The former St Patrick's Church, Brandon is a single-storey timber building located on the outskirts of the town of Brandon. It addresses Spillar Street to the east, and sits on a triangular block formed by the railway line and the Bruce Highway. Adjacent is the former Renown Theatre and opposite a small park which includes the war memorial.
The former church is set on low stumps and is rectangular in form with a steeply pitched gable roof clad in corrugated iron. The front of the church is symmetrical with a central entry porch flanked by single lancet windows. The projecting gables have fretted brackets to the eaves.
The external walls have exposed stud framing lined with chamferboards, with external sheeting flashing over the windows. The side walls of the former nave are supported by timber buttresses. The tall casement windows, doors and archways have pointed arched heads. Other Gothic elements include ornament over the gable ties and infill to the wall buttresses
Entry is through the porch at the eastern end. The body of the building is an open hall with a polished timber floor. Above the entrance door is a loft reached by a narrow timber stair. The roof framing is supported on hammerbeam brackets with tie rods. The raked ceiling is lined with diagonal boarding. At the western end is a small room leading to the rear doors. No internal fittings survive.
","history":"The former St Patrick's Catholic Church, Brandon is a timber church originally constructed in 1910 when Brandon was part of the Catholic Diocese of Rockhampton. It ceased to be used by the Church in 1974 and following severe cyclone damage in 1989 was moved to its present site by the Shire Council.
Despite the domination of plantation style sugar production, small selectors were also cultivating small plantings of cane throughout Queensland by the late 1860s. The advent of selectors seeking agricultural land was encouraged by the government with the introduction of the Alienation of Crown Lands Act of 1868. This act allowed people of limited means to acquire land for agricultural purposes.
While land north of the Burdekin River was opened for closer settlement by 1868, the first land sales in the district did not take place until late 1878. William Bannister, who selected 632 acres on the east side of Station Creek on 1 November 1878, subdivided part of his land soon after selection to form a township which he named Brandon. This township was a private town located close to the Pioneer Plantation.
The population of the district grew rapidly after the land was opened for closer selection as did the demand for community services, social activity and spiritual support. The needs of Catholics in the district were met by visiting priests from Townsville who held services at Lewis Hoey's Pioneer Mill, Lynche's Hotel in Ayr, Sergt. McBride's police residence in Ayr, in the state school at Brandon and at Burkes Hotel, Brandon.
In 1893 the Burdekin District was attached to the Diocese of Rockhampton and in 1896 a meeting was held to decide where the first catholic church would be built in the Burdekin District. The decision was made to locate the church in Brandon and the building was opened in 1897 on a site close to where the first state school was constructed. This church was damaged in Cyclone Leonta in 1903 and was rebuilt from the damaged material.
Around 1907 Ingham parish priests were given responsibility for the Burdekin district and in 1908 it passed to the care of Townsville Parish. Plans were made in 1910 for the establishment of a parish encompassing both Brandon and Ayr. This parish was established on St Patrick's Day, 17 March 1912 with Fr Jules Bucas, as the first parish priest. Fr Bucas first resided in the sacristy of the new Brandon church. The old church was modified and moved to the convent site for use as a school. It was again moved in 1936 to become St Francis Catholic Church, Jarvisfield. The new parish remained part of the Diocese of Rockhampton until 1930 when the Diocese of Townsville was established. On 23 July 1944, a fire damaged a portion of St Patrick's sacristy which was repaired..
The church continued in use by the Roman Catholic community until 1974 when a new church was opened on an adjoining site on 21 April by Bishop Faulkner, Bishop of the Diocese of Townsville. The old church was listed by the National Trust of Queensland and by the Australian Heritage Commission in 1975. It was sold by the Diocese in 1979 to Filippo Patane who leased it to the Burdekin Academy of Dance.
In 1989 the building lost much of its roof cladding and was moved from its foundations during Cyclone Aivu. Fearing its collapse, the owner sold it for removal. The Burdekin Shire Council objected to the removal of the heritage listed building and prevented its loss from the town by purchasing it in late April 1989. In January 1991 the building was relocated to a site beside the Renown Theatre in Spillar St, Brandon as the nucleus of a 'Heritage Estate' for the district. The Shire Council repaired the building and it is now in use as a community meeting place and is available for weddings.
","criteria":"St Patrick's Church demonstrates the early development of the Burdekin District and the growth of the Catholic Church in North Queensland.
|It is considered an excellent example of a 'carpenter Gothic' church and was used as an exemplar of this style in the reference work Identifying Australian Architecture: Styles and Terms for 1788 to the Present by Apperley, Irving & Reynolds (1989).
|It is a well composed design and has considerable visual appeal, being listed on the Registers of both the National Estate and the National Trust of Queensland for its architectural merit.
|It has strong associations with the Catholic community of the area and of the shire of Burdekin in which it is thought to be the oldest building extant and whose Council purchased it to preserve it for this community.
","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":15899,"place_ref":601126,"name":"Ayr Court House","alternate_name":"Ayr Courthouse","street_address":"163 Queen Street","suburb":"AYR","lga":"BURDEKIN SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1995-01-13","description":"Ayr Court House is a single-storeyed red brick building. The gabled and half-gabled roof is clad in corrugated steel and is surmounted by a painted copper fleche. The roof's original russet-coloured fibro cement slates, have been replaced with corrugated steel sheeting. The wide verandahs on four sides have timber balustrading and paired posts on brick piers. The entrance portico is marked with a decorative parapet.
The Ayr Court House is one of several buildings that contribute to the town's civic precinct in the main street, Queen Street. The police station, court house, town hall, library and post office dominate the north-west side of Queen Street between Mackenzie and Young Streets.
","history":"Constructed in 1935 on a site adjacent to the existing 1897 court house, this was the third court house in Ayr.
The Burdekin region was first settled in the 1860s, and the town of Ayr was surveyed in 1882. Tenders was called for a Court House and Police Station in Ayr in late 1882, and a building was erected in 1883 which comprised the police quarters, lock-up and court room. This building was situated on Allotment 6, bounded by Queen, Khedive (now Mackenzie), Omar (now Graham) and Bey (now Young) Streets. The Post and Telegraph Office and Residence were also located on this block. The town grew in support of the increasing number of sugar plantations and small sugar growers establishing themselves in the Burdekin region.
By late 1896 the court room was inadequate for court purposes. Construction on a new court house commenced in 1897, the former room being taken over for use by the police. The new court house was built on a site south east of the police building, at the corner of Queen and Khedive Streets.
Ayr was almost completely destroyed by Cyclone Leonta in 1903; much of the town was rebuilt after the cyclone. Part of the court house roof was damaged during the cyclone.
Ayr and the surrounding district experienced an unprecedented period of growth through he 1920s and 30s as a result of the expansion of the sugar industry, and other developments in the district from the turn of the century. The formation of the Ayr Tramway Joint Board and the opening of a railway line connecting Ayr and Stuart (Townsville) in 1901 overcame many difficulties previously associated with transporting sugar to the port in Townsville. The Ayr-Stuart line became a government railway in January 1913.
