The Flecker Botanic Gardens is bounded by Collins Avenue and McCormack, Goodwin and MacDonnell streets. Some plantings in this area need to be considered with respect to their possible age. The corner of Collins Avenue and McCormack Street along the western boundary has a group planting including two very large hoop pines Araucaria cunninghamii, a Cook pine Araucaria columnaris, a sausage tree Kigelia pinnata, and a large fig tree Ficus spp. The association of these species in botanical gardens was not uncommon in the late 19th century, as at Queens Park, Maryborough.
Further north of this group of plants, towards Goodwin Street, the association of a particularly large rain tree with a blue quandong, a damson plum, a clump of bamboo of the same species as that in the Fitzalan Gardens and mature mangoes, is seen.
Rainforest understorey plants line the creek bank and pathways in this area and again the association of a blue quandong, paperbarks and a Leichhardt tree is seen. The 1960s figure-of-eight walkway has persisted and Fitzalan Creek is crossed by two footbridges. The southern portion of the gully area has the oldest paving. A variety of paving materials are used, including bricks, concrete slabs and concrete "crazy paving." Retaining walls reflect this pattern: log retaining walls and concrete stone pitching in southern parts give way to block walls in northern areas.
The materials used in this work are simple in contrast to the workmanship evident in its execution, which is of an outstanding quality. Railings made of galvanised pipe are placed as needed. Over time a number of these have been replaced with timber railings. Where necessary banks are retained with a variety of materials, predominantly small concrete slabs approximately 75mm high x 300mm long x 250mm deep, laid into the banks. Garden beds and path edges are built up and retained with flat and smooth rivers stones, generally the size (but not the shape) of lawn bowls balls, bedded horizontally.
Walking areas such as footbridges and steps are rendered "non-slip" with the application of exposed aggregate concrete utilising large river-washed pebbles approximately 20 to 50 mm in diameter.
Understorey plantings in the Fitzalan Creek gully area have no doubt changed over time. Today aroids, gingers and Asian species dominate the head of the gully and a variety of tropical ground cover species enjoy the canopy provided in the lower area of the gully by remnant vegetation including impressive specimens of the paperbark Melaleuca leucadendron, damson plum and Leichhardt trees.
There are three open lawn areas within the Flecker Botanic Gardens: an area immediately adjacent to the main entry off Collins Avenue; a large open space used for open-air performances and large gatherings in the northeast area of the site adjacent to McDonnell Street; and a tree and shrub lined linear space along Goodwin Street. The main entry lawn has a large teak tree Tectona Grandis, planted in 1946, as the centre lawn specimen and the remnants of a large yellow poinciana Peltophorum pterocarpum to the northeast of this. The latter tree shows the scars of significant storm damage over time and today provides the support for a collection of epiphytic plants.
Along the MacDonnell Street boundary and immediately adjacent to the open-air performance area, are a number of very large and mature trees including a Bayur tree Pterospermum acerifolium, a multi-trunked mock orange Murraya exotica, a Cassia javanica, and a multi-trunked Tar tree. These specimens are particularly mature and are species that could well have been used in earlier planting schemes.
Buildings have a minimal visual presence on this site. The 1968 Munro-Martin Fernery is constructed of galvanised pipe framing approximately 50mm in diameter with a central barrel vault and side aisle areas sheeted with galvanised steel mesh and enclosed externally with shade cloth. Timber lattice panels flank the front entrance. The fernery is in clear view across the lawn from the main entrance gate to the Flecker Botanic Gardens. Adjoining the Munro-Martin Fernery to the west is the George Watkins Orchid House (1986) constructed from similar materials but on a smaller scale. Neither of the structures housing the fernery or the orchid collection is considered to be of cultural heritage significance. The commemorative entrance gates (1982) are constructed with decorative stonework.
Other built elements in this area of the gardens lie buried under the exuberant foliage and are "discovered" when wandering the various pathways. These include the red brick curator's office and information centre (1950s), a restaurant (1987) and two toilet blocks. The placement and scale of these buildings on the site is significant, rendering them unobtrusive in the landscape. However, the structures themselves are not considered to be of high cultural heritage significance. Fencing around this area of the gardens is not significant.
","history":"The Flecker Botanic Gardens, a public reserve south of Mt Islay in the Mt Whitfield Range, was established in the mid-1880s as part of a recreation reserve, just a decade after the town of Cairns was first surveyed in 1876 as a port to service the Hodgkinson goldfield. Although never officially gazetted for botanic garden purposes, Botanic gardens were developed in the recreation reserve at its inception. The work of botanist Eugene Fitzalan in the 1880s and 1890s, Cairns City Council nurserymen and curators from the 1920s and naturalist Dr Hugo Flecker from the 1930s to the 1950s, has contributed to the development of the gardens as a significant Botanic and recreation space in Cairns. Of cultural heritage significance the garden area is bounded by Collins Avenue and McCormack, Goodwin and McDonnell Streets.
In 1884 the Cairns Progress Association had advocated for a Botanic garden to be established in the vicinity of Cairns. During the 19th and early 20th centuries botanic gardens were considered important for recreation, the preservation of indigenous vegetation, the display of native flora and fauna, and the acclimatisation of economically useful plants. In November 1886 an area of about 71 acres (29 hectares) west and south of Mt Islay, comprising suburban sections 71, 74, 75 and 76 (surveyed in 1885), was gazetted as a temporary reserve for recreation under the control of Cairns Municipal Council (established in 1885). This land comprised the southern and western foothills of Mt Islay and a lowland swamp.
Previous non-indigenous use of the land had been restricted to timber cutting, the forming of tracks through the rainforest scrub to assist with timber extraction, and Chinese market garden cultivation in the northeast corner of the reserve. The site was located approximately three miles (5 kilometres) from the centre of Cairns adjacent to the recently surveyed Cairns to Kuranda railway right of way, which would make it publicly accessible. In April 1887 suburban section 68 was added, to create a reserve of over 97 acres (about 40 hectares). A further 11 acres (4.45 hectares) was added in May 1892, when swampy land lying between the recreation reserve and the railway line was incorporated into the reserve, including an area at the foot of Mt Islay, west of Saltwater Creek, previously cultivated by Chinese market gardeners under special lease.
In December 1886 the Cairns Municipal Council came to an agreement with Eugene Fitzalan, a trained botanist, to establish an ornamental garden on the recreation reserve, sufficiently attractive to entice the public. In return Fitzalan was permitted to sell refreshments (which would enhance the public appeal of the gardens) and to operate a private commercial nursery from the reserve. He was appointed caretaker of the reserve with a nominal annual salary of £5.
Eugene Fitzherbert Albini Fitzalan (1830 - 1911) was born in Londonderry, Ireland and was a botanical collector in England and Mexico before arriving in Australia in 1849. He was a keen orchid collector, and on at least one occasion collected with Baron von Mueller, who regarded Fitzalan's specimens very highly. Fitzalan had at least two orchids named after him by von Mueller. He made many botanical expeditions in Victoria and along the Queensland coast on the Spitfire in 1860, at Mount Elliot with botanist John Dallachy in 1863 and in the Daintree area in 1875, before arriving in Cairns in 1886. He developed nurseries in Geelong, Brisbane and Bowen and collected specimens for the Herbarium of Victoria. A number of Fitzalan's specimens were sent to Kew Gardens, London, where they were examined by taxonomist George Bentham for inclusion in the botanical volumes of Flora australiensis. At least nine plant specimens were named after him: Atractocarpus fitzalanii; Eria fitzalanii; Euulophia fitzalanii; Lepistermon fitzalanii; Macropteranthes fitzalanii; Musa fitzalanii; Psychotria fitzalanii; and Randia fitzalanii. The latter is a native gardenia that today is used extensively for commercial purposes.
Fitzalan developed about 5 acres (2 hectares) in the northeast of the reserve as an ornamental botanic garden (known variously as Rosebank or Fitzalan's Botanical Gardens), largely on the site of earlier Chinese market gardens. An 1891 survey plan indicates that Fitzalan's early gardens were located on section 75, just south of Collins Avenue, below what is now the Tanks Arts Centre. This was a short distance from the railway line near the cutting at the Three Mile, where the Edge Hill Railway Station was constructed in 1888-1889. Access to the gardens was made easier in 1887 when a crossing was made over Saltwater Creek.
Between 1887 and 1891 Fitzalan landscaped the ground, planted colourful garden beds and constructed a perimeter fence to keep out goats. He built a small cottage in the garden and established the Edge Hill Nursery, constructing a long shed roofed with coarse canvas in which he raised seedlings and cuttings and in 1887 cut a main garden path, about 9 feet wide, through the reserve at his own expense, planting specimen and fruit trees along its length. In 1891 this pathway was surveyed as Edge Hill Road (Collins Avenue from 1934). He also formed other paths opening off this track, including a circular walking track through the rainforest.
Among the plants cultivated by Fitzalan were 50 varieties of roses, 11 varieties of hibiscus, orchids, ferns, rain trees, native myrtle and local plants from the adjacent Mt Whitfield Range. He also grew coffee, and grafted orange, lemons and mangoes, which he made available to residents of the area. He exported large numbers of orchids, palms and palm seeds, ferns and other plants to Europe, and received specimens from other parts of Australia to trial in a tropical environment. Fitzalan relinquished his caretaker role in 1897 due to poor health. In 1906 the Cairns Council Nursery was established. The function of this nursery was the propagation of plants and shrubs to supply municipal needs.
Fitzalan's garden and nursery continued on this site under the curatorship of James Morgan (1897 - 1900) and Charles Gurd (1901 - 1906) until it was moved to its current site in 1906. Charles Gurd continued as curator until 1923 when Les Wright was appointed nurseryman.
In December 1921 the reserve was declared a permanent recreation reserve of 109.5 acres (just over 44 hectares) under the trusteeship of Cairns Town Council. In 1923 Les Wright was appointed as Council's nurseryman a position he held until 1947. Wright was permitted to construct a house (no longer standing) on the reserve, adjacent to the nursery.
From the early 1930s there were community calls for the establishment of a formal botanical garden within the recreation reserve. Momentum came largely from Dr Hugo Flecker (1884 - 1957) and the North Queensland Naturalist Club, which he founded in 1932. Melbourne-born Flecker was a radiologist with a strong interest in natural history, especially toxic plants and animals. He undertook valuable work on the Queensland Finger Cherry and the Tar Tree and identified the deadly box jelly, Chironex fleckeri. From 1935 he contributed a weekly column to the Cairns Post on behalf of the Naturalist Club, in which he publicly advocated the establishment of a Botanic garden at the recreation reserve.
In 1933, with encouragement from the Queensland Government Botanist, Cyril White, Flecker established the North Queensland Naturalists' Club Herbarium in the grounds of the council's nursery in the recreation reserve. The club's collection grew from around 1,600 specimens in 1937 to about 5,000 in 1950 and an estimated final collection size of around 10,680 specimens. The collection proved popular with visitors, enhancing their experiences of the gardens. Until 1949 specimens were housed at the gardens in a storeroom supplied and erected by the Cairns City Council, then the collection was moved to the former Kuranda Barracks on the Cairns Esplanade. It returned briefly to the Cairns Botanic Gardens from 1967 to 1971, but is now fully incorporated in the general collection at the CSIRO Division of Forest Research at Atherton.
In 1934-35 a significant advance was made with around 25 acres (10 hectares) of the reserve on the lower slopes of Mt Islay cleared of heavy undergrowth and planted with young trees. The mayor of Cairns advised that the reserve would be planted with "permanent trees which are noteworthy for their ornamentation and their regularity of design, planted at pre-determined distances, so that they will provide permanent avenues of great beauty." Trees and shrubs of a less "permanent" nature were to be removed and relocated to other parts of the reserve allowing for the development of avenues lined with pine, acacia, palms, Poinciana and others. This project continued until 1940 when part of the recreation reserve (suburban section 74, north of the council nursery) was converted to a Quarry Reserve for war purposes and part of the 1930s gardens work was destroyed by quarrying. It appears that oil palms, poincianas, hoop pines, two rubber trees, a Dillenia, a Schizolobium, an Indian mango, a Wongi plum, a Terminalia and a Malay Apple were planted during this period by Les Wright.
As part of the re-development and in common with formal Botanic gardens, in 1936 the Cairns City Council established a zoological garden in the reserve, to display native birds and animals. This enhanced the appeal of the gardens to visitors, locals and tourists alike, and was popular with American and Australian soldiers during World War Two. Les Wright was appointed curator. Succeeding curators continued to build up the collection but the zoo was closed in 1953 for economic reasons.
Following Wright's death in 1947, Tom Mitchell was appointed to the curator's position. He held this position until his death in 1953. A red brick house was built for Mitchell in the early 1950s. This house today houses the Garden's information centre and administration offices. Mitchell died in 1953 and the position was taken up by Jim Gould until 1966.
In 1966 Cairns City Council appointed Vince Winkel as Curator of Parks, Gardens and Reserves, a position he held until 1984, and in March 1967 adopted a five-year plan to develop 8 acres (3.24 hectares) in the northwest of the Edge Hill reserve as a small botanical gardens. Collins Avenue and McCormack, Goodwin and McDonnell streets bordered the site. Winkel designed the new garden, laying out a figure-of-eight walkway. The site was cut diagonally by a small creek over which a bridge was erected, and the banks of the creek were planted with various trees including Cassia, Bauhinias, Parka, Caesalpina, Tabebuia and Semecarpus australiensis, known as the Tar tree.
Galvanised pipe railings were placed as needed and where necessary banks were retained with a variety of materials, predominantly small concrete slabs. Garden beds and path edges were built up and retained with flat and smooth river stones. A variety of materials were used for paving in this area: bricks, broken concrete slabs set into the path, and concrete "crazy paving." Walking areas such as footbridges and steps were rendered "non-slip" with the application of exposed aggregate concrete.
The focal point in the centre of the figure of eight was a fernery, constructed in 1968 to house the fern collection of the early and influential Munro-Martin family. It featured a miniature waterfall and pond with water lilies and fish. Near the fernery was the Curator's office which housed the Flecker Herbarium, a grass hut used as a shelter shed, and a picnic area with swings and a large dug out canoe for children to play in.
In 1971 the Cairns City Council named its new garden the Flecker Botanic Gardens to commemorate Dr Flecker's contribution to botany. (The name has since been applied to the whole of the recreation reserve). At this time there was a collection of over 100 different species of native orchids growing on a line of palms, and over 100 species of palms including oil palms and royal palms in the area facing Collins Avenue. North of this area and facing McCormack Street was a densely wooded area containing earlier plantings. After 1966 this area was cleared of lantana and undergrowth and pathways established. Among the plantings at this time were coffee, tea, cocoa, tumeric, ginger, curry leaf and other medicinal plants including Taraktogenos from Burma. The largest tree in this area at this time was the Samanea saman or Rain Tree from South America, and well advanced were two Hevea brasiliensis, a source of rubber, ready for tapping. A "fine specimen" of breadfruit was growing in front of the curator's office in 1973.
In 1974 the Flecker Botanic Gardens was listed in the International Directory of Botanical Gardens, following an invitation received from the Association of Botanical Gardens (now The Botanic Gardens Conservation International) in Edinburgh. At this period the gardens held an amazing variety and quantity of ferns, some of which were exceptionally rare. Flecker Botanic Gardens remains a member of this Association.
During the 1970s the Flecker Botanic Gardens contributed to plant exchanges with overseas agencies, the acclimatisation of plants, and cataloguing plants for ready reference. Visitor experience and enjoyment was enhanced with the addition of aviaries in 1974 to house pheasants, peacocks and bush turkeys, and the children's playground was extended with the installation of a tree house.
In 1982 new entrance gates were erected at the 1971 Flecker Botanic Gardens to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the North Queensland Naturalists' Club.
Cyclones have had a significant and devastating effect on the flora of the botanical gardens. In February 1986 cyclone Winifred caused extensive damage and many trees, some nearly 100 years old, were severely damaged. A number of plants were lost at this time to theft.
Following the cyclone a three-year plan was implemented by Cairns City Council to upgrade the gardens. This included the redevelopment of the Munro-Martin Fernery and the orchid propagation house; tree labelling including Braille tree labels; continuation of botanic records; construction of paving; and an Aboriginal wild food walk. A restaurant was constructed near the curator's office, opening in January 1987. At this time tourist operators considered the Flecker Botanic Gardens the third most popular tourist attraction in the region, with a visitor rate of 100,000 per annum.
Public awareness of the gardens increased with the formation of the Friends of the Botanical Gardens in 1989. During the 1990s the educative function of the botanic garden was emphasised. Interpretative services and guided walks were introduced and an annual Botanical Garden Festival introduced.
Flecker Botanic Gardens continues its important Botanic role, extending its collection of endangered species from the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area and providing assistance to both national and international scientific work. The garden maintains national and international memberships such as the Royal Australian Institute of Parks and Recreation, and Botanic Gardens Conservation International, and is noted nationally and internationally for its collections of palms, gingers and aroids.
","criteria":"The place demonstrates the development and continued management of a botanic garden in a regional city as a theme in the evolution and pattern of Queensland's history. The Flecker Botanic Gardens (earlier Cairns Botanical Gardens) was established in 1886 as part of a recreation reserve. From the 1930s the Flecker Botanic Gardens has fulfilled the traditional functions of a botanical gardens, including increasing horticultural knowledge about local plants with a view to developing their economic potential, sharing of this knowledge and seed stock with like-minded institutions nationally and internationally, providing an attractive and educative venue for public recreation, and in some instances providing plant material to the public.
|The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a substantial wet tropics public botanical gardens that has evolved over time, including early groupings of exotic and indigenous plantings (early to mid 20th century) and the botanical display garden, designed and developed by curator Vince Winkel in the 1960s. Important characteristics also include: infrastructure associated with displaying the gardens, especially that dating from the 1960s-1980s (including the figure-of-eight walkway, other pathways, retaining walls, footbridges, paving, railings, drainage systems, and raised and built up garden beds); the provision of specialist displays; specimen plantings of trees and shrubs; and the incorporation of open lawn areas within the design. The current Gardens, developed during the 1960s demonstrate plantings, displays, plant collections, bridges and visitor facilities similar in concept to other regional botanic gardens.
|The visual display of the plant material in the Flecker Botanic Gardens captures the exuberant ambience associated with imagery of the "lush tropics". Large trees, both native to this habitat and exotic, provide the planting structure and canopy framework for the understorey collection and display of colourful orchids, gingers, aroids and ferns. The natural topography of gentle foothill and slopes, creek, gully and swampland has been sensitively incorporated into the design of the display. The aesthetic of the site has quietly evolved with, and emerged from, its natural environment rather than being designed to dominate and overpower its space in the landscape. This contributes to the enduring charm of the place as a recreational venue.
|The place has a special association with the work of naturalist Dr Hugo Flecker in the mid-20th century. The North Queensland Naturalist Club was established in1932 by Dr Flecker. He housed its extensive herbarium collection in the gardens from 1933 until 1949. This collection returned to the Flecker Botanic Gardens briefly from 1967 to 1971. It is now incorporated into the CSIRO collection.
Since the 1930s, the place has had a special association with the work of the Cairns City Council in developing and promoting the Botanic gardens as a place of recreation and, since the 1960s, as an internationally recognised source of scientific information and education in the wet tropics of Australia.
","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":2962,"place_ref":602511,"name":"99 Grafton St","alternate_name":"The Bookshelf, Fishtail Silks | Ruth Women's Bookshop, Andrew's Barber Shop, | Former Cairns Chinatown","street_address":"99 Grafton Street","suburb":"CAIRNS","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2005-05-27","description":"99 Grafton St, Cairns is located on the western side of Grafton Street, between Shields Street and Spence Street. The building is constructed of hand made brick and divided into two shops. The hand made bricks are irregular in size, bright red and indicate clay high in iron. They are wood-fired and some bricks display variations of colour within the brick indicating uneven firing temperatures. There are also kiss marks present on some of the bricks where they have been stacked close together. The bricks themselves display the use of river sand in the clay and occasional largish fragments of stone. On the outside of some the bricks a definite pattern of fabric similar to canvas or cotton drill is imprinted indicating that the bricks were laid out on canvas or cloth sheeting, rather than on a Hack Barrow. Some have marks like trowel marks, others have scrape marks and some evidence of hand and finger marks usually made when the brick is handled when soft. There are also plug joins on some bricks where two different plugs of clay have been placed into the mould during the molding process and signs of damage from being handled or dropped before drying. The bricks are laid in a variation of English garden wall bond also known as Colonial bond. They are not second hand and are not consistent with the size or scale of modern brick making techniques. They are more consistent with an earlier period before the 1930s.
The bricks are not laid by an expert bricklayer which is indicated by an irregular variation of the header courses from 4 rows apart to 12 between the stretcher rows. The mortar is quite hard and struck in the same way consistent with a building in Abbott Street built the late 1880s. The Southern wall runs back from the front to the back past the main roof at a similar height but becomes a parapet end to the skillion roof. The hand made bricks are in all brick elevations, the side rear and front of the shops and in the parapet section over the skillion at the back. The place shows an early construction method with the wall top plate for the roof tied down with hoop iron straps which come down from the outside and are built into the mortar course two brick courses down.
The shop front has a wide awning that extends out over the footpath. Two doors fronting Grafton Street, which are set off centre, provide access to each shop. Next to each door is a large display window. The front window on the southern shop has been replaced with a window incorporating louvres but the northern shop moulded outer timber window frame remains original but has been modified from four panes to a single pane. Above each door is another smaller window, possibly originally a hopper. A brick parapet was made prior to 1927 and the mid section of the parapet raised at the front sometime after. There are 2 steeply pitched corrugated iron gabled roofs over each shop, of uniform height. The gabled roof on the northern shop has remained the same but the southern shop has been altered to a similar pitch. There is patchy flat metal flashing against the parapet. The rear skillion and framing is old and slightly bowed.
The interior of the shops incorporate a timber ceiling at an approximate height of 11 ft or 3360 mm and is made out pine of ex-6 inch beaded tongue in groove boards. The shops are each divided into two sections, the main commercial area of the shop in the front and a smaller back room large enough for storage, a small kitchenette or small bedroom. In the northern shop there is evidence of the use of wide boards for lining in the back room. Some sections of internal lining have been removed due to termite damage and remaining boards also show damage. In the back portion of the northern shop a timber stud frame is lined with more modern sheet lining panels. This covers some of the walls and the ceiling. The southern shop shows signs it was once divided into three rooms and the lining is not original.
The building has a concrete floor that is roughly laid in irregular sized sections. At the back of the shop a low door leads out to a garden. Between the floor and the door a concrete lip has been built.
Two small timber framed windows with a wrought iron lintel are visible on the southern wall of the southern shop. The sill appears to be constructed of rendered brick and is consistent with other places constructed pre-1900 around Cairns. Metal bars cover the window, which are not considered part of the original structure. The double hung sash windows are constructed of Silky Oak
","history":"99 Grafton Street, Cairns is thought to have been constructed in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. The existing building was constructed of handmade bricks and divided into two shops with multiple gabled roof of differing heights. At the time of construction the building formed part of a much larger group of buildings which became known as Cairns Chinatown. At the time it was known as Lot 2, Allotment 18, Section 27, Sachs Street, (in 2019 Grafton Street on Lot 2 SP272572).
\nOne of the first Chinese businesses in Cairns was established in Abbott Street by Mr Andrew Leon (whose Chinese name is thought to be Leong Chong) soon after his arrival in 1876. The earliest known evidence of Leon in Queensland is his baptism in 1868 before his marriage to Irish–born Mary Piggot in February 1869, and his naturalisation in September 1869 in Bowen. At the time he was a cook, stating that he was 24 years of age and had been in Australia for three and a half years.
\nIn 1878 Leon took up Portion 52 (Selection 6), south-east of Cairns; now the site of the Earlville Shopping Centre. In 1879, he selected Portion 75 (Selection 15) adjoining to the south. Leon procured the services of 60 Chinese men to clear the land in 1879. At this time he formed either a cooperative or a partnership with around 80 Hong Kong investors, known as the Hap Wah (Joint Venture) Company, to cultivate Leon’s selection. This was the first large scale plantation in North Queensland producing both cotton and sugar. Leon had experience in the sugar plantations of Cuba. The mill, known as 'Pioneer', had undertaken a trial crushing by early April 1882, before full production commenced in June. The cotton crop was processed first and four tons were exported to Hong Kong in 1882, followed by 110 tons of sugar in February 1883. When the Hap Wah enterprise closed, the plantation land was sold in April 1886 to Charters Towers businessman Thomas Mills. The milling equipment was sold to Noakes brothers of Bundaberg in December 1887. From the mid-1880s Leon concentrated his business interests in Sachs Street, Cairns.
\nLeon was an innovative agriculturalist and businessman. He established substantial orchards above the Barron River Valley after the sale of the sugar plantation. He represented the Cairns Chinese community on official occasions, presenting welcome addresses from the Chinese community, acted as an interpreter in court, and provided the means for preserving cultural linkages as one of the principle trustees for the Lit Sung Goong Temple.
\nThe growing agricultural industry in the Cairns region supported a large number of Chinese in industries such as market gardening and shop keeping. In 1886 the Chinese population of Cairns accounted for 60% of all farmers and 90% of all market gardeners, and Sachs Street was recognized as a focus for Chinese activities. Chinese businesses in Sachs Street included boarding houses, gaming houses, opium dens and merchant stores.
\nIn October 1886, Leon acquired Allotment 18, Section 27, on Sachs Street originally taken up by Patrick Halligan in 1882. The Lit Sung Goong Temple was constructed on part of the property, opening in January 1887 and the allotment was subdivided in 1890.
\nIn 1892 Leon took out a substantial mortgage with the Queensland National Bank for two hundred pounds (and further advances) on Subdivision 2 (Lot 2) Allotment 18. The next year four shops were noted for the first time in the Cairns Municipal Rates Book on Lot 2, Allotment 18. It is unclear if the current building (99 Grafton Street) dates from this period or the early 1900s, when it is identified in the Cairns Municipal Council Rate Book as a brick building. A Chinese bricklayer Lee Bat was noted by the Cairns Post in October 1896 as working in the district and the Cairns Argus noted that the Temple on Lot 1 had a ‘great brick oven’.
\nLeon leased the property to merchants Lee Yan, a consortium of five brothers. One of the brothers Lee Yan brought his wife and a child servant from China in 1895, the first Chinese women to arrive directly from China to live in Cairns’ Chinatown. In 1896 Mrs Lee Yan gave birth to a son, the first Chinese-Australian child born in Cairns. They then lived behind an adjoining timber building until 1902.
\nIn late 1902 Leon took out another loan for two hundred pounds, this time with the Bank of North Queensland. Two shops on the site were subleased to a Chinese man and a Japanese prostitute O'Kunato in 1903. This was the beginning of a long association with the property being used to house women who worked as prostitutes. Three Japanese women worked at different periods from the shop until 1922 after which European women then took up tenancy. They lived and worked in either one or both sides of the building for the next forty-four years. In 1922, the last of the Japanese women tenants, Osangi, left the shops. In her place, Mrs Miller took up residence and she lived and worked there under the euphemism of \"domestic duties\" for the next ten years.
\nIn October 1908 Leon entered an arrangement with Goon Chew who had placed a caveat over the land until it was purchased by another leading merchant Willie Ming in 1911, who also took over Leon's mortgage. The place was resold in 1914 to Neils Schmidt who died shortly after and it passed to his beneficiaries, who owned the property until mid-1925. Andrew Leon died in 1920.
\nThe property was then bought by merchant Frank Lee Chin in a private agreement because he took out a loan with the previous European owners. In the 1930's Sachs Street was renamed Grafton Street through the efforts of the city's alderman to ‘clean up’ the image of the area. In 1932 Frank Lee Chin sold the property to John Hasting Reed, although Reed died before the transfer was formalised. In 1934 it was transferred to Olive Vera Bradley (nee Shang). Chinese shopkeepers and women tenants continued to live in the building until the Second World War. After the Second World War the shops were utilized commercially.
\nIn the 1950s the Deeb brothers bought 99 Grafton Street and minimal changes were made during this time. The addition to the parapet, may have been added during this period. In the late 1960s the northern shop was occupied by a self-service Laundromat and the southern shop by an electrical repair shop.
\nIn the 1970s the northern building was rented by Andronicos Stylianou who operated a successful barber shop from the premises for thirty years. At the time he moved in, the owners were required by the local Council to replace an existing timber stud frame wall with horizontal boarding. This wall had windows which were removed at the same time. This was replaced with a cement block wall with window openings and louvres in the block wall with metal frames. At the time, the roof ceiling was supported and the corrugated roof replaced. An internal wall built to assist business operations was later removed after Stylianou had vacated the premises. A number of different businesses have operated on the site since the early 2000s, including a clothes store, charity bookshop and a restaurant.
\n","criteria":"
99 Grafton St, Cairns is important in demonstrating the evolution of Queensland's history, in particular the building reflects Queensland's early multicultural society, specifically the important role of early Chinese settlers in the development of commercial activity in the Cairns region.
|99 Grafton St, Cairns is important in demonstrating rare and uncommon aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage. 99 Grafton Street and the building at 55 Grafton Street, the former Sun Wo Tiy building, are thought to be the last remaining structures directly associated with the former Cairns Chinatown. 99 Grafton Street is a rare surviving example of Queensland Chinese cultural heritage.
|99 Grafton St, Cairns has the potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history. The building has undergone modification and elements of the original style may still exist underneath new additions. The bricks used to construct the building could provide additional information on early bricks and brickmaking techniques in Queensland. Sub-surface archaeological deposits, including Chinese artifacts, are expected on the allotment.
|99 Grafton St, Cairns has a strong or special association with a particular cultural group for social, cultural and spiritual reasons. As the last remaining small commercial building of the former Cairns Chinatown the Cairns Chinese Community have expressed a strong association with the place as it represents a tangible link to the activities of the former Chinese community who lived and worked there. Many residents have direct family ties to these early Chinese settlers.
The Cairns Chinese community occupied Cairns Chinatown primarily from the 1880s to the 1950s, however the Chinese connection with this portion of Grafton Street has in many ways never been broken. Today, the office of the Cairns and District Chinese Association Inc. is located at 103a Grafton Street.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion C | 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 has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history | 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":2977,"place_ref":602536,"name":"Bolands Centre","alternate_name":"Boland's Departmental Store | Boland's Building","street_address":"Lake Street","suburb":"CAIRNS","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2006-04-07","description":"The Bolands Centre comprises a three storey concrete building (Building A), erected in 1912/1913 on the corner of Lake and Spence Streets, and a 1960s single storey building (Building B) of brick and COLORBONDâ sheeting on Spence Street. The latter is not considered to be of cultural heritage significance. Historically the centre has been associated with a number of other buildings on adjoining allotments that together formed an extensive department store established by the Cairns merchant, Michael Boland.
Building A
Above the street level the exterior of Building A is executed in a grandiose, ornate style employing an eclectic mix of Classical and Romanesque design elements. The façade is asymmetrical, with the top two stories tied together by a blind arcade incorporating Romanesque arches with exaggerated keystones and pilasters surmounted by composite capitals. The façade also incorporates horizontally arranged panels of relief-moulded interlocked circles at the juncture of the ground and first floor, similar panels of relief-moulded arches at the juncture of the first and second floor, and the Boland's name in prominent relief lettering beneath the parapet. The façade is painted in cream with some details picked out in dark green. The rear of the building is clad in yellow COLORBONDâ sheeting.
On the first floor façade the fenestration consists of pairs of arched windows, contained within arched recesses, alternating with rectangular windows arranged singly or in groups of two or four. Transoms divide these windows horizontally into three sections. The majority are filled with modern clear glass or glass louvers, but in the semi-circular transom lights of the arched windows early, opaque, textured glass is retained. The Lake and Spence Street corner of the building is pierced by a single rectangular window which is blocked out with a panel that supports an illuminated sign reading: 'Bolands Centre'.
On the second floor level the fenestration is dominated by triple arched windows and large, arched windows divided by three thick, radiating concrete mullions. A large, round window also perforates the façade at the Lake and Spence Street corner. All the windows at this level are filled with modern, clear glass set in aluminium frames.
The street level shop fronts have green marble facing and modern, rectangular glass shop windows. The awning is a flat-roofed cantilevered type supported above by tubular metal braces fixed to the facade, and incorporating non-structural; singly arranged, fluted, iron columns ornamented with Corinthian capitals and cast-iron fringe. The footpath is of concrete and clay brick pavers.
The building's roof is flat and sheeted with modern COLORBONDâ iron. It is surrounded on the south and west sides by an ornamented parapet incorporating finials and arches, and on the north and east sides by a plain parapet. Below the ornamented parapet runs an eave supported by closely spaced corbels. Projecting from the roof is a centrally located elevator house comprising a square-based tower and projecting wing, and a tower for the freight elevator shaft on the northeast corner.
Internally the building consists of series of shops of various sizes on the ground floor and business offices on the first floor. The main entrance foyer on Spence Street still retains early black and white floor tiling and has some white-painted wood arching, elaborate plaster cornices and ceiling mouldings. Above the suspended ceiling of the first floor there are still substantial remains of the original ceiling, including decorative, pressed metal panels and scrolled concrete capitals associated with some of the internal columns.
The second floor, which cannot be accessed by the public, retains its original open plan. The ceiling consists of permanent formwork of curved corrugated iron sheets resting on exposed iron beams. These are supported by thick, plain, squared columns. The floor is concrete and shows traces of previous rubberised coverings and red paint. A walk-in Chubb safe room with an external wooden bench stand against the eastern wall. The centre of the floor is pieced by a square well hole surrounded by an intact silkyoak balustrade constructed in an angular style with pinnacled newell-posts. The view through the well hole to the ground floor is now blocked by the suspended ceiling of the first floor. The original staircase connecting the second and the first floor has been replaced by a metal ladder. The staircase was originally attached to the northern wall, near the goods lift shaft. A partial outline of the staircase in the paintwork on the wall indicates it was constructed in a style matching the balustrade of the well hole.
The paintwork on the internal walls of the second floor, which is peeling extensively, shows a range of colour layers, including light yellow, light blue and white. The windows in the rear walls have silkyoak architraves and most are double-hung, four-pane sashes glazed with opaque hexagonal wired glass. A number of these windows have had the lower sash permanently raised, with the opening filled with metal-framed glass louvers, while a small number have had their panes entirely replaced by glass louvers.
The electric passenger elevator car and associated shaft and machinery remain in situ. The elevator car is constructed of dark-stained English oak. On the second floor and in the elevator house there is a lift shaft enclosure with panelling, doors and decorative frieze of dark-stained English oak. The elevator house is accessed by a wooden staircase that runs up the side of the second floor lift well enclosure. The intact motor and control unit are intact and sit within the roof space of the elevator house, which is accessed by an iron ladder leading to a hatchway. The windows within the electric elevator house are double-hung and glazed with hexagonal wired glass. The bottom sashes are single paned, while the top sashes are triple paned.
The freight lift shaft is still visible on the second floor but the mechanism has been removed. There are, however, the remains of the attachment system evident in the roof space.
Building B
The adjoining Building B is a single storey Besser-brick and iron structure. At street level it shares the same awning, green marble facing and window style as Building A. Above the awning the façade is covered in cream-painted COLORBONDâ iron. Internally the building is subdivided into modern retail outlets. Due to its late construction and extensive internal modifications it is of relatively low cultural heritage value.
","history":"The Bolands Centre, a large reinforced concrete former department store, was erected in 1912/13 for Michael Boland, an Irish immigrant who migrated to Australia in 1881 and became a leading merchant in Cairns. The building was designed by the Cairns architect Edward Gregory Waters, and for many years was the tallest structure in the city. It is the last surviving example of a large, early 20th century department store in Cairns.
Michael Boland was born in 1863 in Ireland. He came from an impoverished rural background but at the age of fifteen moved to Dublin to study business for a year. Around 1879 he emigrated to Australia, initially lodging in Melbourne, then moving briefly to Queanbeyan, New South Wales, where he gained practical experience as a grocer in his uncle's store. He then travelled north, arriving in Cairns in 1882, where he bought a small allotment in Lilly Street. Between 1882 and 1887 he became involved in a number of economic ventures within the Cairns district. These included a contract to clear Spence and Bunda Streets in Cairns in 1886, and in 1888 establishing the Camp Oven Creek Hotel at Barron Gorge during the building of the Cairns to Herberton railway line. He also held a selection on the Russell River, north of Innisfail, and was reputed to have spent time tin-mining at Bloomfield and working on the construction of the Cape York telegraph line. From these ventures he accumulated sufficient capital to return to Cairns by 1890 and establish a modest grocery shop in leased wooden premises in Abbott Street, which was the initial commercial centre of Cairns.
In 1893 Michael Boland, like many people at the time, struggled to keep his business viable in the face of a world recession and the temporary closure of the National Bank of Queensland. Conditions were made more difficult in Cairns by the onset of the so-called 'store wars', an intense competitive struggle between five key merchant firms: Michael Boland, Burns Philp & Co., G.R. Mayers & Co. and two newly opened co-operatives, the Co-operative Cash Stores and the Cairns Co-operative Store Co.
Michael Boland's business survived these difficulties and in 1898 shifted to a 40 perch allotment in Section 4, at the northeast corner of Lake and Spence Streets. As the Cairns grew, businesses moved from Abbott Street to adjoining streets, and in particular to Section 4, which was later referred to as 'The Golden Block'' due to its high concentration of prominent firms. Boland was among the first merchants to make this transition. In Spence Street, on the eastern portion of this land, Michael Boland built a single-storied timber shop which he ran as a general store. Boland also constructed three smaller, adjoining shops that he leased out to various small businesses. The western section of the allotment, which fronted Lake and Spence Streets, consisted of a sand ridge and low-lying swamp, and remained vacant.
By 1901 Boland had acquired an adjoining property fronting Lake Street, which contained three shops. Further down Lake Street, Michael Boland's brother, John, established a co-operative grocery and general store.
From these small beginnings Michael Boland gradually emerged as a pioneer of commerce in Cairns and built up an extensive business empire, which included investments in mining and the Cumming Brothers Butchery. His firm was among the biggest importers and retailers in Far North Queensland, dealing with an extensive range of goods, many sourced directly from overseas manufacturers.
The contribution of the firm to the prosperity of Cairns and its district was considerable. Until the link to the state railway system was made in the early 1920s, Cairns remained a relatively isolated community accessed primarily by sea, and the Boland firm was instrumental in satisfying many of its material needs. It was also a major employer while its lines of credit allowed many early sugar growers to survive the hard years of this industry's infancy.
Michael Boland was among the most prominent citizens of Cairns. He was elected to the Cairns Municipal Council in 1896 and was briefly appointed a director of the local Penny Savings Bank in 1899. He was a high-profile supporter of worker's rights, the Labour Party and early unionism, and also had some association with the local Chinese community, in 1904 giving money to help effect repairs to one of the temples and acting as the receiver for the firm of Sun Shun Lee during its liquidation.
Among Michael Boland's most significant roles was his association with the Cairns Harbour Board. In 1899 Boland, with his friend and fellow merchant, Callaghan Walsh, began publicly agitating for the formation of a Harbour Board. They saw this as essential for the growth of trade in Cairns, but faced strong opposition, in particular from one of Boland's fiercest commercial rivals, A.J. Draper, who argued that such a move was premature for the community resources at the time. Following heated public debate, Boland and his faction were successful in establishing the Provisional Harbour Board in 1899, but it took six years of further lobbying before the Cairns Harbour Board was constituted on 20 December 1905. It had its first meeting on 28 February 1906. The Board consisted of 9 members, two representing the Town of Cairns, and 7 representing outlying regions. Both Boland and Walsh were elected as the members for Cairns, and in 1909 Boland was elected chairman. Over the ensuing years the Harbour Board played a critical role in developing Cairns into a major port in North Queensland by improving wharf facilities and implementing the dredging of the harbour to allow deepwater birthing.
In 1902 Boland's business had grown sufficiently to warrant major improvements to his existing premises and construction of a spacious single-storied concrete shop fronting Spence Street, the first large concrete building erected in Cairns. The construction of this store necessitated the partial demolition of the original wooden shop. The new building carried an ornate façade with pediment and parapet, and a bullnose verandah. The verandah had paired columns with decorative brackets, and a frieze of rectangular fretwork. When completed the upgrade permitted Boland to begin the process of transforming his business from a simple general store into a large emporium with separate grocery, haberdashery and hardware departments. Department stores represented a new approach to retailing and were becoming prominent in all of Queensland's main centres and represented a new approach to retailing. The traditional retail business that had dominated Queensland's 19th century retail landscape was centred on a relatively narrow range of products and activities, and in its design and layout gave little consideration to consumer psychology. The department store, however, offered an extensive range of goods and services and created for the consumer an encompassing retail environment that was enjoyable and encouraged shopping.
By 1909 Michael Boland's department store had proved successful and he expanded his business into his adjacent three Lake Street stores, displacing the earlier tenants. Then in 1911 he commissioned Cairns architect Edward Gregory Waters to draw up plans for a new building to be built on the site of the swamp at the vacant corner of Lake and Spence Streets. Waters, who had previously worked in Rockhampton, Mount Morgan and Gympie, was active in Cairns from 1909 until 1917. While in Cairns he worked as the Cairns Harbour Board Engineer. He was a specialist in ferro-concrete construction and was responsible for a number of prominent buildings in Cairns, including the Central Hotel and St. Josephs Convent.
