, with the juice being brought in railway tankers from the Isis. Further expansion of the sugar industry in the Isis was closely related to the activities of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, which erected a central crushing mill in the district 1893-94, and began crushing in 1895. By 1895, at least three other mills had been established in the Isis, with another two under construction, and Childers had emerged as the flourishing centre of a substantial sugar-growing district.
1902 was a very dry year and Childers had no fire brigade. In 23 March, a catastrophic fire swept through the south side of the main street in town, where virtually all the buildings were timber and closely built. Those stores destroyed were: S Oakley, bootmaker; FD Cooper, commission agent; R Graham, fruiterer; ME Gosley, tailor; Foley, hairdresser; M Redmond, Palace Hotel; WB Jones, auctioneer; W Couzens, fruiterer; H Newman, general storekeeper; WJ Overell and Son, general merchants; P Christensen, cabinet maker; W Hood, stationer; T Gaydon, chemist; W Lloyd, hairdresser; Mrs Dunne, fruiterer; Federal Jewellery Company; Dunn Bros, saddlers; H Wegner, bootmaker. The Bundaberg architect F H Faircloth was engaged to redesign many of the replacement buildings and called the first tenders in June 1902.
Frederic Herbert (Herb) Faircloth was born in Maryborough in 1870 and was a pupil of German-trained Bundaberg architect Anton Hettrich. Faircloth set up his own practice in Bundaberg in 1893 and was very successful, eventually being responsible for the design of almost every major building in Bundaberg. He was also to have a major effect on the appearance and character of Childers.
The land (resub 7) containing 1 rood 6.87 perches was acquired by Amy Jane Thomason in 1894 after its subdivision by Charles Powers and Frederick John Charlton. She then sold it to Alfred Jeffery in 1898. Timber shops can be seen on this site in photographs taken before the fire, although it has not been possible to verify what businesses occupied them. After the fire there was some adjustment of boundaries to properties along the burned section and new Certificates of Title were issued.
The new buildings were masonry rather than timber, a choice no doubt influenced by the fire. The shops were elegant single story buildings with large display windows and awnings across the footpath supported by decorative posts. The use of classical revival pediments, urns, and balustrades on all the shops created a pleasing rhythm along the street while allowing individuality to each premises. Tenancies were also marked by the visual separation of the facades by the use of separate pediments. Jeffery's Building shares these features with the hotel and slightly later shop which flank it.
This building appears to have been meant as three different tenancies, however, the way in which the building has been occupied has not always conformed to this. In 1904 two tenancies were occupied by a wine merchant and in 1908, the building was shared by Garland's furniture warehouse and a café run by Stephen Crowe which continued to operate from here for many years. The property was purchased in 1909 by Mary Gaydon, though continuing to be leased out. In 1937 it was subdivided into two blocks and Stephen and Theodore Crowe purchased sub 1, which no doubt contained their café. However, in 1945 this was reacquired by the Gaydons who held the property until 1963 when it was sold to Jack Kasses. After a resurvey in 1975, the block was divided into 4 blocks, three to the street and a small block as the rear of the property. They were then sold to different owners. At this time, Boys Ltd, who were then operating in the large shop adjoining, purchased lot 3 and extended into one bay of Jeffery's Building. This section is now separate again and is a medical practice. The fruit shop and butchers which occupy the other two shops in Jeffery's Building are long term tenancies.
","criteria":"It is important in demonstrating the evolution of Queensland's history representing evidence of the development of Childers in the early twentieth century in particular, the rebuilding of the south side of the main street in the early 1900s following the 1902 fire. Together with much of the southern side of Childers main street it provides clear evidence of the impact of fire on Queensland towns where adequate water supply and fire services were lacking.
|It is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of early 1900s country town masonry commercial buildings, in particular the awnings, shop fronts, lanterns, and overall form.
|It contributes to the picturesque townscape of Churchill Street which is both remarkably architecturally coherent and intact
|It has a special association with the life and work of Bundaberg architect FW Faircloth who was responsible for much of the appearance of the town of Childers in the twentieth century.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15385,"place_ref":600610,"name":"Queensland National Bank (former)","alternate_name":"Ye Olde Boutique; Wrench & Cobb; Childers Travel World","street_address":"50 Churchill Street","suburb":"CHILDERS","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The former Queensland National Bank building is single story rendered brick building designed to fit an irregularly shaped corner block on the main street of Childers. It has a hipped roof concealed by a stepped parapet and an imposing, classically influenced street elevation. This is separated into bays by pilasters and features a heavy triangular pediment above an arched entrance flanked by a pair of matching arched windows. The upper section of the wall is finished with rough cast render. The entrance doors appear to be original, having a pair of semicircular glass panes echoing the arches of door and windows and large brass and timber handles.
The elevation to Ashby Lane is very plain with a parapet which conceals the roof and slopes away to the rear. It has two sash windows shaded by sun hoods, as does the other side which now faces the ANZ bank across a narrow laneway.
The interior of the building has timber ceilings and plastered walls. It retains the main features of the original layout including the manager's office, a strong room and part of the teller's counter and cash drawers. A further office has been constructed in the corner of the former banking chamber. A small hall leads into the former bedroom which has been divided by a partition wall into a kitchen and store, possibly in the 1970s.
The bank building itself is very close to its original appearance in form and interior layout, however, a large modern concrete block building has been constructed to its rear and is connected to it by a passageway. This extension is currently occupied by an accountant, pathologist, restaurant and veterinary surgery.
","history":"The former Queensland National Bank is a masonry building in the main street of Childers and was the second building used by this bank on this site. It was erected in 1919 to the design of Maryborough architect POE Hawkes.
The Queensland National Bank was the first and most successful of Queensland's three indigenous 19th century banks. It was established in March 1872 by a group of prominent Queensland squatters, politicians, lawyers, and businessmen who wished to secure development capital free from overseas or intercolonial control. Its first office was established in Queen Street, Brisbane in that year and the bank attracted widespread Queensland patronage. In 1879 it secured the whole of the government's banking business. By 1880 it held 40% of deposits in the colony and dominated the Queensland economy. This was not, however, the first bank established in Childers, the Bank of North Queensland and the CBC Bank both being present in the 1890s and erecting premises in the newly emerging sugar town in 1900.
Following logging of the dense Isis Scrub in the 1870s, Childers, in the heart of the scrub, was promoted by Maryborough interests in the 1880s as an agricultural district. The land in the immediate vicinity of the present town was surveyed in 1882 into 50 acre farm blocks. There was no official town survey and Childers developed following private subdivision at the railhead of the 1887 extension line from Isis Junction. This was opened on 31 October 1887, and was intended principally to facilitate the transport of timber from the scrub. The coming of the railway not only promoted the development of the town of Childers; it also provided the catalyst for the establishment of a sugar industry in the district. At the opening of the railway to Childers, Robert Cran, owner of Maryborough's Yengarie mill, announced that he would erect a double crushing juice mill at Doolbi, to supply his mill at Yengarie, completed in 1890. Further expansion of the sugar industry in the Isis was closely related to the activities of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, which erected a central crushing mill in the district 1893-94, and began crushing in 1895. By this time, at least three other mills had been established in the Isis, with another two under construction, and Childers had emerged as the centre of a substantial sugar-growing district. In 1903 the old Isis Divisional Board (1886) was abolished and Isis Shire proclaimed, with the new seat of municipal government moving from Howard to Childers.
Whilst Queensland in general was slow to recover from the depression of the early 1890s and the 1893 banking crisis, the growth of commerce in Childers was attractive to banking institutions contemplating expansion. The Queensland National Bank initially rented a timber commercial building on this site, together with an adjacent timber house as a residence for the bank manager and opened for business on 9 July 1900. In 1909 they purchased this property and in 1919 erected a new and more prestigious building to the design of Maryborough architect, POE Hawkes. An undated floor plan in the National Australia Bank archives shows what appears to be the current building. It has counters surrounding a public area, a room for clerical use behind them, a specially reinforced strong room, a manager's room and a bathroom and bedroom for the bank officer to the rear. The bank was constructed by a Mr Steffensen at a cost of £1645 and the previous building was sold for removal.
Architect Philip Oliver Ellard Hawkes was born in 1882 in NSW and worked in Perth, Launceston and Melbourne. Moving to Queensland, he worked briefly for the Works Department in 1909 before setting up his own practice in Bundaberg and Maryborough in 1910. He designed a number of premises for the QN Bank: most of these were simple timber buildings, although the Kingaroy branch was a two storey masonry building, also in a classical revival style. This also featured round headed arches as do the Carroll building and Carrollee hotel in Kingaroy, which were also designed by Hawkes.
In 1943, a wartime rationalisation of branches in smaller centres resulted in the Commercial Banking Co. and the Queensland National Bank closing their Childers branches. The QN branch closed on 18 January 1943 and the property was purchased by Wrench and Copp, an accounting firm. It was probably then that the bank counters were removed and a further small office built into the corner of the former banking chamber. In 1948, the QN Bank merged with the Bank of Australasia, later the National Australia Bank, who already had premises on the opposite side of Churchill Street. In 1973 the former QN Bank building was purchased by the current owners who and operated it for many years as a clothing shop called Ye Olde Boutique. It is now the premises for a real estate agency and travel agency.
","criteria":"The former Queensland National Bank building is important in illustrating the development of Queensland because it was purpose built as premises for a bank formed to serve Queensland interests and needs when the state was a self-governing colony. The quality of its design and construction also demonstrate the importance of this regional branch at a time when Childers had established itself as the flourishing centre of a substantial sugar-growing district.
|It is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a regional bank of its era, from the reassuring conservatism of the classically influenced design, to the layout which provided a reinforced strongroom and allowed for staff accomodation.
|As a well designed and detailed building it contributes to the picturesque townscape of Churchill Street which is both remarkably architecturally coherent and intact.
|It has a special association with the life and work of Maryborough architect POE Hawkes, who designed a number of banks for the Queensland National Bank, of which this is one of the most substantial. It is also associated with the development of the QN Bank, the earliest of Queensland's indigenous banks.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15387,"place_ref":600612,"name":"Shops and Cafe 54-58 Churchill Street","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"54-58 Churchill Street","suburb":"CHILDERS","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"54-58 Churchill Street is single-storeyed rendered masonry building with pitched corrugated iron roofs, comprising four internally disparate shops which are united by a common parapet and awning. The building is similar in materials, scale and parapet features to other commercial buildings on Churchill St. It is located on a bend at the eastern end of the street, and contributes significantly to the picturesque townscape of the street.
The building sits on a wedge-shaped block, and has a truncated eastern frontage. The different shops reflect their different uses: no 54 is a small shop with a single display window; no 56 comprises two shops, a former bank, more generously proportioned than its neighbour, which has a rendered masonry street facade, and a narrow shop with a two display windows and a central entrance; no 58 is a large skylit cafe with two entrances and three display windows.
The street facade which links these shops comprises a substantial parapet, a flat sheet metal awning, shopfronts combined with a rendered brickwork facade. The awning is supported on turned timber posts which have an idiosyncratic variety of bases. It has a pressed metal ceiling with rich geometric floral motifs, and metal roses which are centred over each shop entrance. The front parapet has prominent features, with three recessed and framed panels topped with arched and triangular pediments rising above a deep cornice. The panels are spaced with expressed piers, and shaped parapet tops run between the pediments.
The building has fine intact display windows, with delicate timber beading around broad glass panels, recessed entrances with timber double doors, and timber stall risers. No 58 has a central bay supported by two internal columns with fanned capitals. Nos 58 and the shop at no 56 also retain their internal glazed and framed panels to the back of the display windows. The former bank at no 56 has barred rectangular windows with toothed white cement-rendered surrounds.
No 58 has a generously proportioned and impressive internal space, with a high timber lined half-raked ceiling with metal roses, a central rectangular clerestory skylight and exposed hammerbeam trusses. No 58 also has a timber lined and sheeted "clubroom" to the rear which is externally clad in weatherboard. The shop at no 56 has a flat timber boarded ceiling with several evenly-spaced funnel-shaped skylights which have been sealed over. The former bank at no 56 also has a timber lined ceiling, with metal roses, and contains a now disused rendered concrete strong room. All of the shops have areas of diamond-patterned ceramic tiled floors.
54-58 Churchill Street has a fine decorative facade, awning and shopfronts. No 58 has an aesthetically impressive interior, whilst other interiors appear to relate strongly to their former uses. The building makes a significant contribution to the picturesque townscape of Churchill Street, in its location, form, scale, and materials.
","history":"54-58 Churchill Street, comprising three shops and a cafe, was erected c1912 in Childers' main street, for local farmers Robert Gant and William Brand.
The town of Childers grew up around a railway terminus opened in 1887 to facilitate timber getting in the Isis Scrub. By 1903, when the Isis Shire Council was formed, Childers had become the administrative centre of a prosperous sugar growing region with several local sugar mills and a large seasonal population, including, until the turn of the century, Kanaka labourers, who came to cut cane. From the 1950s increasing mechanisation in the sugar industry resulted in a decreasing population. In the 1980s, Childers, whilst remaining a "sugar town" also became known as a "heritage town", with much of the main street being listed by the National Trust as part of a conservation area.
In common with a number of other Queensland towns, Childers was surveyed as a private town rather than by surveyors appointed by the colonial government. In the 1890s much of the main street, including this site, was subdivided into small allotments. The site (known as resub 9) was acquired by William Thompson and Robert Dinnie of Childers in 1895 from Frederick John Charlton and Henry Jardine Gray. In the following year it was transferred to Robert Hancock; after his death in 1898, it passed to trustees. By 1900 a single skinned timber shop, probably known as Cocking's store is known to have been on the site. In March 1902 fire destroyed many of the shops along the southern side of Childers' main street, which were subsequently replaced by masonry buildings. The timber store on resub 9 was, however, spared.
In 1908, the property was acquired by Gant and Brand. By 1912, the timber shop had been replaced by the existing masonry building, believed to have been designed by Bundaberg architect, FH Faircloth, who was responsible for the design of many of the new buildings erected after the 1902 fire. In that year, resub 9 was subdivided. Sub 1 (nos 54 and 56) remained with Gant and Brand; sub 2 containing the Marble Cafe (no 58) was acquired by John Comino.
The Comino brothers, John, Paul, George, and Arthur arrived in Childers from the Greek island of Kythera in the early 1900s. Soon after they established a fruit and refreshment business in the town, apparently at 102 Churchill Street (QHR 600629). The Marble Cafe was established in the new building erected by Gant and Brand. The business comprised a fruit shop, wine bar, and cafe, which catered to the large population of workers associated with the surrounding sugar farms. The cafe was furnished with silky oak fittings, potted palms, and tables with Italian carrera marble tops, which gave the cafe its name. The cafe was run by Paul Comino until his death in 1978, after which time the fittings were sold.
Sub 1 (nos 54 and 56) remained in the ownership of Gant and Brand, and their respective estates, until 1959. It is not clear whether this part of the building was erected as one or a number of shops. However, it appears, that by the 1930s, it contained the three existing shops. For twenty years from the early 1930s, part of no 56 was leased to the Union Bank of Australia Ltd (now the ANZ Bank). Alterations including the installation of bars over the bank windows (part of no 56); the installation of a glazed shop front to the adjoining shop (part of no 56); and alterations to the awning of the building including sheeting the timber soffit with pressed metal may have been carried out about this time. Tenants of the other shops at this time were tailor, A Crossley (54) and the local newspaper, the Isis Recorder (part of no 56), who remained a tenant until the 1980s, taking over the bank premises as well from the 1950s. More recently, the shop at no 54 was used as electoral offices for the local Parliamentary members.
Since 1959, when Paul Comino acquired the three shops, members of the Comino family have owned the four premises comprising the building. The shops are currently occupied by a florist (54), St Vincent de Paul (56), a dress shop (56), and the Marble Cafe (58).
","criteria":"The shops and cafe at 54-58 Churchill Street, Childers, erected c1912, are important in demonstrating the evolution of Queensland's history, being evidence of the development of Childers in the early 20th century as a properous timber and sugar town, forming the heart of the Isis Shire, and in particular the rebuilding of the south side of the main street in the early 1900s.
|The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of both an early 1900s country town commercial building in general (in particular the parapets, awnings, shop fronts, and overall form) and early 1900s Childers commercial buildings in particular, (in particular the form, scale, and materials).
|It is important in exhibiting a range of aesthetic characteristics valued by the Childers community and visitors alike, including the spatial proportions, exposed trusses and clerestory lighting of no.58 which contribute to an impressive shop interior; the fine decorative parapet, awning, and shopfronts; and the building's significant contribution in form, scale, materials, and details to the architecturally coherent and picturesque Churchill Street streetscape and townscape.
|The place has a special association with the life and work of the Comino family, a characteristic Greek immigrant trading family; with the local newspaper, the Isis Recorder; and with Bundaberg architect FH Faircloth, as an example of his work.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15388,"place_ref":600613,"name":"Childers RSLA Club","alternate_name":"RSSAILA Club | Commercial Banking Company of Sydney","street_address":"55 Churchill Street","suburb":"CHILDERS","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Childers RSLA club house is prominently located on the northern side of Childers main street, Churchill Street. It is a two story timber building with a hipped roof clad with corrugated iron. The facade detail is intact and features front verandahs to both levels supported on paired posts. These have slatted balustrading and decorative valancing to both storeys. The central entrance, which originally led to the banking chamber, is reached by steps to the verandah through a two storeyed porch. The verandah sides on the upper level have been enclosed by fibrous cement panels.
The ground floor is used as a bar and club rooms and the first floor is used as a club manager's residence. There is a modern single storey extension to the rear which accommodates function rooms. The ground floor contains rooms which were offices and the former banking chamber which has an adjoining masonry strong room retaining its steel door. There is a corner fireplace faced with marble in what was probably the manager's office. A similar fireplace is on the upper floor. This floor is reached by stairs on each side of the building. At least one is a nicely detailed timber staircase with turned balusters etc.
There are Honour Rolls on the ground floor for Isis District (World War One with additions for World War Two), Doolbi and Horton (World War One with additions for World War Two), and the CSR Childers Sugar Mill (World War One only).
","history":"The RSLA Club was erected in 1900 as the Childers branch of the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited. The bank was originally designed by architect James Percy Owen Cowlishaw as a single story building which in 1908 was raised to two storeys with the banking chamber located on the ground floor and manager's residence on the upper level.
Following logging of the dense Isis Scrub in the 1870s, Childers, in the heart of the scrub, was promoted in the 1880s by Maryborough interests, as an agricultural district. The land in the immediate vicinity of the present town of Childers was surveyed in 1882 into 50 acre farm blocks. There was no official town survey and Childers was developed following private subdivision at the railhead of the 1887 extension line from Isis Junction. This was opened on 31 October 1887, and was intended principally to facilitate the transport of timber from the scrub.
The coming of the railway not only promoted the development of the town of Childers; it also provided the catalyst for the establishment of a sugar industry in the district in the late 1880s. At the opening of the railway to Childers, Robert Cran, owner of Maryborough's Yengarie mill, announced that he would erect a double crushing juice mill at Doolbi, to supply his mill at Yengarie. This was completed in 1890, with the juice being brought in railway tankers from the Isis. Further expansion of the sugar industry in the Isis was closely related to the activities of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, which erected a central crushing mill in the district 1893-94, and began crushing in 1895. By 1895, at least three other mills had been established in the Isis, with another two under construction, and Childers had emerged as the flourishing centre of a substantial sugar-growing district: in the years between 1891 and 1900 the population grew from 91 to 4000. In 1903 the old Isis Divisional Board (1886) was abolished and Isis Shire proclaimed, with the new seat of municipal government moving from Howard to Childers.
Whilst Queensland in general was slow to recover from the depression of the early 1890s and the 1893 banking crisis, the growth of commerce in Childers was attractive to banking institutions contemplating expansion. CBCS Bank opened its first branch in Childers, in rented premises, in 1897. Together with the Bank of North Queensland, who opened its branch in 1895, they were the first to capitalise on the need for banking facilities in the newly emerging sugar town. The Commercial Banking Company of Sydney was formed by New South Wales interests in 1834; establishing its first Queensland branch at Maryborough by 1860. Within a few years it had constructed a substantial masonry building in Brisbane. It is not known from which premises the Childers branch operated initially, as the Bank did not acquire the present site until April 1899. By March 1900, its new purpose-built banking chambers were close to completion. A photograph shows the new bank to have been single storeyed.
Architect James Percy Owen Cowlishaw was architect to the Commercial Banking Company and designed many of its buildings in Queensland. Born in 1867 he trained with architect J J Clark and in 1885 he joined the Public Works Department for a short time as a cadet, returning to Clark's office in 1887. By 1896 he was in practice on his own account. Remaining in practice until the 1920s, his other work is known to have included the Brisbane Gas Co Offices, Petrie Bight and the Lady O'Connell Wing Brisbane Children's Hospital.
In 1908 additions to the bank were carried out which involved raising the existing building and inserting a new storey at ground level with the banking chamber located on the ground floor and manager's residence on the upper level. Work was completed in January 1909. At the same time the bank purchased additional land to extend their frontage to the main street on the eastern side of the building. It is not known if Cowlishaw was the architect for the new work, though this is likely as he is believed to have still been the bank architect at this time.
In 1922 the bank purchased additional land to the west of the building adding to their earlier purchase. On 25 January 1943 the Childers branch of the CBC closed with business sent to Bundaberg; bank correspondence indicating that this was part of a wartime rationalisation of their services. The property was sold to Emma Makin in 1944 and operated briefly as a boarding house. In 1945, it was acquired by the local branch of the Returned Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen's Imperial League of Australia (RSSAILA). In 1966 the name changed to the Returned Services League of Australia (RSLA). Tthe building remains in use as the branch club house.
","criteria":"The RSL Club building at Childers (formerly the Childers branch of the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney) demonstrates the growth and prosperity of the Isis as a sugar district in the early 20th century and the establishment of banking institutions to serve an expanding rural economy. It also demonstrates the growth of associations for returned service personnel in Australia following two major wars in which many Australians served and their wish to continue wartime comradeship.
|The former bank building demonstrates a common early practice in the design of provincial banks in which accommodation was provided on the premises for the manager and his family.
|The RSLA Club is a dominant feature of Churchill Street and by its scale, form and detail makes an important contribution to the townscape of Childers.
|As an RSLA club house since the end of World War Two to the present, the building has an important association with returned service personnel in the district.
|The building is also associated with the life and work of J P O Cowlishaw as Queensland architect for the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney and with the operation of that banking institution in Queensland.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15389,"place_ref":600614,"name":"Hotel Childers","alternate_name":"Queen's Hotel; The Hotel Childers","street_address":"59 Churchill Street","suburb":"CHILDERS","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Hotel Childers is a two storey building with an upper level balcony overhanging the street, between the National Australia Bank [600616] and the RSLA (former CBC bank 600613], on the northern side of Childers main street, Churchill Street.
The ground floor is constructed of timber boards and contains a bar, billiard room, lounge, gaming room and kitchens. Interwar detailing includes a timber staircase, which has been painted, plate rails, moulded ceilings and timber and glass doors and door furniture.
The upper level is clad with fibrous plaster sheeting and has deep balconies at the front and rear. That at the front has timber balustrading and that at the rear has been built in with fibrous plaster sheeting and glass louvres. This floor contains a large central hall with corridors running off it to each side from which the publican's flat and guest bedrooms are accessed. The hall and four of the guest bedrooms open onto the front balcony. There bathrooms on the rear verandah. The walls are of vertical boards and the rooms are ceiled with fibrous sheeting and battens.
Roofs are clad with modern metal sheeting and there is a beergarden and entertainment area to the rear of the hotel.
","history":"The Hotel Childers was built in at least two stages in the late 19th and 20th centuries and is one of several hotels built to serve the prosperous and growing centre of Childers.
Following logging of the dense Isis Scrub in the 1870s, Childers, in the heart of the scrub, was promoted in the 1880s by Maryborough interests, as an agricultural district. The land in the immediate vicinity of the present town of Childers was surveyed in 1882 into 50-acre farm blocks. There was no official town survey; Childers developed following the private subdivision of portions 870 and 871, at the railhead of the 1887 extension line from Isis Junction. This was opened in 1887, and was intended principally to facilitate the transport of timber from the scrub.
The coming of the railway not only promoted the development of the town of Childers; it also proved the catalyst for the establishment of a sugar industry in the district in the late 1880s. At the opening of the railway, Robert Cran, owner of Maryborough's Yengarie mill, announced that he would erect a double crushing juice mill at Doolbi, to supply his mill at Yengarie. This was completed in 1890 and further expansion of the sugar industry in the Isis was closely related to the activities of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, which erected a central crushing mill in the district 1893-94. By 1895, at least three other mills had been established in the Isis, with another two under construction, and Childers had emerged as the flourishing centre of a substantial sugar-growing district: in the years between 1891 and 1900 the population grew from 91 to 4000.
The growth of the Isis district in the 1890s is reflected in the series of hotels constructed in Childers to accommodate travellers, businessmen and the many seasonal workers in the sugar industry. In 1894 Elijah Kirby purchased land on the northern side of the main street and applied for a hotel license. In 1895 he took out a mortgage for £600, which is probably associated with the building of his hotel. This was a single storey timber building with a verandah along the front and side and was called the Queen's Hotel. Childers was then served by five hotels; the Childers Hotel, moved from Horton in 1887 and on the site of Grand Hotel, the Isis (1892), BelleVue (1895) and Royal (1895). The Palace Hotel was built in 1897 and in 1899 the two storey brick Grand Hotel was constructed. It was the only building to survive a disastrous 1902 fire that destroyed most of the buildings on that side of the main street. In 1902-3 the town centre was rebuilt with fashionable new brick buildings more in keeping with Childers' success. In 1903 the old Isis Divisional Board was abolished and Isis Shire proclaimed, with the new seat of municipal government moving from Howard to Childers. In 1907, the last of Childers Hotels, the Federal, was constructed.
In 1898 the Queen's Hotel was leased to James Thompson for five years. He was to be the first of a large number of licensees, some of whom only ran the hotel for short periods. The hotel also changed hands a number of times, only some of the owners actually running the hotel. By the first decade of the 20th century Childers' other hotels were all two storied and it is thought that the ground floor of the Queen's Hotel was incorporated into a major rebuilding which added a storey to the building. The date at which this occurred is unknown, though changes may have occurred in 1909 when Hilmar Andresen purchased the hotel and borrowed £2000 to do so. However, the hotel had least a major refurbishment in the 1930s, as much of the joinery and detailing in the interior of the hotel is consistent with that date. In 1939, the name of the hotel was changed to the Hotel Childers, possibly to mark this change.
The upper verandah was built in with fibrous cement sheeting for many years, but was reconstructed according to its original appearance in mid 2000. Refurbishment in recent years has also made some changes to the ground floor, including the installation of a gaming room. Much of the original detail remains, however.
","criteria":"The Hotel Childers is one of a group of hotels that demonstrate the rapid growth of Childers in the late 19th and early 20th century. As a provider of food, accommodation and entertainment, the number and size of hotels in a town were used as an indicator of the prosperity of a district. The hotel illustrates the unprecedented growth then occurring in the Isis, when Childers was emerging as the flourishing centre of a substantial sugar-growing district.
|The Hotel Childers is hotel is a landmark in the main street that contributes to the architecturally coherent and picturesque townscape of Childers.
|The Hotel Childers is associated with the community of Childers as a public building that has formed part of the recreational life of the town for most of the 20th century.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion E | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15391,"place_ref":600616,"name":"National Australia Bank","alternate_name":"National Bank of Australasia | Bank of Queensland | Bank of Northern Queensland","street_address":"61 Churchill Street","suburb":"CHILDERS","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The National Australia Bank, a single-storeyed chamferboard building with brick piers and a corrugated iron hipped roof, is located fronting Churchill Street, the main street of Childers, to the south. The building, built parallel to the western boundary, is set back from the street frontage with a lawn area to the east.
The building has a symmetrical parapeted facade above a wide street verandah. The parapet consists of timber pilasters and deep timber cornices, with much of the original fanciful timber work including pediment, finials and scrolls having been removed. The verandah has paired timber posts, a panelled frieze with timber mouldings, a timber rail supported by scroll shaped brackets, and wide timber entrance steps. The twin entrance doors with fanlight are framed by timber pilasters, and the paired timber sashes to either side have wide timber surrounds with deep cornices above.
The eastern side has undergone a number of changes resulting in a variety of window types, including paired sashes to the front banking chamber and hoppers to the rear. The western side has paired timber sashes with timber batten window hoods. The rear has a masonry chimney to the northwest corner.
Internally, the building consists of a banking chamber to the front with a manager's office, store and strongroom behind with a corridor leading to a kitchen area and toilets at the rear. The building has walls of vertically jointed boards, boarded ceilings, and deep timber skirtings and architraves. Doors into the manager's office are without fanlights and have narrower architraves. The masonry strongroom is located on the western side and has a steel door opening to the banking chamber. The rear kitchen area has a timber ceiling rose and fireplace surround. The central section at the rear, housing toilets and passage ways, has a slightly lowered floor level and hardboard ceilings.
A timber paling fence along the street boundary has an early corner post with turned capital at the eastern end.
","history":"This single-storeyed timber building, which initially comprised banking chambers at the front of the building and a manager's residence at the rear, was erected c1900 as the Childers branch of the Bank of North Queensland, established in Townsville in 1888. The Bank of North Queensland was the only bank ever directed from northern Queensland, and was the first to capitalise on the need for banking facilities in the newly emerging sugar town of Childers.
Following logging of the dense Isis Scrub in the 1870s, Childers, in the heart of the scrub, was promoted in the 1880s by Maryborough interests, as an agricultural district. The land in the immediate vicinity of the present town of Childers was surveyed in 1882 into 50 acre farm blocks. There was no official town survey; Childers developed following the private subdivision of portions 870 and 871, at the railhead of the 1887 extension line from Isis Junction. This was opened on 31 October 1887, and was intended principally to facilitate the transport of timber from the scrub.
The coming of the railway not only promoted the development of the town of Childers; it also proved the catalyst for the establishment of a sugar industry in the district in the late 1880s. At the opening of the railway to Childers, Robert Cran, owner of Maryborough's Yengarie mill, announced that he would erect a double crushing juice mill at Doolbi, to supply his mill at Yengarie. This was completed in 1890, with the juice being brought in railway tankers from the Isis. Further expansion of the sugar industry in the Isis was closely related to the activities of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, which erected a central crushing mill in the district 1893-94, and began crushing in 1895. By 1895, at least three other mills had been established in the Isis, with another two under construction, and Childers had emerged as the flourishing centre of a substantial sugar-growing district.
Whilst Queensland in general was in a slow recovery mode following the depression of the early 1890s and the 1893 banking crisis, Childers offered attractive advantages to any banking institution contemplating expansion. The Bank of North Queensland was the first to seize the opportunity, and in a notice dated 6 September 1895, published in the Brisbane Courier on the following day, the general manager of the Bank of North Queensland, announced that an agency of the bank was now opened at Childers, for the transaction of all usual Banking Business. Joseph Harding Forbes is recorded as having entered the service of the Bank of North Queensland on 10 September 1895 as the first manager of the new branch at Childers.
It is not known from which premises the bank operated initially, as the Bank of North Queensland did not acquire the present site until August 1899. By this time a branch of the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney had been established in the town, opening in rented premises in 1897. The CBC acquired a permanent site in May 1899, and by March 1900, their new purpose-built banking chambers were approximately 6 weeks from completion. This activity may have induced the Bank of North Queensland to erect new premises in the same year.
In August 1900, Brisbane architect HGO Thomas called tenders for the erection of new banking premises at Childers. This is understood to be for the Bank of North Queensland, as the CBC had already erected premises, and the only other bank in the town, the Queensland National Bank, had opened in rented premises in July 1900, and did not erect their own building until 1919.
The Bank of North Queensland building at Childers survived the 1902 fire which razed most of the premises on the opposite side of the street. The town was virtually rebuilt at this time.
In January 1917, the Bank of North Queensland and the Royal Bank of Queensland, established in Brisbane in 1885 to challenge the colonial dominance of the Queensland National Bank, merged to form the Bank of Queensland, and the premises at Childers were retained as a branch of the new bank. When the Bank of Queensland was absorbed by the National Bank of Australasia in 1922, the Childers building became a branch of the National Bank.
By c1948, a verandah had been added along the eastern side and rear of the building, apparently for the use of the manager and his family. In November 1953, the Isis Shire Council approved an application by the National Bank of Australasia Ltd to erect a new bank manager's residence in Childers, and photographic evidence suggests that at this time the living quarters at the back of the building were incorporated into the banking area, the side and rear verandahs were removed, as were the central pediment, finials, and brackets and capitals to the front verandah posts. The new manager's residence, erected at the rear of the bank building, on the block of land facing Crescent Street, does not form part of the heritage listing.
Since 1983, the Childers office has functioned as a branch of the National Australia Bank, formed by the amalgamation of the National Bank of Australasia Ltd and the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Ltd.
","criteria":"The National Australia Bank building at Childers is important in illustrating the pattern of Queensland history, being erected during a period of unprecedented growth in the Isis, when Childers was emerging as the flourishing centre of a substantial sugar-growing district.
|The building has been occupied as banking premises since its construction c1900, and survives as a substantially intact, small, rural, turn-of-the-century timber bank building.
|The building, particularly due to its decorative timber street facade, use of scale, form and materials, contributes to the heritage significance of the Churchill Street streetscape and Childers townscape. The composition and treatment of timber details illustrates a quality and competency of design.
|The place has a strong association with the work of the Bank of North Queensland, which was the first banking institution to open an agency at Childers, in 1895, and has been associated with the National Bank since 1922.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15392,"place_ref":600617,"name":"Ellwood & Co Drapery (former)","alternate_name":"F. Ellwood & Co Drapery | Joys Hairdress | Dimmeys | Boys Department Store","street_address":"62 Churchill Street","suburb":"CHILDERS","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The former Ellwood's Drapery is a single story masonry shop on the south side of Churchill Street, Childers main street. In common with other shops on this side of the street, it has a corrugated iron roof concealed by a classical revival parapet which is topped by a broken pediment flanked by a pair of urns.
The awning across the footpath is now cantilevered and the building has modern shop fronts and a refitted interior. The section of the building occupied as a hairdresser has had the shop front reconstructed to resemble its original form.
","history":"The former F. Ellwood and Co Drapery was erected c1907 for William Brand and Robert Gant following the 1902 fire that destroyed most of the south side of Churchill Street, the main street of Childers. It may have been designed by Bundaberg architect, FW Faircloth who was responsible for much of the new building following the fire, the effects of which transformed Childers main street from a pioneer frontier township of timber and iron structures to the established centre of the flourishing Isis district with its new more substantial masonry buildings.
Following logging of the dense Isis Scrub in the 1870s, Childers, in the heart of the scrub, was promoted in the 1880s by Maryborough interests, as an agricultural district. The land in the immediate vicinity of the present town of Childers was surveyed in 1882 into 50 acre farm blocks. There was no official town survey; Childers developed following private subdivision at the railhead of the 1887 extension line from Isis Junction. This was opened on 31 October 1887, and was intended principally to facilitate the transport of timber from the scrub.
The coming of the railway not only promoted the development of the town of Childers; it also proved the catalyst for the establishment of a sugar industry in the district in the late 1880s. At the opening of the railway to Childers, Robert Cran, owner of Maryborough's Yengarie mill, announced that he would erect a double crushing juice mill at Doolbi, to supply his mill at Yengarie. This was completed in 1890, with the juice being brought in railway tankers from the Isis. Further expansion of the sugar industry in the Isis was closely related to the activities of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, which erected a central crushing mill in the district 1893-94, and began crushing in 1895. By 1895, at least three other mills had been established in the Isis, with another two under construction, and Childers had emerged as the flourishing centre of a substantial sugar-growing district.
1902 was a very dry year and Childers had no fire brigade. In 23 March, a catastrophic fire swept through the south side of the main street in town, where virtually all the buildings were timber and closely built. Those stores destroyed were: S Oakley, bootmaker; FD Cooper, commission agent; R Graham, fruiterer; ME Gosley, tailor; Foley, hairdresser; M Redmond, Palace Hotel; WB Jones, auctioneer; W Couzens, fruiterer; H Newman, general storekeeper; WJ Overell and Son, general merchants; P Christensen, cabinet maker; W Hood, stationer; T Gaydon, chemist; W Lloyd, hairdresser; Mrs Dunne, fruiterer; Federal Jewellery Company; Dunn Bros, saddlers; H Wegner, bootmaker. The Bundaberg architect F H Faircloth was engaged to redesign most of the replacement buildings and called the first tenders in June 1902.
Frederic Herbert (Herb) Faircloth was born in Maryborough in 1870 and was a pupil of German-trained Bundaberg architect Anton Hettrich. Faircloth set up his own practice in Bundaberg in 1893 and was very successful, eventually being responsible for the design of almost every important building in Bundaberg. He was also to have a major effect on the appearance and character of Childers.
Photographs taken before the fire show shops of single skin timber construction on this site and this is probably the location of Oakley the bootmaker's premises as his wife, Emma owned the land from 1896. Like the other shops rebuilt after the 1902 fire, the new building was a single storey masonry building with a classically detailed pediment, generous glass window fronts, and decorative columns supporting the awning over the footpath. Unlike many others, it appears to have been designed as a single shop, one of the largest in the main street, rather than intended for a number of different tenancies as other newly built shops were. It is not known if this was the work of Faircloth, but it was at least influenced by his work on other shops.
On completion the shop was leased to William Hood and Frederick William Ellwood as F Ellwood & Co, draper and outfitter. In 1922 it was leased to Herbert Stormonth, another draper. The shop seems to have been consistently used as a drapery and for clothing and in 1976 it was acquired by Boys Pty Ltd of Maryborough, a clothing store with branches in other towns. Boys extended their business into one shop of the group of three in the adjoining Jeffrey's Building. This is now a medical practice. A hairdressing salon now occupies a part of Ellwood's building as a separately owned shop, but the main occupancy is Dimmeys, a clothing store.
","criteria":"The former drapery is important in demonstrating the evolution of Queensland's history representing evidence of the development of Childers in the early twentieth century, in particular, the rebuilding of the south side of the main street in the early 1900s following the 1902 fire. Together with much of the southern side of Childers main street it provides clear evidence of the impact of fire on Queensland towns where adequate water supply and fire services were lacking.
|It is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of early 1900s country town masonry commercial buildings, in particular the awnings, shop fronts, lanterns, and overall form.
|It contributes to the picturesque townscape of Churchill Street which is both remarkably architecturally coherent and intact
|It has a special association with the life and work of Bundaberg architect FH Faircloth who was responsible for much of the appearance of the town of Childers in the twentieth century.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15394,"place_ref":600619,"name":"Childers Post Office (former)","alternate_name":"Childers Heritage Shop","street_address":"Bruce Highway","suburb":"CHILDERS","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2003-01-24","description":"The Childers Post Office is located on the corner of Crescent Street and Churchill Street, Childers main street, opposite the court house. It is a single storey timber building set on low stumps with a corrugated iron roof and comprises two sections - the former residence in an earlier building to the east, and the post office proper.
The former residential quarters is situated to the east of the post office and in line with it. There is a projecting bay on the eastern side with a gabled roof and a verandah runs along the front of the residence in line with this. The front wall of a former bedroom opening onto this verandah has been opened onto the verandah to provide for a coffee shop. The post office section is on the corner and is accessed by one of two porches sitting to either side of a projecting gable and reached by timber stairs with timber balustrading. The eastern porch is now linked to the residence by a deck. The windows are shaded by sun hoods on timber brackets.
","history":"The Childers Post Office is a timber post office situated on a corner block on the northern side of Childers' main street opposite the Court House. It was built to a standard government design in 1890 and substantially extended by the Government Architect's Office in 1910, reflecting the growth of Childers and Commonwealth policy to improve the postal facilities of towns associated with agricultural and pastoral expansion. Currently the building operates as a gift shop but continues to provide post office services.
Following logging of the dense Isis Scrub in the 1870s, Childers, in the heart of the Scrub, was promoted in the 1880s by Maryborough interests, as an agricultural district. The land in the immediate vicinity of the present town of Childers was surveyed in 1882 into 50 acre farm blocks. There was no official town survey; Childers developed following the private subdivision at the railhead of the 1887 extension line from Isis Junction. This was opened on 31 October 1887, and was intended principally to facilitate the transport of timber from the scrub.
The coming of the railway not only promoted the development of the town of Childers; it also proved the catalyst for the establishment of a sugar industry in the district in the late 1880s. At the opening of the railway to Childers, Robert Cran, owner of Maryborough's Yengarie mill, announced that he would erect a double crushing juice mill at Doolbi, to supply his mill at Yengarie. This was completed in 1890, with the juice being brought in railway tankers from the Isis. Further expansion of the sugar industry in the Isis was closely related to the activities of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, which erected a central crushing mill in the district 1893-94, and began crushing in 1895. By 1895, at least three other mills had been established in the Isis, with another two under construction, and Childers had emerged as the flourishing centre of a substantial sugar-growing district.
A Post Office first opened in Childers in 1887. In 1890 a purpose built building was constructed and opened on 17 September 1890. It carried on both the post and telegraph office business as well as providing residential accommodation for the post master which was clearly separated from the business part of the building by a picket fence surrounding the front garden. In January 1894, the telegraph office was relocated to the newly opened Railway Station. The quarters were housed in a standard T11 form and the offices in an adjoining double gabled section on the corner. The T11 post office type was a porch and gable style developed during the 1880s and used outside major towns. The form was developed further during 1900 to 1940 and is typical of many post offices of the period. There are only a few examples left of the 19th century form.
Although in 1901 the Commonwealth Post Master General's Dept was created, transfer of responsibility from the colonies to new organisations was gradual. The new Commonwealth administration upgraded buildings and facilities in towns associated with agricultural and pastoral expansion. New post offices were built in some towns and others had facilities upgraded. In 1910, major additions were made to the Childers Post Office. The section of the building used as a post office was modified to a form identified by the 1983 National Estate study of post offices as a type T17 with a twin porch, gable and lantern, a form that became one of the most readily identifiable post office styles. It was architecturally important not only for the forms which developed from it in the 1920s and 30s, but for its visual appeal and the quality of construction and detail with which it was carried out.
In 1971, a new Telephone Exchange and Trunk Line building was erected to take place of the existing manual exchange and provide automatic trunk line switching facilities to surrounding district exchanges. A building to house this was ; building erected on site adjoining the Post Office with access from Crescent Street and there are easements between the two sites. In 1994 the building was sold into private ownership and now operates as the Childers Heritage Shop although some post office services are also continued. In 1999 alterations were carried out to allow the operation of a coffee shop in a former bedroom by opening the verandah on the residence and creating a roof deck section between the verandah and eastern porch of the post office. Paving and landscaping were also carried out to a forecourt area.
","criteria":"The former Post Office is important in illustrating the pattern of Queensland history, being a government facility erected during a period of unprecedented growth in the Isis, when Childers was emerging as the centre of a substantial sugar-growing district. It was substantially extended during the period before the First World War when the new Commonwealth government made a policy of upgrading postal services to developing agricultural and pastoral communities.
|The earliest section has been identified by a post office study as being one of the few of its type remaining.
|The post office building includes examples of two standard post office types developed by the Government Architect's Office during a period when a high quality of design and finish was achieved.
|The post office, in its scale, form and materials, makes a major contribution to townscape of Childers.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion E","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15395,"place_ref":600620,"name":"Childers Court House","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Churchill Street","suburb":"CHILDERS","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Childers Court House is located in the centre of Childers at the corner of Churchill Street (the main street) and Crescent Street. It forms part of a government precinct which includes the nearby Post Office [EHR 600619] and Ambulance Station [EHR 600621].
The earliest 1897 section of the Childers Court House is rectangular in plan form with its long axis set perpendicular to the street. The 1900 addition is attached to this running to the west which also has a rectangular plan form.
The building is a single storeyed and constructed in timber and set on timber stumps and is clad in a combination of weatherboard at the exposed walls and exposed frame in the sheltered areas under the timber verandah. The verandah, which has simple double horizontal rails as the balustrade, surrounds the original section of the building. There is also a verandah on the west end of the addition. There is an access ramp for people with disability attached to the eastern verandah.
The roof forms are gabled and clad in corrugated colourbond. The gables are infilled with vertical boarding which has a scalloped bottom edge and supported at the lower end by an exposed collar tie. The apex of the gable is surmounted by a timber finial.
French doors open onto the verandah in the original section. The windows in this area are double hung and are constructed as part of the exposed frame system. The windows on the addition, which functions as a Court Room, are narrow and at high level down the north and south elevations. These elevations also exhibit ventilation grill that were a part of the original design. Both sections of the building are now air-conditioned with a split refrigerated system.
Both sections of the building are clad internally with tongue and grooved boarding. The ceilings which are in the same material follow the rafter line to the bottom of the collar ties where they become flat. The 1897 building contains offices; the Court Room retains elements of early furniture that include the Judges bench, dock, reporters benches and clerks tables. The interior of the Court Room also displays the trade certificate of the carpenter.
","history":"The Childers Court House is a single story timber building erected in 1897; in 1900 a new court room was added to form a 'T' shaped building. It is one of a number of public buildings (including government and banking) which characterise the northern side of Childers' main street and was the first purpose built court house erected in the newly emerging sugar town.
Following logging of the dense Isis Scrub in the 1870s, Childers, in the heart of the scrub, was promoted in the 1880s by Maryborough interests, as an agricultural district. The land in the immediate vicinity of the present town of Childers was surveyed in 1882 into 50 acre farm blocks. There was no official town survey; Childers developed following the private subdivision of portions 870 and 871, at the railhead of the 1887 extension line from Isis Junction. This was opened on 31 October 1887, and was intended principally to facilitate the transport of timber from the scrub.
The coming of the railway not only promoted the development of the town of Childers; it also proved the catalyst for the establishment of a sugar industry in the district in the late 1880s. At the opening of the railway to Childers, Robert Cran, owner of Maryborough's Yengarie mill, announced that he would erect a double crushing juice mill at Doolbi, to supply his mill at Yengarie. This was completed in 1890, with the juice being brought in railway tankers from the Isis. Further expansion of the sugar industry in the Isis was closely related to the activities of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, which erected a central crushing mill in the district 1893-94, and began crushing in 1895. By 1895, at least three other mills had been established in the Isis, with another two under construction, and Childers had emerged as the flourishing centre of a substantial sugar-growing district: in the years between 1891 and 1900 the population grew from 91 to 4000. In 1903 the old Isis Divisional Board (1886) was abolished and Isis Shire proclaimed, with the new seat of municipal government moving from Howard to Childers.
Prior to the erection of the Court House court sittings were held in the former Land Commissioner's office at the Post Office [Entry in the Heritage Register 600619]. In 1896 the Secretary of the Isis Progress Association wrote to the Home Secretary urgently requesting the building of a court house in Childers as everyone is well aware of the amount of business transacted in the so-called Childers Court House, and everyone will agree with my Committee in their assertions that it fully warrants the erection of a more commodious edifice. According to the Committee there were numberless reasons to justify the building of a court house the most important of which is that the business of the court is not carried out in a manner agreeable to those persons interested such as for instance witnesses who are requested to wait outside in the street away from the hearing of the Court, until their services may be required, and if the weather should prove inclement, the inconvenience and unpleasantness are increased the so much more. My Committee contend that Childers is worthy of a Court House, which would do credit to the town.
In March 1897 tenders for the erection of a new court house at Childers were called; the tender of William Cristine Horton and Louis Bouttell for £306.7 being accepted in August. A drawing stamped 25 January 1897 prepared by the Government Architect's Office shows a single story timber building comprising public waiting area, court room, and an office to the rear surrounded by verandahs on all four sides. Plans for the court room furniture were also included. The Childers Court House is an example of one of a number of court house types developed by the Government Architect for use throughout country Queensland. The use of these types addressed the need for economy but also resulted in a high quality of public building even on this modest scale.
By November the building was almost complete with Inspector of Works Hannington advising that it will be necessary, on account of the site having been changed, to construct a dividing fence to separate the Court House ground from that of the Station Master's house and recommending shifting the front line of split paling fence, and erecting a new front fence of sawn battens, and supplying a bridge over water table. The specification included reference to the purpose built furniture for the court room and the building was to be coloured in a light stone tint and picked out in darker shades as directed.
Soon after, in 1900, additions were made to accommodate the District Court sittings to be held in Childers (in addition to the Police Court work already held). The Clerk of Petty Sessions reported that from his experience it will be necessary to provide two additional rooms (one for the PM [Police Magistrate] and Judge and another for the Jury to retire to). A third room would be convenient for witnesses waiting to give evidence especially to female witnesses who are sometimes subject to unpleasant insinuations cast at them when waiting about the Court. Plans prepared by the Government Architect show the addition of a wing to the western side of the existing building; with the earlier building to be remodelled to accommodate a jury room, the Police Magistrate and Judge's room, and CPS office. The new wing was to contain the new court room. The plans provided for high set windows (presumably to facilitate the privacy of the court) and lowset ventilating grills with existing court room furniture to be reused in the new room. Public access was from a verandah at the western end; official access was provided from the 1897 building (housing the court offices). Tenders for the additions were called in May; George Upham's tender of £256.6 to be completed in three months was accepted.
It is the 1900 reconfiguration of the court house which survives today with the 1900 court room still in use as the Magistrate's Court and the 1897 building used for associated administration. Recent works include the insertion of air-conditioning services and the addition of a ramp entry for disabled access (1995). Other changes include the removal of roof ventilators and a decorative white picket fence (shown in a 1908 photo; replaced by a chain wire fence).
As with other country court houses across the state, the Childers Court House is more than its name implies. Since Queensland separated from New South Wales in 1859, court houses have been an important symbol of the ongoing settlement of the colony (later the state) as well as in a practical sense a centre for government services. Thus, in addition to its court functions, the Childers Court House (which celebrated its centenary in 1997) is also an administrative centre providing an agency for a number of other state government departments and / or services to the people of the Isis region.