The early farmers in the Ayr district found that the supply of water to irrigate their cane crops was inadequate. Several irrigation schemes were proposed, however none eventuated until the Queensland State Government approved an irrigation scheme for the district in July 1916. The Inkerman Supply Board was constituted in February 1917 and the Irrigation Plant was opened in May 1922. While the depression was affecting most other parts of the country, the sugar towns of Queensland experienced steady growth and stable economies.
Additions to the court house in 1928, provided an office for the Department of Labour. By the early 1930s, the court house was again inadequate for the demands being placed upon it, and further additions to the building were proposed. In a deputation in 1934 to the Hon John Dash, then MLA for the electorate of Mundingburra (which included Ayr), members of the Ayr Progress Association presented a case for a new building, citing, amongst other reasons, the lack of room at the court house; the recent approval by the Commonwealth Government for a new Post Office and Residence in Ayr; and the importance of the business being transacted on daily and weekly bases in Ayr, as reasons for a new building. Approval was given for the erection of a new court house in December 1934, which would include a court room, witness rooms, rooms for a police officer, Clerk of Petty Sessions and four clerks, and a public space
Drawings for the new court house were prepared in 1935 by architect DFW Roberts, employed in the Queensland Works Department (AB Leven was Chief Architect at this time). The Ayr Court House is based on the early traditional "T" shaped plan of court houses, which were most commonly constructed in timber. The Ayr and Home Hill Court Houses are the only two examples of brick versions of this "T" plan form. Most other court houses of this period were adopting different plan forms. Provision was made in the drawings for future additions to be made to the verandahs at either end of the "T". Three distinct entrances to the building separated members of the public who had business dealings with the Clerk of Petty Sessions, from those who were appearing in the court house as a witness, or who were attending a court hearing. A description of the new court house prior to its completion concluded by stating that The Buildings will be an imposing structure and should prove an acquisition to the Architecture of the City.
During the 1930s Depression, Labor Premier William Forgan Smith established a government initiated works scheme under the Income (Unemployment Relief) Act (1930) to create employment. This involved the employment of architects, foremen, labourers and the use of local materials in the design and construction of government buildings such as court houses, government offices and state schools. The Ayr court house is a fine example of the brick buildings erected through this work scheme.
The court house was completed and officially opened in March 1936, and the former court house taken over for use as the police station shortly after. Offices in the building were occupied also by staff of other government departments, such as the Agriculture and Stock Department. Additional offices were constructed in 1941, at the south west end of the building. Landscaping of the court house grounds was undertaken in the early 1950s.
","criteria":"Completed in 1936 as the third court house in Ayr, this building survives as an example of the development of Ayr as a commercial and official centre for the surrounding district from the late 19th century, and of the prosperity accompanying the expansion of settlement and the sugar industry in the Ayr district during the early 20th century.
Designed and constructed as part of a Government initiated Works scheme created to generate employment throughout Queensland during the 1930s, the Ayr Court House is also a fine example of the work completed under this scheme.
|The Ayr Court House is a good example of a substantial brick court house which reflects the high standard of Government buildings in Queensland designed by the Department of Public Works during the early-mid twentieth century.
|The form, scale and materials of the building, contribute to the Queen Street streetscape and Ayr 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":16335,"place_ref":601574,"name":"Ayr State High School","alternate_name":"Ayr State High and Intermediate School","street_address":"82-90 Wickham Street","suburb":"AYR","lga":"BURDEKIN SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1995-01-13","description":"Ayr State High School is an elevated brick school building with a corrugated iron roof which is topped with a ventilator and flagpole. The central entrance projects forward and on either side the classroom wings are connected by verandahs. The wings are one classroom wide so as to provide cross ventilation. The verandahs have arched arcading, which forms open play areas underneath. The detailing around arches is highlighted with stucco.
The grounds include large expanses of lawn and substantial shade trees.
","history":"The earliest building at Ayr State High School was erected in 1934-36 as the Ayr State High and Intermediate School, with an enrolment drawn from the wider Burdekin region. It was constructed during a period of unprecedented economic growth in Ayr, and ranks with the 1935 Court House, 1935 Masonic Hall and 1939 Tropix Theatre, as one of the more important interwar buildings in the town.
The Burdekin was first settled in the 1860s, and the town of Ayr was surveyed in 1882. The town grew in support of the increasing number of sugar plantations and small sugar growers establishing themselves in the Burdekin River region, and by the 1920s was the principal town in the district.
A primary school was established at Ayr in 1886, but until the late 1920s Burdekin children had no local access to secondary education. In 1913 the Ayr State School committee requested the provision of high school courses at the primary school, and in 1920 promoted the idea of a separate high school for Ayr. A secondary department, offering academic, commercial, domestic science and manual training subjects, was finally attached to Ayr State School in 1928.
In the early 1930s the local state school committee, encouraged by Ayr's unprecedented interwar growth and prosperity as a result of the expansion of the sugar industry, continued to put pressure on the Department of Public Instruction for the establishment of a high school. When the Department finally acquiesced, however, it was for a combined high and intermediate school, and there is some indication that an intermediate school only was considered at first. In fact, from 1925 until the late 1930s, Ayr State High School was the only new high school in the state, although several new secondary departments were established.
Intermediate schools, equipped with workshops, laboratories, and domestic science rooms, were established in principal Queensland towns after 1928. They reflected a fundamental change in Queensland education policy in the late 1920s, focussing on syllabus revision and the education of children over 11 years of age. In Brisbane, intermediate schools were established as separate institutions, but in country areas, they generally formed part of existing high schools. Intermediate schools catered for children 12-13 years of age, offering a two-year course as a link between primary and secondary education. Setting up new schools for a two-year course proved expensive, and the intermediate school concept was replaced in the 1940s and 1950s by multilateral high schools offering a variety of courses.
Plans for the Ayr Intermediate School (which opened as the Ayr State High and Intermediate School) were prepared in the Queensland Government Architect's office of the Department of Public Works in late 1934. The Chief Architect at this time was Andrew Baxter Leven (1885-1966). Leven was born, educated and worked as an Inspector of Works in Scotland before migrating to Australia. From 1910 to 1951 he was employed by the Queensland Government Works Department and was Chief Architect and Quantity Surveyor from 1933 to 1951. Other members of the office involved in the design were FJ Jellett and HJ Parr.
During the 1930's Depression a government initiated works scheme was established to create employment. This involved the employment of architects, foremen and day labourers, and the use of local materials in the design and construction of government buildings such as court houses, government offices and state schools. This scheme, under which the Ayr State High and Intermediate School was constructed, was instigated by Labour Premier Forgan-Smith.
A site on the southern side of the town, a former Showground Reserve which was set aside as a high school reserve in 1921, was selected for the new high and intermediate school. The two-storeyed brick building was in progress by mid-1935, and was opened on 1 March 1937 with an enrolment of 77 students in the high school and 203 in the intermediate section. Construction had cost approximately £16,000, and when completed provided for a manual training section, store rooms, and a large concreted play area on the ground floor, and 8 classrooms, head teacher's office, staffrooms, entrance hall, cloakrooms, and domestic science section on the first floor.
The intermediate section ceased as such at the end of 1963, and since 1964 the school has functioned as the Ayr State High School.
","criteria":"Ayr State High School, erected in 1934-36, is significant as one of a group of substantial interwar buildings in Ayr, which illustrate the unprecedented era of prosperity accompanying the expansion of the sugar industry in the Burdekin region. The building also reflects the State Government's commitment to Ayr as a major regional centre in the interwar years.