The plans for Michael Boland's new building were approved by the Cairns Town Engineer in May 1912 and JT Bullock was awarded the contract for the construction. Reflecting Boland's increasing wealth and social status, the building was to be an impressive structure of reinforced concrete, the first three-storeyed building in Cairns. Although Boland had pioneered all-concrete construction methods in his 1902 building, in 1912 Cairns was still a town of timber, brick and corrugated iron and the use of concrete for the new building was still a comparatively early use of reinforced concrete in Queensland. Due to its strength and insulating qualities, concrete construction proved highly suitable to the tropical climate and cyclonic conditions experienced in North Queensland and in later decades dominated its building industry.
The construction work, carried out during 1912 and 1913, was a major undertaking that elicited interest from the local press. The swamp at the site was drained and filled but due to the unstable nature of the ground the building sat on a floating foundation laid with girders rather than traditional piles. The walls, floors, internal columns and decorative details of the facade were cast in moulds. The Portland cement used for the building was imported in casks from England and poured using an innovative concrete roller mixer with an independent hoist system. An English firm, Dorman, Long and Co., who later supplied steel for the Sydney Harbour Bridge, prefabricated the steel work for the building.
The building was rectangular in plan, and when completed measured 27.6 metres by 19.8 metres, with the long axis oriented along Spence Street. The remaining section of the early wooden store had been demolished and the new building was connected internally to the 1902 store. It also had entrances on both Spence and Lake streets. The bullnose corrugated iron awning of the 1902 emporium was extended along both street frontages of the new building and repeated the earlier paired columns, pierced frieze and other decorative elements.
At ground level the Lake and Spence Street façade carried large, rectangular shop windows of clear plate-glass imported from England. On the first and second floor levels the facade was executed in an imposing, ornate style, based predominantly on Classical and Romanesque elements. On the upper storeys the fenestration consisted of a combination of fixed and top-hung sash windows, with a single round window incorporated into the façade at the Lake and Spence Street corner at the second floor level. Immediately above the awning there was also a series of narrow, rectangular, bottom-hinged windows. Early photographs suggest the upper storey windows were filled with opaque glass.
The rear (north and east) walls of the building were unornamented and pierced by rectangular, double-hung, four-pane sash windows. Early photographs indicate that the building was painted in light, neutral colours with the name 'Boland's' picked out in darker colour under the parapet and on the east wall. The north wall carried the line 'Boland's Departmental Store'.
The roof of the building was flat and of poured concrete construction, and as such was the first known example of this type of roof in Cairns, and among the earliest in Queensland. It was waterproofed by a layer of bitumen and drained by five openings on the parapet on the north side, which connected to two down-pipes. This space was accessible to the public and was referred to as the 'plateau' in Waters' design proposal, and as the 'roof garden' by staff members. During World War I musicians used it as a stage for patriotic performances. Along the Spence and Lake Street sides the roof was protected by an ornamented parapet incorporating finials, arches, and balustrades of interlocked concrete circles.
The building was installed with an electric passenger elevator, the first to be included in any building in Cairns, and among the earliest examples of this technology in North Queensland. The motor and control unit were housed on the roof in a centrally located square tower with a lower wing projecting from the west side. Waters' design called for a two-tier, ogee-style roof but it is unclear whether this was ever built, and from at least the 1920s the elevator tower had a shallow, hipped roof.
The interior of the building was open plan, with the floors and roof being supported by iron girders and large internal columns of reinforced concrete. The floors, like the roof, were of concrete slab construction, and also early examples of their type in Queensland. A well hole passing through the centre of the first and second floors helped conduct air and light through the building. The upper floors were accessed by wooden stairs as well as the electric lift.
The building was completed in time for the 1913 Christmas trade, with the shop windows carrying brilliant displays of electroplated Birmingham silverware. The new building marked the development of Michael Boland's business into one of the first modern department stores in North Queensland. It allowed the further organisation and growth of separate departments providing customers with an extensive choice of goods and services. The firm was able to cater not only to the local trade but also to visitors from all over the vast hinterland for which Cairns was the centre.
The building also gained recognition as a city icon, and the intersection of Lake and Spence Street became known as Boland's Corner. Physically, through its height, mass and striking style, the building dominated the streetscape.
The ongoing success of firm was marked in 1915 when the Articles of Association of Bolands Limited were filed at the office of the Register of Joint Stock Companies and a branch store in Babinda was opened. In 1923, however, the firm suffered the loss of Michael Boland, who died of a heart condition in 1923. Control of the department store passed to his three sons: Thomas, William and James. Thomas assumed the position of head manager while the other brothers acted as departmental managers. Under their direction the firm continued to grow and by Cairns' jubilee in 1926 the store at Spence and Lake Streets boasted 15 departments and buying offices in London, New York, Kobe and all the Australian states.
During this period Thomas Boland initiated a number of cosmetic and functional alterations to the store, among the first being painting out the 'Departmental Store' sign on the northern face, and installing a freight lift shaft, which could be seen as an extra tower on the northeast corner of the building's roof. In 1929 extensive remodelling of the interior was undertaken. The architect responsible was E.H. Boden, and G.A. Stronach was the builder. New shop fronts incorporating polished stone veneer and large square shop windows were also installed by Burns, Johnsson and Humphreys. The total cost of the renovations was estimated at £19, 000. Other changes included the installation of electricity at the end of the 1920s, and during the 1930s the awning frieze was changed from fretwork to a solid panel carrying the Boland name, and the balustrade on the parapet was converted into a solid wall.
Another important change occurred in 1936/37 when, as part of the firm's 75th anniversary celebrations, the store was extended to the east onto part of an adjacent allotment. This new two-storey wing, designed by VM Brown and constructed by WC Kyanastan, was also constructed in reinforced concrete. It was 19.8 metres wide and 19.5 metres deep. It possessed a concrete first floor with a large central well hole, large plate-glass windows and a roof of wood and iron. The façade incorporated lineal motifs, large rosettes and starburst medallions, and three glass doors opening onto small concrete balconies with ornamental iron railings. Along the street frontage there was a cantilevered awning.
During World War II the Bolands firm felt the effects of disrupted shipping and the rationing of goods. During this period the first floor of the east wing of the store was occupied by the American navy.
In the post-war period the firm experienced a resurgence trade and prosperity. During the 1950s new furniture and toy departments and a mezzanine floor were installed in the three-story building. Sometime after 1950 the original awning was replaced by a flat, cantilevered awning. In 1962 the 1902 store was demolished and replaced by a new building and the frontages and fittings of the other buildings were updated. By this date Bolands Ltd was the largest department store in Cairns, employing 100 staff.
At various times the store was damaged by natural elements. Until the Cairns City Council put in new drainage, the Lake and Spence Street corner was subject to flooding in the wet season, and in the 1930s and 1955 the ground floor was inundated. In 1924 three large windows on the Spence Street side of the main store building were mysteriously smashed, reputedly by lighting, and in 1951 a fire broke out on the top floor, damaging the ceiling and wooden partitions. As it aged, the roof also began to leak badly, and was eventually covered with COLORBONDâ sheeting.
Thomas Boland retired in 1963 and the directors of the firm sold their shareholding to the Sydney-based firm of David Jones Ltd. David Jones appointed Thomas's son, Terry, as manager of the store. In 1967 David Jones installed a cafeteria, milk bar and small goods section on the ground floor and the largest chilled water air-conditioning plant in North Queensland. David Jones gradually replaced the Bolands logo in the newspaper advertising but never removed the Boland name from the building.
Title to the Spence/Lake Street corner block was transferred to David Jones in 1979 but the firm's occupation of the site ceased in 1984 when it relocated to new premises at Earlville. During the 1970s and early 1980s the Bolands Building had steadily become redundant as the Cairns central business district, along with other Australian centres, suffered the effects of a nation-wide drift of retailing activity to the suburbs. Soon after the departure of David Jones the building was acquired by the Kern Brothers Corporation, which significantly remodelled it at a cost of $2, 000, 000. Aware of the building's iconic status, the new owners retained the first and second floor façades, and the open-plan interior of the second floor. The lower levels were converted into individual shops on the ground floor and offices on the first floor. Other internal changes included the installation of false ceilings, the removal of the old internal staircases, and the closure of the passenger elevator. Externally, the ground street shop frontages were remodelled in an imitation Victorian period style. New windows and facades carried arched decorative panels, and the awning was fitted with non-structural, reproduction Classical columns and cast-metal friezes. A third entrance was created at the Lake and Spence Street corner. The entire building was repainted externally with a special paint selected to minimise future deterioration.
The building re-opened as the Bolands Centre in May 1985 with considerable fanfare. The redevelopment was lauded as a landmark example of adaptive re-use of an historic building and emerged as a key event that stimulated the revival of the Cairns central business district during the late 1980s and 1990s. In 1987 the Prettejohn family bought the building and since 1991 it has been managed by Pearce Coleman & Associates. The last major changes to its fabric occurred in 1999 when the north and east faces of the three-storied building where clad in COLORBONDâ which blocked all window openings on these elevations. Around this time the ground floor shop fronts were once again remodelled.
","criteria":"The Bolands Centre, constructed in 1912/13, is significant as it demonstrates the growth of Cairns as a centre of commerce in Queensland, and the evolution of Queensland's retail industry. The building was erected to house a large department store during the early twentieth century, a period of strong economic growth in Cairns, and a time when department stores, offering a wide range of goods and services, were being established in Queensland. During the 1980s the Bolands Centre was remodelled and led the rejuvenation of the Cairns central business district following a national drift of retail business from town centres to the suburbs.The place is significant because of the inclusion of a number of innovative ideas. In its scale and striking design the building represented a creative achievement for Cairns at the time. The construction process was a major undertaking and required some technical innovation. The building was one of the earliest large commercial structures in Far North Queensland to be entirely constructed of concrete, a practice that would later become common due to the capacity of concrete to cope with the tropical climate and cyclones. The structure was also the first large building in Cairns, and among the earliest in Far North Queensland, to incorporate an electric passenger elevator. When it was completed the Bolands Centre was to be among the first modern department stores in Far North Queensland. In later years it continued to incorporate new technologies and ideas.
|The Bolands Centre is a rare surviving Far North Queensland example of a large, pre-World War I department store. Department stores were established in Brisbane and the main provincial centres of Queensland, including Cairns, but the Bolands Centre is the only extant example in Far North Queensland. Although remodelled on its lower floors, its façade remains intact, elements of the original ceilings survive, and the top floor, with associated elevator machinery, has remained undeveloped.
|The Bolands Centre is important in demonstrating the principle characteristics of large department stores of the pre-World War I period. Its size and ornate detailing reflect the social aspirations and entrepreneurial strategies of the business elite who built such stores, while the surviving internal elements, particularly the undeveloped top floor and elevator, demonstrate the layout, design principles and technology employed. The Bolands Centre is also associated with work of Edward Gregory Waters, a prominent Cairns architect who designed the building and was responsible for a number of important structures within the city.
|The building has aesthetic value due to the height, scale and the detailing of the façade, which is largely intact. The façade is of cast concrete executed in an ornate style, based an eclectic mix of Classical and other design elements, which projects an imposing, elegant presence on the streetscape.
|The place has social significance as an iconic landmark due to its size, aesthetic appeal and longevity within the streetscape of Cairns, and the role it has played in the business life of Far North Queensland.
|The Bolands Centre has direct associations with Michael Boland and his family, who built it and managed it for many years. Michael Boland was an early and important entrepreneur who established a large, long-lived commercial empire in Cairns and became one of the community's leading citizens.
","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":3050,"place_ref":602834,"name":"Cairns Technical College and High School Building","alternate_name":"Cairns State High School","street_address":"Sheridan Street","suburb":"CAIRNS","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2014-05-09","description":"Cairns Technical College and High School is a three-storey building at the southern corner of a complex of buildings of Cairns State High School. Called Block A in 2014, it stands on the corner of Sheridan and Upward Streets, northwest of the nearby Cairns CBD. It is an imposing, brick and concrete structure with two equal wings abutting the street alignment and framing a large, grassed quadrangle behind.
The building's strong street presence is derived from its assertive massing, grand proportions, symmetrical composition, and its cohesive, restrained use of a Neo-Classical style that references 17th Century Italian palazzo and Palladian idioms. Symmetrical around a diagonal corner axis, the building is carefully articulated into two parts: a ground floor podium rendered to resemble channel-jointed ashlar; and glazed facebrick upper floors that are expressed as one, through rendered window detailing that spans both levels. This is capped by a rendered entablature and a projecting cornice. The building is elegantly composed with a central pavilion that accommodates the primary vertical circulation and reception areas, flanking wings that accommodate the classrooms, and end pavilions that accommodate the secondary vertical circulation. The dark brickwork is English bond with a dark mortar and the pale, painted render has high-quality moulding. The aluminium-framed windows and metal hoods to the street elevations are more recent while some ground floor windows retain original decorative iron screens.
The building has a hipped roof clad with metal corrugated sheets and the room layout is arranged with classrooms or offices facing the streets (south-west and south-east sides) and a verandah on the opposite side (north-west and north-east sides) providing circulation.
Flanking the end pavilions are lower sections; a two-storey section at the end of the Sheridan Street wing and a one-storey section at the end of the Upward Street wing. The ground levels of these contain toilets. The first floor (1972 addition) above the toilets on the Sheridan Street wing is not of cultural heritage significance.
Built to the street alignment, the main entrance is through an arched entry set within the truncated corner of the central pavilion. Either side of the entry is a large, metal sconce lamp. Above the entrance are two giant order Ionic columns that flank a tall window into a stair hall inside. The timber-framed window has fine timber glazing bars dividing the sash into multiple panes. The double-leaf entrance doors, which retain original hardware, are timber with glazed panels and prominent moulding. A small entrance hall with a patterned terrazzo floor and rendered walls contains a terrazzo stair with a decorative iron balustrade and clear-finished timber handrail, rising to a first floor foyer at the rear of the building. The ground floor understorey is enclosed to form classrooms, offices, and storerooms. Some original fixtures and fittings are retained.
Two concrete columns with minimalist, stylised capitals frame the entrance from the stair well into the first floor foyer. This room has a terrazzo floor, rendered walls, and a flat plaster ceiling with moulded plaster cornice. A reception window is framed with clear finished timber and the room is hung with clear finished timber honour boards some of which are memorials to past students, teachers, and local citizens.
Throughout the building, the brickwork has finely-shaped corners and the rendered walls have stop-chamfering. Verandahs run the length of the rear elevations giving access to the rooms and to concrete stairs at each end of the building. The stairs have decorative iron balustrades and timber handrails. The floors of the circulation areas are polished concrete with a painted margin. The walls are face brick and parts retain original ceilings of sheets and battens in a decorative pattern. The verandah wall retains some original timber, double-hung sash windows with fanlights into the classrooms. Air conditioning units have been wall-mounted on the verandah wall and penetrations have been made by removing fanlights. Some doors into the classrooms are original timber double-leaf doors with fanlights.
The layout of the first floor has been altered. Partitions and a suspended ceiling have been introduced and original partitions have been demolished. The first floor retains the general office and the principal's room, but the former classroom, science room and lecture room in the Upward Street wing have been replaced with small offices, and the domestic science rooms in the Sheridan Street wing have been replaced with offices, a print room and a uniform store. The second floor retains classrooms.
The large quadrangle behind the building provides an attractive setting, comprising a flat lawn with perimeter stands of large palms.
The other buildings and structures on the school site are not of cultural heritage significance. The modern covered walkways within the heritage boundary, to the rear of Block A, are not of cultural heritage significance.
","history":"The Cairns Technical College and High School building was constructed in 1941 as a purpose-designed facility for state-run secondary and technical education in Cairns. It was designed by the Department of Public Works as part of the government's unemployment relief program during the 1930s and was built using day labour during a period of pronounced construction in Cairns. This commanding, three-storey brick building at the corner of Sheridan and Upward Streets is an important element in the city's streetscape.
\nTrinity Bay, traditional country of the Yirrganydji people, was chosen as the port for the Hodgkinson goldfield in 1876. The first settlers arrived in October that year and Cairns became a port of entry on 1 November 1876. Its future as a regional centre was almost stifled by competition from Port Douglas; however, the announcement of Cairns as the preferred terminus for a railway in September 1884 assured its future as the main settlement and port for far north Queensland. It was declared a municipality in 1885.
\nState education in Cairns began in 1878 with the opening of Cairns Central State School in Aplin Street.[1] The government (initially the New South Wales Government, and then the Queensland Government from 1859) played an important role in the provision of formal education from 1848 and over time it strengthened and expanded its provision of state education. The Education Act 1860 established the Queensland Board of General Education and began to standardise curriculum, teacher training, and facilities. The Education Act 1875 provided a number of key initiatives for primary education; it was to be free, compulsory and secular. The Department of Public Instruction was established to administer the Act. This move standardised the provision of education and, despite difficulties, colonial educators achieved a remarkable feat in bringing basic literacy to most Queensland children by 1900.[2]
\nEstablishing schools was considered an essential step in the development of early Queensland communities. The formal education of Queensland children was seen as integral to the success of a town, the colony, and the nation. Land and construction labour was often donated by the local people and schools frequently became a major focus within the community as a place symbolising progress, for social interaction, and as a source of pride. Also, the development and maintenance of schools frequently involved donations and work by teachers, parents, and pupils. Due to their significant connections with the local community, schools have occasionally incorporated other socially important elements such as war memorials and halls used for community purposes. They also typically retain a significant enduring connection with former pupils, their parents, and teachers. Social events involving a wide portion of the local community have often been held at schools, utilising the buildings and grounds - such as fetes, markets, public holiday celebrations, school break-up days, fundraisers, sporting events, reunions, and dances.
\nAs in other Australian colonies, the Queensland Government developed standard plans for its school buildings. This helped to ensure consistency and economy. The standard designs were continually refined by government architects in response to changing needs and educational philosophy. Queensland school buildings were particularly innovative in their approach to climate control, lighting, and ventilation. Due to the standardisation of facilities, schools across the state were developed in distinctly similar ways and became complexes of typical components.
\nHigher education in Cairns was offered by private schools from at least the 1880s. Citizens of Cairns agitated for a state high school from around 1915 and in February 1917 Cairns State High School was established as a secondary department on the grounds of the Cairns Central State School (then called the Cairns Boys' State School).[3]
\nIn Queensland, the government was 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, although few were awarded. It was not until 1912 that the government instituted a high school system, whereby separate high schools were established in major towns. In Queensland generally, high schools remained few in number until after World War II, when secondary education was generally accepted as essential and was more widely provided for.
\nFrom their introduction, the design of high school buildings was the responsibility of the Department of Public Works. Initially, high schools were established within existing technical colleges, utilising their buildings to save expense. The first purpose-built high school buildings were constructed in 1917 and were large, elaborate buildings that were variations of a standard design introduced in 1914, as well as vocational education buildings built to standard designs.
\nBy 1918 the high school in Cairns was considered inadequate and a separate high school was requested.[4] At the same time, the Cairns Technical College (a private institute established prior to 1899) was looking to move out of their accommodation within the Cairns School of Arts. The Department of Public Instruction took over the operation of Cairns Technical College, combined it with the high school, and created Cairns Technical High School in 1924.[5] This occurred at other technical colleges in Queensland after the Technical Instruction Act 1908 empowered the government to take over technical colleges run by local school of arts committees. The government had taken an active interest in technical education from the early 1900s. This came from a wide-spread concern about the growing industrial success of Germany, attributed to its extensive technical education program[6], and from Queensland's growing manufacturing sector, which created a need for a more skilled workforce in a variety of trades. After 1908 the government expanded their provision of technical education, establishing new colleges in several centres, including Maryborough, Bundaberg, Rockhampton and Mackay. Over the 20th century, the government expanded its provision of technical education to form an integral element of their program. Cairns Technical High School began teaching students from 28 January 1924 in new timber buildings on a large central site on Sheridan Street, officially opened 2 June 1925 by the Minister for Public Instruction, Thomas Wilson.[7] The site had been reserved for a number of civic uses including a school as early as 1910.
\nCairns experienced a major phase of development during the 1920s and 1930s. It was declared a city in 1923, when it had a population of 8000. This rose to 12,000 by 1933, and 15,700 by 1941. Factors contributing to prosperity in Far North Queensland, and increased building activity in Cairns, included: the Cairns hinterland Soldier Settlement Schemes of the 1920s; the continued success of the local sugar industry; the expansion of wharf facilities; ships bringing tourists from the southern states; the completion of the rail link to Brisbane in 1924; the opening of the Gillies Highway (1926) and the Captain Cook Highway (1933); the extensive re-building necessitated by cyclones in the 1920s; and the poor condition of earlier timber structures.
\nIn particular, the city centre became dominated by masonry and reinforced concrete structures during the interwar period. Important civic buildings were constructed, most in a Classical architectural style, intended to re-affirm the power and presence of government in the community. These included the Court House (1921) [600376], Cairns City Council Chambers (1930) [601576], Public Offices (1936) [600376], Customs House (1937) [600377], and Cairns Technical College and High School. The construction of these buildings by the State Government reflected the confidence in the growth of Cairns as an important regional centre during the interwar period.
\nAs the population of Cairns grew over the interwar period, the existing timber buildings of Cairns Technical High School were unable to accommodate the student population. A new brick building was designed by architect Nigel Laman Thomas of the Department of Public Works in July 1938.This was one of an important group of brick school buildings designed during and immediately after the Great Depression as part of the government's unemployment relief program. This program began in 1932 when newly-elected Premier William Forgan-Smith instituted a capital works program focussed on building modern infrastructure to provide relief work for unemployed Queenslanders. The ‘improvement' of schools was a primary aspect of the scheme.[8] The relief work program ended in 1938, transitioning into a permanent, long-term, capital works program. It was under this program that the new brick building for the school was designed and built.
\nThe pattern of brick school buildings in prosperous or rising suburban areas that had begun in the early 1900s continued during the 1930s on a much larger scale. The 1930s buildings form a recognisable and important type, exhibiting many common characteristics. Frequently, they were two storeys high above an open undercroft and built to accommodate up to 1000 students. They adopted a symmetrical plan and had Neo-Classical stylistic elements and a prominent central entry. They were able to be built in stages if necessary. The plan arrangement was similar to that of timber school buildings, being only one classroom deep, accessed by a long straight verandah. Ideally, the classrooms would face south with the verandah on the north but little concession was made for this and almost all brick school buildings faced the primary boundary road, regardless of orientation. Classrooms were commonly divided by folding timber partitions and the undercroft was used for covered play space, storage, toilets and other functions. However, the Cairns building is unusual in that it was built on a corner, and also right to the footpath, which increases its streetscape presence.
\nThe Department of Public Works and the Department of Public Instruction in Queensland were extremely enthusiastic about the brick school buildings designed in the 1930s. They were considered monuments to progress embodying the most modern principles of the ideal education environment.[9]
\nThe marble foundation stone of the new brick building for Cairns, which reads ‘Cairns Technical College and High School', was laid on 7 October 1939 by Henry Adam Bruce, the Minister for Public Works and Public Instruction.[10] The building was constructed using day labour and cost over £30,000[11] and was officially opened 5 February 1941 by Attorney General, John O'Keefe.[12] It was described as ‘magnificent' and a reminder that ‘education and democracy go hand in hand'.[13] The school continued to use the old timber buildings, which were altered to accommodate a new intermediate school. Also, new technical college workshops for engineering and plumbing trades were completed, and tennis courts were added to the grounds.[14] The school was the only purpose-built state high school north of Townsville until 1960.[15]
\nThe new building had two long, narrow wings forming an L-shape abutting the Sheridan and Upward Street boundaries, with a prominent central entry diagonally facing the intersection. Designed in a Neo-Classical style, the three-storey structure was brick and concrete with a hipped roof.[16] The exterior had a rendered base and had upper levels of face brick with rendered dressings. The entry had a round arched opening with giant order Ionic columns above, flanking a tall window into a stair hall. Glazing throughout the building was timber-framed and featured fine, timber glazing bars forming multiple panes.
\nThe ground floor understorey was largely open, providing a protected playing area and also accommodating a teachers' room, a girls' retiring room, and a students' reading room. Toilets for girls and female teachers were located in a single-storey section at the end of the Upward Street wing of the understorey, while toilets for the boys and male teachers were located at the end of the Sheridan Street wing. The first floor housed the principal's room and domestic science rooms (dressmaking room, dining room, cookery room, laundry, and drying room) in the Sheridan Street wing, and a general office, classroom, science laboratory and lecture room in the Upward Street wing. The second floor accommodated five classrooms (three connected by folding partitions), bookkeeping and typewriting rooms, drawing room, and a teachers' room. Hat and coat rooms were on each floor and the building had a central main entrance hall and terrazzo stairs. The classrooms faced onto the streets (south-west and south-east) and circulation was via an 8ft (2.4m) wide verandah on the opposite side (north-west and north-east).
\nContemporary reports stated: the building would ‘appeal to the aesthetic taste, and the dimensions of the building [were] commensurate with the rapid progress of the city, besides being a valuable asset from an educational point of view'.[17]
\nThe new building for Cairns Technical College and High School opened during World War II, but the war had only a minor effect on the operation of the school. Cairns became an important supply and repair centre during the war, and a US Army hospital was built near the school on land that in 2014 is the school oval. Also, part of the school site near Grove Street was used as a military prison,[18] and air raid slit trenches were dug in the school's playing fields. While the military presence increased, the civilian population decreased. In early 1942 over one third of Cairns' population evacuated the city. Also, the Queensland Government closed all coastal state schools in January 1942[19] (although this decision was soon reversed[20]). Because of these factors, Cairns Technical College and High School opened a month late in 1942, with a much-reduced student population. The intended opening of the intermediate school in 1942 was also delayed.[21]
\nIn 1946, memorial prizes were established at Cairns Technical College and High School in honour of past students killed in World War II. Schools in Queensland were a prominent community social focus and often became a location for the addition of war and other memorials. Most often, honour boards for past students killed in war were hung in prominent locations on the walls of school buildings, through money raised from within the local community. These became important places for remembrance ceremonies for the school and wider public. Also, it was not infrequent that Queensland schools received bequests from past students. This was the case at Cairns and the school established honour boards and memorial prizes from funds donated in memory of past pupils, teachers, and local citizens. At times these were considerable amounts, providing for perpetual annual prizes and substantial memorials. Over time, additional memorial boards were erected in the first floor foyer of the Cairns Technical College and High School building, recording the names of Dux winners, head prefects, and champion athletes.[22] [23]
\nIn 1946 Mr M McGrath, principal of the Cairns State High and Intermediate School reflected that the school was 'now a very complex institution comprising a technical college, a junior teachers training college, the high school and the intermediate school'.[24]
\nIn the 1950s the number of high schools in Queensland increased significantly. Reflecting the connected growth of suburbanisation and a move towards a decentralised population in urban centres, new high schools were located in suburban areas rather than the centre of town. The grounds were large, greater than 12 acres (4.8ha), providing ample room for sports facilities. The general classroom buildings were the same standard types as used for primary schools but high schools also included purpose-built science laboratories, domestic science buildings, workshops for woodwork and metal work, libraries, and gymnasiums. These were also built to standard plans but were specific to their use and not a continuation of previous designs.[25]
\nCairns' population continued to increase in the post-World War II period: rising from 16,644 in 1947 to 21,018 by June 1954, with the percentage increase being greater than any other Queensland city for that period.[26] Post-war migrants from Europe were housed at the Immigration Holding Centre on Hartley Street. The city also expanded physically. The anti-malarial drainage scheme undertaken southwest of Severin Street during World War II allowed the suburbs to expand westwards after the war. Tourism to Cairns also increased in the 1950s and 1960s, with the Great Barrier Reef being promoted as a destination by the Queensland Government. The ‘Sunlander' rail service, a tourist service between Brisbane and Cairns, began in 1953; an underwater observatory was opened on nearby Green Island in 1954; and in the early 1960s the Bruce Highway was bitumened to Cairns.
\nAfter the 1950s, the Cairns Technical College and High School grew considerably and many new buildings were added. Also, alterations to the Cairns Technical College and High School building were made, including enclosing part of the understorey for a tuckshop (1966), and an extension above the toilets of the Sheridan Street wing to accommodate home science classrooms (1972). The extension used bricks similar to those of the 1941 portion but it was in a contemporary style. The addition of floors above one-storey toilets was an occurrence at other brick Depression-era schools and was possibly an intention of the original design, to accommodate future expansion.
\nTechnical education expanded from the 1960s through a concerted push by the State Government. In 1974 all Queensland technical colleges were renamed Technical and Further Education (TAFE) Colleges. In the early 1980s the Cairns TAFE College moved off site to new premises. This allowed the high school to expand into the entire site. The earliest timber buildings were demolished and new buildings were constructed in their place.
\nIn 1990 alterations were made to the Cairns Technical College and High School building including; enclosing the understorey for Special Education rooms, removing and replacing doors and windows, and removing and adding new internal partitions and accordion doors. After 1995, metal awnings were added to the classroom windows of the Sheridan and Upward Street facades.
\nOver time, many new buildings were constructed at the school. As part of the Australian Government's Building Education Revolution (BER) program, Cairns State High School received funding for the construction of a new multi-purpose hall. The BER program was the key element of the Australian Government's $42 billion \"Nation Building - Economic Stimulus Plan\", developed in response to the global financial crisis. The hall, standing to the north of the Cairns Technical College and High School building, was completed by 2011.
\nIn 2014 the Cairns Technical College and High School building is known as Block A and continues in use as a teaching building for the school.
","criteria":"The Cairns Technical College and High School building, constructed in 1941 (in 2014 called Block A of Cairns State High School), is important in demonstrating the evolution of state education in Queensland and the associated evolution of education architecture.
Purpose-designed to accommodate secondary and technical classes, the place is important in demonstrating the Queensland Government's initial approach to the provision of secondary and technical education in the first half of the 20th century, by accommodating both streams in the same buildings.
Designed as part of the Queensland Government's unemployment relief program of the 1930s, the building is important evidence of this important state-wide initiative.
The place is important evidence of the interwar period of prosperity and growth in Cairns, the principal regional centre in far north Queensland. This period in Cairns was marked by the construction of a number of masonry buildings designed in Classical styles.
|Notable for its substantially intact exterior, the place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a brick school building designed by the Department of Public Works during the 1930s. The principal characteristics include having an expressive and skilful Neo-Classical styling, three-storeyed form, high-quality design, materials and construction, plan layout with north facing verandah, teacher's rooms, hat and cloak rooms, south facing classrooms that are well ventilated and day lit, and understorey play space.
|The place is important for its aesthetic significance and has a dignified streetscape presence brought about by its assertive massing, Neo-Classical styling, and prominent corner location emphasised by an impressive and elegantly-composed facade. The grassed quadrangle to the rear provides an attractive setting for the building.
","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":3064,"place_ref":602832,"name":"Grove Street Pensioners' Cottages","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"28D Grove Street","suburb":"PARRAMATTA PARK","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2017-08-24","description":"The Grove Street Pensioners’ Cottages occupy a southeast-facing 0.33ha site on Grove Street in the Cairns suburb of Parramatta Park. Seven individual cottages are arranged in a crescent addressing Grove Street, linked by a curved driveway, while an eighth cottage stands alone in the western corner of the site. Residential development surrounds the site to the southwest and northwest, largely screened from view by trees, and Lily Creek lies to the northeast. Driveways accessing properties to the rear of the site adjoin the northeast and southwest boundaries.
\nFrom the exterior, the cottages appear almost identical. Small in scale, they are single storey, timber-framed buildings on low concrete stumps. Each has a gable roof clad in corrugated metal sheeting with raked eaves. The walls and eaves are clad in pre-painted vinyl panels replicating timber boards. Original windows are timber-framed, three-light casements of patterned glass, and louvres to the stove recess. The front verandahs have been enclosed with louvres above balustrade height. A short flight of steps to the front door has a modern metal handrail, while the rear steps retain their timber balustrade. Non-significant elements of the exterior include: louvre windows to the verandah enclosure and rear bathroom addition; roof ventilators; security screens to doors and windows; vinyl cladding; and metal handrails.
\nThe interior of each cottage contains four rooms – an enclosed front verandah, a kitchen with original stove recess, a bedroom, and a bathroom extension. All have been renovated at different times and contain a variety of linings, fittings and fixtures. Surviving early fabric includes: framed and ledged timber board doors; early locks and door handles; kitchen cabinets; chamfered architraves; and flat wall and ceiling linings with cover strips. Non-significant elements of the interior include: ceiling fans and lights; bathroom fit-outs; and modern shelving and cabinets.
\nThe cottages are surrounded by lawns and garden beds with mature trees (including mango trees) lining the rear boundary. Garden beds adjacent to each cottage vary in layout and extent, and the site contains a wide variety of tree and plant species. The western end of the site is characterised by dense clusters of vegetation and mature trees, including a large fig tree to the north of Cottage 8. In the centre of the front gardens are trees and shrubs remaining from an earlier garden layout and a 1989 plaque laid by Cairns City Council in appreciation of the work of KP (King) Glendon in establishing and tending the garden for 14 years.
\nA curved bitumen driveway links the cottages along their south-eastern side, following the path of an earlier unsealed driveway. Fencing enclosing the site is not of heritage significance.
\nThe identical cottages in their curved layout and garden setting are an attractive feature of the Grove Street streetscape.
","history":"The Grove Street Pensioners’ Cottages were built by Cairns City Council from 1953 to c1958 as part of a state government-subsidised scheme for providing affordable accommodation for old age pensioners. Located on a reserve in Grove Street in the Cairns suburb of Parramatta Park, the complex comprises eight small timber cottages arranged in a curved layout surrounded by lawns and gardens. They were the first of their type to be built in Cairns and are an important surviving example of a largely intact pensioners’ cottages scheme.
\nThe city of Cairns in tropical far north Queensland was established in 1876 as a port to service the newly discovered Hodgkinson goldfields, and its first local authority, the Cairns Divisional Board, was established in 1879. Initial progress was slow until the establishment of a local sugar industry and the opening up of the Atherton Tablelands' mineral fields in the early 1880s. Early industries in the region, such as sugar farming and timber harvesting, created a demand for improved transport facilities to the harbour. In 1885 Cairns was constituted a municipality, and the announcement that Cairns was to be the terminus for the Herberton railway established the town as the principal port in the region.[1]
\nProgress and growth continued in the early 20th century. The Cairns Municipal Council became the Cairns Town Council on 31 March 1903, which in turn became the Cairns City Council on 13 October 1923. By this stage the population had reached 8000. This rose to 12,000 by 1933, and 15,700 by 1941. After the disruption of World War II, post-war optimism and prosperity saw development increase and the population grow to 21,018 by June 1954. Of this number, 2099 Cairns residents, (approximately 10% of the population) were aged 60 and over.[2]
\nQueensland’s social fabric is supported by a network of social security and welfare services provided by the State and Commonwealth Governments and voluntary organisations to disadvantaged persons. Until the late-19th century, however, no such government aid existed in Queensland, with most of the responsibility for providing relief falling upon voluntary organisations. In the 1890s, the Queensland Government provided residential institutions and subsidies to voluntary organisations in aid of orphans, the mentally ill, the destitute, the aged, and the infirm. A Benevolent Institution at Dunwich, North Stradbroke Island (established 1866, closed 1945), operated with minimal services and at times could not meet demand for admission. Factors such as increased longevity and the 1890s economic depression saw many families unable to care for aged relatives, and with the system of private charity proving inadequate, the Queensland Government was forced to act. [3]
\nIn 1907 Queensland implemented a system of non-contributory age pensions, followed shortly after by the Commonwealth Government, which provided a national system in 1909. The intention of the pension scheme was to provide relief for the aged poor that did not involve the stigma associated with charitable aid, or take away individuals’ freedom. The age pension was initially 10 shillings a week, available to males and females aged 65 years and over (lowered to 60 years for females in 1910) and to persons aged 60-64 who were permanently incapacitated for work. It was subject to a character and residence test with limitations imposed on income and property.[4]
\nThe site of the Grove Street Pensioners’ Cottages in the Cairns suburb of Parramatta Park has a long history of accommodating poor and aged Cairns residents. It was originally part of a railway reserve, with the first stage of the Cairns railway line (constructed 1886-87) running through it. The railway line was deviated in 1910-11 to its present position on the north-eastern side of Lily Creek, and over the following decades negotiations and disagreements about how to use the former railway land (known as the Martyn Street reserve) took place between Cairns City Council and the State Government.[5]
\nIn 1921 part of the Martyn Street reserve, south of Grove Street, was allocated as a site for old age pensioners to reside.[6] Pensioners’ reserves, where old age pensioners unable to afford other forms of accommodation could build themselves a hut or shelter to live in, existed in many Queensland towns and some suburbs of Brisbane in the early 20th century. Administered by the local authorities, who issued permits to pensioners wishing to reside there, it was a cheap but ultimately inadequate way of housing the poorest members of the community. Self-built huts were not connected to water or electricity and were vulnerable to bad weather and being destroyed by fire. Several pensioners’ reserves existed at different times in Cairns, including one at Bungalow.[7]
\nA proposal to provide better accommodation for Cairns pensioners was considered by Cairns City Council in September 1926, when the Works Committee recommended that three cottages be erected by the council, to be let at a nominal rental to approved local pensioners. An article in the Cairns Post on 27 November 1926 stated that the council had approved the scheme, however whether or not these cottages were constructed is unclear, as shortly afterwards the pensioners were relocated further north within the Martyn Street reserve, to an area on the southern side of Charles Street. By September 1928 this area had been partly fenced and a water source provided. It was here that the pensioners established themselves, living in tents and small self-built huts.[8]
\nBetween 1910 and 1950 the number of old age pensioners in Queensland rose from 8,561 to 45,937. As the population grew and the pension rate failed to keep pace with rising costs of living, pensioners found it increasingly difficult to afford decent accommodation. A Courier Mail article printed in June 1950 summed up the housing plight faced by hundreds of pensioners living a ‘hand to mouth’ existence, with a lack of proper accommodation forcing many of them to live in small rooms with inadequate facilities. Homes for the aged were too few to handle the number of pensioners seeking accommodation, with at least 1000 waiting for admission to homes in the Brisbane area alone.[9]
\nFrom the 1920s the State Government had established institutions for the aged, infirm and/or destitute in different parts of the state. The first purpose-built government home for the aged, named ‘Eventide’, was opened at Charters Towers in 1929, providing accommodation for 150 inmates. Unlike the Dunwich asylum, which housed inmates in large dormitories, Charters Towers inmates were provided with ‘single and double huts, each having its own small garden plot’. In 1945, the Dunwich asylum was closed and the inmates transferred to a former Royal Australia Air Force (RAAF) station at Sandgate. Also named ‘Eventide’, this institution became the principal government aged care facility in southern Queensland. A third ‘Eventide’ was opened in Rockhampton in 1950, offering similar hut accommodation to Charters Towers, arranged within a complex including hospital wards, a workshop/library, a recreation building and kitchen, dining, bathing and laundry facilities.[10]
\nThe alternatives to Government-run institutions were benevolent institutions and homes for the aged run by charities and religious organisations. Early examples were often housed within converted residences, such as at Hanworth Home for the Aged, established in 1913 [QHR 601026].[11] A new type of charitable institution, similar to the Charters Towers ‘Eventide’, was established in 1936 in the Brisbane suburb of Chermside, due to the combined efforts of Methodist social advocate Reverend Harold Wheller and philanthropist/businessman George Marchant. Chermside Garden Settlement consisted of 20 cottages in a garden setting, with communal dining room and laundry buildings, and grew rapidly to include a chapel, bowling green and a further nine cottages within four years.[12]
\nDespite the growing number of facilities available, in the mid-20th century there were still not enough places to accommodate all pensioners in need, and the regulated lifestyle offered by institutions did not appeal to able-bodied pensioners who wished to live independently. To encourage the construction of more affordable housing for pensioners, in 1945 the Queensland Department of Health and Home Affairs implemented a state-wide scheme to assist local authorities with constructing cottages. The scheme offered a pound-for-pound subsidy and, where necessary, made loan money available. The cottages were intended for pensioners who were able to care for themselves and desired to live independently in their local districts. The grant of the subsidy was subject to approval by Cabinet, and it was the responsibility of the local authority to secure the site, prepare plans and erect and maintain the cottages.[13]
\nBy September 1953, cottages had been built at Innisfail (11 units), Cloncurry (6 cottages), Inglewood (1 cottage), Texas (1 cottage), Warwick (8 cottages), Toowoomba (22 units), Mareeba (10 cottages), Ipswich (12 units), and Mackay (12 cottages under construction).[14] Other towns known to have carried cottage schemes through to completion include Maryborough, Atherton, Bowen and Blackall.[15] The types of accommodation constructed varied. In Toowoomba, eleven timber United States army buildings were relocated to West Street and converted into duplex cottages, each housing two couples. This was one of the first schemes completed, with units available from December 1947.[16] In Innisfail, fibro-clad single and double units, and one four-unit cottage for women only, were built in different locations in the town so that the pensioners would be ‘part of the normal fellowship of suburban life.’[17] In Mackay, a ‘model settlement’ of 12 cottages and a communal laundry was designed by architect Karl Langer, built in a low, bungalow style serviced by a winding road.[18] In Cloncurry, six rectangular, concrete and brick cottages were constructed in a row on the edge of town.[19] While in Brassall, Ipswich, six double units, with tiled roofs and brick chimneys, were completed in 1953, each unit containing a bedroom, living room, kitchen, bathroom and verandah.[20] Cottages were let for an affordable rent, and pensioners interested in occupying them made an application to the local authority. Some schemes only permitted all males or all females to reside there, while others provided for mixed groups and married couples.