","criteria":"The Childers Court House is important in illustrating the pattern of Queensland history being erected during a period of unprecedented growth in the Isis, when Childers was emerging as the flourishing centre of a substantial sugar-growing district.
Erected in 1897 (major additions 1900), the Court House has served the Isis community for over a century. In common with other country court houses it is associated not only with the administration of justice but also, from the earliest European settlement, as an administrative centre for a range of government services. The building of such infrastructure was a tangible expression of government's recognition and encouragement of the growth of the Isis; the Court House became one of a number of public buildings which characterise the north side of Childers main street.
|The Childers Court House (including court room furniture) is a fine and intact example of a timber country court house.
|The building, particularly due to its use of scale, form and materials, contributes to the heritage significance of the Churchill Street streetscape and Childers townscape.
|Erected in 1897 (major additions 1900), the Court House has served the Isis community for over a century. In common with other country court houses it is associated not only with the administration of justice but also, from the earliest European settlement, as an administrative centre for a range of government services.
|It has a special association with the work of the Government Architect's Office which developed a number of court house types which sought to respond to matters both economic and climatic, as well as providing a high quality of public building even on this modest scale.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15396,"place_ref":600621,"name":"Childers QATB (former)","alternate_name":"Isis District Centre QATB | Childers Ambulance Centre | Childers Neighbourhood Centre","street_address":"69 Churchill Street","suburb":"CHILDERS","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The former QATB building is located on the northern side of Childers main street, Churchill Street, on the corner of Randall Street. It forms part of a government precinct with the court house located next door and post office in the next block.
The building is in fact two connected low-set single storey buildings, one housing the residence and the other the station and offices. Both buildings have gambrel roofs. The Ambulance station is on the corner and at the street alignment, with the residence set to one side and to the rear. The station has a roller door opening to McIlwraith Street and on the opposite side of the building the roof extends over an entrance porch. It is plain in detail and is lit by sash windows shaded by sunhoods. A small gable facing Churchill Street holds a vertical sign with the word 'Ambulance'.
The residence has a gabled roof which breaks pitch to extend over a sleeping verandah on the eastern side. There is projecting front gable with triple casement windows and the main entrance to the east of this has been widened and is now reached by a ramp. A row of narrow decorative casements, set with pink and green glass, extends along the front wall bedside the entrance and down the eastern side of the house along what was the entrance and sleeping verandah. A subsidiary skillion roof at the rear covers a laundry section.
","history":"The former QATB building is situated on a prominent corner in the main street of Childers. It was erected in 1924 to plans prepared by Leonard Kempster of the Department of Public Works and is a single storey timber building comprising an ambulance station and superintendent's residence.
The Queensland Ambulance Transport Brigade began in Brisbane in 1892. It was formed by Seymour Warrian of the Army Medical Corps after seeing an accident victim suffer considerable aggravation of their injuries through inexpert transport to hospital. The Brigade aimed to provide first aid and skilled transport to hospital for the sick and injured. In the first years the Brigade was wholly funded by subscription, but met such an important need that from 1895 they were subsidised by the government, both directly and by involving the Department of Works in the construction of ambulance buildings. In the late 1890s and 1900s they expanded into regional centres. By 1921, a specific layout for ambulance buildings had been formalised into policy. This incorporated a space for vehicles with easy street access, a casualty room, meeting room and sleeping room for ambulance bearers on a ground floor level and residential quarters for the Superintendent above. The Childers ambulance station differs from this scheme in that the rooms provided are the same but the residence is set on ground level slightly behind the station, rather than above it. This may have been so that the station complemented the court house complex and post office nearby.
By the 1920s Childers was the centre of a thriving sugar growing and processing district in the Isis. The area was opened up by logging in the 1870s, followed by development as an agricultural area. The land in the immediate vicinity of the present town of Childers was surveyed in 1882 into 50 acre farm blocks. There was no official town survey, Childers being developed by private subdivision at the railhead of the 1887 extension line from Isis Junction. This was opened on 31 October 1887, and was intended principally to facilitate the transport of timber from the scrub.
The coming of the railway not only promoted the development of the town of Childers; it also proved the catalyst for the establishment of a sugar industry in the district in the late 1880s. At the opening of the railway to Childers, Robert Cran, owner of Maryborough's Yengarie mill, announced that he would erect a double crushing juice mill at Doolbi, to supply his mill at Yengarie. This was completed in 1890, with the juice being brought in railway tankers from the Isis. Further expansion of the sugar industry in the Isis was closely related to the activities of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, which erected a central crushing mill in the district 1893-94, and began crushing in 1895. By 1895, at least three other mills had been established in the Isis, with another two under construction, and Childers had emerged as the flourishing centre of a substantial sugar-growing district: in the years between 1891 and 1900 the population grew from 91 to 4000. In 1903 the old Isis Divisional Board (1886) was abolished and Isis Shire proclaimed, with the new seat of municipal government moving from Howard to Childers.
The first official hospital in Childers was opened in 1899 and members of the hospital committee acted as ambulance bearers when needed. In 1920, a Mr James Rushton purchased a garage, converted his Model T Ford and began a local ambulance service. He was instrumental in forming a QATB committee in Childers. The 1920s were a period in which public awareness of health issues grew, possibly triggered by the deadly influenza epidemics of the 1919-1920 period. The present hospital in Childers was built in 1929, but an ambulance station was constructed earlier, in 1924.
The Department of Works plans show the ambulance station as comprising a plant room (for the ambulance and equipment), casualty room, bearers' room, board room and superintendent's room. The building was lowset to allow vehicular access from Randall Street. Pedestrian access was via a porch with seating accommodation from Churchill Street. Set to one side and to the rear of the station was the Superintendent's residence linked to the station through the casualty room. Changes have been minor and include an addition to the northern elevation of the plant room (a possibility indicated in the original plans), replacement of the garage doors with a roller door and the replacement of the timber picket fence with a wire fence.
In 1986 the QATB came under the jurisdiction of the Minister for Police and Emergency Services. Following plans for the reorganisation of the service, the Brigade was disbanded on 30 June 1991 and the Queensland Ambulance Transport Service was established as part of the Bureau of Emergency Services. QAS constructed a new station on adjoining land in 1999 and offered the old station up for sale. It is now the Childers Neighbourhood Centre.
","criteria":"The former QATB building in Childers is important in illustrating the development of ambulance services in the state, the importance of Childers as a flourishing centre of the Isis, a substantial sugar-growing district, and the support provided by government to both the QATB and expanding agricultural districts.
|It is important as an example of an Interwar ambulance station and residence and demonstrates the quality of design, construction and detail achieved by the Public Works Department during this period.
|The former ambulance station, due to its prominent position in the main street of Childers and its use of scale, form and materials, makes a major contribution to the townscape.
|It has close associations with the people of the Childers district as a community facility and with the work of the Queensland Ambulance Transport Brigade.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15397,"place_ref":600622,"name":"Federal Hotel","alternate_name":"The Federal Hotel","street_address":"71 Churchill Street","suburb":"CHILDERS","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Federal Hotel is a timber two-storey hotel located on the northern side of Childers main street, Churchill Street, at the corner of North Street.
The hotel is approximately L shaped in plan with the roof, core structure and awnings truncated at the corner facing the intersection. It is set on very low stumps and has a hipped roof clad in corrugated iron with shallow decorated gables at the centre of each street elevation.
The hotel's major external feature is a two-storey verandah running along both streets, which is supported on paired and single posts with decorative cast iron brackets on both levels. The upper level has panels of cast iron balustrading above a pierced valance. The hotel has several entrances on the ground floor and accommodation on the upper floor, following the usual internal layout of two storey hotels in Queensland.
The principal entrance is at the street corner and opens onto a large public bar through bat wing doors. Leading from this on the North Street side are a further bar and dining area. On the Churchill Street side is a second major entrance leading into a wide hall. This has a billiard room to the left and a central arch leading onto a staircase with turned balusters to the rear. There are sash windows to the ground floor rooms and timber ceilings. Although alterations have been carried out in the bar and dining areas, the hotel is generally intact in detail. There is a single storey kitchen section, which appears to have originally been detached but is now linked to the main building, set behind the dining area.
The upper floor of the hotel contains a guest lounge at the street corner and there is a kitchen and bedrooms leading off the central halls that run along each wing. French doors open onto the verandah and toilets have been added to the upper level at the rear.
There is a beer garden behind the hotel.
","history":"The Federal Hotel is a two-storey timber hotel on a major street intersection at Childers and was constructed c1907 for hotelier William Ashby, following the redevelopment of the town centre after a major fire in 1902.
Following logging of the dense Isis Scrub in the 1870s, Childers, in the heart of the scrub, was promoted in the 1880s by Maryborough interests as an agricultural district. The land in the immediate vicinity of the present town of Childers was surveyed in 1882 into 50-acre farm blocks. There was no official town survey; Childers developed following the private subdivision of portions 870 and 871, at the railhead of the 1887 extension line from Isis Junction. This was opened on 31 October 1887, and was intended principally to facilitate the transport of timber from the scrub.
William Ashby, who had arrived in Bundaberg in 1868, owned the first hotel in Childers. He moved to the Isis in the early 1800s and took up a large selection near Horton, building a hotel near the racecourse there. In 1886 he moved the hotel building to Childers and enlarged it as the 'Childers Hotel'. Ashby also acquired adjoining allotments, a store and butchery and was a member of the Divisional Board. The area developed quickly as the coming of the railway not only promoted the development of the town of Childers; it also proved the catalyst for the establishment of a sugar industry in the district in the late 1880s. At the opening of the railway to Childers, Robert Cran, owner of Maryborough's Yengarie mill, announced that he would erect a double crushing juice mill at Doolbi, to supply his mill at Yengarie. This was completed in 1890, with the juice being brought in railway tankers from the Isis. Further expansion of the sugar industry in the Isis was closely related to the activities of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, which erected a central crushing mill in the district 1893-94, and began crushing in 1895. By 1895, at least three other mills had been established in the Isis, with another two under construction, and Childers had emerged as the flourishing centre of a substantial sugar-growing district: in the years between 1891 and 1900 the population grew from 91 to 4000.
The growth of the Isis district in the 1890s is reflected in the series of hotels constructed in Childers to accommodate travellers, businessmen and the many seasonal workers in the sugar industry. These included the Isis, Belle Vue, Royal, Queen's and Palace hotels. Ashby sold the Childers Hotel to Johann Kulick, who replaced it in 1899 with a handsome two-storey brick building called the Grand Hotel. This was the only building to survive a disastrous fire in 1902 that destroyed most of the timber buildings on that side of the main street in town. In 1902-3 the town centre was rebuilt with fashionable new brick buildings more in keeping with Childers' success, many of them to the design of F H Faircloth, a successful Bundaberg architect, who had designed the first Palace Hotel in 1897. In 1903 the old Isis Divisional Board was abolished and Isis Shire proclaimed, with the new seat of municipal government moving from Howard to Childers.
It is said locally that Ashby approached Kulick in the early 1900s with a view to purchasing the Grand Hotel, before deciding to construct a new hotel diagonally opposite the Grand. The land on which the Federal Hotel is situated was originally granted as a selection to Ernest Dyne but changed hands before being extensively subdivided into town lots in 1892. William Ashby purchased several lots of land on the corner of Churchill and North Streets in 1905 and constructed the Federal Hotel around 1907. He also built a store on the adjoining block. This area of North Street appears to have developed as an offshoot of the nearby shopping area in the main street and was no doubt assisted by the presence of the hotel. The new hotel was very similar in appearance to a Gladstone hotel designed by F H Faircloth in 1900 and may also have been designed by him, as he was then carrying out extensive work in Childers, following the fire.
The hotel was leased to Hugh Carter from 1 January 1908 and it was leased for much of its existence, though it remained in possession of the Ashby family for many years after his death in 1920. It was patronised by canecutters, in the days when the cane harvest was brought in by hand, and later by small crop pickers. In 1968, it was purchased by Earl and Josephine Gillespie, after which it changed hands frequently over the next 20 years, before being purchased by Martin and Barbara Woods in 1989. The current owners have recently undertaken extensive refurbishment.
","criteria":"The Federal Hotel is important as one of a number of hotels which were erected in Childers within a few years of each other in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, illustrating the unprecedented growth then occurring in the Isis, when Childers was emerging as the flourishing centre of a substantial sugar-growing district. Much of the built character of the town reflects the rebuilding of the commercial centre following a disastrous fire in 1902, when the simpler structures of the early settlement were replaced, largely to the design of architect George Faircloth
|The Federal Hotel, in its corner siting, form, layout and detail, is a good example of a hotel of its era. Change to the hotel has been minimal as the exterior is virtually unchanged and the layout of the interior remains much the same following renovations.
|As a well designed timber building on a prominent corner site, the Federal Hotel is a landmark in the main street of Childers and contributes to the architecturally coherent and picturesque townscape.
|It is associated with the community of Childers as a public building that has formed part of the recreational life of the town for most of the 20th century.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15398,"place_ref":600623,"name":"Palace Hotel","alternate_name":"The Palace Hotel","street_address":"72 Churchill Street","suburb":"CHILDERS","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Palace Hotel is a two-storeyed rendered masonry and timber building with corrugated iron roofs. It comprises of a rectangular wing with verandahs fronting Churchill St to the north (c1902), linked by a narrow covered courtyard to a parallel wing to the south (c1902 and c1930s). Externally the building is complimentary in materials, scale and form to other commercial buildings on Churchill St. At the same time, it rises above the predominantly single-storeyed shops on Churchill St, and is prominent in the townscape. The northern wing has ground floor public rooms, with accommodation rooms above. The south wing comprises two adjoining buildings; a service building to the west containing a kitchen to the ground floor and former staff accommodation upstairs, linked by a corridor to a ground floor function room and upstairs hotel accommodation.
","history":"The Palace Hotel was erected c1902 for Malcolm Redmond after a fire destroyed many of the buildings along the southern side of Childer's main street. The new masonry building replaced an earlier two storeyed timber hotel. The new hotel comprised public rooms on the ground floor with accommodation on the upper floor; the detached kitchen was located to the rear, with modest staff accommodation above. A large brick room opposite the kitchen may have operated as a storeroom at this time. In 1932, the hotel was acquired by Corser and Co Ltd, and again was leased. A new second storeyed accommodation wing at the rear to the building may have been added at this time. The Palace Hotel remained as an operating hotel until the 1980s. It is currently undergoing conversion into a backpackers' hostel.
","criteria":"The Palace Hotel is important in demonstrating the evolution of Queensland's history, in particular it represents evidence of the development of Childers in the early twentieth century, including the rebuilding of the south side of the main street in the early 1900s; and the form, detailing, additions to, and outbuildings of, the hotel are evidence of the evolution of a country town hotel. The Hotel is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a early twentieth century country town hotel with its ground floor public rooms, upstairs modest accommodation, service wing, and significant contribution to a country town streetscape. It is important in exhibiting a range of aesthetic characteristics valued by the community, in particular the fine interiors, including the ground floor public rooms, and the building's significant contribution in form, scale, materials, and details to the architecturally coherent and picturesque Churchill Street streetscape and townscape.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15399,"place_ref":600624,"name":"Hardware Store (former)","alternate_name":"Wyper Brothers Ironmongery | Pettigrew's Hardware | Mitre 10, Silly Solly's","street_address":"74-78 Churchill Street","suburb":"CHILDERS","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The former hardware store extends through three bays of a set of 5 single story masonry shops built conjointly on the south side of Churchill Street adjoining the Palace Hotel. It has a corrugated iron roof concealed by a parapet. In common with a number of shops on this side of the street, this building has classical revival pediments, some curved and some triangular, linked by a balustraded parapet topped by urns. The shop front has been modernised and is shaded by an ogee profile corrugated iron awning supported by posts to the street, although the cast iron valance is no longer present. The interior has been refitted with succeeding tenancies and at present the exterior is painted an unsympathetic vivid yellow.
","history":"The former hardware store is one of a row of conjoining shops situated between the Palace Hotel and Kerr's Buildings. It was erected in 1902 to the design of Bundaberg architect FW Faircloth, following a fire that destroyed most of the south side of Churchill Street, the main street of Childers. Faircloth was responsible for much of the new building following the fire, the effects of which transformed the appearance of Childers.
Childers is located in what was once the heart of the Isis Scrub. Following logging of the dense Scrub in the 1870s, Childers was promoted in the 1880s by Maryborough interests as an agricultural district. The land in the immediate vicinity of the present town of Childers was surveyed in 1882 into 50 acre farm blocks. There was no official town survey; Childers developed following private subdivision at the railhead of the 1887 extension line from Isis Junction. This was opened on 31 October 1887, and was intended principally to facilitate the transport of timber from the scrub.
The coming of the railway not only promoted the development of the town of Childers; it also proved the catalyst for the establishment of a sugar industry in the district in the late 1880s. At the opening of the railway to Childers, Robert Cran, owner of Maryborough's Yengarie mill, announced that he would erect a double crushing juice mill at Doolbi, to supply his mill at Yengarie. This was completed in 1890, with the juice being brought in railway tankers from the Isis. Further expansion of the sugar industry in the Isis was closely related to the activities of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, which erected a central crushing mill in the district 1893-94, and began crushing in 1895. By 1895, at least three other mills had been established in the Isis, with another two under construction, and Childers had emerged as the flourishing centre of a substantial sugar-growing district.
1902 was a very dry year and Childers had no fire brigade. In 23 March, a catastrophic fire swept through the south side of the main street in town, where virtually all the buildings were timber and closely built. Those stores destroyed were: S Oakley, bootmaker; FD Cooper, commission agent; R Graham, fruiterer; ME Gosley, tailor; Foley, hairdresser; M Redmond, Palace Hotel; WB Jones, auctioneer; W Couzens, fruiterer; H Newman, general storekeeper; WJ Overell and Son, general merchants; P Christensen, cabinet maker; W Hood, stationer; T Gaydon, chemist; W Lloyd, hairdresser; Mrs Dunne, fruiterer; Federal Jewellery Company; Dunn Bros, saddlers; H Wegner, bootmaker. The Bundaberg architect F H Faircloth was engaged to redesign most of the replacement buildings and called the first tenders in June 1902.
Frederic Herbert (Herb) Faircloth was born in Maryborough in 1870 and was a pupil of German-trained Bundaberg architect Anton Hettrich. Faircloth set up his own practice in Bundaberg in 1893 and was very successful, eventually being responsible for the design of almost every important building in Bundaberg. He was also to have a major effect on the appearance and character of Childers.
Before the fire, photographs show a timber building on this site, however it has not been possible to establish what business was run from the premises. Thomas Gaydon may have operated his first pharmacy from this site in the 1890s although his premises after the fire were located a few doors away at 90 Churchill Street on land also owned by him. The family continued to own the land until 1973 when it was sold to John and Elaine Hughes and then to Ross and Wendy Smith in 1989.
Like other post fire buildings in Childers this set of 5 shops were masonry rather than timber, a choice no doubt influenced by the fire, and were elegant single story buildings with large glass shop fronts. Striped ogee awnings across the footpath were supported by decorative posts with cast iron infill. Each shop had a separate roof, some lit by lanterns and the individual tenancies were also marked by the visual separation of the facades by the use of classic revival pediments, urns, and balustrades. Although this row of shops was designed as five tenancies, two were owned by Albert Gorrie, who conducted a bakery in one and leased the other, and three by Thomas Gaydon, which were occupied as a single tenancy by Wyper Brothers, ironmongers, who also sold furniture and hardware. Pettigrew's Hardware who succeeded them in the 1920s, also used all of the Gaydon owned space, which practice seems to have continued. Although the building has now changed hands several times it has been a hardware store for most of its commercial life. It became Silly Solly's in early 1996.
","criteria":"It is important in demonstrating the evolution of Queensland's history representing evidence of the development of Childers in the early twentieth century in particular, the rebuilding of the south side of the main street in the early 1900s following the 1902 fire. Together with much of the southern side of Childers main street it provides clear evidence of the impact of fire on Queensland towns where adequate water supply and fire services were lacking.
|It is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of early 1900s country town masonry commercial buildings, in particular the awnings, shop fronts, lanterns, and overall form.
|It contributes to the picturesque townscape of Churchill Street which is both remarkably architecturally coherent and intact
|It has a special association with the life and work of Bundaberg architect FH Faircloth who was responsible for much of the appearance of the town of Childers in the twentieth century.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15400,"place_ref":600625,"name":"Lloyd's Barber Shop (former)","alternate_name":"Robinson's Newsagency | Diamond Centre Jeweller | Lloyds Barber | Robinsons Newsagency","street_address":"80 Churchill Street","suburb":"CHILDERS","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The former barber shop is now a jewellers and is one shop within a row of five single story masonry shops built conjointly on the south side of Churchill Street, Childers main street adjoining the Palace Hotel. It has a corrugated iron roof concealed by a parapet and in common with the other shops in this group and other buildings on this side of the street, has a classical revival pediment with a balustraded parapet topped by urns. The interior is lit by a lantern in the roof and appears to have changed little. The shopfront is also much as original and is shaded by an ogee profile corrugated iron awning to the street supported by posts, although the cast iron valance is no longer present.
","history":"The former Lloyd's Barber Shop is one of a row of conjoining shops situated between the Palace Hotel and Kerr's Buildings. It and the adjoining bakery were built in 1902 for Alfred Gorrie to the design of Bundaberg architect FW Faircloth, following a fire that destroyed most of the south side of the main street of Childers. Faircloth was responsible for much of the new building following the fire, the effects of which transformed the appearance of Childers.
Childers is located in what was once the heart of the Isis Scrub. Following logging of the dense Scrub in the 1870s, Childers was promoted in the 1880s by Maryborough interests as an agricultural district. The land in the immediate vicinity of the present town of Childers was surveyed in 1882 into 50 acre farm blocks. There was no official town survey; Childers developed following private subdivision at the railhead of the 1887 extension line from Isis Junction. This was opened on 31 October 1887, and was intended principally to facilitate the transport of timber from the scrub.
The coming of the railway not only promoted the development of the town of Childers; it also proved the catalyst for the establishment of a sugar industry in the district in the late 1880s. At the opening of the railway to Childers, Robert Cran, owner of Maryborough's Yengarie mill, announced that he would erect a double crushing juice mill at Doolbi, to supply his mill at Yengarie. This was completed in 1890, with the juice being brought in railway tankers from the Isis. Further expansion of the sugar industry in the Isis was closely related to the activities of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, which erected a central crushing mill in the district 1893-94, and began crushing in 1895. By 1895, at least three other mills had been established in the Isis, with another two under construction, and Childers had emerged as the flourishing centre of a substantial sugar-growing district.
1902 was a very dry year and Childers had no fire brigade. In 23 March, a catastrophic fire swept through the south side of the main street in town, where virtually all the buildings were timber and closely built. Those stores destroyed were: S Oakley, bootmaker; FD Cooper, commission agent; R Graham, fruiterer; ME Gosley, tailor; Foley, hairdresser; M Redmond, Palace Hotel; WB Jones, auctioneer; W Couzens, fruiterer; H Newman, general storekeeper; WJ Overell and Son, general merchants; P Christensen, cabinet maker; W Hood, stationer; T Gaydon, chemist; W Lloyd, hairdresser; Mrs Dunne, fruiterer; Federal Jewellery Company; Dunn Bros, saddlers; H Wegner, bootmaker. The Bundaberg architect F H Faircloth was engaged to redesign many of the replacement buildings and called the first tenders in June 1902.
Frederic Herbert (Herb) Faircloth was born in Maryborough in 1870 and was a pupil of German-trained Bundaberg architect Anton Hettrich. Faircloth set up his own practice in Bundaberg in 1893 and was very successful, eventually being responsible for the design of almost every major building in Bundaberg. He was also to have a major effect on the appearance and character of Childers.
Prior to the fire, photographs show a timber building on this site, which may have been Overell's Drapery. Following the fire, this land was purchased by Alfred Gorrie. A row of 5 shops were built, two of which were owned by Gorrie and the remaining three were owned by chemist Thomas Gaydon and occupied as a single tenancy by a hardware store. Like other post fire buildings in Childers this set of shops were masonry rather than timber, a choice no doubt influenced by the fire, and were elegant single story buildings with large glass shop fronts. Striped ogee awnings across the footpath were supported by decorative posts with cast iron infill. Each shop had a separate roof, some lit by lanterns and the individual tenancies were also marked by the visual separation of the facades by the use of classic revival pediments, urns, and balustrades.
Gorrie occupied one of his shops himself as a baker and confectioner. This shop was occupied by hairdresser and barber William Lloyd, whose premises had been destroyed in the fire. The shop was leased to another hairdresser in 1930 and then to other commercial tenants. In 1941 Gorrie died and the property passed to Edward Gorrie who sold it to William and Annie McKay in 1958. It was purchased in 1976 by Earle and June Robinson who subdivided the property so that each shop was on a separate title. It was used for many years as a newsagency, although it is currently a jewellers.
","criteria":"It is important in demonstrating the evolution of Queensland's history representing evidence of the development of Childers in the early twentieth century in particular, the rebuilding of the south side of the main street in the early 1900s following the 1902 fire. Together with much of the southern side of Childers main street it provides clear evidence of the impact of fire on Queensland towns where adequate water supply and fire services were lacking.
|It is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of early 1900s country town masonry commercial buildings, in particular the awnings, shop fronts, lanterns, and overall form.
|It contributes to the picturesque townscape of Churchill Street which is both remarkably architecturally coherent and intact
|It has a special association with the life and work of Bundaberg architect FH Faircloth who was responsible for much of the appearance of the town of Childers in the twentieth century.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15401,"place_ref":600626,"name":"Bakery","alternate_name":"Sutton's Bakery | Isis Bakery, Childers Hot Bread and Cake Shop | A.E. Gorrie, Baker and Confectioner","street_address":"82 Churchill Street","suburb":"CHILDERS","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The bakery is one shop within a row of single story masonry shops built conjointly on the south side of Churchill Street, adjoining the Palace Hotel. It has a corrugated iron roof concealed by a parapet. In common with a number of shops on this side of the street, this building has classical revival pediments, some curved and some triangular, linked by a balustraded parapet topped by urns. The shop front is shaded by an ogee profile corrugated iron awning supported by posts to the street, although the cast iron valance is no longer present.
","history":"The Bakery is one of a row of conjoining shops situated between the Palace Hotel and Kerr's Buildings. It and the adjoining newsagency were built in 1902 for Alfred Gorrie to the design of Bundaberg architect FW Faircloth, following a fire that destroyed most of the south side of the main street of Childers. Faircloth was responsible for much of the new building following the fire, the effects of which transformed the appearance of Childers.
Childers is located in what was once the heart of the Isis Scrub. Following logging of the dense Scrub in the 1870s, Childers was promoted in the 1880s by Maryborough interests as an agricultural district. The land in the immediate vicinity of the present town of Childers was surveyed in 1882 into 50 acre farm blocks. There was no official town survey; Childers developed following private subdivision at the railhead of the 1887 extension line from Isis Junction. This was opened on 31 October 1887, and was intended principally to facilitate the transport of timber from the scrub.
The coming of the railway not only promoted the development of the town of Childers; it also proved the catalyst for the establishment of a sugar industry in the district in the late 1880s. At the opening of the railway to Childers, Robert Cran, owner of Maryborough's Yengarie mill, announced that he would erect a double crushing juice mill at Doolbi, to supply his mill at Yengarie. This was completed in 1890, with the juice being brought in railway tankers from the Isis. Further expansion of the sugar industry in the Isis was closely related to the activities of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, which erected a central crushing mill in the district 1893-94, and began crushing in 1895. By 1895, at least three other mills had been established in the Isis, with another two under construction, and Childers had emerged as the flourishing centre of a substantial sugar-growing district.
1902 was a very dry year and Childers had no fire brigade. In 23 March, a catastrophic fire swept through the south side of the main street in town, where virtually all the buildings were timber and closely built. Those stores destroyed were: S Oakley, bootmaker; FD Cooper, commission agent; R Graham, fruiterer; ME Gosley, tailor; Foley, hairdresser; M Redmond, Palace Hotel; WB Jones, auctioneer; W Couzens, fruiterer; H Newman, general storekeeper; WJ Overell and Son, general merchants; P Christensen, cabinet maker; W Hood, stationer; T Gaydon, chemist; W Lloyd, hairdresser; Mrs Dunne, fruiterer; Federal Jewellery Company; Dunn Bros, saddlers; H Wegner, bootmaker. The Bundaberg architect F H Faircloth was engaged to redesign many of the replacement buildings and called the first tenders in June 1902.
Frederic Herbert (Herb) Faircloth was born in Maryborough in 1870 and was a pupil of German-trained Bundaberg architect Anton Hettrich. Faircloth set up his own practice in Bundaberg in 1893 and was very successful, eventually being responsible for the design of almost every major building in Bundaberg. He was also to have a major effect on the appearance and character of Childers.
Prior to the fire, photographs show a timber building on this site, which may have been Overell's Drapery. Following the fire, this land was purchased by Alfred Gorrie. A row of 5 shops were built, two of which were owned by Gorrie and the remaining three were owned by chemist Thomas Gaydon and occupied as a single tenancy by a hardware store. Like other post fire buildings in Childers this set of shops were masonry rather than timber, a choice no doubt influenced by the fire, and were elegant single story buildings with large glass shop fronts. Striped ogee awnings across the footpath were supported by decorative posts with cast iron infill. Each shop had a separate roof, some lit by lanterns and the individual tenancies were also marked by the visual separation of the facades by the use of classic revival pediments, urns, and balustrades.
Gorrie rented out one of his shops to hairdresser and barber William Lloyd, whose premises had been destroyed in the fire. This shop he occupied himself as A.E. Gorrie, baker and confectioner. In 1930 the shop was leased to Beatrice Sutton who was also a baker and the business was later run as Sutton Brothers, bakers. In 1941 Gorrie died and the property passed to Edward Gorrie who sold it to William and Annie McKay in 1958. It was purchased in 1976 by Earle and June Robinson who subdivided the property so that each shop was on a separate title. The shop has changed hands several times before passing to the current owners, but appears to have always been a bakery. It is now Childers Hot Bread and Cake Shop.
","criteria":"It is important in demonstrating the evolution of Queensland's history representing evidence of the development of Childers in the early twentieth century in particular, the rebuilding of the south side of the main street in the early 1900s following the 1902 fire. Together with much of the southern side of Childers main street it provides clear evidence of the impact of fire on Queensland towns where adequate water supply and fire services were lacking.
|It is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of early 1900s country town masonry commercial buildings, in particular the awnings, shop fronts, lanterns, and overall form.
|It contributes to the picturesque townscape of Churchill Street which is both remarkably architecturally coherent and intact.
|It has a special association with the life and work of Bundaberg architect FH Faircloth who was responsible for much of the appearance of the town of Childers in the twentieth century.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15402,"place_ref":600627,"name":"Kerr's Building","alternate_name":"Kingston and Kingston | Crow & Kingston | Kerrs","street_address":"84-86 Churchill Street","suburb":"CHILDERS","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1993-06-25","description":"Kerr's building fronts Churchill Street, the main street of Childers, to the north with rear access off Macrossan Street to the south. The single-storeyed masonry building is located within a cohesive group of predominantly 1900s shops with street awnings and decorative rendered facades. The building has a ribbed metal gabled roof with a central clerestory skylight to the east and west which has been boarded up.
The rendered street facade is surmounted by a parapet with a heavy cornice and raised central pediment, supporting three urns, with EST 1902 in relief. The two shop fronts have face brick with aluminium framed glazing, with a recessed entry to the west tenancy and central corridor. An aluminium awning is slung from the facade replacing an earlier ogee awning on timber posts.
Internally, the building has a central corridor with office space to the west, with a hairdresser behind, and a coffee shop to the east. Walls are rendered masonry or partition. There is a suspended ceiling throughout the building.
At the rear, is an attached timber shed which is partitioned with a tenancy to the west and a store room to the east. It has a timber floor which is at a higher level than the front building, and no ceiling.
","history":"Kerr's Building was erected c1902 for Amelia Gertrude Overell, after a fire destroyed many of the shops along the southern side of Childers' main street.
The town of Childers grew up around a railway terminus opened in 1887 to facilitate timbergetting in the Isis Scrub. What became the main street was subdivided into small allotments in the 1890s. In 1893, Frederick John Charlton and Henry Jardine Gray sold 36 perches to Ellen Delaney. In 1898 the property was sold to Mrs Overell. It is not known what shops existed on the site at this time although J Delaney and later WJ Overell and Sons operated draperies in Childers. In March 1902 a fire destroyed the timber shop on the site, which was replaced by the existing masonry building. After the fire the southern side of the street was resurveyed resulting in the blocks becoming doglegged in shape.
In 1907 merchants and importers, Crow and Kingston, acquired the site. After the winding up of the company of Crow and Kingston Ltd the site was purchased by cousins Jack and Bill Kingston, who operated the store as Kingston and Kingston, merchants and importers, drapers and grocers. The site remained in the Kingston family until 1974 when it was transferred to Marjorie Ann Kerr. In that year, the shop was extensively remodelled. This work included internal partitioning, boarding up of the skylight, installation of a suspended ceiling, re-concreting the floor, and the remodelling of the front awning.
In 1977 the property was transferred to the present owners, who operate a real estate office. Alterations were carried out c1990 to enable the letting of various parts of the building. Existing tenants include a coffee shop and a hairdresser.
","criteria":"Kerr's Building, Childers, erected c1902, is important in demonstrating the evolution of Queensland's history, illustrating the development of Childers in the early 20th century.
|It is important in exhibiting a range of aesthetic characteristics valued by the Childers community, in particular its unity in form, scale and materials within the cohesive group of adjoining early 1900s shops; and its contribution to the streetscape of Churchill Street and to the Childers townscape.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion E","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15403,"place_ref":600628,"name":"Gaydon's Buildings","alternate_name":"Gaydon's Pharmacy: Gaydons Pharmacy | Childers Pharmaceutical Museum & Tourist Information Centre","street_address":"88-90 Churchill Street","suburb":"CHILDERS","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Gaydon’s Buildings is a two story masonry building in a row of shops on fronting the south side of Churchill Street, Childers main street. It is a rectangular building with its long axis (north-south) at right angles to the street and has twin gabled roofs, with lanterns, clad in corrugated iron and concealed by a parapet. It incorporates two buildings (rebuilt 1902, combined and extended 1911) separated by a masonry firewall; the pharmaceutical museum (former chemist) to the west is wider than the dental surgery to the east.
\nThe decorative upper front façade is symmetrical and, in common with a number of shops on this side of the street, has classical revival style pilasters, entablature and pediment, with a balustraded parapet topped by urns. The date 1894 is shown in raised letters on the pediment with the name GAYDON’S BLDGS below. The upper floor is also lit by a pair of multi-paned windows with arched heads and moulded architraves to the street and plain double-hung sash windows at the rear. The ground floor shop fronts for the pharmaceutical museum and dental surgery are of varying designs and widths, and have separate entrances. They are shaded by an awning to the street lined with decorative pressed metal.
\nThe rear of the building is facebrick at ground floor and rendered with an ashlar finish to the upper floor. The upper level windows are arranged symmetrically around a centred doorway, which is accessed by timber stairs. Separate rear ground floor doorways access the pharmaceutical museum and dental surgery, which has a one story skillion-roofed extension (1927, former dark room) to the rear.
\nThe ground floor of the pharmaceutical museum interior is laid out with a shop at the front and offices and dispensary area to the rear. The upper floor has been incorporated into the adjacent dental surgery, with openings formed in the dividing masonry wall. The interior is extraordinarily intact and includes partition walls, furniture, fittings, counters, shelving, drawers and their contents and stock. Equipment such as the cash register and dental chair and tools and account and prescription books belonging to (former) Gaydon's Pharmacy are preserved. The whole forms an archive of information on the operation of an early twentieth century pharmacy. 137 items from the Wickham House pharmacy in Brisbane have been added to the collection.
\nThe ground floor of the dental surgery contains a reception / waiting room, administration office, surgery and workshop. The upper floor is accessed internally by an enclosed timber staircase that is located within the pharmaceutical museum. The western side of the upper floor contains a staffroom, records room, bathroom and compressor / suction room; the eastern side contains surgery and consultation rooms. Some early interior stop-chamfered timber stud walls, clad with tongue-and-groove (T&G) timber boards, are retained in the reception (fixed vertically), and staffroom and records room (fixed horizontally).
\nCeiling are generally lined with T&G timber boards. The ground floor ceilings feature square timber lattice vents and evidence of the original location of the lanterns, including a pressed metal panel (west side) and a moulded timber frame (east side). The upper floor ceilings feature round timber ventilation roses and centrally positioned roof lanterns (relocated 1911) that are lined with moulded timber (west side, larger) and T&G boards (east side).
\nFeatures also of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nFeatures not of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nBuildings is one of a row of shops erected in 1902 to the design of Bundaberg architect FH Faircloth, following a fire that destroyed most of the south side of Churchill Street, the main street of Childers. Faircloth was responsible for much of the new building following the fire, the effects of which transformed the appearance of Childers. Extended to two storeys in 1911, the building housed Gaydon’s chemist and dental surgery (established on the site c1894), and several other important services to the town. Dentistry continues to be practiced at the premises and the former chemist, retaining extremely intact contents, became a pharmaceutical museum in 1989.
\nChilders is located in what was once the heart of the Isis Scrub. Following logging of the dense Scrub in the 1870s, Childers was promoted in the 1880s by Maryborough interests as an agricultural district. The land in the immediate vicinity of the present town of Childers was surveyed in 1882 into 50 acre farm blocks. There was no official town survey; Childers developed following private subdivision at the railhead of the 1887 extension line from Isis Junction. This was opened on 31 October 1887, and was intended principally to facilitate the transport of timber from the scrub.
\nThe coming of the railway not only promoted the development of the town of Childers; it also proved the catalyst for the establishment of a sugar industry in the district in the late 1880s. At the opening of the railway to Childers, Robert Cran, owner of Maryborough's Yengarie mill, announced that he would erect a double crushing juice mill at Doolbi, to supply his mill at Yengarie. This was completed in 1890, with the juice being brought in railway tankers from the Isis. Further expansion of the sugar industry in the Isis was closely related to the activities of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, which erected a central crushing mill in the district 1893-94, and began crushing in 1895. By 1895, at least three other mills had been established in the Isis, with another two under construction, and Childers had emerged as the flourishing centre of a substantial sugar-growing district.
\nThomas Gaydon arrived in Childers in 1894 and established 'The Isis Pharmacy' on behalf of Thomason Bros Co (Brisbane chemists). Born in Drayton in 1869, Gaydon completed his apprenticeship with JL Hodgson in Toowoomba, and was awarded the College of Pharmacy silver medal upon passing his Pharmacy Board examination in 1890. After several years as a branch manager with Thomason Bros Co, he established their Childers business as one of the first shops in the main street; clearing dense scrub prior to its construction on high ground opposite the post office. The 24ft x 20ft shop carried ‘drugs, patent medicines, toilet requisites and perfumery [and] also a large assortment of horse and cattle medicines’. Gaydon lived on site and the business offered dentistry, in addition to servicing the pharmacy needs of the community ‘at any hour of the day or night’.[1]
\nThe exact date Gaydon assumed ownership of the business is unknown; however, in September 1899, resub 18 of sub 3 of portion 870, was transferred to Thomas Gaydon and William Hood (tobacconist and stationer) as joint tenants. This was probably the land on which their adjoining timber shops were built.
\n1902 was a very dry year and Childers had no fire brigade. In 23 March, a catastrophic fire swept through the south side of the main street in town, where virtually all the buildings were timber and closely built. Those stores destroyed were: S Oakley, bootmaker; FD Cooper, commission agent; R Graham, fruiterer; ME Gosley, tailor; Foley, hairdresser; M Redmond, Palace Hotel; WB Jones, auctioneer; W Couzens, fruiterer; H Newman, general storekeeper; WJ Overell and Son, general merchants; P Christensen, cabinet maker; W Hood, stationer; T Gaydon, chemist; W Lloyd, hairdresser; Mrs Dunne, fruiterer; Federal Jewellery Company; Dunn Bros, saddlers; H Wegner, bootmaker. The Bundaberg architect FH Faircloth was engaged to redesign new premises and called tenders for the erection of eight brick shops, including Gaydon’s, in June 1902.
\nFrederic Herbert (Herb) Faircloth was born in Maryborough in 1870 and was a pupil of German-trained Bundaberg architect Anton Hettrich. Faircloth set up his own practice in Bundaberg in 1893 and was very successful, eventually being responsible for the design of almost every major building in Bundaberg. He was also to have a major effect on the appearance and character of Childers.
\nThe new shops were masonry rather than timber, a choice no doubt influenced by the fire, and were elegant single story buildings with large glass shop fronts. Striped curved awnings across the footpath were supported by decorative posts with cast iron infill. Each shop had a separate roof, some lit by lanterns and the individual tenancies were also marked by the visual separation of the facades by the use of classic revival pediments, urns, and balustrades. Gaydon's Buildings with its broken semi-circular pediment matched the adjoining Hood's shop to the west.
\nIn September 1911 the tender of Bundaberg builder WC Horton was accepted to add an upper storey to the building for a new dental chamber and mercantile offices. Faircloth was the architect for the addition.[2] The addition included the narrower adjoining shop to the east, so that a new and larger decorative, symmetrical façade with pediment, parapet, pilasters, and moulded entablature and string courses was created. A photograph dating from around 1913 shows that other tenants, including a bootmaker and the New Zealand Insurance Company, used the eastern side of Gaydon's Buildings. The upper floor was lit by relocated lanterns in the double gable roofs and a pair of large arched compound windows, and so had excellent light for its use as a dental surgery by Thomas Gaydon, who in addition to his work as a pharmacist, also practised as a dentist, photographer and anaesthetist to the local hospital. He was a public spirited man and also served as president of the Chamber of Commerce, School of Arts, hospital and School committees at various times. He was the second chairman of the Isis Shire Council in 1919 and served in this role again between 1924 and 1930.
\nChanges to Gaydon’s Buildings in the first half of the 20th century included the replacement of the original shopfront awning with a steel suspended awning, and removal of the original posts and brackets c1910s. In 1927 Gaydon added a skillion-roofed darkroom to the rear of the building, for the processing of photographs as an agent for Kodak. The entrance to the eastern shop was remodelled prior to 1948, partially closing in the shop window.[3]
\nFollowing the death of Thomas Gaydon in 1935, the property was transferred to his two sons, T. Geoffrey Gaydon (a dentist) and S. Noel Gaydon (a chemist) who both practised from the premises. In 1938 Mervyn G Hooper joined the staff as a chemist and went into partnership with Noel Gaydon in 1956. When Noel Gaydon died in 1966, Hooper continued the business and the property was transferred to his wife in 1973. In 1982 Mervyn Hooper died and the then pharmacy was operated as a gift shop (with all pharmaceutical material retained) by his widow Isbell (known as Isa) Hooper. In 1987 the shop ceased trading and was sold.
\nThe Shire leased the building, after purchasing the contents, catalogued items and carried out conservation work. In 1989 Gaydon’s Pharmacy opened as a pharmaceutical museum with an art gallery on the upper floor. The work undertaken by the Isis Shire Council to prepare the building for use as a museum, tourist office, and gallery received a National Trust of Queensland John Herbert Award for Conservation Action in 1989.
\nDentistry continued to be practiced at the premises following the death of Geoffrey Gaydon in 1969: by William Steele, until 1991; Michael Kelly Wiseman, until 1994; and by Dr Brett Phillips, the current building owner. The gallery and tourist office were relocated in 2002, and substantial renovations were undertaken to the dental surgery at that time. The pharmaceutical museum is currently run by the Isis Historical Society and known as the Old Pharmacy, with the building managed in partnership between the current owner and the Bundaberg Regional Council.[4]
","criteria":"Gaydon’s Buildings is important in demonstrating the provision of pharmaceutical and dental services in regional Queensland. Established as a chemist and dentist c1894, rebuilt in 1902 and extended in 1911, the building retains important surviving evidence that documents its early and continued use.
\nThe building is important in showing the development of Childers in the early 20th century and in particular the rebuilding of the south side of the main street in the early 1900s following the 1902 fire.
|Gaydon’s Buildings is one of only a few pharmaceutical museums in Australia and is very rare in retaining a high level of its own early fittings, equipment and stock.
|Gaydon’s Buildings has the potential to contribute considerably to an understanding of the work of early dispensing chemists, particularly in country towns where they might provide a wide range of services. Analysis of its extensive collection of early fittings, equipment, stock and documentation could be undertaken to address research questions relating to the social and medical aspects of pharmaceutical and related services in early 20th century regional Queensland.
|Designed by Bundaberg-based architect FH Faircloth, Gaydon’s Buildings is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of early 20th century country town masonry commercial buildings, in particular the awnings, shop fronts with large windows and recessed entrance, lanterns, and overall form. The intact symmetrical front façade (1911) incorporates classical design elements including decorative pediment, parapet, entablature, arched windows and pilasters. The original configuration of two adjoining buildings (built 1902, combined and extended 1911) is evidenced by the double gable roof form, individual shop fronts, rear elevation and internal arrangement with dividing masonry firewall.
|With its elegant, symmetrical composition, incorporating classical elements, Gaydon’s Buildings has aesthetic significance due to its beautiful attributes and contributes to the picturesque appearance of Churchill Street, which is both remarkably architecturally coherent and intact.
|Gaydon’s Buildings has strong associations with the Childers community as a provider of pharmaceutical, dental and photographic services since its establishment in the late 19th century. The subsequent partial use of the building as a pharmaceutical museum run by the community is evidence of its social value to the community.
|Gaydon’s Buildings has a special association with the life and work of Thomas Gaydon, prominent community figure and chemist, dentist, anaesthetist and photographer to the Childers area.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion C | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15404,"place_ref":600629,"name":"Shops at 102-108 Churchill St","alternate_name":"Coronation Building","street_address":"102-108 Churchill Street","suburb":"CHILDERS","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"102-108 Churchill St comprises two pairs of single-storeyed rendered masonry shops with pitched corrugated iron roofs. The shops are united by a common parapet and awning. The building abuts the two storeyed Grand Hotel to the west, and continues the line, scale and form of awnings and parapets of Churchill St to the east. Nos 102 and 104 are modest shops with arched brick voussoirs and hipped roofs to the rear, while nos 106 and 108 are longer skylit shops with concrete lintels and parapeted gables to the rear.
The shops have a gently curved corrugated iron awning supported on an exposed timber frame and square posts. Like many awnings on Churchill Street, it creates a space of generous proportions. The posts have an idiosyncratic variety of bases. Ornamental detail to the building includes cast iron valances and trim to the awning, and flat-ended pediments rising above the cornice line, which are interspersed with gabled capping to externally expressed piers. The parapet is a modest version of the pedimented parapets further along Churchill Street.
The tall shop fronts to nos 106 and 108 have large timber beaded display windows and recessed central timber french doors. The shopfronts are separated by rusticated piers. The display window to no 106 is particularly fine and intact, retaining its timber stall risers, internal glazed and gridded timber panels and external coloured and frosted glass panes above the display area. Both shops have recessed timber french doors, tall fanlights, and fanned patterns in the ceiling panels above the door. Internally, nos 106 and 108 are impressive shop spaces with high ceilings, a central clerestory skylight and exposed Queen post trusses. The ceilings are timber boarded, half-raked, and have square lattice vents.
Nos 102 to 104 have flat timber boarded ceilings with central sheeted areas indicating that skylights have been closed off. The floors have patterned sections of ceramic tiles towards the front of the shops. The shopfront to no 102 is timber beaded with a central recessed entry, while the shopfront to no 104 has been more recently replaced with aluminium sliding doors.
102-108 Churchill Street contains two impressive shop interiors (106, 108), fine shopfronts, and contributes in form, scale, and materials to the architecturally coherent Churchill Street streetscape.
","history":"This set of four shops was erected in two stages in the early 1900s in Childers main street for Johann Wilhelm Albert Kulick, owner of the adjoining Grand Hotel. The first set of two (102 and 104) was erected between 1902 and 1907, the second set of two (106 and 108) was erected c1913.
The town of Childers grew up around a railway terminus opened in 1887 to facilitate timber getting in the Isis Scrub. By 1903, when the Isis Shire Council was formed, Childers had become the administrative centre of a prosperous sugar growing region with several local sugar mills and a large seasonal population, including, until the turn of the century, Kanaka labourers, who came to cut cane. From the 1950s increasing mechanisation in the sugar industry resulted in a decreasing population. In the 1980s, Childers, whilst remaining a "sugar town", also became known as a "heritage town", with much of the main street being listed by the National Trust as part of a conservation area.
In common with a number of other Queensland towns, Childers was surveyed as a private town rather than by surveyors appointed by the colonial government. In the 1890s much of the main street, including this site, was subdivided into small allotments. In 1894, Frederick John Charlton and Henry Jardine Gray sold the site containing 1 rood 17.39 perches to William Ashby. Ashby also owned the adjoining block on which stood the Childers (later Grand) Hotel. In 1897 the property was sold to Kulick. A single storeyed timber store known to have been on the site by 1900, may have been financed by a mortgage for £800 Kulick took out in 1897. In March 1902 fire destroyed many of the shops along the southern side of Childers' main street, which were subsequently replaced by masonry buildings. The timber store, then known as Martin's auction rooms, was however, spared.
By 1907, the timber shop had been replaced. The first set of two masonry shops (102 and 104) was erected on the eastern side of the site. About this time, the Comino Bros established a fruit and refreshment business in no 102; no 104 was occupied by the local newspaper, the Isis Recorder. By c1913, the second set of shops was erected, with Dittmer's Book and Stationery store occupying no 106 for some fifty years. Existing tenants are Weller's Shoe Shop (102), two cafes (104, 108), and a real estate office (106).
The shops were purchased by the Comino brothers in 1925. Their fruit shop was then moved from no 102 to no 108, where it remained until the 1960s. John, Paul, George, and Arthur Comino arrived in Childers from the Greek island of Kythera in the early 1900s. Soon after they established the fruit and refreshment business in the town, and later the Marble Cafe (QHR 600612) at 58 Churchill Street, which Paul Comino ran, until his death in 1978.