Ayr State High School is evidence of the implementation of the Intermediate School system, experimented with by the Queensland Department of Public Instruction during the interwar years.
|Ayr State High School is significant as an excellent regional example of a school building following the tradition of fine buildings erected by the Queensland Public Works Department. The use of brick and restrained classical detailing is typical for government buildings of the period.
It is also a good example of a building designed to accommodate the tropical North Queensland climate, being raised above an open undercroft; with wide verandahs and ventilators.
|Ayr State High School is significant for its aesthetic quality in design and classical-inspired detailing, including the arched entrance and symmetrical layout with projecting central bay.
|(Criterion under review)
","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":16658,"place_ref":601922,"name":"Burdekin Shire Council Chambers","alternate_name":"Ayr Shire Council Chambers","street_address":"145 Young Street","suburb":"AYR","lga":"BURDEKIN SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1997-10-13","description":"The Burdekin Shire Council Chambers is a single-storeyed building located at the northern corner of a level block bound by Young, MacMillan and Wickham Streets, Ayr, addressing Young Street. The site is one block from the main street, Queen Street, which forms part of the Bruce Highway. Several church buildings and the Masonic Hall are located nearby along MacMillan Street.
The building is constructed of face brickwork with a hipped corrugated iron roof and encircling timber verandah. Centred on the ridge is a skylight.
The verandah is open on its two street elevations, with a concrete floor, dowelled balustrades and stop-chamfered posts. The south-eastern and south-western verandahs are enclosed and clad in chamferboards. At the rear is a brick safe with a steel door opening into the office.
The entry to the building is marked by a curved concrete portico, flanked by gabled pavilions with arched openings.
The interior is divided into three by two parallel hallways. The two pairs of entry doors are aligned with the arched pavilions either side of the front portico.
The north-western end is the meeting room, with French doors opening onto the north-western verandah. It has a decorative cornice, and low-waisted four-panel doors with fretted toplights.
The central bays has two offices with moulded arched openings. The south-eastern end four offices opening from a central corridor.
The interior features rendered brick walls, high ceilings with decorative cornices, double-hung and leadlight windows and panelled doors with fretted toplights.
","history":"Burdekin Shire Council Chambers at Ayr was completed in 1922 as Ayr Shire Council Chambers, replacing an 1890s timber building destroyed by fire in 1919. The 1922 building was designed by local architect Frederick Smith and extended in the late 1930s.
Ayr was established in 1882 to service the developing sugar-growing district on the Lower Burdekin. In the early 1860s the land was taken up as pastoral runs, but during the second half of the 1860s and 1870s, following the introduction of the British government's Sugar and Coffee Regulations of 1864, pastoral holdings on the Lower Burdekin gradually converted to sugar cultivation. By the late 1880s, four sugar mills had been established in the Burdekin.
When local government was extended to all Queenslanders in 1879, with the passing of the Divisonal Boards Act, the Lower Burdekin was included in Subdivision 3 of the Division of Thuringowa, based in Townsville, while the area south of the Burdekin was included in the Division of Wangaratta. The Lower Burdekin community became concerned that it's problems were not being addressed by the Thuringowa Divisional Board, because board members from the district found it difficult to get to meetings in Townsville. An attempt to overcome these problems was made in September 1883 when the Lower Burdekin was included in Subdivision 2 and the remainder of the division within subdivision 1.
Despite these boundary alterations the problem of distance from Townsville could not be overcome so easily. A petition seeking to have the Lower Burdekin made a separate division was unsuccessful; despite support from the Thuringowa Board, the Minister for Lands rejected the petition. A further petition prepared in 1884, pointing out that the population of 2,000 people centred on Ayr, was not acknowledged. To maintain pressure on the government, residents formed the Burdekin Delta Association and a further petition was successful. The Division of Ayr was proclaimed in 1888 but comprised only land north of the Burdekin River.
Board members were elected in 1888 and a reserve for a municipal chambers gazetted in April 1889, but lack of government funding combined with the devastating effects of the early 1890s depression, prohibited Ayr Divisional Board from erecting its own premises until 1895, when an office and board room were constructed. This building was damaged in 1903 by cyclone Leonta, but was repaired.
Under the Local Authorities Act of 1903 all Divisions in the State became Shires, and the Ayr Divisional Board became the Council of the Shire of Ayr.
In 1917 local architect Frederick Smith was engaged to design a strong room for safe storage of documents. Smith had been an articled pupil of the family firm of WG Smith and Sons, Architects in Townsville. He was employed by both the Queensland and Commonwealth Government as Clerk of Works, Ayr [1916-17] and District Supervisor, Ayr. His other buildings in Ayr included the Delta Theatre [1910] and the public hospital [1917].
A fire in 1919 destroyed the 1895 building, but not the strongroom. After the fire, Council erected temporary offices next to the strong room and sought a loan to build substantial new brick chambers for the rapidly expanding shire. Frederick Smith prepared the plans and the tender of local builder AS Wight, for £2,824, was accepted. The foundation stone was laid by Governor Nathan on 25 July 1921 and the brick and concrete chambers measuring 16m x 10m, with a surrounding 3m wide verandah, was completed early in 1922. These dimensions and early photographs suggest the building was symmetrical about the central hallway, with the meeting room to one side and two offices to the other, and an arched portico at the entrance. Apart from its role as Council Chambers, the meeting room has been used by many local groups including the local branch of the Queensland Country Women's Association and the Chamber of Commerce, and the cane-cutters sign-on in 1935. The 1917 strongroom appears to now form part of the rear verandah.
The sugar industry sustained the local economy during the 1930s depression, and the district expanded. Although plans for extensions to the Council Chambers, including a second storey and rear extension, were rejected as being too costly at £4000, ground floor extensions, at half the original projected cost, were completed in 1939. This extension appears included the present second entrance corridor and the wing of 4 offices to the southeast, and the consequent extension of the verandah and roof. The construction of the rooflight, the second arched portico reflecting the first, and the new curved entrance portico may also have been constructed at this time. The southwest verandahs were enclosed in the early 1970s to allow for more office space while those on the northeast side were enclosed at an earlier date.
By the mid-20th century, the name of Ayr was no longer considered representative of the whole of the local authority district, and in 1946 the Home Hill Chamber of Commerce [Home Hill was established by 1913 to promote development south of the Burdekin River] suggested the name Ayr-Home Hill Shire. The name was never adopted, but in 1976 the Council applied to become the Burdekin Shire. Although the Place Names Board pointed out that the Council district covered only part of the Burdekin, representations from local politicians over several years resulted in the Shire being renamed Burdekin on 10 June 1982, Ayr's centenary year.
","criteria":"The Burdekin Shire Council Chambers, erected in 1922 during a period of expansion in the sugar industry, demonstrates the role of the Shire Council in the development of Burdekin Shire as one of Queensland's most important sugar-producing districts. It is the earliest surviving Council building on the Council reserve, which once included the Shire Clerk's residence, stables and fire station.