\nNot all proposed cottages schemes went ahead as planned and local authorities had different views about the concept. In Barcaldine, a scheme to build 6 cottages did not progress due to building costs and the unwillingness of local pensioners to pay rent for them.[21] In Bowen, the Town Council was forced to defer building their ‘model village’ for years due to delays in obtaining approvals and rapidly rising construction costs, with only three out of six planned cottages eventually built in c1954.[22] While in Townsville, the City Council stated the opinion that homes for the aged were a better system than pensioners’ cottages, and that the Federal Government’s Social Service Fund were the proper authority to fulfil the obligation to house pensioners.[23]
\nIn Cairns, lobbying on behalf of local pensioners began in 1947, when a branch of the Australian Pensioners’ League (APL) was formed in July.[24] The League played an important role in improving the living conditions of Queensland pensioners by lobbying local, state and federal governments on issues such as raising the minimum pension rate, abolishing the means test, and improving social benefits. One of the first acts of the Cairns branch of the APL was to request that Cairns City Council have the Martyn Street reserve officially gazetted as a Reserve for Pensioners’ Homes, which took place on 4 September 1948. The reserve, of approximately 2.9ha, was bounded by Grove Street to the southeast, Lily Creek to the northeast, Charles Street to the northwest, and private properties to the southwest.[25]
\nThe following year, in December 1949, a deputation of the Cairns branches of the APL and the Australian Labor Party requested that Cairns City Council erect cottages for single and married pensioners on the reserve that could be let for a nominal rental. In arguing their case, the deputation pointed out the poor living conditions of the pensioners currently occupying the reserve, and stood up for the rights of Cairns pensioners to stay residing in the area, rather than relocating to a state-run institution in another region. In response, the Mayor of Cairns stated that council had already begun investigating costs and would consider the matter when more information was available.[26]
\nProgress towards constructing the cottages was slow. In mid-1950 a deputation of the Cairns Pensioners’ League approached the Member for Cook, Mr C F Wordsworth, who wrote to the Cairns City Council urging them to take action, saying: ‘These elderly people are living under conditions unworthy of a city the size of Cairns. They are not seeking charity but feel entitled to the provision of huts and lighting on a rental basis. Such facilities have been provided for pensioners at Mareeba.’ The Mayor, Ald W H Murchison, replied that an amount for a cottage scheme had been placed on the council’s loan budget, and in December 1950 the council passed a resolution to borrow £1500 for erecting six cottages.[27]
\nApproval for this loan and the £1500 state government subsidy was granted in February 1951, and the Mayor announced that tenders for erecting the cottages would be called shortly. Plans were prepared and submitted to the Department of Public Works for approval. However, the Department’s objections to aspects of the cottage design delayed progress for over a year. A frustrated Cairns Mayor, Ald W J Fulton, defended the cottage plans, explaining that the designs were based on those of the Anderson Street diggers’ homes, which had been found very satisfactory.[28]
\nThe diggers’ homes scheme that provided a basis for the pensioners’ cottage designs was undertaken by the Cairns and District branch of the Returned Sailors’ and Soldiers’ Imperial League of Australia (RSSILA) in 1937. Built to house ‘burnt-out’ former soldiers, the scheme comprised six small timber cottages, fully furnished with electricity, water and space for gardens, erected in a row off Anderson Street. The site also included a community hall and a communal bathroom. The scheme was funded by public donations and the land was donated by the Mayor, Ald W A Collins.[29]
\nThe Mareeba pensioners’ cottages scheme referred to by Wordsworth had been constructed in 1950. Consisting of ten cottages in a row (two for married couples, eight for single occupants) the Mareeba scheme was held up by advocates of the proposed Cairns scheme as a good model to follow.[30] Neither the diggers’ homes nor the Mareeba cottages survive today.
\nIn early 1953, after resolving the various design and loan issues with the State Government, Cairns City Council commenced work on the Grove Street cottages. The approved plans and specifications, dated October 1952, were for small, individual cottages containing two rooms - a kitchen and bedroom - each 10 by 8 feet (3m by 2.4m), as well as a stove recess and an 8 by 5 feet (2.4m by 1.5m) front verandah. They were to be timber-framed, clad in chamferboards with a gable roof clad in corrugated asbestos cement sheeting. Standing on low concrete stumps, access was to be via front and rear timber stairs. Internally, floors were to be of hardwood, walls and partitions lined with plywood, and the ceilings and stove recesses lined with fibrous cement sheeting. Joinery consisted of framed, ledged and braced timber doors, timber casement windows with ‘obscured fancy glass’, and glass louvres to the stove recesses. The cottages were to be laid out in a crescent formation, with plenty of space for gardens at the front and rear. Two earth closets and a laundry/shower block were to be located behind the cottages.[31]
\nThe site for the cottages was facing Grove Street at the southern end of the pensioners’ reserve, away from the existing pensioners’ huts. Construction of the cottages took place in stages, with the first cottage (the centre cottage today), one laundry block and one earth closet completed by November 1953. In April 1954, a contract to construct four cottages (two each on either side of the existing cottage) and one earth closet was signed by contractor L Davey and the work was likely undertaken in late 1954. In September 1954, Cairns City Council announced its intention to borrow an additional £500 to defray the cost of erecting the pensioners’ cottages.[32]
\nAerial photographs show the remaining three cottages (one at either end of the crescent and one set behind at the southwest end) and laundry building at Grove Street were built after May 1957, concurrent with a second pensioners’ cottages scheme being constructed in Cairns for women and married couples, located in Pease Street. The Pease Street site was first investigated by council in early 1954, and construction of the first stage of pensioners’ cottages commenced there in late 1956. Cairns City Council meeting minute books from 1955 to 1958 refer to applications for additional loans (with matching subsidies from the state government) and the use of day labour to erect pensioner cottages, but there is no distinction made between the two sites. The Grove Street site was likely completed in 1958, comprising a total of eight cottages, seven of which were arranged in a crescent and linked by a curved driveway; two laundry buildings; and two earth closets. The Pease Street site grew to comprise 15 cottages, arranged in two straight rows; and an unknown number of outbuildings.[33]
\nAs the first pensioners’ cottages to be built in Cairns, the Grove Street cottages set the pattern for further pensioner housing to be built in the region. The cottages constructed in Pease Street followed the same plan, with a larger version for married couples. In 1954, Mulgrave Shire Council invited tenders for a single pensioners’ cottage each at Yorkeys Knob, Gordonvale, Babinda and Bramston Beach, with the design to be similar to those being erected in Cairns. Mulgrave Shire Council went on to tender for construction of cottages at Machans Beach and Edmonton in 1957. None of the Mulgrave Shire cottages survive today.[34]
\nAccommodation at the Grove Street reserve was increased substantially during the 1970s and 80s, when the remainder of the reserve land between Grove and Charles streets was subdivided and developed in stages by the Queensland Housing Commission. These developments took the form of long blocks of single storey units in a garden setting.[35]
\nThe gardens surrounding the Grove Street pensioners’ cottages varied in use and layout over the decades, and by the 1970s included clusters of large trees at the western end of the site. In 1989 Cairns City Council added a plaque to the front gardens in line with cottage 4 (the centre cottage), dedicated to former resident Keron Glendon, who ‘established this garden and caringly tended it for 14 years’. In 2017, surviving trees and shrubs from Glendon’s garden remain near the plaque.[36]
\nOf the many pensioners’ cottages schemes built in Queensland in the 1940s and 50s, most have been demolished or replaced by more modern accommodation. Known surviving schemes include: Toowoomba (9 out of 11 duplex cottages); Brassall, Ipswich (original 6 duplex units); Blackall (original 4 cottages); Warwick (original 4 single and 2 duplex cottages); Atherton (original 2 cottages); Pease Street, Cairns (7 out of 15 cottages – 3 single cottages, 4 married couples’ cottages, some relocated on site) and Grove Street, Cairns (original 8 single cottages).[37]
\nThe Grove Street cottages remain in their original layout surrounded by gardens and mature trees, and have undergone some alterations and additions over the decades. In the 1980s a bathroom extension was added to the rear of the bedroom of each cottage, and the front verandahs were enclosed. The laundry/shower blocks were subsequently used for storage, and have recently been demolished. All cottages had their roof sheeting replaced by 1990 and the exterior walls have been covered with vinyl panels replicating timber boards. Other additions include roof ventilators and security screens. In 2017, most of the Grove Street Pensioners’ Cottages continue to be occupied by elderly pensioners and the site remains under the trusteeship of Cairns Regional Council.[38]
","criteria":"The Grove Street Pensioners’ Cottages, constructed from 1953 to c1958, are important in demonstrating the widespread movement to provide affordable housing for old aged pensioners in the 1940s-50s in Queensland. Pensioners’ Cottages schemes, which were built by local authorities with the aid of a State Government subsidy offered from 1945, were an important social welfare initiative that allowed pensioners to lead independent lives in their local districts, and were an alternative to aged care homes and institutions.
\nThe Grove Street cottages were the first of their type to be built in Cairns and are important surviving evidence of a largely intact pensioners’ cottages scheme.
|The Grove Street Pensioners’ Cottages are an excellent and largely intact example of a pensioners’ cottage scheme, and are important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of this type of affordable, independent accommodation constructed for aged pensioners in the 1940s and 50s. This class of place comprises multiple, small, single or duplex residences of few rooms, of similar or identical appearance and with a simple plan form, arranged on a single site with open space for gardens, and often including communal laundry and/or bathroom facilities.
\nThe Grove Street site retains its original layout of eight single cottages in a spacious garden setting, connected by a curved driveway. The cottages retain their identical external appearance, original form and plan layout, and most original joinery and materials, with some alterations and additions over time.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D","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"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":3074,"place_ref":602825,"name":"Oribin Studio","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"16 Heavey Crescent","suburb":"WHITFIELD","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2013-10-11","description":"The Oribin Studio stands in the south-west corner of a long wedge-shaped block, with a sharply angled front boundary along Heavey Crescent. A creek flows through the property from behind the studio to the south-east corner before passing beneath Heavey Crescent. A temporary timber bridge crossed the creek in 2012, with the rear portion of the property remaining open lawn fringed by vegetation. The block slopes gently down from the rear northern boundary towards the creek, then slopes up towards the road. To the west is the large estate of a private residence, to the north-east is Oribin's first house, while to the east on the corner of Heavey Crescent and Mullins Street is a two-storey residence. All surrounding properties are heavily vegetated. A gravelled driveway area has been created on the eastern side of the studio, while stones and large boulders form garden beds between the studio and the street. The main entrance is along the western wall, while a timber deck at the eastern corner provides access through a 1980s extension to the north-east side.
The studio is diamond-shaped in plan with the central axis orientated north-west to south-east. The interior layout consists of a living room at the front, a bathroom and storage to the rear, and a kitchen and dining area in the 1980s extension. A room on the lower level has been used as a bedroom, and the remaining underfloor area is used as a laundry and additional storage space.
The base of the studio is constructed from rough-cast concrete and stone walls, with later weatherboard walls and timber screens enclosing most of the formerly open space beneath the cantilevered studio. The remaining floor, wall and roof structures are constructed primarily of timber.
On the upper level, the symmetrical front walls consist of two main elements: a weatherboard-clad ‘prow' at the base, and inward-sloping angled glazed walls. Constructed from diagonal timber rails and long sheets of clear glass, the weight of the roof is supported by round metal posts standing behind the facade, allowing the glazed walls to support themselves with no vertical mullions. These walls turn the corner at each end, with ornamental red panels filling the gap between the end of the glazed walls, the ceiling and the side walls.
Of the two original side walls, which angle outwards from their base and converge to a sharp point at the rear corner of the studio, the western wall remains the most intact. The lower portion is clad in timber weatherboards with pairs of casement windows occupying the upper portion to ceiling height. Containing no glass, the windows are enclosed by plywood shutters ornamented with triangular pieces of timber and secured from the inside. Each shutter has an angled top to accommodate an upside-down triangular fanlight of yellow patterned glass above each pair. Timber rafters supporting the roof are exposed on the underside of the plasterboard-clad eaves, with the ends cut away in a zigzag pattern. Where the rafters pierce the wall structure, the gap beneath is in-filled with yellow patterned glass and triangular timber wedges. A triangular light fitting remains over the main entrance door.
The north-eastern side wall is now an internal wall, with one of the former casement windows now a doorway, the shutters removed, and the rear two bays enclosed. The triangular fanlight pattern has been replicated in timber on the exterior wall of the 1980s extension, but does not contain glass.
The sharply angled rear corner of the studio has windows similar to the front glazed walls, with horizontal timber rails and supported by a round metal post set back from the corner.
The ridgeline of the gable roof, which is clad in corrugated metal sheeting, follows the central axis of the studio, ascending from the rear corner to its highest peak over the front glazed walls. The timber rafters are exposed on the interior, running perpendicular to the side walls.
On the interior, the floor of the main room is tiled and ceilings and most walls are lined with flat plasterboard sheeting. Dividing the large front living room from the rear bathroom is a v-shaped concrete wall of the same finish and materials as the base structure. The bathroom contains recent fixtures and fittings.
The main roof has been extended over the 1980s extension, which is positioned a few steps below the main studio level. The end walls of the kitchen have timber doors set within a glass and timber screen that contains a different type of yellow patterned glass to that used for the original studio. The decks at either end of the extension are constructed from timber with timber balustrades. The extension and decks are not considered to be of cultural heritage significance.
Along the western side of the studio is a covered pergola that is a replacement of an earlier open timber pergola. A stone paved floor and low retaining walls line the western edge of the studio, including original triangular garden beds of rough-cast concrete. At the southern end, a series of concrete steps and retaining walls lead down to the underfloor area. One of the concrete walls of the base structure has three diamond shaped openings enclosed with removable timber blocks.
Changes to the studio over time include the loss of original timber desk joinery, the addition of timber sunscreens attached to the front glazed walls, and installation of security and fly screens to the windows. The loss of some original panes of yellow patterned glass has resulted in replacement panes of different hues and patterns.
Despite its small size, the studio is a landmark building in the street, standing out against a backdrop of tropical vegetation.
","history":"The Oribin Studio was designed in 1960 by Cairns architect Edwin Henry (Eddie) Oribin for himself as his architectural drawing office, from where he ran his practice between 1960 and 1973.[1] Located in the post-World War II suburb of Whitfield in Cairns, the studio is a small two-storey structure addressing Heavey Crescent, surrounded by tropical vegetation and a small creek which runs through the property. Together with Oribin's first house (1958), which he designed for himself on the same property, these two buildings signalled the beginning of Oribin's residential work,[2] which was characterised by experimentation with innovative forms, structures, materials and techniques for dealing with the tropical climate of far north Queensland. The design of the studio displays the influence of the works and philosophies of Frank Lloyd Wright, an internationally renowned American architect who had a profound impact on generations of architects.
\nEdwin Henry (Eddie) Oribin was born in Cairns in 1927. As a teenager during World War II, he spent time in Brisbane where he obtained work with the Allison Aircraft Division of General Motors rebuilding aircraft engines. Returning to Cairns in 1944, Oribin commenced architectural training with Sid G Barnes, Chief Architect of the Allied Works Council for North Queensland, whose training gave Oribin a solid grounding in structural design and construction. In 1950 Oribin moved to Brisbane to work and study, and on 10 February 1953 he obtained his registration as an architect in Queensland, returning to Cairns the following month to begin a partnership with Barnes. This partnership lasted until Barnes' death in 1959, after which Oribin continued practicing on his own.[3]
\nOribin undertook a wide range of work in north Queensland between 1953 and 1973.[4] Throughout his career, he was devoted to experimenting with different structural and aesthetic ideas, drawing inspiration from a wide variety of Australian and international publications. Characteristics of Oribin's work included meticulous detailing, structural creativity and concern for the modulation of light.[5] He was also known for his model- making skills and superb craftsmanship, often creating objects himself.[6]
\nThe city of Cairns in tropical far north Queensland was established as a port in 1876. Located on the banks of Trinity Inlet, the early growth and development of the town was restricted by its topography, which consisted of large areas of low-lying swamp land encircled by mountains. Substantial reclamation of sand dunes and swamps took place over the decades to allow the township to expand.[7] After the disruption of World War II, post-war optimism saw suburban development increase and the population grow to over 25,000 people by 1961.[8]
\nIn the late 1950s Oribin chose to construct his first house (and later studio) in a new post-war suburban area on the slopes of Mt Whitfield, north-west of the Cairns CBD. This land, encompassing most of the present-day suburbs of Whitfield and Edge Hill, was first surveyed in 1883.[9] Separated from the main township by low-lying swamp land, the lower slopes of Mt Whitfield were one of the few elevated areas of land available in Cairns, with views over Trinity Bay. Over time, the area was developed as agricultural land and sugarcane farms.[10] One of these farms was owned by William Collins (Mayor of Cairns from 1927 to 1949), who built a large house known as Sylvan Brook on a hill.[11] From the 1950s the Collins' land was subdivided in stages for housing development and in 1973 the suburb of Whitfield was formally declared.[12]
\nIn late 1957 Eddie Oribin and his wife Joyce purchased two adjoining lots in a new subdivision,[13] one of which had several unusual features, being much larger in size than neighbouring lots and irregularly shaped, with an acutely angled corner at the intersection of Heavey and Mullins streets. A small creek protected by an easement ran through the property, cutting off the south-western corner. These site conditions played a key role in determining the siting and orientation of the house (constructed in 1958) and studio.
\nAs an architect and designer, Oribin was particularly influenced by the works of Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959), a famous and widely published American architect who practiced from the late 1880s until his death in 1959. Over his long career, Wright had a major influence on American architecture and designed some of its most famous buildings, such as the Robie House, Chicago (1908-10), Falling Water, Pennsylvania (1937-39) and the Guggenheim Museum, New York (1959). He is also famous for his leading role in developing the Prairie School style and his ideas about ‘organic' architecture.[14] Organic architecture can be briefly defined as an architecture that is both visually and environmentally compatible, closely integrated with the site, and which reflects the architect's concern with the processes of nature and the forms they produce.[15] Buildings designed to this philosophy made use of local materials, responded to the local topography and climate to produce comfortable conditions, and were organised so as to form an organic, integrated whole.[16]
\nThrough publications such as newspapers and architecture journals, Wright's influence spread around the world. Early proponents of his style in Australia were Chicago-based architects Walter Burley Griffin and his wife Marion Mahoney Griffin, famous for winning the international competition to design the city of Canberra (1912), who had worked for Frank Lloyd Wright in America.[17] Several young Australian architects influenced by Wright were designing in an organic idiom in the 1950s, particularly in the southern states, but it was not until the 1960s that there were enough examples of organic architecture for an organic style to be discernible in Australia.[18] A 1969 journal article, which included Oribin's first house as an example, displayed the wide variety of forms, materials and interpretations of organic philosophy that were employed by Australian architects, with features such as clearly expressed timber structure, textured brickwork, free massing and complex geometries that complemented natural elements of the site.[19]
\nIn 1959 Oribin designed a studio separate from his house from which to run his solo architecture practice. Like his first house, designing the studio was an opportunity for Oribin to put into practice his most creative and technical ambitions and create a working environment that suited his needs, with a large, well lit office and service and storage areas. In common with other architect's personal projects, the studio was also a showpiece of Oribin's skills and design philosophies.[20]
\nConstruction was completed in 1960 and the studio served as Oribin's personal drawing office until 1973.[21] Located on the opposite side of the creek in the south-west corner of the property, the studio was a small, two-storey timber and concrete building, accessed by a timber walkway connecting it to the house. The studio layout consisted of a two rooms on the upper floor that were used as the drawing office, with built-in desks lining the edges of the main south-east facing glazed walls. The ground floor was partially enclosed with concrete walls and used as a carport.[22]
\nThe design of the studio was greatly influenced by the works of Frank Lloyd Wright, in particular by his Unitarian Meeting House (1947-51), built for the First Unitarian Society in Madison, Wisconsin.[23] The inspiration for the meeting house design is said to have been the shape of hands folded in prayer.[24] Sited on a knoll in a rolling, partially wooded setting overlooking farmland, Wright used broad sweeping lines and natural materials, including rough-faced stonework, to help integrate the church with surrounding nature. The traditionally separate elements of spire, sanctuary and parish hall were amalgamated into one unbroken space, with the spire becoming a great, upward sweeping, glass-enclosed prow. A triangular module was used to order the plan and deep overhangs on all sides shielded the large windows from direct sun.[25] In recognition of its innovative design, the Meeting House was placed on the United States ‘National Register of Historic Places' in 1973.[26]
\nDrawing inspiration from Wright, Oribin adapted the Meeting House concept to the site and the Cairns climate, utilising local materials. Like Wright's design, the studio was designed to a triangular module, in this case using a 30º/60º grid that fans out towards the south-east.[27] The building was raised up on a concrete and stone base, above the potential flood levels of the adjacent creek, with the access walkway from the house passing beneath the cantilevered studio and up a series of concrete steps on the southern and western sides. The heaviness of the concrete structure, which features large random stones, provided a visual anchor to the soaring characteristics of the studio above. Glazed walls with diagonal glazing bars angled back from a weatherboard 'prow' and a sheet metal-clad roof with pointed ends and deep eaves sailed over the whole structure. Side casement windows, protected by shutters, provided cross-ventilation and surrounding trees and vegetation helped shade the studio as they grew. The glazed walls of the drawing office provided good, consistent daylight and views towards the house and Heavey Crescent.[28]
\nOther Oribin buildings that display a similar angular ‘Wrightian' influence upon their design are two of his churches, the Mareeba Methodist Church (1960) and St Andrew's Memorial Presbyterian Church, Innisfail (1960, QHR 602332); both are highly detailed, utilise unusual and creative structural methods, and carry through triangle and diamond motifs to all aspects of the design.[29]
\nDuring Oribin's years working from the studio he designed many houses for clients in the suburbs surrounding Mt Whitfield, each very different in structure and form.[30] He also designed a library in the suburb of Stratford (1969, demolished c2008), two motel projects, including the Hides Hotel-Motel extension in Lake Street, Cairns (1967), and several large commercial projects in collaboration with other architects, such as the Cairns Civic Theatre (1972-74).[31]
\nIn 1971 the Oribins subdivided their property into three lots; one lot containing the house, another the studio, and a third was created from the vacant land on the corner of Mullins Street and Heavey Crescent.[32] These were sold between 1972 and 1973. Oribin closed his architecture practice in 1973[33] and the family moved into a new house designed by Oribin at Edge Hill, completed in 1974.[34]
\nOver time, the original connection between Oribin's first house and the studio has been obscured by the construction of a residence on the corner lot, the removal of the original bridge walkway and the growth of trees and vegetation on the site. Changes to the studio include the removal of the original desk joinery in the main room and the installation of a bathroom. A 1980s extension contains a kitchen, and a timber deck and stairs have been added to the eastern corner. The lower level has been enclosed with weatherboards to provide additional accommodation. Timber fins attached to the glazed wall were added to provide additional sun protection and privacy. The studio is used as a private residence in 2013.
\nOribin's significant contribution to Queensland architecture was recognised by the Queensland Chapter of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects in 2000, when the new ‘Building of the Year' award for the Far North Region was named in his honour.[35] In 2013 the Oribin House and Studio received the ‘Enduring Architecture Award' at the Australian Institute of Architects' Queensland Architecture Awards.[36]
","criteria":"The Oribin Studio (1960) is a definitive work of Edwin Henry (Eddie) Oribin, providing a valuable insight into the life and work of a significant Queensland architect, who produced a range of innovative and unique buildings in north Queensland between 1953 and 1973. Built in close proximity to the first house he designed for himself, the studio demonstrates the evolution of Oribin's skills and design philosophies in the early stages of his career. Oribin's contribution to Queensland architecture is recognised by the Australian Institute of Architects' establishment of the Eddie Oribin Building of the Year Award for the Far North Queensland region.
The studio is important in demonstrating the influence of international architectural trends upon Australian architects in the mid-20th century, in particular the concept of organic architecture promoted by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959).
|The Oribin Studio retains the characteristics of an architect's office, including a large, well-lit working space and service and storage areas. Designing the studio for himself, provided Oribin an opportunity to realise his most creative and technical ambitions.
The creativity, craftsmanship and attention to detail evident in the studio's design are characteristic of the works of Oribin, whose buildings are remarkable for their geometrical complexities, unconventional roof forms, innovative use of materials and structural systems, and manipulation of natural light and ventilation.
|The Oribin Studio has aesthetic significance for its picturesque attributes as a building of exceptional architectural quality nestled amidst tropical gardens on the bank of a small creek. Extensive glazing, intricate timberwork and wide eaves accentuate the tropical character of the building, while the folded planes and sharp lines of the upper portion give the building the impression of reaching to the sky, in contrast to the solid concrete base anchoring it to the ground.
|The Oribin Studio is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative achievement utilising unusual structural methods and sculptural form to produce a compact yet highly complex design in harmony with the climate and its surrounds. The front angled glazed walls of the studio are particularly remarkable for their aesthetic treatment. At the 2013 Queensland Architecture awards, the studio and adjacent house were awarded the ‘Enduring Architecture Award' by the Australian Institute of Architects.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion F","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"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15151,"place_ref":600376,"name":"Cairns Court House Complex","alternate_name":"Cairns Court House and Art Gallery (former Public Offices); Cairns Courthouse; Former Public Curator's Office","street_address":"38 - 40 Abbott Street","suburb":"CAIRNS","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"This complex, consisting of the Court House, Art Gallery and Abbott Street gardens, is located on the eastern corner of Abbott and Shields Streets within the Cairns central business district.
Court House
The Court House is a single-storeyed rendered masonry building, with a hipped corrugated iron roof, fronting the Abbott Street gardens to the southwest. The building is T-shaped in plan, with offices and subsidiary court rooms forming the western wing and the main court room forming the eastern wing.
The central entrance of the western wing has a recessed porch with a slightly projecting facade surmounted by a stepped parapet with a curved pediment, cornice and a lion and unicorn crest. This is supported by two columns flanked by pilasters and a section of concrete balustrade to either side. The southwest facade comprises a series of triple window units separated by pilasters with an expressed base, jettied eaves and deep sills. Each window unit has a double casement with a single casement either side and panelled hoppers above. An extra bay has been added to the north and south ends providing chambers and toilet facilities.
This wing contains a central entry corridor flanked by offices with a court room to either side and chambers beyond these. Throughout this wing walls are rendered, suspended ceilings have been inserted and the original layout of spaces has been altered.
The central entrance of the eastern wing has a recessed porch with twin paired columns flanked by a single column to either side. The northwest facade has a double casement, with a panelled hopper above, to either side of the central porch and stepped parapets are located midway in the hipped roof revealing the corners of the main court room.
Verandahs are located on the southeast, northwest and between the eastern and western wings. These have timber posts on masonry upstands with timber batten balustrade between, arched timber valance, raked boarded ceilings and timber floors. Arched panelled windows with central hopper sections, lighting the main court room, are located above the verandah line with deep curved timber eave brackets. Below these are french doors, with panelled glass upper portions and hopper fanlights, and casement windows opening onto the verandah.
Internally, the main court room contains silky oak fittings including the Judge's bench, which sits on a raised platform with a lion and unicorn crest on the wall behind, the prisoner's dock, jury and press seating and gallery rail. French doors and casement windows are separated by plaster pilasters with cornices above. At the eastern end, former witness rooms are located on either side of main court room. The northern room contains a hardboard ceiling with timber cover strips and the southern room has had an extension to the south to provide toilet facilities.
A row of palm trees is located to the northeast of the building lining the driveway from The Esplanade. To the west of this building is the Art Gallery.
Art Gallery
The Art Gallery, a two-storeyed masonry structure with a corrugated iron gable roof, is located on the eastern corner of the site fronting Abbott and Shields Streets.
This Georgian Revival building was designed to be extended to the northeast along the Shields Street frontage, with a repeat of the portico on the western end of that facade, but this extension has never occurred. The building has glazed bricks with rendered quoining and opening surrounds.
The symmetrical Abbott Street elevation, forming the main entry, consists of an Ionic central distyle in antis portico (receding into the building with two columns flanked by pilasters) on a rendered base with a circular window in the pediment. The recessed portico has a first floor balcony, with metal balustrade, off which open arched doorways and sash windows. The ground floor has a terrazzo portico floor and a central entry with rendered voussoir, with an arched window to either side which contain more recent aluminium framed glazing. The first floor has a casement window to either side of the portico.
The Shields Street elevation has a corner section similar to the Abbott Street elevation, but with a narrower portico forming a secondary entry and smaller arched windows to either side. The southern elevation, fronting the park, is similar again, but the ground floor portico is enclosed with an arched window, and the first floor has a recessed balcony.
The eastern wing is narrower than the corner section, with a columned two-storeyed verandah to both the northern and southern sides. French doors open off the first floor verandahs, and the ground floor has patterned terrazzo floors and a central entry with rendered voussoir on the northern side. The eastern elevation is rendered, with arched casement windows to the ground floor.
Internally, the ground floor corner section of the building contains a central open space with a room to each corner which frame the porticos between. The western corner room contains an enclosed staircase which has a terrazzo floor and stair, an iron balustrade, timber panelled walls and a window display cabinet to Abbott Street. The remaining corner rooms are used as display spaces, of which the eastern and southern rooms have timber panelled walls and the northern room has a barred window from its use as a strong room. The central space has four large columns, a plastered coffered ceiling, sections of timber and glass partitioning, some timber panelling, a timber counter, sections of terrazzo flooring and arched leaded fanlights. The first floor corner section is similar in plan and finishes, but has toilets located in the eastern corner room and none of its timber and glass partitions survive.
The eastern wing contains a central entry with vestibule and staircase, with offices to either side and a corridor leading to the corner section of the building. The entry has double timber doors with an arched leaded fanlight, timber panelling, timber reception with pilasters and entablature, moulded plaster ceilings and a patterned terrazzo floor leading to the staircase. The staircase has a terrazzo stair, iron balustrading and timber panelling. Timber doors with leaded glass panels and arched fanlights lead into the administration offices at the eastern end, which have suspended ceilings and air conditioning, and to the corridor leading to the corner gallery at the western end. Offices opening off this corridor, now used as storerooms, contain timber shelving and suspended ceilings. The first floor contains service rooms at the eastern end, with display spaces towards the western corner section. An arch which originally accessed a passage at the top of the stair leading to the northwest verandah has been closed in.
To the east of this building is the Court House, with the Abbott Street gardens to the southeast.
Abbott Street Gardens
The Abbott Street gardens form the southwest entry to the court house. These consist of a series of sinuous concrete paths and concrete edgings enclosing areas of lawn with clusters of plants. Palm trees are strategically located within the lawn areas, with a row forming a border to Abbott Street.
","history":"The former Cairns Court House [erected 1919-21] and the Art Gallery former Public Offices [erected 1934-36] are located on a 2 acre site reserved since 1876 for police purposes. Both buildings were erected during the years between the First and Second World Wars, the third major phase of Cairns' development, at which time the city's status as the principal port of Far North Queensland was consolidated, and the city centre virtually re-built. Both are substantial masonry buildings, whose construction reflected State Government confidence in the growth of Cairns as an important regional centre during the interwar period.
Cairns was established officially in October 1876, as a port to service the newly discovered Hodgkinson goldfields. In this first phase of Cairns' development there was a small flurry of building activity [mostly shanties and tent houses], but the town competed with both Cooktown and Port Douglas for the Hodgkinson trade, and made little progress until the establishment of a local sugar industry and the opening up of the Atherton Tablelands' mineral fields, in the early 1880s. The 1885 announcement that Cairns was to be the terminus for the Herberton railway established the town as the principal port in the region. These boosts to the local economy in the 1880s generated a second building and development phase, during which the early temporary structures were replaced by more substantial timber buildings.
Whilst a number of masonry commercial buildings were erected in Cairns in the years immediately preceding the First World War, the third major phase of Cairns' development was during the 1920s and 1930s. The Cairns hinterland Soldier Settlement Schemes of the 1920s, the completion of the rail link to Brisbane in 1924, the extensive re-building necessitated by a spate of cyclones in the 1920s, and the poor condition of earlier timber structures, combined to produce unprecedented building activity in Cairns. The city centre in particular is dominated by masonry structures of the 1920s and 1930s, and in this respect is markedly different from other Queensland towns and cites. Reinforced concrete was the preferred building material, but the State Government chose to erect the important Public Offices in brick.
Court House
The 1919-21 building was the third court house erected in Cairns. An 1878 marine survey of Cairns harbour indicates that the first court house was located on the customs reserve, and may have shared the same premises as the first customs house. This probably was the temporary court house erected by the Works Department in Cairns in December 1877.
The 'temporary' courthouse remained in use for several years, but was replaced during the second phase of Cairns' development. In 1883 the Works Department prepared plans for a more substantial timber court house, which was erected in 1884 on the Esplanade, but facing Abbott Street, on the police reserve. At the time, it was considered to be very fine, the best erected building in Cairns, both in so far as appearance and design as well as in construction [Cairns Post 3 July1884:2:4]. By 1890, however, the local court had outgrown its court house, and the building was in a state of disrepair. Despite repeated comment from public and judicial circles alike that the court house at Cairns was the worst on the circuit, it was not replaced until the present building was completed late in 1921.
In 1917, AB Brady, Government Architect and Under Secretary for Public Works, finally acknowledged that the Cairns Court House was beyond renovation and that a new building was necessary. Plans were prepared in the government architect's office in 1918, working drawings were completed by January 1919, tenders for the supply of materials were called early in 1919, and construction was commenced in May that year. As a post-First World War initiative by the state government to create employment for returned servicemen, the new court house at Cairns was constructed using day labour, under the supervision of the District Foreman of Works, EJ Oakley. The construction period stretched over two and a half years, with the Cairns community attributing the slow progress of the building to the use of day labour.
Some of the joinery was made in government workshops in Brisbane and shipped to Cairns, but the remainder of the timber used in the construction was secured from the Cairns hinterland. Particularly impressive were the silky oak fittings in the court room. The roof was of fibrous-cement tiles with terracotta ridge capping. This roof was replaced with corrugated fibrous-cement roof sheeting in 1953, at which time the roof ventilators were removed.
By November 1921 the new court house, which had cost over £13,500, was completed, and the court room was used for the first time on 17 January 1922. From this first sitting, it was evident that although the room was well ventilated, the acoustics were poor due to the height of the ceiling. Not until 1959 was the problem rectified, with a false acoustic ceiling fixed to the existing beams.
In 1926, the city's sesqui-centenary year, the Cairns Chamber of Commerce requested that the State Government improve the Court House grounds. In January 1927, the Cairns City Council agreed that their gardener at Edge Hill would lay out the grounds, to include concrete kerbing around the oval in the centre, and garden tile edging. Government approval for funding the project was granted in January 1928, and the gardens were completed by early 1929. Concrete paths were laid in the grounds in 1946, and in 1949/50 the grounds were replanted.
In 1968, the building was extended at a cost of approximately $53,000, with the extentions rendered to match the existing facades, and the roof re-clad with corrugated iron sheeting. The remodelling created a second court room and a magistrate's court.
Former Public Offices [Art Gallery]
In 1929, the State Government Insurance Office [SGIO] requested that part of the Police Reserve at the corner of Shields and Abbott Streets, Cairns, be made available for the erection of a new SGIO office. In 1930, the Government Tourist Bureau submitted an identical request. In February 1933, the Public Service Commissioner reported on the requirements for an office building on the site, which would necessitate the re-location of the Senior Sergeant's Residence and the Tracker's Hut. In the same month, Cabinet approved that the Works Department erect an office building for and at the expense of the SGIO, and sketch plans were completed in April that year. By September 1933, however, the Public Service Commissioner had decided that the government would erected the building with general funding, and rent offices to various government departments.
Construction commenced in 1934, with the plans attributed to architect RC Nowland of the government architect's office. The new building was constructed mainly of hinterland materials, with bricks from Mareeba and joinery from Johnston's Stratford Sawmill. The principal offices and public spaces were wall-panelled and floored with local figured timbers as a promotion for North Queensland timber products. However, the leadlights were supplied by a Brisbane company, and the roof was clad originally with fibrous cement tiles supplied by Hardie & Co.
The new Public Offices occupied a prominent position at the intersection of Abbott and Shields Streets, which contained Cairns' conspicuous First World War memorial (QHR 600378). The building was designed to address both the adjacent court house and the newly established formal court house gardens, and the classical detailing of the facades re-affirmed the power and presence of government in the community. The building also was designed to be extended along Shields Street, with a repeat of the portico on the western end, but this planned extension was never undertaken.
The new Public Offices were completed by late March, 1936, and were opened officially in July that year. They had cost nearly £31,000. The principal ground floor tenant was the SGIO, with the Government Tourist Bureau occupying an office with display windows at the front. Other ground floor tenants included the Land Commission, Agricultural Bank, and Forestry officers. The principal occupant of the first floor was the Public Curator, along with the District Foreman of Works, Inspectors of Weights and Measures, Health, Slaughter Houses, Fruits and Diseases in Plants, and visiting Tax Inspectors and parliamentarians.
Late in 1936, the grounds around the new Public Offices were laid out, with concrete kerbing to match that in the court house gardens, and the lawn extended to the new building.
In the mid-1950s the Government Tourist Bureau and the Department of Agriculture and Stock vacated the building, and the Works Department re-located some offices there in 1957. The SGIO vacated the building in 1969, following which the Public Curator's Office moved to the ground floor, and the Valuer General's Office occupied the whole of the first floor. In mid-1980, the Public Curator's Office vacated the building, following which the interior was remodelled, and the ground floor occupied principally by offices of the Magistrate's Courts. In 1992/93 the building was converted for use as the Cairns City Council's Fine Arts Gallery.
","criteria":"The Cairns Court House Complex survives as an important illustration of the growth and rebuilding of Cairns in the interwar years, when Cairns was transformed from a late 19th century town to a progressive, post-war city. In particular, the place illustrates State Government confidence in Cairns as an important regional centre after the First World War, without which confidence little of the city's spectacular growth at this time would have been possible. The complex has sustained a continued government presence in Cairns since the establishment of the town in 1876, in particular as the site of the Cairns Court House from 1884 to 1992.
|In particular, the place illustrates State Government confidence in Cairns as an important regional centre after the First World War, without which confidence little of the city's spectacular growth at this time would have been possible.
|The Cairns Court House Complex, comprising a single-storeyed masonry Court House and two-storeyed masonry former Public Offices together with established gardens, imbue a formal expression of fine quality interwar public architecture adapted to suit a tropical climate. The classical detailing and interior finishes of the former Public Offices express a high quality of design and workmanship.
|The Cairns Court House Complex survives as an important illustration of the growth and rebuilding of Cairns in the interwar years, when Cairns was transformed from a late 19th century town to a progressive, post-war city.
|The complex has sustained a continued government presence in Cairns since the establishment of the town in 1876, in particular as the site of the Cairns Court House from 1884 to 1992.
","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":15152,"place_ref":600377,"name":"Cairns Customs House (former)","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"6A-8A Abbott Street","suburb":"CAIRNS","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The former customs reserve occupies a 2,656 square metre site at the southern end of the city centre, with frontages to Abbott Street (the principal commercial axis) and the Esplanade.
The buildings on the site include:
1 Former Customs House [1936-37] An inter-war two-storeyed rendered cavity brick building, with hipped terracotta tiled roof. The building is square in plan with a projecting entrance portico and balcony. The entrance facade to Abbott Street is decorated with moulded details that are classically derived including double height pilasters, which rise to a stepped parapet. On the upper level of the Abbott Street elevation all the openings have timber shutters. All the windows and french doors in the building are multi-paned.
Internally the ground floor contains the Long Room and four offices, with the upper floor being residential accommodation of seven principal rooms. All the rooms on both levels open out onto verandahs and balconies. The building contains most of its original finishes and fittings. The Long Room has a decorative moulded plaster cornice and pilasters. All the joinery throughout the building is silky oak.
2 Former Bond Store [c1940] Designed to complement the former Customs House, the former Bond Store is a single-storeyed rendered cavity brick building, with a suspended concrete slab floor and a terracotta tiled roof. The interior has been renovated.
The grounds contain a number of mature shade trees and the site also includes garages and sheds.
","history":"The former Cairns Customs House was erected in 1936-37 by the Commonwealth Department of the Interior, Public Works branch, largely as an employment-generating initiative. It was the third customs house on the site.
The customs reserve at Cairns was the first land surveyed after proclamation of the port of Cairns on 1 November 1876. The reserve of just over 1.2 hectares included the whole of the land bounded by Abbott, Spence and Wharf Streets and the Esplanade.
By July 1877 the first customs buildings were completed at what was then known as Trinity Bay, but the site was not proclaimed a customs reserve [temporary] until 1886. The buildings faced the Esplanade, and included a customs house, bond store and the sub-collector of customs' residence.
In 1889 a new, single-storeyed timber building with a frontage to Abbott Street replaced the first customs house, which was converted to a bond store. In the same year the site was proclaimed a permanent reserve for customs purposes.
At federation, the customs reserve became the property of the Commonwealth, and was occupied by the Department of Trade & Customs. In 1905 it was subdivided into three allotments, two being revested with the state government. Allotment 2, with frontages to the Esplanade and Abbott Street, became customs reserve R.293. This site contained the 1889 customs house and a bond store [1876 customs house]. The latter was extended in the early part of the twentieth century.