","criteria":"The Shops at 102-108 Churchill Street, Childers, erected in the early 1900s, are important in demonstrating the evolution of Queensland's history, being evidence of the development of Childers in the early 20th century as a properous timber and sugar town, forming the heart of the Isis Shire, and in particular the rebuilding of the south side of the main street in the early 1900s.
|The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of both an early 1900s country town commercial building in general (particularly the parapets, awnings, shop fronts, overall form and, in the case of Nos 106 and 108, the interiors) and early 1900s Childers commercial buildings in particular, (particularly the form, scale, materials and, in the case of Nos. 106 and 108, the interiors).
|It is important in exhibiting a range of aesthetic characteristics valued by the Childers community and visitors alike, in particular the spatial proportions, exposed trusses and clerestory lighting of Nos 106 and 108, which contribute to impressive shop interiors; the fine intact shopfronts, in particular of No 106; and the building's contribution in form, scale, and materials to the architecturally coherent and picturesque Churchill Street streetscape.
|It has a special association with the life and work of the Comino family, a characteristic Greek immigrant trading family, and with the Dittmer family (106).
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15405,"place_ref":600630,"name":"Dittmer's Store/Isis Town and Country","alternate_name":"James Butler | Butler & Ker | Dittmers","street_address":"92-94 Churchill Street","suburb":"CHILDERS","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Dittmer's Store fronts Churchill Street, the main street of Childers, to the north with rear access off Macrossan Street to the South. The single-storeyed masonry building, with an ogee shaped corrugated iron awning, is located within a cohesive group of predominantly 1900s shops with street awnings and decorative rendered facades. The building has a corrugated iron gabled roof with a central clerestory skylight to the east and west.
The rendered street facade is surmounted by a parapet with a heavy cornice, balustrade and a rounded broken pediment supporting a single urn. The shop front has a central recessed entry with display windows to either side and a pressed metal ceiling with fixed arctic glass windows above.
The rear of the building is of face brick with supporting piers and barred windows. A freestanding brick toilet block is located adjacent to the rear entry to the building, and the rear of the site is grassed.
Internally, the building has a horizontal boarded ceiling which is raked from four sides in the centre to the clerestory skylight. Walls are rendered with some partitioning at the rear and the floor is concrete.
","history":"Dittmer's Store was erected c.1902 for chemist, Thomas Gaydon and stationer and tobacconist, William Hood, after a fire destroyed many of the shops along the southern side of Childers' main street.
The town of Childers grew up around a railway terminus opened in 1887 to facilitate timber getting in the Isis Scrub. What became the main street was subdivided into small allotments in the 1890s. In 1894, Frederick John Charlton and Henry Jardine Gray sold some 32 perches to tinsmith, James Slater. In 1899 the property was sold to Gaydon and Hood. In March 1902 a fire destroyed the existing timber shop, which may have been operated by Slater and later, Hood. Soon after the southern side of the street was resurveyed resulting in the blocks becoming doglegged in shape. The new masonry shop was occupied by Hood, whilst next door the partners erected a second store (QHR 600630b). After a second fire in the 1920s, the shop was operated as a men's mercer by LR Stevens and Benjamin Foley. Later it became an electricians shop, then a toy shop and sports store. In 1929 the shop was purchased by Thomas Gaydon's wife, Mary and remained in the Gaydon family until 1970 when it was purchased by the present owner.
","criteria":"Dittmer's Store, Childers, erected c1902, is important in demonstrating the evolution of Queensland's history, representing the development of Childers as a prosperous timber and sugar town, forming the heart of the Isis Shire, in the early 20th century.
Isis Town and Country, Childers, erected c1902, is important in demonstrating the evolution of Queensland's history, representing evidence of the development of Childers in the early 20th century as a prosperous timber and sugar town, forming the heart of the Isis Shire.
|It [Dittmer's Store] is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of an early 1900s country town commercial building, in particular its intactness it forms part of a cohesive group of adjoining early 1900s shops.
It [Isis Town and Country] is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of an early 1900s country town commercial building, and forms part of a cohesive group of adjoining early 1900s shops.
|It [Dittmer's Store] is important in exhibiting a range of aesthetic characteristics valued by the Childers community, in particular its interior, clerestory skylight, and decorative facade; its unity in form, scale and materials with the adjoining Town and Country store [600630b]; as part of a cohesive group of adjoining early 1900s shops; and its contribution to the streetscape of Churchill Street and to the Childers townscape.
It [Isis Town and Country] is important in exhibiting a range of aesthetic characteristics valued by the Childers community, in particular its unity in form, scale and materials with the adjoining Dittmer's Store [600630a] and as part of a cohesive group of adjoining early 1900s shops, and its contribution to the streetscape of Churchill Street and to the Childers townscape.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15406,"place_ref":600631,"name":"The Old Butcher's shop complex","alternate_name":"Wrench and Thompson butchers | Leatherarts | HR Lassig butchers","street_address":"6 North Street","suburb":"CHILDERS","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The old Butcher's shop complex is located in North Street a short distance from Churchill Street and the Federal Hotel. The site comprises masonry butchers shop and adjoining timber shop with a dwelling at the rear.
The main shop is constructed of brick and is a rectangular building with its long axis at right angles to the street. It has a gabled roof clad with corrugated iron and concealed by a parapet featuring a raised central section with an arched top, similar to shops in Churchill street. The shopfront is divided into two tenancies and has large display windows between and flanking the two panelled doors. It is shaded by an awning supported on two pairs of posts and is tiled at street level. The tiles are a glossy moss green with panels of geometric and stylised floral tiles in reds and greens beneath each window. Beside the windows at each side of the shop front are inset white feature tiles painted with the images of a bull and a ram in blue.
The adjoining shop is a simple timber building with an exposed stud frame and corrugated iron gabled roof. It also has a corrugated iron street awning which is supported on plain timber posts. Behind the shop is a timber dwelling which was not inspected. The butcher's shop includes fittings and furniture from its use as a butcher.
","history":"The Old Butcher's Shop complex is located just off the main street of Childers and near to the Federal hotel. The complex includes the former brick butcher's shop, an adjoining timber shop and a dwelling act the rear. It served several generations in Childers as a butcher's shop.
Following logging of the dense Isis Scrub in the 1870s, Childers, in the heart of the scrub, was promoted in the 1880s by Maryborough interests, as an agricultural district. The land in the immediate vicinity of the present town of Childers was surveyed in 1882 into 50 acre farm blocks. There was no official town survey and Childers developed following private subdivision of land at the railhead of the 1887 extension line from Isis Junction. This was opened on 31 October 1887 and was intended principally to facilitate the transport of timber from the scrub.
The coming of the railway not only promoted the development of the town of Childers; it also proved the catalyst for the establishment of a sugar industry in the district in the late 1880s. At the opening of the railway to Childers, Robert Cran, owner of Maryborough's Yengarie mill, announced that he would erect a double crushing juice mill at Doolbi, to supply his mill at Yengarie. This was completed in 1890, with the juice being brought in railway tankers from the Isis. Further expansion of the sugar industry in the Isis was closely related to the activities of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, which erected a central crushing mill in the district 1893-94, and began crushing in 1895. By 1895, at least three other mills had been established in the Isis, with another two under construction, and Childers had emerged as the flourishing centre of a substantial sugar-growing district.
The land on which the shops are situated was originally granted as a selection to Ernest Dyne but changed hands before being extensively subdivided into town lots in 1892. William Ashby, a hotelier, bought subdivisions 1 and 3. It is not known if he built on this land and subdivided and sold the section on which the butchers shop stands in 1905, before building the Federal Hotel on the corner of Churchill and North Streets in 1907. This area of North Street appears to have developed as an offshoot of the nearby shopping area in the main street and was no doubt assisted by the presence of the hotel. The facade of the Old Butcher's shop bears the date '1896' which may refer to the establishment of either a butchery on this site, or of the establishment in trade of the proprietor. Given the similarities between this building and those erected in the main street after the 1902 fire, the building may well have been built during this era of reconstruction in the town rather than in 1896. although the timber building adjoining it may well have been an earlier butcher
In 1905 the property was transferred to Eliza Wrench, wife of Robert Wrench who is listed in the Post Office Directory as manager of Childers Cash Butchery, although a 1907 photograph of the shop shows the name of the proprietors as Wrench and Thompson. Wrench had been a butcher in Childers since 1896, though by 1907 he was also acting as an insurance agent and may have run the New Zealand Insurance agency in the timber building. He eventually worked only as an insurance and commission agent and valuer. The land was divided into two and that with the butcher shop complex was sold in 1911 to Hermann Lassig, also a butcher. His change to the signage of the building consisted simply of substituting his name for that of Wrench & Thompson and removing the New Zealand Insurance hoarding. The front of the shop in this and the earlier photograph show an open front to the shop. It is not known when the closed and tiled shopfront was installed.
In 1915 the property was purchased by Daniel and Peter O'Regan, Daniel having been a butcher in Childers since at least 1900. In 1921 it was bought by the partnership of Robert Gant, William Branch, Richard Webb and William Webb and also run as a butchery. In 1928 it was purchased by Alexander Adie, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Isis Central Mill, who was to own five butchers shops. Adie died in 1940 and in 1944 the business became Stehbens Bros butchers, then Frank Slack, Butcher, before becoming Kings Meats Pty Ltd in 1962. Mr King was the last butcher to operate from the shop after a continuity of use that lasted over 60 years.
The shop is said to have been used as an iceworks and was empty for some time before being purchased in 1976 by Leonard and Cheryl Derley who used it to establish a leathergoods and pottery business and several government agencies. The shop was bought in 1988 by Anita Campden-Main who opened it as a museum and tourist attraction. The property was sold in 1996 and is currently being offered for rent.
","criteria":"As a handsome masonry commercial building in the commercial centre of Childers, the shop illustrates the change which took place in many Queensland towns as the simple timber and corrugated iron buildings of frontier settlement were replaced by more sophisticated premises as towns became stable and prosperous. The timber shop which adjoins it underlines this contrast. It is also an example of the fashion for building in brick in many country towns following the terrible fires which devastated commercial centres during the 'King' drought of the early 1900s, caused by a combination of closely-built timber structures and a water supply insufficient for fire-fighting.
|(Criterion under review)
|It contains much of its original equipment which has the potential to provide information on the way in which meat was processed for public sale and the equipment available to butchers, such as sausage machines, brine pumps, presses and mincers.
|The old Butcher's Shop complex in Childers is an exceptionally good and intact example of this kind of premises.
|The shops, particularly the masonry butcher's shop, which is constructed in a style similar to the rows of shops in Churchill Street, make a major contribution to the character of the streetscape of Childers.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion C | Criterion D | Criterion E","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15746,"place_ref":600971,"name":"Kalkie State School","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Bargara Road","suburb":"KALKIE","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Kalkie State School, located on a level site on the western corner of Bargara Road and Zielke Avenue, includes an early school building, a playshed, groups of mature trees and a residence.
The early school building, consisting of two intersecting wings fronting Zielke Avenue to the northeast, is a two-storeyed weatherboard structure with tall concrete stumps and corrugated iron gable roofs. The ground level contains storage rooms and play areas with a concrete floor, while the first level has class rooms, offices and verandahs.
The northwest wing, separated from the angled intersecting eastern wing by verandah space, has undergone a number of changes and now contains a class room at either end with office and corridor space between. The western class room has diagonally boarded raked ceilings with exposed rafters and collar-beams, and the northern class room has boarded ceilings raked to collar-beam level and contains an enclosed section of the northwest verandah. Both rooms have louvred rectangular skylights, vertically jointed boarding to walls and a combination of aluminium framed louvres and timber casement and hopper windows.
The angled intersecting eastern wing contains a class room, principal's office, staff room and northern verandah. This wing has hardboard sheeting to walls and ceilings, and aluminium framed louvred and timber hopper windows.
The playshed, located to the south of the early school building behind the row of trees fronting Bargara Road, consists of a timber shingle gable roof with kick-out eaves to the boarded gable ends. The roof is supported by ten timber posts and has no ceiling with the roof structure visible. The playshed has a brick paved floor and perimeter bench seating.
The mature trees include four figs, two Cook Pines and one Camphor Laurel to the Bargara Road frontage; two Cook Pines near the playshed; three figs to the northwest of the school and two figs to the Zielke Avenue frontage. The Cook Pines are exceptionally tall and narrow, and together with the fig trees, create a substantial local landmark.
The residence, located at the eastern corner of the site, is a two-storeyed weatherboard structure with tall concrete stumps and a hipped corrugated iron roof with projecting front gable above a bay window. The building has verandahs, which have been enclosed with insect screens, to the northeast and southeast with timber batten balustrades and angled timber brackets. The southwest elevation has casement windows and timber batten window hoods.
","history":"The earliest building at Kalkie State School was erected in 1877, with the playshed constructed in 1879-80. It was the first state school established in the Woongarra Scrub, and is the oldest school in Woongarra Shire. The playshed is one of the earliest surviving shingle-roofed playsheds in Queensland.
The school was established to serve the needs of the small farming community of Kalkie, which developed in the early 1870s in the heart of the Woongarra Scrub, about 4 miles east of Bundaberg. The area was open to selection from 1869, following resumption of half of Branyan Station (taken up in 1855) for closer settlement under the 1868 Crown Lands Alienation Act. In the early 1870s, the area attracted a substantial number of British, German and Scandinavian families. In the early years the principal cash crop was maize, but in 1876 the price of maize fell by 600%, and by the early 1880s, the Kalkie/Woongarra farmers had turned to sugar. In 1882 the large Millaquin sugar refinery was established, and numerous juice mills, whose output was piped to the refinery, were erected in the Kalkie/Woongarra district in the following decade.
From its inception, the school served as a focus for a variety of community activities, including a meeting on 10 December 1879 in which prospective ratepayers of the Division of Barolin, which encompassed the Woongarra scrub, agreed to seek permission to elect their first divisional board under the new Divisional Boards Act. Whether the first board met at the school subsequently has not been established.
In April 1875, Kalkie residents petitioned the Board of Education for the establishment of a national school in their district. Henry Easther, Secretary of the School Committee, offered a 5 acre site, to be surveyed from his homestead selection (portion 388, parish of Kalkie), for school purposes. The block was on a corner location, on the Sandhills Road (now Bargara Road). An alternative site, a little west along the Sandhills Road, was presented by a Mr Hermann, but in mid-1876 the district inspector for schools recommended Mr Easther's block, which had the advantage of dual road frontages. The Committee was informed in November 1876 that their request for a school at Kalkie had been approved, subject to the conditions of the new Education Act of 1875, which stipulated that the school committee must raise one-fifth of the cost of construction. Subscriptions to the building fund were slow, with local farmers struggling to make a living from maize cropping. The school committee also appear to have been responsible for clearing the front half of the block, the whole of which was covered in dense scrub.
In November 1876, the new Department of Public Instruction requested the Department of Public Works to call tenders for a school and teacher's residence at Kalkie, to be based on plans then in preparation for a school at Wivenhoe, in the Brisbane Valley. Tenders were called in December 1876, but were considered too high. Subsequently, tenders were called in April 1877 for a combined school and residence, based on the plans then being prepared for Tallebuggera. The contract was let to Bundaberg builders Franz Kuhnel and William Starke, with a contract price of £375/12/- and construction period of 13 weeks. The building, which comprised a schoolroom 30 feet long and an attached teacher's residence of 8 rooms at the rear, was erected on the southern corner of the block, with the schoolroom facing the Sandhills Road, and the residence facing the side road, which became known as School Lane (now Zielke Avenue). Both sections were constructed of weatherboards, set on timber stumps, and roofed with timber shingles (replaced in 1898 with galvanised iron). Construction was completed early in 1878, and the school opened on 11 February that year.
In October 1879, the School Committee informed the Department of Public Instruction that a subscription of £15 had been raised toward fencing and clearing the school grounds, and erecting a playshed. Tenders were called in November, and the contract let to H Hunt of Bundaberg. The price of the shingle-roofed playshed was £59, and the fencing consisted of 14.5 chains of split two-rail fence, and 5.5 chains of two-rail and paling fence, and 2.2 chains of sawn batten fence with gates. Hunt's work was completed by March 1880. The fencing has since been replaced, but the playshed remains in its original location. The shingles on the northern end were replaced in 1970, as a combined Rotary and Kalkie P & C project, but those on the southern end are original. [To be confirmed]
By 1884 the school, which had been erected to accommodate approximately 30 students, was grossly overcrowded, with an average attendance of 60 to 70. There was no verandah, and the head teacher was forced to accommodate pupils in the attached residence. Tenders for additions, comprising a 20 feet classroom extension and a verandah 50 feet by 8 feet along the length of the building, with a hat room and lavatory at each end, were called in late May 1884. Despite tenders being called, the work was let by private contract in June, for the price of £230, which was substantially lower than the tendered prices.
It appears that the Cook Pines [Araucaria columellaris] near the playshed date to the 1880s.
In 1977-78, students who had attended Kalkie State School in the late 1890s recalled climbing these trees, which were then about 5 metres tall. The pines are native to French New Caledonia and surrounding islands, and may have some connection with the large South Sea Islander population brought to the Kalkie/Woongarra district in the 1880s and 1890s, to work on sugar cropping.
In 1900, the School Committee requested that the school be detached from the residence and removed to another part of the site, and the residence upgraded. This work was undertaken in 1906, with the school building re-located to the north, behind the playshed. A new verandah was added to the rear of the classroom block, with two new windows and a door cut into the wall to which the residence had been attached. Most of these and the original window openings were enlargened later, in the 1920s.
In 1934, the District Works Supervisor recommended that a new teacher's residence be provided, and that the school be extended with the addition of a standard teachers' room, 15 feet by 12 feet. Tenders for the new teachers' room and repairs and painting to the school building were called in mid-1935, and the contract was let to SJH Byrne of Bundaberg, with a price of £229. A southern wing was added later, probably in the 1940s, and the present staffroom was added in the early 1960s. These have been included in the heritage listing.
The new teacher's residence was finally erected in 1937, at a cost of approximately £1200. The second residence was erected in front of the 1877 house, where the schoolroom was located originally, facing the main road to Bundaberg. It was described as a standard Type 5 Teacher's Residence, constructed of timber and galvanised iron roofing, with 3 bedrooms, hall, bathroom, living room, dining verandah, kitchen, maid's room, front and side verandahs, a laundry under the house, an earth closet in the backyard, and two 1000 gallon tanks. At the request of the then head teacher, Arctic glass was substituted for plain glass specified for the windows. This building also is included in the heritage listing. In late 1937, the first residence was sold and removed from the site.
An expanding school population has necessitated the construction of a number of buildings and structures at Kalkie State School since the 1970s. These are not included in the heritage listing.
","criteria":"Kalkie State School is significant as the first state school established in the Woongarra Scrub, and as the oldest school in Woongarra Shire. The first classroom block, the original playshed, and the early plantings of Cook Pines, figs and Camphor Laurel trees, are important for their association with the earliest establishment of the school. They also provide evidence of the initial development of the Kalkie area in the 1870s and 1880s.
|The playshed is a highly decorative example of its type, and is one of the earliest surviving shingle-roofed playsheds in Queensland.
|The residence is an intact example of an interwar Type 5 Teacher's Residence, which, together with the first school building, playshed and mature trees, form the nucleus of the school.
|The Cook Pines, together with the group of fig trees, create an exceptional and substantial local landmark which also act as an identity marker for the school. The playshed and Cook Pines also form the school's focal point and are used to comprise the school's emblem.
|It has had a long association with the Kalkie/Woongarra community as the centre of local education and a focus for community activity.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15784,"place_ref":601009,"name":"Fairymead House","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Thornhill Street","suburb":"BUNDABERG","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2002-02-22","description":"Fairymead House is situated within the Bundaberg Botanic Gardens, located on the corner of Mt Perry Road and Young Street, Bundaberg. Sited on the southern boundary of the botanic gardens at the end of Thornhill Street, the house is on elevated land and surrounded by well manicured gardens. The principal entry to the place is off Thornhill Street and a bitumen car park is located in front of the house.
Built in the Indian Bungalow Style, Fairymead House is an impressive two storey timber and masonry residence with a large hipped corrugated iron roof. The house has been relocated to this site and as a result a definite distinction can be made between the original timber fabric of the upper floor and the new masonry structure of the ground floor.
The ground floor of the house is constructed on a combination of concrete posts to the exterior and steel columns internally. Spanning between the concrete posts are timber battened valances. The walls to the ground floor are face brick and mirror the perimeter walls to the upper floor core of the house. The ground surface directly under the upper floor verandah is paved. Internally the ground floor is a large open space, which is used for museum exhibition purposes as well as storage.
The upper floor of the house is of timber construction clad with timber chamferboard. The verandah surrounds the entire core of the house and links the separate kitchen building with the main house. The Verandah comprises of timber floors, posts and handrails with timber batten infill panels forming the balustrade. Timber lattice doors and panels are located at points where timber stairs adjoin the verandah.
Entry to the upper floor is via a set of centrally located timber stairs, which lead to the upper verandah and front door. Flanking the entry foyer is the function room to the left, the Margaret room to right and skylight room at the foyers end. The function room is the largest room of the house and comprises of the original dining and drawing rooms. As such it has a dual fireplace.
The skylight room ceiling is punctuated by a leadlight skylight and is currently used as gathering entry space to the museum as well as housing exhibits. Leading off the skylight room are the Toft room, Store Bell room and Gooburrum room, all of which house museum exhibits.
Internally the floors are predominately polished timber with the exception of the function room, which is carpeted. The walls and ceilings are clad with timber tongue and groove boards and the original timber joinery to doors and windows appears to be intact.
","history":"Fairymead House, a grand plantation home, was built on land adjacent to the Fairymead Sugar Plantation, Bundaberg, in 1890, for Ernest and Margaret Young. Ernest Young and his father Henry and brothers Arthur, and Horace, established one of Bundaberg's earliest independent sugar plantations and processing mills, the Fairymead Sugar Plantation.
The origin of Bundaberg's sugar industry dates back more than 100 years to the introduction of the Sugar and Coffee Regulations Act 1864. Faced with the high cost of importing sugar from overseas, the Colony wanted to find a way to encourage people to invest in sugarcane growing. The Sugar and Coffee Regulations Act 1864, was introduced into Parliament by Charles Coxen, member for the Northern Downs. The proposed regulations of the Act permitted persons or companies to select land suitable for sugar in lots ranging from half a square mile to two square miles. The introduction of the Act brought about a renewed interest in sugar cane growing and people raced to accumulate land up and down the coast of Queensland.
The Brown brothers, Alfred and Arthur, were one of many who acquired land under the Sugar and Coffee Regulations Act 1864. In the early 1870s, the brothers acquired 13 square kilometres of land and developed the cattle property, Tantitha. Working under the Act the brothers divided up a central section of their property into three blocks, Jamaica, Barbados and Mauritius and experimented with the growing of sugarcane. These subdivided sections later became known as Fairymead, after a friend of the family visited the plantation and described the place as being like a "fairy mead" on a misty morning. The Brown's abandoned their venture into sugar after the floods of 1875, which saw the land swamped and the cane trampled by cattle. They sold the 5 square miles of land devoted to sugarcane to the Young family in 1878.
Arthur and Horace Young, with their younger brother Ernest, began to transform Fairymead into a profitable, state of the art, sugar plantation. Like many others who had heard of the potentially profitable sugar industry in Queensland's north, Arthur, Horace and Ernest had no knowledge of the sugar industry except their father's theoretical experience. They had formally held two sheep stations in New Zealand, but when rabbits devastated these stations in 1878, the brothers began an eight-month search for another suitable investment. There original intent was to investigate the pastoral possibilities in Australia but they were immediately won over by the possibility of a profitable sugar industry in Queensland.
Arthur and Horace began operations at Fairymead in 1880, while Ernest went to England to acquire some necessary equipment for the plantation. By 1883 the rougher pioneering work was done and the first major crop harvested. For the first two years the Young's punted the juice from their crops to Millaquin plantation and sugar refinery. In 1884 they installed a clarification unit and boiling plant, which enabled them to refine their own sugar as well as the sugar crops of smaller plantations in the Bundaberg region. By the end of 1884 cane from the Fairymead plantation, processed by their own mill, was producing 15 tons of sugar daily.
The Young brothers were also responsible for the introduction of a number of innovative cane harvesting and crushing techniques, many of which are still in use today. In setting up Fairymead Mill the Young brothers chose to install 81cm rollers imported from Glasgow to crush the cane instead of the standard 76cm rollers. They installed a Relieux furnace to improve processing efficiency of the raw juice and in circa 1882, they initiated the use of Fowler's tramway system to bring cane to the mill, introducing the now universal system of cane railways to the Bundaberg district. In 1902 the Young brothers established an irrigation system to help combat the effects of long periods of drought in the region and began working towards the mechanisation of the cane harvesting industry.
In 1938 the Young Brothers took their first step towards the mechanisation of cane harvesting by financing the development of a new single-row cane-cutting machine. This machine was a significant advance in cane-cutting technology, capable of cutting over 200 tonnes per day in straight cane. This investment paid off during the labour shortages of World War II. The rest of the district also benefited from Fairymead's reduced demand for cane cutters, who were made more available to service other sugar plantations in the region. Their second step was the development of the successful two-row cane-cutting machine. This machine was a post-war development thanks to the mechanical skills of Jim Vichie and the encouragement of Charles Young (son of Ernest and Margaret Young).
In 1972 Fairymead Sugar Company merged with Gibson and Howes Pty Limited to form the Bundaberg Sugar Company Limited. Milliquin Sugar Company Pty Limited became part of the group in 1975. In the 121 years since the first primitive sugar juice mill crushed the area's first successful cane crop, Fairymead and the sugar industry has played a major role in the development and prosperity of the city and surrounding district. Fairymead Sugar Plantation is still one of Australia's largest cane farms today.
Fairymead House was built on land adjacent to Fairymead plantation in 1890. It was the principal residence of Ernest and Margaret Young and other members of the Young family for over 60 years. It is a good example of the grandeur of plantation accommodation in the late 19th and early 20th century.
Fairymead House was designed by Sydney architect John Shedden Adam. It is a large plantation style home with a floor area of 600 square metres and 16-foot ceilings. The extremely high ceilings are a feature of the house and were incorporated in the design to provide some relief against the Queensland summer heat. Architect, John Shedden Adam, introduced a number of special inclusions in his design to accommodate requests made by his sister, Margaret Young. One request was to design the front stairs with a landing a couple of feet from the ground so that she could alight from her carriage without soiling her shoes.
Between World War I and World War II the house was used as single men's quarters by Fairymead mill and plantation workers. In the early 1950s the house was used for European refugee accommodation. In 1960 Christopher Young (grandson of Ernest and Margaret Young) moved his family back into Fairymead House and remained there until 1986.
In 1988 the Bundaberg Sugar Company Ltd gave Fairymead House to the City of Bundaberg as a building of 'significant historical importance to the district' and as the Company's Bicentennial gift to the City. The Bundaberg City Council agreed to provide a site for the home and Fairymead was relocated to the City's Botanic Gardens on the corner of Young Street and Mt Perry Road.
In 1990 the Bundaberg City Council began work on a development plan for Fairymead House and over the next four years undertook a number of conservation works on the property. The adaptive re-use of the property from a residence to a museum involved utilising the space underneath the house, which was subsequently bricked in to provide room for a theatrette and Life Education Centre. The interior of the original home has undergone very few structural changes since its construction in 1890 and many of the rooms have been furnished according to their original use. Most rooms contain a series of static displays illustrating the lifestyle of a plantation owner in the late 19th Century and the social aspects of the development of the sugar industry.
Fairymead house opened to the public in 1994 and now operates as a memorial to north Queensland's sugar industry and the Young family's contribution to the development of the sugar industry in the Bundaberg District.
","criteria":"Fairymead House was built in 1890 for Ernest and Margaret Young, on land adjacent to the Fairymead Sugar Plantation, Bundaberg. Although relocated in 1989 to the Bundaberg Botanic Gardens, the house is a rare example of the grandeur of plantation style accommodation of the late 19th and early 20th Century and attests to the development of north Queensland's sugar industry.
|Although relocated in 1989 to the Bundaberg Botanic Gardens, the house is a rare example of the grandeur of plantation style accommodation of the late 19th and early 20th Century and attests to the development of north Queensland's sugar industry.
|Designed by Sydney architect, John Shedden Adam, the architectural style of Fairymead House demonstrates an approach to building design that was influenced by climate and culture. In particular, the Indian Bungalow style home features 16-foot ceilings, wide verandah's and extended eves, designed to provide shade and natural cooling against the Queensland summer heat.
|Although relocated in 1989 to the Bundaberg Botanic Gardens, the house is a rare example of the grandeur of plantation style accommodation of the late 19th and early 20th Century and attests to the development of north Queensland's sugar industry.
|Fairymead House also reflects the life and work of the Young brothers, Henry, Horace and Ernest, who established one of Bundaberg's earliest and most successful sugar plantations. The Young brothers made a number of valuable contributions to the development of the sugar industry in Queensland. They established state of the art irrigation systems to combat drought, integrated more efficient cane processing techniques and introduced the now universal cane transport system, the Fowler's tramway.
Fairymead House now operates as a museum dedicated to Bundaberg's sugar industry. The rooms within the Young's home have been furnished to reflect their original use and contain a series of static displays illustrating the lifestyle of Ernest and Margaret Young, a pioneering family of the late 19th Century, and their contribution to the establishment of Queensland's sugar industry.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16047,"place_ref":601284,"name":"4BU Radio Station (former)","alternate_name":"The Strand Café/Restaurant","street_address":"55 Woongarra Street","suburb":"BUNDABERG","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2000-07-28","description":"The former 4BU radio station is a two storey brick building with a flat roof. The building has floor to ceiling glass panels located in the front or southern façade and the western and eastern façade. The entrance doors, timber framed with glass panels and decorative, geometrically shaped handles, lead to the ground floor. As the building now functions as a café and restaurant, much of the ground floor has been fitted out with stainless steel preparation and cooking facilities. The safe is located in its original position on the western side of the building. A large, sweeping staircase, with original timber and metal handrail and balustrading leads to the first floor. The metal balustrading curves around and encloses the entire south eastern corner of the first floor. Adjacent to the staircase, along the western wall of the building, is a large group of floor to ceiling windows finished with original timber sunshading detail. Original concentric circle, metal light fittings are located on the first floor.
An original timber door with glass panel and louvred vents is located in the north-west corner of the first floor, and opens to an unoccupied room. On the door is painted the words 'White Lotus Studio', providing evidence of its former use when Bundaberg Broadcasters occupied the building. Centrally located, at the rear of the northern end of the first floor are double doors with timber frames and glass panels, opening to a small foyer. Opening from this foyer are three original timber doors with soundproofing features. These doors open to the highly intact former recording studios. One room in the north-east corner is the most decorative and has a ribbed, undulating ceiling and timber geometric wall design which runs the length of the walls. The studio in the north-western corner has decorative wall and ceiling elements incorporating a 'staggered' design. In each room, windows provide views to the adjacent studio.
The garage is located to the rear of the building and the brickwork on the western wall incorporates a decorative geometric design.
","history":"The former 4BU building was constructed in 1957 to a design by architect, H Stuart-Nairne.
Following a meeting in April 1935 at the offices of Wyper Bros. Ltd, the company of Bundaberg Broadcasters Pty Ltd was incorporated on 24 July in the same year. Broadcasting commenced on 16 December 1935, with a compliment of seven advertisers and a PMG licence at a cost of £25. The chairman of directors, Mr W Harvey, along with the co-directors, Colonel Christensen and Mr R Curtis, adhered strictly to a policy catering for all tastes in entertainment.
The transmitter and studio equipment were purchased for just over £1500. The studios of 4BU were located in a building leased from Wyper Bros. Ltd. During World War II, regular programs for Bundaberg and district troops in New Guinea and adjacent islands were provided. In 1938, two acres of land was purchased at Kalkie for a fee of £50. Later that year a further area was purchased so that Bundaberg Broadcasters Pty Ltd could install an antenna, having received consent to increase power from 200 to 500 watts. This consent was given in 1937, a small fibro cottage was supplied for the engineer so that he could live on site and be on call should problems occur.
During the 1930s and for many years broadcasting consisted of live stage plays, revues and concerts. The new transmitter station opened at Kalkie in June 1938. In 1941, the lease for the studios was extended for a further three years and in May of that year the old piping was dismantled. Until 1939, power for transmitting was supplied by a generator owned by Bundaberg Broadcasters Pty Ltd. It was not until 25 May 1939 that power was connected to the Kalkie site from the city electricity supply. In December 1943, a further lease and an offer to purchase was placed on the studios. This building was known as 'The Radio Building'. As the industry of the wireless grew so 4BU followed suit. Prior to having their building constructed, 4BU rented premises from the Council. With an ever increasing listening audience and updates in technology, Bundaberg Broadcasters decided to constructed a new building.
Designed by H Stewart-Narine, who had also designed other Bundaberg buildings, including the fire station, the building was opened in 1957. Stuart-Nairne incorporated a number of very distinctive elements associated with 1950s architecture. Like many similar designs, both non-domestic and domestic, the building was designed with a flat roof, a distinct 1950s departure from the domination of buildings by roof forms. Brisbane architects, Hayes and Scott produced many houses that experimented with the composition of windows, fine detailing of glass up to roof line and exaggerated projection of roof line, to heighten the illusion of the flat roof floating. By 1948, the initial problems of gaining the confidence of builders had been solved, consequently, this paved the way for interesting variations of ceiling forms during the 1950s. Stuart-Nairne's use of floor to ceiling glass in the design of the former 4BU radio station is architecturally typical of this era.
The former 4BU radio station demonstrates the rediscovery of texture in the 1950s. Materials composed as textural decoration included using colour, art works, sunshading devices, grids, patterns and fragmented building components. Decorative, textural detail extant in the former 4BU radio station include the interior decorative features, particularly the undulating ceiling and geometric wall treatments in the former recording suites and the timber sunshading features on the western side of the building. The decorative elements epitomise the use of rationalised ornamentation incorporating a sense of logic so archetypal of the 1950s.
In 1993, Bundaberg Broadcasters Pty Ltd were granted and introduced FM sound to Bundaberg. Known as HitzFM it was a very popular service, particularly with the younger members of the community. Once again, with updated technology and an increasing need for more space, Bundaberg Broadcasters moved from the Woongarra Street site to its current location in Crofton Street in 1992. The former 4BU radio station now houses a licensed café and restaurant.
","criteria":"With its flat roof, floor to ceiling glass and highly intact interior decorative features, particularly ceiling and wall treatments in the former recording suites, as well as original timber and glass entrance doors, windows with timber sunshading features on the western side of the building, original stairwell with balustrading and light fittings, original timber and glass doors to both the main entrance and the entrance to the 'White Lotus Room' recording suite, the former 4BU radio station is most significant as an excellent, intact example of commercial 1950s architecture.
A purpose built radio station, the building is significant for its association with Bundaberg Broadcasters, who have operated in the area for over 65 years, including broadcasting to troops in New Guinea during World War II. The former 4BU radio station is significant for its association with architect, H Stuart-Nairne. Stuart-Nairne prepared designs for a number of buildings in Bundaberg, including the fire station.
|With its flat roof, floor to ceiling glass and highly intact interior decorative features, particularly ceiling and wall treatments in the former recording suites, as well as original timber and glass entrance doors, windows with timber sunshading features on the western side of the building, original stairwell with balustrading and light fittings, original timber and glass doors to both the main entrance and the entrance to the 'White Lotus Room' recording suite, the former 4BU radio station is most significant as an excellent, intact example of commercial 1950s architecture.
|With its flat roof, floor to ceiling glass and highly intact interior decorative features, particularly ceiling and wall treatments in the former recording suites, as well as original timber and glass entrance doors, windows with timber sunshading features on the western side of the building, original stairwell with balustrading and light fittings, original timber and glass doors to both the main entrance and the entrance to the 'White Lotus Room' recording suite, the former 4BU radio station is most significant as an excellent, intact example of commercial 1950s architecture.
|A purpose built radio station, the building is significant for its association with Bundaberg Broadcasters, who have operated in the area for over 65 years, including broadcasting to troops in New Guinea during World War II. The former 4BU radio station is significant for its association with architect, H Stuart-Nairne. Stuart-Nairne prepared designs for a number of buildings in Bundaberg, including the fire station.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16270,"place_ref":601507,"name":"Isis District War Memorial and Shire Council Chambers","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"45 Churchill Street","suburb":"CHILDERS","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2000-05-26","description":"The Isis District War Memorial and Council Chambers is a one story masonry building located at the southern end of Churchill Street, Childers. The town's water tower provides a backdrop to the building which is set amid wide lawns with several large shade trees. The building is centrally planned, taking the form of a Greek cross in plan and exhibiting a style most aptly described as abstract Classicism. This is emphasised in elevation by the use of elements such as pediments, acroteria and an austere, modulated façade that suggests an abstracted temple front.
The building sits low to the ground on a concrete slab and is constructed of painted, load-bearing concrete blocks with the appearance of vermiculated ashlar. A low masonry wall and cast iron fence runs along the front boundary of the site, attaching to the corners of the front elevation. Two sets of gates defined by pairs of masonry piers lead to the entrances of the War Memorial and Soldier's Room. Each wall of the building has a centrally located, moulded pediment whose shape is reflected in a parapet wall above. Acroteria are located at the apex and ends of the pediments. Moulded string courses separate the pediments from the walls and sections of the lower façade are recessed around window openings. These recessed sections are further divided by an enlarged concrete sill that stretch the full width of the recess. Windows and doors are generally timber framed surmounted by large, painted iron hoods.
The central section of the building accommodates the Shire Council offices which are accessed via a recent, steel and glass entry door. A hallway runs the length of the building from the front entrance to an exit door at the back. An entry vestibule has been formed from a section of the hallway partitioned with a plasterboard wall and recent timber and glass door. To the right of the vestibule is a large open plan office with a long service counter and small waiting area. Other Council offices and a strong room are located either side of the hallway. All of these rooms have recent suspended ceilings which have been inserted to conceal air conditioning ducts. Many of the internal walls are painted, load-bearing masonry with timber skirting boards with other recent plasterboard partitions dividing some of the offices into two smaller offices. A second service counter area is located in the rear section of the hallway on the left-hand side, this is now unused.
The western wing of the building accommodates the War Memorial room and the eastern wing, formerly the Soldier's Room, now contains the Council meeting room, staff room and photocopy room. The Council meeting room has a recent plasterboard ceiling with recessed down-lighting, a dark brown upholstered dado and a large, horseshoe-shaped meeting table that was purpose built for the space. The tall, panelled, timber entrance doors in the southern wall are no longer used and a small exit door is situated on the eastern wall. On the exterior of the western and eastern wings, a bay of three windows comprising of a central pair flanked by single windows with fanlights above, is arranged directly below the pediment.
The War Memorial is entered via a gently sloping ramp and through a pair of tall, timber panelled doors. Dark timber honour boards stretch across all four walls of the room. There are two boards on the eastern wall, the upper one is in memory of the men who died in action in World War Two and is surmounted by an ornate timber pediment. The lower boards are in memory of the men who died in World War One. The boards are inscribed with gilt lettering and have a row of copper plaques mounted upon them. Alongside the names of battlefields, is a quote from Wilfred Owen's deeply ironic poem "Dulce Et Decorum Est" - "how wonderful it is to die for the fatherland". Each plaque is dedicated to the memory of an individual soldier and is embossed with the years of the war, the badge of the Australian Imperial Force and an oval-shaped photograph of the soldier framed by a pair of weeping women and the words "in memory of". The soldiers' names are engraved on small plaques below. The plaques for the First World War are brass and for the Second, chrome. A timber shelf runs below the copper plaques and a small vase with artificial red poppies is placed in front of each plaque. Above one of the plaques is a framed black and white photo of the foreign grave of the soldier to whom the plaque is dedicated.
Flags are mounted on the walls above the honour boards and chairs are located in each corner of the room. Wreaths, framed photographs of the reigning monarch and a visitor's book are to be found on a table in the centre of the room. The room is carpeted, the windows are shaded with venetian blinds and the plaster ceiling is decorated with a grid-like pattern.
Toilets are located in a small separate building at the back, north-eastern corner of the building. The toilet block is constructed of face brick with a skillion roof. Also situated at the back of the building are two areas of air conditioning plant enclosed by timber paling fences.
A German 21cm Morser or Short Howitzer cannon is usually located on the Western side of the building, however, a community project to restore the cannon is currently underway and the cannon will be re-installed when restoration is complete.
","history":"The Isis District War Memorial and Shire Council Chambers was constructed in 1926 and is the second administration building for the Isis Shire Council located in the town of Childers. In the 1870s timber cutters were the first European settlers to come to the area surrounding Childers, attracted by large quantities of hoop pine, red cedar and other timbers. The town was established during the 1880s after the land in the nearby area was surveyed into 50 acre farm blocks in 1882. There was no official town survey and Childers developed following the private subdivision of portions 870 and 871, at the railhead of the 1887 extension line from Isis Junction.
Childers and other towns in the present Isis Shire were originally part of the Burrum Divisional Board which was based in Maryborough. There was considerable discontent during the 1880s amongst the ratepayers of the fledgling town who felt disadvantaged and neglected. The Burrum Divisional Board covered a very extensive area and the 36 mile journey to Maryborough coupled with the poor condition of the roads meant that representatives from the Isis district often failed to attend meetings. The Isis ratepayers and Isis Progress Association presented a petition for separation to the then Governor-in-Chief, Sir Anthony Musgrave and the members of the Executive Council of Queensland. They requested that Sub-division 3 be severed from the Division of Burrum and be constituted as a separate division, the Division of Isis.
The Governor and Executive Council agreed to the petitioners' request and on 31 December 1886 the Isis Divisional Board was proclaimed. Meetings and elections were held in Howard at the Court House and board members from Childers rode on horseback to attend meetings once a month. The location of the Board's office was an issue of contention for a number of years and various propositions were presented for re-locating to Childers, Isistown or to a new building in Howard. In 1891, an offer of land in Childers was made to the Board and they subsequently made an application to the government for a loan of £250 to erect a new building. From 1891, the Isis Divisional Board met in the Land's Office, two rooms adjoining the Post and Telegraph Office in Childers. In 1903, the Isis Divisional Board was abolished by the Governor-in-Council and the Isis Shire Council was created. That same year, the Council moved to the Isis Shire Council Hall, a low-set timber building which had been constructed in Churchill Street on the site of the present swimming pool.
World War One had a profound impact on the small town. Large numbers of young men from the district enlisted and the town experienced a loss of 60 from a population of 1500. A deputation of men and women from the Isis District War Memorial Committee approached the Isis Shire Council at its General Meeting on 20th October 1924 to discuss the possibility of jointly constructing the "Isis District War Memorial Shire Council Chambers". The proposed building would house a Soldiers' Memorial and a room for returned soldiers as well as new Council Chambers. A joint committee was formed. A driving force behind the war memorial project was the then Shire Clerk, Mr Herbert Epps. Epps was a former councillor who had relinquished his position on Council to take up the job of Shire Clerk, a responsibility he maintained until his death in 1932. One of his three sons was killed in action in France in 1917 and he was passionate in his determination to have the War Memorial Council Chambers erected.
The Joint Committee had decided to invite competitive designs for the building and received entries in early February 1925. The submissions were judged without knowledge of the authors and "design number two" was chosen. The winner was Brisbane architect Francis Jones. Jones had undertaken his architectural education in England and was the first Queensland-born architect to achieve the distinction of being admitted as an Associate of the RIBA. He was an architect for both Queensland Railways and the Department of Public Works and lectured at the Brisbane Central Technical College and the University of Queensland. Jones was also a returned soldier having fought in both the Boer War and World War One. He received £26/5/- as prize money for his winning entry of a masonry building in the shape of a cross in plan, that was uncluttered and formal in appearance.
Tenders were considered at a special meeting of Council in August 1925 and Mr R.V Brady's tender of £3449/19/-, which included furnishings, was accepted. The Council borrowed £2000 from the AMP Society to pay for their share of the construction costs. The building is said to have been constructed of hand-formed blocks and it is believed that Thomas Pye was the architect who supervised the construction, however, the nature of the relationship between Pye and Jones' design is not clear. Pye was in private practice at this time having left the Department of Public Works. Pye had experienced a tumultuous working life in the Department despite his significant contribution to the design of many of Queensland's most important public buildings. Pye was a keen rifleman and also served with the army, rising to the rank of colonel, and it may have been through these connections that Pye became involved with the Isis project.
Construction was completed and the building opened on Anzac Day (April 25), 1926. The official opening and dedication of the Isis War Memorial was a significant event in the life of the Childers community. The Maryborough Chronicle reported that "the memorial was planned, supervised and built by returned soldiers and it is understood it is the first of its kind in the Commonwealth." The ceremony included an Anzac Day service, conducted by local priests, one of whom was also a returned soldier. The opening ceremony was performed by Mr W.A. Brand, MLA for Burrum, the memorial was opened by Miss Adie, daughter of long-term Isis councillor and chairman of the Directors of the Isis Central Sugar Mill Company, Alex Adie and the soldier's room was opened by Mrs H Epps, wife of the Shire Clerk and mother of James Epps who features in the memorial. The Childers Town Band provided extensive musical accompaniment and the Union Jack was unfurled at the top of the building.
A visitor to the memorial in 1927 provides an evocative description in The Queensland Digger, capturing the powerful emotional impact of the War Memorial room:
"Many and varied are the types of memorial to be seen throughout this vast land of ours... but of the many which I have seen I was never more impressed than with the abovenamed memorial, which is situated in the little township of Childers; one of Queensland's sugar producing districts.
...in keeping with the sacrifice of which it reminds us, it takes the form of a Maltese Cross (sic.), which is decidedly emblematical... The centre of the building is occupied by the Local Authorities and takes the form of offices, strong room and board meeting room. The right portion is a recreation room for the use of returned soldiers, while the left hand side of the building presents a picture which I shall never forget; for this is the sanctuary where relatives of the fallen temporarily shut themselves in with the memory of their dear ones. The beautiful honour board extends nearly around the four walls. Mounted upon this board are many individual bronzed metal frames appropriate in design and where it has been possible to secure same, the photograph of the dead soldier appears. The effect is splendid and to complete the unique work a shelf has been arranged so that there is ample room for the relatives to place flowers in remembrance. What impressed me mostly was the fact that a number of the vases contained fresh flowers: showing that someone had gratefully made use of the facilities provided by this wonderful memorial."
","criteria":"The Isis District War Memorial and Shire Council Chambers, constructed in 1926, is important in demonstrating the evolution of Queensland's history, reflecting the growth and development of the town of Childers and its importance as the administrative centre of the Isis district. The War Memorial provides evidence of a widespread social movement expressing Australian patriotism and nationalism of the interwar period, and belongs to a class of commemorative structures erected as a record of the local impact of a major historical event and intended to endure. The War Memorial is also important as a source of historical information.
|As a combined Council Chambers and War Memorial, the place demonstrates uncommon aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage. The War Memorial is an unusual and rare type of memorial. In the form of a room and incorporating photographs, copper plaques, decorative joinery, flags, flowers and furniture, the Isis District War Memorial is unique in Queensland.
|The Isis District War Memorial and Council Chambers is important for its aesthetic significance. The unusual and stark design of the building and the powerful emotional impact and distinctive aesthetic qualities of the war memorial room combine to create a place that makes a strong and lasting impression on the senses. The building together with the town's water tower which is adjacent, make a significant contribution to the exceptional streetscape of Churchill Street.
|The Isis District War Memorial and Council Chambers has a strong and special association for the Isis community. The place is an extraordinary and symbolic achievement of that community, layered with powerful meanings and memories.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion E | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16279,"place_ref":601516,"name":"Boolboonda Railway Tunnel","alternate_name":"SEQ-6Q 1","street_address":"Tunnel Road","suburb":"GIN GIN","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1999-09-24","description":"The Boolboonda Railway Tunnel, 192 metres in length, is located on Tunnel Road, approximately 11 kilometres in a north-easterly direction from the town of Mount Perry. Constructed through granite rock, the tunnel is unlined and unsupported. The tunnel is presently used by vehicular traffic.
","history":"The Boolboonda Railway Tunnel opened 12 November 1883 following a construction period of two years. It was built by Queensland Government Railways as part of the Bundaberg - Mount Perry railway line, constructed to service the Mount Perry copper mines. The section of the line between Tirroan and Mount Perry closed in 1960 and was removed in 1961.
Copper was discovered in the Mount Perry area in the second half of the nineteenth century. Mining activities led to agitation for a link between the mines of the Mount Perry region and a port. In 1872 proposals of a private railway line were considered, and both Maryborough and Bundaberg vied to secure the line. These plans were never executed however. Rather, it was decided a state-owned line would be constructed. Thornloe Smith, Engineer in charge of Railway Surveys, conducted a survey from North Bundaberg to Mount Perry in 1875. Thornloe's survey noted the country was rugged, and eventual surveying plans called for a tunnel to pierce part of the Boolboonda Range. The Bundaberg Railway, as it was called, was constructed in two sections. The first section, North Bundaberg to Moolboolaman, was constructed by Overend and Co. and opened on 19 July 1881, although timber specials had run for some months previously. The second section, including the tunnel works, was approved in November 1880.
The original tenderers for this second contract declined the offer and a second round was called. O'Rourke and McSharry submitted costings of £112 502. Previous to this another series of surveys had been conducted to avoid the expense of constructing a tunnel through the Boolboonda Range, however it was decided to continue with the original plans.
Work on the approaches to the tunnel had commenced by the end of 1881, progressing steadily throughout 1882. The Boolboonda Railway Tunnel was driven through the hard granite of the range, and as noted by the Acting Chief Engineer 'this tunnel will not require to be lined being excavated through hard granite and that thus a saving of £5 000 will be effected'. This was the first time in the colony where it had not been necessary to line a tunnel, due to the nature of the rock it was driven through. The hard granite rock also meant the tunnel did not require additional support, and it is the longest unsupported (railway) tunnel constructed in Queensland. Mechanical means, including boilers and air compressors for drills were used to advance the drilling of the two tunnel headings.