The Burdekin Shire Chambers is close to other historic places including Anzac Park, Masonic Lodge, the former Presbyterian Church and an imposing house at 115 MacMillan Street, thus making a substantial contribution to the historic streetscape of the town.
|Burdekin Shire Council Chambers is a substantial brick building occupying a prominent corner position, and makes an important aesthetic contribution to the Ayr townscape.
|The Burdekin Shire Council Chambers, an important example of the work of local architect Frederick Smith and local builder AS Wight, is valued by the community who expressed their concern in 1996 when the Council proposed alterations to the structure.
|(Criterion under review)
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | 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 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":16909,"place_ref":601716,"name":"Radar Station, Charlie's Hill","alternate_name":"RAAF 211","street_address":"Off Charlie's Hill Road","suburb":"INKERMAN","lga":"BURDEKIN SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2001-02-23","description":"The No 211 Radar Station is located south of Home Hill by way of the Bruce Highway, turn east into Charlie's Hill Road and travel 2 km, turn right onto an unsealed track, which leads up to the radar station on top of a small hill, known as Charlie's Hill. To the north-east are Rita Island and Peters Island. The physical remains of the radar station comprise two above ground semi-circular igloos, two spotter's posts, tower foundations and miscellaneous concrete foundations.
The two above ground semi-circular igloos were built on concrete slab foundations and are constructed of reinforced concrete. Each igloo has a tower located at one end, which is believed to have been utilised as an exhaust, with fans drawing in fresh air from the front of the igloo and sucking it out the tower opening. The two igloos are approximately 80 m apart.
The eastern (receiving) igloo is approximately 10 m long x 6 m wide. Along the base of the north-east side wall (rear) of the igloo is a small timber framed opening. There is an opening on the southern side, approximately 2 m wide, which would have been the door. The door is no longer extant. Anecdotal evidence indicates that the door was staggered ie. enter one side, walk around one partition, and then another, like an s-bend, to ensure that light was contained inside the igloo at all times. This would also have provided a constant flow of air into the igloo, which was then drawn through the igloo by an exhaust fan situated in the tower. There is a square steel box on top of the tower inscribed with the words 'A & W... & Co LTD ENGINNEERS GLASGOW'. It is not known what this was use for. The interior of the igloo is bare, except for a modern lounge chair and some rubbish.
The remains of four square concrete footings, approximately 1.5 m x 1.5 m, of the wooden tower, which carried the receiving aerial, are located approximately 10 m to the east of the igloo.
To the north east of the footings is the remains of a 'spotters post' - a chest height, concrete lined hole in the ground. This was operated by member of the Voluntary Air Observers' Corps (VAOC) whose role was to sight air and sea craft visually to confirm radar readings. The telescope is no longer extant.
North of the receiving igloo are two small concrete foundations, their purpose is unknown.
The western (transmitting) igloo is approximately 10 m long x 6 m wide. The interior of the igloo is bare. Exit holes for the aerial cables are evidenced in the concrete floor. There is a small opening in the floor on the north-west corner (rear) of the igloo approximately 2 m long x .5 m wide. It contains modern rubbish.
To the west of the igloo are four square concrete foundations, approximately 1.5 m x 1.5 m, which are the foundations of the wooden tower, which housed the transmitting aerials.
Located in the middle of the tower foundations is a chest-height, concrete lined hole, the remains of another 'spotter's post'. Due to heavy grass cover this was not located during the 2000 survey.
Other infrastructure associated with the site including a smaller igloo situated at the base of the hill, which is believed to have contained a diesel alternator to power the station, were not located during the 2000 survey.
","history":"The Charlie's Hill Radio Direction and Ranging (RADAR) Station, located south of the town of Home Hill, was constructed in 1943 as part of the World War II defences mounted in north Queensland. It was constructed by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).
With the imminent threat of war with Japan in the Pacific the Australian Government had been looking to the resources of north Queensland from the late 1930s. Following the declaration of war on Japan on 9 December 1941, Japan launched simultaneous attacks on Hawaii, Hong Kong and Malaya. Immediate action was taken to construct military installations in north Queensland. The bombing of Darwin (March 1942) and Townsville (July 1942) and the arrival of American troops in the north (from March 1942) accelerated plans to establish facilities in the area. However the shifting of the war to New Guinea in May 1942 intensified the military presence in the area as the important role the north would play in the defence against Japan was recognised.
Radar stations were established along the north Queensland coast during WWII to give the earliest possible warning of approaching enemy aircraft. The RAAF installed No 211 Radar Station on Charlie's Hill in late 1943. It was one of twenty radar installations established along the north Queensland coastline. Whilst many were established in remote locations, the station at Charlie's Hill was located near the town of Home Hill just south of the Burdekin River.
The installation, known as a 200 Series, fixed ground 'high flying' radar station was one of only two of this type located in north Queensland (the other being No 220 at Bones Knob, Tolga). The 211 Radar Station utilised British Advanced Chain Overseas (ACO) equipment, operated in the HF band at 42.05 megacycles per second, which is a wave length of about 7 metres, and had height finding capabilities. Two 186 foot wooden towers, which were assembled in kit form, stood approximately 100 metres apart, and supported the transmitting and receiving aerials. The equipment was housed in two above ground semi-circular bomb-proof igloos constructed of reinforced concrete. The eastern igloo housed the receiving equipment whilst the western igloo housed the transmitting equipment. It is believed that these igloos were designed to be built underground, with a short access tower at the end, although the tower would have also provided much needed ventilation. Other services provided at the site include a camp-site of huts, mess and toilet facilities and a power generator. These were constructed at the base of the hill on the north-western side.
The No 211 Radar Station was maintained and operated by a radar unit made up of members of the RAAF and Women's Australian Auxiliary Air Force (WAAAF). The radar units were usually small, numbering around 35 personnel. The station was operated for 24-hours a day with the shifts usually divided into three eight-hour shifts - day, evening and night. Each shift comprised three-four people - one recording the incoming messages, one working on the plotting table, one operator, and a fourth person to operate the telephone. During a shift the personnel would rotate every two hours, to help break up the monotony of the work. The RAAF staff, who lived on site, maintained and operated the station. The WAAAF staff, who worked as operators, plotters, and recorders, were on site during daylight hours only. The WAAAF personnel were accommodated in the hotel at Home Hill.
Following the surrender of Japan in August 1945 military installations in north Queensland were disbanded. The Charlie's Hill Radar Station ceased operating on 1 October 1945. The equipment was dismantled and removed. Before leaving the area, the officers and operators of the unit, in return for the hospitality of the Home Hill residents, hosted a tennis afternoon, dinner and dance in the town.
Since the end of World War II, the site of the No 211 Radar Station, Charlie's Hill has been maintained by the Burdekin Tourism Association Inc., Ayr as a local tourist attraction.
","criteria":"The No 211 Radar Station, Charlie's Hill a complex comprising two semi-circular igloos, spotter's posts and tower foundations, is important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history by representing the role it played in World War II fortifications in north Queensland.
|The No 211 Radar Station, Charlie's Hill is a good example of defence facilities constructed in north Queensland and has the potential to yield further information about this aspect of Queensland history. It is one of a series of radar stations, which were constructed along the Queensland coastline to give the earliest possible warning of approaching enemy aircraft.
|The station, in its design, layout and siting, demonstrates the principal characteristics of WWII military installations involved in the defence of the Queensland coastline.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion C | Criterion D","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"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16911,"place_ref":601718,"name":"Home Hill Powerhouse","alternate_name":"Inkerman Irrigation Area Power House","street_address":"First Avenue","suburb":"HOME HILL","lga":"BURDEKIN SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2004-08-02","description":"The Former Home Hill Powerhouse is a brick and corrugated iron structure situated on a large block in First Avenue, Home Hill. The surviving original powerhouse structure comprises two main elements: an administration area and the generator house.