The present Customs House was constructed on the site during the large-scale interwar redevelopment of Cairns, in which the city centre was virtually rebuilt. This
building boom was in part a consequence of severe cyclone damage suffered by the city in 1920 and 1927. Also it was a reflection of a developing economy sustained by the introduction of a post-1918 Soldier Settlement Scheme to the Atherton Tableland, and the opening of the rail link between Cairns and Brisbane in 1924. Cairns became the northern terminus of the coastal railway, and functioned as a service town for sugar, mining, maize, dairying, timber and fruit growing.
By the late 1930s, Cairns had become the third largest port in Queensland.
Plans for a two-storeyed masonry customs building were prepared by architect Robert Henry Bowen of Commonwealth Public Works, Queensland, in 1936. The ground floor contained offices, and the upper floor provided residential accommodation for the sub-collector of customs. It was constructed in 1936-37 by local building contractors Watkins & Deal, at a cost of £8,500.
The building was erected on the same Abbott Street site as the preceding customs house, which was relocated to the backyard to provide temporary office accommodation while the new building was being constructed. The 1889 building was removed/demolished at a later date.
Plans for a new bond store on the site were prepared in mid-1939. The first customs house/bond store appears to have been removed to accommodate the new building, which was erected by 1941.
In 1970 the first floor residence in the customs house was vacated to accommodate increased office staff, and in 1989 the customs department removed to a new building in Aplin Street.
Between 1986 and 1991 the bond store was occupied by the Queensland National Parks and Wildlife Service. The site was purchased by Suncorp in 1987.
","criteria":"The former Cairns Customs House is important in demonstrating the evolution and pattern of Cairns' history, the site being associated with the earliest European settlement of the Trinity Bay area and with the development of Cairns as the principal port in far northern Queensland. The present buildings were associated with the administration of customs operations at Cairns for over 50 years.
|The former Cairns Customs House is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of an interwar custom house employing classical motifs.
|The site and buildings are valued for social and historic reasons by the Cairns community, as part of an historic government precinct which includes the adjacent Anzac Memorial Park and reserve R.886.
","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":15153,"place_ref":600378,"name":"Cairns War Memorial","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"The Esplanade","suburb":"CAIRNS","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Cairns War Memorial, facing Trinity Bay to the north-east, is located in a park reserve on the Esplanade near the junction with Florence Street. The WWI monument is located opposite the Cairns RSL at the corner of Florence Street, and is clearly visible from both the road and a walkway along the foreshore. The view from the road, with the WWI monument, a symbol of great sacrifice, juxtaposed against a tranquil, palm-lined setting overlooking the ocean, is particularly evocative. A memorial garden walkway, surrounded by trees and shrubs, is located north-west of the WWI monument.
The WWI monument is square in plan and sits on a stepped concrete platform surrounded by eight concrete bollards and a tapered unpolished granite base. The sandstone pedestal has a recessed block, with leaded marble plates mounted on each face, flanked by red polished granite corner columns. One marble plate contains dedicatory inscriptions only, while the other three include inscriptions and an honour roll of 140 alphabetically arranged men's names, followed by two female nurses' names. Above this is a tapering painted sandstone obelisk with four clock faces, set at 4.28, each side of the rounded apex. The obelisk rests on a deep cornice, above which is the AIF symbol. Surmounting the apex is a sandstone statue of a soldier facing out to sea with head erect, rifle ‘at ease' and a tree stump support; the statue is now painted.
The monument is flanked by a 1940 field gun set on a raised concrete slab to the north and an 1887 naval gun with gun shield, also on a raised concrete slab, to the south-east. The area between the monument and the guns is paved, with lines of bollards, flags and foxtail palms within the paved area. Additional palms, plus lighting, are located outside the paved area.
To the north-west of the 1940 field gun is a small concrete cairn with metal plaques honouring M and Z Special Units of WWII. There is also a metal plaque, set onto a concrete block, dedicated to the 31/51 Australian Infantry battalion (2 AIF), between the WWI monument and the ocean.
North-west of the monument is a memorial garden walkway, aligned south-east to north-west. It includes ten recessed curved bays of rendered concrete blockwork with sandstone capping, each bay including a bronze memorial plaque mounted on a sandstone plinth. The plaques are dedicated to WWII (1939-1945); the Korean War (1950-1953); Malaya and Borneo (1948-1960, 1965-1966); South Vietnam (1962-1973); each of the three armed services; and the Queensland Police, Ambulance, and Fire and Rescue services.
North-west of the memorial garden walkway is a memorial flame artwork, consisting of a stylised metal flame on a circular painted concrete base.
","history":"The Cairns War Memorial is located between the Esplanade and Trinity Bay near Florence Street. It includes a granite, sandstone and marble World War I (WWI) monument with a soldier (or ‘digger') statue; an 1887 naval gun and a 1940 field gun; and a memorial garden walkway with plaques commemorating four post-WWI conflicts, the military services, and emergency service organisations. Initially unveiled in 1926 at the intersection of Abbott Street and Shields Street, the WWI monument was relocated to its current site in 1972. The monument has strong aesthetic and social significance and is part of a pattern of commemoration prevalent across Queensland and Australia after WWI. The later memorials added near the monument represent the common Australian practice of adding post-WWI conflict memorials and plaques to WWI memorial sites, and are also of social significance.
Trinity Bay was chosen as the port for the Hodgkinson goldfield in 1876. The first settlers arrived in October that year and Cairns became a port of entry on 1 November 1876. The founding of Port Douglas in 1877 almost stifled Cairns, as it provided an easier access route to the Hodgkinson. When tin was discovered on the Wild River in 1880, the road from Port Douglas to Herberton was also preferred to the pack tracks from Cairns. However, in September 1884 the government announced Cairns as the preferred terminus for a railway from Herberton to the coast and Cairns' future as the main settlement and port for Far North Queensland was assured. It was declared a municipality in 1885, and the municipal council became a town council in 1903. Cairns was declared a city in 1923 and the following year the coastal rail link from Brisbane to Cairns was completed. During the interwar period the economy of Far North Queensland boomed - thanks to an expanding and subsidised sugar industry, improved transport, and increased tourism. This prosperity was reflected in the city's built environment.
Like all Australian towns and cities, Cairns was affected by the impact of WWI. Of the 330,770 Australians who embarked for overseas service in WWI, 58,961 died and 170,909 were wounded, went missing or became prisoners of war. This meant that around 69% of embarked personnel became casualties - or 21% of eligible Australian males.[1] To 2013, no previous or subsequent war has had such an impact on Australia in terms of loss of life; almost every community in every Australian state lost young people.[2] Even before the end of hostilities, memorials were being erected by Australian communities to honour local people who had served and died. These memorials were a spontaneous and highly visible expression of national grief; substitute graves for the Australians whose bodies lay in battlefield cemeteries in Europe and the Middle East. The word 'cenotaph' literally means 'empty tomb' and was commonly applied to war memorials following its use for the famous Cenotaph at Whitehall, London. Cenotaphs were tapering structures like the London precedent but the term applied generally to war monuments.
WWI memorials took a variety of forms in Australia, including honour boards, stone monuments (including obelisks, soldier statues, arches, crosses, columns or urns), tree-lined memorial avenues, memorial parks, and utilitarian structures such as gates, halls and clocks. In Queensland the soldier statue was the most popular choice of monument, while the obelisk predominated in southern states.[3] The first permanent WWI memorial was unveiled at Balmain, NSW, 23 April 1916, while the first soldier statue's foundation stone was laid at Newcastle, NSW, three weeks before ANZAC Day 1916.[4]
In Queensland, 61 ‘digger' statutes were erected to commemorate WWI, and 59 survive today.[5] The majority of these were carved from sandstone; with other materials being marble or bronze.[6] Monumental masons Andrew L Petrie & Son, of Toowong, supplied more Queensland ‘digger' statues than any other firm, while Melrose & Fenwick, of Townsville, with branches in Charters Towers, Mackay and Cairns, held a virtual monopoly over the north. The firm supplied the diggers at Cairns (1926), Finch Hatton (1921), Gordonvale (1926), Mareeba (1923), Port Douglas (1923) and Sarina (1919). Other monuments by Melrose & Fenwick include an arch and obelisk at Ayr (1925), an obelisk at Babinda, a column and an honour board at Cardwell (separate locations, both in 1922), a cross at Eton, a column at Mackay (1929), and a clock tower at Townsville (1924). [7]
The Cairns soldier statue stands ‘at ease', as do about half of Queensland's statues. The remainder stand in an attitude of mourning - ‘Rest on arms reverse' - while only one, the statue at Atherton, adopts an aggressive stance.[8] [9] All the statues supplied by Melrose & Fenwick stand ‘reverse arms' except for the Cairns statue.
The movement to build a war memorial in Cairns started as early as October 1916, when a collection was taken to form a fund for a permanent memorial, but no further action took place for some years.[10] In early 1919 fundraising began for rest homes for returned men across Queensland, with the proceeds to be divided amongst eight districts, including Cairns.[11] Later that year the Mayor of Cairns, RCF Gelling, discussed possible memorial forms (soldier statue, trees, pavilion or kiosk, honour boards, or a hospital ward) and locations (an intersection, Norman Park, the Esplanade, or ANZAC Park) with the Cairns sub-branch of the Returned Sailors and Soldiers' Imperial League of Australia (RSSILA).[12] ANZAC Park, at the corner of Abbott Street and Spence Street, was gazetted in December 1920, but it wasn't until May 1922 a Cairns Soldiers' War Memorial Committee was formed to raise funds for a memorial to those soldiers of the district who had died.[13] Subscription lists were issued and collectors were appointed for different areas of Cairns.
The Cairns Post regularly publicised a running total of donations from June 1922, but progress was slow. Only £165/5/9 was raised by 7 August 1922, and in September of that year a citizen complained in the Cairns Post that members of the Memorial Committee were ‘waiting for another war, so that the one memorial will do for the fallen in both wars'.[14] On ANZAC Day 1923 a procession took place from the military drill hall on Lake Street to ANZAC Park, where wreaths were laid on a temporary platform, and Digger Brown, the veteran presiding at the platform, stated it was a disgrace that a town of 8000 people could not raise money for a memorial.[15]
Part of the reason for a delay in erecting a Cairns war memorial was disagreement over its form. A marble arch and a wrought iron gate in front of the courthouse were suggested in August 1922,[16] while a kiosk in ANZAC Park was suggested in November 1923. The option of a tea room kiosk, including stone panels with names of the dead and a ‘digger' statue on the roof, was suggested by the Cairns Fathers' Association with the approval of the RSL. The cost was estimated to be £3000-£4000, and the kiosk was the favoured option from December 1923 until mid-1924. However, the scheme was opposed by some, and the Mayor, JG Hoare, had concerns about the cost of a kiosk even though he supported a useful memorial.[17] Only £497 had been raised by 29 November 1923.
The argument over whether a war memorial should simply be a monument, or have a utilitarian function (the sacred versus the useful), was repeated all over Australia. The utilitarians believed that their approach was more enlightened and humane, and utility also appealed to local governments, as donations could offset the cost of needed infrastructure. However, monumentalists argued that utilitarian solutions were at the mercy of progress and would become outmoded over time. Monumentalists also believed that it was not really ‘commemoration', if a public resource that should have been built anyway was named a memorial. Post-WWI, most Australian localities decided on a monumental approach (60%), with only 22% choosing utilitarian buildings (mostly halls) and 18% choosing the compromise position of utilitarian monuments.[18]
In November 1923 the Cairns Post reported ‘certain sections have advocated something of a purely monumental nature, others have been equally keen in urging the erection of something which will be of public service, such as a hall or similar building, suitably ornamented with the names of the fallen'.[19] The newspaper pointed out if the aim was to build something of benefit to a larger, future Cairns, then it had to be kept in mind later generations might add new memorials; and the city could only erect a memorial which it could afford. The money available would help determine the form of the memorial. The Cairns Post article added the project was more likely to get local government subsidies, and public support, if the memorial had public utility- such as a city clock.
However, the opinion of monumentalists was expressed by WM Carleton Brush, who stated that ‘to collect money for a memorial for our fallen, and spend it for the benefit of the living, is shameful'. Instead of a kiosk, there should be a cenotaph on the Esplanade. ‘An ice cream shop or a dancing hall are not monuments to those who are buried elsewhere, but are monuments to the selfishness of the living'.[20]
After wrangling within the War Memorial Committee in early 1924, when Mayor Hoare and the women subscribers squared off against those men in favour of the kiosk,[21] a more modest form of utilitarian monument was decided on at a public meeting of subscribers in July 1924 - a public clock, with striker, on a column (the final form was an obelisk rather than a column). Cairns did not have a town clock, and it was recognised that the city could not afford a kiosk; opinion now favoured ‘some object combining beauty and utility with convenient and suitable form'.[22] It was stated that ‘every hour that it strikes the people will then realise that the clock is in memory of the men who left the district.'[23] The idea of a clock may have been given a boost by the unveiling of a granite memorial column with four clock faces (built by Melrose & Fenwick) in Townsville in April 1924.[24]
At this stage the plan was for three marble plates to list those who had enlisted, with a fourth plate for those who had failed to return, but the memorial eventually only included those who died, arranged alphabetically (apart from two nurses) over three slabs. Many other Australian war memorials also listed those who served and survived. This was either by deliberate choice, or because smaller localities had the room on the memorial to list everyone. How to list the names - alphabetically or chronologically - was also a local decision. Just over half of Australia's WWI memorials list survivors (the majority on separate panels). This was far more common in Australia than in the other Allied countries, because Australia was the only combatant country without conscription, and people felt it was appropriate to acknowledge the volunteers. Some communities went so far as to list those who had volunteered but had been rejected as medically unfit - such as at Montville in Queensland. About one in 10 local memorials record nurses' names. [25]
In October 1924 a design competition for the memorial was won by Melrose & Fenwick, although the height of their design was later increased. By this time £936/8/6 had been raised. A prominent position on the corner of Abbott and Shields Streets was selected as the site for the memorial in December 1924.
The foundation stone was laid by Mayor AJ Draper on 4 January 1925, and sales of cards to be placed in a time capsule in the stone, with the names of citizens who had purchased them, raised £6/4/-, boosting funds to £1113. Two local newspapers and an official message were also put into the capsule.[26] It was anticipated that the memorial, of blue granite and freestone, would be unveiled on ANZAC Day 1925, but delays occurred over the design of the clock to surmount the obelisk, and no tenders were received until mid-1925.[27] Eventually it was realised that a striking clock would be too heavy for the memorial, and when the memorial was finally unveiled on ANZAC Day 1926, it included a non-striking clock (actually four impulse, or ‘slave' clocks, operated by a master clock). The concrete foundation stone was prepared by TB O'Meara & Sons of Cairns; the base was constructed by contractor M Garvey of Cairns; and Harry Orton of Melrose & Fenwick carried out the work on the memorial itself.[28]
Unveiled by Mayor Draper (who preferred a clock to a non-practical memorial) in front of a crowd of 3000 citizens, the monument was reported as being 41' (12.5m) high and composed of granite, freestone and marble. The final cost of the monument and clock, £2074, was met by last minute fundraising by Scouts and Girl Guides, plus an anonymous donation of £66, allowing it to be unveiled debt-free. The Reverend CW Morsley spoke at the ceremony, claiming that the clock would remind people of the time of day, but it would also remind them that this was the time when they commemorated the courage of the men who helped Australia step into its nationhood; a time when they condemned war; and a time to work for peace.[29]
The Cairns monument is the most expensive soldier statue memorial in Queensland, probably due to the extra cost of the clock function; the next most expensive is Goondiwindi's at £1800.[30] The only other memorial to combine clocks and a statue in Queensland is at Bowen (unveiled 1926), built by Andrew L Petrie & Son. Other forms of Queensland WWI memorial that incorporate, or once incorporated, clocks are located in Barcaldine (1924, QHR 600018), Goomeri (1940, QHR 600642), Ithaca (1922, QHR 600274), and Townsville (1924, QHR 600934).[31]
WWI monument sites were usually chosen to be prominent and accessible, such as parks or major intersections, or were outside schools, town halls, and post offices. However, as towns grew and motor traffic volumes increased over time, monuments at intersections could become traffic hazards and a number were relocated - as was the case in Cairns. The Cairns monument stood at the intersection of Shields and Abbott Street until it was moved in 1972 to its current location between the Esplanade and the ocean, opposite the RSL, which has occupied its site (initially as a rest home) since c.1919.[32]
By 1972 the clocks had been removed. The four impulse clocks, advanced every 30 seconds by a battery powered master clock (initially sited at Mackay's jewellers on Shields Street, and later the Council Chambers on Abbott Street) had not worked accurately since mains power was installed. They have now been replaced with painted replicas, set to the time of the ANZAC landing at Gallipoli - 4.28am on the morning of 25 April 1915. [33]
During the move the soldier statue was dropped. Both arms broke off, the head fell off, and the rifle broke into three pieces, requiring repairs to be made. The name cards and newspapers inserted in the foundation time capsule in 1925 were retrieved at the time of the move (their current location is unknown) and a new capsule containing Cairns City Council and RSL records was placed beneath the paving in front of the memorial's new location.
At the new site a 1940 field gun (Quick Firing 25 pounder, MKII, Vickers Armstrong), and an 1887 naval gun (Vavasseur 5 inch breech-loading gun, Royal Carriage Department, Woolwich) were placed on either side of the WWI monument. The naval gun was sent to Cairns in 1889 for use by the Cairns Naval Brigade, formed in 1888, and it was initially positioned at the Cairns Courthouse.[34] Guns of the same make and manufacture date are currently located at Maryborough and Townsville.
The Cairns War Memorial's statue had been painted by 1985.[35] The WWI monument and the two guns underwent repair work in 2001. Landscaping work around the monument c.2003 included new concrete platforms for the guns, paving, extra concrete bollards, flagstaffs, palm trees, and lighting. A memorial garden walkway and a memorial flame sculpture were added north-west of the monument during the Esplanade's redevelopment in 2003. The walkway includes memorial plaques dedicated to post-WWI conflicts, in accordance with the RSL's desire to have a more inclusive war memorial.[36] The addition of memorials to later conflicts on or near WWI memorials is a common practice in Queensland and Australia,[37] and creates a chronological record of the military service and sacrifice of a particular town or region over time. A World War II (WWII) monument to M and Z Special Units, which was previously located at the site of the Z Experimental Station ‘House on the Hill' at Earlville, and then at the HMAS Cairns naval base from 1994, was moved to near the WWI monument in 2006; and a memorial to 31/51 Australian Infantry Battalion (2 AIF) has also been erected.
References
[1] Casualties include those who died, were wounded, went missing or were captured. Casualty figures vary somewhat, depending on the source. If the numbers of those who suffered from sickness are included in casualty figures, the casualty rate rises to 96% of embarkations. Embarkation figure is from: Inglis, KS., Sacred Places: War memorials in the Australian landscape. Miegunyah Press, Victoria, 1998, p.92. Figures for total eligible males, and died, wounded, missing, POW or sick are from http://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/enlistment/ww1/ (accessed 5/08/2013).
[2] Twenty-one female nurses died of sickness during war service, according to Inglis, Sacred Places: War memorials in the Australian landscape, p.185; or 29 according to McIvor, S and McIvor, T. Salute the brave: A pictorial record of Queensland war memorials, UQ Press, 1994, p.186.
[3] Inglis, Sacred Places: War memorials in the Australian landscape, p.161.
[4] Inglis, Sacred Places: War memorials in the Australian landscape, pp. 109-110.
[5] There were only 55 WWI soldier statues in place in 1994. See McIvor and McIvor, Salute the brave: A pictorial record of Queensland war memorials, p.163; but the Manly [QHR 600249], Apple Tree Creek [QHR 600607], Cordalba, and Ipswich Western Suburbs diggers have since been restored or replicated.
[6] Sandstone is a form of freestone (a soft, fine-grained stone which can be worked in any direction without shattering), but not all freestones are sandstone. The soldiers at the Ipswich Railway Workshops and Dalby (by John Whitehead and Sons, Westminster, London) are bronze.
[7] Information found in Judith McKay, Lest We Forget: Reports to the Returned Services League, Queensland Branch on a study of war memorials in Queensland (Study funded by the National Estate Program jointly administered by the Queensland and Commonwealth Governments), Second report, 1985, pp. 57-63.
[8] Judith McKay, `Putting the digger on a pedestal', Historic Environment, vol.5, no.3, 1986, pp.11-13.
[9] Inglis, Sacred Places: War memorials in the Australian landscape, p.169.
[10] Permanent Memorial', Cairns Post, 2 October 1916, p.4.
[11] ‘ANZAC Day, suggested celebrations', Cairns Post, 22 February 1919, p.8.
[12] ‘Cairns Soldiers. Suggestions for civic monuments', Cairns Post, 4 September 1919, p.8. A memorial avenue of trees was eventually planted along Sheridan Street from Aplin Street to Edge Hill in early 1931: ‘Cairns Memorial Avenue', Cairns Post, 12 March 1931, p.4.
[13] ‘Memorial for Cairns District Soldiers', Cairns Post 10 May 1922, p.5; ‘Soldier's War Memorial Committee', Cairns Post, 16 May 1922, p.4.
[14] ‘Cairns Memorial', Cairns Post, 20 September 1922, p.4.
[15] ‘ANZAC Day Services', Cairns Post, 26 April 1923, p.5.
[16] ‘Cairns and District War Memorial', Cairns Post, 15 August 1922, p.4.
[17] ‘War memorial. Cairns Subscriber's meeting.' Cairns Post, 6 December 1923, p.4.
[18] Inglis, Sacred Places: War memorials in the Australian landscape, p. 144.
[19] ‘The Cairns War Memorial', Cairns Post, 19 November 1923, p.4.
[20] ‘Cairns Memorial', Cairns Post, 21 December 1923, p.9.
[21] ‘Cairns and District Soldier's Memorial Committee', Cairns Post, 21 March 1924, p.4; ‘Cairns War Memorial. Subscribers Meeting.' Cairns Post, 3 April 1924, p.4.
[22] ‘Cairns war memorial', Cairns Post, 17 July 1924, p.4.
[23] ‘Marble column and town clock. War memorial for Cairns. Unanimous decision of meeting of subscribers'. Cairns Post, 17 July 1924, p.5.
[24] ‘The soldiers' memorial. The unveiling ceremony', Townsville Daily Bulletin, 26 April 1924, pp.4-5.
[25] Inglis, Sacred Places: War memorials in the Australian landscape, pp. 179-185.
[26] ‘Cairns District Soldier's Memorial', Cairns Post, 2 January 1925, p.4; ‘Soldier's memorial. Foundation stone at Cairns', The Brisbane Courier, 5 January 1925, p.8.
[27] ‘Cairns Memorial Clock. Consideration of tenders. Further particulars sought from favoured tender'. Cairns Post, 29 July 1925, p.5.
[28] National Survey of War Memorials, survey form for Cairns War Memorial, 16.5.1985. In National Trust of Queensland file, CNS 1/28.
[29] ‘Unveiling of the War Memorial Clock. Inspiring ANZAC Day ceremony in Cairns', Cairns Post, 26 April 1926, p.5. The Cairns Post claimed 146 names, including two women, were listed, but only 142 names are present today. The concrete bollards around the memorial were not present in the earliest photos of the memorial, but they existed by the 1930s.
[30] Judith McKay, Lest We Forget: Reports to the Returned Services League, Queensland Branch on a study of war memorials in Queensland, Second report, 1985, p.45.
[31] Information from Judith McKay, Lest We Forget, Second report, 1985, pp.57-63.
[32] ‘Returned Sailors' and Soldiers' Rest Home', Cairns Post, 15 October 1918, p.7
[33] ‘The Cairns War Memorial Conservation Management Plan, Report to Cairns Regional Council, August 2012', Susan McIntyre-Tamwoy Heritage Consultants, pp.13-14. The four clock faces plus the master clock are now held at the Cairns Museum.
[34] ‘Cairns Naval Brigade', Cairns Post, 29 May 1889, p.2
[35] Information from Judith McKay, Lest We Forget, Second report, 1985.
[36] ‘The Cairns War Memorial Conservation Management Plan', p. 15.
[37] Inglis, Sacred Places: War memorials in the Australian landscape, pp. 361-362, 377-392.
","criteria":"The Cairns War Memorial is important in demonstrating Queensland's involvement in major world events.
The World War I (WWI) monument, first unveiled at a different site in 1926, is a tribute to those from the district who died during WWI (1914-1918). WWI memorials, as the focus of ANZAC Day ceremonies, are an important element of Queensland's towns and cities and are also important in demonstrating a common pattern of commemoration across Queensland and Australia.
The later memorials added near the WWI monument represent the common Australian practice of adding post-WWI conflict memorials and plaques to WWI memorial sites. This facilitates remembrance of all those who have died in Australia's overseas conflicts.
|The WWI monument is an excellent example of its type. It is located in a prominent position and includes a list of those from the local community who died in the war. It uses high quality materials and design in a formal composition with strong symbolic meaning, and has had memorials to later conflicts added nearby.
|The Cairns War Memorial, a place of strong symbolic meaning to the community of Cairns and its region, is important for its aesthetic significance. It is a place of sombre ceremonial purpose and reflection, heightened by its siting on the Esplanade overlooking the Coral Sea. The strong axiality of its paths and formal placement of memorials, plantings and flagpoles add to this aesthetic landscape.
|As a focal point for remembrance ceremonies, the Cairns War Memorial is highly valued by the community for its spiritual, symbolic, cultural and social associations. The WWI monument has a long, special and enduring connection with the people of Cairns and surrounding district, while more recently placed memorials have added new layers of meaning.
","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":15154,"place_ref":600379,"name":"Central Court","alternate_name":"Central Hotel | Central Building","street_address":"39 - 49 Lake Street","suburb":"CAIRNS","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Central Court, located on the northwestern corner of Lake and Spence Streets, is a two-storeyed rendered masonry structure with verandahs to both street frontages.
The building exhibits Art Nouveau and Federation influences in its design. Decorative parapets provide a prominent skyline feature, with an asymmetrical combination of piers surmounted by cupolas projecting above, with curved gables and a cylindrical corner tower with cupola. Both street frontages have the words THE CENTRAL HOTEL placed centrally in relief.
Verandahs have timber posts, with the first floor having curved timber brackets and valance, a corrugated iron skillion awning and wrought iron balustrade. The ground floor has lattice spandrel panels, some of which are arched, and partially turned timber posts. Both verandahs have a centrally positioned void space with timber balustrade.
Internally, the building has been extensively altered and rebuilt. The ground floor has an L-shaped arcade, with entrances positioned centrally on both street frontages, with a large central eating area and central stair under a clerestory skylight.
The first floor contains a nightclub at the southern end with a restaurant to the north. Both have access to the verandah via french doors, with the southern corner having been enclosed to form office space.
","history":"This two-storeyed masonry building was erected in 1908-09 for Cairns businessman William John Munro, who acquired the land in 1900. This site previously housed a small branch of the Bank of North Queensland and various other small shops fronting Lake Street.
WJ Munro was born c1864 in New Zealand, to Scottish parents. As a youth he spent some time in Victoria before travelling north to Herberton, and then Cairns, in the early 1880s. A self-made man, Munro acquired, along with partners R & J Gordon, large pastoral holdings in North Queensland, and established Munro & Gordon and WJ Munro & Co., wholesale and retail butchers of Cairns, with large meatworks and meat exporting operations. His other North Queensland business interests included sugar, mining, dairying and real estate. He was a prominent and well-liked citizen, and chairman of the Cairns Shire Council from 1898 until his early death in Sydney in March 1912, at the age of 48. When news was received in Cairns of his death, flags on the public buildings and shipping were flown at half mast.
Munro commissioned the North Queensland and Melbourne architectural firm of Tunbridge, Tunbridge & Lynch to design the Central building, which was to contain a hotel and a number of shops and offices. Charles Dalton Lynch, based in Townsville, was the North Queensland partner, and the firm had a branch office in Cairns. Their work in Cairns at this time included the Harbour Board Offices and School of Arts (QHR 600380), both erected in 1907, and the rebuilding of the Court House Hotel, erected in 1908 a little ahead of the Central.
At the time of construction, the Central building was considered palatial and one of the most imposing buildings in Cairns. It had fine views of Trinity Inlet and the surrounding hills, and itself was prominently visible to passengers alighting from the coastal steamers. Located in the new heart of the Cairns commercial district, (the name Central was considered particularly apt), the hotel was erected during the redevelopment of the Lake-Spence Street area which redefined the commercial centre of Cairns. Adjacent buildings erected at this period include the former Adelaide Steamship Co. Ltd Building (1910) (QHR 600381) and Boland's Building (1913-14).
Erected by Cairns builder W Phillips, the hotel comprised bar and parlours on the ground floor, with expansive verandah, dining room, kitchen & serving rooms, sitting room, 27 guest bedrooms, bathrooms, and accommodation for the lessee and staff, on the first floor. The dining room, which featured a domed roof and glass front to the verandah, could accommodate 100 diners.
The first lessee of the Central Hotel was James Watters, former licensee of the Federal Hotel in Cairns, who obtained the licence in February 1909 and commenced trade about April that year. At the Central, Watters and his wife created one of the best appointed hotels in Far North Queensland, catering in particular to travellers and visitors.
The property remained in the Munro-Martin-Mowder family until 1959, and publican James Kipps held the lease from 1924 until 1945. In 1924 he commissioned Cairns architects HR Lawrence & TMW Lordan to design alterations to the main bar.
The Central building remained substantially intact until 1975, when the ground floor interior was remodelled and some alterations were made to the first floor interior. In 1988, Fricker Developments (Qld) Pty Ltd undertook a major redevelopment of the building, converting it into a shopping court with 17 ground floor shops, and a first floor entertainment facility which included lounges, bars and a restaurant. Despite this re-working of the interior spaces, the decorative exterior was retained as a popular Cairns landmark.
","criteria":"Central Court is important in demonstrating the evolution of Queensland's history, being associated with the early 20th century re-development of the area around the intersection of Lake and Spence Streets in Cairns, including construction of the Adelaide Steamship Co. Ltd Building (1910) [600381] and Boland's Building (1913-14), which re-defined the commercial centre of Cairns.
|The place exhibits a range of aesthetic characteristics valued by the Cairns community, in particular: the contribution of the building, through scale, form and materials, to the Lake and Spence Streets streetscapes and Cairns townscape; the highly decorative and intact parapets and verandahs; and its landmark quality.
|It has a special association with important Cairns businessman and local politician WJ Munro, and as evidence of the commercial work of the architectural firm Tunbridge, Tunbridge & Lynch, which executed a significant body of work in North Queensland.
","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":15155,"place_ref":600380,"name":"School of Arts, Cairns (former)","alternate_name":"Former School of Arts Building; Cairns School of Arts (former); Cairns Museum; Cairns School of Arts","street_address":"93-105 Lake Street","suburb":"CAIRNS CITY","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The School of Arts, Cairns (former) located on the south-western corner of Lake and Shields streets, is a two-storeyed building with verandahs to both street frontages and a corrugated iron roof concealed behind a parapet wall. The building is of concrete, with only the ground floor being reinforced.
The building was built in 3 stages, with the first being the corner section. The third stage of construction, the northern end on Lake Street, was designed as a separate unit. This is still evident in the treatment of the parapet, although the verandah was extended along this elevation in the 1983 renovation works replacing a cantilevered awning.
The verandahs have corrugated iron skillion awnings and timber posts and brackets, with a timber valance to the ground floor and cast metal balustrade to the first floor. The northern and western sections of the first floor verandah have been glazed.
The first stage has the words SCHOOL OF ARTS to both street frontages, with the date 1907 at the corner. The second stage has a raised gabled parapet which also has the building's name, but in different lettering. The third stage's original facade and lettering has been altered. A terrazzo slab with the words SCHOOL OF ARTS is laid in the footpath at the corner of the building.
Internally, the ground floor contains retail outlets and has been extensively altered with an arcade from the Lake Street frontage through to the rear of the building. The street facade has ceramic tiling, and some early shopfront elements including timber framing and leadlight panels. The first floor contains museum and display space, with suspended ceilings and air conditioning throughout, and french doors with fanlights opening onto the verandah. It is entered from Shields Street via a stair with a turned timber balustrade, and most internal walls have been removed.
The 1983 renovation works include a concrete verandah, with steel posts and balustrade, constructed at the rear linking a 2-storeyed toilet and storage building. The rear of the site contains carparking and service areas.
","history":"This two-storeyed concrete building was erected in 1907 as new premises for the Cairns School of Arts, replacing an earlier adjacent building in Shields Street.
\nSchools of Arts were synonymous with Mechanics' Institutes, established in Britain early in the 19th century, and transplanted throughout the British Empire during the colonial era. The movement was instituted by George Birkbeck, who in 1800 established a class for journeymen mechanics in Glasgow, and later formed the first Mechanics' Institute in London in 1824. The purpose of forming such an institute was to improve the education of working men, and to instruct them in various trades. By the late 19th century, Mechanics' Institutes had become popular agencies of adult education in general.
\nMechanics' Institutes were part of a wider 19th century movement promoting popular education in Britain, at which time co-operative societies, working men's colleges and the university extension movement were established. The call for popular education in turn can be contextualised within the broader liberal, laissez-faire, non-interventionist philosophy which dominated British social, economic and political ideologies in the 19th century. In this environment, Mechanics' Institutes flourished as a means by which working men might improve their lot, either through self-education (the provision of reading rooms was an important facility provided by the Institutes), or by participating in instructional classes organised and funded by Institute members.
\nIn the Australian colonies, Mechanics' Institutes were more likely to be called Schools of Arts, and they were more likely to be run by the middle-classes. The provision of reading rooms, museums, lectures and classes were still important, but the Australian schools were also more likely to include a social programme in their calendar of events.
\nA School of Arts was established in Cairns in October 1885, by which time funds already were being raised for the erection of suitable meeting premises. The School's first building, a single-storeyed timber structure, was erected in 1886 in Shields Street to the west of the present building. Prior to its opening in May that year, the School of Arts Committee had established a reading room in rented premises.
\nDuring the second half of the 1880s the Cairns School of Arts flourished and a museum was established. The economic depression of the early 1890s, however, forced the School to close temporarily at the end of 1895, re-opening in 1897. In the early 1900s, Technical College classes were commenced at the School of Arts; these were taken over by the Department of Public Instruction in 1911.
\nBy the early 1900s the School was in need of larger premises. On 8 December 1906, the Cairns School of Arts Bill was passed through the Queensland Parliament, empowering the Trustees to mortgage the School of Arts Reserve at Cairns to the value of £2500, for the purpose of erecting a new building. A design competition was conducted for a new building, two-storeyed with upstairs accommodation for the School of Arts and the ground floor to be revenue-producing, the cost of which was not to exceed £2000. A design submitted by AB Polin was accepted, but rejected when tenders far exceeded the amount specified. The School of Arts Committee then commissioned Melbourne and North Queensland architects Tunbridge, Tunbridge and Lynch, who were Townsville-based but had a branch office in Cairns by 1907, to design a building to cost no more than the approved figure. Their work in Cairns around this time included the Harbour Board Offices (1907), the Central Hotel buildings (1908) (QHR 600379), and the rebuilding of the Court House Hotel (1908). Hanson & Sons won the subsequent School of Arts contract with a price of £2170, and the new building was opened officially on 5 December 1907.
\nThe building incorporated an early use of reinforced concrete in Queensland, although not employed through the whole of the structure. The concrete walls of the ground floor were reinforced with 1/2 inch round steel rods, fused where they intersected at 12 inch intervals. The floors at ground level were poured without reinforcement, and for the upper level walls, concrete was poured between timber formwork, without reinforcement.
\nThe building has been subject to a number of alterations and extensions since 1907. A verandah and bathroom had been constructed upstairs at the rear by 1925, and in 1929 the Shields Street verandah was enclosed with windows. The enclosing of part of the Lake Street verandah probably dates to this period as well.
\nThe first major extension was carried out in 1932. As early as 1925, the Committee was considering an extension of the building to accommodate more revenue-producing shops and offices. Plans were drawn by Committee member and architect SS Oxenham, but Cairns already had a glut of vacant shops for rent, and the concept was postponed until 1932, when the Committee commissioned Cairns architects R Hill & AJH Taylor to prepare fresh plans, and the verandahed facade was extended along Lake Street at a cost of £2500. The extension provided more shop space at ground level and increased library accommodation upstairs. At this time, a decorative parapet was superimposed on the 1907 building to match that of the 1932 building.
\nThe ground floor shop fronts were modernised in 1934-35, R Hill preparing the plans.
\nA second major extension to the building was carried out in 1939-40. Architects Hill & Taylor were again commissioned to extend the building along Lake Street to the boundary of the property. This time, the architects felt that an extension of the verandah was unnecessary and suggested that a cantilever awning would be suitable and that the elevation be treated as a separate unit. Cairns builder A Ferrari constructed the art deco styled extensions at a cost of approximately £4,000. At the same time a terrazzo slab bearing the name School of Arts was placed in the concrete of the footpath at the corner of Lake and Shields Streets.
\nHill & Taylor designed new male and female bathrooms in 1941 in what is believed to have been an enclosed first floor verandah. The original bathroom, beside the meeting room, was probably converted to a kitchen at that time.
\nThe ground floor of the Shields Street facade was extended c1956, to connect the School of Arts to the Penny Savings Bank. Both the bank and the 1950s extensions have been demolished.
\nFor seventy years, the first floor of the School of Arts building housed the only public library in Cairns, a subscription library with up to 1,000 members. It was run by the School of Arts Committee, and financed from the rents obtained from the shops and offices on the ground floor. By the mid-1970s, the library was the sole function of the School of Arts, which was struggling to provide an appropriate library service to a city the size of Cairns. On 30 June 1977 the School of Arts building and its library was transferred to the Cairns City Council, which moved the library into a new structure in Lake Street in 1979.
\nIn 1980 the Cairns Historical Society opened a museum in the vacated first floor premises, and c1983 the whole building was renovated. At this time the cast-iron balustrade was removed and replaced with cast aluminium, and the earlier bathrooms were removed. The museum still functions, and the ground floor retains shops and offices.
","criteria":"The School of Arts, Cairns (former) is important in demonstrating the pattern and evolution of Queensland's history, being an important component of the cultural life of the Cairns community from the beginning of the 19th century, as a school of arts, public library, and museum. It is important also as an early use of reinforced concrete in Queensland.
|The place is important in demonstrating a range of aesthetic characteristics valued by the Cairns community, in particular the contribution of the building through scale, form and material, to the streetscapes of Lake and Shields streets and to the Cairns townscape.
|The place has a special association with the Cairns School of Arts and its contribution to adult education in Cairns for nearly 70 years, and with influential Melbourne and North Queensland architectural firm Tunbridge, Tunbridge & Lynch, as evidence of their commercial work.
","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":15156,"place_ref":600381,"name":"Adelaide Steamship Co Ltd (former)","alternate_name":"Adelaide Steamship Company Ltd Building","street_address":"37 Lake Street","suburb":"CAIRNS","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1993-07-09","description":"The former Adelaide Steam Ship building is a single-storeyed rough-rendered masonry structure, located on the corner of Lake and Spence Street at the southwestern edge of the Cairns Central business district. It reflects a strong Arts and Crafts influence in its design and detailing.
The building has a corrugated iron roof with shaped end gables and sprocketted eaves, which are supported by curved metal brackets and pierced by tapering piers with shallow ogee shaped gablets above. The corner and end piers are surmounted by spheres.
The building has arcaded verandahs to both street frontages, consisting of five bays to Lake Street and three to Spence Street, with large rounded fabric awnings attached. There is a shallow ogee shaped central gable to Lake Street, which originally surmounted the entry but now houses a recessed window, with the words THE ADELAIDE STEAMSHIP CO LTD in relief and a sculpture of one of their vessels above. Sections of concave solid balustrade have been removed to provide access to a relocated corner entry, and end bays have timber framed casement windows.
The Spence Street facade culminates with a wall return housing a keyhole shape gateway with scroll detail above, and a service drive with gates beside. A toilet block and carport are located at the rear.
Internally, the building has been refurbished.
","history":"This single-storeyed masonry building was erected in 1910 for the Adelaide Steamship Company Limited, as their new Cairns offices.
The Adelaide Steamship Company Ltd, established in Adelaide in 1875, entered the Queensland coastal trade in 1893 with a weekly service to Brisbane. By 1895 it had established an agency in Cairns, which was emerging as a major port servicing Far North Queensland's developing mineral, pastoral and sugar industries.
About 1905, the company established a branch in Cairns, possibly in rented premises. The present site was acquired in 1907 by James Harvey, chairman of the Adelaide Steamship Co Ltd from 1888 to 1915. In 1909, Cairns architect Harvey G Draper handled the tendering process for the company's new offices in Cairns, but it is not clear whether he carried out the design. The building was designed in the newly developed Arts and Crafts manner, established in Europe and adapted to the Cairns tropical climate. The building was erected during 1910 by Cairns contractors Wilson & Baillie, at a cost of £2,970, and was opened on 12 December 1910. Its location, at the corner of Lake and Spence Streets, boosted commercial development along Spence Street.
The new offices were constructed towards the end of a buoyant economic period when the principal Australian shipping companies - the Adelaide Steamship Company Ltd, the Australian United Steam Navigation Co. Ltd [Burns, Philp & Company Ltd] and the Howard Smith Company Ltd - vied for the lucrative Queensland coastal trade in passengers and cargo. Their construction reflected the Adelaide Steamship Company Ltd's growing importance to the economic prosperity of North Queensland, in particular the Cairns region, through its involvement in the sugar, coal and passenger trade.