The section of line to Boolboonda opened on 12 November 1883. As noted in the Commissioner's Report for 1882-83, the tunnel being driven from east and west ends was about half complete at this time (a total drive of about 300 feet). The headings of the tunnel broke through at noon on 19 June 1883. The line to Mount Perry was officially opened to rail traffic on 19 May 1884. It included the tunnel and a succession of curves of 100 and 120 metre radius. Although the contract for the second section had expired on 10 February, the delay in completion was attributed to station works at Mount Perry and the difficulty the contractors met with in piercing the tunnel at Boolboonda, this not being completed until 1884. The tunnel when completed measured 584 feet in length (192 metres).
At the completion of the line the Mount Perry copper mines closed due to the financial failure of the mines. The copper mines reopened around the turn of the century and with the construction of a smelter, operated until the period of the First World War. The unlined tunnel and the Splitters Creek trestle bridge at Sharon were the two major engineering works undertaken on the Mount Perry line. For the next 50 years the main traffic generated on the Mount Perry line was mainly from dairying, livestock and timber traffic, with sugar traffic from Gin Gin east to the Gibson and Howes mill.
The section of line from Tirroan to Mount Perry was closed in 1960 and removed in 1961, due to declining traffic revenues. The final section of the Bundaberg Railway, Bundaberg to Gin Gin, closed in 1992. Since cessation of rail traffic the tunnel has become a habitat for a colony of Bentwinged bats. Built as a low cost, development railway, the only evidence remaining of the Tirroan-Mount Perry line are embankments and the Boolboonda tunnel (now open to road traffic).
","criteria":"The Boolboonda Railway Tunnel is important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history as evidence of the rail line from Bundaberg to Mount Perry built in the 1880s.
|The place demonstrates a rare aspect of Queensland's cultural heritage as an early example of one of the few railway tunnels built in Queensland not requiring lining or support. The tunnel is also made unusual by the absence of portals to the entries of the tunnel.
|The Boolboonda Railway Tunnel is of aesthetic significance as a picturesque element in the landscape.
|The tunnel is of social significance to the local community.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion E | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16296,"place_ref":601533,"name":"Bundaberg Central State School","alternate_name":"Bundaberg South State School","street_address":"13 Crofton Street","suburb":"BUNDABERG","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2014-11-28","description":"Bundaberg Central State School occupies almost a whole city block just south of the Bundaberg CBD in a predominantly commercial area. It is bounded by Woondooma Street to the north, Barolin Street to the east, Crofton Street to the south and Maryborough Street to the west. The school addresses Crofton Street and all school buildings are located at the western end of the site. Playing fields, a forestry plot of mature hoop pines and other mature trees occupy the remainder of the school property, with a gully (formerly a creek) running diagonally across the northeast corner. The significant buildings are an 1890 Ferguson designed teaching building and two playsheds, built in 1900 and 1907. No other buildings or structures are of cultural heritage significance. The former school residence, located in the northeast corner of the block, is in private ownership and no longer forms part of the school grounds.
The Ferguson building is set back from Crofton Street with gardens and other school buildings between it and the street so that only the centre portion is visible. The building is composed of three blocks arranged symmetrically in a U-shape around a former parade ground, linked by a continuous verandah on the parade ground side. The east and west blocks are a mirror image of each other and contain two classrooms each, while the central block is slightly longer in size and contains a library and offices. Four former teachers' rooms are attached to the verandahs - one each on the outer verandah of the east and west blocks, and on both sides of the central block. The inner verandahs of the east and west blocks have been enclosed. The building retains much of its original, high-quality, finely crafted timber ornamentation.
Each block is timber-framed, lowset on brick piers with timber chamferboard wall cladding. The steeply pitched gable roofs are clad in modern rib-and-pan metal roof sheeting. The roof of the central block has four dormer windows and a large ventilation spire with weather vane finial. The gable end walls feature decorative brackets and timberwork, and have triangular ventilation panels of fixed timber louvres at the gable peak. Decorative timber brackets also support the eaves and window hoods of the former teachers' rooms.
The verandahs are timber framed with a skillion roof separate to the main roof. Their raked ceilings are lined with timber v-jointed, tongue-and-groove boards and the exposed rafters are stop-chamfered. Triangular panels of fixed timber louvres are located at the end of each verandah section. Timber verandah posts feature decorative cornices and brackets and most are stop-chamfered. Where verandahs have been enclosed the verandah posts have been incorporated into the structure and remain visible. Sections of high-quality cast iron balustrade, supported by timber top and bottom rails, are located on the western verandah of the western block and the southern verandah of the central block. Most other balustrades have been replaced by bag racks. Small sections of early timber verandah enclosures survive at the northern ends of the eastern and western blocks. Access to the verandahs is via short flights of timber steps, most of which remain in their early locations on either side of attached teachers' rooms or in the centre of the inner verandahs.
Most early windows have been in-filled or replaced by banks of glass adjustable louvres, however some survive in the former teachers' rooms. These consist of tall, narrow, double hung sashes or casement windows. Early doors are timber, low-waisted double doors, some of which retain tall fanlights above. The eastern former teacher's room has a low-waisted, single leaf door with evidence of early door hardware.
Internally, all blocks have timber floors (lined with modern vinyl and carpet), walls lined with vertical v-jointed tongue-and-groove boards, and raked ceilings lined with diagonal v-jointed boards. The Queen post roof trusses are exposed within the rooms, revealing decorative features such as stop-chamfered edges and turned timber pendants. Early internal partition walls are single-skin with exposed timber framing and are lined with vertical, beaded tongue-and-groove boards. Large openings have been created in the classroom partition walls and in some verandah walls where the verandah has been enclosed. Some early school furniture and artefacts remain within the building, including a brass school bell with mount and swinger attachment.
The former teachers' rooms have coved ceilings and are lined internally with timber v-jointed boards or beaded tongue and groove boards. The ceilings are coved and have a ventilation panel. Walls have timber picture rails and skirtings.
An attached room (built 1965, currently used as an office) and modern partitions and suspended ceilings in the western end of the central block, forming offices and a staff room, are not of cultural heritage significance.
To the north of the Ferguson building are the two playsheds. Both are timber framed with a hipped roof clad in corrugated metal sheeting and a modern concrete slab floor. The 10-post western playshed (1900) is aligned north-south with a perimeter partition of vertical timber boards at the southern end. The 12-post eastern shed (1907) is aligned east-west and has a perimeter partition at the western end. The posts are braced to the roof framing by brackets and the roof framing is exposed.
The school oval occupies lower ground than the school, separated by a low, battered, concrete and stone wall. Along the northern edge of the oval, the forestry plot consists of two groups of hoop pine trees, planted in rows, along the sloping northern edge of the gully. Other trees, such as a row of mature gum trees, have also been planted in the area. A large mature fig tree stands to the west of the former teacher's residence. Other mature trees are found in various locations in the school grounds.
","history":"The school now known as Bundaberg Central State School was established, as Bundaberg South State School in January 1875, on a site in Bourbong Street, transferring to its current site at Crofton Street in July 1890. The original school building on the Crofton Street site was completed in 1890 to a standard design by architects Robert and John Ferguson. As the town and pupil numbers grew, the school expanded, with two playsheds (1900, 1907) and landscape elements such as mature trees and a forestry plot of hoop pine trees (ca.1955). The school has been a focus for the local community as a place of important social and cultural activity for more than a century.
\nTraditionally the land of the Kalki people, European settlement of the Burnett area began with pastoral settlement in the 1840s and 1850s. Timber cutters arrived in the mid-1860s. Selection of land around Bundaberg started in 1867 under the 'Sugar and Coffee Regulations' of the Crown Lands Alienation Act 1860, which aimed to promote agriculture and closer settlement. The site of Bundaberg was officially surveyed in 1869. The town's development as a port and service centre was boosted by growing coastal traffic and by its designation as the port for Mt Perry's copper mining from 1881. Surrounded by sugar plantations and the site of two sugar refineries, Bundaberg became an important sugar town as the sugar industry boomed from the 1880s.[1]
\nIn 1871 a school reserve was created on the site of Bundaberg's present day Buss Park, Christ Church Anglican Church and the Civic Centre in the centre of town.[2] The local community raised the required finance for the first buildings of Bundaberg South State School, which were completed by January 1875. The average attendance was 123 pupils in July 1875.
\nThe provision of state-administered education was important to the colonial governments of Australia. National schools were established in 1848 in New South Wales and continued in Queensland following the colony's creation in 1859. After the introduction of the Education Act 1860, Queensland's public schools grew from four in 1860 to 230 by 1875.[3] The State Education Act 1875 provided for free, compulsory and secular primary education and the establishment of the Department of Public Instruction. This further standardised the provision of education, and despite difficulties, achieved the remarkable feat of bringing basic literacy to most Queensland children by 1900.[4]
\nThe establishment of schools was considered an essential step in the development of early communities and integral to their success. Locals often donated land and labour for a school's construction and the school community contributed to maintenance and development. Schools became a community focus, a symbol of progress, and a source of pride, with enduring connections formed with past pupils, parents, and teachers. The inclusion of war memorials and community halls reinforced these connections and provided a focus/venue for a wide range of community events in schools across Queensland.[5]
\nIn September 1883, separation of the school into a boys' school and a girls' and infants' school was approved by the Department of Public Instruction. Bundaberg South Boys' School opened in a new building on the site, while the Bundaberg South Girls' and Infants' School opened as a separate school in the existing school building.[6]
\nBy the 1880s the school site had become valuable real estate, prompting the town council to repeatedly attempt to have the school moved.[7] Finally, in 1889, the Minister for Public Instruction directed that the school transfer to a new site, two blocks to the south of the existing school, as it was in the interest of the public to have the old site for business purposes.[8]
\nConsequently, a new building for the Girls' and Infants' School was built by William Calvert for £2600 on the new site, which occupied a whole block bounded by Woondooma, Barolin, Crofton and Maryborough streets. The Boys' School and its building were moved to the new site and the new Girls' and Infants' School was completed by July 1890.[9]
\nBundaberg South Girls' and Infants' State School was built to a standard plan supplied by the Queensland Government. The government developed standard plans for its school buildings to help ensure consistency and economy. From the 1860s until the 1960s, Queensland school buildings were predominantly timber-framed, an easy and cost-effective approach that also enabled the government to provide facilities in remote areas. Standard designs were continually refined in response to changing needs and educational philosophy and Queensland school buildings were particularly innovative in climate control, lighting, and ventilation. Standardisation produced distinctly similar schools across Queensland with complexes of typical components.[10]
\nIn 1879 the Department of Public Instruction appointed architect Robert Ferguson as its first superintendent of school building design. He immediately revised the design of schools to address deficiencies in ventilation and lighting and this period of school design was pivotal in this regard. Ferguson introduced tall and decorative ventilation spires to the roof and louvred panels to the gable apex to vent the classrooms. Additional and larger windows were introduced with high sill heights that did not allow draughts and sunlight to enter the room. The overall form was lowset on brick piers and in larger schools, multiple classrooms were arranged symmetrically around a parade ground. The designs remained single-skin to eliminate 'receptacles for germs and vermin' but were lined externally rather than internally to address the previous weathering problem. Importantly, Ferguson's buildings were decoratively-treated with a variety of elaborate timber work and were heralded by educationalists as 'far superior in design, material and workmanship to any we have before built'.[11]
\nIn 1885 Robert Ferguson was replaced as Superintendent of Buildings by his brother John Ferguson who continued to implement his brother's designs until John's death in 1893, when responsibility for school buildings passed back to the Department of Public Works.[12] The Ferguson period (1879-1893) is distinct and marked by extensive redesign of school buildings including associated structures and furniture. The Ferguson brothers' designs were reflective of education requirements of the time, responsive to criticism of previous designs, revolutionary in terms of internal environmental quality, technically innovative, popular and successful and provided a long-lasting legacy of good educational design.[13]
\nThe new teaching building for the Bundaberg South Girls' and Infants' State School was constructed to a standard Ferguson design. It comprised three blocks (two identical, one slightly longer) arranged in a symmetrical, U-shaped configuration around a parade ground. Each block was lowset with chamferboard-clad walls, a high-pitched gable roof, verandahs on two sides, and attached teachers' rooms. The buildings were ornamented with timber finials and brackets attached to end gables, typical of the ‘carpenter gothic' style of Ferguson schools. The ceiling structure was exposed on the interior, with the raked ceilings lined with diagonal timber boards. Verandah enclosures for hand basins and hat storage were provided on the parade ground-facing verandahs, which linked the three blocks together. Roof fleches, ventilation panels and window hoods also provided climate control and ventilation to the interiors. Also, a new teacher's residence was constructed in the northeast corner of the site in 1890.[14]
\nOn 3 October 1894 the names of the two schools were changed to ‘State School for Boys, Bundaberg Central' and ‘State School for Girls and Infants, Bundaberg Central'.[15] The occupation of a school site by a succession of different state primary education institutions is characteristic of many of the larger urban settlements in Queensland where a number of schools were established as the settlement grew and buildings and schools were moved between sites to meet the growing demands of the local populations.
\nAt the turn of the century, two playsheds were constructed to the north of the teaching building- a 10-post playshed in 1900 and a 12-post playshed for boys in 1907. Both were constructed of exposed timber framing and the 1907 playshed had a metal sheet roof with ventilated ridge cap.[16] The Queensland education system recognised the importance of play in the school curriculum and, as well as classrooms, they provided plans for playsheds, free-standing shelters that provided covered play space and were often used for unofficial teaching space when needed. They were timber-framed structures, generally open on all sides although were sometimes partially enclosed with timber boards or corrugated galvanised iron sheets.[17] The hipped (or less frequently, gabled) roofs were clad with timber shingles or corrugated iron and they had an earth or decomposed granite floor. Fixed timber seating ran between the perimeter posts. Playsheds were a typical addition to state schools across Queensland between c1880s and the 1950s. They were built to standard designs that ranged in size relative to student numbers. School sites were typically cleared of all vegetation and the provision of all-weather outdoor space was needed. After c1909 school buildings were high-set, allowing students to play in the understorey and playsheds were not frequently constructed.[18]
\nBundaberg continued to grow steadily in the early decades of the 20th century.[19] On 26 January 1926 the two Bundaberg South schools were amalgamated as the Bundaberg Central State School. Around this time, the Boys' School building, which had been moved onto the site in 1890, was relocated to Bundaberg West State School.[20]
\nOver time, the Ferguson teaching building at Bundaberg Central State School was altered to meet contemporary educational demands, particularly for improved lighting and ventilation. The Department of Public Works greatly improved the natural ventilation and lighting of classroom interiors, experimenting with different combinations of roof ventilators, ceiling and wall vents, larger windows, dormer windows and ducting. Achieving an ideal or even adequate level of natural light in classrooms, without glare, was of critical importance to educators and consequently it became central to the design of all school buildings. Windows were rearranged and enlarged to provide a greater amount of gentle, southern light into the room and desks were rearranged so that the light would fall onto students' left hand sides to avoid throwing shadows onto the pages; this presupposed that all students were right-handed. This often meant a complete transformation of the fenestration of existing buildings and during the 1920s and 1930s alterations were made to the vast majority of older school buildings.[21]. In 1933, alterations to Bundaberg Central State School included new windows added to the gable end walls of the east and west blocks to make them wider and lower than the previous tall windows. New dormer windows were also added to the roof of the central block.
\nBundaberg's growth continued after World War II (WWII) with the city council promoting major revitalisation of the city. Many large building programs were completed, including new hospitals, schools, court house, customs house, civic centre, and port, transforming Bundaberg. The population of the town rose from 18,000 in 1952 to 27,000 in 1967.[22]
\nBundaberg Central State School grew substantially in the 1950s and 1960s and a number of new buildings were constructed to standard designs by the Department of Public Works and reflected the current education philosophy. Post-WWII, educationalists rejected the previous designs of school buildings, considering them outdated and favoured ‘lighter, loosely grouped, flexible' buildings.[23] In existing older buildings, verandahs were enclosed for weather protection and verandah balustrades were replaced with bag racks for improved storage. Many buildings had their fenestration altered to increase the amount of light into the classrooms, and many older windows were replaced with modern awning style windows. Alterations to the Ferguson Building occurred between 1963 and 1966 when bag and hat racks replaced most verandah balustrades, glass louvres were installed, casement windows were replaced with awning windows and windows were boarded over in some places.[24]
\nThe school grounds retain remnants of a forestry plot in the northeast quadrant of the site. The creation of forestry plots resulted from after-school agricultural clubs, which were introduced in 1923 at primary schools, under the ‘home project' scheme. Curriculum driven, these clubs had a secondary commercial value as well as disseminating information and helping to develop a range of skills. The Department of Primary Industry provided suitable plants and offered horticultural advice.[25] School forestry plots were seen by the government as a way of educating the next generation about the economic and environmental importance of trees, as well as providing testing grounds for new species. Located throughout the state, the plots were a means of experimenting with a variety of tree species in different soil and climatic conditions. The sale of timber grown in school plots provided an additional source of income for the school, and the plots themselves were an attractive feature of school grounds. The first school forestry plot was established at Marburg State Rural School in 1928, where 275 exotic and indigenous trees were planted. Encouraged by the Education and Forestry Departments, by 1953 about 380 Queensland schools were undertaking forestry projects, with students responsible for planting, maintaining and studying the plots.[26] The forestry plot at Bundaberg Central State School was established by 1955, with two sections of Hoop Pines (Araucaria cunninghamii) planted on the sloping ground between the school residence and the gully (formerly a creek) which runs diagonally across the northeast corner of the school grounds.[27]
\nAlteration of the central block of the Ferguson Building occurred in 1973 to convert it into a library and included the removal of internal partitions and the relocation of some doors. Further changes to this block occurred in 1981 with insertion of partitions to form a staff room, a health services room and a waiting room.[28] In 1978, the western (1900) playshed was rotated 90 degrees and relocated slightly to the west, providing more space for buildings constructed between the two playsheds.[29]
\nChanges to the Ferguson building since the 1980s have included the removal of windows in all gable end walls, the enclosure of the parade ground-facing verandahs of the east and west blocks, and the creation of large openings between the classrooms and enclosed verandahs. Beginning around the 1970s and resulting from expansions in Queensland education provision, the partial demolition of the wall between a classroom and its enclosed verandah was a typical alteration to provide an extension of the classroom. This was a very widespread solution for older buildings to meet the increased spatial needs advocated by educationalists.
\nCentenary celebrations held in 1975 included the publication of a centenary history of the school and the unveiling by the Hon. Joh Bjelke-Petersen, Premier of Queensland, of a centenary plaque. A similar plaque commemorating the school's 125th anniversary, in 2000, was unveiled by local member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, Nita Cunningham.
\nIn 2014, Bundaberg Central State School continues to operate from its 1890 site. The school retains the 1880s Ferguson building, the 1900 and 1907 playsheds and remnants of its forestry plot. It is important to the city having operated from the site since 1890 and having educated generations of Bundaberg students. Since establishment the school has been a key social focus for the Bundaberg community with the grounds and buildings having been the location of many social events.
","criteria":"Bundaberg Central State School (established 1875) is important in demonstrating the evolution of state education and its associated architecture in Queensland. It retains a complex of excellent, representative examples of standard government designs that were architectural responses to prevailing government education philosophies.
The Ferguson teaching building (1890) is an early standardised design; the two playsheds (1900, 1907) demonstrate the education system's recognition of the importance of play in the curriculum; and the forestry plot is evidence of a popular educational initiative that conveyed the economic and environmental importance of forestry to students while creating an attractive landscape feature and income for schools.
Bundaberg Central State School is important in demonstrating, through its size and high quality decorative features, the expansion of Bundaberg as a centre of the sugar industry from the 1880s, an industry important in the development of Queensland.
|Bundaberg Central State School is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of Queensland state schools, comprising a complex of buildings constructed to standard designs by the Department of Public Works.
The Ferguson school building (1890) retains its lowset, symmetrical, U-shaped plan form of large classrooms surrounded by generous verandahs with projecting teachers' rooms; high-quality decorative features such as timberwork, cast iron balustrades and a tall ventilation spire; and internal features such as raked ceilings with exposed queen post roof trusses and some original partitions and doors.
The playsheds (1900, 1907) each have open sides and a hipped, timber-framed roof supported on braced timber posts.
|Queensland schools have always played an important part in Queensland communities. They typically retain a significant and enduring connection with former pupils, their parents, and teachers; provide a venue for social interaction and volunteer work; and are a source of pride, symbolising local progress and aspirations. Bundaberg Central State School has a strong and ongoing association with the Bundaberg community. Operating since 1885 it has taught generations of Bundaberg children. The place is important for its contribution to the educational development of Bundaberg and is a prominent community focal point and gathering place for social events with widespread community support.
|Highly-intact, the Ferguson teaching building has aesthetic significance as an attractive building of high-quality materials and construction with a well-composed, symmetrical plan and elevations, and decorative, finely-crafted timber work, including a ventilation spire.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion G | Criterion E","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16379,"place_ref":601618,"name":"Paragon Theatre","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"75 Churchill Street","suburb":"CHILDERS","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2000-04-28","description":"The Paragon Theatre is a large timber building with a masonry façade prominently located on Churchill Street in Childers. The rear section of the building is a large shed-like form clad in unpainted timber weatherboards with a pitched, galvanised iron roof. The side walls have high level louvred openings under the eaves and timber framed windows in the lower section of the wall.
The parapeted façade is composed of face brick pilasters which divide the surface into three bays rendered with roughcast stucco. The parapet edge features a rectangular signage block flanked by a masonry balustrade. Three sets of timber casement windows are located in the upper sections of each of the bays. The glass of the windows has been painted and each set of windows is surmounted by horizontal awnings with small hipped roofs and supported by timber brackets. The upper section of the façade is painted in a dark chocolate brown.
A large awning projects from the surface of the façade, supported by iron tie-backs. The horizontal awning features a centrally located shallow arch which defines the entrance. Raised lettering on the front of the awning spelling 'PARAGON' is located on the arch. The entrance is via concrete steps to four pairs of folding glass and timber doors. Tapered pylons abutting the wall surface flank the entrance doors and support another arch over the doorway. The pylons, archway and trim on the awning are all painted in bright red with the remainder of the lower façade painted in dark green. Two shop fronts are situated at the corners of the front façade. The entry area has also been sub-divided with a lightweight partition in order to create a sub-tenancy. These three shopfront areas are currently unoccupied. The original ticket office and small foyer area are located to the eastern side of the entry.
Internally the theatre retains many of its early features, including seating, timber fretwork and lattice, light fittings and some balustrading. The ceiling and most of the side walls are covered with timber lattice mounted on timber posts, that stops just above the level of the exit doors in the side walls. The bottom edge of the lattice is finished with shallow arches trimmed with a double stripe painted in black. At the top of the side walls is a broad band of decoration achieved by picking out a pattern within the lattice with black paint.
The screen is covered with long curtains and is surrounded with fibro-cement panelling that frames the screen, now covering the proscenium. The orchestra pit has also been boarded over. Most of the ground floor seating is comprised of canvas, deckchair-type seating with one row of tip-up seating located against the back wall. The balcony upstairs has a raked, stepped timber floor, with each row of seats occupying a different level. The seating in the front three rows is timber and upholstered fixed seating, there are then two rows of canvas seats and a final row of "dress circle" seating at the back. The projection box if located at the rear of the balcony in a space enclosed with fibro-cement panelling.
A small timber residence is connected to the rear of the building and appears to be unoccupied. There is also a galvanised iron shed and timber tankstand and tank adjacent to this small house.
","history":"The Paragon Theatre in Childers was constructed in 1927 for local film exhibitors Gee, Philpott and Gee. It was designed by Brisbane architect Arthur Robson and replaced a smaller refreshment rooms and entertainment hall/picture show on the site.
Childers in 1927 was a prosperous sugar town established in the late 1880s at the head of the rail extension from Isis Junction into the surrounding scrub. The line, which opened on 31 October 1887, was intended to facilitate the transport of timber from the Isis Scrub, but also proved to be the catalyst for the establishment of a sugar industry in the district. By 1895, Childers had emerged as the flourishing centre of a substantial sugar-growing and sugar-milling district, and in the years between 1891 and 1900 the population grew from 91 to 4000. In 1903 the old Isis Divisional Board (1886) was abolished and Isis Shire proclaimed, with the new seat of municipal government moving from Howard to Childers.
Mr William Gee, a confectioner from Bundaberg, moved to Childers with his wife Minette and their two children about 1906. The Gees bought a single-storeyed shop where the Paragon Theatre now stands, in the main street of Childers, and opened it as a refreshment rooms (fruit shop, tea rooms and catering business). By 1908 they had added a ballroom in the form of a second floor to the building, and this was used for various functions, including Friday and Saturday night dances before the floor was ruined by roller skating. In 1912, the Gees installed a lighting plant run by an oil fuelled engine, and Gee's Hall became the venue for the first silent movies screened in the district. The first film shown was The Iron Claw, starring Pearl White. The Gees also introduced a travelling picture show service to other towns in the Isis district, including Dallarnil and Booyal.
By 1923 a second picture show, the Palace Theatre, had been opened in Childers. It was run by Harold Philpott in partnership with Mr A Archer, and was located in a hall behind the Palace Hotel in Churchill Street. Also by 1923, William Gee had disposed of his interest in Gee's Hall to his son Dudley and to Harold Philpott. He later retired with his wife and daughter to Sydney, where he died in 1926. By 1927, film-going had proved so popular that Philpott & Gee had determined to erect a modern, purpose-designed cinema in Childers. The scheme interested William Gee's daughter Margery, and a new firm, Gee, Philpott and Gee was established to facilitate the construction of the Paragon Theatre where Gee's Hall once stood. Some of the material from the original hall was used in the construction of the new theatre.
Plans were prepared by architect Arthur Robson of Brisbane, who was reported in the local press of 1927 as having been responsible for the construction of over twenty cinemas in Queensland, including theatres at East Brisbane, Gladstone and Ayr. Robson designed the Paragon Theatre as a tropical theatre. This may refer to the use of timber lattice and fretwork throughout the interior, on the ceiling and the proscenium, concealing high level windows providing ventilation not used in standard cinema design. The tropical theatre style was popular for Queensland theatres of the 1920s and 1930s, including the Alhambra Theatre at Stones Corner and the Paddington Theatre on Given Terrace, Brisbane. The writer of an article on the Paragon Theatre in the Bundaberg Times Isis District Souvenir of 1927, commented:
In all centres it has been recognised that the old style theatres are not suitable, hence modern ideas have been brought to bear in the planning of structures suitable for the climatic conditions, and a new type of theatre evolved, one of which will rise on the site of the present Gee's Hall. (p19)
The theatre was intended to accommodate 1200 people, in a hall measuring 60 by 120 feet, but this may have been optimistic - the Film Weekly Directory of 1938-39 lists the Paragon Theatre at Childers with a seating capacity of 600. A large stage for both traditional drama and musical shows as well as the cinema screen, with adjoining dressing rooms, was provided, with an orchestra pit below the stage. The proscenium was decorated with timber fretwork incorporating transparent lining which concealed electric lighting. The ceiling and walls were lined with timber lattice. The theatre contained a dress circle and several private boxes with upholstered seating, and canvas seats and forms, or long benches, were provided in the stalls. The auditorium was constructed of timber with a galvanised iron roof, but the Mediterranean-styled decorative façade was of brick and stucco. The entrance was flagged by brick columns clad with glazed tiles and opened to a lobby 18 feet wide by 15 feet deep (5.49 x 4.57 metres respectively). The design also incorporated two small shops fronting the street, either side of the entrance, and employed the first cantilevered awning in the district. The contractor on the project was P Mellefont, junr.
During construction, Gee, Philpott & Gee screened films at the Palace Theatre and at the Band Hall at Childers until a temporary screen could be erected in the semi-completed Paragon Theatre. Reputedly, when the new picture theatre formally opened in 1928, the first film screened was Warner Brothers' 1927 classic The Jazz Singer, which pioneered synchronised-sound film production. If this were so, then the Paragon opened as a 'talkie' theatre.
Soon after the opening of the new theatre Harold Philpott sold his share of the business to Dudley and Margery Gee, who exhibited under the name Paragon Pictures Company. The Paragon Theatre was now the only picture theatre in the Isis and regularly screened films and cartoons on Wednesday and Saturday nights, from 8 pm, for which seats could be reserved. The theatre was sold in 1949 to Peter and Mary Sourris of Gayndah, who changed the sound system, replaced the entrance gates with glass doors, closed one of the internal staircases to the dress circle, and replaced the forms with canvas seats. At this period the store run by Paul Cominos at the front of the theatre was closed. By 1960 the Sourris family had sold the theatre to Granville and Iris Knowles who constructed a ticket box and fitted a cinemascope screen, which closed the stage for concert use. The theatre was later sold to the Ricciardi family.
In 2007 Thomas Griffiths and Merissa Ricciardi purchased the theatre and have worked to repair and restore its failing elements with the aim of accommodating a range of community uses there. The business name Paragon Theatre (1962) is still registered. As of October 2011, Ms Ricciardi and new co-owner Nigel Craft intend over the coming years to continue the restoration of the building and eventually reopen it to the public as an entertainment venue.
Approximately 130 rural picture theatres/shows were listed in the Queensland Post Office Directory for 1930-31, and this list was not exhaustive. A recent survey of rural theatres conducted by Griffith University revealed that few 1920s cinemas were still operating in regional Queensland. Surviving theatres included the Majestic at Pomona (QHR 602696, erected 1921 - seats 300); the Astor at Surat (QHR 602352, 1925 - seats 150); the Majestic at Malanda (QHR 601743, 1926 -seats 300); the Radio at Barcaldine (1926 - seats 550) and the Airdome at Innisfail (1928 - seats 760).
","criteria":"The Paragon Theatre, constructed in 1927, is one of the oldest picture theatres still operating in Queensland and is important an illustrating a significant aspect of the pattern of this state's history, namely, the expansion of popular entertainment in Queensland in the interwar period. In particular, the construction and continued operation of the Paragon Theatre illustrates the vital and substantive role of independent film exhibition in rural Queensland.
|The Paragon Theatre is a rare surviving 1920s Queensland regional theatre which still functions as a cinema, and is important in demonstrating an aspect of Queensland's cultural heritage which is no longer common.
|The building is a good example of 1920s regional picture theatre architecture adapted to the Queensland climate, and is important in illustrating its type. It is a highly intact 1920s cinema which reveals important information about picture theatre design in Queensland during a formative period. The intactness of the interior in particular offers present and future generations an understanding of the experience of cinema viewing in a rural Queensland picture theatre of the interwar era.
|The Paragon Theatre, located prominently fronting the main street of Childers, has a distinctive façade which makes a major contribution to an exceptional streetscape of buildings in Churchill Street (Bruce Highway), Childers. In this it has aesthetic significance.
|The theatre was a focal point of social life in the Childers/Isis district from the late 1920s until well into the 1969s, and has a strong association for the local community with popular entertainment and movie-going in the period before the ready availability of television and videotape players.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16412,"place_ref":601651,"name":"Gin Gin Railway Station and Complex","alternate_name":"Gin Gin Railway Station, Goods Shed & Refreshment Rooms","street_address":"Mulgrave Street","suburb":"GIN GIN","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2000-07-28","description":"The Gin Gin complex consists of the station building which is a representative late Victorian building with curved and chamfered brackets to the shade and distinguishing porch with fretted gable. It is of comparable appearance to Esk, Bundamba and North Bundaberg railway stations. Accommodation is provided with ladies water closet, waiting room, lamp store, shelter shed and office. Booking windows face the shelter area and the platform and central shelter area post has curved decorative brackets facing three directions. Station nameboards are extant on the platform .
The goods shed is a 10 metre x 6 metre timber framed weatherboard clad building with out shade and with windows sealed through boarding. It has one sliding door mounted on opposite sides of the shed, and the loading platform has been partly demolished. Goods crane is a one ton whip crane bearing a manufacturing plate of Sargeant engineers, Brisbane.
The former Station Masters house is a simply detailed building elevated with a corrugated iron hipped roof and verandah post brackets. The building at present is occupied by the Gin Gin and District Historical Society.
","history":"The township of Gin Gin was gazetted in 1877, consisting of an area of some three thousand acres on the Gin Gin run. Gin Gin was an original station of the first section of the Mount Perry railway which opened from North Bundaberg to Moolbolaman on 19 July 1881.
The exploitation of the mineral resources of Queensland was recognised by political interests in Queensland as being closely linked with the development of a railway system from the period of the late 1860's and early 1870's. This connection between political decisions and economic development was further linked and with the decision taken in 1877 to construct mineral railways running from Townsville to Charters Towers, Bundaberg to Mount Perry and Maryborough to Gympie. As well extension of the Southern & Western Railway from Warwick to Stanthorpe was approved along with extensions to Roma and Emerald on the same day in Parliament, 30 August 1877. The decision to construct separate railway systems with no connection to other parts of the Queensland Railway system was to result in a proliferation of separate railways throughout Queensland, (up to eleven by 1891). The system would not be unified until 1924 with the opening of the North Coast Line between Brisbane and Cairns.
The Mount Perry railway ( originally known as the Bundaberg Railway) was built by the Queensland Government. The line was built to service the Mount Perry copper mines. Copper was discovered in the Mount Perry area in the second half of the nineteenth century. Mining activities led to agitation for a link between the mines of the Mount Perry region and a port. In 1872 proposals of a private railway line were considered, and both Maryborough and Bundaberg vied to secure the line. These plans were never executed however. Rather, it was decided a state-owned line would be constructed. Thornloe Smith, Engineer in charge of Railway Surveys, conducted a survey from North Bundaberg to Mount Perry in 1875. Thornloe's survey noted the country was rugged, and eventual surveying plans called for a tunnel to pierce part of the Boolboonda Range. The first section, North Bundaberg to Moolboolaman, was constructed by Overend and Co. and opened on 19 July 1881, although timber specials had run for some months previously. The second section, including the Boolboonda tunnel works, was approved in November 1880.
Gin Gin Railway Station 1909 JOL Neg: 8292
Gin Gin Railway Station circa 1905 JOL Neg: 185594
Tenders had been called for the construction of a goods shed in 1880. A loading bank was provided in 1882, and in 1883 timber loading facilities were constructed indicating the importance of timber and sawmilling operations for the railway line. A new goods shed, and combined shelter shed and station office were built in 1888/89. A refreshment room was provided from the period of 1891 until 1960. The shed was destroyed by fire on 7 November 1917. In 1928 the complex consisted of a station building, lamp room, trucking (cattle handling ) yards, goods shed with 1 ton crane, trike sheds and the Station Master's residence. Gin Gin was to become the major regional transport centre within the central part of the Burnett area, and a major transport centre within the region. Given that Gin Gin was also situated on the main highway link between Brisbane and Cairns (The Bruce Highway), the growth of road competition was to contribute to the eventual dwindling of revenue freight carried on the line.
At the completion of the line to Mount Perry in 1884, the copper mines which had lead to the construction of the railway line had closed due to the financial failure of the mines. The copper mines reopened around the turn of the nineteenth-twentieth centuries and with the construction of a smelter, operated until the period of the First World War. For the next 50 years the main traffic generated on the Mount Perry line was mainly from dairying, livestock and timber traffic, with sugar traffic from Gin Gin east to the Gibson and Howes mill.
From 1 November 1960 the Mount Perry railway was closed beyond Tirroan, due to declining revenue. The railway beyond Tirroan was dismantled in 1961. After the transfer of sugar cane traffic from the Watawa plantation area in 1964, to the Gin Gin Central Sugar Mill at Wallaville there was little traffic beyond Gin Gin other than stock specials to the cattle loading railhead at Tirroan. The section of line from Tirroan to Mount Perry was closed in 1960 and removed in 1961, due to declining traffic revenues. The Gin Gin to Tirroan section was closed in 1989. The final section of the Bundaberg Railway, beyond the Versatile Toft siding (North Bundaberg- to Gin Gin), closed officially to traffic on 25 January 1993, although services had bee nsuspended in 1991. The line was sold for removal, with rail being sold off to local sugar mills for use on their tram networks. Part of the former right-of-way has been adapted for use by the Bingera Mill for its sugar tramway. The Gin Gin station complex was leased to the Gin Gin and District Historical Society in 1993, following closure of the railway. The complex was purchased by the Kolan Shire Council in 1995 for the use of the Historical Society. Other buildings have been transported on to the site by the Gin Gin and District Historical Society including a school house, and police residence, barn and indigenous museum (housed within the former goods shed). The additional buildings have not been relocated to the immediate vicinity of the former railway yard, and as a result do not detract from the visual appeal of the railway complex Within the former station yard the trackwork, turnouts and roads have been retained extant. Donated items from Queensland Railways including a BBV guards van, camp wagon, and a flat wagon and water gin, which have been placed on the platform road at the station building, and other roads within the complex. At the Tirroan end of the complex a former Gin Gin Central Sugar Mill tramway 0-6-0 steam locomotive has bee nplaced on display on a dual gauge (1067 mm & 670mm) track.
Built as a low cost, development railway, the Mount Perry railway features two major surviving structures entered permanently in the Queensland Heritage Register, these being the Boolboonda tunnel [601516] (now open to road traffic), & Splitters Creek bridge (Sharon) [600529].
","criteria":"The Mount Perry railway was one of several major railway lines approved by the Queensland Parliament in 1877, to access the gold and copper fields of Queensland from the ports of Maryborough, Townsville and Bundaberg. The complex, by its retention by the local Shire Council, allows for an interpretation of the construction, and development of the former North Bundaberg-Mount Perry railway line, as well as the network of branch lines centred on Bundaberg.
|The Gin Gin Railway Station and Complex is important as a substantially intact example of a country branchline station and its associated buildings and infrastructure.
|The Gin Gin Railway Station and Complex is important as a substantially intact example of a country branchline station and its associated buildings and infrastructure.
Its survival as a relatively intact group of railway buildings dating from various periods allows for the interpretation of the importance of the Queensland Railway network in the economic development of rural Queensland.
|Its use as a museum also is important in the interpretation of the complex and its significance to the local community.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16455,"place_ref":601700,"name":"Sunnyside Sugar Plantation (former) Remains","alternate_name":"Dry-rubble Boundary Wall, Sunnyside Sugar Plantation","street_address":"94 Windermere Road","suburb":"WINDERMERE","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1996-05-13","description":"The former Sunnyside Sugar Plantation, now known simply as Sunnyside, comprises about 40.4 hectares of arable land, with some fenced areas for horses and cattle and an area comprising a house, gardens and various sheds. The dry-rubble wall runs along the northern boundary with Windermere Road, while the two mature fig trees stand about 110 metres to the southwest of the wall, and the burials site about 50 metres to the southeast of them.
\nThe dry-rubble wall extends for approximately 205 metres along the frontage of the former Sunnyside Sugar Plantation along Windermere Road. It is constructed of local surface volcanic rock, colloquially known as blue metal, collected when the land was being cleared for sugar cultivation in the 1880s. Some of the rocks show signs of spalling prior to removal from the fields. The wall is comprised of larger rocks on the outside with smaller rocks piled into the cavity and used to fill the gaps between the larger ones. This process has been repeated upwards in the layers. There is no mortar used in the construction.
\nTwo mature weeping fig trees (Ficus benjamina) stand approximately 22 metres apart, they have trunks of about 1.5 metres in diameter and their height is estimated at 17 metres in 2012. They were planted in front of the early house on the property (removed in 1957). The heritage boundary part taking in these trees is set off from the outermost edge of the tree canopies of the trees by two metres. All other features and structures within this area are not considered to be of cultural heritage significance, including fencing, the house (a nineteenth century house relocated to the property in 1957) and its garden, the grave of Sidney Thomas Courtice and its marker, and a recent metal shed to the west of the house.
\nThe site of 29 South Sea Islander labourer burials was mapped by Bundaberg Regional Council in 2012. The burials were mapped in three rows aligned approximately parallel to the lot boundaries. The northernmost row comprised 13 ground anomalies interpreted as burials. That to the south comprised 10 burials while that south again, 6 burials. A number of trees and post-and-rail fences stand within the area of the heritage boundary part that takes in these burials. These features are not considered to be of cultural heritage significance. Also identified in this area was a raised, linear ground feature believed to be part of a roadway - also known as a headland - dating from the sugar plantation era.[84]
","history":"The former Sunnyside sugar plantation, which initially comprised 100 acres (40.5ha), is situated on Windermere Road, to the east of Bundaberg. The property was established by Edward Turner in 1875, and used to grow sugar from the early 1880s, in which work South Sea Islanders were employed until the turn of the century. In 1884 Turner established a juice mill on the property, piping his cane juice to the Millaquin refinery. Remnants of the sugar plantation era include two weeping fig trees (Ficus benjamina), an area of 29 burials in three rows, as well as a dry-rubble wall along Windermere Road. Initially the wall extended almost the full road frontage of Portion 85, but it has been reduced to about half this length (approximately 205 metres).
\nThe economy of Bundaberg was underpinned by the sugar industry from the early 1880s. During the late 19th century when South Sea Islanders were employed, it progressed from being the second largest sugar producing region in Queensland to the largest by 1900. The employment of Islanders was always controversial; a raft of legislation being introduced to protect their welfare in response to incidents of exploitation, and then to phase out their employment in favour of the use of white labour.
\nThe township of Bundaberg was established on the banks of the Burnett River. Timbergetters came through the area in the 1860s and were later followed by sugar planters taking advantage of the lands made available under the Crown Lands Alienation Act 1860 and the 1865 Coffee and Sugar Regulations.[1] By 1868 the district surveyor John Thompson was instructed to mark out a town on the south bank of the river. This was completed by 1869[2] and the town was declared a port of entry in June 1871.[3] The port serviced the copper mines of Mount Perry, although in competition with the nearby port of Maryborough.[4] Sugar became the industry which underpinned the prosperity of Bundaberg, with the first of many sugar mills there established by Richard Palmer in 1872.[5]
\nEdward Turner, his wife Janet and daughter Pauline arrived in Hervey Bay aboard the 'Sultana' in 1866.[6] A native of Oswestry, Shropshire, England and a stonemason/bricklayer by trade,[7] Turner reputedly first went prospecting on the Palmer River goldfields.[8] He then worked as a stonemason for Robert Cran at his plantation Yengarie, west of Maryborough.[9] Turner purchased a town allotment in Churchill Street, Maryborough, in 1867 which he sold in mid 1874.[10] He then selected 100 acres (40.5 ha) in the Woongarra Scrub to the east of Bundaberg in June 1874.[11] His selection, Portion 85, comprised 60 acres (24ha) of agricultural land and 40 (16ha) of second class pastoral. He lived on the property which he named 'Sunnyside' from January 1875. By the following year Turner had cleared and cultivated 18 acres. He built a slab house with three rooms and a kitchen with a brick oven and a number of outbuildings; established a waterhole and a well; built a pigsty and a calf paddock and was growing maize at this time. By 1880 he had 20 acres under cultivation, with an unknown crop. Turner fulfilled the conditions of his selection under the Crown Lands Alienation Act 1868 and in 1881 he applied to purchase the property, and a deed of grant was issued.[12]
\nTurner used South Sea Islander labour, as did most farmers in the district. The use of South Sea Islander labour had been pioneered in Australia in the 1840s by Benjamin Boyd in the New South Wales (NSW) Riverina District, employing them as shepherds in lieu of convict labour.[13] The procurement of South Sea Islander labour to Queensland was initiated by Captain Robert Towns. He had been involved in the importation of Asiatic labourers during the 1840s and 1850s in NSW,[14] and was also part of a push for the use of Indian coolie labour in the early 1860s in Queensland. At the time the concept that labouring in the tropics was unhealthy for Europeans had widespread currency.[15] The Queensland Government removed restrictions on the introduction of Asiatic labour in May 1861,[16] which led to the introduction of South Sea Island labourers to Queensland.
\nRobert Towns' first group of 67 South Sea Islanders arrived in Brisbane on the 'Don Juan' on 14 August 1863.[17] They went to work on his cotton plantation Townsvale (later Veresdale) on the Logan River, where Towns hoped to capitalise on declining cotton production in America during the Civil War. Captain Claudius Whish used Islanders on his property near Caboolture (QHR 700007, Oaklands Sugar Mill Remnants) as did Captain Louis Hope on his sugar plantation at Ormiston, near Cleveland (QHR 600755, Ormiston House Estate).[18] In 1865 a group of Islanders was landed at Bowen, to be employed by pastoralists. By March 1868, 2107 Islanders had been brought to Queensland, employed in various capacities including agricultural and pastoral work, and as servants in the towns. They lived and worked anywhere from Mackay and Bowen, to the Wide Bay district and west to Roma.[19] South Sea Islanders were generally employed on three-year contracts bound by the Masters and Servants Act 1861.[20]
\nBy 1868, there were reports that the recruitment of South Sea Islanders had devolved into kidnapping. In response the Polynesian Labourers Act 1868[21] was enacted to regulate recruitment. Under the Act, the Islanders were required to sign a contract for up to three years, on a minimum wage of £6 per year plus rations and a trip home after three years.[22] Deaths and desertions were to be reported to the nearest magistrate.[23] In 1870 government agents were appointed to sail with the recruiting vessels to supervise the conditions of appointment. During the 1870s and 80s there was ongoing public criticism and political debate about the use of Islander labour. The number of recruitments increased from 1539 in 1868 to 10,057 by 30 June 1884.[24]
\nA number of Acts of Parliament were introduced to protect the Islanders from unscrupulous recruiters and employers including the Kidnapping Act of 1872 and the Pacific Islanders Labourers Act 1875. Following a Select Committee enquiry into Polynesian Labour, further amendments were initiated in 1877 and 1878 but not legislated. Then in December 1880 new Premier Thomas McIlwraith rescinded the 1868 Act, introducing a new Pacific Islander Labourers Act 1880 which set limitations on the age of recruits, their living conditions, medical service and ration provisions. Islanders could only be employed in tropical or semi-tropical agriculture, including the cultivation of sugar cane, cotton, tea, coffee, rice and spices. [25]
\nSouth Sea Islanders working in Bundaberg had initially arrived through Maryborough. The first direct shipment into the Port of Bundaberg occurred in May 1879, by the schooner 'Lucy and Adelaide'. The Islanders numbered 81 males and seven females.[26] The number contracted to each farm or plantation is unknown. Labourers were recruited from a number of locations including the Solomon Islands, New Hebrides, and Loyalty Islands, all with different languages and customs. This region is now known as Melanesia, and includes the Bismark Archipelago of Papua New Guinea. Despite claims that Edward Turner was personally involved in the recruitment trade, no evidence has been found indicating his ownership of any boat engaged in recruiting Islanders.
\nTurner continued to plan the development of his farm. In December 1883 he subdivided a two and a half acre lot (Sub 1, Portion 185) (1ha) from the north-western corner of his allotment along Windermere Road.[27] A juice mill was established on this site, in partnership with Frederic and Charles Buss. They had a number of sugar plantations and numerous business interests in the region, including a store in town that became Buss and Turner in 1886 after James Edwin Turner (no relation to Edward Turner) from Sydney joined the firm.[28] Edward Turner's juice mill was operational by 1884, when cane was crushed and the juice piped three miles (4.8 km) to the Millaquin Refinery (established 1881) for treatment.[29] Juice mills were commonplace in the area with 24 established between 1882 and 1884,[30] including at Ashgrove, Avoca, Fairymead, Glenmorris, Grange, Kepnock, Mabbro, Summerville, Windermere, and Woodbine by October 1883. Hummock, Oakwood, and Spring Hill mills were established in 1883 and Seaview, Mon Repos, and Sunnyside and Woodlands in 1884.
\nSunnyside's juice mill site (Sub 1), was transferred to Edward Turner's sole ownership in March 1888. In order to ensure the viability of the juice mill,[31] Turner acquired another parcel of land on the southern slopes of The Hummock (Portion 87) in October 1888. This expanded his property to 190 acres (76ha), [32] financed by a £2000 mortgage from the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney against the Sunnyside property.[33] Sunnyside was typical of the smaller family-run sugar plantations in Bundaberg, which were generally between 150 and 200 acres (60 and 80ha). Many had their own juice mills, piping juice to Millaquin refinery - as opposed to the large plantations such as Fairymead, of 1252 acres (506ha) and Bingera of 1150 acres (465ha) which had large mills.[34]
\nThe type of work undertaken by the South Sea Islanders on the property and their conditions were summarised by the eldest son Herbert Turner in his 1955 publication: 'Rural Life in Sunny Queensland'. He indicated that a property of approximately 150 acres with a juice mill required about 45 Islanders. The first duty of an owner was to supply each Islander with a new blanket, clothing, and a hat, a plug of tobacco, which was subsequently supplied weekly, and the clothing half-yearly. His pay was between £20 and £25 which was paid half yearly at the Immigration Depot in the presence of the Inspector of Polynesians. Three meals were supplied daily, as specified by Government regulations.
\nWhile some of the properties had been cleared initially by the selectors, the role of the Islanders was to clear the remaining virgin scrub: felling, burning and clearing the large volcanic stones, which were collected and sometimes drilled and blasted. Rocks unearthed during this process were placed on wooden sleds, pulled by draught horses. Big rocks which would not fit on the sled would be broken up with spalling hammers. These pieces would then be placed on corn bags; an Islander on each corner, it would then be carried to the sled. When full, the sleds were taken to the end of the paddock where they were unloaded. Dry-rubble walls were constructed in layers, with larger stones placed around the outside and smaller stones used for infill. This seems to have been a common construction method in the Woongarra and was employed at Sunnyside to make a wall along the northern boundary of the property. About 6 examples of it remain in the Bundaberg district, including one associated with the former Mon Repos sugar plantation and entered in the Queensland Heritage Register (QHR 602230).[35] Edward Turner was a stonemason and it is probable that he directed construction of the wall at Sunnyside. The creation of dry-stone boundary walls was commonplace in Great Britain where many of Queensland's settlers originated.