The administration area is a two-storeyed asymmetrical building constructed of brick on concrete foundations and has wings on both sides of a central round arch doorway. The building has a small frontispiece, which is painted green. The arch doorway is surmounted by a pediment decorated with the date of construction of the building, 'A.D.1922' and the name of the present function of the building, 'Pivot Service Centre'. The doorway opens to an entrance hall and staircase, which leads to the first floor. The staircase is constructed of concrete with an iron handrail.
The western wing has narrow brickwork columns dividing the facade into three bays. It supports a verandah on the ground and first floors. The ground floor has been partitioned into three rooms: a laboratory, storeroom and galley kitchen. The interior walls are rendered and are painted white. The first floor has been partitioned into two rooms with a timber-framed wall. These rooms were not inspected internally, although they appeared to be bare of any fixtures and fittings and have a very simple interior.
The ground floor of the eastern wing contains the main administration office of 'Pivot Agriculture' and is comprised of one large room, which has been divided into offices and includes a reception area and front counter.
The first floor of the eastern wing is comprised of one large room, now vacant, but recently used as offices. The interior has been modified with the inclusion of a false ceiling and timber panelling for office partitioning. The original timber windows have been replaced with aluminium windows.
The former generator building is reached via a single doorway at the rear of the entrance hallway, with another doorway on the first floor also located at the rear of the entrance hallway. Access to the former generator building was limited to a narrow walkway that leads to the rear of the building. The former generator building is a three-storey structure with a concrete floor covering part of the first floor level. The building contains the remains of the power plant, including steel pipes, fans and fluming.
Two large rice storage bins have been constructed at the first floor level. These bins are located on a platform supported by concrete piers. The bins are positioned on the northern side of the three storey generator building.
A newly constructed corrugated iron warehouse abuts the rear of the building. To the west of the powerhouse is a long corrugated iron clad building, possibly associated with the former use of the place as a rice factory.
","history":"The Home Hill Powerhouse, a substantial brick and corrugated iron structure located in First Avenue, Home Hill, was completed in 1922 as part of the Inkerman Irrigation Area Scheme. At the time it was the largest powerhouse in North Queensland, supplying power for irrigation purposes to the farmers [mainly cane growers] on the Inkerman Estate until 1953.
\t
The Inkerman Repurchased Estate, formerly part of Inkerman Station, was opened for selection on 8 December 1911, principally as sugar-growing land. Easy terms encouraged many people with little or no farming experience to take up blocks, and within a year, many of the 500 families who had settled at Inkerman had exhausted their limited capital and were heavily in debt. One drought convinced them that irrigation was essential, but few could afford to irrigate with individual pumping plants.
\t
In January 1913 the Inkerman Farmers and Glaziers Association began lobbying the State Government for the provision of a State-subsidised irrigation scheme for their district, modeled on the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Scheme in New South Wales, which utilised a central powerhouse to supply power to irrigation pumps on surrounding farms. In February 1913 the Assistant Engineer of the Water Supply Department, HEA Eklund, visited Ayr to report on the proposal. Eklund determined that there was adequate water beneath most Inkerman farms, and supported the idea of a communal irrigation scheme, which would be the first of its kind in North Queensland. Eklund calculated that a central powerhouse could serve 135 farms of an average size of 50 hectares. Although his initial estimate at £74,000 was rejected as too costly, this was revised in 1915 to £131,000 as more people settled in the area. However, the costs now were spread across more farms, Eklund estimating the cost of power at less than a penny per unit, far cheaper than the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, which then was less than a sixth the size of that proposed for Home Hill.
\t
In May 1915 Queensland's first secure Labor government took office. Under the leadership of Premier TJ Ryan and sponsoring a policy of State capitalism, the new Queensland Labor Government set about acquiring State enterprises. In July 1916 the Inkerman irrigation scheme was approved. The Inkerman Water Supply Board was constituted in February 1917 to manage and repay the capital cost over 28 years, the anticipated life of the plant. Detailed survey work was undertaken and by the end of the year, 100 well sites had been tested, 70 selected, and a contract for the manufacture of reinforced concrete casing let to Hume Brothers of Melbourne, with production commencing in late 1918.
The cost of the scheme escalated in a bout of post-First World War inflation. Shortages and strikes following the war delayed the construction of the central powerhouse, the cost of which had risen by 150 percent. The cost of well sinking had nearly quadrupled, and the number of transmission lines had doubled. In 1921 a fresh estimate put the cost of the scheme at £392,361.
On 15 May 1922 Premier Theodore performed the official opening, although the main turbine was not yet completed. The powerhouse provided electricity to the town of Home Hill [surveyed in 1911 to service the Inkerman Repurchased Estate and developed from c1913], and to a few Inkerman farmers for irrigation purposes - the rest waiting to be connected. The central powerhouse could not drive all the pumps at once, and to prevent overload, power was provided in rotation, whilst at night there was hardly any load on the system.
Under the Irrigation Act of 1922 control passed to the Irrigation and Water Supply Commission, which found many discrepancies between the book values and actual worth of many of the assets. All the dead and abandoned wells were written off, and the value of the powerhouse building halved as it was considered that a less elaborate structure would have served as well. £171, 478 was wiped off the capital assets giving a net worth of £235,000. By mid 1923 nearly £400,000 had been spent yet only a thousand hectares were irrigated. Inevitably, the half-complete scheme lost money. Although wartime conditions had contributed, the Water Supply Department had to share the blame: there had been no proper supervision to control well-sinking costs, and operating costs were high with a large powerhouse running at night just to power lights in Home Hill.
1931 was so dry that the powerhouse worked 24 hours per day from March to June. Farmers were rostered to maintain an even demand day and night. The installation of meters at last ensured that water and power were not wasted. For the first time the operation made a profit of nearly £3,000 after paying interest, its first contribution to paying off the capital cost.
The Moore Government, which replaced the Labor administration in 1929, sold most of the State Enterprises, and accepted the Inkerman farmers proposal to take over the district's power supply and irrigation scheme. The first meeting of the Inkerman Irrigation Board was held on 23 June 1932. The Board made farmers responsible for maintaining their own pumps, motors, wells and spear systems from 1 July 1932 and fixed the water rate at £6.
Local management of the irrigation scheme increased confidence. The Board met the interest bill on the reduced capital as well as redemption on the loan, besides setting aside £6,000 annually as required under the Water Act for renewals and extensions. By June 1935 it was comfortably in surplus. The supply of power to Home Hill increased year by year, and despite a reduction in charges, remained profitable.
During the Second World War the rapid deployment of troops to North Queensland overtaxed the Townsville Power Station and new generating equipment was almost impossible to obtain. As its peak demand was at night, and Home Hill's by day, the Inkerman Irrigation Board agreed to supply electricity to Townsville. FA Rocketts and Son completed the Home Hill-Townsville link in July 1944. After technical problems were overcome, the first current was fed to Townsville on 5 August 1944. Home Hill's surplus power was insufficient, and an extra diesel plant was installed at Townsville, but the sale of power boosted the Irrigation Board's finances.