The Adelaide Steamship Co. Ltd sold the building in 1964. In 1976 it was purchased by the present owners. Some of the concrete balustrading on the verandahs, and an office on the street corner of the building have been removed, and some timber windows have been removed or relocated.
","criteria":"The former Adelaide Steamship Company Ltd Building is important in contributing to our understanding of the evolution of Cairns as the major port of Far North Queensland in the early 20th century.
|It is significant as a rare example of an Arts and Crafts building in Cairns, which has been particularly designed to accommodate the tropical climate.
|It is significant as a rare example of an Arts and Crafts building in Cairns, which has been particularly designed to accommodate the tropical climate.
|The place exhibits a range of aesthetic characteristics valued by the Cairns community, in particular: the scale, form, materials and composition of architectural elements, designed in the newly developed Arts and Craft manner established in Europe and appropriately adapted to the Cairns tropical climate; and the contribution to the streetscapes of Lake and Spence streets and to the Cairns townscape.
|The place has a special association with the Adelaide Steamship Company Ltd, which made a major contribution to the economic development of Far North Queensland in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
","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":15157,"place_ref":600382,"name":"Hides Hotel","alternate_name":"Hides Cairns Hotel","street_address":"87 Lake Street","suburb":"CAIRNS","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Hides Hotel, located on the southern corner of Lake and Shields Streets, is a three-storeyed, rendered reinforced concrete structure with a U-shaped hipped corrugated iron roof concealed behind a parapet wall. The roof surrounds a central lightshaft to the two upper floors, which does not extend to the ground floor, and has a raised lift motor room at the eastern end. A single-storeyed kitchen is attached at the rear.
The building has a wide first floor timber verandah to both street frontages, with wide batten balustrade, hardboard panelled ceiling and a corrugated iron skillion awning.
The ground floor facade has been altered, with a pebble render finish to the walls and non-original window and door units, some of which are in the original openings. The first floor has timber framed, multi-paned doors with fanlights, most of which have air conditioning units inserted, opening onto the verandah.
The second floor has aluminium framed hopper windows in original arched openings which are framed by rendered mouldings and pilasters. The Lake Street elevation has the words HIDES CAIRNS HOTEL along the parapet, and a slightly recessed central bay with a balcony, rendered balustrade and a central flagpole on a rendered scrolled base at the parapet. The Shields Street elevation is less symmetrical, with two slightly recessed bays, the eastern one having a balcony with a rendered balustrade and a flagpole on a rendered scrolled base at the parapet. All windows have rounded pressed metal hoods with square bases.
Internally, the building retains the original lift and a timber staircase with cross-braced balustrade. The original office and reception area, Public Bar and toilets on the ground floor have been altered, and the Shields Street shops have been converted into a bar area, but many of the original plastered ceilings and a section of herringbone parquet flooring in the dining room remain intact. Air conditioning ducting has been inserted throughout. The first floor lounge has plastered columns with a coffered plastered ceiling, but the timber skirtings have been removed. Some bedrooms have been converted into ensuite bathrooms.
","history":"This three-storeyed, reinforced concrete hotel was constructed in two stages, 1928 and by c1936, for the O'Hara family, well known Cairns publicans. It was erected adjacent to an earlier Hides' Cairns Hotel, and for nearly four decades the two buildings functioned together as Hides' Hotel.
The earlier hotel, a substantial, 20 bedroom, two-storeyed timber building with double front verandahs and an observation tower, was erected in 1885 by Townsville contractors Hinton & Co., for publicans George Parker Hides and Duncan McColl, who also were in partnership in the Royal Hotel at Herberton. Their Cairns Hotel was located in Lake Street, adjacent to the site of the present Hides' Hotel, on land owned by Dr AE Koch, and let to Hides and McColl on a building lease. It was erected during the second wave of building activity in Cairns (the first being the 1876-77 establishment of the settlement), following Cairns's designation in 1885 as the destination of the rail link to the interior goldfields, and its proclamation as a municipality in the same year. The hotel was renovated c1891, and by 1899 a substantial, two-storeyed timber wing had been constructed at the rear, and the accommodation had been extended to 32 bedrooms.
With the construction of the Cairns Hotel, Hides and McColl pioneered Lake Street as a commercial address. The hotel also played a significant role in the early commercial and social life of Cairns, catering for commercial travellers as well as local trade. Meetings to establish a Cairns School of Arts and a Masonic Lodge were held at the hotel in November 1885, and the Cairns Chamber of Commerce held its inaugural meeting there on 13 May 1886.
McColl held the first license for the Cairns Hotel, but this was transferred in mid-1888 to Hides. Following Hides' death in 1895, his widow, Elizabeth Moir Hides, retained the Cairns Hotel license for many years, and purchased the hotel site from Dr Koch in 1899. In 1900-01 she also acquired the adjoining allotment on the corner of Lake and Shields Streets, on which the present Hides' Hotel stands. A single-storeyed timber shop on this site was demolished and replaced by the hotel garden. In 1925, both sites were transferred to O'Hara Limited.
A third period of intensive building activity in Cairns took place in the 1920s, associated with the expansion of the town as the port servicing the new soldier settlements inland; the upgrading to City status in 1923; the establishment of Cairns in 1924 as the terminus of the coastal railway from Brisbane; and the reconstruction following extensive cyclone damage to the central business district in the early and mid-1920s.
The foundation stone of the new Hides' Cairns Hotel was laid by Denis O'Hara Jnr on 16 May 1928. The building, estimated to cost approximately £30,000, was designed by Cairns architect Sydenham Stanley Oxenham, and was erected by Toowoomba and Cairns contractor MT Garvey. Local North Queensland timbers were used throughout. At the time of construction, it was one of the largest buildings in Cairns, and was one of only two three-storeyed structures in the city, the other being Boland's store at the corner of Lake and Spence Streets. The original scheme was for a frontage of 120 feet to Shields Street, but the 1928 building extended only 87 feet along Shields Street. By c1936, the original concept was completed, with the addition of two shops at ground level and two levels of bedrooms above, along Shields Street. In the 1930s, the new Hides' Cairns Hotel was pre-eminent amongst Cairns hotels, catering largely to visitors and Cairns 'society'.
The O'Hara family retained the property until 1946, when it was transferred to Burns Philp & Company Ltd, who held the title until 1976. Alterations to the ground floor of the hotel were made in 1967, (at which time also the first Cairns Hotel was demolished and replaced with a motel wing), and again in 1976, when the two shops facing Shields Street were converted to a bar. The motel does not form part of the Entry in the Queensland Heritage Register.
","criteria":"Hides Hotel, Cairns, constructed 1928-c1936, is important in demonstrating the evolution of Queensland's history, being associated with the third phase of Cairns' development: its growth as the principal city of far North Queensland in the interwar years.
|It is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a substantial, first-class, three-storeyed, inter-war masonry hotel in Cairns, which retains a high degree of intactness and has functioned as a hotel for over 7 decades.
|The place exhibits a range of aesthetic characteristics valued by the Cairns community, in particular: the contribution of the building, through its siting, scale, form and material, to the streetscapes of Lake and Shields streets and to the Cairns townscape; the quality of surviving original interior finishes, including plaster work; and the wide timber verandahs.
|It has a special association for the Cairns community, with a Hides' Hotel being part of the social fabric of Cairns since 1885.
","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":15158,"place_ref":600383,"name":"McLeod Street Pioneer Cemetery","alternate_name":"Cairns General Cemetery","street_address":"127-145 McLeod Street","suburb":"CAIRNS NORTH","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Pioneer Cemetery, located on a level site on the southern corner of McLeod and Grove Streets, is bounded by the Cairns railway to the southwest and industrial buildings to the southeast.
The cemetery is well maintained, with many of the trees which had caused structural damage to graves having been removed, and an extensive landscape program undertaken. A rotunda has been recently constructed in the centre of the cemetery to display interpretive material. Paths bounded by colourful native plants, leading northeast to McLeod Street and west to Grove Street, have been laid to replicate those existing in 1901. There is a large group of pine trees to the northwest, which will eventually be removed as the acid from the pine needles damages marble.
The cemetery contains denominational divisions, the boundaries of which are not clear, including Protestant, Roman Catholic, mixed denominations and non-Christian.
Although the cemetery contains over 2500 graves, many of these are yet to be located. Sub-surface graves, identified with the use of a metal detector locating grave number markers, have each been marked with a small concrete plinth. The plinths incorporate brass plaques inscribed with the name of the deceased, year and place of birth, year of death, last place of residence and occupation, if known. Of these, approximately 200 have been positively identified and a further 100 have been located but lack enough information for positive identification. As possibly only 600-700 graves can be accurately located, the names of all those interred are intended to be placed in the recent rotunda structure.
Many of the graves have concrete surrounds with marble headstones. Some graves retain iron railing surrounds, some of which have collapsed or are partially missing. There are a few large monumental graves, featuring carved granite and marble head-pieces.
A timber paling fence has been constructed along the southwest boundary, with pine log barriers along both street frontages.
","history":"Cairns was established officially in October 1876, as a port for the newly discovered Hodgkinson goldfields. When the town was surveyed in late 1876, no provision was made for a public cemetery. Earliest burials took place along the Esplanade to the north of the town centre, near the hospital reserve.
On 15 September 1877, almost a year after the establishment of Cairns, a 5 acre site bounded on three sides by McLeod, Gatton and Grove Streets [Section 36, County of Cook, Town of Cairns], was gazetted as a permanent cemetery reserve. The following month, an adjacent five acres [Section 35, bounded on three sides by McLeod, Gatton and Upward Streets] also were gazetted as permanent cemetery reserve.
The 10 acre site was chosen because it was thought to be on dry ground, was sufficiently far from the inhabited section of the town, and was accessible from the hospital reserve. Only subsequently was it discovered that the site was poorly drained and subject to seasonal flooding, with graves unable to be dug to a greater depth than 3 feet.
Trustees were appointed in December 1877, but the cemetery reserves in McLeod Street appear to have been unregulated and little used until the mid-1880s. New trustees had been appointed in 1879, but by mid-1883 the cemetery was without supervision or management and no register of burials was being kept. There was no road to the site [McLeod Street was unmade beyond Spence Street in 1884], and the land was not cleared.
New trustees were appointed in September 1883, and in mid-1884 they applied to the colonial government for financial assistance to establish the Cairns General Cemetery, and to have regulations for the administration of the cemetery approved. A loan of £200 was granted, and regulations for the administration of the cemetery were gazetted on 5 July 1884. In August 1884, the trustees called tenders for fencing the Cairns General Cemetery, and in February 1885, tenders for clearing the site and also fencing the burial ground on the Esplanade. A sexton had been appointed by February 1885, and in the same month the trustees submitted to the colonial secretary their first return of receipts and expenses, year ending 31 December 1884.
Initially, only half of Section 36 and none of Section 35 was fenced as a burial ground. The cemetery appears to have been divided into sections for the use of various Christian denominations, and an area for non-Christians, in which were buried Chinese, Malays, Javanese, and Aborigines. Hebrews may have had a separate section. The Chinese in particular had contributed significantly to the economic and cultural development of Cairns in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and are believed to have celebrated the feast of the dead three times each year at the cemetery.
By the end of the 19th century the cemetery had become unkempt, and was cause for local comment. Consequently, in 1900 the trustees sought permission to increase the burial fees to defray the expense of ground improvements. A new sexton, William Parsons, was appointed, and by his efforts the principal pathway was metalled and bordered with variegated hedging plants and crotons, flowering shrubs and trees were planted along the fence fronting McLeod Street, the graves were cleared of weed and spear grass, and couch grass imported from the south was laid.
In 1914 a new fence and two gates were erected, but these are no longer extant. Whether this fence enclosed the whole of Section 36 is not clear.
On 22 December 1916 a new cemetery in Martyn Street was opened, following which, burials in the McLeod Street cemetery were restricted to those in family plots. The last burial took place in 1949, and the cemetery was closed officially on 11 May 1954. Registers of burials in the cemetery exist only for the period 1887-1919, and a Register of Deaths for the period 1887-1949, but these indicate that between 1887 and 1949 there were approximately 2500 burials in the McLeod Street cemetery.
The main reason why the unsuitable site remained in use as Cairns' principal cemetery for at least 30 years, was the difficulty experienced in selecting a new location. As early as 1885, the trustees began to investigate alternative sites for a cemetery, and in May 1886, the colonial government, acting on the trustees' application, reserved for cemetery purposes a 40 acre site nearly four miles from town. In the process the McLeod Street cemetery reserves created in September and October 1877 were cancelled. The trustees immediately pointed out that half of Section 36, (allotments 1-5 and 16-20), was fenced and in use as a cemetery, and should be re-gazetted. Due to some confusion by the Lands Department, Section 36 was not re-proclaimed a cemetery reserve [R274] until June 1923. No burials had taken place in Section 35, and in 1908/09 it was divided into reserves for a morgue, endemic diseases hospital, and municipal purposes. It is now a reserve for electricity purposes.
The 1886 cemetery reserve proved too difficult to access, and was cancelled in 1890 when a new cemetery of 40 acres was reserved from the former police paddock near Stratford. Although increased to over 45 acres in 1891, and located adjacent to the Cairns-Herberton railway, it was never used as a cemetery. In 1928 part of the reserve was resumed and subdivided into residential allotments for workers' housing, and the remaining reserve was cancelled in 1940. In the meantime, the cemetery reserve in Martyn Street had been proclaimed and opened for use in late 1916.
The number of burials at the McLeod Street cemetery increased substantially after the turn of the century, and in August 1905 the Cairns Town Council, under the provisions of the Local Government Act of 1902, assumed trusteeship of the Cairns General Cemetery. Technically, this trusteeship referred to the 1890 cemetery reserve near Stratford, but the Cairns Town Council interpreted it as giving them control of the McLeod Street cemetery. This control was not made official until 1923.
The Cairns City Council failed in 1965, 1968/69, 1973/74 and 1986, to gain permission from the Lands Department to convert the McLeod Street cemetery into a park. Finally, in 1988, the Council commissioned a conservation plan for the old cemetery. This was adopted and the Council, together with local organisations and volunteers, restored the remaining graves (approximately 290), identified over 200 previously 'lost' grave sites, removed self-sown mature trees which were causing damage to graves, rebuilt the fence facing the railway line, lit the principal pathway, and built a small information centre within the grounds. The site was renamed the McLeod Street Pioneer Cemetery, and is promoted in Cairns as a tourist attraction.
Burials at the McLeod Street cemetery included the first mayor of Cairns, Richard Ash Kingsford; Cairns' much admired medical pioneer, Dr Edward Koch; men who died during construction of the Cairns to Herberton Railway; and a beche-de-mere fisherman who had been associated with Trinity Bay prior to the establishment of Cairns. The surviving headstones record people from all levels of early Cairns society - professional, business, clerical, political, mercantile - and the cosmopolitan nature of early Cairns is reflected in the range of nationalities, including English, Irish, Scottish, Japanese, Javanese, Chinese, Indian, Italian, Bulgarian and Swedish, buried in the McLeod Street cemetery.
","criteria":"The McLeod Street Pioneer Cemetery survives as a unique historical record of the multi-cultural social, economic and political life of early Cairns, and is an unusual illustration of the major events which shaped the development of Cairns and Far North Queensland in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
|(Criterion under review)
|In the formal arrangement of grave sites, denominational divisions and types of memorials, the cemetery reflects late 19th and early 20th century public taste and social perceptions about burial and memorial.
|The place has aesthetic value, which contributes to the Cairns townscape.
|(Criterion under review)
","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":15529,"place_ref":600754,"name":"Explosives Magazine and Detonator Store (former)","alternate_name":"Explosives Magazine and Detonator Store","street_address":"Magazine Street","suburb":"STRATFORD","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The former Stratford Explosives Magazine, currently used as a storage facility for the adjoining sawmill, is located on a level site fronting Magazine Street to the south and surrounded by worksheds to the north and west. The magazine consists of two structures, an explosives store and a store for detonators.
The explosives store is a symmetrical, rectangular building with a hipped corrugated iron roof on which the word EXPLOSIVES is still visible. Three square ridge ventilators, in sheet metal decorated with classical mouldings, are prominent on the roof. The walls are of poured in-situ concrete with a concrete render, the base of which sits slightly proud. The walls have numerous vents, with the longer north and south elevations having a central doorway flanked by three narrow windows to each side. The east and west elevations have three narrow windows, and the south entry has a small timber landing. All windows have timber frames, which once housed louvres and a wire screen, with timber shutters to the inside. Externally, both doors were copper sheeted fixed with brass screws. The south door has had the copper sheet removed but the screws remain.
The store for detonators is a small square plan building, with a hipped corrugated iron roof with a square ridge ventilator, located to the east of the explosives store. The walls are of poured in-situ concrete with a concrete render, with a door to the south and a single narrow window to each side. The door and windows are similar to those of the explosives store, but the windows house glass louvres and do not have timber shutters.
Internally, both buildings have boarded ceilings, with the perimeter raked to the exterior walls, with centrally positioned ceiling vents.
The railway line, from which the Explosives Magazine was originally linked via a loop line and siding, is located opposite on the south side of Magazine Street.
","history":"The powder magazine and detonator store at Stratford, near Cairns, were constructed in 1901 for Queensland's Marine Department, which was the government authority responsible for storing the large quantity of explosives, both government and privately owned, being shipped into the port of Cairns at the turn of the century.
From 1860 to 1963, control of all explosives/gunpowder imported into Queensland was the province of the Harbour Master's Department (1860-62), the Department of Ports & Harbours (1862-93), the Marine Department (1894-1928), and the Department of Harbours and Marine (1929-63). In 1964, responsibility was shifted to the Queensland Department of Health. Under The Navigation Act of 1876, the master of any ship entering a Queensland port with gunpowder to be unloaded, had to ensure that it was placed in a government magazine. The Ports & Harbours Department therefore was responsible for the provision of magazines and for the safe storage of explosives at Queensland ports of entry. The Act further regulated the conveyance and storage of gunpowder in any place in Queensland, not just in the ports.
From the late 1860s, government magazines were being erected at the principal ports and goldfields of Queensland. On the goldfields, magazines were administered by the Mines Department; control of magazines other than in ports was not vested in the Marine Department until 1907, under the provisions of the Explosives Act of 1906. These magazines were constructed of stone, brick, timber or iron, largely dependent on the local availability of materials. At some ports, floating magazines were utilised.
By 1900, magazines under the control of the Marine Department were situated at Brisbane, Maryborough, Bundaberg, Gladstone, Rockhampton, Bowen, Townsville, Cairns, Cooktown and Normanton. None of these appears to have been of concrete construction. The magazine at Cairns was a barge, 50 feet by 16 feet, anchored off the east side of Trinity Inlet since October 1884, and was the reason for the naming of Magazine Creek on that shore.
In mid-1900, the Cairns magazine was receiving explosives at the rate of 2,716 cases per annum, the amount was increasing rapidly, and traders were clamouring for storage space. Explosives were imported to Cairns by Brisbane-based merchants such as Brabant & Co. and Hertzberg & Co., stored at the government magazine at a cost, and then sold to the mining companies and merchants on the Atherton tinfields and Chillagoe copperfields. As well, explosives were used in the construction of the privately-funded Mareeba to Chillagoe railway, commenced in August 1898. The first stage of this railway was opened in October 1900, opening up new mineral fields and plantations, and creating a greater demand for explosives, in the process.
In consequence of this rapidly increasing demand for explosives, the Marine Department requested in 1900 that a new magazine be constructed at Cairns. A suitable site of nearly 22 acres at Stratford was proclaimed a provisional Reserve for Explosives Magazine (R.180) on 30 May 1900. It was five miles from the centre of Cairns, fronted the Cairns-Mareeba Railway (permitting easier distribution of explosives to the hinterland), and was in a sparsely populated area.
Designs for a powder magazine and detonator store, brick with concrete foundations, along with a small timber residence for the magazine keeper, were produced by the Government Architect's office, and the contract was let to JC Thomson in November 1900. During construction, mass concrete was substituted for brick walls, in consequence of which costs were reduced. The buildings were completed in mid-July 1901, at a cost of £2,471.
The magazine provided storage capacity for over 6,000 cases of explosives, and was described in the Works Department's Annual Report for 1901-02 as containing means of ventilation, lighting, and other provision for safety, in advance of the best structures hitherto erected in the State for this particular purpose. Ventilation in the main magazine was supplied by roof ventilators and airholes covered by grates in the thick concrete walls, and the timber floor was built 3 feet above ground to allow air to circulate beneath. The explosives magazine and detonator store were surrounded by a high fence of galvanised iron, and the reserve was fenced with hardwood posts and rails. In addition, the Railways Department had constructed a loop line and siding to the magazine.
John Miller, who had been amongst the official party which accompanied David Spence to establish the port of Cairns in 1876, was appointed magazine keeper from 1 July 1901. He was succeeded in 1915 by Arthur Howgego, who remained as magazine keeper at Stratford until 1939. During Howgego's time, explosives were despatched mainly to Mt Mulligan, Mt Molloy, Mareeba, Biboohra and other tableland areas.
In 1911 the explosives reserve was extended to 157 acres, in anticipation of expanding the magazine facilities at Stratford. Reduced quantities of explosives entering Queensland during the First World War temporarily relieved the necessity for expansion, but in the 1920s, the Stratford magazine was handling substantial volumes of explosives once again. By the late 1920s, the spread of population in the Stratford area around the magazine was a cause of concern to the Chief Inspector of Explosives. In 1931 R.180 was cancelled, and a new reserve of 230 acres, further east along the railway line, was proclaimed. Due to budget constraints, however, construction of new magazine facilities was deferred for over a decade, and during the 1930s, the 1901 buildings remained in use on what was by then an unofficial government reserve.
At the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, a military guard of 19 men was stationed at the Stratford magazine. By early 1940, the Government had made the decision to erect new magazine facilities, including caretaker's quarters, at Queerah, on the southern outskirts of Cairns. The Queerah magazine buildings were completed in October 1941, and by March 1942, all explosives from the Stratford magazine had been transferred there. The magazine keeper, however, resided at Stratford for the duration of the war, as the military guard were occupying the new caretaker's quarters at Queerah.
From early June 1942 until mid May 1945, the Stratford magazine site was occupied by the Australian Military Forces, who used the concrete buildings to store explosives. During the military occupancy, most of the galvanised iron fence around the magazine buildings was removed.
After the Second World War, the site was utilised as a yard and depot by the Department of Public Works, until in 1953, JM Johnston Pty Ltd, owner of the adjacent sawmill, obtained a thirty year lease of the buildings, on about 5 acres. JM Johnston Pty Ltd acquired a perpetual lease on the property in 1956, and freehold in 1980.
The former magazine keeper's cottage has been removed from the site.
","criteria":"The former Explosives Magazine and Detonator Store at Stratford is important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history, being closely associated with the economic development of the Cairns hinterland in the early decades of the 20th century, and in particular with the expansion of railways and mining in the district.
|The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a substantial, early 1900s explosives magazine and detonator store constructed in concrete, and illustrates c1900 techniques for the ventilation of explosives magazines.
|The place is important in exhibiting a range of aesthetic characteristics valued by the local community, in particular its contribution through scale, form and materials, to the Stratford townscape, its utilitarian nature, and the intactness of the structures.
","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":15750,"place_ref":600975,"name":"False Cape Second World War Defence Facility","alternate_name":"Leper Bay","street_address":"Yarrabah Road","suburb":"EAST TRINITY","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1997-04-18","description":"False Cape is situated at the entrance to Cairns Harbour and overlooking Grafton Passage, 9.5km NNE of the city as the crow flies, but 40 km from Cairns by road.
Structural elements of the coastal artillery battery and support base remain. These comprise:
Upper and Lower Gun Emplacements - symmetrical, single-storeyed structures of off-form concrete, waffle slab roof supported on three columns with earth fill on top, Australian-designed circular recoil pit with central pad and outlying rail for gun carriage traverse, side magazines of concrete and concrete block construction. Camouflage net pivot points are extant, and doors remain on the lower emplacement magazines. The robust off-form concrete construction is unlike the two-storeyed coastal battery gun emplacements of Moreton Bay, where timber as well as concrete was used structurally.
Battery Observation Post - situated on the high ridge above the gun emplacements, this is a two-level structure built of off-form concrete, to house the range finder and the command post. External timber stairs survive, and rooftop fittings that formerly carried a camouflage netted structure. The upper level contains original timber joinery to observation slit and doorway and four intact concrete mounting blocks, possibly for a vertical rangefinder. The lower level comprises one large room with steel-reinforced concrete support beam and pillar beneath the mounting blocks in the upper level. Both levels contain evidence of a later interior fitout as residential accommodation.
Main Magazine - constructed of off-form concrete, with a corridor around three sides of two rooms that are built against the side of the hill. Markings remain of the storage racks that held ammunition for the guns.
Machine gun position - an anti-aircraft gun mount is located above the main magazine, and comprises a vertically mounted length of steel pipe with flanges at each end. This is thought to be the only anti-aircraft gun mount remaining at a Second World War coastal battery in Queensland.
Signal Station - a steel ring in a concrete slab may have anchored the signal mast of the Port War Signal Station erected at False Cape by the Navy.
Winch area and cutting - there is evidence on the foreshore on the western side of the Cape, below the Battery Observation Post [BOP], of a concrete and rock pathway leading from the road down to the water, where 1940s photographs show a rock jetty in this position. A rusted gearbox lying beside this pathway may be that used in the winch. Above the road is the cutting [somewhat overgrown] where a rail line was laid to winch equipment and supplies from the road and the beach to the Battery Observation Post high on the hill. At the top of the cutting, to the side of the BOP, is a concrete slab which may have been associated with the rail wagon and winch area.
Base end station - a concrete platform resting on a stone and concrete foundation, is all that remains of the base end station on the eastern side of False Cape.
Rock with platform at Sunny Bay - situated at the north end of Sunny Bay, on the beach, is a large granite rock on which a concrete platform has been constructed. Recessed edges on the platform indicate that it once supported walls.
Road and Camp Site - approximately 500 yards south of the defence installations on False Cape there is remnant evidence of the camp site at Sunny Bay that accommodated the coastal artillery, searchlight, anti-aircraft, and naval signal units involved in port defence. The road from the camp to the defence installation is still trafficable, with a concrete culvert where it crosses over the intermittent freshwater stream at Sunny Bay. There is a concrete rainwater tank on the ridge midway between the former camp site and the Cape. The cleared area of the camp site is now overgrown with secondary growth, but several concrete slabs which formerly supported walls survive, and there may be others yet to be identified. Three timber stumps in the foreshore at Sunny Bay are remnants of the timber jetty which once extended into the bay.
","history":"The defence facility at False Cape was established in late 1942-early 1943 as coastal defence for the port of Cairns on Trinity Inlet. Although this battery was never involved in direct action, its establishment was prioritised by General Macarthur as of strategic importance to the overall defence of the east coast of Australia.
Following the establishment of Cairns in the mid-1870s, False Cape [named by James Cook in 1770 and accessible only by boat] became a popular recreational venue. In July 1884, 100 acres from False Cape to the creek running into what is now known as Sunny Bay, was proclaimed a reserve for a Pilot Station on Trinity Harbour. In 1910 this was extended to 250 acres. In late 1889 the bay on the southwest side of the Cape became a temporary lazaret when a Chinese and a Malay from Cairns were isolated here for a few months, pending transfer to the leper station at Dayman Island in the Torres Strait. They were housed in tents erected on the slope of the hill overlooking the beach, which became known as Leper Bay. Although False Cape was never gazetted as a lazaret, it may have served for some decades as an occasional, temporary isolation area. In the 20th century this function ceased, and the name of the beach was changed to Sunny Bay.
In February 1940, following the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, Australian military reconnaissance identified two possible sites for the installation of fixed coastal defences at Trinity Inlet: the Esplanade in Cairns, or a preferred site extending from Lyons Point to False Cape, across the inlet from Cairns. By April 1940 the decision had been taken not to proceed with the defence of Cairns, despite increasing Japanese aggression in the Pacific region through 1940-41 and repeated requests by the Queensland premier, Forgan-Smith, for the Commonwealth Government to construct fortifications along the Queensland coast. The Commonwealth committed little to northern coastal defences at this period, not even following Japan's simultaneous attacks on Hawaii, Hong Kong and Malaya in December 1941. Believing that alone, Australia could not defend the whole of the continent, the Commonwealth Government prioritised the defence of the industrial and commercial southeast of Australia, declared the area north of Mackay a war zone in March 1942, and concentrated on a policy of civilian evacuation from North Queensland.
Following the appointment of General Douglas Macarthur as Supreme Commander of Allied Forces, South West Pacific Area, United States military forces which had retreated to southern Australia following their January 1942 defeat in the Philippines, were transferred to north Queensland. From early 1942 Townsville became the base for Allied operations in the Pacific, but both the Royal Australian Navy and the United States Navy concentrated their base operations in Cairns, as this port was less congested. Establishing an advanced operational air base at Cairns for the Royal Australian Air Force's Catalina squadrons also became a priority. Following the Coral Sea and Midway campaigns in mid-1942 the war moved north to New Guinea, and Cairns became an important base for air force and naval operations in the New Guinea offensive. The Port of Cairns became a Supply Service Depot, with deliveries from larger vessels broken up for transfer to small ships to reduce potential loss from enemy attack. In 1943-44 the Australian Army established major training and hospital/rehabilitation camps on the Atherton Tableland, just behind Cairns.
Despite the strong military presence in Cairns and district from early 1942, and substantial expenditure by the Allied Works Council on port improvements, Cairns harbour remained unprotected until General Macarthur instigated the coastal defence of selected Australian ports and naval bases following his arrival in Australia in March 1942. During 1942-43 nineteen 2-gun batteries [designated by alphabet letter and hence known as 'Letter Batteries'] were established and allocated to coastal defence in Australia and New Guinea. To equip these units, Macarthur requested from Washington the supply of 155mm guns, Sperry searchlights and associated equipment.
During 1942-43, Cairns was the closest major Australian port to the war in the South Pacific, and movement of shipping in and out of the port via Grafton Passage needed to be protected from enemy attack and from enemy minelaying. There was also a need to communicate with shipping, particularly with troopships in the Outer Passage. On 25 December 1942, 127 men of H Australian Heavy Battery arrived in Cairns to establish and man the battery at False Cape. The site selected commanded the passageway from Cairns Harbour to the open sea, and was of high strategic value.
Initially, H Battery was accommodated in tents near a small freshwater stream emptying into Sunny Bay, about 500 yards south of the gun emplacements, while camp buildings were erected there by the local Civil Construction Corps. Constructed mostly of timber from Johnson's sawmill at Stratford, on the outskirts Cairns, these buildings were of a standard rectangular design measuring 60 feet by 20 feet. They included: 7 barrack rooms, officers' quarters, sergeants' quarters [each of these having separate ablution blocks and latrines], battery office, quarter master's store, officers' mess and kitchen, gunners' mess and kitchen, canteen and recreation room, and a small battery charging room to supply the camp with electricity. About 150 yards north of the camp a workshop was erected, and north of this, about half-way between the camp and the defence installations, a hospital and RAP shelter were built. There was no road from Cairns to the camp, which had to be supplied via boat [the unit had its own two-masted vessel, the Eulalie]. A timber jetty was constructed at Sunny Bay near the camp site, and closer to the Cape a stone and concrete ramp for a landing barge.
The creek at Sunny Bay flowed only during the wet season, so a small pumping station was established further south at the creek emptying into Brown's Bay, pumping water through a narrow pipe along the foreshore to the camp at Sunny Bay and on to the Cape. A rough road was cut from Sunny Bay to False Cape, just above the foreshore, and the unit's one Blitz truck transported supplies and meals from the camp to the defence installations. A cutting was made for a small rail line which was used to winch supplies and equipment from the road and beach to the Battery Observation Post at the top of the ridge.
The defence installations at False Cape were concrete structures, comprising two gun emplacements, a battery observation post, and a main magazine which stored 400 rounds of 155mm ammunition for the two guns. Ready ammunition was housed in smaller shell and cartridge magazines constructed as part of each gun emplacement. Duty personnel quarters, probably of timber construction, were erected adjacent to the battery observation post. An anti-aircraft gun was mounted above the main magazine and No.2 gun emplacement. All of these installations were camouflaged with netting.
Staff in a typical Battery Observation Post measured bearing and range to the target. This information was plotted on a plotting table, which converted target data into gun data of azimuth and elevation, which in turn was called continuously to the sight setters on the guns. The standard rangefinder used was a vertical base rangefinder, whose effective range depended upon the height above sea level. For the rangefinder to be useful to the maximum range of the guns, it was necessary for it to be mounted as high as possible above sea level. The topography of False Cape favoured a vertical base rangefinder, set high on the ridge behind the gun emplacements.
Supporting H Battery at False Cape was the 105 Coastal Artillery Searchlight Section, comprising about 13 men of the Royal Australian Engineers. They operated two 150cm Sperry searchlights with petrol driven electric generation, one of which may have been located near the jetty at Sunny Bay, and the other on the eastern side of the cape. In September 1943 an advance party of the 64th Anti-Aircraft Searchlight Company set up 12 searchlight stations in and around Cairns, and it is possible one of these was located at False Cape. Coastal defence batteries were usually supported also by light machine gun and anti-aircraft positions for local and air defence.
In December 1943 the Royal Australian Navy established a Port War Signal Station at False Cape, shifting personnel from the war signal station at Archer Point, which was closed down early in December. They may have shared the observation post with the army, as at Magnetic Island, although a 1944 plan of the area indicates navy accommodation in a separate structure at the crest of the hill. The signal station closed at the end of June 1945, following the movement of the Australian Army south.
H Australian Heavy Battery remained at False Cape until February/March 1944, when they were moved to Townsville. They were replaced by S Battery, which had been formed in Sydney in September 1943, trained in Brisbane, then moved to False Cape in late February 1944. In August 1944 this unit was re-organised as Coastal Artillery Cairns, and is thought to have remained at False Cape until the cessation of hostilities in the Pacific in August 1945. The guns and searchlights are understood to have been removed at this time.
After the war the timber camp structures and the water pipeline and pumping equipment from Brown's Bay were sold to nearby Yarrabah Mission for removal. All that remained of the camp at Sunny Bay were the concrete slabs on which the timber buildings had been erected. In the late 1940s, fishermen erected small huts on a number of these.
In 1946, 298 acres at False Cape was acquired formally by the Commonwealth Government, anticipating that a coastal defence facility might be maintained here after the war. This area comprised the 250 acres formerly declared a Reserve for Pilot Station by the State Government, part of a recreation reserve to the south of this, and about 12 acres of the Yarrabah reserve, gazetted a Reserve for the Aboriginal Inhabitants of the Colony in 1892, and extended to include this area in 1935. However, in 1947 the land was declared surplus to army requirements, and leased to private enterprise, including a tourist operator in the 1950s. No tourist facilities eventuated, but in the post-war year Sunny Bay and False Cape once again became popular as a recreational venue. A number of small weekend/fishermen's shacks were erected in the area, and the remains of a more substantial, stone-walled c1950s or 1960s weekender survive on the beach at Sunny Bay. Title to the site was transferred from the Commonwealth to private ownership in 1969.
","criteria":"False Cape Second World War Defence Facility is important historically as the principal coastal defence for the port of Cairns, which served as a major trans-shipping port for Australian and United States armed services supplies and troop movements as the war with Japan moved into the Coral Sea and then north to New Guinea in the early 1940s.
|It is thought to be the last surviving Second World War complex in the immediate Cairns region, and is important in illustrating Australia's role in building coastal defence installations during the Second World War.
|It also has the potential to yield further information about the relationship between the equally important components of this coastal battery complex, including the defence installations [battery observation post, gun emplacements, magazine and other remnant elements], the supporting base camp at Sunny Bay, and infrastructure such as the road, jetty remnants, and winch area and cutting.
|The place demonstrates some of the principal characteristics of a Second World War coastal battery in Queensland, but with distinctive local design and construction of gun emplacements to accommodate US-provided equipment, and the siting of the elements of the complex contribute to an understanding of how the coastal defence battery was designed to operate.
|The whole of the area has an aesthetic value, and the defence installations in particular have landmark quality.
|The place has a special association for the local community, not just as a recreational venue for over 120 years, but also for its association with the Second World War, which had a significant impact on Cairns and district.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion C | 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 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"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15914,"place_ref":601141,"name":"Alley Family Graves","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"113 Gillies Range Road","suburb":"GORDONVALE","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1999-08-23","description":"The Alley Family Graves site consists of three headstones and three plaques set on a concrete platform containing the graves of six family members. The concrete platform is framed by four palms, and the graves site is located fronting the Gillies Highway to the northwest, and surrounded by sugarcane fields to remaining three sides.
The headstones and platform surrounds appear to be mostly of concrete. The northwestern headstone is the smallest, and has an inlaid stone plaque in memory of Mary Ellen Alley. The centre headstone is engraved in memory of Sarah Blackwell and George Gorham Alley. The southeastern headstone is the tallest, and has a metal plaque affixed to the front engraved in memory of Mary Alley, Willie and William Saunders Alley. There are also three plaques, one of which is in memory of Richard Blackwell (buried Waverley cemetery, Sydney). The remaining two plaques are in memory of James Healy and Bridget Hill (formerly Healy), and William Saunders Alley (b.1887 d. 1977). A small metal nameplate has the name Melrose and Fenwick Ltd, who may have been responsible for the construction of the headstones or grave surrounds.
","history":"The Alley Family Graves sites contains the graves of William Saunders Alley and his wife Mary Alley, George Gorham Alley and his wife Mary Ellen Alley, Sarah Blackwell, and Willie (adopted infant son of Richard and Sarah Blackwell). There are also memorial plaques in memory of Richard Blackwell, James Healy and Bridget Hill (formerly Healy), and William Saunders Alley (b.1887 d. 1977). The site is located fronting the Gillies Highway, with sugar cane surrounding on three sides.
William Saunders Alley and Mary Alley (nee Banks)
WS Alley was born in London and grew up in Gosport. He was the son of a Commander in the British Merchant service, and at a young age went to sea and travelled extensively. Late in 1854 he became a member of the crew of the John Davies which sailed from Liverpool for Australia, arriving at Moreton Bay in May1855. He left the ship at Brisbane and married Mary Banks, who had been a passenger on the John Davies. Mary was born at Logniddry, County Haddington, Scotland. They had three children, Sarah (who married Richard Blackwell), Mary (who married Tom Williams) and George Gorham (who married Mary Ellen Healy).
In Brisbane, WS Alley was the proprietor of several hotels. He was also the owner of punts which ran between Brisbane and Ipswich. He left Brisbane c.1877 for the Blackall Mine in the Banana district, and then to the Mt Perry goldfields. From there he proceeded to Cairns and settled at Cairns and Smithfield. He was involved in trading and timber-getting at Smithfield and ran a steam launch, the Countess, and a sailing ship from Cairns to Smithfield. He was also involved in timber-getting on the Barron with his son-in-law Richard Blackwell and his son George Gorham in 1878. He was attracted by the stands of timber on the Mulgrave River, and with his family was the first to take a bullock team to the Mulgrave River (near where Gordonvale is today) in 1878. The journey to the Mulgrave took nearly three weeks, hacking a passage through swamp and scrub. On arrival at the Mulgrave they camped near where the Mulgrave Mill is located today.
The land from Cape Tribulation south was proclaimed open for selection 1 March 1877 under the Crown Lands Alienation Act of 1876 which contained residential clauses. The first land was not taken up until March 1878. WS Alley, on 29 August 1879, took up the first land on the Mulgrave, which consisted of 640 acres and which he named Riverstone. The Alley Family Graves site is located on this land.
Initially he was involved in dairying and timber-getting. He erected the Riverstone Hotel in 1880, which was located on the pack track to Herberton. The Riverstone Hotel was described as 'perhaps the nicest and best loved development in providing for the traveller was WS Alley's Riverstone Hotel the most welcome over night stopping place. Here WS Alley laid out extensive and tasteful tropical gardens and orchards, kept his own dairy and supplied his guests and Cairns with fresh butter. It became the social centre for the district, in demand for farewell gatherings, testimonial dinners and such happy occasions. Here were held dances to the thin sweet strains of the concertina played with the background of the tinkle of bells of packers mules and horses bringing down their ingots of tin. This was built before 1882 and burned down in 1907.'
WS Alley reportedly erected the first dwelling, constructed the first bridge and road at his own expense, and grubbed (clearing of stumps), cleared and formed a road for about seven miles from Riverstone to Trinity Inlet. He was also a member of the Cairns Divisional Board and a Justice of the Peace.
According to their headstones, Mary Alley died in 1887 aged 50. WS Alley died on the 1 July 1889 aged 57. At the time of his death, the Cairns Post newspaper reported that he was buried by the side of his wife 'in a pretty flower decked grave in the garden he loved so well'.
Sarah Blackwell (nee Alley) and Richard Blackwell
Sarah married Richard Blackwell from Cornwall at the Blackall Mine in the Banana district. Richard Blackwell was originally motivated by the pursuit of gold. Before coming to Australia he had been at great Caribou rush in the Canadian wilds. In 1877-78 Richard Blackwell, with his wife and brother-in-law George Gorham Alley (aged 15-16), travelled overland in a dray from the Mt Perry goldfields to Brisbane. They then proceeded to Cooktown by ship, then to the Hodgkinson and Palmer Goldfields. They then travelled down the Kuranda Range and joined WS Alley in Smithfield where he was involved in trading and timber-getting. Sarah Blackwell was reportedly the first woman to ride down the Kuranda Range. Richard Blackwell was involved with WS Alley and George Gorham timber-getting on the Barron in 1878. They then accompanied WS Alley on the journey from Cairns to the Mulgrave River in 1878.