\nIslanders were also employed in planting cane, by following behind a horse-drawn plough driven by a European, and dropping cane plants into the furrows. Similarly at harvest time, the Islanders would be involved in cutting and loading cane into horse-drawn drays driven by Europeans.[36]
\nInspectors of Polynesians monitored the health and welfare of the Islanders. The first appointed to oversee Bundaberg and Maryborough in 1875 was also the sub-collector of customs.[37] His 1877 replacement Charles Horrocks[38] regularly inspected accommodation, clothing and weighed the food rations for the Islanders. Instances of large numbers of Islanders dying on individual farms were investigated, with one of the worst examples being those employed by Robert Cran at his Maryborough plantations of Yerra Yerra, Yengari and Ilawarra. Seven deaths occurred at Yerra Yerra in 1878 due to dysentery from contaminated water. Again in 1880 a high mortality rate led to a medical investigation which blamed poor food, long working hours, bad water, and a lack of proper care for the sick.[39]
\nThe first inspector to be specifically allocated to Bundaberg was William O'Connell in 1882.[40] The death rate remained high amongst the Islander population. Statistics provided to Parliament in 1888 indicated there had been 40,861 Islanders bought to Queensland since 1868, with 23,700 returned to their islands and 7635 deaths, although it was noted that not all deaths had been reported. While the statistics provided annually were broken down by district, they were not provided in relation to specific plantations. For example, in 1892, there were 186 deaths in Bundaberg, which was 66 more than the previous year, with dysentery a common cause. The rates remained high in subsequent years also, with 181 Islanders dead in 1893 and 175 in 1894.[41] Economic historian Ralph Schlomowitz suggests that a general lack of immunity to a range of diseases to which Europeans had developed a partial immunity, such as measles, smallpox, influenza, tuberculosis, pneumonia, typhoid, dysentery and meningitis, proved fatal to both indigenous Australians and South Sea Islanders. He argued that the overall death rate of Pacific Islanders decreased from an average of 80 per 1000 (1879-87) to 35 per 1000 by 1893, suggesting that immunity built up over time.[42] However, Islander deaths in Bundaberg appeared to be increasing. This was evidenced in statistics provided for the large plantations between December 1895 and December 1900, where Bingera experienced 135 deaths and Fairymead 58, both with increasing annual rates during this timeframe.[43]
\nDeaths on Sunnyside occurred in both the Turner family and amongst the Islander labourers in the late 1880s to early 1890s. The Bundaberg Genealogical Association, using newspaper sources, identified seven reported deaths of Islanders on Sunnyside plantation; these being Coora, 9/09/1887; Tartal 24/04/1888; Yantircca 12/03/1888; Byeena 21/08/1888; Beeteah 12/01/1889; Charlie 18/02/1889 and Neeoo 17/02/1889. The causes of these people's deaths are unknown, and the location of their burials is not known. It was commonplace to bury Islanders on the sugar plantations on which they worked. Over 600 Islanders were also buried in the Bundaberg general cemetery, the earliest recorded in 1879.[44]
\nOral tradition states that a number of Islanders who worked on Sunnyside were buried on the property. Investigations undertaken by the Bundaberg Regional Council in 2012-13 indicated the location of 29 possible graves to the south-east of the two mature fig trees.
\nDeaths in the Turner family over this period have been attributed to typhoid, reputedly from drinking contaminated water from the well. Eldest daughter Pauline Fielding died in November 1889, followed by fourteen year old Isabella in December. Then their mother Janet Turner died in January 1890.[45] It is likely that some Islanders on Sunnyside may also have succumbed to typhoid at this time. A further family death occurred in October 1894, when Edward's 19 year old son Clarence drowned in the waterhole after suffering an epileptic fit.[46] His body was found by his brother-in-law, Henry Albert Cattermull.[47]
\nIn the meantime, a change in government in 1883 led to new laws aimed at excluding Islander labour. The preference for white labour was implicit in the Pacific Islanders Labourers Act 1884 which was much more specific than the 1880 Act in relation to the type of work an Islander could be employed in, specifically restricting them to field work. The Pacific Island Labourers' Amendment Act 1885 legislated against the issue of recruitment licences for Islanders after 31 December 1890. The Crown Lands Act 1884 in tandem with the Sugar Works Guarantee Act 1884 moved to establish small family-run farms underpinned by the opening up of former crown land and leases. Interim measures to compensate for the loss of cheaper Islander labour included the commencement of the government-supported, co-operatively-owned central mill system and some government-owned mills. The first of these was established in Mackay in 1886, to only crush cane cut by white labour.[48]
\nIn early 1889, a Royal Commission inquired into the viability of the sugar industry which was in decline at that time. From its 1865 initiation by Louis Hope, the industry had expanded rapidly over the subsequent twenty years. However, there was a marked decline between 1885 and 1893, attributed to drought and a slump in world sugar prices.[49] Bundaberg farmers formed a small company which set up a rum distillery in 1888 which helped the industry through these hard times.[50] Edward Turner's evidence to the commission indicated that he owned 250 acres (101ha) in total, 110 (44.5ha) of which were under sugar cultivation, and a further 20 (8ha) cultivated for other purposes. He employed seven Europeans and 45 Islanders. His total wage bill for 1888 was £588 to Europeans and £1420 to the Islanders, which indicates an annual income of £84 for a European and £31.10/- for an Islander. At that time he considered he could not successfully run the plantation without South Sea Islander labour.[51]
\nBy the end of 1891 it was evident that the prohibition of Islander labour would lead to the collapse of the sugar industry. New legislation was enacted in April 1892, stipulating conditions of employment for Islanders.[52] It has been argued in Raymond Evans' 'History of Queensland' (2007) that following the rewriting of the legislation the recruitment of Islanders was a reformed business, with so many pieces of protective legislation, regulation and inspection schedules in place that the prospects of exploitation and ill-treatment of workers were substantially reduced. Islanders became more skilled in negotiations and bargained for higher wages and more liberal contracts.[53] This occurred on Sunnyside in 1893.
\nA new Inspector of Polynesians in Bundaberg, Henry St George Caulfield was appointed in April 1887.[54] Caulfield had 13 years experience overseeing immigrant labour in Ceylon, and was thought to be 'zealous in his duties as an inspector of plantations, and investigator of islanders’ complaints against their employers'.[55] In July 1893, seven Islanders from Sunnyside Plantation complained to Caulfield that they were not being given enough food. Earlier that week they had burnt down one of their huts and set fire to the cane in protest. The Capricornian newspaper described the events as a 'Kanaka strike'.
\nThe Inspector came to Sunnyside and after interviewing others on the farm agreed they had not been given enough food.[56] Caulfield referred to an earlier case dating from 1890 where it was proved Edward Turner supplied insufficient food. Turner was charged with breaching the Masters and Servants Act, and was fined. The agreement with the Islander named Tong, who brought the charge to the court, was cancelled. Tong said he had never received good food from Turner in the five years he had worked there, but that this was the first time he had complained to Caulfield.[57] Turner had remarried a widow, Sarah Barney, who brought five children to the marriage. It was Sarah's responsibility to provide food, although Edward was held accountable. Turner was also charged with assaulting an Islander named Raincombe.[58] This occurred during the July banking crisis, where eight of Queensland’s banks closed, including the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney[59] with which Turner had his £2000 mortgage. While this would not justify the insufficient supply of food to Islander labourers on Sunnyside, it does suggest one reason for it to have happened. Most banks reopened by August. [60]
\nInitiatives to improve the general health and welfare of South Sea Islanders in Bundaberg included an Islanders' hospital, designed by the Government Architect and built at a cost of £512 in 1893.[61] [62] The provision of a hospital had been referred to in the Pacific Islanders Immigration Act 1892, although it was not mandatory.[63] Christian guidance was provided by Florence Young of Fairymead Plantation who started the Queensland Kanaka Mission in 1886, as an evangelical and non-denominational church (QHR 602052). The Anglican Church was active in converting the Islanders who attended Sunday Service, while also providing evening classes teaching them to read.[64]
\nThe process of sugar growing, crushing and refining changed dramatically in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, initiated in part by the Sugar Works Guarantee Act 1893 which provided for construction of government-supported central mills, employing white labour. Sixty farmers from Gin Gin were the first in the region to successfully establish a co-operative mill in 1896.
\nBundaberg was the second largest sugar producing region in Queensland between 1880 and 1900 when Islanders were employed. It produced 5797 tons (5890 tonnes) to Mackay's 12,023 tons (12,215 tonnes) in 1884. While all centres continually improved their output during the late 19th century, Bundaberg's output gradually closed the gap with Mackay. In 1893 Bundaberg produced 23,423 tons (23,798 tonnes) to Mackay's 24,872 (25,271 tonnes). By 1900, some sugar produced in Childers, Maryborough and Tiaro was processed in Bundaberg, and their production statistics were then included with Bundaberg, skewing the statistics in Bundaberg’s favour. In 1900, 59,076 tons (60,023 tonnes) were produced, compared with 17,521 (17,802 tonnes) in Mackay. By that time Ingham had out-produced Mackay with 20,222 tons (20,546 tonnes).[65]
\nDuring 1901-02 the Sunnyside property, including the juice mill site was transferred into the ownership of Edward Turner's eldest son Herbert Turner and son-in-law Henry Cattermull.[66] They had phased-out Islander labour on the property by then.[67] In February 1902, Herbert married Annie Thomas, the daughter of William Thomas, the engineer who designed and managed the Millaquin Mill. They built a house on The Hummock property, Portion 107, which was known in the family as 'Top Farm'. Edward Turner moved to a new property at Maroondan near Gin Gin. Sunnyside was reputedly one of the few plantations in the Bundaberg district able to produce and crush during the drought of 1900-1903.
\nFollowing Federation, the White Australia Policy predicated the end of Islander labour. New acts were introduced by the Commonwealth Government, requiring the end of South Sea Islander recruitment from 31 March 1904 and deportation of all Islanders by 31 December 1906. However there were exemptions for those who had arrived prior to 1879; who had married women not of their race; whose children were being educated in state schools; and those who possessed freehold land or who were fearful of their lives if returned to their former homes.[68] [69]
\nThe Sugar Labour Commission, established to report on the repatriation of Pacific Islanders, took evidence in Bundaberg in April 1906. Frank Courtice, city organiser of the Bundaberg District Workers Union, said he supported the development of the State refinery system and the cutting up of plantations into smaller farms run by individual farmers. This concept was supported by Henry Albert Cattermull, overseer on Sunnyside, who said he had used white labourers since 1902, who were mostly local farmers' sons, and he found them more reliable than itinerant workers. Henry St George Caulfield also gave evidence in relation to the number of Islanders still in the district, which he estimated to be 1100. There had been some problems returning South Sea Islanders to their homes and others were keen to remain in Queensland.[70]
\nDuring the 1893 economic crisis, the Queensland National Bank formed a company known as Qunaba which took over the financially struggling Millaquin refinery. It erected a new juice mill on site in 1906, making the small private juice mills obsolete. Millaquin then acquired numerous other plantations in the early 1900s. Sunnyside sold its cane to Windermere in 1911, and then Millaquin acquired both Windermere and The Hummock by 1912.[71]
\nChanges in Sunnyside's ownership occurred in the early 20th century. Edward Turner died in April 1910, having been thrown from his horse at Maroondan.[72] His property was divided between his son Herbert and son-in-law Henry Albert Cuttermull and his unmarried daughter Gertrude.[73] His second wife Sarah had committed suicide in April 1907.[74] The Sunnyside juice mill was closed down in 1911.[75] In 1922 the Sunnyside Plantation was transferred to Benjamin and Sydney Herbert Courtice.[76] They took out a £6000 mortgage with Cattermull.[77] By that time Cattermull was a local councillor,[78] having been president of the Cane Growers Union formed in 1908.[79]
\nBen Courtice was later Chairman of the Cane Growers Association. Cattermull died in 1935 and the mortgage over the plantation was transferred to his executors. Another of the Courtice brothers, Fred, was an Australian Labor Party member of the Queensland Legislative Council and became Chairman of the Woongarra Shire in the 1940s.[80] Ben Courtice became a Senator in 1937 and was Minister for Trade and Customs from 1946 until 1949.[81] The former Sunnyside plantation remains in the ownership of the Courtice family. The grave of former owner Sidney Thomas Courtice 1/04/1922-13/08/2007) is located under the westernmost of the two mature fig trees on the northern part of the property and is not considered to be of state heritage significance. Some subdivision has occurred on Sunnyside, with a number of large house sites excised along Windermere Road including Lot 5 on RP 179915 in 1981; Lot 7 on RP 893076 in 1995; and Lot 8 on RP 825941 in 1997.
\nThe two mature fig trees on the property were likely to have been planted toward the end of the period that Islanders worked there and were used to mark the entrance to the house (original house no longer extant).
\nWeeping fig trees (Ficus Benjamina) are not native to the Bundaberg region and were known to have been introduced as street trees in Bourbong Street in 1891 (QHR 602065). It is also know that local bank manager, member of the Acclimatisation Society and trustee of the Bundaberg Botanic Gardens, William Fullerton, was cultivating them for distribution around the town in 1897.[82] It is likely the two fig trees growing at Sunnyside today were planted after this time.
\nThe Bundaberg and District South Sea Islanders Action Group was formed in the 1980s to improve understanding of the history of South Sea Islander peoples in the area and their important contribution to the sugar industry, and to locate sites significant to this history. The group has indicated it has a strong association with the fig trees, burials and dry-rubble wall on Sunnyside.[83]
","criteria":"The dry-rubble boundary wall and burial site on the former Sunnyside Sugar Plantation survive as important evidence of the enormous contribution made by South Sea Islanders to the establishment of a viable sugar industry in Queensland. In particular, they remain as testament to their contribution to the development of the sugar industry in the Bundaberg region, one of the major sugar districts in the state. The wall is also important physical evidence of the manual nature of this contribution, for without the availability of indentured labour, Woongarra Scrub farmers could not have converted their lands to an activity as initially labour-intensive as sugar growing.
|The boundary wall, which is approximately 200 metres in length, survives as one of the more intact examples of its type in the Bundaberg district, which around the turn of the century was chequered with such structures. In this sense it is rare.
|The dry-rubble wall and burial site on the former Sunnyside Sugar Plantation are significant for their potential to contribute to further study and better understanding of the role of South Sea Islanders in the sugar industry and Queensland's history; and their burial practices, working conditions and health.
|Although diminished in length, what survives of the dry-rubble wall is substantially intact, and provides a good example of this type of construction employed in the Bundaberg district in the late 19th century.
|The South Sea Islander community of Bundaberg has indicated that this place facilitates a strong and special spiritual association with their ancestors who lived and worked on Sunnyside plantation.
The dry-rubble wall, two fig trees and burial site on the former Sunnyside represent a distinctive phase of Queensland's history and may potentially be used to illustrate events which have had a profound effect on the lives of descendants of the South Sea Islanders and of their communities.
|The dry-rubble wall, fig trees and burial site at Sunnyside have an important association with the exploitation of the large South Sea Islander workforce employed in the Bundaberg district in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion C | Criterion D | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16499,"place_ref":601762,"name":"Bundaberg Police Station Complex (former)","alternate_name":"Bundaberg Police Station | Bundaberg Court House","street_address":"Quay Street","suburb":"BUNDABERG","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1998-12-01","description":"The former Bundaberg Police Station Complex is a single storey rendered brick building, situated on the corner of Quay and Maryborough Streets and oriented towards the Burnett River.
The building has a rectangular floor plan with a corrugated steel hipped roof behind a parapet which faces Quay Street and returns down the sides of the building to flanking verandahs that spring from below the soffit of the main roof and run down each side of the building. The eastern verandah is partially enclosed. The verandahs are supported on timber posts with decorated capitals and a vertical boarded scalloped valance to form a Tudor arch. The verandah originally ran across the rear of the building but has subsequently been enclosed when the rear of the building was extended. Several other stages of additions are evident.
The principal facade is asymmetric about the main entrance and retains the original entrance doors and half light above and an extended masonry pediment over supported by round columns with Doric capitals. Two round headed double hung windows are located on the east side of the main entrance and are framed by piers with moulded capitals. To the west the building has been extended in replicated detail when a strong room was added in 1935. The architrave of the windows is in relief from the surrounding wall surface and has a hood mould and keystone over which springs off recessed piers with moulded imposts. The strongroom window has vertical bars and the other walls are blank.
An entablature connects the pediment over the front entrance and returns down the sides of the building. Above this is a balustrade parapet with hour glass balusters. Original chimneys survive in the north eastern corner and at the rear of the building.
Access to the building is via a central hall from Quay Street which has a pair of flanking offices on the eastern side. Original fire places exist in both these rooms. On the west side of the hall is a single room which was created in 1935 when the strongroom was added. The hall leads, via a single door, to the Court Room which has an extended wall height to create a lofty space. This has recently been refurbished when subdividing partitions were removed to reveal the original volume and detailing. French doors with semi circular over lights and three round headed double hung windows open onto the side verandahs. Over each opening to the verandahs are high level narrow casement windows. The ceiling rakes from the walls to a line with the collar tie of the heavy timber trusses.
To the east of the Court House is the a single storey brick residence. The original plan form of this building is an 'L' with an attached square room at the rear that was originally the Charge Room. The building has hipped roofs which have wide eaves with exposed timber frame soffits and are clad in corrugated galvanised iron. It has a timber front verandah which has been enclosed. The verandah roof is contiguous with the main roof. The west side displays three double hung windows that have prominent hoods which have diagonal timber sides and corrugated iron roofs. A flat roofed brick addition has been made to the east verandah. Internally the building retains its original configuration with a main living room off the front verandah and three rooms down the western side with the Charge Room off the east verandah. The laundry addition is accessed down stairs off the east verandah.
To the south and the rear of the residence and to the east of the former Court House is a single storey brick cell block. This building has a narrow 'L' shaped plan form with a gabled corrugated clad roof and small high level barred windows on the north and east sides. A low pitched verandah with security screening is on the north side. The building was originally documented to have three four cells but appears to have been constructed with five. A charge room was added to the north west corner in the 1950s.
","history":"The former Bundaberg Police Station Complex is located at the corner of Maryborough and Quay Streets and addresses Quay Street. The former Bundaberg Court House is a rendered masonry and timber building constructed between 1882 and 1884. The former lock up keepers quarters, a single-storeyed brick and timber building and the lockup, a single-storeyed L shaped brick building, were constructed in 1900 as part of a larger police complex that included the now demolished two storeyed brick Police Station.
Bundaberg was first settled in the mid 1860s by timber cutters, with saw milling operative at Baffle Creek by 1866. John and Gavin Steuart secured a 320 acre land selection for timber and saw milling activities and other settlers followed. Leases for agricultural purposes followed the timber getting, with sugar plantations and maize cropping eventually taking precedence in the cleared areas. Agricultural settlement was encouraged by the Queensland government under the under the Coffee and Sugar Regulations of the 1860 Crown Lands Alienation Act. The first town survey for Bundaberg, situated on the Burnett river, was completed in 1869, ultimately establishing it as a service centre with harbour and port facilities for the agricultural and mineral produce of the area. During the following decade the sugar industry consolidated and a general economic boom in Queensland in the 1880s enhanced the local sugar boom. During the 1880s the Millaquin, Fairymead and Bingera sugar refineries were established providing the necessary infrastructure for the success of the fledgling industry. Thomas McIllwraith, Queensland premier and Colonial Treasurer 1879-83 represented the electorate of Mulgrave, incorporating Bundaberg, during this period of growth.
The sugar industry and the township of Bundaberg increased in both demographic size and political influence during the late nineteenth century, stimulating the demand for public buildings that reflected this affluence. The Bundaberg Court House was originally designed as a smaller timber building, however a larger brick building was the resultant design from the Department of Public Works and Housing, more befitting to the political importance and economic stature of Bundaberg.
Bundaberg Court House was designed by George St. Paul Connolly, acting Colonial Architect in the Queensland Department of Public Works. Connolly joined the Department in 1872 and worked on both public and private buildings, under the direction of Colonial Architect F.D.G. Stanley. In 1885 he was appointed Queensland Colonial Architect, a position he held until 1891.
The Bundaberg Court House followed the 'T' shape design developed during the nineteenth century. The major consideration in the design and planning of the Bundaberg Court House was the allowance for the correct movement of people in the building and the separation of the different groups involved in the judicial process. The verandahs at the rear of the building allowed for specific delineated entrances to the buildings. Jurors and barristers entered the court house by an alternative route to the public on their way to the public spaces. The judges had a private entrance and lobby via the rear verandah. The prisoners would be brought directly from the police cells to the court room through the side verandah door, from the nearby police reserve.
In 1900 the police took occupation of the adjacent lots to the Bundaberg Court House, previously occupied by the Lands office and the Customs House and Bond Store. Police had occupied smaller accommodation adjacent to these sites, but separated from the court house. A grand two storey brick Police Station, a lock up keepers residence and cell block were built providing for the close spatial relationship between the dual arms of justice administration that regularly operated in police/court precincts throughout the state. This proximity facilitated the movement of prisoners between the remand centre and the court proceedings, enhancing security and reducing risk of problems for Police during the transfer form one justice venue to the other.
In 1935 the Court House underwent extensions and renovations that included the addition of a strong room, and addition of extra office space and amenities for judges and jurors at the rear of the building. The office of the Clerk of Petty Sessions was enlarged by removal of two fireplaces and an internal wall.
The 1950s heralded a boom period for the city of Bundaberg, with population growing by one third from 15926 in 1947 to 21235 in 1957. Advances had been made in the production and marketing of sugar where coupled with the development of new port facilities, the third
in Queensland to operate bulk handling facilities. The new port opened in 1958 and was built downstream from the original wharves. This prosperity was combined with a general building boom that was reflected in the upgrading of various public buildings including the Bundaberg Court House.
In 1958 a new larger modern Court House was constructed in Quay Street, adjacent to the 1900 Police Station building and facing Anzac park situated on the banks of the Burnett River. At this time the original court house was remodelled to accommodate the Police Service. The major alteration to the building was the reorganisation of the court room space to provide four new offices and the addition of a recreation room and other amenities at the rear of the building. Various out buildings including wash houses, toilets, motor garages, horse stables and bicycle sheds were also located on the site at this time. The aggregate police site included the 1882-4 Court House, and the 1900 Police Station, lock up keepers residence, the cell block, providing a range of official and residential accommodation for the police service.
Since the inception of the police force in the nineteenth century, the police lived and worked within the boundary of the police reserve. The former Bundaberg Police Station Complex reflected the arrangement of the living and working conditions that still prevailed until the mid twentieth century. The location of barracks and other quarters on the same site as the police station provided an obvious law and order presence within the Bundaberg community at all times. This arrangement provided public access to the police force both day and night.
The lock up keepers residence was built as part of the original 1900 Police Station, maintaining the congruity of form and design in the combination of timber, iron and brick materials. The design was typical of turn of the century government accommodation incorporating two bedrooms, living room, kitchen, bathroom and front and rear verandas. In 1940 a charge room was added to the building and in 1962, a laundry and internal toilet were attached. As onsite residencies became redundant, the building was used for office space to complement the main Police Station housed in the former Court House.
The original 1900 brick cell block consisted of six cells, with one padded cell and one larger communal cell. A concrete verandah with timber trim and balustrade ran the length of the building. A chain link stockade fence separated this area from the rest of the reserve and allowed for prisoners' exercise yard. In 1940, toilet and shower facilities were added at the eastern end of the building. A charge room was added to the building in 1952 and chain link wire was used to enclose the verandah portion of the cell block.
The 1900 Police Station was demolished in 1985, government offices now stand in its place.
In 1997, the Bundaberg court returned to the original court house while renovations of the 1958 building were undertaken. The central court room was refurbished when subdividing partitions were removed to reveal the original volume and detailing and it was restored to its original use
","criteria":"The former Bundaberg Police Station Complex consists of a single-storeyed masonry building constructed in 1882-84 and a single storeyed lock up keepers residence and cell block constructed in 1900. The scale and form of the buildings demonstrates the importance of Bundaberg as regional service centre for the sugar industry and other primary production activities in the Burnett region.
|The principal building of the reserve was used as the Bundaberg Court House from 1882 to 1958 and Police Station from 1958-1997, demonstrating the evolving patterns of justice administration, influenced by two distinct stages of prosperity in the history of Bundaberg and Queensland. The 1900 lock up keepers quarters and the cell blocks, remnants of a larger police reserve, demonstrates the close spatial and working relationship between the dual arms of justice administration.
|The former Bundaberg Police Station Complex is aesthetically dominated by the former Bundaberg Court House, designed to operate with an grand street presence. The complex forms an integral part of a precinct of government buildings including the 1958 Bundaberg Court House and the 1985 Waldren building, providing an eclectic streetscape of modern and traditional buildings, with both grand and domestic scale.
|The former Bundaberg Police Station Complex has a special association with acting Colonial Architect George St. Paul Connolly, of the Queensland Department of Public Works, as an example of his work during the 1880s.
The former Bundaberg Police Station Complex has a special association with Queensland police and judiciary, demonstrating the evolution of work practices and the changing nature of the lifestyle specifically associated with police force employment in a major regional centre.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16730,"place_ref":601994,"name":"Christ Church, Childers","alternate_name":"Childers Anglican Church","street_address":"Macrossan Street","suburb":"CHILDERS","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2000-04-28","description":"Christ Church, Childers is a timber building located on Macrossan Street, a secondary street running parallel to the main street of the town of Childers. Views of the church are gained from McIllwraith Street as it slopes away towards the cane fields which provide a backdrop to the church. The church is set back from the street and is accessed via a wide red concrete driveway. It is low-set on brick piers and is clad in painted weatherboards of a creamy colour. The roof is steeply pitched and finished in "trimdeck", wide-pan steel roof sheeting in a dull brown colour-bonded finish. The gable ends are surmounted by small timber crosses.
The building has a five bay nave, a chancel with a Northern vestry, side aisles and a polygonal baptistry flanked by two entry porches. The baptistry has a hipped roof with three triangular segments that create a distinctive feature on the western elevation of the building to the street. The chancel is separately roofed with a steeply pitched roof that extends on the northern end to roof the vestry. The side aisles and porches also have separate skillion roofs, providing space for bands of clerestory windows on the northern and southern walls. The clerestory windows are comprised of fixed windows with cusped heads, arranged in groups of four and filled with coloured glass in muted tones of yellow, pink and green. The northern and southern walls each have five pairs of timber lancet windows, all of which are fitted with stained glass.
The windows depict the story of the life of Christ and contain a number of repeated motifs such as a town of clustered white-washed buildings with a middle eastern appearance, palm trees and flowers such as purple irises and daffodils. The baptistry also has three lancet windows set with stained glass depicting the baptism of Christ, Christ as a baby being brought to the temple and Christ with the children. A tripartite lancet stained glass window with a common sill is located high in the eastern gable in the back wall of the sanctuary.
The interior of the church has an open timbered ceiling lined with diagonally laid boards that have been painted in an ochre colour. At each fifth rafter there are arch braced, scissor trusses that are tied at eaves level by metal rods. Each arched brace continues below the line of the clerestory and lands on a timber post. A second line of arches runs perpendicular to the roof trusses between the aisle posts along the length of the side aisles. These slender, pointed timber arches spring from moulded capitals on the aisle posts. The side aisle rafters also have arched bracing members in keeping with the truss bracing. The wide, gently pointed chancel arch springs from a timber moulding that runs around the sanctuary, forming a sill to the eastern windows.
Walls throughout the interior are lined with vertical, v-j pine boards that have been painted white. Aisle posts are painted in a dark brown and the timber pews are unpainted. The aisles and sanctuary are carpeted and the sanctuary is raised six steps above the nave floor. The organ and (unused) pulpit are located against the northern wall, adjacent to the vestry. The vestry is entered via a lancet arched door opening and has a similar door leading to a set of external stairs. A bell mounted in a timber frame is located next to the landing of the vestry steps. The vestry contains framed photographs of the past priests of Christ Church and other pieces of memorabilia.
The baptistry is separated from the nave by a lancet arched opening flanked by timber posts with moulded capitals and the floor is raised two steps above the nave floor. The baptistry is a small, five-sided space that contains a sandstone font, a tall timber candleholder and a small shelf with anointing oil. To either side of the baptistry are lancet arched door openings leading to the entry porches. Adjacent to the southern door are three timber honour boards.
A low-set brick parish hall is located on the southern side of the church and a timber rectory facing Macrossan Street is to the north-east, separated from the church by steel fencing.
","history":"Christ Church, Childers a timber church constructed to the design of Anglican Church architect J H Buckeridge in 1900 is the second church to be built on the site on the corner of Macrossan and McIllwraith Streets.
In early 1888, an application was made for a grant to build a church at Isis Scrub (later Childers). By June, The Church Chronicle reported that £25 had been given towards the construction and by November a small hardwood church, the first Christ Church, was opened. The development of religious institutions in Childers reflected the more general consolidation of the town. Christ Church was initially part of the Howard Parish and was ministered to by the itinerant Parish Priest, Father J.E Clayton. From the time of the dedication of this early church, the congregation lobbied for their own resident priest and a more substantial church building. Father W.S Marshall became the first resident priest appointed to Childers in 1898 following the offer of Mr James Equestrian to pay the priest's stipend for the first year of appointment.
In 1899, the Diocesan Architect of Brisbane John H Buckeridge was approached by the Building Committee to prepare plans for a new and bigger church in Childers. The Committee had considered other designs prepared by Buckeridge for the Church of England and the design of Christ Church has a close relationship to Buckeridge's other timber churches, particularly St Colomb's in Clayfield which opened in December 1899.
John Buckeridge came to Queensland upon the request of Bishop William Webber and at the recommendation of J.L Pearson, eminent English architect and designer of St. John's Cathedral, Brisbane. Webber was Bishop of Queensland from 1885 and undertook an ambitious church building program throughout the state. He was not content with merely building churches but was intent upon them being well designed works of ecclesiastical architecture and it was for that reason he invited Buckeridge to come to Queensland in 1887 and formalised the position of Diocesan architect. Buckeridge was Diocesan Architect at a time when Queensland's population was expanding and there was a high demand for church buildings. It has been said that "Buckeridge's churches were more than simple timber and tin chapels. He had the architectural ability to set them apart from the generally more pedestrian buildings of other denominations." His church architecture was a loose interpretation of the Gothic Revival style and used good quality local materials in an economical manner with attention to the need to design appropriately for Queensland's sub-tropical climate.
Initial tenders submitted for Buckeridge's design for Christ Church were considered too high and the plans were modified in December 1899 to meet the budget. Local builder, Mr Irwin signed a contract for £540 which included a price for the pews which were also designed by Buckeridge. The building was constructed during 1900 and the work was supervised by Bundaberg architect, Frederic Herbert Faircloth. Faircloth practised in Bundaberg from the early 1890s and was responsible for many buildings in Childers, particularly after a huge fire destroyed much of the main street in 1902.
Canon Eva, the priest at St. Paul's Church, Maryborough opened and dedicated Christ Church on 9 May 1901 to co-incide with the formation of a separate parish based in Childers. The first parish priest was Father T. Ashburner. The original church was put into use as a parish hall, until 1967 when it was sold for removal and a new masonry Memorial Hall was constructed. The congregation continued to make changes to the church and precinct over time. In 1906, a house was purchased for £330 for use as a Rectory. During the 1920s and 30s the church was painted several times, a fence was erected and in 1932 the Brand and Gant families presented memorial gates and a font. Parishioners also donated several sets of stained glass windows during this period and all except for a single window in the side chapel were to the design of renowned stained glazier and artist William Bustard.
Bustard worked for R.S Exton and Co. from 1921 until the closure of the company's glass studio in 1958. Bustard was a prolific designer and producer of high quality stained glass and his work is featured in many of Queensland's outstanding buildings of the early twentieth century, including a number of churches for the Anglican church. Many of his windows for Christ Church depict scenes from the life of Jesus Christ from the Annunciation to the Ascension. Six stained glass windows were installed in the sanctuary and baptistery in 1940-41. A further six pairs were dedicated in May 1947, having been installed over several preceding years. By 1958, all the church windows in the nave had been fitted with stained glass designed by Bustard. A more recent window in the side chapel, depicting Christ Church surrounded by local fauna and flora was installed in 1992.
The interior of the church which was originally unpainted, was painted in the 1950s. At the same time, the vestry was lined and the timber stumps were replaced with brick piers. The church was again painted in 1975 and the roof cladding was replaced in 1983. The sanctuary was re-lined with imitation timber panelling in 1984 and an alabaster set of Stations of the Cross were donated by the Percival family in 1994. The Christ Church Parish now has churches in Childers, Apple Tree Creek, Cordalba, Howard and Torbanlea as well as conducting services in Woodgate and Burrum Heads.
A recent inventory of parish churches within the Brisbane Dioceses has found that of the surviving twenty-two timber buildings designed by Buckeridge for the Anglican church, only five are identified as sustaining their design intactness, having experienced only minor changes such as changes to roofing materials and the additions of linings. Christ Church, Childers is considered the most intact of these.
","criteria":"Christ Church, Childers is important in demonstrating the evolution of Queensland's history having been constructed during a period of unprecedented growth in the Isis, when Childers emerged as the centre of a substantial sugar-growing district and major social, cultural and religious institutions were established in the town.
|The church has a fine and rare set of windows by distinguished artist and stained glazier William Bustard, which are among the aesthetically significant features of the building. As a surviving intact timber church designed by John Buckeridge during his time as Diocesan Architect, Christ Church demonstrates rare aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage.
|Christ Church, Childers demonstrates the principal characteristics of a timber church located in a small rural settlement. Key features of the church include the simple building form, steeply pitched gable roof and the free interpretation of the Gothic Revival style evidenced by the use of lancet window and door openings and pointed arches.
|Christ Church, Childers is a refined piece of architectural design, in particular the elegant timber detailing of the interior of the church has aesthetic significance. The church has a fine and rare set of windows by distinguished artist and stained glazier William Bustard, which are among the aesthetically significant features of the building. As a surviving intact timber church designed by John Buckeridge during his time as Diocesan Architect, Christ Church demonstrates rare aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage.
|Christ Church, Childers has strong and special associations with the Anglican Parish of Childers as their principal place of worship for 100 years.
|The church also has special associations with the architect John Buckeridge, who made an important contribution to the development of church architecture in Queensland, and notable Queensland artist and stained glazier William Bustard.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16788,"place_ref":602052,"name":"South Sea Islander Church and Hall","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"46 Johnston Street","suburb":"BUNDABERG","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2000-07-28","description":"The South Sea Islander Church is a single-storey, timber building, set on concrete stumps, with a gabled roof clad with corrugated iron. The church is clad externally with chamferboards. Louvred timber ventilators are located high in the west & east elevations (gable ends). Two sets of casement windows are located in the north & south elevations (long ends). Each window has a simple, diamond decorative motif in the central panel. There is an entry door and set of timber stairs at each end of the church in the southern elevation. Ramp access has been recently added to the church.
Internally, the timber lined church has been painted white, incorporating a stained timber framework. The church houses original timber pews, timber altar and a organ.
The hall is a single storey timber building, set on concrete stumps, clad with weatherboards and a gabled roof clad with corrugated iron. A pair of double hung, sash windows are located in the western, eastern and southern elevations. Internally, as the cladding is single skin, the building framework is exposed. The floor is timber. A timber staircase is located on the southern side of the building.
Both buildings are located within picturesque grounds, including landscaped garden beds dedicated to various families.
","history":"The South Sea Islander Church and Hall were built c1920 on the Fairymead plantation to cater to the spiritual needs of the South Sea Islander population, many of whom were labourers on the plantation. The church and hall were removed from the Fairymead site in 1995 and relocated to a section of the Bundaberg Cemetery where many South Sea Islander people have been buried.
The land on which the Fairymead plantation was established was originally part of the cattle property 'Tantitha'. The owners of the property, A and AH Brown sold it to the Young family. Trading as AH and E Young, Arthur, Horace and Ernest Young harvested their first cane crop in 1882. Juice was punted to Millaquin until Fairymead became a complete sugar mill in 1884. Fairymead was floated into a public company, Fairymead Sugar Company, in 1912.
Florence Young, sister of Fairymead's founders, was secretary of the Queensland Kanaka Mission [QKM]. Young ran religious and educational classes for Islanders and later did missionary work in the Pacific and Asia. In October 1895, it was reported that in Bundaberg the '... largest plantations, are Messrs. Gibson Bros, Bingera and Fairymead, the property of H and E Young'. It was also reported that the 'religious education [of the South Sea Islander plantation workers] is well looked after, and on the leading plantations churches and schools have been specifically provided for them ... Christianity is spreading amongst them, and making its influence felt... '
Florence Young was born in October 1856. Settling in Sydney in 1878, after the death of her parents she moved to Fairymead in 1882. Almost immediately, Young began to hold prayer meetings for planters' families. Young conducted classes in pidgin English, using pictures, biblical phrases and a chrysalis to explain resurrection. Under Young's guidance, the Queensland Kanaka Mission [QKM] was formally established at Fairymead in 1886 as an evangelical and non-denominational church. The QKM aimed to prepare South Sea Islanders for membership of established Christian churches after their repatriation and employed paid missionaries and members of Young's family. At its height in 1904-05, the QKM engaged nineteen missionaries and 118 unpaid 'native teachers' and claimed 2150 conversions. Young also established the South Sea Evangelical Mission [SSEM], which became a branch of the QKM in 1904. Florence Young administered the SSEM from Sydney and Katoomba and made annual visits to the islands until 1926.
As early as 1889, Government Inspector Caulfield believed the behaviour of several South Sea Islanders had been improved by religious teaching. One employer at first sceptical of her plans, later told Young that the lessons kept the boys on the plantation on Saturdays whereas they had formerly gone to town to drink. It has been suggested that plantation owners probably extracted as much material as possible from the missionaries' work, in categorising them as a stabilising factor in a society which viewed the repercussions of activities in town with trepidation, but it could be said that the missionaries may well have reduced the level of tension created by the presence of an alien element in Bundaberg society.
The church and hall were constructed c1920 on the Fairymead plantation, replacing an earlier hall. The buildings were constructed after the departure of Young from Bundaberg, who continued to travel to the islands and spent much time in Katoomba, administering the South Sea Evangelical Mission. They are, nevertheless, reminders of the continued influence of Christian Missionaries and their work in the Bundaberg area.
The South Sea Islander Church and Hall were moved to their present location in 1995 when a portion of the Bundaberg Cemetery was set aside for Historical and Cultural Purposes. The church and hall continue to be utilised by the South Sea Islander community and remain as a tangible link between the community and the experiences of their ancestors.
","criteria":"A good, intact example of a simple missionary church and hall, the South Sea Islander Church and Hall are significant for their strong association with the South Sea Islander community and the exploitation of this large workforce employed in the Bundaberg district, one of the most affluent sugar districts in the state, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Importantly, the church and hall have a strong association for the present local South Sea Islander community and the experiences of their ancestors in Queensland.
|A good, intact example of a simple missionary church and hall.
|Located within picturesque grounds, including landscaped garden beds dedicated to various families, the church and hall are important for their aesthetic contribution to the site. Internally, the original timber pews, altar and organ contribute to the aesthetic significance of the church.
|Moved to the site in order that they may be closer to the graves of ancestral members of the South Sea Islander community, the South Sea Islander Church and Hall are significant for their continued association with ancestral worship.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16789,"place_ref":602053,"name":"Sir Anthony's Rest","alternate_name":"Sir Anthonys Rest","street_address":"Sir Anthony's Rest Street","suburb":"BUNDABERG","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2001-02-23","description":"Sir Anthony's Rest is located on a cane field in the area known as 'The Hummock', approximately five kilometres east of Bundaberg. The Hummock is one of the area's most well known geographical landmarks.
The site provides an expansive view towards Bundaberg, the nearby town of Bagara and surrounding canefields, and consists of a dry rubble earth and stone platform, measuring c4-5 metres high by c40 metres long and c35 metres wide. Located in the south-eastern corner of the property, the platform takes up approximately 0.1 hectare of the twenty hectare cane farm.
A large fig tree, mango trees and other mature vegetation are located to the north-east of the platform. There is no remaining evidence of the framed shelter constructed for the Vice-Regal visit.
The remainder of the property is planted with cane.
","history":"A dry stone, rubble platform, Sir Anthony's Rest was constructed during the visit of the Governor of Queensland, Sir Anthony Musgrave, to Bundaberg in his 1888 tour of the area. At this time Bundaberg was celebrating its 21st year of non-Indigenous settlement. Using South Sea Islander labour, WG [William Gordon] Farquhar of the Hummock plantation constructed a lookout for the Governor and his party facing east, with a view over the cane fields of the Woongarra. The area was part of the highest geographical point in the area, known as the Sloping Hummock.
From the deck of HMS Norfolk, Lieutenant Matthew Flinders took a bearing on a small volcanic outcrop, five kilometres to the south of Mon Repos beach. Flinders was surveying the waters between Great Sandy Island (Fraser Island) and the mainland. He named the outcrop the Sloping Hummock during his 1799 visit.
Amongst the first of the sugar plantations in Bundaberg was Millaquin, established in 1882. It was joined in 1883 by the Hummock, Oakwood and Spring Hill plantations. WG Farquhar's 182 hectare block in the heart of the Woongarra was named the Hummock, as it took in part of the Woongarra's only landmark. By the end of 1882, Farquhar had 154 hectares of cane on the seaward slope of the Hummock, untouched by frost. In May 1883 Farquhar's juice mill machinery was delivered and in its enthusiasm the Sugar Planter described the rollers as measuring '60 feet by 30 feet', confusing feet with inches. The first crushing was made on Saturday 30 June 1883.
After one successful season, Farquhar sold to HJ Rhodes, a New South Wales capitalist. Farquhar visited Scotland, and his native Aberdeen, but returned to spend the rest of his life at the Hummock. Rhodes was soon in trouble, with drought and falling prices threatening to force him into insolvency, but both men carried on. Farquhar retained control, dying in 1909, aged 67, having seen the Hummock crush for the last time in 1893 when the plantation amalgamated with Nott Brothers' adjoining Windermere.
Farquhar, like most of the Woongarra farmers, barely made a living from maize growing. Although the soil was good and two crops per year could be obtained, the inundations of pests and disease, the expense and difficulties of transport, and the lack of a strong market, combined to erode farmers' profits. However, in the early 1880s the district was transformed following the construction of the Millaquin Sugar Refinery (1880-82) and the establishment of a viable sugar industry in the area. Small crushing or 'juice' mills were erected on farms throughout the Woongarra, and the juice piped directly to the refinery, or if along the Burnett River, transported by punt. In the period 1882-84, 24 crushing mills were established in the Bundaberg district, most of them in the Woongarra. By October 1882, when the Millaquin refinery went into production, crushing mills were operating at Ashgrove, Avoca, Fairymead, Glenmorris, Grange, Kepnock, Mabbro, Summerville, Windermere and Woodbine plantations. Seaview, Mon Repos and Sunnyside Plantations were established in 1884. Woodlands followed soon after. Sugar was embraced wholeheartedly by the Woongarra farmers, particularly when they could obtain cheap indentured labour from the South Sea Islands to help clear the scrub and work the cane fields.
South Sea Islanders had been working on other sugar plantations in the Bundaberg district from at least the mid-1870s. They were not brought directly to Bundaberg until 1879, but prior to this planters obtained Islanders via Maryborough, whose sugar industry had been established in the late 1860s.
It was during Farquhar's time at the Hummock that the Governor of Queensland, Sir Anthony Musgrave, undertook a northern tour and visited a number of towns, including Bundaberg. Musgrave was considered to be a very popular Governor, undertaking tours to the northern ports and inland towns in 1883, 1884, 1887 and 1888. Musgrave was keen to make himself acquainted with as large a portion of the colony as possible. In all the places visited, Musgrave was well received. Musgrave, proclaimed the Division of Woongarra in 1885.
Anthony Musgrave was born in the Antigua, West Indies in 1828. Educated in the West Indies, Musgrave, became the Governor of South Australia in 1873. From 1877-1883 he was Governor of Jamaica. On 21 July 1883, he became Governor of Queensland. Musgrave left London on 22 September 1883 and arrived in Melbourne on 1 November 1883. Musgrave opened Parliament on 8 November 1883. With Samuel Griffith, who became Premier in November 1883, Musgrave shared a deep enthusiasm for Australian Federation. Musgrave visited England in June 1886 and planned to retire. In June 1888, Sir Thomas McIlwraith became premier. The two soon clashed over the governor's right to unfettered exercise of the prerogative of mercy. Musgrave appealed to the Colonial Office, McIlwraith defiled him and London supported the premier. A few weeks later, Musgrave died on 9 October 1888.
Musgrave was the sixth Governor of Queensland, in the position from November 1883 - October 1888. Making themselves visible and approachable to as many people as possible were key factors in obtaining and maintaining the Governor's popularity amongst the people. Musgrave covered considerable distances on tour and Lady Musgrave, intelligent and well-educated, often accompanied him on tour or held ladies' receptions. During the 1888 tour, Governor and Lady Musgrave visited Bundaberg on 30-31 May, Maryborough on 4 June and were in Gympie on 5 June. Musgrave's visit to Bundaberg had been the first official visit from a Governor of Queensland in ten years, since Governor Kennedy.
From the earliest days of colonial Queensland, governor's tours were more than familiarisation tours. They were both practical and ceremonial and received detailed coverage in the Queensland press. Tours encourage a sense of community within the places visited and was an opportunity to display progress made and to receive recognition for achievements. A vice-regal visit provided the chance to bring matters of local importance to the Governor's attention. The ceremonial and social aspects of governors' tours followed a similar pattern established in Britain during the late eighteenth century. Aspects included a reception by the local council, loyal addresses and the presentation of gifts and local curiosities. Visibility extended to eating in public. An interest in the welfare and progress of the people was demonstrated by laying foundation stones, taking an interest in children and performing ordinary activities in public. Following his welcome, the Governor was usually escorted into the town where he paused at the nearest official building, usually the court house, so that addresses of welcome could be made.
Musgrave and the Vice-Regal party arrived in Bundaberg on Wednesday, 30 May 1888, by the Government steamer Lucinda. On their first day, the party travelled to Millaquin Plantation and later drove around the town. Following a procession in Bundaberg on Thursday morning, the Vice-Regal party them headed out of the town. Lunch was taken at Mon Repos. One of the more unusual aspects of the tour was arranged for the Vice-Regal party was at the Hummock, Farquhar had fixed up a retreat at the highest available point. Here a booth, surrounded with basaltic boulders, had been constructed where refreshments were taken. The view from the booth was considered to be the finest in the district, overlooking the cane farms of the area. According to reports at the time, both the Governor and Lady Musgrave expressed delight at so picturesque a scene, and spoke approvingly of the general aspects of that portion of the district... 1
Farquhar's use of South Sea Islands labour probably dates from the establishment of the plantation in 1883. Most planters considered the use of South Sea Islanders for field work, especially clearing of stumps and rocks in preparation for planting, essential in establishing a successful sugar plantation. Where possible stones would be broken into convenient size for handling, loaded onto drays and carted to the farm boundary lines, and there built up as stone wall boundary fences averaging one and a half metres in height and just over one metre wide. Local tradition also records that wooden sleds, pulled by draught horses, followed around the paddocks as the land was being cleared. Rocks unearthed during this process were placed on the sled. Big rocks which would not fit on the sled would be broken up with spalling hammers. These pieces would then be placed on corn bags, an Islander on each corner, which would then be carried to the sled. When full, the sleds were taken to the end of the paddock where they were unloaded.
The construction of Sir Anthony's Rest is similar to the construction of the number of dry-rubble boundary walls which were constructed in the area using South Sea Islander labour. These walls were constructed in layers, with larger stones placed around the outside and smaller stones used for the infill. This seems to have been a common construction method in the Woongarra, but the origin of the technique has yet to be established.
Usually the crowds wishing to gain a view of the Vice-Regal party were large and often, there was no building in the town large enough to accommodate all those who wished to attend. Consequently, the erection of marquees was utilised. In Rockhampton, 'a marquee of green branches' topped with the Royal arms, was erected near the quay for the reading of speeches. Usually, structures specially assembled for visits by touring governors were temporary. The platform constructed for Sir Anthony's Vice-Regal party is rare as an example of a more permanent feature associated with a governor's tour.
","criteria":"Sir Anthony's Rest is significant for its association with an important historical event, Governor Sir Anthony Musgrave's tour of the area in June 1888, during the development of the Bundaberg/Woongarra region.
|Sir Anthony's Rest is significant as a rare physical remnant of a governor's tour to an area, particularly as most shelters for visiting Vice-Regal parties were of a temporary nature.
|Measuring c40 metres long by c35 metres wide, and rising to a height of c4-5 metres, Sir Anthony's Rest is significant for its landmark value, clearly visible from one section along the Bagara-Bundaberg Road.
|Importantly, Sir Anthony's Rest, has a strong association for the present local South Sea Islander community and the experiences of their ancestors in Queensland.
Sir Anthony's Rest is significant for the strong social significance it holds for the residents of Bundaberg and the surrounding areas and is highly valued by the community. Sir Anthony's Rest was identified in the Burnett Shire Heritage Study.
|Sir Anthony's Rest is significant for its association with the South Sea Islander community and the exploitation of this large workforce employed in the Bundaberg district, one of the most affluent sugar districts in the state, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion E | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16801,"place_ref":602065,"name":"Bourbong Street Weeping Figs","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Bourbong Street","suburb":"BUNDABERG","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1999-07-23","description":"The Bourbong Street Weeping Figs are four mature Ficus benjamina planted in the centre of the road reserve, between Barolin and Maryborough Streets, Bundaberg. The trees are centrally aligned and mounted in a pebblecrete base allowing an open-ground plot of approximately one metre square. The trees are interspersed with double sided angle parking with identical pebblecrete treatment as the tree surrounds. The trees contribute to the general streetscape of the central business district which includes the School of Arts, former Commercial Bank, the Post Office, the War Memorial and Buss Park. Together the buildings, park and weeping figs form a distinctive precinct.
","history":"The Bourbong Street Weeping Figs are four mature Ficus benjamina planted in the centre of the Road reserve in 1888, between Barolin and Maryborough Streets. Additional plantings were undertaken by the Bundaberg City Council in the 1920s.