The State Electricity Commission established a regional electricity board at Townsville in December 1945. A mass meeting of Inkerman Irrigation Board farmers in June 1946 endorsed the Townsville Regional Board's takeover proposal. Under an amendment to the Electric Light and Power Acts passed later that year, the powerhouse was sold as from 1 January 1947 for £105,000, £28,449 less than the outstanding debt to Treasury. After a cash payment for coal and stores and sale of electric motors to farmers, the Irrigation Board paid half the difference and the rest was written off.
By 1948, most of the power was flowing from Townsville to Home Hill, over 3 million units per annum, 14 times the flow in the opposite direction. Home Hill Powerhouse continued to operate 16 hours per day until the commissioning of the new Townsville generating station on 11 May 1953. Eight days later the Home Hill Powerhouse, whose whistle had blown every day at 8am, 12 noon, 1 pm and 5 pm, regulating local working hours, for 31 years, was decommissioned.
In the mid-1960s rice growing emerged as an important new agricultural pursuit for the Burdekin. In 1969 the former Home Hill Powerhouse was officially opened by the Premier of Queensland, the Hon. Joh Bjelke-Petersen, as the Lower Burdekin Rice Producers Co-operative Association Ltd's rice mill.
Considerable infrastructure for the rice milling process was developed round the former Power House. During this time the shed located on the northern side of the power house was removed and replaced by a single story corrugated iron skillion shed. Some internal partitioning and office walls of concrete block were constructed on the ground floor of the Power House building. The machinery and machinery foundations were removed from the machine shed which is located against the eastern façade of the three storey generator building.
More recently the complex has housed agricultural chemicals for the sugar industry.
","criteria":"The former Home Hill Powerhouse is important in demonstrating the evolution of Queensland's history, in particular the pivotal role of irrigation in the development of the sugar industry in North Queensland. The former powerhouse provided electricity for pumping water for irrigation purposes, to early settlers on the Inkerman Repurchased Estate who otherwise would have been unable to grow sugarcane. The irrigation system demonstrates the pattern of state enterprises administered by Queensland's first functional Labor Government under the leadership of Premier TJ Ryan.
|The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of its type: a substantial central powerhouse with brick office building and attached corrugated iron and brick generating building.
|The Home Hill Powerhouse has a special association with the Home Hill community as the provider of power for their irrigation system initially and later their shops and homes. The community was involved in the initial construction of the irrigation system and later took over its operation and maintenance. The powerhouse regulated working hours in Home Hill for 31 years by habitually blowing its whistle every day at 8am, 12 noon, 1 pm and 5 pm.
","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":650273,"name":"Ayr Masonic Temple","alternate_name":"Lower Burdekin Masonic Temple / Ayr Masonic Centre","street_address":"118-120 Macmillan Street","suburb":"AYR","lga":"BURDEKIN SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2022-02-25","description":"Ayr Masonic Temple (1935) is a highly-intact, two-storey building located at the periphery of the central business district of Ayr. It occupies a rectangular corner site fronting northwest to Macmillan Street with Mackenzie Street on its southwest side. It is prominent within the immediate streetscape due to its height, corner location, and architectural style, and is also visible from the public parkland, Anzac Park, across Mackenzie Street. The building features many Masonic symbols integrated in the architectural details.
\nThe building is rectangular with brick walls, timber-framed hip roofs clad with corrugated metal sheets, and a well-composed front elevation in cement render – a Neo-Classical temple-front in the Greek Doric order. The side and rear elevations feature fine face brick with regularly-spaced openings and cement render dressings. The blank rear wall is face brick and has an attached one-storey face brick service block.
\nThe building stands back from its front boundary behind an original front fence and flat front garden of lawn with central concrete path to the front door. The ground floor accommodates a large Ballroom/Public Hall occupying the entire width and length of the main block. A connection at the rear of this room leads through to the Supper Room in the service block. A winding timber stair at the front of the Ballroom provides access to the first floor, which accommodates a landing area used as an Assembly Room with a changeroom, leading into a large private meeting hall (Lodge Room).
\nConcrete portal frames span the large ground floor Ballroom, and the first floor roof reportedly includes cast iron members (not sighted) to span the large first floor Lodge Room and support its domed ceiling. The service block has a concrete floor and timber-framed roof.
\nThe openings of the first floor are smaller and have obscured glass, indicating the secrecy of the lodge meeting room within. Some openings of the Supper Room into the later extensions may be original.
\nThe place retains original furniture, fixtures, and fittings including Masonic ceremonial furniture.
\nExtensions have been made to the service block since construction, which are not of state-level cultural heritage significance. These extensions are accessed via openings in the formerly external walls of the supper room, some of which appear original.
\nFeatures of Ayr Masonic Temple of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nBallroom:
\nAssembly Room:
\nLodge Room:
\nMasonic fittings and furniture collection temporarily stored in 2021 within Ladies Dressing Room and extensions to Supper Room:
\nFeatures of Ayr Masonic Temple not of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nAyr Masonic Temple (1935) is a grand, two-storey masonry building at the corner of Mackenzie Street and Macmillan Street in Ayr, one block southeast of the town’s main street, Queen Street. Replacing an earlier timber Masonic hall (1903) on the site, it was built as a temple for the Delta, Ayr, and Fuller Freemason lodges. As a large and elaborate masonry building, it demonstrates the growth and expansion of Freemasonry during the interwar period. In 2021 it remains an active Masonic temple for the Fuller Lodge.