Richard Blackwell, on 18 October 1879, took up land in the Mulgrave area known as Plain Camp, near where Gordonvale is now located. He reportedly made a gift of part of this land for the establishment of the Mulgrave Mill. The Sugar Works Guarantee Act of 1893 provided for the erection of approved Central Mills on a government loan if farmers mortgaged their land as security. After the principal and interest had been met, these Central Mills were to be handed to the growers as Cooperative Mills. The Mulgrave settler's organisation evolved from a meeting held at Tom Mackey's farm, at which Richard Blackwell was in attendance. A provisional directorate was formed with Mackey as Chairman. The original memorandum of the Association of the Mulgrave Central Mill Co Ltd dated 14 November 1893, was registered in Brisbane 20 April 1895. Signatories to this included Richard Blackwell. The nominal capital of £40,000 was increased to £60,000 in 1896. The Mulgrave Central Mill enterprise proceeded rapidly, and Richard Blackwell was one of the first directors of the Mulgrave Mill. According to the plaque at Riverstone, he died in May 1920 and is buried in the Waverley Cemetery in Sydney.
According to her headstone at Riverstone, Sarah Blackwell died in April 1929 aged 71. Willie, the adopted infant son of Richard and Sarah Blackwell, is also buried at Riverstone aged 11 months.
George Gorham Alley and Mary Ellen Alley (nee Healy)
In 1877-78 at the age of 15-16, George Gorham accompanied his sister Sarah and brother-in-law Richard Blackwell who travelled overland in a dray from the Mt Perry goldfields to Brisbane. They then proceeded to Cooktown by ship, then to the Hodgkinson and Palmer Goldfields. They then travelled down the Kuranda Range and joined WS Alley in Smithfield where he was trading. George Gorham took a post in a store until 1878 when he joined Richard Blackwell and his father WS Alley timber-getting on the Barron. He accompanied the family on their journey from Cairns to Mulgrave in 1878. WS Alley selected land on the Mulgrave in 1879, but George stayed for a time on his own account rafting timber.
George felled timber for Burns Philp and other syndicates c.1883, and is described as a 'scrub pioneer of Tableland cedar' . The logs were to be put in adjacent creeks or the main river. The payment was at the rate of five shillings per 100 superfeet on logs when placed in a waterway and a further fifteen shillings on sound arrival at the mouth. After his father's death in 1889, he operated the Riverstone Hotel with Richard and Sarah. He later engaged in cane farming and was a director of the Mulgrave Mill. According to his headstone he died at Riverstone in August 1930 aged 67.
George Alley's wife Mary Ellen arrived in Cairns with the early settlers with her parents James and Bridget Healy, and brother Frank, in 1876. James Healy was a constable (most likely one of the first police constables in 1876 when a new police station was opened in Cairns). Healy was born at Ballinamuck, Ireland, and had landed in Brisbane in 1866 and joined the police force on 9 September 1868. He was stationed at Cleveland Bay when transferred to Trinity Bay and left Townsville on 28 October 1876. He brought his family to Cairns and but died soon after. His widow married James Hill, a selector on Wrights Creek where for a time he ran the Mulgrave hotel. According to her headstone at Riverstone, Mary Ellen died at Gordonvale in January 1943 aged 69.
","criteria":"William Saunders Alley, with his wife and family, was the first to take a bullock team to the Mulgrave River in 1878, and in August 1879 took up the first land on the Mulgrave which consisted of 640 acres and which he named Riverstone. Soon after, in October 1879, Richard Blackwell took up land known as Plain Camp, near where Gordonvale is now located.
|The site is of aesthetic significance, and its highly visible location and well maintained surrounds, including four mature palms, contribute to its local landmark status.
|The Alley Family Graves site has a close association with the life and work of the Alley and Blackwell families - early settlers, timber-getters, and proprietors of the Riverstone Hotel - in the establishment and development of the Mulgrave area south of Cairns in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The Alley and Blackwell families were also associated with the establishment of the Mulgrave Mill, and through their association with the Riverstone Hotel and other activities, were well known and highly regarded in the local community.
","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":16302,"place_ref":601539,"name":"Cairns Masonic Temple","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"8 Minnie Street","suburb":"CAIRNS","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1998-08-28","description":"The Masonic temple, a two-storeyed concrete structure with a gable roof concealed behind a parapet wall, is located on the northern corner of Grafton Street with the main entry to Minnie Street to the southeast. The building is T-shaped in plan, with the main body of the building consisting of a minimally adorned box with high set steel framed windows. The gable entrance sits proud of the main section, and features a symmetrical facade composed of classical elements.
The entry consists of a flight of stairs to a recessed door with a cantilevered awning. The doorway is surmounted by a tall rendered arch flanked by a corinthian column, supporting a large globe, to either side. Each column sits on a pedestal with a marble plaque. The rendered arch mouldings contain a large keystone and surround a circular window above a row of four small square windows. The parapet has a deep cornice above the words AD GLORIAM DEI, and is crowned with the masonic emblem of the carpenter's square and divider.
The building has high-level steel framed, multi-paned windows to each side and rear. Entrance doors area also located on either side and at the rear.
Internally, the building appears to consist of a large hall with a gallery, with staircases to the first floor at the front and rear.
The Minnie Street facade has an iron fence with concrete posts.
","history":"Completed in 1935, this two-storeyed concrete structure was the third building to be used as a Masonic Temple in Cairns.
The first recorded gathering of Freemasons in Cairns was held in December 1885, at Hides' Hotel [600382]. The first Masonic Lodge in Cairns, Gregory Lodge No. 50 was constituted in April 1886. By the mid 1920s, there were six Lodges that met in Cairns, in a building in Lake Street. Prior to the destruction of this building by a cyclone in 1927, the Lodges moved to a building adjoining the site of the present Temple.
In 1921, at a meeting held in the Cairns Masonic Hall, it was resolved that the representatives of the Gregory Lodge would communicate with the Grand Lodge regarding the establishment of a District Grand Lodge (DGL) of Carpentaria, with headquarters at Cairns. The creation of the DGL of Carpentaria was approved by the Grand Lodge in December 1923, and was subsequently formed in 1924; the Carpentaria district spread from Cardwell to Cape York, and west to Normanton.
In 1928, it was recommended that the DGL erect a suitable memorial to the craftsman who sacrificed so much in the Great War, and to the peace which followed.... . The following year, the DGL organised an appeal for individual donations towards the erection of the Memorial Temple. In 1934 it was decided to proceed with the erection of a Memorial Temple adjoining the present Hall at a cost not exceeding £12 000.
Tenders for the new Masonic Temple were called in August 1934. The architects for the buildings were the north Queensland firm of Hill and Taylor, who had offices in Townsville and Cairns. Richard Hill and Arthur Taylor established the firm of Hill and Taylor in Cairns in 1927, and in 1931, the firm took over the practice of CV Rees in Townsville. Both Hill and Taylor appear to have been masons.
The contractor for the building was CE Steadman, also a mason. The foundation stone of the building was laid on Armistice Day in 1934. Reports from the laying of the stone refer to the building as the Masonic Peace Memorial Temple, and the following description was given of the building; it would [upon its completion] be a worthy and fitting monument of the union of Freemasonry and a fitting memorial and tribute to those who sacrificed so much in the Great War. When it was decided to have the foundation stone laid on Armistice Day, he believed that no more fitting day could have been chosen as it was a day symbolising peace and harmony which was an attribute of the Craft... .
The Temple was constructed during the large-scale interwar redevelopment of Cairns, in which the city centre was virtually rebuilt. The redevelopment was partly a consequence of severe cyclone damage suffered by the city in 1920 and 1927, and also of the developing role of Cairns as an important regional centre in far north Queensland.
The dedication ceremony for the completed Temple was held in October 1935, and was performed by Sir Leslie Wilson, Governor of Queensland and Masonic Grand Master. The ceremony was a large occasion; attended by about 700 representatives of Lodges in Queensland.
A description of the building shortly before the dedication, referred to the imposing facade facing Minnie Street, and the North Queensland walnut and maple joinery. The attention given to the ventilation of the building was also important, and ducts from the external walls [were] brought through under a raised platform around the lodge room and the air ... exhausted by two big fans ensuring a continuous flow of fresh, cool air on even the most humid evenings.
A tablet to the memory of WHJ Mayers, the Foundation District Grand Master, was set into the base of the pillar at the left entrance to the temple and unveiled in March 1954.
The two large pillars at the entrance to the temple were destroyed/damaged by a cyclone in March 1956. There was considerable damage also to the windows and outbuildings of the temple. New columns are recorded as being completed in 1957, and in accordance with Masonic tradition, were formed hollow and a copy of all records subsequent to the laying of the foundation stone was placed inside one of the pillars.
","criteria":"The Masonic Temple was completed in 1935, since which time it has served as the headquarters for Freemasonry in far north Queensland. The Temple survives as an illustration of the development of Cairns as an important regional centre during the early twentieth century.
|The Masonic Temple has an imposing idiosyncratic facade which makes a strong contribution to the Cairns townscape. The building's facade, scale and form ensures its status as a Cairns landmark.
|(Criterion under review)
","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":16337,"place_ref":601576,"name":"Cairns City Council Chambers","alternate_name":"Cairns Library","street_address":"151 Abbott Street","suburb":"CAIRNS","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1998-10-05","description":"The Cairns City Council Chambers, located on a large site bounded by Abbott, Aplin and Lake Streets, is surrounded by parkland with mature trees including Figs, Queen Palms and Traveller's Palms. The single-storeyed reinforced concrete structure, designed with classical detailing, has separate hipped roofs clad in ribbed metal sheeting and partly concealed behind a parapet.
The symmetrical main entrance faces Abbott Street to the northeast, with a forecourt area fronting a stylised pronaos. The pronaos consists of eight Ionic columns in antis, with fluting to the base of the shaft of each column, and the pilasters at either end have stylised detailing with a coat of arms towards the top. The entablature has a wide cornice formed by a projecting eave which aligns with the remainder of the building, and the pediment has the name CAIRNS CITY COUNCIL and is surmounted by an acroteria at the apex.
The pronaos has three doorways opening to the foyer. Each doorway has expressed architraves, the lintel of which projects from the wall face and is supported by scrolled brackets. The original doors have been replaced with aluminium framed glazed doors, however the leadlight fanlights survive intact. A row of high level windows located above the doorhead have been closed over, but the window surrounds remain. A marble foundation plaque is fixed to the base of the wall.
The pronaos is flanked on either side by enclosed verandahs. Each verandah comprises six bays (the original section being only three bays) which consist of rectangular openings with expressed sill and architraves, and which have been infilled with glazing. The enclosed verandah is surmounted by a parapet with a stylised frieze, and flanked by stylised pilasters at either end.
The building has been extended to either side and at the rear corners, and the central roof section is higher than the flanking roof sections. The architectural detailing of the enclosed verandahs fronting Abbott Street is continued to both side elevations, with the parapet wrapping around to the rear of the building. The rear of the building has hipped roof sections forming deep eaves, with stylised corner pilasters projecting through to form corner parapets.
The rear of the central section has a skillion roofed verandah, enclosed with multi-paned timber windows above sill height, either side of a central portico. The portico has a parapet with corner pilasters, and an entablature with a wide cornice formed by a projecting eave which aligns with the adjoining verandahs. The pilasters frame a rectangular opening which is flanked by small Tuscan columns. The main roof has bracketed eaves, and narrow leadlight windows are located above the verandah roof, lighting the interior of the Council Chamber behind. The original toilet blocks are extant (with a plant being added to the roof of the northern toilet block) and flank the enclosed side verandahs of the rear central section.
Internally, the building has a large central office and public enquiries area with non-original partitions fronting the pronaos entry to Abbott Street, with the former strong room behind, and the Council Chamber at the rear. The original verandahs returning along either side of the Council Chamber are extant, however they have been enclosed and additions constructed to infill the rear corners of the structure. The side wings retain some of the original planning and room layout, but have also been extended to either side. Some of the original french doors and fanlights, which opened onto verandahs from these rooms, survive intact. Suspended ceilings have been installed throughout most of the building, however a mezzanine level has been created above the strong room area and the original coffered plaster ceiling is visible.
The Council Chamber has cedar wall panelling to plate rail height, with painted wall surface above. The room also has paired cedar panelled doors and architraves, and leadlight windows. The southern wall of the Council Chamber has been altered with non-original timber joinery, and the room has a suspended ceiling which blocks the high level windows and obscures the overall proportions of the room.
The building is surrounded by extensive grounds, including mature trees and several flower beds. Driveway access and carparking is along the southern boundary of the site, and a second driveway enters off Aplin Street and accesses the rear portico. A large forecourt forms the entrance to the building from Abbott Street, and a low concrete upstand which runs along the Abbott Street boundary may be the base of the original concrete fence.
","history":"The Cairns City Council Chambers was constructed in 1929-30 and is a substantial reinforced concrete structure located on a large corner site surrounded by parkland. The building was erected during the third major phase of Cairns' development, between the First and Second World Wars, at which time the city's status as the principal port of Far North Queensland was consolidated and the city centre virtually re-built.
Cairns was established officially in October 1876 as a port to service the newly discovered Hodgkinson goldfields. In this first phase of Cairns' development there was a small flurry of building activity (mostly shanties and tent houses), but the town competed with both Cooktown and Port Douglas for the Hodgkinson trade, and made little progress until the establishment of a local sugar industry and the opening up of the Atherton Tablelands' mineral fields, in the early 1880s. The 1885 announcement that Cairns was to be the terminus for the Herberton railway established the town as the principal port in the region. These boosts to the local economy in the 1880s generated a second building and development phase, during which the early temporary structures were replaced by more substantial timber buildings.
Whilst a number of masonry and reinforced concrete commercial buildings were erected in Cairns in the years immediately preceding the First World War, the third major phase of Cairns' development was during the 1920s and 1930s. The Cairns hinterland Soldier Settlement Schemes of the 1920s, the completion of the rail link to Brisbane in 1924, the opening of the Gillies Highway and the Captain Cook Highway, the continued success of the local sugar industry, the expansion of wharf facilities, the extensive re-building necessitated by cyclones in the 1920s, and the poor condition of earlier timber structures, combined to produce unprecedented building activity in Cairns. The city centre in particular was dominated until the 1980s by masonry and reinforced concrete structures of the interwar period, and in this respect was markedly different from other 19th century-established Queensland towns and cites.
Important civic buildings of this time, most of which were designed with classical detailing intended to re-affirm the power and presence of government in the community, include the Cairns City Council Chambers, former Court House [600376], former Public Offices (present Art Gallery) [600376], former Customs House [600377], former Cairns Post Office, former Cairns Telegraph Office and Cairns State High School. Other prominent buildings of the period also designed with classical detailing include the Masonic Temple [601539] and the Cairns Post building. The construction of these buildings reflected the State Government and the local community's confidence in the growth of Cairns as an important regional centre during the interwar period.
The Cairns Divisional Board was established in 1879 by the Divisional Boards Act of that year, later becoming the Cairns Shire Council and then the Mulgrave Shire Council. In 1885 the Cairns Municipal Council was set up to administer the town area, and an allotment of land was set aside as a municipal reserve some blocks away from the main settlement of lower Abbott Street, on the corner of Aplin Street. The Cairns Municipal Council Chambers, a timber building, was constructed on the site, and in 1886 the Council applied for a public market reserve on land adjoining the municipal reserve fronting Lake Street, with a roadway entrance from Abbott Street. This was established in 1886, and in 1893 one allotment of the public market reserve fronting Lake Street was surrendered for a fire brigade station use, and two smaller allotments fronting Abbott Street were included as part of the public market reserve, resulting in the current site configuration. In June 1940 the previous reserves were cancelled and the site was gazetted as a reserve for local government purposes. In July of that year, a deed of grant upon trust for local government purposes was issued to the Cairns City Council for the site.
The Cairns Municipal Council became the Cairns Town Council on 31 March 1903, which in turn became the Cairns City Council on 13 October 1923. In 1926, Cairns celebrated its 50th anniversary.
The Cairns City Council Chambers were constructed in 1929-30, replacing the timber council chambers. The Cairns City Council Chambers was designed by the architectural partnership of Hill and Taylor, who were prominent local architects working in North Queensland during the interwar period. Hill and Taylor practiced in Cairns from 1927-33, and in Townsville from 1933-c.40, however Richard Hill had been practicing as an architect in Cairns from 1919. Prior to his partnership, Arthur John Taylor had worked for Richard Hill from 1925-27 after having been employed by the Queensland Government.
The builder of the Cairns City Council Chambers was Mr Alex McKenzie, and the foundation stone was laid by Mayor Alderman WA Collinson on 20 November 1929. In December 1929 the building was estimated to cost approximately £15,000. The Cairns City Council Chambers originally comprised a T-shaped plan with a central columned vestibule (pronaos) to Abbott Street, flanked on either side by three bays of verandah (now enclosed) with each section having a separate hipped roof. The building was extended c.1961 by a further three bays to either side with matching facade detailing. The rear verandahs were also enclosed, and the original timber floors were replaced with concrete slabs. The building was extended with infill at the rear corners, with the northern extension completed in 1969 and the southern in 1975. Major refurbishment was carried out in 1979-80, with the mezzanine floor added, and suspended ceilings installed.
The building appears to have originally had a picket fence to the Abbott Street frontage, which was replaced during the 1930s by a fence with concrete piers and metal gates which was in keeping with the original design proposal for the building. This fence is no longer extant, but its base may survive in the form of an existing concrete upstand along the Abbott Street boundary. The building is now fronted by the Centenary Forecourt, which was opened in 1885 to celebrate 100 years of local government in Cairns.
","criteria":"The Cairns City Council Chambers survives as an important illustration of the growth and rebuilding of Cairns in the interwar years, when Cairns was transformed from a late 19th century town to a progressive, post-war city. In particular, the place illustrates the local community's confidence in Cairns as an important regional centre after the First World War, and the elevation of Cairns from town to city status. The site has sustained a continued local government presence in Cairns since 1885, when the Cairns Municipal Council was established and the first chambers constructed.
|It is an important example of the work of prominent North Queensland architectural partnership of Hill and Taylor.
|The Cairns City Council Chambers has considerable aesthetic and architectural significance, and together with its surrounding grounds and mature plantings, imbue a formal expression of classical interwar public architecture adapted to suit a tropical climate. The building makes a considerable contribution to the Cairns streetscape, and is an important member of a group of classically detailed interwar civic buildings designed to re-affirm the power and presence of government in the community.
As an integral member of a group of interwar civic buildings designed with classical detailing, the Cairns City Council Chambers contributes markedly to the city's sense of identity and history.
|The building has a strong association with the Cairns City Council and the Cairns 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":16369,"place_ref":601608,"name":"Barrier Reef Hotel","alternate_name":"Empire Hotel","street_address":"3 Abbott Street","suburb":"CAIRNS","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1997-07-29","description":"The Barrier Reef Hotel is situated on the corner of Wharf and Abbott Streets, Cairns. The floor plan of the building responds to the trapezoidal shape of the site where the grid layout of the city meets Trinity Inlet. The building is constructed in reinforced concrete, with timber floors and corrugated iron roofing. Windows and doors are of timber.
\nThe building is two-storeyed with a wide verandah attached to parapet walls running along Wharf and Abbott Streets. The verandah is supported on heavy timber posts evenly spaced with the posts each side of the corner at the street intersection missing, which is an original feature. The verandah has a plain slatted balustrade at first floor level and below this a later skirt with segmental profile of slatted boards between the supporting posts. The verandah has been enclosed at first floor level along Abbott Street.
\nThe parapet wall is finished at the top with a heavy cornice with wide dentil course supported on fluted pilasters beneath. The rear elevations are without decoration and run as a parapet wall along the west elevation and slope back from the Abbott Street elevation forming a parapet to a skillion roof. The skillion roof runs back from the west , Wharf and Abbott Street elevations. The north and west walls are punctuated by evenly spaced windows of double hung proportion indicating the position of single rooms at ground and first floor levels. Some of the windows have been replaced with louvres. The fenestration at ground floor level along Wharf and Abbott Streets appears to be original except the main entry door at Wharf Street, which has been replaced with an aluminium framed door. The northwestern rear sections of the hotel appear to represent a conglomeration of a number of periods of alterations.
\nTypically the interior of the ground floor has been altered to suit changing retail hotel requirements. It is now divided into kitchen, restaurant, public bar and toilet facilities, and the main stair has been removed.
\nThe first floor has retained its original configuration being divided into a series of single rooms off narrow corridors which run parallel to the west and north elevations. The detailing is plain with battened ceilings.
\nThe building is a strong contributor to the streetscape along both Abbott and Wharf Streets.
\nA single-storeyed gable roofed building of contemporary design runs down the northwest side of the hotel and serves as a TAB. It is not considered to be of heritage significance.
","history":"The Barrier Reef (formerly Empire) Hotel, a two-storeyed reinforced concrete building, was erected in 1926 for PJ Doyle Ltd, wine and spirit merchants of Cairns and Thursday Island. The architects were Lawrence and Lordan in conjunction with Richard Hill, both Cairns-based firms. The building replaced an earlier Empire Hotel on the site, opened in 1898.
\nThe Barrier Reef Hotel is situated at the corner of Abbott and Wharf Streets on what was formerly Section II of the 1876 Cairns Town Plan - the survey point from which the town of Cairns was laid out was fixed at this corner just 0.5 metre from the present building. On the opposite side of Abbott Street the Government Reserve was established. Close to the earliest wharves, this end of Abbott Street developed during the last quarter of the 19th century as the principal business and administrative district of Cairns, comprised principally of government offices, warehouses, shipping agents' offices and hotels. The latter catered for local office and wharf workers, as well as for travellers arriving by the coastal steamers. Little of this district's 19th century structures survive, the area being largely re-built in the first four decades of the 20th century as wharf facilities expanded to cater for the emergence of Cairns as a major sugar port. And of the buildings extant in this district by the late 1930s - Burns Philp Building, Joseph Pease Building, Jack and Newell Building, Consolidated Fertilizers Building and a string of working-class hotels: the Australian, Criterion, Mining Exchange, Oceanic, Royal and Empire (later the Barrier Reef) - only the Barrier Reef Hotel and the former Jack and Newell Building remain to perpetuate the association of this part of the city with its waterfront origins.
\nPatrick J Doyle, for whom the second Empire Hotel was built, had established business as an accountant, commission agent and general agent at Thursday Island in 1889, and was clerk of the Torres Divisional Board from at least 1890 until c1899. By 1894, Doyle had entered into wine and spirit wholesaling, moving his main office to Cairns c1899, and maintaining a branch office at Thursday Island. About 1921 he formed a limited liability company, and in the same year acquired title to the first Empire Hotel site and to the land between the hotel and the corner of Wharf and Abbot Streets. PJ Doyle Ltd appears to have been successful, with new Cairns offices and bulk store being constructed for the firm, 1925-26.
\nPJ Doyle Ltd's construction in 1926 of the second, more substantial Empire Hotel reflected local confidence in the growth of Cairns as an important regional centre. Revenue generated through the Port of Cairns had risen from £12,000 in 1906 to £55,456 in 1926, outstripping both Townsville and Rockhampton. In the mid-1920s the Cairns Harbour Board announced plans to erect additional wharf facilities - a new reinforced concrete wharf, 400ft long, with rail approach and large shed - which was constructed 1928-29. With its status as the principal port of Far North Queensland being consolidated during the interwar period, Cairns underwent rapid development, and the city centre was largely re-built.
\nIn April 1925 the Cairns licensing court condemned the first Empire Hotel building, refusing to renew the license unless the place was demolished and replaced with a brick or concrete structure by 30 September 1925. PJ Doyle Ltd could well have erected offices or warehouses instead, but the company chose to retain the hotel business, indicating their confidence in the ability of the wharf district to support yet another expensive new hotel. Their decision to invest in building a new Empire Hotel appears to have been linked with the development of Cairns at this period.
\nWork on the new Empire (to cost £10,000) had started by April 1926, the contractor being CP Jorgensen of Cairns. The building was well underway by September that year, and the hotel was open for business by February 1927. The ground floor contained a public bar, dining room, kitchen and one shop fronting Abbott Street; the first floor was taken up with bedrooms and bathrooms. It was a plain and modest hotel, catering mainly for business and working people. During the 1930s the hotel was used extensively by the travelling public, averaging 105 guests per week in 1936. During the Second World War the Royal Australian Air Force occupied part of the hotel, from early 1943 until mid-1945.
\nIn late 1938 the Empire Hotel site was transferred to Northern Australian Breweries Ltd, who held the title until 1960. PJ Doyle Wines & Spirits Pty Ltd maintained a close connection with the Empire after 1938, firstly as a mortgagor, and from 1 December 1959 until c1977 as the lessee. A variety of sub-lessees, (often the owners of the property), operated the hotel during this latter period.
\nBoth the first and second Empire hotels maintained a strong association with the workers on the wharves across the road. Reputedly, during the 1950s, when Cairns' sugar handlers were working round-the-clock in three eight hour shifts, the Empire Hotel remained open 24 hours a day. The name was changed to the Barrier Reef Hotel in May 1960, possibly reflecting the burgeoning prawning and fishing industry based in Cairns from the late 1950s. During the 1960s and early 1970s the hotel fell into disrepair, with the license suspended briefly in 1974. Since the mid-1970s the hotel and adjacent sites, including the former Jack & Newell Building, have been amalgamated as a re-development site. The interior of the ground floor has been altered to include modern kitchen, restaurant, bar, and toilet facilities and the main stair has been removed. The building still functions as a hotel.
","criteria":"The Barrier Reef Hotel survives as an important illustration of the growth and rebuilding of Cairns in the interwar years, when Cairns was transformed from a late 19th century backwater into a progressive, 20th century city.
The building is important also as an illustration of the emphasis placed by Cairns architects and builders of the interwar period on reinforced concrete as a suitable building material for a tropical, cyclone-prone environment.
|It is one of only two surviving buildings which illustrate the early-established and important connection between the businesses in the Wharf-Abbott-Lake Street area and the adjacent wharves, and remains a good example of a substantial, inter-war Cairns hotel which catered principally for local workers.
|It is one of only two surviving buildings which illustrate the early-established and important connection between the businesses in the Wharf-Abbott-Lake Street area and the adjacent wharves, and remains a good example of a substantial, inter-war Cairns hotel which catered principally for local workers.
|The building makes a strong contribution to the streetscape along both Abbott and Wharf Streets.
|The Barrier Reef Hotel has a strong association for the Cairns community with the development of an early, vibrant commercial district based on wharf activities, and of Cairns as an important Queensland port.
","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":16371,"place_ref":601610,"name":"Jack and Newell Building (former)","alternate_name":"Nosworthy's Stores | Fearnley & Co. Ltd | Bartlam's Ltd","street_address":"29 Wharf Street","suburb":"CAIRNS","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1996-11-22","description":"The former Jack and Newell Building is situated in Wharf Street, half-way along the block between Abbott and Lake Streets, and directly opposite the principal wharves of Cairns.
The plan form of the building is rectangular, with the Wharf Street boundary responding to the subdivision of land in this area where the grid pattern of the city meets Trinity Inlet at an angle. The building is constructed in brick and is two-storeyed where it faces Wharf Street and single-storeyed at the rear.
The elevation to Wharf Street is symmetrical about a ground floor entry door and first floor french doors that open onto a segmental balcony which has a simple slotted balustrade. Each side of these elements are pairs of timber double hung windows at ground and first floor level between capped pilasters. The whole of the façade has been rendered, covering the original brickwork which had rendered bands over the windows at each level, below the first floor windows and across the façade at the sill and head of the ground floor windows. The façade is finished at the top with a stepped parapet slotted at each side and with a semicircular decorative honeycomb brick element centrally positioned over a cornice that extends across the width of the building. Below this is the sign JACK & NEWELL & Co. in relief and below this, centrally located, the date 1893, also in relief.
The side walls step down from the Wharf Street elevation forming a parapet to the skillion roof over the upper storey. The rear wall to the upper storey contains three symmetrically aligned double hung windows. The east elevation contains two rectangular windows located towards the rear of the two-storeyed section at ground and first floor levels. The corrugated iron clad roof to the single-storeyed section, which is supported on timber trusses, is gabled with internal gutter to the side wall parapets and extends back to a stepped gable rear wall. This wall has a single loading bay entrance.
The walls to the interior of the ground floor of the building are finished in plaster. The interior of the side walls have a blind arch configuration. The ceiling is narrow tongue and groove boarding with a timber cornice. The remains of a timber stair with a geometric pattern balustrade survive in the northeast corner of the ground floor of the front section. The stair flight up to the intermediate landing has been removed. The timber floors to the ground floor of the front and rear sections of the building have been replaced in concrete; there is evidence of these original floors surviving on the walls. A wide opening has been made in the adjoining wall between the front and rear sections and an original door opening exists under the stair. A strong room exists that opens into the front section of the ground floor but is situated in the rear section.
The upper floor of the building is divided into rooms off a central hall by three quarter height tongue and groove panelled partitions with glazing over. The ceiling is tongue and groove similar to the ground floor. A trap door is centrally positioned in the floor at the top of the stair.
","history":"The former Jack & Newell Building appears to have been erected in 1911 as new premises for Fearnley & Co. Ltd, shipping and commission agents, on land held in the name of the Company's managing director, Dr John Hastings Reed of Cairns.
John Gillett Fearnley had arrived in Cairns c1888 as manager for commission and shipping agents Thomas & Maddon. In 1889 he went into partnership with WC Smith (previously manager of the Queensland National Bank in Cairns), as Smith & Fearnley, storekeepers, merchants, and commercial, forwarding, shipping and insurance agents, Cairns. In 1893 (the year which appears on the front of the present building) the partnership was dissolved, and JG Fearnley, commission, forwarding and shipping agent was established.
About 1895 Fearnley secured the Adelaide Steamship Company's new Cairns agency. Initially he rented wharf facilities, but c1898 erected a substantial new wharf and offices past the terminus of Wharf Street at Lake Street, on Special Lease No.546. By 1905, JG Fearnley was one of the four principal wharf owners in Cairns, the others being Burns, Philp & Co., Walsh & Co., and Howard Smith Co. Ltd. He was a justice of the peace and a prominent member of the community, having served for many years on the local council and on a variety of local community committees. A street in Cairns is named in his honour.
The firm of JG Fearnley was re-structured in 1905-06. In May 1905 Fearnley relinquished the agency for the Adelaide Steamship Company, selling his wharf, sheds and associated offices to the Company, but retaining his shipping, forwarding and general agency business. By August 1905 new offices [not the present building] were being erected for his firm near the Adelaide Steamship Company's offices and close to his former wharf. In October the same year Fearnley announced his intention of moving his family to the south, and left his business under the management of accountant Lionel Draper of Cairns from 9 December 1905. In January 1906, he entered into an agreement with a group of Brisbane businessmen to convert his firm into a limited liability company, Fearnley & Co. Ltd, with Fearnley remaining the managing director of the company for life, but with power to delegate that function. The new company was registered in July 1906 with Dr John Hastings Reed, manager of the Hambledon Sugar Mills outside Cairns, delegated Managing Director.
Impacting on the activities of Cairns shipping agencies and wharf owners at this time was the establishment of the Cairns Harbour Board, incorporated by Act of Parliament on 20 December 1905, and in operation from 1 January 1906. In 1906 the new Board announced that it had formed a scheme for the development of the harbour and intended to acquire and develop the existing wharves, which it did in 1907-08. In 1907 the Harbour Board also moved the offices of the Adelaide Steamship Company further back from their former wharf. Similar action could well have been taken with other shipping agency offices, and may have provided the catalyst for Fearnley & Co. Ltd moving to new offices in Wharf Street, opposite the Harbour Board's No.2 wharf (formerly Walsh & Co.'s wharf), in December 1907. This equates very much with the location of the present building.
The 1907 move may well have been to the present site, but it is not clear whether to the present building. The site was alienated in 1876 as allotment 20 of Section 2, parish of Cairns, county of Nares. Whether any building was extant on the site prior to 1907 is not known. Title was transferred to John Hastings Reed in September 1907, at which time he also took out a mortgage of £1500 on the property. This may have enabled the construction of the present building. However, early in 1911 Cairns contractors Hanson and Sons were reported to have won the contract to erect new brick premises for Fearnley & Co. Ltd, time 4 months and price around £2,300. This is more likely to refer to the present building.
Late 1922-early 1923, Fearnley & Co. Ltd was taken over by Bartlams Ltd, merchants, carriers, shipping and forwarding agents of Townsville and Charters Towers, and title to the site of the Fearnley & Co. Ltd Building was transferred to them in January 1926. By April 1931, Bartlams had relinquished business in Cairns, but retained title to the Wharf Street property. From 1 December 1930, Ralph Collins Nosworthy took out a five year lease on part of the building from Bartlams, and the Queensland Post Office Directory records Nosworthy's Stores at 29 Wharf Street in 1934.
In 1939 the property was transferred to John Newell of the North Queensland firm of Jack & Newell, who had held title to the adjoining property [allotment 23 of section 2] since 1899. Jack & Newell had established as general storekeepers in Herberton in 1880, and by the turn of the century had stores at Herberton, Irvinebank, Montalbion, Muldiva, Mareeba, Cairns and Port Douglas and were operating as commission, forwarding and shipping agents as well. Their Cairns shipping and forwarding agency was established c1897, possibly in the single-storeyed building on allotment 23.
Jack & Newell's acquisition of the former Fearnley & Co. Ltd premises in the late 1930s continued the association of the building with the shipping and forwarding business. It seems that the building was rendered only after the sale to Jack & Newell, obliterating the names Fearnley & Co. Ltd and Bartlams Ltd on the front façade and replacing them with Jack & Newell & Co. The building and site remained the property of Jack & Newell Pty Ltd until acquired in the mid-1970s as part of the Barrier Reef Hotel re-development site. Through the second half of the 1970s and during the 1980s, the building was used as a wine and spirits bulk store associated with the nearby Barrier Reef Hotel. It is unoccupied at present.
","criteria":"The former Jack & Newell Building is important in illustrating the early 20th century establishment of Cairns as the principal port of Far North Queensland. In particular, it illustrates the development of port facilities and improved warehousing in the Wharf St district following establishment of the Cairns Harbour Board in 1906. For over 6 decades the building was associated with 3 firms of important North Queensland shipping and forwarding agents, and is rare surviving evidence of the role of such firms in the development of Cairns as a major regional port.
|The building is the last remaining early 20th century warehouse in what was formerly a vibrant commercial district based on wharf activities. Along with the nearby Barrier Reef Hotel, it is one of only two buildings which survive to illustrate the early-established and important connection between the businesses in the Wharf-Abbott-Lake Street area and the adjacent wharves.
|The former Jack & Newell Building demonstrates the principal characteristics of a masonry warehouse associated with shipping and commission agency work, illustrated in particular by the survival of office partitioning on the upper floor, display space on the lower floor of the front section, and warehousing facilities in the rear single-storeyed section. The relationship between the double and single storeyed sections of the building remains clear, and adds to our understanding of the functioning of an early 20th century Queensland shipping agency business. The inclusion of a small upper-storey front balcony is indicative of the physical and functional relationship of the building to the wharves opposite.
|The building retains a characteristic local streetscape pattern of building dimension and scale, particularly in its local variance of classical façade decoration, and survives as a marker of the earlier streetscape.
|The building has a strong association for the Cairns community with the growth of the commercial district associated with the wharves, and remains a symbol of early 20th century shipping activity in Cairns, when the town was developing into the principal port of far North Queensland.
|It has had a strong association with 3 important North Queensland-based shipping agencies: Fearnley & Co. Ltd, Bartlams Ltd, and Jack & Newell & Co. Although erected for Fearnley & Co., the building has been associated mostly (1939-76) with Jack & Newell & Co., who had traded from Wharf Street since the late 1890s.
","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":16441,"place_ref":601681,"name":"Dr EA Koch Memorial","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Abbot Street","suburb":"CAIRNS","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1997-05-27","description":"The Dr EA Koch Memorial is located in Anzac Memorial Park, in the west corner of the park close to the intersection of Abbott and Spence Streets. It is set against the backdrop formed by The Reef Hotel Casino complex.
The memorial comprises a square, rough-finished granite plinth, on which rests a square polished granite base approximately 1 metre high, supporting four worked marble columns which in turn support a dome. On two sides of the dome are sculptured likenesses in Carrara marble of Dr Koch. On two faces of the polished granite base is the inscription: Erected by citizens of Cairns and District to the memory of Dr Koch 1901. Above the dome is a recent lamp fitting and lamp approximating the original.
The whole is surrounded by red concrete-block paving.
","history":"The memorial to Dr Edward Albert Koch was erected in 1903 by the citizens of Cairns, to honour his work in tropical medicine in Cairns and district in the late 19th century. Dr Koch was for many years in charge of Cairns hospital and had his own practice in the town. Skill and kindness made him a revered figure in the local community.
EA Koch was born in Altona, Holstein in Germany in 1843. He studied medicine at Kiel University and received his degree in Berlin in 1870, the year of the German invasion of France. Koch was obliged to join the army, where he worked as a medical officer. Subsequent to the Franco-Prussian war he appears to have worked in German surgical departments prior to taking a position as Surgeon Superintendent on a German emigrant ship to Queensland in mid-1877. Koch accepted at least two similar positions on German and British immigrant ships to Queensland and New South Wales 1877-79. In January 1879 he was granted a first-class certificate to practice medicine by the Queensland Government, and in April 1882 he took the Oath of Allegiance in Cairns, where it appears he was in private practice. He was appointed as a medical officer at Cairns Hospital in July 1882, and in April 1884 he also was appointed Health Officer at Cairns, taking over the running of the hospital.
As well as his job as a medical and health officer, from September 1896 Dr Koch was appointed surgeon to the Queensland Military Defence Force's Naval Brigade at Cairns, and in September 1897 accepted the position of visiting surgeon to Cairn's prison. Both these positions were unpaid. He appears to have remained in these positions until his death on 28 June 1901.
Dr Koch gained prominence locally for his medical skills, kindly disposition, and humanitarian work amongst Cairns families. Of particular importance for far north Queensland was his understanding and successful treatment of tropical fevers, notably malaria. 'Fever' - usually malaria or typhoid - became endemic in far north Queensland during the 1880s, especially on the mining fields, in the railway construction camps, and on the sugar plantations. Diagnosis was largely the result of observation and deduction, and treatment was empirical. When the fever was malaria, quinine was used to good effect. When typhoid, and quinine did not prove as effective, the diagnosis was often 'prolonged or continued climatic fever'. More complicated fevers were sometimes described as typho-malaria.
In the 1880s Dr Koch was among the first to understand the role of the mosquito as the carrier of the malaria parasite. Not until 1897 did Major Surgeon Ronald Ross prove by scientific experiment the role of the mosquito anopheles farauti [indigenous to Cairns and all of north Queensland from Townsville northwards] in the transmission of malaria, and it was not until 1904 that RA O'Brien, who practised medicine in Cairns 1904-08, for the first time demonstrated malaria parasites microscopically in North Queensland. Koch patented a fever mixture consisting of quinine dissolved in diluted sulphuric acid, designed both to treat malaria and to be used as a suppressive. 'Dr Koch's Celebrated Fever Mixture for Malaria', prepared by a Cairns chemist, proved highly effective. It was marketed throughout the far north of Queensland and in Papua New Guinea, and is credited with containing the endemic malaria existing in Cairns prior to the Second World War.
Besides formulating the fever mixture, he urged preventative measures, and regularly visited the gangs of workmen engaged in filling the swamps around Cairns, to urge them to roll down their shirt sleeves from 4pm onwards each day. He also visited fortnightly the Hambledon and Pyramid sugar plantations outside Cairns, which were run with South Sea Islands labour.
Dr Koch died on 28 June 1901, aged 57 years, at his residence on the Esplanade at Cairns, and was interred in the McLeod Street cemetery the following day.
To honour the memory of an esteemed physician, a public subscription was raised in Cairns to fund a memorial which would be not only aesthetically pleasing, but functional, and Messrs Melrose and Fenwick of Townsville were commissioned to design a memorial in the form of a drinking fountain. As it was to be located in the centre of the intersection of Abbott and Spence Streets in the heart of the town, a gas lamp was placed on its top.
When completed, the memorial stood 14 feet high, with a dome supported by four worked marble columns, supported by a polished granite die. On two sides of the dome were sculptured likenesses of Dr Koch. The marble columns and sculptured work were imported from Carrara in Italy. The granite for the die and plinth came from Mount Elliott, near Townsville - that used for the die was polished to a mirror-like finish, while that of the plinth was 'fine-axed'.
The memorial was still in the Townsville workshops in late May 1903 but was in place at the intersection of Abbott and Spence Streets by 13 June 1903, when it was unveiled by Major-General Sir Herbert Chermside, the Governor of Queensland. By c1920, the memorial also carried two street signs. By the late 1920s the single lamp and lamp base at the top of the dome had been replaced with a pair of gas street lamps suspended from a tall metal column. By the late 1940s, the lamps and lamp fitting at the top of the dome had been removed entirely. Photographic evidence suggests that the memorial remained in the centre of the intersection until at least the mid-1960s, but had been removed to nearby Anzac Memorial Park [bounded by Abbott and Spence Streets and the Esplanade], by the mid-1970s. It was relocated within this park following redevelopment of the reserve in the mid-1990s.