The first town survey for Bundaberg, situated on the Burnett river, was completed in 1869, ultimately establishing it as a service centre with harbour and port facilities for the agricultural and mineral produce of the area. During the following decade the sugar industry consolidated and a general economic boom in Queensland in the 1880s enhanced the local sugar boom. During the 1880s the Millaquin, Fairymead and Bingera sugar refineries were established providing the necessary infrastructure for the success of the fledgling industry.
The sugar industry and the township of Bundaberg increased in both demographic size and political influence during the late nineteenth century, stimulating the demand for municipal landscaping that reflected this affluence. Municipal landscaping enhanced the streetscapes by adding character and dignity, also providing essential shade in the main business precinct of a city. Trees were also incorporated for the benefits to the health of the city, thought to assist in clearing of noxious smoke and fumes. The Ficus family were a popular choice for such plantings due to the dense foliage and broad spread of the canopy, which when planted in close proximity provided a continuous avenue of shade. The use of planting in the centre of the street, resolved the concern over the root system interfering with building foundations. Bourbong Street was gazetted two chains wide allowing ample room for two way traffic and centre plantings on the road reserve.
The commitment of the Bundaberg City Council to urban landscaping was spasmodic, with resolutions for the planting of shade trees in Bourbon Street passed and rescinded twice in 1882. In August 1888, local business identity Frederic Buss, donated £500 towards the planting of trees, as well as fencing and trenching of the ground to ensure that the project was undertaken. Trees were planted in Bourbong, Barolin, Maryborough and Woongarra Streets through this project. In the early 1920s additional trees were planted in Bourbong Street of the same variety as the original trees.
Frederic William Buss, (1845-1926) migrated to Queensland in 1863 from Kent in England, establishing Buss and Turner department store in 1888 on Bourbon Street, Bundaberg. Buss's business empire expanded into commercial real estate and eventually he was to become an influential figure in the local sugar industry, including production refining and distilling in his portfolio of interests. Although he was active in local politics, taking his place in both the chamber of commerce and the municipal council, Buss declined to take a seat in the State Parliament, instead concentrating on local affairs.
The changing use of the road system from horse to car over the twentieth century saw the gradual erosion of the avenue of trees, resulting in the four trees between Barolin and Maryborough streets being the only remaining trees in the central business district of the once grander concept. Over recent years, these figs have suffered considerable stress. The open tree surrounds are considerably reduced, thereby restricting the root system form receiving adequate rainfall and moisture. The recent completion of redevelopment works in the central business district further reduced the open-ground plots provided for the figs.
","criteria":"The Bourbong Street Weeping Figs, located between Barolin and Maryborough Streets comprise four mature Ficus benjamina originally planted in the centre of the road reserve in 1888, with additional plantings in the 1920s. The trees demonstrate the affluence of Bundaberg as the centre of a thriving sugar industry in the late nineteenth century that is reflected in the addition of major street planting to the urban fabric of Bundaberg.
Additional trees planted in the early 1920s, demonstrate the continuing commitment to civic landscaping by the Bundaberg City Council.
|The trees dominate the streetscape and are integral to the aesthetic of the main commercial precinct of Bundaberg.
|The Bourbong Street Weeping Figs have a strong association with Frederic Buss, a prominent businessman, agriculturalist and municipal alderman, as an example of his generosity and commitment to the municipal development of Bundaberg.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion E | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16859,"place_ref":602123,"name":"Isis Masonic Lodge","alternate_name":"Corinthian Lodge","street_address":"18 Macrossan Street","suburb":"CHILDERS","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2000-04-28","description":"The Isis Masonic Lodge is a tall rectilinear timber building whose form and simplicity creates a striking presence in Macrossan Street, Childers. Located in a residential setting, the site is grassed and slopes away from road level with a ramp and handrail defining access to the building. Two thin pencil pines Cupressus semperzirens on either side of the entry ramp are the only plantings on the site. The building is two storey and raised on concrete and timber stumps, with an ornate façade whose parapet covers the gable end of the shallow, pitched roof. The façade is the most characteristic aspect of the building. Painted in blue and white, the colours of Freemasonry, the front stands out starkly against the undecorated sides and back of the building.
The front elevation is symmetrically composed around a central entrance which is comprised of doorways and a porch. The porch has a gable roof at the upper level, supported on timber posts with a decorative wrought iron balustrade to the balcony which is accessed via french doors. The porch is supported at ground level by timber Tuscan columns surmounted by a simple entablature bearing the name of the Lodge and a sign commemorating its centenary. The columns are mounted on pedestals. The central entrance is comprised of a pair of timber doors with a fanlight above and moulded architrave. The doorway is flanked by double hung timber windows on both levels. At upper level, the architrave of these windows takes the form of mini-pilasters supporting a moulded lintel.
The front elevation is finished in chamferboards. Pilasters are located at the corners, separated by a protruding string course at first floor level. The upper level pilasters support an entablature and pediment with simple timber mouldings and the symbols of Freemasonry are located within the tympanum. The sides and back of the building are clad in weatherboards with four aluminium framed windows at the upper level and three smaller windows at the lower level. Five small wall vents with iron hoods are located between the windows on the top floor on both sides of the building.
The planning of the interior of the building is simple, the front section contains anterooms and a stairwell with the rest of the building occupied by hall-like spaces on both levels. On the ground floor, there is a wide entry hall decorated with framed photographs of early members of the Lodge, the Queen and photographs of the building over time. A door opening leads to a large square room with timber columns located down the centre of the room. The room is lined in horizontal tongue-in-groove boarding. On the eastern wall are small timber display cases which contain a collection of Lodge cards. Two doors at the back of the room lead to a small kitchen and toilet, both lined in fibro-cement boarding with recent aluminium framed windows. A small servery hatch is located in the wall between the kitchen and the hall. A cast iron ladder leading to a hatch to the upper hall which serves as a fire escape is situated in the south-eastern corner of the kitchen. A set of timber stairs outside the toilet in the south-western corner leads to the undercroft space where another toilet is to be found.
The staircase is located on the eastern side of the entry space and features a cedar balustrade with turned balusters and substantial newels. The stairwell and anterooms on both levels are lined with horizontal tongue-in-groove boarding, painted with a colour scheme of a dark brown dado, cream walls and white ceilings. Floors are timber.
A small storage room is located at the top of the stairs and a narrow landing leads to the main Lodge room which is entered via a door at the eastern side of the building. The main room is lined in horizontal tongue-in-groove boarding painted in tones of blue and white. The floor is carpeted in a strong blue colour with the central feature of a tessallated timber board of black and white squares which was given to the Isis Lodge when the Tiaro Lodge was closed down. Furniture and regalia is unfixed and includes bench seating, a number of ornate timber chairs and several staves. The ceiling has a number of decorative ceiling roses.
","history":"The Isis Masonic Lodge in Childers is a two storey timber building constructed in two stages, the first in 1897 and the second in 1909, to the design of Bundaberg architect Frederick Herbert Faircloth. Located in Macrossan Street, a block behind the main street of Childers, the building survived a major fire in the town in 1902 and remains as one of the oldest buildings in the town.
In the 1870s timber cutters were the first European settlers to come to the area surrounding Childers, attracted by large quantities of hoop pine, red cedar and other timbers. The town was established during the 1880s after the land in the nearby area was surveyed into 50 acre farm blocks in 1882. There was no official town survey and Childers developed following the private subdivision of portions 870 and 871, at the railhead of the 1887 extension line from Isis Junction. On 31 December 1886, the Isis Divisional Board was proclaimed and the extension of the railway to Childers in 1887 provided further impetus for the development of the town.
The Freemasonry movement was an integral part of community life in the 19th century and the establishment of a Lodge was a local event representing progress and consolidation of the community. The first meeting of Freemasons in the Childers district took place in 1894 and was called by Constable Richard Henderson and Thomas Gaydon, a local chemist. Early members came from all three constitutions of the time, the English, Scottish and Irish and a vote was taken at a second meeting in January 1895 which resolved to establish a Lodge under the English constitution. This was achieved in April of the same year with the inauguration of the Corinthian Lodge No. 2573 EC. There were 14 founding members and the Master was Worshipful Brother Robert Henry Blisset who had been master of the Star of the East Lodge in Maryborough.
The opening ceremony and consecration of the Corinthian Lodge took place in the Isis Divisional Board's Office on 4 April 1895. Subsequent lodge meetings were held in the Childers schoolroom, with furniture and regalia provided by sponsor Lodges in Maryborough and Bundaberg. Members paid a joining fee of £1/1/- for members of English Constitution Lodges and £1/11/6 for members of other constitutions, a portion of which went towards a building fund.
A hall committee was formed in July 1896 and the land in Macrossan Street was purchased in April 1897 upon this committee's recommendation, at a cost of £30. Members of the lodge cleared the land and donated money and goods towards the new hall. A single storey timber hall was proposed and funding was provided in the form of a loan from Wor. Bro. Blissett who matched the interest rates offered by the Bank of North Queensland. Bundaberg architect F Herbert Faircloth was commissioned to provide plans in 1897.
Herbert Faircloth was responsible for the design of a large number of buildings in Childers, particularly after a disastrous fire destroyed most of the main street in March 1902. Born in Maryborough in 1870, Faircloth was articled to the German-trained Bundaberg architect Anton Hettrich and practised for most of his life in Bundaberg, designing many of the town's major buildings.
The first Lodge meeting was held in the new hall on 8 October 1897. By 1908 it became apparent that the hall was not big enough and Faircloth was again approached to provide plans for an additional storey to the hall. JE Sharpe's tender of £368 was accepted and the enlarged hall was consecrated on 9 July 1909.
Two storey halls were a popular form for Lodges in Queensland - the upper floor would be reserved for Lodge meetings and the lower floor provided space for a range of public events, such as dances, euchre and smoke nights, picnics and sports days. Founded on principles of fellowship, charity and "the practice of moral and social virtue" , Freemasonry thrived in the absence of Government welfare and Freemasons supported each other and their families, particularly in country areas.
In 1920, the two Grand Lodges of Queensland merged to form the United Grand Lodge of Queensland, ending years of division within the Freemasonry movement in Queensland. As a consequence, the name of the Corinthian Masonic Lodge in Childers was changed to it's current name - the Isis No. 93 UGLQ first appearing in the minutes of 11 November 1921.
Minor alterations have taken place over the years, including the installation of electricity in 1915, replacement of weatherboards in 1956 and re-wiring, re-stumping and replacement of the corrugated iron roof in 1976. A kitchen and toilet have been added to the rear of the building. The building has been used continuously as a Masonic Lodge since its construction.
","criteria":"The Isis Masonic Lodge is important in illustrating the evolution of Queensland's history having been constructed during a period of unprecedented growth in the Isis, when Childers emerged as the centre of a substantial sugar-growing district and major social, cultural and religious institutions were established in the town.
|As a two storey, timber hall with an impressive façade with decorative timber detailing and blue and white colour scheme, the Isis Masonic Hall demonstrates the principal characteristics of Masonic Temples in small rural settlements.
|The building has aesthetic significance derived from its fine yet simple design and timber detailing and its striking presence in the streetscape.
|The place has a strong and special association with the Childers community, in particular local Freemasons and their families, as the principal and symbolic place for the practice of Freemasonry in the town and an important centre for cultural and social activities for over 100 years.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16993,"place_ref":602172,"name":"Boolboonda State Primary School (former)","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Boolboonda Tunnel Road","suburb":"GIN GIN","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2000-08-25","description":"The Boolboonda State School is located at Tunnel Road, Boolboonda on a large portion of land which slopes gently away from the road entry. The school building is sited well back from the road amongst a cluster mature trees, of mixed species, which create an intimate sense of enclosure around the structure. An earth closet is located to the rear of the school building further up the slope.
The school building is a timber framed and weatherboard clad structure, rectangular in plan and elevated slightly above the ground on timber stumps. The roof is clad with corrugated metal sheeting and is comprised of a central gable and verandah skillion roofs to the front and rear of the building. Timber louvred vents punctuate both gable ends. Storm water from the roof is collected in two corrugated metal sheet water tanks located on the eastern side of the building.
Entry to the school is by a set of stairs to the front northern verandah which appears to have once extended the entire width of the building. This verandah is now enclosed at the eastern end. The rear verandah is a later addition to the building and is partially enclosed at both ends creating a semi enclosed space. The balustrade to the front verandah is comprised of a top and middle rail while the rear verandah balustrade has a top and bottom rail with timber batten infill.
Windows to the building are all double hung however vary from a six pane configuration on the eastern and western elevations to a four pane configuration on the northern and southern elevations On the western elevation a timber framed sun hood shelter a bank of three double hung windows while on the eastern face metal sunhoods are set over single double hung windows set central to the school building and verandah enclosure.
Internally the school building is a single volume space with a small verandah enclosure in the north east corner. The floor is unfinished timber boarding and the walls and ceiling are lined with timber T&G boards. The ceiling follows the gable roof form but is truncated across the apex of the roof.
The outhouse to the rear of the school building is timber framed and clad with weatherboards and has a simple vertical timber batten screen to its entry. The roof is a single sheet of curved corrugated metal sheeting.
","history":"A school had been established with the construction of the Mount Perry railway line in the period of 1879-1884 to service the educational needs of children of railway workers employed by the contractors O'Rourke & McSharry. The original school closed with the completion of the Bundaberg-Mount Perry railway line in 1884. In 1896 a local committee proposed that the Department of Public Instruction establish a school for local children of the Boolboonda area. The School opened in 1897 and in 1909 was declared a State School. It was closed for enrolments in 1973.
The Mount Perry railway ( originally known as the Bundaberg Railway) was built by the Queensland Government to service the Mount Perry copper mines. The construction of the railway line to Mount Perry opened up the district to large scale commerce whereby freighting of grain increased from 197 tons in 1882 to 766 tons in 1886 and timber from the nearby Watawa area grew from three tons in 1883 to 3,753 tons in 1884. With the advent of the railway, a growing number of families were to settle in the area, especially those associated with the maintenance of the Mount Perry railway line. It was these local families that would agitate for the establishment of a school. Enrolments were received from the farming component of the community, railway workers, and also with miners associated with the exploitation of wolfram and molybdenite in the Boolboonda area.
The first letter of application for the establishment of a school at Boolboonda was sent on behalf of four residents with twenty children aged between five and thirteen, all living within a ten kilometre radius of the proposed school location. The nearest school maintained by the State was at Drummer's Creek (Dingle Dell) some eight kilometres distant. A building Committee was elected on 16 May 1896, consisting of William Wormington, Peter Campbell and Henry McDade.
The original proposed site was to be on ten acres of land, to the north of the Mount Perry railway line. The Department of Public Instruction applied for the use of this land which was part of the railway reserve. The Railway Department rejected this request, and instead selected a second location on the southern side of the railway line, all being part of a forfeited mineral lease. Construction of the building took place between October 1896 and January 1897, although surveying of the proposed school reserve still had yet to be undertaken.
The school was completed on 23 January 1897, and was inspected by the Head Teacher at Mount Perry. Cost of the building totalled £97.14.0. The school was opened as a Provisional School on 22 March 1897, the first teacher appointed was Kate Ruddy, and some twenty-four children were enrolled in first year.
The concept of a provisional school was developed to cope with increase in the number of new settlements and townships in the latter part of the nineteenth century. The government developed a criterion whereby a minimum of 30 children was required in an area before a school would be erected. In areas such as Boolboonda, where this criteria could not be met, the government gave financial assistance to local committees to establish provisional schools. Provisional schools were regarded as an interim measure until a state school could be built and were often hastily erected by voluntary labour using basic materials. These schools were seen as a convenient means of providing elementary education throughout the colony and soon became an integral part of the educational landscape.
In 1909 the school changed in status from a Provisional to a State School, Class 10. Some two years later with the increasing number of enrolments (thirty eight in 1911), the school committee requested that an additional verandah be constructed. The work was carried out in September for a cost of £29.15.0
The Boolboonda State School in the period of 1916-23 experienced a great deal of tension and conflict between some of the school committee members and the Head Teachers (themselves local people). An inquiry was conducted in 1922, a result of which was the transfer of a local teacher and the appointment of one from outside of the district.
The average number of children who attended the Boolboonda State School varied from 16 children in 1897 to a high of 25 children in 1903, and again in 1922. Attendances climbed at the end of the 1940s and remained high until the middle of the 1950s. Numbers then averaged at around sixteen until the middle of the 1960s but experienced a decline post 1966. With a declining attendance of local children of around seven in the period of 1967 -1972, the decision was taken to close the Boolboonda Sate School in February 1973.
From 1897 until its closure in 1973 some eighteen teachers taught at the Boolboonda State School. The longest serving of these was Margaret Campbell who was teacher at Boolboonda from 1926 until 1958.
After closure the Boolboonda State School grounds and building were then held in trust by local residents and used as a community meeting area until the Kolan Shire Council became trustee in the early 1980's. The land is now a Reserve for Park and Recreation with the Kolan Shire Council as Trustee of the reserve and building.
","criteria":"As an intact example of a provisional school constructed at the end of the nineteenth century and with little change or modification to the building, it serves as an important reminder of the development of state education to rural communities throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
|The grounds include a variety of mature plantings that create a picturesque surround to the school buildings.
|The Boolboonda School, as with many educational institutions, forms a strong axis around which the community revolves. The Boolboonda and surrounding district residents have used the school for educational purposes, as a meeting place, for public functions and over the years has been a central gathering place for the residents of the area. The community's sense of association with the place has been strengthened by the fact that the residents of the Boolboonda area paid for the purchase of the land and former school following its closure. Accordingly, the educational component of the cultural heritage of community would be retained within the community.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion E | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":19610,"place_ref":602489,"name":"St Andrews Uniting Church","alternate_name":"St Andrew's Uniting Church | St Andrews Church | St Andrew's Church","street_address":"cnr Maryborough Street","suburb":"BUNDABERG","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2004-08-03","description":"St Andrew's Uniting Church at Bundaberg is a substantial brick church located in the heart of the city, at the corner of Maryborough and Woongarra Streets, opposite Buss Park.
Designed in the Gothic style, the body of the church is cruciform in shape and is positioned north-south such that the sanctuary faces north. The building is constructed of variegated and multi-coloured bricks, with decorative cement dressings on the external walls. The roof is clad with fibrous-cement tiles. The building is laid on a cement foundation and its maximum overall dimensions are 115 feet by 41 feet.
A carillon tower of 'battlement design', attached to the eastern side of the building, dominates the building. The tower measures 71 feet in height and slightly tapers toward the top. Each face of the tower has decorative arched openings and is crowned with the cross of St Andrew on the middle battlement. The tower contains a carillon, or set of bells, one of which bears the emblem of the burning bush and a dedication to the memory of members of the Pierson family. A First World War Honour Board is located in the Tower entry and later memorials have been added.
At the southern end of the church is the official main entry. Above the entry is a large stained glass window that consists of four large panels crowned by seven crosses; the whole arrangement is set within an arch. There are six stained glass windows along either side of the nave, set between the buttresses. Exposed arched trusses in dark stained pine support the roof structure and dominate the internal ceiling.
The dais contains a number of wooden furnishings have been carved from silky oak timber. The furnishings include purpose-designed furniture including three rows of seats, two elaborately carved chairs for the Moderator at Communion Services and the pulpit, the communion table, and the pulpit.
There are two vestries on either side of the dais, one for the Minister on the eastern side, the other for the choir on the western side. Behind the dais is a tracery plaster panel that screens the pipes of the organ. Above this are three small trefoil shaped stained glass windows in a triangular shaped setting.
The eastern and southern boundaries of the property are marked by a low stone fence, with a small roofed gate (reminiscent of a lych gate) at the corner where the two boundaries meet. . The gate is made of the same stone as the fence and has a fibrous-cement tiled roof.
Gardens have been established along the sides and southern end of the church. These consist of garden beds along the base of the walls, low set shrubs and a number of small trees. These help to reinforce links with the neighboring Buss Park.
The grounds also contain a former Manse (1957) and a Christian Education Centre (1968). The Manse it is a low set brick structure to the west of the Church. It has been modified in recent years for offices and is not considered to be of cultural heritage significance. The Christian Education Centre is in very close proximity to northern end of the church; it is not considered to be of cultural heritage significance.
","history":"St Andrews Uniting Church, Bundaberg was erected in 1932 as St Andrew's Presbyterian Church and replaced an earlier Presbyterian church erected on the site in 1882. The land had been purchased in 1881 and was held in trust by three senior members of the congregation on behalf of the Presbyterian Church in Bundaberg.
The 1932 church was built largely with funds generated by the Bundaberg Presbyterian community. In 1925, the Bundaberg Presbyterian Women's Guild opened a New Church Fund and over the next six years worked with other Church organizations including the Committee of Management and the Girls Auxiliary to raise £3,500. Additional fund raising generated another £2,000 over a six month period in 1931. The final funds were obtained through a loan of £3,500 through the Grand Trustees of the Protestant Alliance Friendly Society.
The ability of the Presbyterian congregation of Bundaberg to quickly raise such large sums highlights the relative prosperity of the district's sugar industry during the 1920s, which was sustained into the 1930s. However, construction of the church in the early 1930s was also a local work-generating scheme during a time of economic depression. The Church adopted a deliberate policy to ensure that funds for the construction of the church were spent on local labour and materials; by completion it was estimated that 75% of the construction budget had been spent locally.
Prominent Brisbane architect Lange L. Powell designed St Andrew's Presbyterian Church. Powell had designed a number of important structures in Queensland including the Brisbane Masonic Temple and was highly regarded by the time he designed St Andrew's. Powell described St Andrew's as being designed in 'broad free gothic style that was reminiscent of the Fourteenth Century', moderated to allow for the sub-tropical climate. All the windows in the bays could be opened and the eaves were carried clear of the main supports to ensure adequate circulation of air.
The design and orientation of the church was also developed to maximize the location and setting. On a corner block directly across the road from Buss Park and the Anglican Church, Powell orientated the Church along Maryborough Street rather than facing it. This maximized the view of the lateral façade and ensured that the Tower on the Eastern side dominated.
The design was well received by the community and local headlines on the day on which the Church was dedicated read 'Latest Addition to Bundaberg Architecture'. The local press also emphasized that Powell had spent some of his childhood in Bundaberg while his father had served as the town's Methodist Minister.
The Queensland Moderator of the Presbyterian Church set the foundation Stone during St Andrew's golden jubilee celebrations on 24 October 1931. Powell supervised the construction of the church, which was undertaken by building contractor CJ Vandenberg. The Church was opened and dedicated on 3 September 1932. The total cost was reported as more than £12, 000.
Lange Powell designed some of the furniture for the Church and a drive was launched to obtain sponsors for the various pieces and fittings. Many of the internal furnishings were made from silky oak. The three rows of seats on the dais were designed for comfort and a number of variations were considered before the final version was selected. There are also two elaborately carved chairs, one for the Moderator at Communion Services, the other at the pulpit. The communion table and the pulpit itself were also of elaborate design and included panels that bore carved emblems of the Presbyterian Church. The baptismal font had been previously gifted to the community and was transferred from the 1882 Church.
The carillon tower was dedicated as a memorial to those members of St Andrew's community who died during the First World War. Such memorials were an important feature of the interwar era as communities came to terms with the loss of significant numbers of young men. This loss was compounded by the absence of graves to visit and at which to commemorate.
The Tower contains a 'Peal of Bells', the largest of which (the tenor bell) bears the symbol of burning bush. The tower bells were manufactured in Maryborough, England, and were donated by Miss Amy Ethel Maud Peirson in memory of deceased members of her family. At the time of its construction St Andrew's reputedly was the first Presbyterian Church in Australia, and one of only seven Presbyterian Churches in the world, to have a carillon. It was also believed to be the first Presbyterian Church in Australia to have a bell that bore the Presbyterian symbol of the burning bush. The bells have since become a local feature and their ring can be heard throughout the central business district and surrounding suburbs.
In the early 1970s the congregation of St Andrew's Presbyterian Church at Bundaberg considered whether to join the Union of Churches that was to become the Uniting Church. After some debate, the majority of parishioners voted in favour of the proposal, with the official Church Union taking place in 1977. A contingent of the congregation voted to continue as Presbyterian. Lacking sufficient numbers to retain St Andrew's, they relocated to a smaller former Methodist Church.
","criteria":"St Andrew's Church demonstrates the pattern of Queensland history as the scale and quality of the community-funded building highlights the relative prosperity of the Bundaberg district during the Great Depression of the early 1930s. The funds for the construction were largely raised through community donation, with a substantial percentage raised at a time when other parts of Queensland were economically depressed. The expenditure associated with the construction of the Church was also deliberately focused upon the Bundaberg district to ensure its construction brought local economic benefits and employment opportunities.
It further demonstrates the pattern of Queensland history, as the carillon tower of the Church is an example of a community-based memorial for those who died in military service during the First World War.
|St Andrew's Church is an uncommon heritage place as it is believed to be the first Presbyterian Church in Australia to have a carillon. At the time of its construction it was also one of only seven Presbyterian Churches in the world to have a peal of bells.
|The place is also an intact example of a substantial inter-war brick church in Gothic architectural style. Designed by the prominent Brisbane architect, Lange L Powell, it incorporates many Gothic design features including asymmetrical massing and a tower without a spire.
|The church is aesthetically significant, both externally and internally. The overall design is imposing yet beautiful, with stain glass windows, specifically designed furnishings, and the sound of the bells all contributing. The design and orientation also consciously utilized and complimented the proximity of Buss Park and the Anglican Church.
|The Church is also significant because of its strong associations with the Presbyterian/Uniting community and Bundaberg more generally. A landmark in Bundaberg, St Andrews has been a focal point of the Presbyterian/Uniting communitys' social and spiritual events. The bells have specifically become a local feature.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":33400,"place_ref":602814,"name":"Fallon House","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"1 Maryborough Street","suburb":"BUNDABERG","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2012-12-07","description":"Fallon House is a small brick building accommodating a hall and offices on a corner lot in a central location in Bundaberg. The building fronts onto Maryborough Street to the east providing access to the offices and the garage. It has a secondary access on the north from Quay Street which provides access to the hall behind. The building sits on the eastern half of a rectangular 933 m2 allotment with a grassed yard occupying the remainder of the site.
The building is one-storey cavity brick with pale orange face brick sheltered by a terracotta tiled roof (hipped over the offices and gabled over the hall). It is designed in a functionalist style with a cubic form with horizontal continuous cantilevered concrete window hoods, and minimal decoration.
The Maryborough Street elevation is asymmetrical around a projecting central entrance bay. The entrance is reached by a short flight of concrete stairs and sheltered by a cantilevered concrete awning. The exterior walls have short parapets topped with cement rendered coping. A large flagpole is above the entrance bay and a band of decorative brickwork runs below the coping. Attached to the face and awnings of the building are large letters FALLON HOUSE, A.W.U., and AUSTRALIAN WORKERS UNION. The front door is a modern aluminium-framed glazed double leaf and is not of cultural heritage significance.
The Quay Street entry to the hall is sheltered by a concrete awning over a short flight of concrete steps. Generally, the windows of the offices are timber framed double hung sashes. The bottom sashes contain obscure rippled glass and the windows on the north and east are shielded by fixed aluminium blades. The windows of the hall are large banks of steel-framed, awning windows with horizontally-ribbed glazing. The building has metal rainwater downpipes surface mounted to the face of the building with large, prominent rainheads. The garage is separated from the main building by a narrow concrete floored alley. Attached to the rear of the garage is a ladies toilet. Behind this is a concreted area and further back is a detached gents toilet block with a skillion roof. The toilets and garage are the same face brick as the main building.
The office consists of a small entry foyer with reception desk, three offices, a kitchen, and a strong room. Rooms have vinyl tile floors, sheet wall linings with timber skirtings, picture rails and architraves, and the ceiling is fibrous plaster sheets with moulded plaster cornices. The strong room has a concrete floor and rendered concrete walls and ceiling. The rooms retain original built-in cupboards with original hardware, some original light fixtures and light switching plates, and the strong room retains original locks and timber shelving. Internal doors are timber with original hardware. Some windows have internal wind deflecting glass shields at sill level and some partitions have ribbed glass windows at a high level. The foyer retains the original timber veneer reception desk in front of a timber veneer partition with ribbed glazing. The kitchen retains original joinery including cabinet handles, sink and tapware, benchtop, and green splashback tiles.
The hall is accessed from both Quay Street and the rear of the office via a small foyer with double silky oak doors that open into the large hall. The hall floor is timber and the walls are sheeted and have a timber skirting. Acoustic sheets are attached at a high-level of the back wall. The coved ceiling consists of a grid of large, square sheets with timber cover strips, hanging fluorescent lights, and a long central feature panel ventilation grille. At the western end of the hall is a raised stage with proscenium accessed by stairs at either side. The stage is flanked by a small room either side; one contains a kitchen with original joinery, benchtop, sink, tapware, and tiled splashback, the other is a small backstage room with a set of timber stairs and provides access to the stage wing. The doors in the hall are clear-finished silky oak and the paint scheme throughout the hall appears to be original. Doors at the western end open out onto a short flight of concrete stairs into the concreted yard.
The toilet blocks have polished concrete floors, fibrous plaster sheet walls and ceilings, with timber coverstrips and cornices. The rooms have square timber framed windows of obscure glass louvres. The cubicle partitions are terrazzo and the walls are lined with green square ceramic tiles. The toilet blocks retain original fixtures and fittings including toilets, urinal, basins, and light fittings.
","history":"Fallon House, the Central District office of the Australian Workers Union (AWU), is situated in Maryborough Street Bundaberg, on the corner of Quay Street. The building was designed by Brisbane architects DB Goodsir and HJ Carlyle, built by L Edwards, and opened in 1953. It is a low set brick modernist style structure comprising offices addressing Maryborough Street and a hall at the rear accessed from Quay Street. It was named in honour of former central branch secretary and state secretary of the AWU Clarence Edward Fallon.
\nBetween the years of 1918 and 1957, the Queensland Branch of the AWU was the largest branch of the largest union in Australia, with the Central District Office (Bundaberg) one of six offices of the union in Queensland. This period of domination of the union also coincides with the career of Clarrie Fallon, a temporary organiser in Bundaberg from 1921 who rose to the pinnacle of power in the union at a time when the Queensland Parliament ministerial team comprised mostly AWU members.
\nThe economy of Bundaberg, initially based on timber, quickly evolved into sugar production as foundation settlers selected land in 1867-68 under the 'Sugar and Coffee Regulations' stemming from the Crown Lands Alienation Act of the 1860s which aimed to promote agriculture and closer settlement. The site of Bundaberg was officially surveyed in 1869. Coastal traffic grew, and copper was first mined at Mt Perry in 1871, which enabled Bundaberg to develop as a port and supply centre. Sugar plantations were established in the surrounding area and were to become the basis for the city's wealth as the industry boomed from the 1880s.
\nColonial Queensland workers formed loosely based organisations in an effort to improve working conditions. One such union was the Eight Hour Day movement, which was initiated in Queensland in 1858 by stone masons working for John Petrie in Brisbane. The movement remained strong throughout Australia into the early 20th century. Most unions were small locally based organisations with no legal status. A Trades and Labour Council was established in Brisbane in 1885, followed by the Trade Union Act 1886 which legalised unions as organisations. Trade unions then took on a more permanent character as the Queensland economy consolidated and grew. Queensland workers recognised the value in a strong united union movement and formed the Australian Labour Federation (ALF), a combined industrial and political organisation. The ALF replaced the Trades and Labour Council in 1889. Its secretary, Albert Hinchcliffe a printer by trade, and journalist William Lane established the ‘Worker' newspaper in 1890 as the official newspaper of the union. The Australian Labor Party (ALP) formed at the first provincial council meeting of the ALF in August 1890.[1]
\nThe Amalgamated Workers Union formed in Queensland in December 1891, from a merger of the Queensland Shearer's Union and the Queensland Labourer's Union, during the pastoral strike. Following the economic downturn and decline in unionism later in the 1890s, the Trades and Labour Council reformed in 1904.[2] In 1905, three western branches of the Amalgamated Workers Union, in Longreach, Charleville and Hughenden,[3] joined with the southern pastoral Australian Workers Union (AWU) to form a new union in Queensland. Its origins were in the Shearer's Union, which formed in Ballarat Victoria in 1886. Registered through the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1905, this merger established a branch of the AWU in Queensland.[4]
\nAnother new union, the Amalgamated Workers Association (AWA) was formed by miners on the Atherton Tableland in 1907. Membership comprised unskilled and semi-skilled workers.[5] In 1908 the Bundaberg District Workers Union and the Mackay Sugar Workers Union became affiliated with the AWA. Union secretary Edward Granville (Ted) Theodore then embarked on a political career, entering parliament in 1909. In December 1910 union vice president William McCormack recruited the Amalgamated Sugar Workers Union into the AWA, and instigated a general sugar strike in 1911.[6]
\nThe 1911 general sugar strike occurred after the phasing out of South Sea Islander labour, with workers claiming that many plantation owners had substituted black slaves with white ones. Workers sought better accommodation, wages and conditions, including an eight hour day and a minimum weekly wage of 30 shillings, including food. The mobilisation of unionists from Bundaberg to Mossman was a major achievement, with the 1911 strike lasting over seven weeks in Bundaberg where the town's economy was largely based on the sugar industry.[7] The end result of the strike was a Commonwealth Royal Commission into the sugar industry in 1911-12, which had been initially requested by Harry Hall, a Bundaberg AWA organiser in 1908 with a petition signed by 1500 Bundaberg sugar workers.[8] The Royal Commission, with ALF Secretary Albert Hinchcliffe as secretary, concluded the AWA demands had been justified. The union victory was a watershed in organised labour in Queensland and Australia.[9]
\nThe success of the AWA's 1911 sugar strike, led the ALF (reformed from the TLC in 1910) to initiate the general strike of 1912, the first of its kind in Australia. The ALF called all 42 of its affiliated unions to support dismissed tramway workers in Brisbane. The strike was quashed by armed police on ‘Black Friday', 2 February 1912. McCormack, who had been chairman of the Townsville strike committee, could see that the failure was due to the inability of the ALF to co-ordinate state-wide action and conciliatory negotiations. He was keen to re-align unions in Queensland.[10]
\nAs a precursor to the formation of the Australia-wide Australian Workers Union, McCormack and Theodore attended the AWU national conference in Sydney in 1912, and sought out interstate amalgamations. This resulted in the merger of the AWA, of which Theodore was president, with the essentially southern based Australian Workers Union (AWU). Other unions which also joined forces at this time included the Rural Workers Union, the Carriers Union and the Rabbit Trappers Union.[11] In Queensland the three AWU branches were consolidated into one and the state divided into six districts. The amalgamation was formalised on 1 July 1913. The AWA had held a virtual monopoly in North Queensland and the new organisation led to the national membership of the AWU reaching 62 000; 22 321 of whom were Queenslanders,[12] making it the largest branch of the largest union in Australia at the time.[13] This amalgamation spelt the end of the ALF. McCormack and Theodore were convinced that the AWU model of the amalgamation of smaller unions into One Big Union (OBU) was the way forward.[14] EG Theodore was the first president of the Queensland branch of the AWU. The political affiliations of the AWA and subsequent AWU contributed to the election of the Labor government in Queensland in 1915, remaining in power for almost 40 years.
\nRecognising the need for a formal meeting place for unionists, the Bundaberg Eight Hour Day committee approached the Lands Department in July 1919 for a site for a Trades Hall. At the time, union meetings were held outdoors on the corner opposite the School of Arts.[15] An informal lease (No. 453) was drawn up by the Lands Department to the union trustees, for the northern half of the allotment on the western corner of Quay and Maryborough Streets, allowing a building to be erected on the site.[16] [17] In March 1922 the Eight Hour Day Anniversary Committee was granted a three year lease on the property.[18]
\nThe Bundaberg Trades and Labour Hall opened on the corner lot on 8 May 1922. An Eight Hour Day Parade was held followed by a sports gathering and dinner in the hall presided over by the president of the Bundaberg Trades and Labour Council.[19] When the District Land Officer inspected the property in July 1923 he indicated that it comprised a five roomed timber building (the Trades Hall) and offices adjoining occupied by the Australian Workers Union built of wood with two large rooms.[20] By January 1924 the Bundaberg Trades and Labour Council had purchased the Perpetual Town Lease No 6087, of the corner allotment and the improvements on it i.e. the Trades Hall and adjoining offices. The lease document was drawn up in November 1924.[21]
\nThe Trades and Labour Council reformed in Brisbane in April 1922, coinciding with a renewed fervour for the establishment of One Big Union. A meeting in May at the Brisbane Trades Hall, addressed by the Queensland AWU Branch President AW Riordan, sought support for a union representing the whole of Australasia.[22] The process had commenced in New South Wales, initiated by the miners' unions, which formed the Workers Industrial Union of Australia (WIUA) in 1918. At that time it did not have the support of the AWU, and since the WIUA was intent on dismantling the existing industrial and political system,[23] this threatened the status quo of the AWU in Queensland which survived through its mutually beneficial relationship with the ALP and the sitting Labor government, making the OBU concept unpopular.
\nBundaberg was a starting point for many AWU officials, including Clarrie Fallon after whom the Bundaberg AWU building is named. He began his working life driving a parcel delivery van,[24] and became a representative of the Australian Carrier's Union in the Gladstone district in his youth. Becoming a member of the Bundaberg and District Sugar Workers and General Labourer's Union around 1908, he then worked on the railways. Fallon's father had been a shearer, involved in the great strikes of the late 1880s and his mother was a shearer's cook, and both had strong interests in the labour movement.[25] Fallon's AWU career began as a temporary organiser in Bundaberg in 1921, where he initiated some of the union's work for better conditions for sugar workers, and pioneered the union involvement with the cattle industry.[26] Two years later he was appointed manager of the central district's Rockhampton office. By 1928 he was northern district secretary, based in Townsville.[27] In 1933 he was elected state secretary of the AWU Queensland Branch, managing director of the Queensland Worker and chairman of directors of the Labor Daily Newspaper Co. Ltd. By February 1938 he was president of the Queensland central executive of the ALP and was elected federal ALP president in July that year. In 1940 he was elected general secretary of the AWU. He resigned from this role for health reasons in February 1943, and resigned the ALP federal presidency in 1944. The same year he was appointed to the University of Queensland Senate.[28] By 1946 he was again the Queensland branch secretary, fighting for a 40 hour week for shearers in Queensland.[29]
\nAWU memberships were fairly evenly spread throughout the state in the 1920s, although a slightly larger membership existed in the Northern region, with the South West the smallest. For example, in 1924 the Northern Region had 5723, Central and Far Northern had over 5300, Southern 4728, Western 4493 and South Western had 3619.[30]
\nThe AWU dominated the ALP in Queensland where between 1920 and 1950, four out of six labour premiers came from the AWU ranks: EG Theodore, W McCormack, F A Cooper and W Forgan Smith. Membership of the ALP declined during the Depression years and the organisation came to rely on the AWU's organisational support. AWU membership in Queensland was 53 000 in 1936, compared with 6 600 in New South Wales.[31] Labor lost power in 1929. Following its re-election in 1933, the partnership of Premier Forgan Smith and Secretary of the AWU Clarrie ‘the red terror' Fallon, emerged as one of the most powerful political teams in Queensland history. The ministry included nine officials of the AWU, while the brother of the only non-member, Ned Hanlon, was the editor of the ‘Worker' and a member of the Worker Board of Trustees.[32] Even during the Depression years, the AWU continued to dominate in terms of trade union membership and by 1939 AWU membership had risen to 57,856, which was 50,000 more members than the nearest sized trade unions in Queensland.[33]
\nThe growing strength of the union, led Central Branch Secretary Clarrie Fallon to write to the Minister for Lands in 1945 seeking to purchase part of the Bundaberg property of the Trades and Labour Council to establish an office for the AWU. A mutual agreement with the TLC initiated a resurvey of the corner allotments and removal of the old timber buildings.[34] A new lease for the property (Lot 14) was drawn up in January 1947 under the names of the executive of the TLC, and then transferred to the AWU Branch Trustees, Clarence Edward Fallon, James William McCarter and John Alfred Moir on 21 March 1947.[35] Clarrie Fallon died in January 1950 on the eve of an AWU convention in Sydney.[36]
\nThe Bundaberg Office of the AWU was built when the union was at its peak in Australia. In 1950, a record state membership of the union of 66 353 was achieved.[37] The AWU was largest union in Australia in 1950, with almost half of the national membership being in the Queensland branch. At its meeting of 9 May 1950, the central district committee moved to proceed with building a new district office in Bundaberg. Architects David B Goodsir and Harold J Carlyle were consulted to provide a design for the building in February 1951.[38]
\nCarlyle had won the student medal at the Central Technical College in 1933, and had been articled to R Ashley Shaw, who later took him into partnership.[39] Carlyle and Goodsir were in partnership from 1946, sometimes still working with Shaw. The firm designed the new Innisfail hospital and the Maryborough Fire Station in 1949, Emmanuel College at the University of Queensland in 1950, the Queensland Spastic Welfare League building at New Farm in December 1953, and the Bureau of Sugar Experimentation on Gregory Terrace in 1958.[40] The firm later evolved to become Goodsir, Baker and Wilde.
\nThe architects called tenders for the Bundaberg AWU building[41] and the contract awarded to L Edwards in May 1952.[42] Goodsir and Carlyle were part of a group of modernist architects producing functionalist designs often found in hospitals, schools, and offices in the 1950s. Governments and councils preferred this style, as its association with progress, innovation, efficiency and economy, made it an appealing choice in the post-depression era. Characteristics of the functionalist style in Australia include asymmetrical massing, simple geometric shapes, clean lines, steel framed corner and strip windows, undecorated brick walls, curved external corners, flat cantilevered concrete awnings and low pitched or flat roofs concealed behind parapets. Buildings constructed in Bundaberg at this time include: extensions to the hospital and a new state high school at Kepnock in 1964,[43] a new fire station (1950), the Canegrowers Building (1957), the 1957 Radio 4BU building (QHR 601284) a new courthouse in 1958 and the Civic Centre built in 1960.
\nThe Bundaberg News Mail reported in December 1952 that the £16,000 AWU building was under construction and was the largest non-government building project in Bundaberg at the time. When completed it was to be named Fallon House. According to the newspaper, the city had experienced a ten percent growth in the construction of industrial and commercial buildings during the 1952 calendar year, including fourteen new factories, a foundry, a number of auto maintenance businesses and eighteen new shops. The sugar industry remained the biggest employer in the district with almost half engaged in sugar growing and manufacture.[44] The building appears to have been completed by April 1953, as the new structure was inspected by Branch President J Bukowski and Branch Secretary Harold Boland at this time.[45] The completion of the building was a landmark for the union, which now owned all of its offices.[46] These included Longreach (1922), Mackay (1926), Townsville (1936), Cairns (1938), Charleville and Ayr, both completed in 1940.[47] Fallon House honoured the memory of Clarrie Fallon, whose death, according to the ‘Worker' newspaper, ‘was a loss to the Australian Worker's Union, the Labor Party and indeed the Commonwealth of Australia'.[48]
\nAt the time of construction of Fallon House, the AWU represented workers from a range of industries including; cane cutters and sugar mills, Golding's sawmill in Gladstone, railway labour gangs employed on a project basis, Gladstone City Council and other local government employees, Carrick's Sawmill Rockhampton, Bundaberg foundry, Gladstone Butter Factory, Bundaberg Distillery, Mt Morgan mines, the Peanut Board in Rockhampton, Walkers Ltd in Maryborough, Biloela Butter Factory, Gladstone Harbour Board, Maryborough Hospital and other local hospitals.[49] The inclusion of a garage in the design of the new offices is evidence of the necessity for union representatives to travel. For example, District Secretary Gerry Goding travelled to Monto, Eidsvold, Cracow, Theodore, Biloela and Mount Perry in early November 1954.[50]
\nFallon House provided a reception area staffed by union organisers where members to pay their fees and acquired union tickets, office space for union administrative staff, including a district secretary's office, bookkeeper's office, a kitchen and strong room within the main building, while the hall at the rear, served as a trades' hall where stop work meetings were held. The ALP also convened meetings here. The hall featured a stage and dressing rooms, and a small kitchen area, demonstrating the intent to derive income from its rental. The provision of a hall for public use was common in this type of building, and other AWU buildings in Townsville, Mackay, Ayr and Charleville included hall or dance halls,[51] as did the Toowoomba Trades Hall, (QHR 602768) and other trades halls like Rockhampton, Brisbane and Ipswich. The local council used Fallon House Hall as an immunisation clinic during the week and in the late 60s, dances were held on weekends, as were other functions such as wedding receptions. In most recent years the hall has been used by a local dance school for lessons, performances and examinations.[52] The property remained leased until the early 1970s when the land was converted to freehold. A Deed of Grant for the land was issued to the Trustees of the Australian Workers Union of Employees Queensland on 22 November 1972.[53]
\nThe fortunes of the AWU ebbed and flowed in the subsequent years. The ten month long shearer's strike of 1956 was ended by a declaration of a State of Emergency by Labor Premier Vince Gair. While the proposed cuts to shearing rates were restored and the strike was generally seen as a victory for shearers, it was followed by a breakdown in the relationship between the AWU and the ALP, the expulsion of Gair from the ALP in April 1957 and his formation of the Queensland Labor Party. It later formed a coalition with the Democratic Labor Party (DLP).[54] Ted Walsh became the deputy leader of the QLP following the split, but by 1960 ran as an independent. His strong personal local following saw him retain his Bundaberg seat until his retirement in 1969.[55] At the same time the management of the Central Branch of the AWU in Bundaberg rested with district secretary Gerry Goding from 1942, who is credited in healing the rift between the ALP and the AWU in later years.[56] Goding guided the union membership through the transition from a labour intensive agrarian economy to an increasingly diverse one, particularly after increased mechanisation in the sugar industry, and the merger of mill operations. New ventures evolved, including the production of sugar harvesting and other agricultural machinery, which led to a decline in AWU memberships as the role of canecutters diminished. However there has been a growth in employment by local government undertaking sewerage and water supply schemes. Workers employed in these industries, and those employed in hospitals, water supply and forestry were members of the AWU.[57] The union was involved in a number of major industrial issues during the 1960s including the Mt Isa mines disputes of 1961 and 1964 and the 1967 Collinsville power station construction dispute, in which the AWU recruited the contractors employed as strike breakers. The Mt Isa and Collinsville disputes continued the union's somewhat controversial reputation at that time.[58]
\nThe AWU continued to represent a range of occupations through the 1980s, becoming involved in disputes related to environmental issues, particularly in its support of workers employed in ventures such as forestry and sand mining on Fraser Island, uranium mining, and logging in the rainforests around Cairns. It also supported the construction of the Gordon below Franklin Dam in Tasmania in the early 1980s, which did not proceed following the election of the Hawke Labor Government in 1983. In 1993 the AWU merged with the Federation of Industrial Manufacturing and Engineering Employees (FIME) giving it greater membership in the mining industry, supporting jobs growth despite environmental concerns.[59] During 2009 the sugar industry again dominated the union's activities in Bundaberg, with members shut out of the Bingera and Millaquin mills after striking to protect leave entitlements.[60] In 2011, a former National Party, now independent politician called on the AWU to fight the closure of the Babinda Sugar Mill, owned by a joint venture of foreign owned Bundaberg Sugar and Maryborough Sugar Factory.[61] The union celebrated the 125th anniversary of its inauguration in Ballarat in 1886 with a national conference on the Gold Coast in February 2011,[62] and in 2013 will celebrate the centenary of the formal amalgamation of smaller unions into the AWU in July 1913. Fallon House continues to operate as the Central District office of the union.
","criteria":"Fallon House demonstrates the principal characteristics of a purpose-built district union office, which has continually served members since its construction in 1953. The internal layout of the building illustrates its function, with office spaces for union organisers, administrative staff and district secretary. The attached hall functioned as an Australian Worker's Union and Australian Labor Party meeting place and a venue for local community activities. Its highly in-tact modernist style reflects the dynamism of Bundaberg in the post-war era when a range of similarly styled functionalist public buildings were erected to symbolise progress, innovation and optimism for the future.
|Fallon House in Bundaberg (1953), as the Central District Office of the Australian Workers' Union (AWU), is a product of the growth of the union in Queensland in the first half of the 20th century. It is important in demonstrating the evolution of workers' history in Queensland and the influential contribution that the union movement has made to the development of the state. The construction of a purpose built AWU office and hall in 1953 occurred at a time when the union was at its peak, with the Queensland Branch having been the largest branch of Australia's largest trade union for 40 years.
The site is associated with significant early union activity to improve workers' conditions in Bundaberg and Central Queensland, including the Eight Hour Day movement and the AWU from 1923.
|Fallon House in Bundaberg has a strong association with the membership of the Australian Workers Union (AWU), an organisation that has played in important role in the union movement in Queensland. From the inauguration of the AWU in July 1913, until 1957, the Queensland Branch was the largest branch of Australia's largest union. Constructed at the time the union was at its peak in Queensland, the place demonstrates the work of the AWU in providing a purpose-built district office to serve their members.
In continuous use since 1953 as the AWU's Central District Office, the building was named in honour of Clarrie Fallon, Bundaberg organiser from 1921, who became state secretary of the union by 1933, and was vice-president of the executive of both the ALP and the AWU by 1950.
|Fallon House exhibits aesthetic characteristics of a well composed modernist building, highly intact both internally and externally, contributing to the streetscape of Quay Street Bundaberg.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion D | Criterion A | Criterion H | Criterion E","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":33401,"place_ref":602815,"name":"St John's Lutheran Church, Bundaberg","alternate_name":"St Johns Church","street_address":"30 George Street","suburb":"BUNDABERG","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2012-12-07","description":"St John's Lutheran Church, Bundaberg stands prominently on a corner site in a quiet, residential area of Bundaberg. The church stands at the centre of the site bounded by George Street to the north, Boundary Street to the west, Bell Street to the south and St John's Lutheran Primary School to the east.