\nAyr is located approximately 70km southeast of Townsville, near Plantation Creek in the Lower Burdekin River’s delta, in the traditional land of the Bindal people.[1] Pastoralism began in the Burdekin district in the 1860s; and the selection of land for agriculture, including maize growing and dairying, followed by the 1870s. Sugar cane was also being grown by 1880. Ayr, surveyed in 1882, grew as sugar farms, plantations and mills were established in the delta. The Ayr State School opened in 1886, and Ayr Divisional Board – previously part of the Thuringowa Divisional Board (1879) – was established in 1888. Based in Ayr, Ayr Divisional Board later became Ayr Shire Council in 1903, and Burdekin Shire Council in 1982. A private railway (Ayr Tramway), connecting Ayr to Stuart near Townsville, opened in 1901. At this time Ayr only had a population of 338 people. Although Cyclone Leonta damaged or destroyed most of the town’s buildings in March 1903, Ayr was rebuilt, and a butter factory opened in 1904. The nearby sugar-growing towns of Brandon and Home Hill were surveyed in 1882 and 1911 respectively. [2]
\nThe Burdekin district, along with the Herbert district north of Townsville, became one of the four main sugar-growing regions in Queensland – the Herbert-Burdekin region (including Ingham, Home Hill and Ayr). This region produced about 20% of Queensland’s sugar crop in both 1890 and 1940, and 40% in 2008. Although the Burdekin district had less rainfall than the Herbert district and the other sugar growing regions, water for irrigation was sourced from sub-artesian bores.[3]
\nWhen the Queensland sugar industry expanded during the 1920s and 1930s – even as the Great Depression was affecting most of Australia – the Burdekin district prospered as a result. By 1933, Ayr had a population of 4792 people, rising to 7000 by 1938. As the town grew, many notable public buildings were constructed during the interwar period, such as Ayr Shire Council Chambers (1922, QHR 601922); Ayr Court House (1936, QHR 601126); Ayr Post Office (1936); and Ayr State High School (1937, QHR 601574).[4]
\nAyr Masonic Temple is a result of the growth and spread of Freemasonry in Queensland. Freemasonry has been described as ‘a fraternal association of men, based on the principles of brotherly love, relief and truth. Membership in Australia is open to all men who profess a belief in a Supreme Being and are of good character’.[5] ‘Craft’, or ‘Blue Lodges’ confer the three Masonic degrees of Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft, and Master Mason. Additional degrees can be obtained if a Master Mason joins a chapter of the ‘Royal Arch’ Masonic organisation.[6]
\nMasonic halls or temples (the terms are interchangeable)[7] have similar architectural style influences and layouts to accommodate Masonic rituals. The front facade of Masonic temples often had Classical Greek or Roman architectural influences, as the five orders of architecture (three Greek: Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and two Roman: Tuscan and Composite) are significant within Freemasonry. The main ceremonies are held in a rectangular room called a lodge room, designed to evoke the Temple of Solomon under construction (an allegory for the process of personal development and enlightenment of a Mason). The lodge room usually has high windows to maintain privacy, especially if it is on the ground floor of a building. Seating is arranged around the perimeter of the room, so all members can observe the ceremonies conducted in the open central space, which has a central mosaic ‘pavement’ (usually a checkerboard pattern). An elevated seat is located at the eastern side of the room for the Worshipful (or Right Worshipful) Master, the senior position in the lodge. Elevated, individual seats are also provided at the western and southern sides for the Senior Warden and the Junior Warden. The room usually contains an altar. The architecture, furniture, and decoration of lodges are rich in Masonic allegory and symbols. Among the most prominent symbols are the Square and Compasses, and the letter 'G'. Masonic temples often also contain social rooms, dining rooms, and other spaces.[8]
\nThe first ‘stationary’ Freemasons’ lodge in Australia (as opposed to a travelling lodge associated with a British naval vessel or regiment) was formed in Sydney in 1820: the Australian Social Lodge number 260 (Irish Constitution, or IC). Lodges were formed after being granted a charter under the constitutions of either the Irish, Scottish, or English Grand Lodges; with the first English Constitution (EC) lodge formed in Sydney in 1829, and the first Scottish Constitution (SC) lodge formed in 1844 in Melbourne. To allow a measure of administrative autonomy for the Australian lodges – given their distance from their parent Grand Lodges in the British Isles – the Irish, English and Scottish lodges soon formed their own Provincial Grand Lodges, with Provincial Grand Masters: the Provincial Grand Lodge of New South Wales (EC), in 1849; the Provincial Grand Lodge (SC) of the Province of Australia, in 1856; and the Provincial Grand Lodge (IC), in 1857. The three Constitutions in New South Wales later combined to form the United Grand Lodge of NSW, achieving full autonomy from their British Grand Lodges, in 1888.[9]
\nThe first lodge in Queensland, the North Australian Lodge (EC), met on 13 July 1859, at the newly opened Freemasons’ Hotel in Albert Street, Brisbane, after petitioning the Provincial Grand Lodge of NSW (EC) for permission. Three more English constitution lodges soon followed: the Queensland Lodge, Ipswich (Queensland’s first Masonic hall was later built in Ipswich), and the Prince of Wales Lodge, Brisbane, both in 1861; then the Leichardt Lodge in Rockhampton in 1862. The first Queensland lodge of the Irish Constitution (St Patrick, Brisbane) was formed in 1863, and the first lodge under the Scottish Constitution (St Andrew’s, Brisbane) in 1864. A Provincial (later District) Grand Lodge (EC) was formed in Queensland in 1862, and the other two Constitutions in Queensland both formed provincial grand lodges in 1866.[10]
\nMasonic lodges soon spread geographically throughout Queensland, following the extension of the railways and the formation of new towns, with each of the three Constitutions chartering new lodges, and sometimes sharing a common Masonic hall. In 1904, 25 Irish lodges and 14 Scottish lodges formed the Grand Lodge of Queensland (GLQ) to gain autonomy from their parent grand lodges in Britain. The lodges of the GLQ were then renumbered, and those lodges and any new lodges formed under the GLQ from 1904 to 1921 were consequently designated ‘Queensland Constitution’ (QC). Another 50 Scottish lodges, and 62 English lodges, however, refused to acknowledge the new organization, and continued under their respective District Grand Lodges until 1920, when they amalgamated under the Queensland Grand Lodge (QGL), in a transitional arrangement to facilitate a union with the GLQ the following year.[11]
\nIn April 1921, the United Grand Lodge of Queensland (UGLQ) was formed, with 14,000 members in 281 lodges. All the UGLQ lodges were then renumbered, in order of the date of their consecration. Given the large size of Queensland, two District Grand Lodges were soon created: the District Grand Lodge of North Queensland (1922) at Townsville; and the District Grand Lodge of Carpentaria (1924) at Cairns. A headquarters for the UGLQ, consisting of a Masonic Temple of four storeys plus basement, was dedicated in December 1930 on Ann Street, Brisbane, at a cost of £103,000, not including furniture and the land. (QHR 600074).[12]
\nThe membership of the UGLQ increased in the 1920s and 1930s, and dropped during World War II, before rapidly expanding. Membership was 22,196 in 1930; dropped to 17,190 in 1941, but recovered to 21,250 in 1946, and grew to 35,955 (in 469 lodges) in 1969. However, numbers later fell, to 24,103 members in 1990, and 10,375 (in 300 lodges) in 2009.[13]
\nThe first Masonic lodge in Ayr was formed in December 1896, when Delta 846 (SC) was consecrated and the officers of the lodge were installed: including Alexander Fraser as Right Worshipful Master, and Maxwell Henry Irving as Treasurer. A banquet was held at the Queens Hotel, Ayr afterwards. Initially, the Federal Hall or the Divisional Board Hall was used for lodge meetings. When the site of the current Masonic temple, half an acre (2023m2) at the corner of Mackenzie Street and Macmillan Street, was obtained by the Freemasons for £30 in April 1902, Fraser and Irving were listed as trustees.[14] The Delta Lodge’s members then erected a highset timber Masonic hall on the site, which was used for meetings from March 1903. When Cyclone Leonta levelled the towns of Brandon and Ayr that same month, the Masonic hall was one of the few buildings to survive in Ayr. Heavily damaged, it was repaired and consecrated in July 1903.[15]