","criteria":"This memorial immortalises the work of pioneering Cairns doctor Edward Albert Koch, in particular his treatment of malaria and early recognition of the role played by mosquitoes in transmitting the disease. Dr Koch's fever remedy and preventative measures played a significant role in controlling endemic malaria in far North Queensland in the late 19th century and first half of the 20th century.
|The memorial also makes an aesthetic contribution to Anzac Memorial Park and to the streetscape at the intersection of Abbott and Spence Streets.
|It has a special association for the people of Cairns as physical evidence of the city's history and sense of identity.
|Dr Koch was admired and respected by past generations, and the memorial survives as evidence of this.
","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":16476,"place_ref":601739,"name":"Xavier and Sadie Herbert's Cottage (former)","alternate_name":"Sadie's House | Xavier and Sadie Herberts Cottage","street_address":"399 Kamerunga Road","suburb":"REDLYNCH","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1997-01-24","description":"Xavier and Sadie Herbert's Cottage [former] is located in the heart of the village of Redlynch, about 13 kilometres northwest of Cairns. The house is positioned quite close to the front of a level, 25 perch block abutting busy Kamerunga Road, one of the principal roads out of Cairns. It sits directly opposite the Redlynch Railway Station and adjacent to the Red Beret [formerly Redlynch] Hotel, the focal point of the village, and overlooks cane fields to the ranges beyond. The setting is picturesque.
The cottage is a small, single-storeyed, timber-framed building with enclosed front and back verandahs, and a concrete block extension at the rear. It rests on low stumps, mostly timber, although a few of these have been replaced with round concrete stumps or galvanised steel. The exterior has been re-clad with aluminium which resembles weatherboards. The hipped roof is clad with corrugated sheet metal. All the windows appear to have been replaced at some period, and those along the west wall have new decorative metal window hoods. The front facade has recent decorative timber lattice. Attached to the house on the east side is a single carport with a skillion roof and front roller-door. A high concrete block wall defines the eastern boundary of the property; fences to the other boundaries and along the west side of the front driveway are of pickets.
The internal layout of the cottage, originally two rooms opening onto front and back verandahs, has been altered. The centre wall has been removed and two new internal partitions now divide the core of the house into three rooms: a bedroom each side and in the centre a living area with an archway opening onto the enclosed front verandah. The bedrooms retain their original french doors to the enclosed front verandah, but all the other doors in the house are modern. The interior walls and ceilings are lined with fibrous plasterboard. It is not clear whether any of the Herbert's mock timber-panelling of the 1970s remains beneath the present wall finishes.
The back verandah may have been partly enclosed from an early period, but was fully enclosed in the Herberts' time and has been refurbished recently with a new kitchen at the west end and bathroom at the east end. A centrally-positioned door leads from the back verandah to an attached extension. This comprises a 1.9 metre wide concrete slab running the width of the house, with concrete block laundry at the east end and toilet at the west end. The middle section of this extension is enclosed with timber lattice.
In the backyard, at a short distance from the house, a garage has been constructed on the eastern half of the block. This structure is clad in aluminium and rests on a concrete block. It has a skillion roof and is divided into two sections. The eastern half is garage, and the western half, with windows on three sides and doors front and back, is used as a workout area.
The Herberts' garden is almost non-existent. The only substantial surviving planting is a stand of palms in the backyard. The Alexandra Palms across the front alignment of the property appear to be comparatively recent, and may not have been associated with the Herberts.
","history":"This modest timber-framed cottage was purchased in 1951 by Xavier Herbert, an Australian writer whose work has achieved international recognition. It was intended as a home for his wife, Sadie Norden, but was also to remain Herbert's principal place of residence for over 30 years. At the Redlynch cottage, Herbert worked on all of his major works except Capricornia.
The cottage is situated in the village of Redlynch at the base of the coastal ranges northwest of Cairns. The area was logged for its cedar from the mid-late 1870s. Selections were taken up in the mid-1880s following the 1886 decision to construct a railway from Cairns to the Atherton Tableland through the area, and the Eight-mile Railway Station was opened in October 1887 as the terminus for the first stage of the Cairns-Mareeba railway. Eight-mile was renamed Redlynch almost immediately, and a small village grew around the station. In the 1920s and 1930s Redlynch developed as the centre of an important sugar-growing district. The cottage which the Herberts later acquired, along with several adjacent similar cottages, may have been constructed in the 1920s, although the present land subdivision was not surveyed until 1938.
Alfred [Francis Xavier] Herbert (1901-1984) was born in Western Australia and educated at Fremantle, where he trained as a pharmacist. In 1925 he moved to Melbourne where he studied medicine for a year. His first published short story appeared in the Australian Journal [Melbourne] at this time and Herbert decided to quit university studies to pursue a writing career. In 1926 he moved to Sydney and joined the staff of Smith's Weekly. In the late 1920s he travelled (mostly walking) around northern Australia and the South Pacific doing various odd jobs, and spent two years in England 1930-32. While in England he completed the initial draft of Capricornia, with the support of Sadie Norden, whom he later married. Late in 1932 he returned to Australia and wrote short stories for journals and newspapers to help bring Sadie to Australia in 1933. After some difficulty, Capricornia was published in Australia in 1938. It won Australia's sesquicentenary novel competition that year and became a best seller.
Herbert served in the Second World War and after demobilisation he and Sadie travelled north from Sydney and took up the lease on a dairy farm in the Daintree River area for a few years. In June 1951 they bought the cottage at Redlynch, Xavier accepting a fellowship with the Australian Literary Fund and applying for a War Service Loan in order to make the purchase. The house was intended for Sadie's benefit, Xavier not believing in 'comforts', but it is possible neither of them anticipated the length of time they were to own the property. In August 1951, Xavier wrote of Sadie: . . . she's not settling down, just getting a little house in [which?] to put all those things of hers . . However, the house was to remain their principal place of residence for the remainder of their lives.
After the move to Redlynch, Herbert alternated casual occupations with writing, and published irregularly. Through his short stories and novels, he explored the search for security and an Australian identity, the mistreatment of Aborigines and the destruction of the environment. Most of his work is set in the Australian bush and in small country towns. Seven Emus appeared in 1959; Soldiers' Women in 1961; Larger than Life and Disturbing Element in 1963. After nearly a decade of preparation, Poor Fellow My Country was published in 1975, winning the Miles Franklin Award that year. A work of about 850,000 words, it is the longest novel ever published in Australia.
It is clear from interviews given by Herbert that Sadie Norden provided the emotional centre to his life, and the house at Redlynch, which he always called 'Sadie's house', became equally important. Xavier continued to write his first drafts away from home, establishing camps in the ranges between Cairns and Cooktown for weeks or months at a time, and often taking jobs away from Redlynch, but always returned to Sadie and Redlynch to develop the drafts. He once acknowledged, I'd never go on writing anything if Sadie didn't like it. Sadie and the cottage at Redlynch provided a base for his work and to his existence. Herbert later said of Redlynch that it was the most beautiful little town I ever set eyes on. Like many of the characters and places in Xavier Herbert's novels and stories, however, the village of Redlynch inhabits two worlds. Not quite town and not quite country, Redlynch is almost a suburb of Cairns - where Sadie lodged Xavier's first drafts with their bank - but lies amid cane fields at the base of the coastal ranges where Xavier established his writer's camps.
The Herberts became well-known to the Redlynch community, with Xavier acting as relieving pharmacist in the village during the 1950s and 1960s. A fitness fanatic, he regularly jogged through the canefields, along the railway and into the hills, before jogging became fashionable, and claimed he gained the inspiration to write Poor Fellow My Country while running. Xavier was also known for his attempts at self-sufficiency. He experimented with battery-powered DC electricity, and the wiring in the cottage may contain remnants of this system. In the backyard he constructed a small 'writer's shed', which local residents believe was made of two small sheds taken from the Kuranda railway and moved by railcar to Redlynch. Poor Fellow My Country was partly written and revised here 1969-74, but this structure was demolished late in 1995.
With the prize money received for Poor Fellow My Country, the Herberts carried out a number of alterations to the Redlynch cottage. A septic system was installed and a new bathroom and toilet were built at the rear of the house. The interior was modernised with plasterboard ceilings and imitation timber-grain wall panelling. The exterior was re-clad with aluminium, enclosing the front verandah in the process, and a garage and guest room for the use of visiting friends and academics was built in the backyard. A new carport was constructed at the side of the cottage.
Following Sadie's death in 1979, Xavier remained in the cottage until a few months before his own death at Alice Springs in April 1984. Toward the end of his life, Herbert in 1983 gave the Redlynch cottage to his friend and bank agent Robyn Pill, asking her to look after the house when he left. She retained the place until 1989.
There have been substantial renovations to the Redlynch cottage since the Herberts' time, with the interior reconstructed and refurbished in mid-1996, and most of the trees and shrubs in the garden removed, except for a number of palm trees. A great loss was the writer's shed in the backyard, Xavier's million dollar dog house, demolished in the summer of 1995-96.
","criteria":"Xavier and Sadie Herbert's Cottage [former] is significant as the only house in Australia with strong associations with important Australian author Xavier Herbert and his work. The place is significant also for its potential to contribute to biographical work on Xavier and Sadie Herbert. The place has a strong association for both the local Redlynch community and the Australian literary and academic community as the home and place of work of Australian writer Xavier Herbert for over 30 years.
The place has a special association with the life and work of internationally-respected Australian author Xavier Herbert. At the Redlynch cottage, he worked on all his major works except Capricornia. Although much of this work was undertaken in the now demolished writer's shed in the backyard, the association of the place with Herbert and his work remains. The cottage survives in its Redlynch setting and some of the Herberts' 1970s renovations, paid for with prize money received for Poor Fellow My Country, remain. These were undertaken with inexpensive mass-produced materials and for convenience and ease of maintenance rather than aesthetic concerns, and illustrate Herbert's lack of social pretension. The Redlynch cottage also represents an important compromise in Herbert's life, and is significant as much for what it reveals of the person as of the writer.
|Xavier and Sadie Herbert's Cottage (former) is significant as the only house in Australia with strong associations with important Australian author Xavier Herbert and his work. The place is significant also for its potential to contribute to biographical work on Xavier and Sadie Herbert.
|The place has a strong association for both the local Redlynch community and the Australian literary and academic community as the home and place of work of Australian writer Xavier Herbert for over 30 years.
|The place has a special association with the life and work of internationally-respected Australian author Xavier Herbert. At the Redlynch cottage, he worked on all his major works except Capricornia. Although much of this work was undertaken in the now demolished writer's shed in the backyard, the association of the place with Herbert and his work remains. The cottage survives in its Redlynch setting and some of the Herberts' 1970s renovations, paid for with prize money received for Poor Fellow My Country, remain. These were undertaken with inexpensive mass-produced materials and for convenience and ease of maintenance rather than aesthetic concerns, and illustrate Herbert's lack of social pretension. The Redlynch cottage also represents an important compromise in Herbert's life, and is significant as much for what it reveals of the person as of the writer.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion C | 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 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":16484,"place_ref":601747,"name":"Bishop's House","alternate_name":"St Monica's Monastery/Priory | Bishops House | St Monicas Catholic Priory","street_address":"Abbott Street","suburb":"CAIRNS","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1997-07-01","description":"The Bishop's House, situated at the corner of Abbott and Minnie Streets, is a two-storeyed building constructed in reinforced concrete in a style reminiscent of colonial India. It has a rectangular plan form with a wide open verandah along Abbott Street. Verandahs that return half way down the southeast and northwest elevations have been enclosed. A toilet block extends at the western corner and a rear verandah has been enclosed. A two-storeyed c1960s addition extends from the southern corner of the building.
A fence contemporary with the construction of the building survives along Abbott Street and returns down Minnie Street. It consists of a low concrete wall with evenly spaced piers and "Cyclone" chain mesh infill panels running up to paired concrete gate posts in line with entrances at Abbott and Minnie Streets.
The Lake Street facade is equally proportioned in three sections with the centre section projecting. These sections are divided into three bays by rectangular columns which have between them at ground floor level a recessed four-centred arch valance and at first floor heavy scrolled brackets. The verandahs at both levels have a partially solid balustrade with shaped square section balusters. Above the verandah is a heavy dentalled cornice with parapet with blind balusters.
The entrance is accentuated at parapet level by a statue of Mary in a niche formed by columns supporting a heavy semi-circular pediment. Above this and behind the parapet rises a small gable with a heavy coping. This gable is repeated at the ends of the building along the Abbott Street elevation. The roof which employs both hip and gable forms is clad in corrugated fibrous cement sheeting.
The rear elevation has three sash casement window frames with small hoppers over located between the symmetrical concrete frame and enclosing a rear verandah. Windows at ground level have window hoods supported on decorative timber brackets.
The main entrance to the building is up wide concrete steps to a timber porch which has a heavy timber paneled door with lead-lighted side panels. This detailing is repeated at the entrance door and again in a c1940 dividing wall or screen across the foyer. Beyond this screen is a secondary foyer which has a heavy timbered silky oak stair with Edwardian detailing.
The floor plan is designed around a central hall on both levels that typically have french doors opening onto the verandahs. To the right of the main foyer at ground level is what is now a conference room. A small chapel is located in the southern corner of the ground floor in which is situated a white painted timber alter. Other ground floor rooms are now used as offices. The first floor landing extends across the width of the building through a colonnade to the rear verandah which has a single stair to the ground floor. A later suspended ceiling has been installed in this area. To the right of the first floor landing the original Bishop's suite exists in the western corner along Minnie Street. This was extended when the western verandah was enclosed.
The detailing of the doors and windows is Edwardian in clear finished silky oak. Doors are both panelled with patterned opaque hopper over lights or half glass with panelling below. Ceilings are plaster with simple coved cornices and floors are polished timber.
The Bishop's House is very intact.
","history":"The Bishop's House at Cairns, a two-storeyed re-inforced concrete building, was erected in 1930 as a monastery for the Augustinian fathers who administered the Vicariate Apostolic of Cooktown, and St Monica's Parish in Cairns. It replaced an 1887 timber presbytery.
Cairns was established in October 1876, as a port to service the Hodgkinson goldfields. In the same year the area from Cardwell to Cape York was separated from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brisbane as the Pro-Vicariate of North Queensland. In 1884 three Irish Augustinian fathers took charge of the Pro-Vicariate, establishing a monastery at Cooktown, and founding the parish of St Monica's at Cairns in 1885. An acre of land bounded by Abbott, Minnie and Lake Streets was acquired and the first St Monica's Church, a timber building at the corner of Abbott and Minnie Streets on the site of the present Bishop's House, was opened on 10 January 1886. In 1887, the year in which the Pro-Vicariate of North Queensland was constituted the Vicariate Apostolic of Cooktown, a timber presbytery was erected in Abbott Street, adjacent to St Monica's Church. In 1906, the Vicar Apostolic of Cooktown moved his residence to Cairns, which had eclipsed Cooktown as the principal port of far north Queensland, and St Monica's Church became a pro-cathedral.
St Monica's Monastery was erected during a flurry of Catholic building activity in Cairns, which included St Monica's Church-School in 1927, St Augustine's College in 1929, St Monica's Monastery in 1930 and Our Lady of Good Counsel Church-School [North Cairns] in 1936. The work was undertaken principally at the instigation of Father Joseph Phelan, transferred from Mareeba to Cairns to help with the re-construction of St Monica's Church and School following the devastating cyclone of 9 February 1927. Father Phelan had a knowledge of architecture, and appears to have designed the college, monastery and church-school at North Cairns.
The old St Monica's presbytery was demolished June-July 1930, and by the time the foundation stone of the new monastery was laid by the Bishop of Townsville on 31 August 1930, the exterior walls were half completed. The building was officially opened on 21 December 1930 by Archbishop Duhig of Brisbane, who described it as the finest episcopal residence in Australia [Cairns Post 22 December 1930:4]. The design is attributed to Father Phelan, who supervised construction along with Cairns builder Michael Garvey, who had constructed St Monica's Church-School in 1927 and St Augustine's College in 1929. The monastery was erected in less than 6 months, using day labour and Father Phelan's volunteer week-end working-bee. The plumbing and electrical work was contributed free of charge, and an altar for the oratory was donated as a memorial to a former parishioner. The staircase reputedly was donated by the English family of Malanda, who owned a sawmilling business. Total cost was about £7,430.
Construction of the new Augustinian monastery in Cairns illustrated the strength of the Catholic Church in the Cairns district in the 1920s. The effects of the February 1927 cyclone, followed by flood damage, a severe trade depression, and waterfront disputes affecting the city's building industry, did not deter the predominantly working-class Catholic community of Cairns from contributing funds and labour. The rapid construction was a tribute to the zeal of the Augustinian Fathers at Cairns, particularly Father Phelan, and the enthusiasm they inspired in the local parish.
St Monica's Monastery was erected during the third major phase of Cairns' development, which saw the city boom in the 1920s and 1930s. The Cairns hinterland Soldier Settlement Schemes of the 1920s, the completion of the rail link to Brisbane in 1924, the continued success of the local sugar industry, the expansion of wharf facilities, the extensive re-building necessitated by a spate of cyclones in the 1920s and the poor condition of earlier timber structures, combined to produce unprecedented building activity in Cairns. The city centre in particular was dominated until the 1980s by substantial, reinforced concrete and brick structures of the interwar period, and in this respect was markedly different from other 19th century-established Queensland towns and cites.
In 1941 the Vicariate of Cooktown was raised to the status of the Diocese of Cairns, with Bishop Heavey - Vicar Apostolic of Cooktown since 1914 - appointed the first Bishop of Cairns. At this time St Monica's Monastery became known as the Bishop's House. Bishop Heavey was the last of the Augustinian Bishops in the Diocese of Cairns. Following his death in mid-1948, administration of the Diocese was handed over to Diocesan clergy, severing an association with the Irish Augustinians which had lasted over 65 years. From this period, the Augustinian priests began to scale down their involvement in pastoral care in the Diocese, and were replaced mostly with Queensland-born priests trained at the Banyo Seminary in Brisbane. The Bishop's House remains the residence of the Bishop of Cairns.
","criteria":"The Bishop's House survives as important evidence of the re-building of Cairns in the 1920s and 1930s, during which period the city's status as the principal port of Far North Queensland was consolidated and the city centre was re-built. It also illustrates a tradition of building in re-inforced concrete, favoured in cyclone-prone Cairns since the early 1900s.
Together with St Monica's Old Cathedral, these buildings form a highly intact ecclesiastical group, and are important in illustrating the evolution of the Catholic Church in Cairns and district.
|Despite some minor refurbishment, the Bishop's House survives substantially intact. It remains a fine example of a monastery building designed to function in a tropical climate, and is of interest for its re-inforced concrete construction, considered more cyclone-proof than masonry.
|Together with the nearby St Joseph's Convent and St Monica's High School Administration Building, Bishop's House is part of a grouping of pre-1945 20th century buildings which, although of different styles, are all of similar scale, materials and planning. Both individually and as a group, these buildings make a significant aesthetic contribution to the Cairns townscape and Abbott Street streetscape, and contribute markedly to the city's sense of physical identity and history.
|The place has a strong association for residents and visitors alike with the earlier development of Cairns, and has a strong and special association for the Catholic parish of St Monica's, with the evolution of their parish and Diocese.
|The Bishop's House is important also for its close association with the work of the Augustinian fathers, particularly Father Phelan [parish priest of Cairns 1927-37], in the Vicariate Apostolic of Cooktown / Diocese of Cairns.
","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":16485,"place_ref":601748,"name":"St Monica's High School Administration Building","alternate_name":"St Monica's High School | St Monicas Catholic High School | St Monica's College","street_address":"Abbott Street","suburb":"CAIRNS","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1997-07-01","description":"St Monica's High School, which is set back from Lake Street, is a two-storeyed reinforced concrete building with a rectangular floor plan. It has a fibrous cement hipped roof and is surrounded on three sides by reinforced concrete verandahs that have been enclosed with the insertion of aluminium windows. Continuous horizontal wide projecting concrete hoods, which have rounded corners, run over the verandah openings and give the building a strong horizontal character. This is accentuated by small cornices running around the building at parapet and first floor levels.
The central entrance is highlighted by stepped piers at each side that rise through the first floor to a fluted stepped parapet which is finished with a small cross. Below this at first floor level is a large cross in low relief. Each side of this, also in low relief, is located the name ST MONICA'S - HIGH SCHOOL. Solid balustrades at first and ground floor levels have indented stripped patterns symmetrically positioned between concrete piers that support the verandahs and project and terminate above the parapet.
The original fence survives along Lake Street, and consists of a low concrete wall with evenly spaced piers and "Cyclone" chain mesh infill panels running up to paired concrete gateposts in line with the entrance door.
The ground floor has two large classrooms that are divided by a central hall which connects to a small attached rear porch and cloakroom. Access to the first floor is from a return stair at the end of the hall. Originally the first floor was divided for use as small music rooms. Evidence of this arrangement remains in the dividing walls although some changes have been made.
","history":"St Monica's High School [Administration Building] was erected in 1941 for the Sisters of Mercy in Cairns. The two-storeyed re-inforced concrete building was designed by South African-born Cairns architect Vibert McKirdy Brown, and was constructed by contractor VW Doyle.
Nearly 50 years earlier, during the height of the 1890s depression, the Vicar Apostolic of Cooktown, Bishop Hutchinson, had encouraged the Sisters of Mercy at Cooktown to take over St Monica's School in Cairns [established 1890 with lay staff], where the number of pupils had fallen dramatically from 70 to 19. Three of the sisters from St Mary's at Cooktown moved to Cairns in October 1892 and were successful in encouraging Catholic families to return their children to St Monica's School. By 1894 enrolment had risen to 80, and was well over 100 by the turn-of-the-century. They offered a full primary school curriculum and extra-curricula classes in French, drawing, painting, needlework, and music [vocal and instrumental] to older girls.
In the 1930s the work of the convent school expanded to educate girls to secondary school level. Despite a new St Monica's Church-School having been constructed after the February 1927 cyclone, St Monica's secondary school was conducted under difficult conditions. In what was predominantly a primary school, there were no purpose-designed classrooms for secondary subjects.
Cairns boomed during the interwar period, and by the end of the 1930s the need for a purpose-designed high school building at St Monica's had become urgent. Cairns architect VM Brown was commissioned to design a high school, to be erected on land in Abbott Street which the Sisters had acquired in 1922, adjacent to St Joseph's Convent. A former boarding house, which the Sisters had used as a music school, was demolished prior to construction of the new building.
St Monica's High School was erected toward the end of Cairns' third major phase of development. The Cairns hinterland Soldier Settlement Schemes of the 1920s, the completion of the rail link to Brisbane in 1924, the continued success of the local sugar industry, the expansion of wharf facilities, the extensive re-building necessitated by a spate of cyclones in the 1920s and the poor condition of earlier timber structures, combined to produce unprecedented building activity in Cairns in the interwar period. The city centre in particular was dominated until the 1980s by substantial, reinforced concrete and brick structures of the interwar period, and in this respect was markedly different from other 19th century-established Queensland towns and cites. St Monica's High School made an important contribution to this re-construction.
Work on St Monica's High School had begun by January 1941, and was completed by late August, at a cost of approximately £5,000. Plans had been approved prior to the Commonwealth Government's war-time restrictions on buildings costing over £3,000, introduced in mid-1941. Bishop Heavey blessed and officially opened the High School on Sunday 31 August 1941, and the school was occupied by the Sisters and students the next day.
The new building was considered an asset to the architecture of the city. The design was in the Moderne style, with sweeping horizontal and vertical lines and a minimum of architectural ornament. The building was constructed of re-inforced concrete throughout - including the floors and roofs of the deep verandahs. On the ground floor were two large classrooms, main entrance hall, and rear entrance porch and cloak room. Each of the rooms could be divided in two by folding doors. A staircase led from the entrance hall on the ground floor to a central hall on the upper floor, which housed the music rooms: 12 cubicles for pianos, insulated with Canite and Masonite, with glass observation windows in the dividing walls. The building was designed to be extended at the north end with an additional wing, and for a third storey to be added.
When St Monica's School expanded in the late 1960s and early 1970s and became exclusively a secondary school for girls, the purpose-designed 1941 building was not extended as intended. New high school blocks were erected fronting Lake Street, behind the original St Monica's High School building, which has been refurbished as the school's administration centre. In 1989, title to the property was transferred from the Sisters of Mercy to the Diocese of Cairns.
","criteria":"St Monica's High School Administration Building is significant historically for its close association with the development of Catholic secondary education for girls in Cairns and district since 1941. It is also evidence of the re-building of Cairns in the interwar period, sustained into the early 1940s until interrupted by the Second World War. During this period the city's status as the principal port of Far North Queensland was consolidated and the city centre was largely re-built. It also illustrates a tradition of building in re-inforced concrete, favoured in cyclone-prone Cairns since the early 1900s.
Together with St Monica's Old Cathedral, these buildings form a highly intact ecclesiastical group, and are important in illustrating the evolution of the Catholic Church and Catholic education in Cairns and district.
|Despite internal and external refurbishment as offices, St Monica's High School Administration Building survives largely intact, and is a fine illustration of 1940s tropical architecture in the then fashionable and progressive Moderne style. It is of interest also for its re-inforced concrete construction, considered more cyclone-proof than masonry, and is a good example of non-government school design of the period.
|Together with the adjacent St Joseph's Convent and nearby Bishop's House, St Monica's High School Administration Building is part of a grouping of pre-1945 20th century buildings which, although of different styles, are all of similar scale, materials and planning. Both individually and as a group, these buildings make a significant aesthetic contribution to the Cairns townscape and Abbott Street streetscape, and contribute markedly to the city's sense of physical identity and history.
|St Monica's High School Administration Building has a strong association for the local Catholic community with the work of the Sisters of Mercy in offering secondary education to the girls of Cairns and district in the mid-20th century.
|The place is important as a good example of the work of Cairns architect VM Brown, and is important for its close association with the work of the Sisters of Mercy in expanding Catholic education in far north 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":16486,"place_ref":601749,"name":"St Joseph's Convent","alternate_name":"St Josephs Catholic Convent","street_address":"179 Abbott Street","suburb":"CAIRNS","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1997-07-01","description":"St Joseph's Convent is two-storeyed with a rectangular plan form with a return bay on the southern corner. It is constructed of reinforced concrete and has a wide surrounding verandah at ground and first floor levels with a dominating two-storeyed entrance portico and gabled roofs. The original fence survives along Abbott Street which consists of a low concrete wall with evenly spaced piers and 'Cyclone' chain mesh infill panels running up to a Gothic-styled reinforced concrete arched gate in line with the main entrance door. The building, which is set well back from Abbott Street, has a lawned area in front with mature trees each side of a single width concrete entrance path.
","history":"St Joseph's Convent was constructed in 1912-14 for the Sisters of Mercy, who had established a foundation in Cairns in 1892. The 1914 building replaced two earlier cottage convents. The impetus for construction of a new convent came from Bishop James Murray, Vicar Apostolic of Cooktown 1898-1914. Construction of St Joseph's Convent at Cairns was considered one of his finest achievements. The new convent was designed by architect, civil engineer and surveyor E Gregory Waters. St Joseph's Convent was opened officially by James Duhig, Archbishop of Brisbane, on 22 March 1914. [Bishop Murray had died on 13 February 1914, prior to the opening.]
","criteria":"St Joseph's Convent is significant for its close association with the development of Catholicism and Catholic education in Cairns and district since the early 1900s.
Together with St Monica's Old Cathedral, these buildings form a highly intact ecclesiastical group, and are important in illustrating the evolution of the Catholic Church and Catholic education in Cairns and district.
|It is also an excellent example of the work of local architect E Gregory Waters, and illustrates the establishment of a tradition of building in re-inforced concrete, favoured in cyclone-prone Cairns in the early 1900s.
|Despite some refurbishment, the convent survives substantially intact. It remains a fine example of a convent building designed to function in a tropical climate, and is of interest for its re-inforced concrete construction, considered more cyclone-proof than masonry. Together with the nearby Bishop's House and adjacent St Monica's High School Administration Building, St Joseph's Convent is part of a grouping of pre-1945 20th century buildings which, although of different styles, are all of similar scale, materials and planning. Both individually and as a group, these buildings make a significant aesthetic contribution to the Cairns townscape and Abbott Street streetscape, and contribute markedly to the city's sense of physical identity and history.
|It is of significance for its close association with the work of the Sisters of Mercy in expanding Catholic education in far north Queensland, and for over 80 years the place has had a strong association for the local Catholic community with the work of the Sisters of Mercy in Cairns. It remains illustrative of the work of the Augustinian fathers in the Vicariate Apostolic of Cooktown, especially Bishop Murray, who encouraged the erection of Catholic churches, schools, convents and presbyteries throughout far North Queensland in the early years of the 20th 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":16487,"place_ref":601750,"name":"St Monica's Old Cathedral","alternate_name":"St Monica's Church and School | St Monica's Cathedral | St Monicas Cathedral | St Monica's Catholic Cathedral","street_address":"Minnie Street","suburb":"CAIRNS","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1997-07-01","description":"St Monica's Old Cathedral, located a the corner of Lake and Minnie Streets, is a two-storeyed, reinforced concrete building with timber floors and gabled roof structure. It has a rectangular floor plan with projecting c1948 porches at the west elevation and runs parallel to Lake Street and is set back from Minnie Street.
A pair of concrete arched pedestrian gates surmounted with Celtic crosses in low relief are located in Minnie Street each side of a vehicle crossing to the site. This gateway leads across an asphalt forecourt to a wide stair to the first floor entrance erected c1948. The stair has slotted balustrades and a landing that leads left and right to colonnaded porticos at first floor level. These porticos have stepped gables on three sides with large Celtic crosses in relief on each side. At the top of the main stair are located double entrance doors which have a raised stepped plain pediment with Celtic cross supported on piers with Doric-styled half capitals. Beside these, piers rise into a semi-circular arch, which has below it and above the entrance door, a glazed roundel. Above the arch is a small lancet window. Round-headed casement windows are located each side of the arch.
At the top of the main stair are double entrance doors which have a raised stepped plain pediment with Celtic cross supported on piers with Doric styled half capitals. Beside these, piers rise into a semicircular arch, which has below it and above the entrance door, a glazed roundel. Above the arch is a small lancet window. Each side of the arch are located round-headed casement windows. Access to the first floor was originally via a pair of timber dog leg stairs on the south elevation from Lake Street. These stairs led to double doors with timber porches with gable roofs over.
The western wall terminates at the first floor in a projecting gable with a coping. The gable terminates with squared piers finished with gable caps. The north and south walls have a high parapet that is finished in a wide castellation with regularly spaced piers which stop short of the top of the parapet and are finished with a gabled cap. At first floor level are large square aluminium windows with louvres which replaced paired timber casement windows with lancet hoppers. At ground floor level on the southern and northern elevations the segmental arched colonnades have been infilled with aluminium joinery. East elevation has a matching gable to west end, with small lancet windows at high level between squared piers. There are three louvred windows symmetrically positioned at first floor level and below this three casement windows with hoppers over.
The ground floor which was originally divided into classrooms has original walls remaining but the spaces have in part been subdivided to suit new functional arrangements. The panelled ceilings with deep timber floor beams projecting below them.
The original cathedral space that extends over the entire first floor area has utilitarian detailing, with timber supporting columns with lancet arches between them, dividing the main space from aisles on each side. At the western end of each aisle are located double entrance doors with semi-circular heads that open out to the double-storeyed porticos. A raised timber gallery extends between the aisles over the main entrance; this is accessed by a steep timber stair and supported by timber posts with decorated brackets. The aisle ceilings are clad in narrow tongue and groove boarding and the ceiling over the former nave is divided into large panels with the same detailing. Wrought iron tension rods from the roof trusses are suspended below the ceiling. There is a stage at the east end of the former nave.
","history":"St Monica's Old Cathedral was erected in 1927 as St Monica's Church-School, replacing an earlier church and school demolished in the cyclone of 9 February 1927.
Cairns was established in October 1876, as a port to service the Hodgkinson goldfields. In the same year the area from Cardwell to Cape York was separated from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brisbane as the Pro-Vicariate of North Queensland. In 1884 three Irish Augustinian fathers took charge of the Pro-Vicariate, establishing a priory at Cooktown, and in 1885 they founded the parish of St Monica's at Cairns. An acre of land bounded by Abbott, Minnie and Lake Streets was acquired and the first St Monica's Church, a timber building at the corner of Abbott and Minnie Streets, was opened on 10 January 1886. A school fronting Minnie Street opened at the beginning of the 1890 school year - staffed initially by lay teachers, but from October 1892 by Sisters of Mercy from St Mary's Convent in Cooktown, who established a foundation in Cairns. In 1906 the Vicar Apostolic of Cooktown moved his residence to Cairns, which had eclipsed Cooktown as the principal port of far North Queensland, and at this time St Monica's Church acquired the status of pro-cathedral.
The first St Monica's church and school were destroyed in the cyclone of 9 February 1927. Plans for a cathedral had to be abandoned as appeals were launched locally and in southern dioceses for reconstruction funds. Lawrence and Lordan, architects of Cairns, designed a building to function as both church and school. In the interim, mass was held at the Palace Picture Theatre, and the convent school was conducted at the Irish Association's Hibernian Hall.
Tenders for the new church-school at the corner of Minnie and Lake Streets were called in March 1927. The contract was let to Cairns builder Michael Garvey, who completed the large, re-inforced concrete building, officially opened on 16 October 1927, in about 7 months. The ground floor - 110 feet by 58 feet divided by folding doors - contained the school. The upper storey housed the church, including the altar from the first St Monica's Church.
The design used Gothic motifs, had spacious surrounding verandahs, and was much admired. The building was well ventilated, seated 900, and cost nearly £9,000 to erect. With new seating the total cost was over £10,000, and its construction illustrated the strength of the Catholic Church in the Cairns district in the 1920s. The effects of the February 1927 cyclone, followed almost immediately by flood damage, a severe trade depression, and waterfront disputes affecting the city's building industry, did not deter the predominantly working-class Catholic community of Cairns from raising within 8 months nearly £5,000 toward the re-construction. The local parish priest, Father Phelan, raised a working-bee of 40 men who for months gave their spare time to clearing the debris of the church and school destroyed in the February cyclone. The rapid construction was a tribute to the zeal of the Augustinian fathers, especially Father Phelan, and the enthusiasm they inspired in the parish.
St Monica's Church and School was erected during the third major phase of Cairns' development, which saw the city boom in the 1920s and 1930s. The Cairns hinterland Soldier Settlement Schemes of the 1920s, the completion of the rail link to Brisbane in 1924, the continued success of the local sugar industry, the expansion of wharf facilities, the extensive re-building necessitated by a spate of cyclones in the 1920s and the poor condition of earlier timber structures, combined to produce unprecedented building activity in Cairns. The city centre in particular was dominated until the 1980s by substantial, reinforced concrete and brick structures of the interwar period, and in this respect was markedly different from other 19th century-established Queensland towns and cites.
On 8 July 1941 the Vicariate Apostolic of Cooktown was raised to the status of Diocese of Cairns with Dr Heavey [Vicar Apostolic since 1914] as the first Bishop of Cairns. At this time St Monica's Church became St Monica's Cathedral, and imposing front stairs were added to the Minnie Street façade c1948. Prior to this, entry was from two sets of stairs on the Lake Street elevation.
In July 1968 St Monica's War Memorial Cathedral was opened, and the former St Monica's Cathedral ceased functioning as a church. The altar and Bishop's Chair were removed to the new cathedral and a stage was erected at the southern end of the former nave, which currently accommodates St Monica's School gymnasium. In the late 1960s and early 1970s St Monica's School became exclusively a secondary school for girls. New school buildings were erected fronting Lake Street and the lower level of St Monica's Old Cathedral, formerly the convent school, was refurbished as Diocesan and parish offices.
","criteria":"St Monica's Old Cathedral is significant as the first Roman Catholic cathedral in Cairns, 1948-68, and for its close association with Catholic worship and education in Cairns since 1927. It is also evidence of the re-building of Cairns in the 1920s and 1930s, during which period the city's status as the principal port of Far North Queensland was consolidated and the city centre was re-built. It also illustrates a tradition of building in re-inforced concrete, favoured in cyclone-prone Cairns since the early 1900s.
|Despite some internal and external refurbishment, St Monica's Old Cathedral survives substantially intact. It remains a good example of a type of combined church and school design favoured by the Catholic Church in the interwar period, and is of interest for its re-inforced concrete construction, considered more cyclone-proof than masonry, and adaptations to a tropical climate.
|Together with the nearby Bishop's House, St Joseph's Convent and St Monica's High School Administration Building, St Monica's Old Cathedral is part of a grouping of pre-1945 20th century buildings which, both individually and as a group, make a significant aesthetic contribution to the Cairns townscape, and contribute markedly to the city's sense of physical identity and history. They form a highly intact ecclesiastical group, and are important in illustrating the evolution of the Catholic Church and Catholic education in Cairns and district.
|The place has a strong association for residents and visitors alike with the earlier development of Cairns, and has a strong and special association for the Catholic parish of St Monica's, with the evolution of their parish and the elevation of Cairns to a cathedral city in 1941.
|The place is important for its association with the work of Cairns architects Lawrence and Lordan, with the work of the Augustinian fathers in the Vicariate Apostolic of Cooktown [in particular Bishop Heavey and Father Phelan], and with the work of the Sisters of Mercy in expanding Catholic education in north 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":16527,"place_ref":601790,"name":"Cairns Wharf Complex","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Wharf Street","suburb":"CAIRNS","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1999-12-17","description":"The Cairns Wharves and associated structures are bordered by Wharf Street to the west and the waters of Trinity Inlet to the east. Located to the north and south of the site are various structures associated with maritime activities. The Cairns Wharfage Complex site includes concrete wharves 2 and 3; wharf sheds 2 and 3 and the clock tower above shed 3; White's (sugar) shed; an electrical shop; an amenities hall; a cargo crane; concrete roadways; railway tracks; and number 2 gate, flagpole and planters.
CONCRETE WHARVES:
The concrete wharves are part of the actively utilised wharf facilities in this part of the Cairns waterfront.
The wharf is decked in reinforced concrete which forms an integral part of the structure. The deck edge is marked by a discontinuous wooden beam. A series of concrete sections measuring about 3 metres long are immediately adjacent to the beam and extend the length of the wharf. The concrete sections are interrupted at regular intervals by metal boxes containing power points. Water taps are present at regular intervals, and plumbing, electrical conduits, and compressed air pipes are affixed to the underside of the wharf. Mooring irons are mounted to the deck surface behind the concrete buffers. A variety of types of mooring irons are present.
NUMBERS 2 AND 3 WHARF SHEDS, CLOCK TOWER AND CARGO CRANE:
The number 2 and 3 wharf sheds are long, rectangular buildings, clad with corrugated sheeting. The structures have truss-framed roofs with support posts along the long edges and down the centre. The walls have timber rails spanning between the posts and numerous door and window openings within the framing. Like the walls, the roofs are clad with corrugated sheeting. Aside from clearly modern replacement sections, the wall cladding - much of which is affixed with lead-head nails of various sizes - appears to be the original.
The buildings are in good condition, particularly given their age, location. exposure and past industrial usage. However the framing at the southern end of number 3 wharf shed exhibits signs of accelerated deterioration due to exposure to the weather. The covered area between the number 2 and number 3 wharf sheds appears to remain in a condition similar to that when it was originally constructed.
The loading dock behind number 2 wharf shed is largely intact and consists of an array of heavily maintained timber and concrete piles supporting a concrete deck. It is aligned perpendicular to the railway tracks. The loading dock remnant existing behind number 3 wharf shed consists of rectangular, round, or half-round decking support timbers placed on log or concrete piers. This loading dock also has a concrete deck.
The southern end of the wharf shed number 3 is surmounted by a clock tower. A clock face is located on all four sides of the tower. The tower is capped with a pyramidal roof and weather vane. A door providing internal access to the clock is located on the northern wall of the tower. Vents are located on all sides of the tower, close to the base. The clock appears to be in good working order and still chimes on the hour.
The number 2 wharf shed is currently used as the Cairns cruise ship terminal. Number 3 wharf shed contains storage areas for the Port Authority, storage for other shipping operators, and offices for the Customs Service.
The cargo crane is present at the end of the loading dock attached to the rear of number 2 wharf shed. The crane is mounted on a large 12-sided concrete base. The crane's I-beam jibs are stamped "NORMAN LONG AND CO LD/MIDDLESBROUGH/ENGLAND". The hoist consists of a cargo hook suspended by a steel cable. The cable winding drum is timber and largely intact. A commemorative bronze plaque is installed at the base of the crane.
WHITE'S SUGAR SHED:
White's Shed is a large timber-and-iron structure situated behind number 4 wharf (not included in the listing boundary) and immediately southwest of the existing number 3 wharf shed. The building consists of the original section measuring approximately 63 metres long (oriented parallel to the wharf) and 22 metres wide, and the post-1976 addition. The cladding on the two sections overlap somewhat, and the complete width of the existing shed is about 38 metres. A fence encloses the immediate surrounds to the northern side of the shed.
The basic structure of White's Shed appear to be largely intact, including much of the sugar bag stacking apparatus on the ceiling. However, the portions of the sugar conveyor located outside of the shed are no longer extant.