The church is rectangular in plan, 41 m long and 17 m wide, with the entrance front facing north. It is set back from George Street fronted a small, grassed forecourt with palms and shrubs. The building has a box-like body sheltered by a large, gable tiled roof. A tall, slender, square-based spire sheeted with copper rises to almost 44m above the ground. The copper cross atop extends a further 2.7 m and is lit by fluorescent tubes. The northern and southern sides of the spire have fixed copper louvres at the level of the hanging bell.
The external walls are orange face brick laid in English bond with projecting headers creating a repetitive pattern and texture-the lower part of the walls are without projecting bricks and are painted. Projecting bricks form large Christograms on the side walls of the tower - ihs on the east and xp on the west. The east and west walls of the body of the church are divided into six bays by full height recesses containing copper rainwater downpipes with detailed copper heads and straps. The bays each have a fixed, steel framed glazing to full height above a double-leaf, glazed, timber framed door. An architrave of projecting headers defines the openings. Beyond the southern-most bay the chancel is lit by fixed, steel framed glazing with deep reveals. The vestries project beneath these windows. The rear wall is windowless and has a field of projecting headers with a large central cross formed by projecting bricks. The vestry walls do not have projecting bricks and are rendered and painted.
The church entrance is a simple, open, painted concrete portico. Above the portico the north elevation of the tower is treated to suggest an open bible with raised, white cement rendered letters two feet high on dark grey textured concrete pages reading:
GOD
SO LOVED THE WORLD,
THAT HE GAVE HIS
ONLY BEGOTTEN SON,
THAT WHOSOEVER
BELIEVETH IN HIM
SHOULD NOT PERISH,
BUT HAVE
EVERLASTING LIFE.
JOHN III.16
and
BELOVED
IF GOD SO LOVED US,
WE OUGHT ALSO
TO LOVE
ONE ANOTHER,
IF WE LOVE
ONE ANOTHER.
GOD DWELLETH IN US
AND HIS LOVE IS
PERFECTED IN US.
1. JOHN IV,11-12
The portico floor is unpainted concrete and on the painted and rendered portico walls are two circular panels of mosaics approximately 1m in diameter. One depicts St John's eagle and the other Luther's Seal. Two sandstone plaques are fixed to the wall, which read:
IN MEMORY OF
EMILIE LOVGREEN
WHOSE GENEROUS GIFT
MADE THIS TOWER POSSIBLE.
"THANKS BE TO GOD."
and
THIS STONE WAS LAID ON 24TH MAY 1958 BY
PASTOR F.H. SCHMIDT, PRESIDENT, U.E.L.C.A. QLD. DIST.
"UNTO GOD BE GLORY IN THE CHURCH BY CHRIST JESUS
THROUGHOUT ALL AGES, WORLD WITHOUT END. AMEN"
EPH. 3, 21.
The portico opens into an entry vestibule through large, bi-folding, steel gates embellished with the notation ‘1960'. The vestibule has a low ceiling of stained and varnished timber battens and a floor of grey vinyl tiles with contrasting white tiles in a cross shape in two places. Within the vestibule are three steps up onto the level of the nave.
From the vestibule there is an office to the left and a rest room area to the right. The rest room area accommodates a toilet, cleaner's room, and a crying room (a room to retreat to with children during the service) which has double-glazed fixed window into the nave and acoustic sheeting to one wall. The office and the rest room contain built- in benches, cupboards, tables, chairs and fittings such as wall-hung speakers which are original elements.
The vestibule opens to the nave through large, timber-framed glass sliding doors. The body of the church is a large space, brightly lit and uncluttered. The walls and flat ceiling are painted white complimenting the stained and varnished timber elements. The floor is plain concrete squares with a red and gold carpet running the length and width of the aisle. The pews are silky oak, carved with a version of Durer's ‘Praying Hands' at the aisle end; some have memorial plaques, eg. Donated by Mr and Mrs A.T. Thompson in memory of Mr and Mrs Hermann Rehbein. The perimeter of the ceiling features a wide band of timber battens emphasising the length of the nave and drawing the eye to the sanctuary. Twelve large windows light the nave. They contain panels depicting scenes from the Gospel of St John in stained and painted glass including portions of older glass from the earlier church, some feature dedications, e.g., In Memory of Mr and Mrs h. Pressler from their children within the glass and on plaques. The nave is electrically lit by wall sconces with glass shades and by fluorescent lights recessed between the ceiling battens. A cast plaster baptismal font (from the earlier church) with painted leaves and inscription stands to the west side of the sanctuary.
The sanctuary is framed by decorative timber battened screens to the height of the nave, a timber battened pulpit stands to the left and a timber battened lectern on the right. The sanctuary has a red and gold carpet and three steps lead to the altar area which has a low altar rail of timber and steel. The concrete altar cantilevers from the rear wall and is decorated by red, gold, yellow, black, and white mosaic tiles with borders, crosses and the word HALLELUJAH picked out in tiles. A plaque fixed to the altar reads, Donated by The Children of MR AND MRS. J.A. ZUNKER In Honour of their Parents.
Fixed to the wall above the altar is a large, stained and varnished timber crucifix flanked by timber Greek letters alpha and omega.
On the east side of the sanctuary is the main vestry and on the west is the server's vestry. The rooms also contain timber tables and chairs that appear older than 1960.
The choir loft over the vestibule is supported by twin, canted, timber columns and is accessed via a small stair on the east side. The loft is open to the nave and has a tiered, timber floor. Timber battens line the rear wall which angles into the ceiling forming a shell-like space for the projection of sound into the nave. A fixed organ console stands near the front and its screened pipes are located at the rear of the loft. The loft contains timber pews and chairs.
The church has a variety of movable paraphernalia including candlesticks, framed portrait photographs, timber flower stands, timber crucifixes and crosses, lecterns, tables, bookcases, carved timber panels with leadlight, a scale model of the preceding St John's church of 1892, a framed, inscribed marble plaque, a wardrobe, cabinets, fabric hangings and books. Some of these were commissioned as part of the church construction or are from earlier churches.
The gardens consist of grass areas and shrubbery with some established palms. Unpainted concrete paths and stairs surround the base of the church.
A large timber hall stands to the south of the church and is not considered to be of cultural heritage significance.
","history":"St John's Lutheran Church, Bundaberg, built in 1960, was designed by architect, Dr Karl Langer as the primary Lutheran church for the Bundaberg community. It is used regularly by the congregation and the adjacent Lutheran school.
\nThe settlement of Bundaberg began on the northern banks of the Burnett River in 1867 but an official survey was undertaken in 1869 and the town was re-sited onto the higher, southern banks. The first land sale held in Bundaberg occurred on 22 August 1872, although two previous sales of Bundaberg land had taken place in Maryborough. The area developed as an agricultural and port town. Initially a number of the early settlers exploited the timber on their selections but as a result of the incentives of the Sugar and Coffee Regulations 1864, sugar became a major component in Bundaberg's development from the 1870s. German farmers settled in Woongarra Scrub, south-east of Bundaberg in 1871, bringing Lutheranism to the area.
\nLutheranism is a major branch of Christianity and places a strong emphasis on the Bible. To Lutherans, the Bible is the only source of divine knowledge and the basis for their faith. In 1838 the first Lutherans arrived in Australia from Prussia and established communities in South Australia and Moreton Bay. That year a group of German Lutheran and Presbyterian missionaries established Zion Hill (at present day Nundah), a mission for Christianising aborigines, on the outskirts of Moreton Bay Penal Colony. It was not considered successful and was abandoned in 1848. In 1857 Lutheran Pastor Carl Franz Alexander Schirmeister came to Moreton Bay and established congregations at North Brisbane, South Brisbane, Ipswich and Toowoomba. He obtained Government grants of land for church use and the first church was built in North Brisbane in 1861, followed quickly by churches at the other locations. Over the following decades Lutheranism was spread across Queensland. Around 1859 the newly-formed colony of Queensland launched a vigorous immigration policy that continued for over 40 years.[1] It attracted many Germans who formed distinct communities amidst the essentially-British nation. Although only a minority of these Germans were Lutheran, across the state Lutheran congregations grew.
\nLutheranism in Bundaberg was established in 1873. Lutheran Pastor Carl Hellmuth of Maryborough visited Bundaberg to preach, administer Holy Communion, and baptise - the first formal Lutheran services in Bundaberg. In 1877 monthly services commenced in a shop in Bundaberg and in 1882 Bundaberg's first Lutheran church was built in Tanitha Street. This was the first St John's church and was a simple timber building. It was inundated by flood waters several times so higher land was purchased in 1890 at the corner of George and Boundary Streets and the second timber St John's church was built here in 1892.[2]
\nBundaberg overtook Maryborough as the regional centre of the Wide Bay-Burnett during the interwar period and growth continued post-World War II (WWII)[3] with the city council promoting major revitalisation of the city. Many large building programs were completed including new hospitals, schools, court house, customs house, civic centre, and port, transforming Bundaberg. The population of the town rose from 18,000 in 1952 to 27,000 in 1967.[4]
\nThe 1950s and 1960s was an era of religious vitality in Australia. During this period the nation was in a sustained economic boom, was lead by conservative governments, and was experiencing high population growth. The congregations of major religions expanded and church attendance and religious society membership rose with accompanying financial improvement.[5] Suburban churches regularly reported record congregation attendances on major holy days. Membership of the Lutheran church increased after WWII with the major influx of European migrants. In the early to mid 1960s a number of Christian religions made alterations to the way they ministered to their congregation in order to re-establish themselves within the modern world. With increased incomes, increased congregations, and an increasingly modern approach, considerable building programs were undertaken. Spacious brick churches were built in a modern style, often replacing smaller timber churches.[6]
\nIn June 1940 the serving minister of St John's Lutheran Church, Pastor M Reuther received an anonymous letter from ‘a Progressive Lutheran' (who was later revealed to be his wife) which included a donation of £1 toward a new and larger brick church. In 1947 Emilie Lovgren bequeathed £6,000 for the constructing a tower or steeple of a new church.[7] In the following nine years pledges from church members brought the total available for construction to £32,000.[8] In 1955 Brisbane-based architect and town planner Dr Karl Langer was engaged as architect for the new church.
\nArchitect, planner and landscape architect, Karl Langer (1903-1969) was born on 28 July 1903 in Vienna, Austria. He studied at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts under the directorship of pioneer German Modernist designer Peter Behrens and in 1928, the year of his graduation, Langer was employed by Behrens to run his office in Vienna. In 1933 Langer was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy for his thesis entitled Origins and Development of Concrete Construction.
\nLanger immigrated to Australia with his wife, Dr Gertrude Langer, in 1939 bringing direct experience of the European Modern Movement to Queensland. He gained temporary employment with architects Cook and Kerrison in Brisbane and from 1940 lectured part time in architecture and architectural design at the University of Queensland, publishing Sub-Tropical Housing in 1944. This booklet explored issues related to house design and town planning in a sub-tropical climate and influenced many architects working in the post-WWII era.[9]
\nIn 1944 Langer was employed as an assistant town planner in the Brisbane City Council. From 1945, he was commissioned to work on a range of town planning projects for Darwin, Ingham, Toowoomba, Yeppoon, Kingaroy, Mount Isa, Mackay and for the National Capital Development Commission, Canberra. Concurrently, he completed numerous architectural projects of a wide variety including small, economical domestic work and large commercial and institutional work.
\nAs an architect and town planner, Langer had a pronounced impact upon the built environment of Australia, especially in Queensland, from the 1940s until his death in 1969. Along with numerous cultural pursuits, Langer was active in the Royal Australian Institute of Architects; first president (1952) of the Queensland division of the Royal Australian Planning Institute; a founder and chairman (1966-68) of the Queensland Association of Landscape Architects; and a member (1963-69) of the National Trust of Queensland. Important examples of his architectural work include the Langer residence at St Lucia [QHR 600317] (1950); Mackay Sugar Research Station [QHR 602642] (1953); Kingaroy Town Hall and Civic Square (1963); Assembly Hall at Ipswich Girls Grammar [QHR 600565] (1964); Main Roads Department Building, Spring Hill (1966); Lennon's Hotel, Broadbeach (1957) (demolished); and Lennon's Hotel, Toowoomba. His body of work is a clearly distinguishable exploration of a sub-tropical Modernism culminating in the Chapel of St Peter's Lutheran College, Indooroopilly, his last built work.
\nModernism developed in pre-World War I (WWI) Europe and gained popularity in Australia post-WWII. It was more than a design style and is notable for a rationalising of planning emphasising clarity and simplicity of form and detailing.[10] American and Scandinavian influences were strong in Australia.[11] During the 1950s and 1960s a similar rationalisation occurred within Christian religions in an effort to modernise approaches to religious practice. Churches became brighter and simpler in form and decorative treatments. They used new materials and forms while incorporating many traditional elements and symbols. Design responses included variations on the medieval church with simple massing, a rectangular nave stripped of apses, aisles and chapels, a dramatically lit sanctuary rear wall and simple belltower.
\nInfluenced by the architecture of Ancient Greece and the Modernist ideas of contemporary European architecture, Langer developed a sophisticated hybrid of ancient and modern principles of design bridging modern and traditional architecture.[12] Typically, Langer explored the idea of the conjunction of landscape and landmark and his designs often involve a designed landscape incorporating the building. At St John's, Langer proposed a building with a simplified traditional form consisting of a box-like church with a very tall spire set back from the street by a plaza with reflecting pool, palms and colonnade. The plaza elements were not constructed. Langer designed the front of the church to appear as an open bible with bible passages in large letters, legible from a distance. This represented the authority of scripture within the faith. Further, side walls of the tower featured large Christian motifs in raised brickwork.
\nLanger's exploration of Modernism was heavily influenced by context. He studied the local fauna and flora in Queensland and the climate. His work interprets this information in a Modernist manner. He typically exploited passive lighting and ventilation in uncomplicated ways; at St John's his design includes simple methods of passive ventilation and a naturally lit interior.
\nLanger had developed a connection with the Lutheran community of Queensland by 1960 and went on to strengthen the connection through his repeated work for the church. This work includes St John's Lutheran Church, Ipswich (1961) and at St Peter's College, Indooroopilly a chaplain's residence (1954), dormitory block (1954-55), dining hall block (1966), concrete footbridge (1966-67), science block (1967-68), entrance fence and gates (1968), and chapel (1968).
\nTenders for the construction of the new St John's Lutheran Church, Bundaberg were called in 1957 and a tender of £35,140 from Brisbane-based J Hutchinson and Sons was accepted. A ground breaking ceremony took place 19 January 1958.[13] A large portion of the work was carried out by volunteer church members[14] including digging the foundations by hand, carting bricks, tiles, sand, and gravel, mixing and pouring concrete, and donating and milling timber. Construction was completed in 1960 with the total cost at £61,000 including the organ, pews, and all furnishings. A dedication service, led by the Queensland District President FH Schmidt, was witnessed by 1400 worshippers on 3 April 1960.[15]
\nA 4.5 m long timber crucifix was commissioned for the wall above the altar. Made in Queensland of Queensland silky oak, the cross holds a 2.4 m long figure of Christ carved from Tasmanian King William pine, the work of Alfred Schubert, a Czech-born woodcarver from Melbourne who had trained in Bavaria.
\nA number of items and fixtures were kept from the earlier church and installed in the new church including: panels of stained and painted glass inset into the new windows; the baptismal font donated to the church in 1883; the pipe organ originally installed in 1899 and largely rebuilt in 1938 incorporating the old pipes and bellows; the church bell cast in Maryborough in 1892; a leather bound German bible with silver clasps presented by the Empress Augusta Victoria of Germany to St John's Lutheran Church Bundaberg in 1911; and various other religious paraphernalia.
\nThe old timber church was moved prior to 1960 to join the old Sunday School hall behind the new church. Both were extensively remodelled to become a kitchen and supper room and a hall. The understorey was enclosed to form ten classrooms by 31 January 1960. As a Centenary project in 1977 it was decided to establish a Christian Day School on the site and the hall was extended to accommodate two more classrooms. Eventually, the school, now St John's Lutheran Primary School, grew to cover almost the entire block adjacent to the church and to occupy many buildings.
\nLittle alteration to the church has occurred over time. Around 2009, the sanctuary plinth was extended into the nave to form a larger sanctuary area. Externally, the projecting bricks on all elevations were sheared flat from ground level up to the level of the lintel of ground floor windows and these areas were rendered and painted. The pulpit had its original timber canopy removed and stored in the choir loft.
\nThe site of St John's Lutheran Church has been the focus for worship within the Lutheran community of Bundaberg since the construction of the first St John's Lutheran Church in 1892. The adjacent St John's Lutheran Primary School has grown into a large school from its establishment in the church hall in 1977 and the school uses the church regularly. The church is prominent within the low-scale surrounding development and remains a landmark within the area. It has featured in Bundaberg City Council promotional material, praising its architectural and artistic merits. The church has been in continuous use since construction and has seen baptisms, marriages, funeral services and regular worship services for generations of Lutherans.
","criteria":"St John's Lutheran Church, Bundaberg, constructed in 1960 on the site of a previous Lutheran church built in 1892, is important in demonstrating the pattern of settlement in Queensland, particularly, the closer, agricultural settlement in the Bundaberg area by immigrant Lutherans from the 1870s.
As a highly intact Modernist church, it is important in representing Modernist ecclesiastical architecture in Queensland during a period of significant re-evaluation and modernisation of Christian religions worldwide. Designed to be a literal expression of the Word of God, it expresses the essence of the theology underpinning Lutheranism.
|Notable for its high quality of design, materials and construction, the place is important for its aesthetic significance. Featuring a prominent spire supported by monumental representations of biblical verses and Christograms, its symbolic features and landmark qualities have a strong dramatic effect in the landscape. The sculptural qualities of the high volume, austere interior evoke feelings of awe and reverence affected through the use of white plaster finishes complementing fine timber screens and panels; long coloured glass windows flooding the nave with light; and finely crafted timber furniture, including sculptural elements like the praying hands carved to the end of each pew.
|The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics and qualities of a Modernist church in Queensland. Highly intact, the building is a simple arrangement of forms and spaces using a restrained palette of fine quality materials and finishes. The church is notable for including a dominant bell tower, a large, well-lit nave focussed on an impressive sanctuary, a choir loft, a crying room, and a vestry.
The place is a fine example of the work of architect, Dr Karl Langer, featuring characteristic simplified forms and spatial arrangements, incorporation of natural light and ventilation and employing a restrained use of good quality materials.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion E | Criterion D","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":35559,"place_ref":602852,"name":"Branyan Road State School","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Branyan Drive","suburb":"BUNDABERG","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2015-05-01","description":"Branyan Road State School occupies a large 4.7ha site bounded by Branyan Drive to the south and Tomato Island Road to the east in the suburb of Branyan, Bundaberg. The school is surrounded by a mixture of semi-rural and suburban residential development on the southwestern outskirts of Bundaberg City. A water treatment plant adjoins the school on the western side, with the Burnett River approximately 350m west of the site. The school buildings are mostly located in the southwestern corner of the school grounds, and an established forestry plot (1947) is adjacent to the western boundary. Set well back from and addressing Branyan Drive, the original teaching building is long and rectangular in plan and overlooks a grassed area to the south. The building comprises two connected buildings (1905, and c1892-1910, combined in the current position in the 1920s) that are of a similar style and construction. A playshed (1914) is located west of the teaching building.
\nTeaching building
\nThe teaching building is a one-storey, lowset, timber-framed building on concrete stumps, clad with weatherboards and sheltered by a gable roof lined with corrugated metal sheets. Most doors and windows are modern replacements, generally set within early openings. A clerestory window located along the north-facing roof plane of the building is a later modification that provides additional light to the interior. Windows on the eastern and western gable end walls are sheltered by timber-framed, corrugated metal-clad hoods with battened cheeks. While similar, the western hood is narrower than the eastern hood. Rectangular vents within the gable end walls ventilate the roof space.
\nThe building has verandahs to the south (front) and north (rear) sides; both accessed by two short flights of timber stairs. The verandah roofs are at different pitches to the main gable; with the side edges of the front verandah roof stepped in. The verandahs have stop-chamfered timber posts, timber floor boards, and raked ceilings lined with flat sheeting. A timber two-rail balustrade encloses the front verandah; the gates at the top of the stairs are modern additions. Most of the rear verandah balustrade has been replaced with bag racks, and its eastern and western ends have been enclosed to accommodate small store rooms. The eastern storeroom walls are clad in tongue-and-groove, vertically-jointed timber boards, with internally exposed timber framing, and the western storeroom walls are clad in flat sheeting.
\nThe interior layout comprises three rooms, separated by timber partitions. Vertical-jointed timber boards clad the partitions, walls and the underside of the roof. Timber roof framing is exposed within the space, and modern fixed, wired-glass windows — in-line with the partitions — are inset within the roof trusses. Skirtings and cornices are timber; the skirtings are of a simple profile and the cornices are stepped. Modern carpet and linoleum lining early timber floorboards are not of cultural heritage significance.
\nPlayshed
\nThe playshed stands to the west of the teaching building. The timber-framed structure has a modern concrete slab floor, and is sheltered by a hipped roof clad with corrugated metal sheets. Six, square, timber posts support the roof and are braced to the exposed roof framing by brackets.
\nGrounds
\nThe school grounds are well established and include mature trees. North of the playshed, a variety of mature pine trees, including kauri pines (Agathis robusta), hoop pines (Araucaria cunninghamii) and slash pines (Pinus elliottii), stand within a forestry plot; sections of this plot are planted in rows. A particularly large kauri pine is located between the playshed and the forestry plot.
\nOther structures
\nSheds, covered walkways, play equipment and other structures within the school grounds are not of cultural heritage significance.
\n","history":"
Branyan Road State School, located southwest of Bundaberg, was opened in 1905 as Branyan Road Provisional School, and was upgraded to a state school in 1909. A playshed was added in 1914, while the original school building was extended with the addition of a similar building in the mid-1920s. The place is important in demonstrating the evolution of state education and its associated architecture in Queensland, and retains excellent examples standard of government designed school buildings that were an architectural response to prevailing government educational philosophies. Branyan Road State School also includes an impressive kauri pine tree (Agathis robusta), planted in 1914, and a c1947 forestry plot.
\nThe provision of state-administered education was important to the colonial governments of Australia. The establishment of schools was considered an essential step in the development of early communities and integral to their success. Locals often donated land and labour for a school’s construction and the school community contributed to maintenance and development. Schools became a community focus, a symbol of progress, and a source of pride, with enduring connections formed with past pupils, parents, and teachers.[1]
\nBranyan Road State School resulted from European settlement along the Burnett River. Traditionally the land of the Kalki people, the European presence in the Burnett area began with pastoralism in the 1840s and 1850s.[2] Timber cutters arrived in the mid-1860s to work the coastal scrub near Bundaberg. By the same decade there were five pastoral stations on the lower Burnett River: Tantitha, Kolan, Barolin, Bingera, and Branyan.[3]
\nSelection of land around Bundaberg began in 1867 under the 'Sugar and Coffee Regulations' of the Crown Lands Alienation Act 1860, which aimed to promote agriculture and closer settlement.[4] The Crown Lands Alienation Act 1868, also designed to promote closer settlement, enabled the resumption of half of the Bingera and Branyan Runs in November 1869.[5] The site of Bundaberg was officially surveyed the same year. A large farm was established by Edward Lloyd Elwood by 1871, on a large bend south of the Burnett River (upstream from today’s Branyan Road State School) on land resumed from the Bingera run.[6] This was referred to as ‘Branyan Plantation’ by 1879, by which time it was owned by EB Jeune, who established Branyan Mill.[7] The school was named after the road to this plantation.
\nBundaberg’s development as a port and service centre was boosted by growing coastal traffic and by its designation as the port for Mt Perry's copper mining from 1881. Surrounded by sugar plantations and the site of two sugar refineries, Bundaberg became an important sugar town.[8] The first South Sea Islander (SSI) indentured labour arrived in Bundaberg in 1879 and the sugar plantation system reached its peak in Queensland in the early 1880s. However, the Queensland Government, seeking to promote European closer settlement, passed legislation in 1885 to end recruitment of SSI labour. As a result, large sugar plantations with their own mills and a SSI workforce were eventually replaced by European small farmers supplying central sugar mills. In 1889 there were 202 cane farmers in Queensland; this rose to 2,610 by 1901. By 1911, over 4300 small farmers had replaced the 140 Queensland plantations that had existed in 1888.[9]
\nThe increased European population in sugar growing areas like Bundaberg meant more schools were required. In 1904 a five acre (2ha) school reserve was gazetted on Branyan Road, on part of a former quarry reserve.[10] The Branyan Road Provisional School opened 14 April 1905.[11]
\nA minimum of 30 pupils was necessary before the government would build a state school. From 1869, provisional schools could be established with as few as 15 (later 12) pupils. If the district or town developed, provisional schools were raised to state school status, with purpose-designed school buildings and teacher residences attracting better qualified and more experienced teachers. By 1908, 640 provisional schools were operating compared with 461 state schools.[12]
\nTo help ensure consistency and economy, the Queensland Government developed standard plans for its school buildings. From the 1860s until the 1960s, Queensland school buildings were predominantly timber-framed, an easy and cost-effective approach that also enabled the government to provide facilities in remote areas. Standard designs were continually refined in response to changing needs and educational philosophy and Queensland school buildings were particularly innovative in climate control, lighting, and ventilation. Standardisation produced distinctly similar schools across Queensland with complexes of typical components.[13]
\nHowever, early provisional school buildings were not built to standard plans and many were of poor quality. Under regulations introduced in 1892 to address this situation, if a provisional school was built according to government specifications, the government would provide up to half the cost of the building and its furniture.[14] The recommended government plan for provisional schools was for a small low-set timber framed and clad building with a gable roof. These were often a huge improvement over previous provisional school buildings and were constructed until c1910.[15]
\nThe school building at Branyan Road had a single classroom measuring 21’ x 14’ (6.4m x 4.3m), and a 7’ (2.1m) deep front verandah, stepped in from the gable bargeboard and set at a slightly shallower angle than the building’s main roof. The recommended government design normally had single skin walls, clad with chamferboards, and had rectangular louvred vents above the sash windows in the gable end walls.[16]
\nSoon after its opening, the school was affected by the aftermath of a serious industrial accident. In September 1906 a night-shift boiler explosion at the Bonna sugar mill (Bonna plantation was located adjacent to Branyan plantation) seriously injured three men. Two of the men, Frank Juel and Jack Lavery, died while being transported to Bundaberg the next morning. As a memorial to the two men, two mango trees were planted that year at Branyan Road Provisional School, but neither tree survives in 2015.[17]
\nIn 1909, by lowering the required minimum average number of pupils for a state school from 30 to 12, the Department of Public Instruction upgraded the majority of provisional schools to state school status, gradually providing these schools with new buildings designed and constructed to government standards. In 1912 the requirement for communities to contribute one-fifth of the cost of establishing a state school was abolished. With these reforms, the provisional school system became virtually redundant, although a number of these schools were maintained into the mid-20th century.
\nBranyan Road Provisional School’s conversion to a state school had occurred by August 1909.[18] Shortly afterwards a verandah was added to the rear of the school building by JT Novakoski. The 1910 plan for the addition shows casement windows, and boarding across the upper sections of the ends of the verandahs. The rear windows were also moved to accommodate a new door. The new verandah was built in line with the gable barge boards, in contrast to the original verandah, that was slightly stepped in.[19]
\nAs well as changes to buildings, the grounds were improved over time. Trees and gardens were planted as part of the beautification of schools. Educators believed gardening and Arbor Days (from 1890 in Queensland) instilled in young minds the value of hard work and activity, improved classroom discipline, developed aesthetic tastes, and inspired people to stay on the land. Aesthetically designed gardens were encouraged by regional inspectors.[20] In 1912 Branyan Road State School placed third in the Education Department’s awards (Bundaberg-Gladstone area) for state school gardens and experimental agricultural work;[21] and in 1929 the school was noted for its picturesque flower gardens and sugar experimental plot.[22] An early surviving tree planting at Branyan Road is a kauri pine (Agathis robusta), planted by school pupil Sydney Dittmann in 1914. This tree survives in 2015 as an impressive specimen to the north of the playshed.
\nThe six post playshed, measuring 24’ by 12’ (7.3m x 3.7m), was built in 1914. The Queensland education system recognised the importance of play in the school curriculum and, as school sites were originally clear of vegetation, the provision of all-weather outdoor space was needed. Playsheds were designed as free-standing shelters, with fixed timber seating between posts and earth or decomposed granite floors that provided covered play space and doubled as teaching space when required. These structures were timber-framed and generally open sided, although some were partially enclosed with timber boards or corrugated galvanised iron sheets.[23] The hipped (or less frequently, gabled) roofs were clad with timber shingles or corrugated iron. Playsheds were a typical addition to state schools across Queensland between c1880s and the 1950s, although less frequently constructed after c1909, with the introduction of highset school buildings with understorey play areas.[24]
\nBranyan Road State School flourished alongside the Queensland sugar industry. From the 1910s to the 1980s, this industry was protected and subsidised by both the Queensland and Federal governments, and Bundaberg continued to grow steadily between the two world wars.[25] In the mid-1920s the teaching building was extended, most likely to the east, by adding an identical building, sourced from the Pine Creek area. Improvements to the grounds at this time included a tennis court, built by the school committee.[26] However, this was not on the location of the tennis courts that exist in 2015, as the site of the latter was treed in a 1965 aerial photograph.[27]
\nA pine plantation (forestry plot) was started north of the school buildings in 1947. The ground was prepared by Les Hull, and over 600 trees were planted in the following five years.[28] Forestry plots were the product of after-school agricultural clubs, introduced in 1923 at primary schools, under the ‘home project’ scheme. Curriculum driven, these clubs had a secondary commercial value as well as disseminating information and helping to develop a range of skills. The Department of Primary Industry provided suitable plants and offered horticultural advice.[29] School forestry plots were seen by the government as a way of educating the next generation about the economic and environmental importance of trees, as well as providing testing grounds for new species. Located throughout the state, the plots were a means of experimenting with a variety of tree species in different soil and climatic conditions. The sale of timber grown in school plots provided an additional source of income for the school, and the plots themselves were an attractive feature of school grounds. The first school forestry plot was established at Marburg State Rural School in 1928. Encouraged by the Education and Forestry Departments, by 1953 about 380 Queensland schools were undertaking forestry projects.[30] Different species of pine tree were planted at Branyan Road State School over time, and in 2015 the plot included kauri, hoop (Araucaria cunninghamii), and slash (Pinus elliottii).
\nIn the late 1950s and early 1960s there was unprecedented growth in the district, due to irrigation projects and the development of a deep-water sugar port near the mouth of the Burnett River (1958).[31] Many large building projects were completed in Bundaberg, including new hospitals, schools, court house, customs house, and civic centre, and the population of Bundaberg rose from 18,000 in 1952 to 27,000 in 1967.[32]
\nAlterations and additions at Branyan Road State School reflected Bundaberg’s growth and prosperity. In 1962, electric fluorescent lights were installed in the teaching building, which was altered in the mid-1960s to improve lighting, with a long clerestory window on the north elevation. This was in line with a post-World War II emphasis on aligning buildings ten degrees east of north, with verandahs protecting the northern side and classrooms facing south. This led to the construction of school buildings that were oriented in relation to the sun rather than the site boundaries.[33] In existing older buildings, verandahs were enclosed as weather protection and verandah balustrades were replaced with bag racks for improved storage. Many buildings had their fenestration altered to increase the amount of light into the classrooms, and many older windows were replaced with modern awning style windows.[34] By 1965, the ends of the rear verandah at Branyan Road State School had been enclosed to create store rooms and the balustrade had been replaced by bag racks. At this time the building consisted of a single classroom. [35]
\nFurther additions and changes to the school complex included: a two-classroom demountable block and toilet block in 1979; a covered play area and car park in 1983; conversion of the original teaching building and its extension into a library, health services, and staff room in 1984; plus construction of Stage 1 of a new teaching block that year. New buildings continued to be added between 1985 and 2001, and a new sports field was created in 1997.[36] A multipurpose hall was built c.2010 as part of the Building the Education Revolution (BER) program. The school grounds expanded to the east in the 1990s, from the original 2 ha, to a total of 4.7ha in 2015. Whereas the school was still separated from Bundaberg by about 4km of cane fields in the 1950s, recent housing development has meant that the school is now on the edge of town.
\nIn 2015, Branyan Road State School retains its original teaching building, playshed and forestry plot. The teaching building is used as a music-teaching and storage space and is featured on the school logo. The school is important to the town and district, having operated since 1905 and taught generations of Branyan students.
\n\n
","criteria":"
Branyan Road State School (established in 1905 as Branyan Road Provisional School) is important in demonstrating the evolution of state education and its associated architecture in Queensland. The place retains excellent, representative examples of standard government designs that were architectural responses to prevailing government educational philosophies. The teaching building consists of two provisional school buildings of the same standard design (utilised 1892-1910) by the Queensland Department of Public Works, joined end-to-end in the 1920s. The playshed (1914), also a standard design, demonstrates the education system's recognition of the importance of play in the curriculum.
\nThe forestry plot (1947 onwards) is evidence of a popular educational initiative that conveyed the economic and environmental importance of forestry to students, while creating an attractive landscape feature and income for schools.
|Branyan Road State School is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of Queensland state schools with later modifications. These include: buildings of standard designs, and generous, landscaped sites with mature trees.
\nThe teaching building, comprising two buildings of the same standard design by the Queensland Department of Public Works, is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of Queensland provisional school buildings. The conjoined buildings retain their lowset form; narrow width; original verandah slope, with the front verandah stepped in from the gable bargeboards; exposed roof trusses; and louvered gable ventilation.
\nThe playshed (1914) retains its open sides and hipped, timber-framed roof supported on timber posts.
\nThe kauri pine (Agathis robusta), planted by a pupil in 1914, is a fine example of the feature trees planted in Queensland school grounds. Similarly, the forestry plot is also a fine example of such plantings, containing several pine tree species.
|Schools have always played an important part in Queensland communities. They typically retain significant and enduring connections with former pupils, parents, and teachers; provide a venue for social interaction and volunteer work; and are a source of pride, symbolising local progress and aspirations.
\nBranyan Road State School has a strong and ongoing association with the Branyan community. It was established in 1905 through the fundraising efforts of the local community and generations of Branyan children have been taught there. The place is important for its contribution to the educational development of Branyan.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":null,"place_ref":650046,"name":"Bundaberg State High School","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"37A Maryborough Street","suburb":"BUNDABERG SOUTH","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2017-06-22","description":"Bundaberg State High School occupies a large (9.76ha) site fronting Maryborough Street, approximately 1km south of the main centre of the Bundaberg. It is surrounded by residential development and its western boundary is defined by the North Coast Railway Line. The school buildings stand at the centre of the long rectangular site in a compact manner and are largely oriented to the north, which is diagonal to the site boundaries.
\nBlock D (1920)
\nBlock D is a large one-storey, highset, timber-framed building standing in the centre of the site, tightly crowded by other, later buildings to the north. It is symmetrical and comprises a long central wing of classrooms with its long sides facing north and south and it has a verandah running along the northern side providing circulation. This wing has a long gable roof and a wide, central entrance bay projects from the front, emphasised by a tall perpendicular gable roof projecting front and back. Originally the front entrance to the school, accommodating a head teacher’s room and a library and clerk’s room, the entrance bay has its own small, gable-roofed porch and, although it was originally open and verandah-like, it is now enclosed with weatherboards. It was reached from the ground via a branching stair that is now demolished. At either end of the long wing is a short perpendicular wing of classrooms that also has projecting gables front and back and their own separate outward-facing verandah. The building is clad with weatherboards generally, but is single-skin where the walls are protected by a verandah. The roofs are clad with modern steel sheets and have wide eaves lined with v-jointed (vj) boards above exposed rafters.
\nThe building employs simple materials and details with a focus on providing natural light and ventilation.
\nThe central entrance bay is emphasised by the greatest use of decoration, incorporating timber shingles as wall cladding at the gable apex, whereas the other gable ends have weatherboards, packed open to create gaps for ventilating the roof space behind. The gables have timber battening and shaped barge boards. The roof is surmounted by three large ventilation fleches; one above the central bay and one above each of the end wings. The fleches are open timber-framed elements and appear like bellcotes sheltering plain metal ventilators under bellcast spire roofs decoratively clad with patterned pressed metal sheets. The central fleche and is topped by a metal weather vane finial.
\nThe building has large banks of timber-framed windows, many of which face south, allowing a high level of natural light and ventilation into the classrooms. The window banks comprise a row of casements below a row of horizontal pivot sashes below a row of fanlights, which were originally inwardly opening hopper sashes but have mostly been fixed closed. The central bay has smaller areas of casement windows sheltered by hoods with timber brackets, as are the large banks of windows in the gable ends.
\nThe verandah is accessed by later steel stairs that replicate the form and location of the timber originals. The verandah has arched timber brackets between posts and the original timber balustrade is retained on the end wings but has been replaced by bag racks on the centre wing. The wall between the verandah and the classrooms retains original double-hung sash windows, some of which have fanlights, and pairs of timber French doors. However, some modern aluminium-framed sliding windows have been added, and some modern doors have been inserted or replaced original French doors. All but one of the original arched openings from the verandah into the former teachers’ rooms and hats and coats rooms have been removed and sheeted as these rooms have been incorporated into the classrooms by removing the partitions. This and the part removal of partitions between classrooms have resulted in large, continuous interior spaces. The end wings are more intact and retain the original layout although small alterations have been made to the ancillary rooms by removing partitions to combine them. The interior walls are lined with v-jointed timber boards (original) or plasterboard sheeting (modern). In parts, the rooms have an operable timber ventilation board at the wall base that is original. This appears to relate to the original locations of classrooms (ventilated) and hat and coat rooms (unventilated). The former head teacher’s room and the library and record clerk’s rooms retain original sheet and battened ceilings in a decorative pattern with a central latticed ventilation panel, but all other rooms have a modern suspended ceiling, behind which the coved timber board lined ceiling and iron tie rod probably survive.
\nThe central bay has an elaborate timber entrance door with side and fanlights of leaded and coloured glass and moulded timber panelling. The door itself has moulded panels and a large, textured glass pane, which is not original. A small sliding glass hatch from the entrance hallway into the library and record clerk’s room survives.
\nThere are original and early fixtures including ceramic sinks within the building.
\nThe understorey is largely open and the floor is a concrete slab with a perimeter spoon drain. The stumps are concrete (original) and there are notches indicating where a battened perimeter skirt (now removed) was fixed. The original enclosure for hand basins under the central entrance bay is retained although these have been converted to store rooms and all original toilet fabric has been removed from the interior. Other enclosures, under the building’s end wings, are later and comprise toilets (built 1940) and female changing rooms (1963). The toilets are highly intact with female toilets at the south end of the west wing and male toilets at the south end of the east wing, reflecting the former gender segregation of the technical classrooms under which they are located. They incorporate separate toilets and entrances for teachers and retain timber partitions and doors. No longer used, the female changing rooms are located north of the female toilets and have concrete shower partitions. The male changing rooms, previously north of the male toilets, have been demolished.
\nBlock G (1920, extended 1937 and 1956)
\nBlock G, originally a domestic science and woodworking building, stands behind (to the south of) Block D, separated from it by a bitumen parade ground. It is a lowset, timber-framed building comprising two perpendicular wings in an L shape. The earliest wing (built in 1920) faces north and has a northern verandah and a Dutch gable roof. Projecting from the front of this wing is a large lecture room (built 1937) also with a Dutch gable roof. The later wing (built 1956) projects forward (north) of the original wing at its western end. It has a verandah on its eastern and western sides and a gable roof. All roofs are clad with corrugated metal sheets and have wide eaves lined with flat sheets with timber cover battens.
\nThe building is clad with weatherboards generally but is single-skin (externally-exposed framing) where walls are protected by a verandah. The verandah of the 1920 wing retains its c1939 laundry enclosure at the eastern end, and projecting from the rear of this wing are two stove recesses clad with weatherboards, reflecting the original domestic science classroom use. The building retains its original fenestration with some windows having high sills, however, the original timber-framed casement and double-hung sashes have been replaced with aluminium-framed sliding sashes in all but a few locations. The fanlights above these sashes are also replacements.
\nTimber stairs provide access to the verandah and are original except for one steel replacement in the original location and configuration. Original post and rail verandah and stair balustrades are retained. The verandah ceiling of the earliest wing is lined with timber vj boards and in the later wing with flat sheets with timber cover battens. Evidence of the original verandah skylights on the western verandah is retained in the ceiling, however, these have been sheeted over and no longer permit high-levels of natural light into the former dressmaking classrooms of this wing.
\nThe internal layout is highly intact. The earlier wing comprises two large classrooms (cookery classrooms in 1956), separated by a narrow room (a dining room in 1956), and a large lecture room projection from the northern verandah. These rooms are accessed from the verandah via pairs of timber French doors with fanlights and have tall, coved ceilings braced internally with an exposed iron tie rod. The walls and ceilings are lined with timber vj boards and have ventilation panels that are sheeted over. The rooms retain picture rails and the stove recesses have been converted to cupboards with shelves. The later wing comprises two large classrooms (dressmaking in 1956) separated by a staff room that has been created by removing the original partitions that formed the small fitting and staff rooms. These rooms are accessed from the verandah via timber French doors with glazed panels and fanlights and have flat ceilings. The walls and ceilings are lined with flat sheets with timber cover battens in a decorative pattern.
\nBlock R (1956) and Block M (1959)
\nBlocks R and M stand to the south of Block G with Block M behind (to the south of) Block R. They are aligned with each other and are identical timber-framed workshop buildings comprising two long bays with south-facing sawtooth roofs. They have concrete slab-on-ground foundations and are clad with weatherboards up to window sill level with sheet material above that. The roofs are clad with corrugated metal sheets. A short covered walkway (1959) connects the two buildings at the eastern end. The buildings have large areas windows on all sides to permit high levels of natural light, however, the original timber-framed sashes have been replaced with aluminium framed sliding sashes in all cases except for four banks in the northern wall of Block M. The clerestory windows have been sheeted over or replaced with glass louvres. Block M retains original timber French doors and one pair of timber board doors large enough to permit big machinery. Block R does not retain original doors.
\nThe interiors have had partitions installed. Block R has been partitioned to accommodate offices and other small spaces and a suspended ceiling has been installed throughout except in the western end, which retains its original open, lofty spatial qualities. Block M has had much less partitioning (possibly early) but has had a ceiling installed throughout. Block M has also had a skillion roofed extension added to its northern side, which is not of cultural heritage significance. Two early ceramic sinks are retained in Block M.
\nThe Grounds
\nThe school complex comprises many other buildings and structures that are not of cultural heritage significance. However, the buildings are generally long and narrow and are oriented identically with their long sides north and south, not oriented to the street or boundaries. This has created a cohesive campus with many long narrow spaces between buildings. A large school oval is at the northern end of the site and a mature poinciana (Delonix regia) stands at near the boundary of the school on Maryborough Street near the intersection with Ruddell Street that marks an early entrance to the school.
","history":"Bundaberg State High School (SHS) was established in 1912, and was opened on its current site on Maryborough Street in Bundaberg South in 1921 as Bundaberg State High School and Technical College. The school is important in demonstrating the evolution of state education and its associated architecture. Bundaberg SHS retains the first two timber teaching buildings constructed on the site: a large variant of the Suburban Timber School Building type (1920, Block D); and an early vocational building (1920, extended 1937 and 1956, Block G); plus two saw-tooth workshop buildings: Workshop No.1 (1956, Block R), and Workshop No.2 (1959, Block M). The school has been in continuous operation since its establishment, and Block D is the earliest surviving purpose-built state high school building of its type in Queensland.
\nThe European presence in the Burnett area, traditionally the land of the Kalki people, began with pastoralism in the 1840s and 1850s, while timber cutters arrived in the mid-1860s to work the coastal scrub. By the 1860s there were five pastoral stations on the lower Burnett River.[1] Selection of land around Bundaberg began in 1867 under the 'Sugar and Coffee Regulations' of the Crown Lands Alienation Act 1860, and the Crown Lands Alienation Act 1868 enabled the resumption of half of the Bingera and Branyan Runs in November 1869.[2] The site of Bundaberg was officially surveyed the same year.
\nBundaberg’s development as a port and service centre was boosted by growing coastal traffic and by its designation as the port for Mt Perry's copper mining from 1881. Surrounded by sugar plantations and the site of two sugar refineries, Bundaberg became an important sugar town. The first South Sea Islander (SSI) indentured labour arrived in Bundaberg in 1879 and the sugar plantation system reached its peak in Queensland in the early 1880s. However, large sugar plantations with their own mills and a SSI workforce were eventually replaced by European small farmers supplying central sugar mills.[3]
\nThe development of Bundaberg was accompanied by the establishment of secondary education facilities. Bundaberg possessed a private high school for girls from Feb 1893, which became co-educational c1910.[4] In Queensland, governments were slow to establish state secondary education, considering this to be of little relevance to Queensland's primary industry-based economy. The Grammar Schools Act 1860 provided scholarships for high-achieving students to attend elite grammar schools. It was not until 1912 that the government instituted a high school system, whereby separate high schools were established in major towns or, where the student population was too small, a primary school was expanded to include a 'high top'. The first high schools were established within existing technical colleges, utilising their buildings. In Queensland generally, high schools remained few in number until after World War II (WWII).[5]
\nThroughout the 19th century the only avenue for technical education in Queensland was the local school of arts. During the 1880s several committees established separate technical colleges and initially these colleges were conducted within existing school of arts buildings. The first purpose-built technical college to open was in Ipswich in 1901; and the Technical Instruction Act 1908 later empowered the government to take over existing technical colleges.[6] State government control of technical colleges in turn facilitated the combination of technical colleges and state high schools on the same sites.
\nIn accordance with the Queensland Government’s decision to provide free secondary education, in late January 1912 the first three Queensland state high schools were opened: in Gympie, Warwick, and Bundaberg. They were followed a week later by high schools in Mackay, Mount Morgan and Charters Towers. High tops were soon established at primary schools at Childers, Gatton and Herberton. In accordance with government policy, high schools were not opened in towns with existing grammar schools, although the government planned to take over any grammar schools at a later date.[7]
\nThe Bundaberg State High School was accommodated at Bundaberg Technical College, in a former Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations (BSES) laboratory building, on a small site, north of Quay Street and west of Maryborough Street. The technical college, established in the Bundaberg School of Arts c.1889, had relocated to this riverside site in early 1911.[8]
\nBy March 1912, Bundaberg SHS had an attendance of 97 pupils.[9] As the high school and technical college shared the same site, there was soon pressure to find a new home for the high school. The school’s first principal, BHC Krone, noted in 1914 that a 15 acre (6ha) reserve, which had been set aside for high school purposes, would be a suitable location, with more room for sports. This land was a Reserve for a Grammar School, gazetted in 1887, located in Bundaberg South, between Maryborough Street and the Railway, north of the Lady Chelmsford Hospital.[10] In 1916 the Minister for Education, HF Hardacre, agreed that the Grammar School Reserve should be used for the high school, while the technical college should have a new building on its current site by the river.[11]
\nThe high school was still operating at the technical college in late 1918, even though enrolments at both the high school and technical college were increasing, after a decline during World War I.[12] The Queensland Government eventually decided to build a combined technical college and high school on the Grammar School Reserve, and Public Works expenditure of £9,026 was approved in October 1919. The Technical College Committee later claimed it had always been opposed to moving to the new site, which it argued was too remote and dangerous for female students to attend night classes.[13]
\nThe first purpose-built high school buildings in Queensland were constructed in 1917 and were large, elaborate buildings that were variations of a standard design introduced in 1914 (the Suburban Timber School Building), as well as vocational buildings built to standard designs.[14] Suburban Timber School Buildings solved many of the problems of light, ventilation, and classroom size that had plagued previous school designs as well as providing the ideal, modern education environment.[15] The type was timber-framed, highset with covered play space beneath, and classrooms were vented by a system of metal ducts leading to prominent roof vents. A continuous ventilation flap was also provided on the wall at floor level. Large banks of windows were set on the south side, to provide left hand natural light to pupils, and classroom wings were linked by verandahs. Larger examples had a symmetrical arrangement of wings. Classrooms were 22ft (6.7m) wide, and hat and coat rooms, plus teachers rooms, were provided.[16]
\nThe new Bundaberg State High School and Technical College building was a large variant of a Suburban Timber School Building. It was under construction in early 1920 when the Railway Department, which sought to build a locomotive depot on the Grammar School Reserve, was forced to back down in the face of public protest. The building was almost complete by December 1920.[17]
\nThe new school building (Block D in 2017) was officially opened by the Minister for Public Instruction, J Huxham, on 24 January 1921. Block D was set on concrete piers and was roofed with asbestos slates, with three large ornamental ventilating fleches on the roof, and decorative timber work to the three projecting gables. The central wing contained six classrooms, including a chemistry lecture room (with four large rooms and two smaller, for a total of 180 pupils); separate male and female teachers rooms, located between the first and second, and fifth and sixth classrooms; and separate hat and coat rooms for boys and girls (accessed off the verandah), partitioned off the northern part of the second and fifth classrooms and the teachers rooms. The ceilings were coved, with metal tie rods, and ventilation ducts ran between the ceiling vents and the fleches. A central gabled verandah annexe to the north had stairs up to an entry porch and hall, with a room for the head teacher on the west side, and for the record clerk and library on the east side. A verandah, with two sets of stairs, ran along the north side of the central wing, connecting with the verandah annexe’s entrance hall and two end corridors located between the central wing and the east and west wings, which were perpendicular to the main wing.