\nBy 1911, Ayr’s population was 1236, and a second local Masonic lodge was formed in October that year: Ayr Masonic Lodge, 3588 (EC).[16] This was soon followed by a GLQ lodge consecrated on 5 July 1913: Fuller 61 (QC), named after a prominent Townsville Mason. All three lodges were later renumbered, upon formation of the UGLQ, as Delta 112, Ayr 211, and Fuller 228.[17] The Burdekin Royal Arch Chapter 378 (SC) was also meeting in Ayr’s timber Masonic hall by 1916, and later used the current Masonic temple.[18]
\nDespite its understory being available (and presumably enclosed) for use for public meetings by the 1920s, the timber Masonic hall soon proved to be too small, a fact noted after a dance there in 1931.[19] The three Ayr lodges, which had decided on a new hall in 1928, proceeded to raise funds for a new masonry building on the same site, through increased membership fees and assistance from the Ladies Masonic Committee, and it was reported in May 1934 that ‘in view of the rapid growth of the district and the great activity in building operations, considerable importance attaches to the decision … to proceed shortly with the erection of a new Masonic Temple’.[20]
\nThe new temple in Ayr was purpose built as the principal meeting place of the three Ayr lodges. The plans were commissioned by the Ayr Masonic Building Committee (also referred to as the Lower Burdekin Masonic Building Committee), chaired by Worshipful Brother Arthur Coburn, a former Worshipful Master of Fuller Lodge, and were approved in October 1934. It was claimed that ‘the new building … will be a distinct asset and a splendid addition to the number of modern structures which are going up in different parts of the town’.[21]
\nThe plans and construction of the Masonic temple were undertaken by Townsville builder, Harry Percival Lewer, who also built a number of concrete shops, and the Commonwealth Savings Bank, in Queen Street in Ayr during the 1930s.[22]
\nThe foundation stone for the new temple was laid on 9 December 1934, by the Right Worshipful District Grand Master of North Queensland, Arthur D Charge, with music for the ceremony provided by Ayr Competitive Choir, Ayr Male Choir; and Ayr Citizens’ band. A casket containing ‘the usual records’ was deposited ‘in the cavity under the stone’. The building was expected to cost approximately £4,000. At the ceremony, the District Grand Master noted that Masonic character was based upon four great cornerstones – belief in a Supreme Being; a desire for nobility of character; loyalty to the throne and Empire; and the principle of service.[23]
\nThe new building was two-storey, with an imposing Classically-inspired front finished in cement render and featuring giant Doric order pilasters. The ground floor accommodated a ballroom (also used as a public hall) 75ft x 34 ft (22.9m x 10.4m), with an adjoining supper room, 31ft x 27ft (9.5m x 8.2m) in an attached, rear, single-storey service block. The upper floor accommodated an assembly room 12ft x 34ft (3.7m x 10.4m) and an adjoining lodge room 60ft x 34ft (18.3m x 10.4m).[24]
\nAyr’s Masonic temple, ‘claimed to be one of the most stately and beautiful buildings of its kind in Queensland’, was officially opened and consecrated on 22 June 1935, with more than 300 brethren of the Masonic Order present, by the Pro. (acting) Grand Master of the UGLQ, the Most Worshipful Brother William Herbert Green.[25] The Townsville Masonic Choir provided music for the ceremony, which was also attended by Masons from Charters Towers, Home Hill, Giru, Townsville, Bowen, and Proserpine. It was reported that ‘the edifice is a valuable addition to the architectural progress of the town, and a sign of the enterprising spirit of the local members of the craft’, and that ‘both for size and architecture, the new Temple is the most outstanding building in Ayr, and taking into consideration the size of the town, it was acknowledged by the Grand Lodge Officers present … to surpass easily all other Masonic buildings within the jurisdiction of Queensland’.[26]
\nThe previous night, a Grand Jubilee Commemoration Ball had been held at the new building, with more than 500 guests, the supper being provided by the Ladies Committee in a large marquee at the side of the old Masonic hall, which had also been requisitioned for the purpose.[27] The old hall, which was sited next to the new building on its northeast side, was demolished in 1936 and some of its Masonic furniture moved into the new hall, including an altar, tracing boards, and Worshipful Master’s and Wardens’ pedestals, which are retained in the building in 2021. By 1936, there was a masonry and chain-wire fence in front of the temple (extant 2021).[28]
\nThe new Masonic temple in Ayr was one of the more impressive temples built in Queensland in the interwar period, especially given the relatively small population of Ayr. Most Masonic buildings of this period were modest, single-storey buildings constructed of timber, rather than masonry, and only a minority had classical detailing to their main façade. Of the 162 Masonic halls/temples still occupied by lodges in Queensland in 2005, 44 had been constructed from 1874-1917; 51 from 1919-40; and 67 were built from 1942-2004. Of the 51 interwar temples, 12 were masonry (built of brick, concrete or stone); and 10 of these had classical style facades or columns (as opposed to only two of the interwar timber temples). Other than Ayr, examples of interwar, masonry, classical style Masonic temples, of two stories or more (in use in 2005) included: Wynnum, Mackay [QHR 602731], Bundaberg (former drapery store), Longreach, Brisbane [QHR 600074], Townsville, Cairns [QHR 601539], and Innisfail.[29]
\nSince its construction, the new temple’s ballroom/public hall has been used for a variety of purposes. As well as annual Masonic Balls, these included weekly dances, dance classes, public and group meetings, functions, parties, wedding receptions, sport and craft groups, church services, and funerals. The grounds have also been used for community markets. Visiting dignitaries also attended Masonic or non-Masonic events at the Masonic temple, including Queensland Governor Sir Leslie Wilson, in 1936, and Labor Premier Vincent Clair Gair, in 1952. In 2021, the ground floor is used for parties, Taekwondo lessons, and by Scottish dancers.[30] The ground floor of the temple has also, in the past, been used by the now-defunct Ayr Order of the Eastern Star (a Masonic order open to both men and women), and in 2021 it is still used for meetings of the Home Hill Order of the Eastern Star, due to the closure of the Home Hill Masonic temple.[31]
\nFew alterations have been made to the building since 1935. Additions were made to the rear service block to add toilets by 1958, most likely after the town’s water supply and system was installed (post 1950), and storerooms in the late 1960s. Some of the windows of the lodge room were replaced with aluminium sliding windows in the 1990s, for improved ventilation.[32]
\nIn 2021, Ayr Masonic Temple is still used by Fuller 228. Ayr 211 (Ayr-Seaforth 211 from 1985) became defunct in 1997, and Delta 112 became defunct in mid-2021.[33] The building remains highly intact and retains a considerable amount of early Masonic furniture and fittings.
","criteria":"Ayr Masonic Temple (1935) is important in demonstrating the development of Freemasonry in Queensland. An imposing two-storey brick building, its design and construction illustrates the growth and expansion of Freemasonry during the interwar period, reflected in the erection of more elaborate permanent Masonic temple buildings, following the formation of the United Grand Lodge of Queensland in 1921.
|In its form, fabric, layout, and furnishings, Ayr Masonic Temple is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a purpose-built Masonic temple in Queensland. Highly intact, these principal characteristics include its: high quality design and construction; impressive front elevation; Classical architectural details; privacy control measures and floor plan arrangement separating members and non-members; provision of lodge room with central open space with checkerboard ‘pavement’, perimeter gallery of members’ seats, elevated dais seats and lecterns for the Master and principal officers, and prominent use of the colour blue; and architectural and decorative features of Masonic allegorical and symbolic meanings.
|Ayr Masonic Temple is important for its aesthetic significance as a highly intact masonry building in an impressive Interwar Classical style. It possesses beautiful attributes derived from its: well-composed and prominent temple-front; high-quality design and construction; symmetry, form, scale, materials, and decoration; and the integration of Masonic allegories and symbols into the design.
","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"} ]}