\nThe two end wings (which could accommodate a total of 100 pupils) had their own side verandah and stairs. The east wing contained a chemistry room, and a mechanical drawing and physics room, with a balance room, polariscope (used for examining substances) room and store between the main rooms. The west wing contained a bookkeeping room and domestic science room, separated by a fitting room and store. The understorey was open, except for under the verandah annexe, and some battening, and the floor was concreted. Male and female hand basins were located under the verandah annexe. Three additional piers were provided to support the balance table in the eastern wing (not extant, although their position is still discernible in the understorey’s concrete floor).[18]
\nBundaberg received the third purpose-built high school of the Suburban Timber School Building type, after Gympie State High School and Lockyer State High School, Gatton (similar new buildings were opened at both schools in 1917). As the original buildings at the latter schools were demolished in the 1950s, Bundaberg’s Block D is now the earliest surviving purpose-built state high school building of its type in Queensland.[19]
\nA smaller building (the eastern wing of Block G in 2017) was also constructed, as an annexe for cookery and woodworking classes, just to the south of Block D, with a parade ground between the two buildings. The annexe was lowset, with a Dutch gable roof which was sheeted with red fibre cement tiles. It had a cookery classroom on the east side, and a larger woodworking classroom on the west side. The interior had a coved ceiling with exposed metal ties. The walls of the woodworking room were unlined. There was a verandah on the north side, and a stair to the verandah led to a small, central, projecting bay with a gable roof. The walls were clad externally with weatherboards. The windows were casements, and two stove recesses, projecting from the southern elevation of the cookery classroom, had separate skillion roofs with short chimneys.[20] Although it predates standard designs for vocational buildings that were introduced in 1928, Block G shares a number of characteristics of the later buildings: it is lowset, timber framed, with a Dutch gable roof, a verandah, and a pair of stove recesses for the cookery classroom.[21]
\nThe spacious new grounds in Bundaberg South allowed the high school to finally have sporting facilities: a tennis court was opened in July 1921, and a cricket pitch was formed by December.[22]
\nDuring the 1920s some changes were made to the school buildings, and the size of the school grounds. Motor shafts were bolted to concrete foundations under the woodworking half of Block G c1921, and in 1923 the school reserve was increased to 17 acres, 1 rood and 33 perches (7.06ha).[23] In 1925-6 the old sugar laboratory was moved from its Quay Street site to the Bundaberg State High School and Technical College, east of Block G – where it was used for woodworking. Block G was then converted solely to domestic science use, with a lined and ceiled dressmaking classroom (and curtained-off dining area) replacing the woodworking classroom, and a new servery in the partition with the cookery room.[24]
\nDuring the 1930s, an Intermediate School was added at the Bundaberg State High School and Technical College, in a new building located southeast of Block G. The idea of creating an intermediate level of schooling emerged in Queensland during the late 1920s. Intermediate schools initially catered for years six and seven, and offered vocational subjects: manual training for boys and domestic science for girls. The first intermediate schools were established within existing school facilities at Warwick, Charters Towers, Mount Morgan and South Brisbane from 1928. The first purpose-built intermediate school building was erected in 1932 within the grounds of Warwick State High School. [25]
\nThe Intermediate School building (not extant) at Bundaberg, erected during 1933 and opened in February 1934, was another large Suburban Timber School Building: highset, timber, with three projecting gables and a central roof fleche.[26] Similar in size and plan to Block D, it was also symmetrical, with a northern verandah and verandah annexe, teachers rooms and hat rooms, plus six classrooms in the central wing, and two classrooms in each of its east and west wings. By 1933 a small building, an engineering workshop, also existed south of Block G, making a total of five teaching buildings at the school. [27]
\nOther changes occurred at the school in the 1930s. In 1935 more land was added to the school grounds, this time in the southeast corner, when 1 rood (0.1ha) was obtained, opposite Goodwin (now Watson) Street. This became the site of a janitor’s residence (not extant). In 1937 a domestic science classroom, with a coved ceiling and a tiled Dutch gable roof, was constructed off the centre of the northern verandah of Block G. A hat room was added to the east end of the verandah, and a teachers room to the west end. Minor changes to Blocks G and D also occurred c1939, when the doorways to two of the store rooms in the east wing of Block D were reconfigured, and the hat room at the east end of Block G’s verandah was converted into a laundry.[28]
\nBy 1940 there were toilets under the south ends of the wings of Block D (for boys and male teachers under the east wing, and girls and female teachers under the west wing). At this time there were 10 teaching buildings at the school – including four to the west of Blocks D and G, and two to the south of Block G and the old sugar laboratory (the old laboratory, the first home of the high school, was removed in the 1970s). By the end of 1940 the high school had an attendance of 183.[29]
\nMore buildings were added to the school in the 1950s. The Department of Public Instruction was largely unprepared for the enormous demand for state education that began in the late 1940s and continued well into the 1960s. This was a nation-wide occurrence resulting from immigration and the unprecedented population growth now termed the ‘baby boom’. Queensland schools were overcrowded and, to cope, many new buildings were constructed and existing buildings were extended.[30] The Queensland Government also continued its focus on vocational education during the 1950s and 1960s. New standard types were developed, including a brick veneer, concrete slab-on-ground and steel portal frame structure for manual training in 1958.[31]
\nThe 1950s technical college workshop buildings at Bundaberg SHS are a reflection of the industrial economy of Bundaberg, with its foundries, sugar mills and distilleries. A timber-framed technical college workshop building (Workshop No.1, or Block R in 2017) was added south of the engineering shop to the south of Block G, during 1955-6, the first of a projected scheme for four workshops, in a north-south line, linked by covered walkways. Used for engineering trades, it was 100ft by 40ft (30.5m by 12.2m), with a twin sawtooth roof. Its clerestory windows faced to the south; and had concrete ramps to double doors on the north and west sides.[32] After WWII, similar sawtooth roofed technical college workshop buildings were constructed at Ipswich, Maryborough, Mackay and Cairns.
\nDuring 1955-6 Block G was extended to the north, at its west end. The new wing, with a hipped and gabled roof, had an eastern verandah (connecting to the original building’s north verandah), and a western verandah. There were two sets of stairs off the east verandah, and one off the west verandah. The 1920 building’s dressmaking room now became a second cookery room, with the dining area partitioned off, and new casement windows were added to the south elevation. The 1950s wing’s rooms, from the south, included: dressmaking, with a staff room and fitting room to the north; then another fitting room, for a second dressmaking room to the north.[33]
\nWorkshop No.2 (Block M in 2017), for Motor Engineering, was planned in 1955, south of Block R, but was not built until 1958-9. By this time the use of timber for technical college workshops was less common.[34] Block M also had a twin sawtooth roof; and ramps to two of its doorways, on the west and south sides. The two workshop buildings were connected by a covered way at their east ends. In September 1958 estimates were provided for partitioning workshop No.2 for a car electrics lab, battery room, store, diesel fuel lab, fitting shop, tool room, metrology lab, and vehicle workspace and general workshop area. A hydraulic hoist was also fitted.[35] A skillion extension was added to the north side of Block M in the late 1960s.[36] A third workshop was added south of Block M by 1964, but did not have a sawtooth roof.[37]
\nEnrolments at the high school rose in the 1960s. Year Eight students were taught at the high school from 1964, and by 1967 Bundaberg SHS was the second largest high school outside the Brisbane metropolitan area, and the fifth largest in Queensland.[38] As a result, the school continued to change from the 1960s, as multiple new buildings were added and old buildings were removed. Most additions have tended to match the northerly orientation of the original school buildings, giving the school its regular layout. Of the school buildings present in the late 1950s, only Blocks D, G, R and M survive in 2017. In 1963, changing rooms were added under the north ends of the east and west wings of Block D (only the north end of the west wing was still enclosed in 2017).[39]
\nThere were also changes to the school’s administrative structure during the 1960s. The Intermediate section of the High School closed at the end of 1963, and the technical college separated from the high school in 1965, with its own principal and administration.[40] Growth continued in the 1970s. By April 1973 the school had an enrolment of 1673, and in 1975 plans were made to convert the soon-to-be-vacated technical college buildings to high school use.[41] The use of the workshops also changed in the 1970s. In 1971 Block R was used for ‘Fitting and Turning’, and Block M for ‘Auto Mechanics’. By 1978, Block R was a gymnasium, while Block M was still used for manual arts.[42]
\nThe school grounds continued to expand. In 1978 there were four houses north of Boreham Street, while two tennis courts had been added at the east end of the north side of the street (1972). The current Boreham Street was formed further north by 1984, and the land formerly occupied by houses was added to the school grounds in 1988.[43]
\nChanges to the buildings and grounds continued from the 1980s onwards. In 1987 Block D was converted for use by the Commercial Department, and as a computer centre. By 2003 Block G was used for English, and Blocks R and M were used for Technical Studies; while the enclosure for hand basins under the verandah annexe of Block D, and the changing rooms under the north end of the block’s east and west wings, had become storerooms. The Intermediate School building was removed by 2003.[44] In 2013 the school grounds were extended south to Walker Street, absorbing Barber Park (the former Lady Chelmsford Hospital site).[45]
\nIn 2017 the school continues to operate from its 1921 site, and its grounds now cover 9.76ha.[46] The school is important to the area as a focus for the community, and generations of students have been taught there.
","criteria":"Bundaberg State High School (established in 1912 as one of Queensland’s first six state high schools, and opened on its current site in 1921) is important in demonstrating the evolution of state education and its associated architecture in Queensland. The place retains excellent, representative examples of standard government designs that were architectural responses to prevailing government educational philosophies, set in landscaped grounds with sporting facilities and mature trees.
\nBlock D (1920), the oldest surviving purpose-built state high school building of its type in Queensland, is important in demonstrating the Queensland Government’s policy of providing free secondary education.
\nBlock G, the former vocational building (1920, extended 1937 and 1956), and the two sawtooth roofed technical college workshop buildings, Block R (1956) and Block M (1959), reflect the Queensland Government’s focus on vocational training as a way of ensuring the state’s economic prosperity. The three vocational buildings are also important in demonstrating the way secondary and technical education were interlinked in the early 20th century, with high schools and technical colleges operating from the same site.
|Bundaberg State High School’s Block D is the oldest surviving purpose-built state high school building of its type in Queensland.
|Bundaberg State High School is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of an early state high school with later modifications. This includes generous, landscaped sites with mature shade trees, parade ground and play areas, sporting facilities, timber-framed teaching buildings of standard designs, classrooms with high levels of natural light and ventilation, and separate vocational buildings.
\nBlock D’s design is a variation of the standard design for Suburban Timber School Buildings and from the design of Technical Colleges of the time. Block D demonstrates the principal characteristics of its type through: its highset, timber-framed construction; an open understorey that accommodates a play area and toilets; symmetrical design with wings linked by verandahs; head teacher’s room, clerk’s room/library, and evidence of the two teachers rooms; lofty classrooms lit by large banks of windows on the southern side to provide left hand natural light to students; and a strong consideration for natural ventilation, including hinged wall ventilation flaps at floor level and distinctive roof fleches.
\nBlock G is a forerunner of the standard design for vocational buildings. It retains its lowset, timber-framed construction; a pair of stove recesses for the former cookery classroom; a verandah with a laundry enclosure; verandah circulation on the northern side; large areas of south-facing windows to the classrooms; and a Dutch gable roof.
\nBlocks R and M are technical college workshop buildings which retain their: large, timber-framed sawtooth roof form; robust structure of long spans creating open floor plans; large areas of windows providing high levels of natural light and ventilation into the interior; and robust use of materials suitable for a workshop environment.
|Schools have always played an important part in Queensland communities. They typically retain significant and enduring connections with former pupils, parents, and teachers; provide a venue for social interaction and volunteer work; and are a source of pride, symbolising local progress and aspirations.
\nBundaberg State High School has a strong and ongoing association with the Bundaberg community. It was established in 1912 and opened on its current site in 1921, and generations of Bundaberg students have been taught there. The place is important for its contribution to the educational development of Bundaberg and as a focus for the community.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":null,"place_ref":650281,"name":"Bundaberg Hospital Nurses' Quarters (former)","alternate_name":"Former Nurses' Quarters - Bundaberg Base Hospital","street_address":"273 Bourbong Street","suburb":"BUNDABERG WEST","lga":"BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2024-06-21","description":"Bundaberg Hospital Nurses’ Quarters (former) comprises a Nurses’ Quarters (1915-70) and adjacent Swimming Pool (1954) standing at the northeastern end of the grounds of the Bundaberg Base Hospital. It is located to the rear of the main hospital buildings, toward the Burnett River.
\nFeatures of state level cultural heritage significance include the:
\nNurses’ Quarters
\nThe Nurses’ Quarters is a two-storey, face brick building, constructed in sections at different times. It comprises a main, long front wing of nurses’ bedrooms and common rooms, which runs east-west and faces south to an internal hospital road. Wrapping around this wing is a broad verandah. Projecting off the rear of the verandah are short ablutions blocks, and a long, central wing of further nurses’ bedrooms and common rooms.
\nThe verandah of the building’s principal facades (southern and eastern sides of the main front wing) features polychrome face brick arches and piers, and timber posts, balustrades, and brackets. Access into the building is from the verandah via its many French doors.
\nThe building layout is considerably intact and its historical functions are legible. It retains original partitions in most areas with some minor alterations and demolitions. The long wings generally have central corridors with runs of cell-like nurses’ bedrooms and common rooms on either side. At the eastern end of the 1943 extension’s ground floor is the large former Recreation Room and at the northern end of the 1963 wing’s ground and first floors are former flats for the matron and deputy matron.
\nThe building’s extensions copy and reference earlier details and forms, and earlier fabric has been removed, re-used, and blended into new areas.
\nIn 2024, the majority of the building is used for hospital administration offices, equipment store, staff training rooms, and a small area of staff residential accommodation.
\nFeatures of the Nurses’ Quarters of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nFeatures of the Nurses’ Quarters not of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nThe Swimming Pool
\nThe Swimming Pool comprises an inground, concrete pool shell in a garden behind (to the north of) the Nurses’ Quarters.
\nFeatures of the Swimming Pool of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nFeatures of the Swimming Pool not of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nThe Bundaberg Hospital Nurses’ Quarters (former) was built in 1915 to provide residential accommodation, recreation and education rooms for nurses employed and training at the hospital, and was extended over 50 years as nurse numbers increased. The building, with its extensions, was a response to legislative and judicial changes to nurses’ employment conditions through the 20th century. In 1954, a swimming pool was added beside the quarters under a statewide policy of improving recreational facilities at nurses’ quarters, in an attempt to address postwar nursing shortages. The building was occupied as living quarters and training space for nurses until 1992, when nursing education switched from practical to tertiary-based. Subsequently used for education purposes, in 2024 the building remains in use as administration offices and staff accommodation for the Wide Bay Health and Hospital Service.
\nEstablishment of hospital services in Bundaberg (1881 to 1914)
\nBundaberg is part of the traditional land of the Bailai, Gurang, Gooreng Gooreng, and Taribelang Bunda People.[1] Pastoral stations were established in the area from the 1850s. Bundaberg was surveyed in 1869 following selection of surrounding land after 1868 under the ‘Sugar and Coffee Regulations’.[2] Bundaberg’s development as a port and service centre was boosted by growing coastal traffic and by its designation as the port for Mount Perry's copper mining. Surrounded by large sugar plantations and the site of two sugar refineries, Bundaberg became an important sugar town.[3] The sugar industry propelled Bundaberg’s population growth from 950 inhabitants in 1878[4] to 2,323 in 1886.[5] Infrastructure was erected in south Bundaberg to serve the town’s residents and the surrounding regions of Woongarra and Gooburrum, a total population of around 4,500 people by 1888.[6]
\nIn February 1879, a fundraising appeal was launched to establish a hospital at Bundaberg.[7] Hospitals in 19th century Queensland were charitable organisations erected under voluntary schemes by local communities. They were funded by subscriptions from local residents, government subsidies, and fee-based treatment, and managed by an elected committee or board.[8] A Bundaberg Hospital Committee was formed, and in June 1879, a 3 acre, 3 rood and 30 perch (1.59ha) site, along the Burnett River in south Bundaberg, was reserved for the hospital.[9] A temporary hospital operated in the immigration barracks, before a purpose-built facility opened in March 1881.[10] It featured general, special, fever, and female wards, and a ‘Kanaka’ ward for South Sea Islander sugar cane plantation workers.[11]
\nThe hospital was staffed by a doctor/surgeon; a wardsman, and his wife and daughter who acted as matron and assistant matron respectively.[12] The staff performed a range of medical, administrative, and domestic duties, but only the doctor held medical qualifications. Nursing was in the process of evolving from an untrained role performed by women into a professional occupation undertaken by young women, with the first trained nurse employed in Queensland in 1885, and certified training courses slowly spreading across the colony’s hospitals.[13] When the Bundaberg wardsman and his family resigned in November 1898, the doctor encouraged the hospital board to ‘bring the hospital up to the times’ and appoint a registered matron and staff of trained nurses.[14] The recommendation was timely, as in 1899 the Australasian Trained Nurses’ Association (ATNA) was established and standardised nurse training and registration across Australia.[15] Hospitals which registered with the ATNA could employ probationers and trainees on a practical training course of between three and five years, depending on the daily average of occupied hospital beds. On passing examinations, trainees became nurses with qualifications recognised across Australia.[16]
\nThe Bundaberg Hospital Board engaged Matron Euphemia Bell from Sydney Hospital in late 1898, followed by a senior nurse, trained nurse, and probationers.[17] The hospital registered with the ATNA and commenced nurse training circa 1902.[18] New nurses’ quarters were built that year to accommodate the growing number of staff.[19] Probationers were regularly engaged by the hospital board, and, after a two month trial period, underwent a four year period of training to become certified.[20] Some remained employed at the hospital after passing their examinations.[21] Bundaberg was recognised as a training hospital by the Queensland branch of the ATNA (established in 1904) and the Queensland Nurses’ Registration Board (established in 1912 under the Health Act Amendment Act 1911), as nurse registration was formalised within the state of Queensland.[22] By December 1914, twelve nurses were employed at the Bundaberg Hospital[23] – a relatively large number of staff for a hospital of its size – and received favourable reports, such as in 1915:
\nAs for Matron Donaldson and her large staff of nurses from the head nurse (Sister Wilson) down to the latest probationer, they unite in making the stay of sufferers under their charge as comfortable and happy as exigencies permit.[24]
\nNurses’ quarters – 1915 section
\nAfter several years of maintenance issues,[25] the Bundaberg Hospital Board resolved to build a new hospital on a new site. It engaged local architect Frederick Herbert (FH or Fred) Faircloth, who had already designed some the hospital’s existing additions, including the 1902 nurses’ quarters,[26] to design the new hospital. Faircloth inspected hospitals in New South Wales and returned with a design for a two-storey pavilion-plan brick hospital in 1909.[27] The hospital site was re-gazetted in 1910, this time on a 7 acre, 8.4 perch site (portion 80), west of its former site, surrounded by Mulgrave, Takalvan and Bourbong Streets.[28] The new hospital was constructed between 1911 and 1914, the biggest construction project in Bundaberg to that date, and opened in July 1914.[29]
\nFaircloth’s plan had included accommodation for nurses within the patients’ building, but in 1913 the Hospital Board decided to construct a separate building for nurses’ quarters.[30] Faircloth, instructed to prepare new plans, presented the board with a design for a single-storey brick building with a bungalow roof. [31] The nurses’ quarters were situated north of the main hospital building, nearer the Burnett River and – as one nurse noted in later years – also close to the morgue.[32] The building faced east, and comprised two attached blocks. One held sitting and dressing rooms, and seven bedrooms for day nurses, the sister, and matron; the other featured four bedrooms for night nurses’ bedrooms.[33] Both were wrapped entirely by a verandah with louvred blinds, with a semi-detached ablutions block projecting from its rearward (north) extent. The interior layout of both blocks comprised a central corridor with rooms opening off both sides. The nurses’ bedrooms were likely 14’ x 10’ (4.2m x 3m), with larger rooms for the sister and matron. French doors opened off all rooms onto the verandah for additional space. The hip roof was continuous over the verandah and clad with corrugated metal sheets. The design was deemed to be ‘not only an acquisition to the new hospital, but will be greatly appreciated by the nurses, as in it every comfort and convenience have been provided for them.’[34]
\nFunding for the Bundaberg nurses’ quarters was partly provided by the State Government, partly by hospital subscribers, and partly by donations from the community.[35] The tender of contractors Messrs Anderson and Pomfret, for £1944 7s. 6d., was accepted.[36] Building was completed in March 1915,[37] and the nurses took up residence in April 1915.[38] The Assistant Home Secretary, visiting in October of that year, was pleased that the hospital committee had not overlooked accommodation for the nurses.[39] The nurses’ quarters were also the first building in the hospital to be lit by electricity, impressing the South Australian Inspector-General of Hospitals, who was on a tour of inspection around Queensland.[40]
\nNurses’ quarters at Queensland hospitals
\nStaff accommodation was an integral part of hospital infrastructure.[41] The concept of providing onsite accommodation for nurses grew out of the religious and military background of nursing, where inductees lived in cloistered or barrack accommodation.[42] Until 1921 there were no requirements to provide nurses’ accommodation at Queensland’s general hospitals,[43] but there were advantages for hospitals in doing so, and they were provided at most hospitals which employed nursing staff.[44] Good quality accommodation appealed to the middle-class, well-educated women who were increasingly taking up nursing,[45] and provided a level of care and protection perceived necessary for the young women living away from their homes.[46] Like cloisters or military barracks, onsite accommodation also allowed senior staff to monitor junior staff, both enforcing the hierarchies that were considered essential for a hospital to function effectively,[47] and the morality considered an essential part of nurses’ characters.[48] Finally, the provision of board and lodging could help justify keeping nurses’ wages low, without which hospitals could not afford trained nursing staff.[49]
\nPurpose-built nurses’ quarters were constructed at Queensland hospitals from the 1860s until at least the 1960s.[50] They ranged from rooms within the ward building itself, to large freestanding, multi-storey buildings. Over the 20th century, increasingly-larger nurses’ quarters were built at Queensland hospitals. Growing hospitals sometimes had a series of nurses’ quarters built in their grounds, or extended their existing quarters.[51] At some Queensland hospitals, the nurses’ quarters was the largest or tallest single building on the site.[52] They were sometimes described as landmarks within their towns,[53] and their foundation or completion were frequently publicised and celebrated with events attended by the public and dignitaries.[54]
\nArchitecturally, they were not standardised, and varied in size, style, form, and materials, often dependent on funds, staff numbers, and changing architectural fashions.[55] Typically, however, they were freestanding buildings toward the rear or side of the main hospital buildings, or attached but separated in a different floor or wing. The interiors accommodated cell-like bedrooms and shared amenities, including bathrooms, laundries, common or sitting rooms, and kitchenettes/tea rooms. Accommodation was typically organised into nursing hierarchies (trainees, junior nurses, senior nurses, sisters, and matrons), sometimes with separate common facilities, and grouped by wards and shift (day or night). Verandahs were provided as an extension to the bedrooms and living spaces, providing ‘breathing space’ for the occupants. Later quarters often provided self-contained ‘flats’ within the building for the matron and sub- or deputy-matron.[56] The provision of facilities varied little over the 100 years of nurses’ quarters’ construction in Queensland.[57]
\n1919 extension
\nBy 1918, Bundaberg’s nursing staff had increased to one matron, one sister and 17 nurses, beyond the capacity of the 11-room quarters.[58] An extension was proposed for the nurses’ quarters, to comprise three single bedrooms, dormitory, box room, and lavatory block.[59] Faircloth was again engaged to design the extension, and Anderson and Pomfret to build it at a cost of £1824 7s.[60] The President of the Hospital Board[61] and Canon Beasley (rector of Bundaberg Christ Church)[62] launched public appeals to raise funds for the extension, drawing donations from around the region, including Bundaberg residents, the Woongarra Farmers’ hall trustees;[63] the Millaquin Sugar Co; Olympia Pictures; the Girls’ High School; the Presbyterian Sunday School; a Walloon resident;[64] and a Barolin School euchre tournament and dance fundraiser.[65] The extension was built in 1919 and completed and furnished by January 1920.[66] Its completion made the quarters ‘an ideal building’ in the view of the Hospital Board.[67]
\nThe extension, at the western end of the 1915 quarters, continued the form, detailing, materials, and layout of the earlier section. It had a central corridor, rooms either side which opened onto a wrap-around verandah via French doors, and an ablutions block (the second for the building) semi-detached and standing at the northwest corner of the verandah. The three new nurses’ bedrooms were likely slightly larger, at 14’ x 12’ (4.2m x 3.6m), and were possibly for more senior staff. The extended roof was also a hip and clad with corrugated metal sheets.
\nThe hierarchy of spaces and the regimented nature of the nurses’ quarters was reflected in an incident in October 1924, when one nurse moved without permission from the eight-bed dormitory into another room. She reported the custom of ‘giving the last bed to a probationer’, with all nurses moving ‘up’ a bed while the most senior nurse moved up to the next room. The nurse, however, was evicted from her new bed by the matron, who submitted that the nurse had taken the bed and removed the possessions of a more senior nurse who was undergoing treatment in the hospital. The incident was a black mark for both the nurse and matron.[68]
\n1937 extension
\nChanges in hospital administration and nurses’ working conditions in the early 1920s considerably impacted staffing levels at the Bundaberg Hospital. In 1921, a Court of Arbitration judgment amended the nursing award, requiring ‘as far as practicable, separate rooms or separate cubicles shall be provided for each employee at their respective hospitals’. It also set maximum working hours; and provided additional leave entitlements.[69] While Bundaberg Hospital met accommodation requirements, changes to the latter conditions necessitated the employment of more nurses at the hospital.[70] By July 1921 the hospital had 32 trained and probationary nurses, and had requested an extra trained nurse and probationer to keep up with requirements.[71]
\nIn January 1925, the Bundaberg Hospital District was created under the Hospitals Act 1923. The district covered an area including the city of Bundaberg, and the shires of Gooburrum, Isis, Kolan, Perry and Woongarra (encompassing hospitals at Childers, Gin Gin, Mount Perry, and Bundaberg).[72] The Bundaberg Hospital served as a hub for the district, hosting up-to-date equipment (such as X-ray) and nursing training.[73] Bundaberg’s Lady Chelmsford maternity hospital was moved onto the site between 1928 and 1932 to provide maternity services.[74] The hospital’s services were also accessed by patients living outside the district, which kept staffing levels high.[75]
\nThe combined impact of the changes caused cramped conditions at the existing nurses’ quarters – by then known as the general nurses’ quarters, to distinguish them from the maternity nurses’ quarters – at the hospital. Two buildings from the Lady Chelmsford hospital (no longer extant) were repurposed for use at the general nurses’ quarters in 1932,[76] but the Hospital Board began to contemplate a further extension to the building. Plans were drawn up in 1935 by the Department of Public Works (DPW) to almost double the existing building by raising the existing roof and adding a second storey to the main wing of the existing nurses’ quarters. The resulting rectangular, two-storey section was 84' x 32' (25.6m x 9.75m) with a new two-storey, wrap-around verandah. The attached 32' x 22' (9.75m x 6.71m) single-storey block for night nurses bedrooms remained. The new storey added 15 new bedrooms, a large sitting room 24' by 19' (7.32m x 5.8m), and two new bathrooms and lavatory blocks above the older ones. The extension expanded the quarters’ capacity to 35 nurses, accommodated in dormitories and 28 bedrooms. In keeping with the 1915-1919 quarters, the building was constructed in face brick and concrete, at an estimated cost of £4,295.[77]
\nIn appearance, the extension took its cues from the earlier section, and removed and re-used earlier fabric for its new rooms. The new first floor layout followed that of the earlier ground floor, with a central corridor and rooms either side that opened via French doors onto the verandah, but omitted the dormitory in lieu of further single bedrooms. As such, the new nurses’ bedrooms were the same size as the earlier ones below. The earlier verandah was fully demolished and replaced at this time with the two-storey verandah. The new verandah was more elaborate on its east and south sides, with face brick arches to its ground floor and face brick piers and timber posts to its first floor (possibly reused from the earlier section). One of the larger 1915 rooms of the ground floor (likely a sister’s bedroom) was converted to a stair hall with the addition of a concrete, iron, and timber stair to the first floor, and an external timber stair was added to the rear (north) verandah.[78]
\nThe extension occurred when the DPW was overseeing construction of ‘a number of Public Hospitals buildings throughout the State’.[79] As increasing numbers of hospitals were brought under the Hospitals Act 1923 (and its successor, the Hospitals Act 1936), more public funding was allocated to hospitals across the state. The Great Depression also encouraged a works programme of hospital construction estimated to cost £273,000 (reaching £475,000 in 1938).[80] Not least amongst these was the construction of nurses’ quarters at public hospitals, which had accelerated since the 1921 Nurses’ Award. Nurses’ quarters were constructed or extended at more than 30 hospitals across the state in the interwar period, including examples at the Brisbane Children’s Hospital (1921), Lady Bowen Hospital (1923), Mundubbera (1924 and 1926), Herberton (1925-6), Laidley (1925), Alpha (1926), Atherton (1927), Maryborough (1928), Brisbane General Hospital (two further quarters, 1936 and 1939), Gladstone (1928), Mackay (1928), Barcaldine (1930), Biloela (1931), Warwick (1934), Mossman (1936), Gympie (1935), Cracow (1938), and large-scale extensions to existing quarters at Toowoomba (1927), Brisbane General Hospital (1931), and Maryborough (1938).[81]
\nThe Bundaberg Hospital nurses’ quarters extension was officially finished in August 1937, and nurses took up occupancy immediately.[82] The quarters ‘fulfil[ed] a long felt want, for the comfortable accommodation of the fine staff of nurses, for which the Bundaberg Hospital is noted’. [83] The extension ultimately cost £5,120, partly funded by a grant of £2,000 from the Golden Casket funds.[84] It was opened by Minister for Health and Home Affairs (EM Hanlon) in October 1937. Bunting was strung across the building while nurses in white uniforms formed a guard of honour for the visiting dignitaries.[85] The ‘attractive design’ of the building was ‘in keeping with the imposing block of buildings, comprising the Bundaberg General Hospital’.[86] The Minister also emphasised the ‘homely and comfortable’ nature of the quarters, [87] stating that, ‘they had no right to expect any girl to leave her home and devote her life to hospital service unless they could give her a home as decent and attractive as her own.’[88] The rooms were described as being ‘elaborately furnished’,[89] and the nurses expressed their gratitude.[90]
\nThe importance of the nurses was emphasised by chairman of the Bundaberg Hospitals Board, AE Atkin:
\nThe Hospitals’ Board fully realises the fact that it is one of its most important duties to provide an efficient nursing service…For efficiency it is essential to have contentment, and having that in mind, attention was turned towards housing the young ladies under ideal conditions. The local effort has resulted in the building of this, let me call it ‘home’, for such we want the nurses to feel it is. It is substantial, and is as comfortable as we have been able to make it.[91]
\n1943 extension
\nDespite the promise of comfort, extensions were immediately required to the nurses’ quarters.[92] The 1937 extension had not contemplated the staff increases which occurred through the 1930s, leaving nurses accommodated on the verandah of the brand-new extension. Plans for further additions and a new block at the hospital, totalling £30,000,[93] were postponed by the outbreak of World War II.[94] By 1940, however, conditions at the nurses’ quarters were ‘deplorable’:
\nEleven nurses are accommodated in one dormitory and one temporary shack, which has a hessian ceiling 7 feet from the floor. The night staff, usually about 10 to 12, have four bedrooms and are compelled to sleep on the verandahs and in the hot weather, in many cases, they do not get more than three to four hours sleep per day.[95]
\nThe Bundaberg nursing staff then totalled 53 trainees and 11 trained nurses, 13 of whom were accommodated in temporary buildings outside the nurses’ quarters. The nurses also lacked lecture space, necessary for training and examination, which had been partially taken over by the dental clinic. The Bundaberg Hospitals Board engaged architects Cook and Kerrison to design a further extension and reconfigure earlier layouts as necessary to accommodate 75 nurses, lecture and recreation rooms, sanitary conveniences, and ironing and tea rooms.[96] The estimated cost was £12,000, which the Board admitted was ‘extraordinary’ given the opening of additions just two-and-a-half years earlier, but it noted that the existing accommodation breached the nurses’ award.[97]
\nDespite the war, the Bundaberg Hospitals Board successfully applied for the work. It was authorised to borrow funds, and engaged Bundaberg contractor John Young to build the extension at a cost of £12,673, in April 1941.[98] The work involved minor alteration of partitions of the ground floor in the 1919 section to convert the dormitory to single bedrooms, the addition of a second storey on top of the 1915 night nurses’ block, and the addition of a long, two-storey wing extending eastwards off the front (eastern face) of the building that angled northwards at approximately its middle. Construction was undertaken between 1941 and 1943, with the building reported completed in October 1943.[99] War shortages forced the substitution of reinforced concrete walls for brick walls (likely referring only to the internal partitions). [100]
\nThe extension was a face brick building, similar to the earlier sections but simpler in its detailing. It extended the 1937 verandah around the new wing and included a new semi-detached two-storey ablutions block extending off the new verandah’s northern side. It extended the hip roof to match the earlier section. The wing’s interior layout also had a central corridor with bedrooms opening off both sides, and at the ground floor’s eastern end was a large recreation and lecture room that could be divided into two rooms by a large folding door. A second stair hall with a concrete and iron stair was at the part of the building where it angled. The architects had initially drawn plans for rooms 11’ x 8’3” (3.3m x 2.5m) which, although smaller than the existing bedrooms at Bundaberg, were larger than the newly-built bedrooms at Brisbane’s Lady Lamington, leading the Minister for Health and Home Affairs to suggest their size be reduced.[101] All bedrooms opened via French doors out onto the broad verandah. The extension was built over the front of the earlier building, shifting the main entrance from east to south.
\nLike the earlier quarters, the new quarters reflected both the hierarchy of nursing through its spaces and the regimented life in nurses’ quarters. This included the matron’s and sisters’ rooms being positioned near entrance doors, where incomings and outgoings could be easily monitored;[102] and the size of rooms, with senior staff rooms larger than trainees’ rooms.[103] The matron also had additional furnishings, though these were not necessarily elaborate or up-to-date.[104] Some nurses were accommodated in cubicles, rooms with only part-height partitions, a concept born out of 19th century approaches to providing ventilation.[105] One trainee, commencing at Bundaberg Hospital in the late 1940s or early 1950s, described her ‘cubicle-like room’ with ‘a door opening from the internal corridor, another onto the long verandah that skirted the quarters’, a combined wardrobe/dressing table, bed and wooden chair.[106]
\n\n
Swimming pool (1954)
\nWartime nursing shortages had flowed into the postwar era, leaving Queensland hospitals with more than 600 vacant nursing positions by 1946. Advertising campaigns were launched to encourage young women into the profession, and other incentives were contemplated.[107] Health and Home Affairs Minister Foley outlined a policy in 1947 that hospital boards should improve nurses’ accommodation, including lounge suites and chairs, wireless sets, pianos, laundry facilities, and recreation and off-duty rooms for nurses.[108] This was an attempt to entice trainees and trained nurses to apply for positions where conditions were acknowledged to be less appealing than other employment for young women.[109]
\nBefore World War II, common rooms were typically the only area provided for the nurses’ recreation, to sit down after a long shift, entertain friends on their half day off, or write letters. Outdoor recreation, like tennis courts, were less regularly provided, often only through the nurses’ instigation and their fundraising.[110] Bundaberg’s recreational facilities for nurses then included indoor sitting rooms and a recreation room, the latter added with the 1943 extension. A tennis court, funded and managed by the nurses, had been constructed in front (on the southern side) of their quarters in 1922 (no longer extant).[111]
\nIn 1948, the State Cabinet approved a £ for £ subsidy for public hospitals for constructing or maintaining swimming pools.[112] Rockhampton, Charleville, Cairns, and Richmond hospitals all planned for nurses’ swimming pools in the late 1940s,[113] while the Brisbane and South Coast Hospitals Board provided a nurses’ swimming pool at Brisbane General Hospital in 1958.[114] Bundaberg Hospital built a swimming pool in 1954, co-funded by the nurses, Bundaberg City Council, and Queensland Government.[115] A photograph of the pool taken c1970 show it as a rectangular, concrete inground pool, surrounded by a new garden near the nurses’ quarters on its northern side. It had a narrow concrete concourse around the pool, ladders into the pool on both long sides, and a diving board at its short northern end. A very low, decorative metal garden ‘fence' separated the concourse from the surrounding garden, which featured hedged shrubs and a closely-planted row of cypress pines along its western edge (no longer extant).[116]
\nA filtration plant was installed at the pool between 1973 and 1975, and the pool ‘proved very popular with staff over the summer months’.[117]
\n1963 extension
\nAdministrative, legislative, and social changes in the postwar era continued to impact hospitals. With all hospital districts brought under the Hospitals Act by 1944, Queensland was redistricted, and in 1945, Bundaberg was absorbed into the Wide Bay hospital district. The Bundaberg hospital remained the main hub hospital for Bundaberg, Gin Gin, and Mount Perry, under the management of the Bundaberg Hospitals Board.[118]
\nAs postwar material shortages lifted and the state’s population grew, additions, improvements and repairs were planned for hospitals across Queensland.[119] Nurses’ working hours were also finally reduced to a 40-hour week, again necessitating the employment of more nurses at hospitals.[120] A new wave of construction of nurses’ quarters occurred across Queensland, with 29 new quarters built and 14 upgraded.[121] The Bundaberg Hospitals Board had applied for funding for an extension to the Bundaberg general nurses’ quarters in 1948, citing a considerable increase in staff due to the shorter working week and expanded hospital services. The hospital again had insufficient rooms and cubicles to accommodate the staff, and the work was ‘urgently required in order to…avoid complaints from employees and their representatives.’[122] However, it was postponed as other urgent work arose, leaving nurses accommodated on the nurses’ quarters verandahs or in temporary RAAF huts on the hospital site.[123]
\nBy 1960 the nursing staff included sixteen 16 sisters and 74 nurses, and the Bundaberg Hospitals Board again applied to have the nurses’ quarters extended.[124] A new extension was designed by architects Goodsir and Carlyle.[125] The extension was a long, two-storey, face brick wing, extending northwards off the northern end of the former night nurses’ block. It had a central corridor running north-south with rooms on either side, with communal rooms and a stair hall on the west side, and bedrooms on the east, which opened onto a long verandah running along the eastern side of the wing. At the northern end of the wing were self-contained flats for the matron (ground floor) and deputy matron (first floor). The matron’s flat had a separate, private northern entrance. The eight bedrooms (four per floor) had built-in furniture, and the wing included a communal lounge, kitchenette, and ablutions, creating an additional 5,100sq ft (473.8m2) of floor space. SC Lohse’s[126] tender for £27,800 was accepted,[127] and the extension was scheduled for construction between March and September 1963.[128]
\nUnlike earlier extensions, Goodsir and Carlyle’s design did not take many architectural cues from the earlier sections. Designed in a postwar, Modern style, the wing had an orange face brick exterior, timber floors, and a low-pitched hip roof clad with metal roof sheets.[129] Its ceiling heights were lower than the previous extensions, and its two floor levels were at different floor heights from those of the earlier sections, requiring short stairs to be added to both sides of the former night nurses’ block to provide access. The new extension was officially opened by the Minister for Health, Dr HW Noble, MB, BS, on 23 November, 1963.[130] ‘No home was too good for the nursing staff which served Bundaberg so faithfully and well.’[131] The nurses moved into the new quarters in December.[132]
\nPost 1963
\nThe Nurses’ Award was changed again in 1963, granting nurses five weeks of leave per year, and requiring training courses to be held during hospital time, rather than the nurses’ spare time. This, once again, required larger numbers of nurses to be employed. By the 1970s Bundaberg Hospital had between 45 and 118 nursing students sitting their general examinations each year, and in the early 1980s approved staffing levels averaged 50 registered nurses and 86 general nursing students.[133] The expansion of specialised services in Bundaberg Hospital also pushed up demand, as the hospital was made the Base Hospital of its own region in 1977.[134]
\nChanges were made to the nurses’ quarters over time, to keep up with staff numbers and maintain accommodation standards. As the advantages of air circulation gave way to privacy concerns in the second half of the 20th century, partitions were raised to the ceiling to create single bedrooms from the nurses’ cubicles, with some sections converted in 1953-54 and the rest in the late 1960s.[135] General improvements (to the value of $22,000) were planned and undertaken between 1968 and 1970, including the extension of the eastern verandah outside the matron’s and deputy matron’s flats (1969);[136] and the conversion of nurses’ cubicles to rooms; extension of the nurses’ laundry; and the enclosure of the ground floor verandah of the 1963 wing with louvres to prevent ‘prowlers’ (1970).[137] The ablutions blocks were renovated in 1973 (replacing the baths, building shower recesses, tile floors and walls).[138] Renovations were carried out to the first floor in 1980 to modernise nursing accommodation,[139] and in 1985 to the ground floor to accommodate training rooms for the School of Nursing.[140]
\nAt the same time, focus began to shift away from onsite training for nurses. Offsite post-registration courses became available in Queensland from the 1960s, and tertiary courses were offered in place of hospital training from 1978.[141] Lecture hours were increased from the 1970s, but the four-year training course was reduced to three.[142] In 1969, registered nurses’ wages changed from ‘living in’ to ‘living out’, enabling nurses to find their own accommodation off the hospital site if they chose. Student nurses were required to live onsite until 1973, after which they could seek parental permission to ‘live out’.[143] This was not ideal for hospital management, as the nurses’ quarters provided access to a ready group of nurses for extra shifts if needed.[144] An estimated 40 nurses opted to live out when rents were raised at the Bundaberg Hospital Nurses’ Quarters in 1978.[145] However, the quarters remained occupied until the final group of trainees graduated in July 1992.[146]
\nBuilding work was undertaken to the nurses’ quarters in 1986 and 1987, managed by TW Gatley, John Murchie and Sons and Lohse Constructions, included re-roofing, replacing the verandah floor boards of the early sections with large flat sheets, and rebuilding the brick pier of the first floor verandah using new bricks, costing $155,675.26. On completion of this project, the Bundaberg Hospitals Board expressed its ‘justifiable pride in the restoration of this magnificent building’.[147]
\nAccommodation for female workers
\nNursing was one of the few avenues of paid employment available to women in Queensland through the first half of the 20th century. Until the 1970s, the fields of women's work were limited to domestic work, inside or outside the home, paid or unpaid; retail shop work; clerical work; education; and nursing. Very small numbers of Queensland women were able to achieve professional careers in other fields, such as Dr Lilian Cooper (medicine), Dorothy Hill (geology) and Daphne Mayo (art), while owners of property could earn income through paid domestic work as hotel publicans or boarding accommodation proprietors. Factory work, available to women in southern states, was less practised in Queensland, where the manufacturing industry was smaller.[148] Paid employment was undertaken by unmarried women who sought independence, were vocationally inclined, or whose families were unable to support them. Retirement was expected on a woman's marriage, when she would take up unpaid domestic or charitable work, with a return to paid employment possible if she were widowed or deserted.[149]
\nWorking women living away from home were considered vulnerable to corrupting influences in boarding houses or on the streets. From the mid-19th century, charitable organisations established accommodation for women seeking employment, such as the Servants' Home (1863-1870) and Aboriginal Girls' Home (1900-1906).[150] Employers sometimes provided purpose-built accommodation for female employees: the Department of Education provided housing for teachers (both male and female); private and public hospitals provided nurses' quarters;[151] and domestic service workers resided in servants' quarters or rooms within private residences or at hotels.[152] In rare cases, accommodation was provided for retail and office workers, such as TC Beirne's Bulolo Flats (1934, QHR 602188). This accommodation fulfilled dual roles of protection and supervision, with acceptance of independent-living employed women gradually emerging through the 20th century.[153]
\nThe provision of onsite accommodation was a vital component of nursing. Nursing was an exclusively female profession until the 1970s, with caring for the sick considered an inherently feminine task.[154] Nurses were unmarried,[155] often young,[156] and were required to be of 'good fame and character' to be registered.[157] Onsite accommodation was desirable not only for training and staffing, but also for preventing young unmarried women from unchaperoned travel between the hospital and off-side accommodation.[158] Additionally, the provision of comfortable homes for nurses could entice women into nursing, compensate them for their dedication and sacrifice, and fortify them for their arduous work.[159] From 1911 and 1921 respectively, private and public hospitals were required to provide accommodation for nurses in their employment, and the design and layout of nurses' quarters reflected their accommodation of a single-sex workforce, deserving of comfort and supervision.
\n\n
Nurses at Bundaberg (and role of the quarters)
\nWith a staff of trained nurses since 1898, Bundaberg served as the main (and frequently only) training hospital for general nursing in the region from 1902.[160] The hospital was often reported as enjoying a good reputation as a nurse training hospital, with trained nurses undertaking postgraduate studies,[161] and trainees achieving good results in annual examinations.[162] Probationers came from across Queensland to begin their nursing training, including Innisfail, Monto, Nebo, Degilbo, and Croydon, with English emigrants in the 1950s.[163] The training hospital also provided ‘regional’ experience for nurses from larger or smaller hospitals. In 1969, the Bundaberg Regional Training School was established at the Bundaberg Hospital, enrolling nurses from Bundaberg, Monto, and Gladstone. An exchange programme of nurses was run between the three hospitals in the following years.[164]
\nOnce successfully trained, Bundaberg’s nurses remained at the hospital or travelled further afield, working as nurses or matrons in hospitals intrastate, interstate, and internationally.[165] Jane Bell, who replaced her sister Euphemia as Matron of the Bundaberg Hospital in 1903, became particularly renowned for her contributions to nursing in Australia.[166] Bundaberg Hospital nurses served in both world wars, and the pride of the Bundaberg community in its nurses was reflected through the erection of the Bundaberg War Nurses’ Memorial in 1949 (QHR 600365), on a site opposite the front of the Bundaberg Hospital.[167] Sarah Keenan, matron of the hospital from 1946 until 1970, was the inaugural head of the Matrons’ Association, a Fellow of the College of Australian Nurses, and undertook international studies; on her retirement, she was made an MBE for her services to nursing. Nurses who trained or worked at Bundaberg include an OBE and an AM recipient. [168]
\nNurses were held in high regard by the general public, both across Queensland and specifically in Bundaberg.[169] Expressions of gratitude for nurses’ hard work were published in media and provided to the Bundaberg Hospitals Board from earliest days of nursing at the hospital.[170] Journalists and newspaper correspondents sided with the nursing staff in public disputes between them and the hospital board, and defended them vigorously against criticism.[171] Fundraising for the nurses’ quarters was supported by the local community, and social ties to the community were reciprocated by nurses, such as through inviting members of public to use the tennis courts.[172]
\nThe nurses also formed close bonds with one another.[173] Trainee nurses were almost exclusively young single women;[174] and many trainees were significant distances from their homes.[175] Most of their time was spent at the hospital, either on duty, studying, or in their quarters, with time off the site restricted by a strict curfew. Much of this time was also focused on the quarters, which combined accommodation and professional development, with lectures/examinations often held in the same building.[176] Groups of nurses were photographed outside or on the steps of the quarters,[177] and social events were held at the hospital, particularly following the formation of a branch of the Student Nurses Association at Bundaberg Hospital, which organised social evenings, fetes, play readings, a film evening, recreational activities, and even a discussion with the hospital matron to raise nurses’ concerns.[178] In 1924, the unity of the nurses was demonstrated when 24 nurses resigned en masse in support of the matron and engaged legal counsel against the hospital board.[179]
\nAs practical training gave way to tertiary education in the 1980s, Bundaberg nurses began to attend registered courses at the Capricornia Institute of Advanced Education.[180] The final group of trainees began training at the hospital in July 1989, and in July 1992, the News-Mail announced the ‘end of an era’ as the 17 trainees completed the last three-year training at the hospital.[181] Residential accommodation for hospital staff was retained in parts of the quarters, while other sections were used for education, such as commencement of classes of the University of Queensland’s Rural Clinical School Bundaberg in the ground floor library of the former nurses’ quarters in 2004.[182]
\nAnnual Bundaberg Hospital nurses’ reunions were held from 2010-2013,[183] with nurses reflecting on the ‘nightly curfews, bedpans, short-sheeting beds and clandestine raids on the pantry’;[184] the friends they made in the nurses’ quarters,[185] and the ‘skills of patience and tolerance’ they learned while residing in the Bundaberg nurses’ quarters.[186] The reunion drew nurses from across Queensland and Australia,[187] and allowed former nurses to share their stories with current and future nurses training at the Central Queensland university.[188]
\nIn 2024, the former Bundaberg Hospital Nurses’ Quarters is in use as administration and staff accommodation for the Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service.
Bundaberg Hospital Nurses’ Quarters (former), built in 1915 and extended in 1919, 1937, 1943, 1963, and 1970, is important in demonstrating the vital role of the nursing profession in the provision of health care in Queensland. Nurses’ quarters were an essential part of Queensland hospital complexes from the late 19th to mid-20th centuries, providing on-site accommodation for nursing staff. As nurses’ quarters built at a training hospital, Bundaberg Hospital Nurses’ Quarters (former) accommodated probationers, trainees, and qualified nursing staff from the Bundaberg district and from across Queensland until 1992.
\nBuilt as nursing emerged as a trained profession, and extended in response to legislative and regulatory changes, Bundaberg Hospital Nurses’ Quarters (former) is representative of the evolution of the nursing profession throughout the 20th century. The form, fabric, and layout of the quarters, including the swimming pool, reflect the social mores, the highly regulated and hierarchical nature of the nursing profession, and the legal and economic rationales that required qualified and trainee nurses, who for many years were exclusively female, to be accommodated on hospital grounds.
\nAs a place purpose built to accommodate female workers, Bundaberg Hospital Nurses' Quarters (former) is important in demonstrating the evolution of women's employment in 20th century Queensland, particularly of employer provision of accommodation for female workers.
|Bundaberg Hospital Nurses’ Quarters (former) is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a Queensland hospital nurses’ quarters. It is a substantial and intact example that reflects the continuity of this class of cultural place across more than 50 years.
\nThe place retains its:
\nBundaberg Hospital Nurses’ Quarters (former) has a strong and special association with the probationers, trainees, nurses, and senior staff who lived, studied, and socialised there between 1915 and 1992. The quarters provided housing, education, and recreation space for trainees and qualified nurses employed at the Bundaberg Hospital, playing an important role in the lives of generations of Bundaberg-trained nurses. Their strong association with the place has been demonstrated through their fundraising activities for the quarters and swimming pool, expressions of attachment, and reunions held into the 21st century.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"} ]}