White's Shed is timber framed. Thirteen transverse frames support the roof, which are in turn linked by a ridge beam, purlins and girts, a wall top plate, and diagonal wall braces. Large double doors are present in the ends of the building and central on the east and west walls. These doors are supported by I-beams. The roof is gabled and has a ventilated ridge. A complex system of conveyors and hopper chutes for the delivery of sugar bags is present attached to the ceiling of the structure. The building's wall and roof cladding is of recently-installed corrugated sheeting. A secure room is present along the inside of the north wall.
A recent building report and contamination assessment revealed that the structural integrity of the building has been compromised by termites, and that a low level of heavy metals contamination is present.
ELECTRICAL SHOP:
The Electrical Shop consists of a brick structure located immediately north of White's Shed. The building measures approximately 20 metres long and 12 metres wide, and has an 8 metre by 4 metre shed in the rear (west) yard. The building is currently the Cairns Port Authority's Social Club.
The building's walls are cavity brick. The structure was constructed on a concrete slab and covered by a gabled roof. Five 4-paned windows extend down the northern side of the building. The windows are constructed with concrete lintels and sills. Four windows extend down the eastern end. A boarded-over attic window is also present. The south side of the building is marked by loading doors and four windows and this area is landscaped and modified for social functions. The western end of the building is marked by large access doors, a window, a doorway, and an attic window.
The shed at the rear of the building consists of a brick section and a section covered in iron cladding. This shed currently contains the compressor installed in 1955. This machinery continues to supply compressed air to the wharves.
The Electrical Shop is not of cultural heritage significance.
AMENITIES HALL:
The Amenities Hall consists of a timber-framed structure located immediately north of the Electrical Shop. The building measures about 28 metres long and 8 metres wide, and has a small 2 metre by 2 metre structure added to the rear. The building houses the collections of the Maritime Archaeological Association of Far North Queensland.
The building is a timber framed, gable-roofed structure placed on a concrete slab. The wall cladding consists of angular-rebated chamferboards. The original asbestos roof is in place. A loading door is present in the front (east) end of the building. The north and south walls of the building are symmetrically arranged with three double doors and five 6-paned windows down each side. Three 3-paned windows are present on the addition at the building's rear (west) end. Some of the original tables and benches, and the toiletries block are still in place.
The Amenities Hall is not of cultural heritage significance.
NUMBER 2 GATE, FLAGPOLE AND PLANTERS:
The ornamental gateposts at the number 2 gate are still in their original locations. The gateway consists of an entrance and exit lane separated by a concrete ornamental wall measuring about 2.5 metres wide and 4 metres tall. A concrete post flanks each side of the wall, and two gate hooks are affixed to each post. An ornamental coping is present on top of the wall. Low-relief Art Deco-style ornamentations are present on the wall faces, posts, and coping. Two matching single concrete posts are present on the opposite side of the entrance and exit lanes. These are also affixed with gate hooks, indicating that the original gates were double-hung and latched in the middle. The gates themselves are no longer present.
The entrance and exit lanes inside the wharf compound are separated by a concrete-bordered garden bed. A flagpole base is present behind the entrance wall at the western end of the garden bed.
Only the concrete gateway and side posts are deemed to be of cultural heritage significance. The concrete planter and flagpole are not culturally significant.
CONCRETE ROADWAYS:
The western edge of the 1945 concrete roadway is still visible, but the remainder is apparently underneath recent bitumen. Concrete U-shaped guttering is visible in front of the Amenities Hall and the Electrical Workshop, and may date to the original installation of the concrete roadway.
The concrete roadway presumably dating to 1946 consists of the entrance and exit lanes at the number 2 gate. The lane on the south side is pitched down the middle to ensure water drains to either side.
The concrete roadways are not of cultural heritage significance.
HARBOUR BOARD STORE FOUNDATION:
Concrete slabs are present in the parking area immediately north of the number 2 gate roadway. The southernmost of these borders a landscaped area adjacent to the roadway on the south and merges with the 1945 roadway on the east. The western edge angles southwest towards the northern gate post. The outline of the northern edged of the slab is marked by two angular "bays". The northernmost slab consists of a strip of concrete extending east-west about 14 metres north of the first slab. The intervening area is now covered with bitumen, by 20 low "humps" are discernible. These are the remains of concrete support piers arranged in a block measuring 5 piers by 4 piers. These piers mark the location of the "Cairns Harbour Board Store" or "Beer Shed".
The Harbour Board Store foundation is not of cultural heritage significance.
RAILWAY TRACKS:
Portions of two sets of tracks are visible. The portion of the first set within the area consists of a single set of double-rail tracks extending from the loading dock behind number 1 wharf southwards to the loading dock at the rear of number 3 wharf. The track extends past the original fixed 10-ton Cargo Crane behind the number 2 wharf. The tracks change from double-railed to single-railed near the southern end of the number 3 wharf loading dock.
A short section of the second railway tracks is still in place approximately 6 metres west of the number 2 gate. Two sets of tracks spaced 3 metres apart are present in this location. Both sets are double-railed.
AMENITIES HALL PARK:
Two concrete-bordered planters are present along the northern edge of the park. These planters are similar to the one currently located between the two vehicle lanes which pass through the number 2 gate.
The Amenities Hall Park is not of cultural heritage significance.
","history":"Cairns was established by Europeans as a port in the second half of the nineteenth century. European passengers and government officials landed at Trinity inlet on 3 October 1876, and the inlet was subsequently declared a port of entry and clearance on 1 November that year. The township of Cairns was surveyed in late 1876. The impetus for the establishment of the port came largely from the newly-established Hodgkinson goldfields.
Upon settlement, rudimentary port facilities were constructed. These initially consisted of timber jetties with piles built out across the mud and mangroves to boats moored in deeper water. Most had an attached shed. Better facilities quickly replaced these early structures as they wore out or simply fell down. Generally these were privately constructed by shipping and trading companies such as Howard Smith, Burns Philp and AUSN. The town, including shops, hotels, warehouses, banks, the customs house and other government offices developed around the port area.
In 1884, Cairns was selected as the rail terminus for the Herberton tin fields and construction of the rail line west was begun. This assisted the fortunes of the port and in effect secured the future of the town. A timber railway wharf was built in 1886, connecting the wharf directly to the rail line into the hinterland. The other early northern port settlements of Cooktown and Port Douglas dwindled as a result of Cairns' railway connection. Each had previously threatened the position of Cairns as a port in the north.
In 1906 the Cairns Harbour Board was instituted, chiefly to commission and oversee improvements to the port. The private wharves were progressively acquired by the harbour board and by 1915 it owned all the wharves. Regular dredging of the channel was carried out, allowing larger vessels to enter the port after 1912.
Soon after taking over control of the Cairns wharves, the Harbour Board began planning for an extensive new system of wharfage extending along the shoreline in one unbroken length. The wharves were to be built in stages of reinforced concrete to the plans of Gummow Forest and Co of Sydney. Supervision of the project was given to Edward Gregory Waters, the Harbour Board's Chief Engineer. E.G. Waters worked as an architect, surveyor and engineer at various locations in north Queensland from 1890, working in Cairns from 1909 until 1917. In 1910 construction started on the first wharf, 300 feet in length, at the end of Lake Street (number 3 wharf). This wharf was finished by 1912. Further stages were commenced shortly after, and by 1915 there was an unbroken frontage of 1200 feet of concrete wharves in Cairns. In the early 1920s, loans totalling £50 000 allowed the harbour board to further extend the wharves, and by 1925 the concrete wharves were 1500 feet long. A railway was extended along the front of the wharf. By the end of the 1920s another concrete wharf with rail approach and shed was erected, separate from the others on the other side of Lily Creek. It was initially known as number 6 wharf, and later number 8 wharf. Cairns was the first port in Queensland to adopt reinforced concrete wharves to any extent.
Cairns introduced a mechanical system of handling bagged sugar in the mid 1920s, one of the first Queensland ports to do so. A storage shed was constructed as part of this system, capable of storing 6000 to 7500 tons of sugar. It later became known as "White's Shed".
Sheds were constructed on top of the main wharves to accommodate goods waiting for export or to be distributed around the town. One shed was built for each of the five berths. The sheds at berths 1-3 were joined together in one continuous line; sheds 4-5 were built as one long structure. In 1938 the Cairns Harbour Board produced a handbook, detailing its activities in the port. This handbook described the wharfage facilities at Cairns as comprising of some 1 900 linear feet of reinforced concrete wharves, with six "airy spacious sheds having floor space of 89 020 square feet", as well as the shed for sugar storage. Electric and hand powered cranes were also built at the rear of the wharves to lift heavy goods onto ships.
During World War II Cairns was the centre of a great deal of activity. At the port, the wharves were extended again in 1943 to create six continuous berths, and a shed was built and became number 6 shed. Also during the 1940s, a building was constructed for the Waterside Workers, for use as an amenities hall. It housed lunch and meeting rooms, showers and toilets. This building was located on the western side of Wharf Street between Lake and Grafton Streets. It was demolished in the 1990s. In 1942, extensions were made to number 5 wharf with a new shed being erected.
A clock tower above number 3 shed was constructed in 1948. It was reported in the 1948 Annual Report of the Cairns Harbour Board "[t]he electric striking clock was long felt want, particularly on the water-front". The Cairns Post carried a photo of the clock on its front page on 23 September 1948 with the caption that it "is a valuable asset to the port". The clock was manufactured by A.L. Franklin of Sydney at a final cost of £900. Access to the clock mechanism was originally achieved via a ladder on the roof of the shed. Subsequently a hole was cut in the office immediately below the clock making it easier to periodically change the car battery.
Many hundreds of people have been employed on the waterfront in Cairns over the years. Most working activity at the Cairns wharves has shifted upstream to newer wharf developments, including the bulk sugar terminals, built in the 1960s. These earlier wharves are used mainly for recreational vessels and passenger liners, but not to the capacity or extent that they were used in the past.
CONCRETE WHARVES:
Replacement of the timber wharves with concrete ones proceeded progressively starting in about 1910. This commenced with the manufacture of 67 concrete piles and foundation dredging. Plans were for each section of the wharf to be 300 feet long by 90 feet wide with a shed 240 feet long by 60 feet wide built directly onto each wharf. Reclamation was to take place behind the sea wall at the back of the wharf with mud from the dredge stiffened with the stone and mullock from the range railway after slips took place. The number 3 wharf was erected by 1912, number two wharf opened in 1913, and in 1914 the old number 4 wharf and buildings were demolished and replaced with a concrete wharf.
A photograph is available of the number 4 wharf during this reconstruction phase. The piles are reinforced concrete and the upper ends were apparently poured in-place in stages around four vertical iron rods. The iron reinforcing rods in the vertical posts were designed to interlock with the reinforcing rods in the concrete deck supports. Eight piles were placed between the sea wall area and the seaward edge of the wharf. Substantial wooden formwork was necessary to construct the reinforced concrete superstructure to support the decking.
The Harbour Board purchased the timber number 1 wharf in 1915, and replaced this with a concrete wharf within a year. The number 5 wharf was constructed in 1925 and was the entry/exit point for railway lines extending onto the wharf deck. Plans indicate that the number 5 wharf's deck had two pairs of railway tracks which merged at the junction with the number 4 wharf. The tracks curved onto the wharf deck at the southern end of the number 5 wharf, and the corner of the wharf was truncated parallel to this curve.
Number 6 wharf was completed in 1942 by the Allied Works Council. The design employed in constructing this wharf differed markedly to that used to construct numbers 1 to 5.: number 6 wharf was built with timber, supplemented with reinforced concrete.
NUMBERS 2 AND 3 WHARF SHEDS, CLOCK TOWER AND CARGO CRANE:
The Wharf Sheds were constructed at various stages throughout the first half of the twentieth century.
The first to be built were numbers 2 and 3 wharf cargo sheds, constructed on the decks of the concrete wharves. The number 3 wharf was constructed in 1912, and it is suspected that the number 3 wharf shed was constructed in late 1912 or early 1913. The number 2 wharf was constructed in 1912-1913, and the original sheds on the old timber wharf were retained as long as possible prior to being demolished in 1913. The number 2 wharf shed was constructed soon after this demolition. The numbers 2 and 3 sheds were connected by a continuous roof by 1925 and probably earlier. Much of the infrastructure related to the number 2 and 3 sheds was constructed in about 1913, including the nearby railway tracks and two 10-ton cranes adjacent to the tracks and immediately behind sheds 1 and 2. Loading platforms were constructed behind number 2 wharf shed by 1925. The wharf sheds were elevated above the surrounding dock land and wharves. This raised configuration of wharf sheds was considered to be state-of-the-art design which allowed easy loading and unloading of goods to and from railway cars and into the storage sheds (facilitated by wharf shed platforms that aligned to the height of the rail cars). An "awning" was installed to the rear of the number 2 wharf shed in 1942. The wharf shed roofs were cleaned and repainted in 1947, and the whole of the roof cladding was replaced in 1954. The northern end of the number 2 wharf shed is referred to as the "old engine room" on a 1978 plan.
A clock tower was added to the end of the number 3 wharf shed in 1947-1948. On 14 September 1948, the Cairns Post included the following details of the clock:
\tThe four dials are each six feet in diameter and are driven by a single central unit. They \tcannot show a different time on each face.
\tThe bell weighs half a ton, is three feet in diameter and is struck by a 20 pound hammer.
\tThe clock is operated electrically, but does not depend on the continuity of the mains. \tTimekeeping is kept by a pendulum weighing 100 lbs., which pushes the mechanism \tround with a force capable of overcoming all normal obstacles, yet it is so delicately \tpowered that it takes only a fraction of the current an ordinary electric torch would \tconsume.
\tThe only part of the clock which would stop if electricity failed would be the bell, \toperated by a one quarter horse power motor directly connected to the mains. As soon \tas current is restored it will pick up the correct hour automatically. It is intended to \tsilence the chimes between mid-night and 5.30 a.m.
\tThere are 27 gear wheels in the clock and about 30 bal bearings, which are heavy \tenough for hundreds of years of wear.
\tMr Franklin says that the clock is similar to that designed and installed by him for the \tTownsville Harbour Board in 1940 and others he has constructed during the last 25 \tyears, though each successive clock has incorporated some refinement in design.
Throughout the interwar years, a shed was built for each of the other berths. The sheds at berths 1-3 were joined together in one continuous line; and sheds 4-5 were built as one long structure. In 1943, shed number 6 was constructed.
In more recent times, viewing platforms were installed above the original roof line of number 2 wharf shed. The platforms were used as part of the terminal facilities for overseas passengers. These platforms were removed sometime in 1998 or 1999.
In 1984, number 1 wharf shed was demolished as part of the Trinity Wharf development, and in the 1990s number 4 wharf shed was demolished to provide greater wharf space. Wharf sheds 5 and 6 have also been demolished.
WHITE'S SHED:
The sugar storage shed was constructed in 1923. An electrical conveyor system was installed in the shed to move sugar bags to and from ships' holds and railway wagons, and was fully operational by 1926. The system consisted of an inclined covered conveyor extending from railway tracks on the west side of the shed up to the shed's roofline. This conveyor provided the linkage with the wharf railway system. A complicated set of conveyors and chutes was built into the roof of the sugar shed, and this system was used to stack bagged sugar at a rate of up to 80 tons per hour. A second conveyor extended between the roof of the sugar shed eastwards to the roof of number 4 wharf shed. This conveyor joined another in a T-configuration on the eastern side of the wharf shed's roof. The overhead conveyors from White's Shed to number 3 wharf were reconstructed in 1946, while maintenance and repairs to both "shore and floating plant" were made in 1947. The 27 year old facility was apparently modernised during the overhaul. Two travelling gantry cranes moved up and down the number 4 wharf's edge, loading and unloading the sugar bags into ship's holds via a set of conveyors mounted on the gantry cranes and connected to the T-conveyor.
Electric travelling cranes were located immediately adjacent to the northern end and western side of the building during this era. These cranes moved "sinker" logs from the railway tracks to the edge of the wharf between the numbers 3 and 4 wharf sheds.
The usefulness of the shed and log handling machinery declined in the late 1950s, and White's Shed was no longer in operation after the bulk sugar terminal was established at Portsmith in 1964. At this new terminal, huge volumes of sugar could be stored and delivered directly into the holds of ships, without needing to be packed into bags or other containers. This new method of sugar handling reduced significantly the wharf labour force for sugar. The sinker log crane on the west side of the shed was sold in 1959 and was later used at Rankine's Peeramon Mill, near Lake Eacham on the Atherton Tablelands, where it currently resides. The disused White's Shed was subsequently leased to mining companies, perhaps as early as the 1960s. The shed was used to store copper concentrate from the Red Dome mine between 1993 and 1997, and was leased to the Dianne Copper Mine prior to this. The name "White's Shed" derives from this period.
THE ELECTRICAL SHOP:
The existing electrical shop building is situated in the former location of the harbour workshops. The original workshops contained the fitter's and turner's shop and the blacksmith shop. This building was apparently demolished in about 1940, and the existing brick structure was built in this location in 1951. The rear shed was built and/or modified in 1967.
The existing building was used to supply power to the wharves, and as an electrical workshop. During its years as a powerhouse, the building contained a compressor, an emergency power generator, and transformers. A compressor was installed in 1955 to supply air to the wharves, and it was in this year that electrical workshop equipment was installed. The workshop maintained 21 cranes, fork lifts, and two stevedoring units. The workshop was still in use by 1958 and possibly later.
AMENTITIES HALL:
The Amenities Hall was built in 1954 for the Waterside Workers Federation. The rear structure addition is possibly a "septic block" installed in 1956. The 1954 plan of the building shows the arrangement of the amenities, with the front two-thirds of the building filled with tables and the rear containing the amenities themselves.
The building has housed collections of the Maritime Archaeological Association of Far North Queensland since 1988. A loading door is present in the front end of the building, and was reportedly added after 1988 so that large maritime artefacts could be easily moved into the structure.
NUMBER 2 GATE, FLAGPOLE AND PLANTERS:
A 1942 map of the wharf complex shows four traffic gates to the wharf complex fronting Wharf Street. It is suspected that these gateways were in place since the early history of the wharves. The number 2 gateposts at the number 2 gate are still in their original locations.
An octagonal three-tiered flagpole base was present at the eastern end of the existing garden bed. The flagpole base was concrete, and each tier was of decreasing diameter and height. The edge was bevelled. The base measured 1.2 metres across and 0.3 metres high, and the flagpole was once affixed by four bolts. This base was removed during maintenance activities in March 1999. Another flagpole base was constructed in July 1953.
CONCRETE ROADWAYS:
Concrete roadways were constructed on the reclaimed land behind numbers 1, 2 and 3 wharves in 1945 and 1946. The roads constructed in 1945 extended behind the wharves from number 1 to number 6 and the remainder of the concrete roads were presumably constructed in 1946.
HARBOUR BOARD STORE:
The Cairns Harbour Board Store (no longer extant) is clearly visible in 1920-1930 and 1940 aerial photographs of the area. The building was originally a bond store used by Customs to house beer, alcohol, and tobacco. The floor reportedly had a steel floor during this period to prevent theft. In recent years the building housed Coxen Chemicals (a detergent manufacturer) and Rothfire Pty Ltd (a prawn merchant). The building was either moved in the last decade to the modern workshop area or was demolished to make way for the bitumen carpark.
RAILWAY TRACKS:
Several railway tracks were laid at the Cairns wharves. The existing railway lines were laid at approximately the same time as the concrete wharves. One section of the line supported a 10-ton travelling crane, and another section, a travelling crane used to sort and load logs onto the parallel railway tracks.
Rail links with the Cairns hinterland were a key element of the success of Cairns as the regional port and consequently, as a viable town.
AMENITIES HALL PARK:
The park north of the Amenities Hall was once the location of several small structures. A 1942 plan of the area indicates that the "Pay Office" and a "Kiosk", both built in c. 1930 were present in the park area at that time. A "Tally Clerk's" office, built in c. 1930 was adjacent to the railway line behind the wharves. These buildings were apparently replaced by two small sheds prior to 1967, and the small sheds were themselves removed between 1972 and 1975.
","criteria":"The Cairns Wharf Complex is of importance in demonstrating the evolution of Queensland's history as it represents an important stage of development of Queensland and Australian wharf facilities dating from 1909 to 1942. The wharves are among the earliest Australian attempts to introduce the medium of reinforced concrete into wharf construction. The construction of number 6 wharf in 1942 demonstrates the importance of Cairns as a centre for Pacific forces during World War II, and its timber and reinforced concrete construction reflects war-time expediency. The wharf-side cargo sheds, numbers 2 and 3, are the most visible surviving remnant of the Cairns waterfront development in the early 1900s. The cargo crane is the last remaining crane from the earliest period of the wharf's history in the 1910s, and helps to convey a sense of the industrial maritime history of the wharves. White's (Sugar) Shed is a place which demonstrates an evolutionary stage of the North Queensland sugar industry and wharf practices dating to the 1920s through 1950s. The closure of the shed to sugar handling in the early 1960s was the result of the opening of Cairns bulk sugar terminal at Portsmith in 1964. The opening of the bulk terminals reduced significantly the wharf labour force required for the handling of sugar. The railway lines demonstrate the importance of rail links in establishing Cairns as the dominant regional port in far North Queensland, and consequently, as a viable town. The railway lines are also integral to an understanding of the operation of the wharves, with wharf shed platforms that aligned to the height of the rail cars.
|The Cairns wharf sheds, numbers 2 and 3 and White's (Sugar) Shed, demonstrate rare aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage as surviving wharf sheds are becoming increasingly rare throughout Australia as coastal cities revitalise their waterfront areas. White's shed, with its remnant bag-stacking machinery, is the only known example of this type of structure existing in Queensland and Australia, and as such also demonstrates rare aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage.
|The remnant bag-stacking machinery located in White's shed has the potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history. Since records of the sugar bag conveyance apparatus have disappeared in the years since abandonment of the system, the intact features along the roof of the structure's interior offer insights which are only available through study of this physical feature.
|The number 2 and 3 wharf sheds are important in demonstrating the principle characteristics of a wharf-side cargo handling structure.
|The Cairns wharves site is important because of its aesthetic significance as the wharves, number 2 gate, White's shed and wharf sheds, numbers 2 and 3, including the clock tower, contribute to the streetscape of inner-city Cairns. The wharves run at right angles to the main city streets of Cairns, terminating the long views down Abbott, Lake and Grafton streets south. These views are framed by the mountains and mangroves behind and across Trinity Inlet. The clock tower is particularly of aesthetic significance as a local landmark.
|The concrete wharves are important in demonstrating a high degree of technical achievement in the early twentieth century. The use of reinforced concrete for wharf construction represents one of the earliest Australian attempts to introduce this material for wharf construction.
|The Cairns wharves, sheds 2 and 3 and White's (Sugar) Shed, number 2 gate and clock tower have a special association with the Cairns community as physical evidence of the city's history and sense of identity. The clock tower affixed to the roof of the number 3 wharf shed has provided a focus for this identity, and has functioned as the city's and wharf's timepiece since 1948.
|The place has a special association with the work of the early Cairns Harbour Board. The wharves and sheds offer a physical reminder of the importance of the Board in establishing the maritime focus of the city and the development of the region.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion C | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion F | 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 is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period | 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":16649,"place_ref":601913,"name":"Mulgrave Shire Council Chambers (former)","alternate_name":"Cairns Shire Offices","street_address":"51 The Esplanade","suburb":"CAIRNS","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1999-01-06","description":"The former Mulgrave Shire Council Chambers, a single-storeyed rendered masonry structure with a hipped corrugated iron roof, is located fronting the Esplanade to the northeast. A three-storeyed structure, which is not included in the heritage listing boundary for this place, is built adjacent to the southeast and southwest sides of the building.
The symmetrical northeast elevation has a central entry with projecting gable flanked by two bays of verandahs to either side. The roof has battened eaves with paired timber brackets, and multi-paned clerestory windows are located below the eaves and above the verandah awning. The projecting gable has roughcast finish with curved timber framing in relief, and is supported by corner pilasters with expressed cornice at the verandah eave level. The name MULGRAVE SHIRE OFFICE is in relief to the lintel above the entry, above which are paired multi-paned clerestory windows. The entrance is accessed via a set of steps with curved rendered masonry balustrades. The original verandah has been replaced (as part of the 1951-52 works) with rendered masonry columns supporting a rendered masonry parapet and cantilevered concrete sunhood. The parapet has relief detailing, including a stylised circular motif, and the columns have expressed cornices at the eave level. The cast iron balustrades from the original verandah are intact, and the entrance leads into a recessed vestibule with paired aluminium framed doors accessing the customer service area. Tall narrow windows open onto the verandah either side of the central entrance.
The verandahs are flanked by a slightly projecting bay at either end, which formed part of the 1951-52 extensions. Each bay has three narrow windows, unified by a common sill and cantilevered concrete sunhood.
The southeast and southwest elevations are mostly obscured by the adjoining building, which is constructed almost abutting the eaves. The southeast elevation comprises the 1951-52 additions at the eastern end, and the 1965-66 additions at the rear with a recessed entrance between. These additions have narrow windows with expressed mouldings, the rear addition has a low pitch ribbed metal roof concealed behind a parapet, and the recessed entrance aligns with the position of the original verandah. The original verandah has been removed from the southwest rear elevation, and the paired timber doors from the original board room now front a covered carpark under the adjoining building. The northwest elevation comprises the 1951-52 additions at the eastern end, with the 1965-66 additions at the rear which extend out from the building to the north. These additions have narrow windows with expressed mouldings, and the rear addition has a low pitch ribbed metal roof concealed behind a parapet.
Internally, the building has suspended ceilings to several areas, with non-original partitions and fittings. The customer service and general office area has early, and some original, details including wide cornices, clerestory windows, architraves, picture rails and skirtings. An early strong room is located in each of the rear corners, and each strong room has a ladder which access a storage area above. A partition divides the rear of the room, and another earlier partition is located across the original board room which has some original surviving details. The rear corridors between the original section of the building and the later extensions are in the position of the original rear verandahs. The later extensions have internal partitions and sheeted walls and ceilings.
The original fence fronting the Esplanade survives, and comprises rendered pillars with pyramid capitals and roughcast side panels, between which are sections of cast iron palisade on a hit-and-miss brick base. Non-original gates have been installed to both the pedestrian and driveway entrances The front garden contains several mature palms.
","history":"The former Mulgrave Shire Council Chambers, constructed in 1912-13, is a single-storeyed masonry structure located fronting the Esplanade to the northeast. The structure was erected during a period of considerable building activity in Cairns, which occurred in the years immediately preceding the First World War.
Cairns was established officially in October 1876 as a port to service the newly discovered Hodgkinson goldfields. In this first phase of Cairns' development there was a small flurry of building activity (mostly shanties and tent houses), but the town competed with both Cooktown and Port Douglas for the Hodgkinson trade, and made little progress until the establishment of a local sugar industry and the opening up of the Atherton Tablelands' mineral fields, in the early 1880s. The 1885 announcement that Cairns was to be the terminus for the Herberton railway established the town as the principal port in the region. These events boosted the local economy in the 1880s and generated a second building and development phase, during which the early temporary structures were replaced by more substantial timber buildings. A number of masonry and reinforced concrete public and commercial buildings were erected in Cairns in the years immediately preceding the First World War. Some of these buildings replaced earlier timber structures which were by that time in a poor condition. The third major phase of Cairns' development occurred between the First and Second World Wars, at which time the city's status as the principal port of Far North Queensland was consolidated and the city centre virtually re-built.
The Cairns Divisional Board was established in 1879 by the Divisional Boards Act of that year, which brought local government to the whole of the colony, and the divisions were mostly based on existing census districts. The Divisional board had its precursors in the forms of the Road Board, which was established to advise on the allocation of government funds for roads in the region, and the Cairns Progress Association. The first meetings were held in Port Douglas, but were not suitable for Cairns residents to attend. The divisional boundaries were redrawn a number of times, and a new Cairns Divisional Board met in Cairns in mid 1880. As Cairns developed in the early 1880s, dissatisfaction grew with the Cairns Divisional Board which was perceived to be more interested in the affairs of the country areas than of the town. Separation of the town from the division was achieved in 1885 when the Cairns Municipal Council was established to administer the town area.
The Cairns Divisional Board continued to operate out of its offices, which was constructed on a reserve gazetted for Divisional Board Offices, in the government precinct between Spence and Shields Streets, even though it was strictly outside of its municipal boundaries. The Cairns Divisional Board became the Cairns Shire Council c.1905 and then the Mulgrave Shire Council in 1940.
The Cairns Municipal Council became the Cairns Town Council in March 1903, which in turn became the Cairns City Council in October 1923. The former Cairns City Council and the Mulgrave Shire Council were amalgamated in March 1995, becoming the current Cairns City Council.
The former Mulgrave Shire Council Chambers, originally named the Cairns Shire Offices, was constructed in 1912-13, replacing an earlier timber structure. The building was designed by the North Queensland architectural partnership of Charles Lynch and Walter Hunt, a practice which had offices in Cairns and Townsville, as well as other regional centres, from 1911-21. The building was one of the partnership's earliest commissions.
Prior to forming a partnership with Walter Hunt, Charles Lynch had been a partner in the Townsville practice of Tunbridge, Tunbridge and Lynch, from 1907-10, which completed a number of projects in Cairns, including the School of Arts [600380], Central Hotel Buildings [600379], the Harbour Board Offices, and the rebuilding of the Court House Hotel. After his partnership with Hunt dissolved in 1921, Lynch practiced as an architect in Townsville until 1937. Walter Hunt had practiced as an architect in Charters Towers from 1900-10 prior to his partnership with Charles Lynch. After the partnership dissolved, Hunt practiced as an architect and surveyor in Townsville until 1931, and taught architecture at the Townsville Technical College from 1923.
The former Mulgrave Shire Council Chambers was constructed by builders Wilson and Baillie, and the successful tender (including the front fence) was £2,348. The building originally comprised a T-shaped plan, with verandahs to all sides, and with an entrance porch fronting the Esplanade.
The first major alterations and extensions were carried out in 1951-52, and the successful tenderer was TB O'Meara and Sons at a cost of £5,993.15.0. These works consisted of the partial removal of verandahs, additions to both sides of the building with the extension of the existing roof form, new toilets, alterations to the front elevation, and alterations to the interior.
Further alterations were carried out in 1965-66, and the successful tenderer was Del Ben and Company at a cost of £14,871. The works comprised the removal of the remaining side verandahs, additions at the rear of the side wings, internal alterations, suspended ceiling installed to the reception area, alterations to the toilets, and air conditioning to some rooms. Further internal alterations have occurred after this time.
","criteria":"The former Mulgrave Shire Council Chambers survives as an important illustration of the growth of Cairns and the former Cairns Shire in the years preceding the First World War. In particular, the place illustrates the local community's confidence in Cairns and the surrounding shire emerging as an important regional centre. The site has sustained a continued local government presence in Cairns since the early 1880s, when the Reserve for Divisional Board Offices was gazetted and the first offices constructed.
|Although the building has had two major extensions, the original form is clearly evident and it is a good example of an early twentieth century council chambers.
|The former Mulgrave Shire Council Chambers has considerable aesthetic significance, and together with its fencing and mature plantings, makes a considerable contribution to the Esplanade streetscape and Cairns townscape.
|The former Mulgrave Shire Council Chambers contributes markedly to the city's sense of identity and history.
|The building has a strong association with the Cairns City Council and the Cairns community, and is illustrative of the development of local government in the region.
","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":16697,"place_ref":601961,"name":"St Monica's War Memorial Cathedral","alternate_name":"St Monicas Catholic Cathedral","street_address":"183 Abbott Street","suburb":"CAIRNS","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1998-08-31","description":"St Monica's War Memorial Cathedral is located fronting Abbott Street to the northeast, between the Bishop's House [601747] to the north and St Joseph's Convent [601749] to the south, within a highly intact ecclesiastical group.
In form, the Cathedral consists of one large rectangular space of equal height which houses the narthex, choir gallery, nave and sanctuary. Single-storeyed side verandahs are partially enclosed in places to house a side chapel, confessionals, and entrance to the baptistery, with a single-storeyed vestry and sacristy structure at the rear of the sanctuary. The baptistery is a separate structure with a circular plan which is attached to the northern side of the narthex.
The Cathedral has a reinforced concrete frame clad externally with red brickwork and internally with cream brickwork. The dominant external expression is of a large rectangular box articulated by regularly spaced reinforced concrete arched window units surmounted by reinforced concrete spandrel panels and separated by brick piers to parapet height concealing a shallow pitched hipped roof. A single-storeyed verandah with a deep fascia to a horizontal awning supported by concrete columns is located along either side of the Cathedral.
The Abbott Street elevation comprises a wide central reinforced concrete arched window surmounting paired timber panelled entrance doors on which are housed the Coat of Arms of the previous Bishops of Cairns. A cantilevered horizontal awning is located above the entrance doors covering a driveway, and the central window has a large reinforced concrete cross clad in ceramic tiles. The central window is flanked by brick piers with a narrower reinforced concrete arched window to either side. The three windows have been reglazed with stained/painted glass forming the commemorative 'Peace Window'. The Abbott Street elevation is framed by wide panels of brickwork to parapet height, which are flanked by the enclosed ends of the single-storeyed side verandahs each of which have a brickwork panel separated from the main body of the Cathedral by a vertical strip of glazing. The enclosed end of the northern verandah forms the entrance to the baptistery.
The baptistery has a circular plan, and in elevation comprises narrow reinforced concrete arched window units surmounted by reinforced concrete spandrel panels and separated by brick piers. The baptistery has a shallow pitched roof with a central aluminium fleche which has a curved base and is surmounted by a cross.
Both sides of the Cathedral comprise twelve reinforced concrete arched window units surmounted by reinforced concrete spandrel panels and separated by brick piers, with wider panels of brickwork at either end. Paired timber panelled doors surmounted by pivoting fanlights are located below each arched window and open from the nave and sanctuary onto the side verandahs. The fanlights are glazed to match the arched windows above. Three bays of the southern verandah are enclosed to form a side chapel adjacent to the sanctuary. This side chapel has five narrow reinforced concrete arched window units which are separated by brick piers. All windows in the Cathedral were originally glazed with a burgundy red field and an amber border, however the eastern windows and a number of the northern windows to the nave and sanctuary have been reglazed with stained/painted glass. Two sets of paired confessionals, which are the same height as the side doors and are surmounted by fanlights, are located on both side verandahs.
The rear of the Cathedral has a single-storeyed structure which house the vestry and sacristy. It is designed to the same proportions as the side verandahs, and has narrow reinforced concrete arched windows at either end, and the rear wall has small regularly spaced rectangular windows. The rear wall of the sanctuary is face brick to parapet height.
Internally, the Cathedral has an overwhelming red glow from the vast expanse of burgundy red glass in the windows. However, this is gradually being diminished with the replacement of the glass with stained/painted glass. The Cathedral has a flat plywood sheeted ceiling which obscures the arched top of the side windows. The nave and sanctuary are within the one large space, with either side characterised by the regular rhythm of vertical windows surmounting paired doors (designed to be open for cross ventilation) separated by solid brick piers. A choir gallery is located above the narthex and is accessed via a narrow stair concealed behind a brick wall to either side of the entrance doors. The choir gallery has a brick balustrade with timber handrail, and stepped timber speakers/screens to either side. The gallery is supported by brick columns with low brick walls attached which separate the narthex from the nave and provide the entrance to the baptistery. The doors to the confessionals to either side of the nave are detailed to match the paired doors opening onto the side verandahs, however these doors have a single leaf to each confessional and open inward.
The baptistery houses a central marble baptismal font, and is accessed via ornamental metal gates. The wall sections between the arched windows are clad with cream marbled vinyl tile.
The sanctuary comprises almost the same area as the nave and consists of a raised platform accessed via steps with marble treads and risers. A raised platform in the centre houses the altar, and another raised platform against the rear wall houses the Bishop's chair and crozier which are set in a marble framed recess which is clad with marbled vinyl tiles and also has the Bishop's Coat of Arms. Above this a large crucifix is fixed to the rear wall of the sanctuary. The vestry is accessed from the rear of the sanctuary either side of the Bishop's chair, and also via paired timber panelled doors either side of the sanctuary. The side chapel is located to the south of the sanctuary, and has a marble framed recess clad with marbled vinyl tiles behind the side altar.
Cream Italian marble has been used for the altar, lectern, side altar, baptismal font, consecration stones, holy water fonts, treads and risers in the sanctuary and side chapel, and framing to the recess behind the Bishop's chair and side chapel altar. The Bishop's chair, crozier and Coat of Arms are of carved timber. Blonde timber has been used for the pews and handrail to the choir gallery.
The floors are finished with a pale green vinyl tile, however much of the nave floor has been covered with a dark blue carpet. The floor of the sanctuary was finished with a cream marbled tile, which has also been covered with a cream carpet.
The bell from the original St Monica's church is located to the north of the Cathedral. The bell is set in a low metal frame surmounting a memorial plaque.
","history":"St Monica's War Memorial Cathedral, dedicated as a memorial to the Battle of the Coral Sea, was constructed in 1967-68. The Cathedral is surrounded by the Old Cathedral [601750], Bishop's House [601747], St Joseph's Convent [601749] and St Monica's High School Administration Building [601748], which together form a highly intact ecclesiastical group. St Monica's War Memorial Cathedral is the only Cathedral in Cairns, as the seat of the Anglican Bishops in the region was Thursday Island, for the Diocese of Carpentaria, until it was incorporated into the Diocese of North Queensland centred in Townsville.
Cairns was established in October 1876, as a port to service the Hodgkinson goldfields. In the same year the area from Cardwell to Cape York was separated from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brisbane as the Pro-Vicariate of North Queensland. In 1884 three Irish Augustinian fathers took charge of the Pro-Vicariate, establishing a priory at Cooktown, and in 1885 they founded the parish of St Monica's at Cairns. An acre of land bounded by Abbott, Minnie and Lake Streets was acquired and the first St Monica's Church, a timber building at the corner of Abbott and Minnie Streets, was opened on 10 January 1886. A school fronting Minnie Street opened at the beginning of the 1890 school year - staffed initially by lay teachers, but from October 1892 by Sisters of Mercy from St Mary's Convent in Cooktown, who established a foundation in Cairns. In 1906 the Vicar Apostolic of Cooktown moved his residence to Cairns, which had eclipsed Cooktown as the principal port of far North Queensland, and at this time St Monica's Church acquired the status of Pro-Cathedral.
The first St Monica's church and school were destroyed in the cyclone of 9 February 1927. Plans for a Cathedral had to be abandoned as appeals were launched locally and in southern Dioceses for reconstruction funds. Lawrence and Lordan, architects of Cairns, designed a building to function as both church and school. In the interim, mass was held at the Palace Picture Theatre, and the convent school was conducted at the Irish Association's Hibernian Hall.
Tenders for the new church-school at the corner of Minnie and Lake Streets were called in March 1927. The large reinforced concrete building, which seated 900, was officially opened on 16 October 1927 and cost nearly £9,000 to erect. The ground floor contained the school, and the upper storey housed the church, including the altar from the first St Monica's Church.
The construction of this church-school illustrated the strength of the Catholic Church in the Cairns district in the 1920s. The effects of the February 1927 cyclone, followed almost immediately by flood damage, a severe trade depression, and waterfront disputes affecting the city's building industry, did not deter the predominantly working-class Catholic community of Cairns from raising within 8 months nearly £5,000 toward the re-construction.
On 8 July 1941 the Vicariate Apostolic of Cooktown was raised to the status of Diocese of Cairns with Fr John Heavey (Vicar Apostolic since 1914) as the first Bishop of Cairns. At this time St Monica's Church became St Monica's Cathedral, and imposing front stairs were added to the Minnie Street facade c1948.
Bishop Heavey, the last Bishop of the Augustinian Order in the Cairns Diocese, died in June 1948 and was succeeded by the Most Rev. Thomas Cahill. Bishop Cahill began the changeover to an administration conducted by the Diocesan Clergy, and from this point the number of Augustinian priests in the area declined. The majority of new priests who arrived were Queenslanders who had studied for the Priesthood at Banyo Seminary, Brisbane. Bishop Cahill began extending functions and procedures in the area now that it was a Diocese and no longer 'missionary territory'. In 1951 he welcomed the Sisters of the Little Company of Mary to Cairns, who later opened Calvary Hospital, and the Bethlehem Home for the Aged was opened by the Sisters of Mercy in 1967.
In 1958, the means of fund raising for St Monica's parish passed from the voluntary work of organisations and offerings in the Sunday collection, to the more organised scheme of 'planned giving'. This enabled the parish to plan ahead financially and borrow funds accordingly for particular projects. The scheme of 'planned giving' was adopted throughout Queensland, and was an important contributing factor which enabled the construction and adaptation of a large number of churches during the 1950-60s to accommodate the post Second World War increase in population, and later to reflect changes mandated by the Second Vatican Council decree on the liturgy.
The construction of St Monica's War Memorial Cathedral was one of the major achievements of Bishop Cahill's episcopate. Bishop Cahill however never presided in the new Cathedral as Bishop of Cairns. He was appointed Archbishop of Canberra-Goulburn Arch-Diocese, prior to the completion of St Monica's War Memorial Cathedral, where he remained until his death in 1976. He was also appointed to the Chair of the Episcopal Liturgical Commission. The Most Rev. John Torpie became Bishop of Cairns in 1967.
Brisbane architect Ian Ferrier was commissioned in 1965 to design the new Cathedral, having also designed Cathedrals in Darwin and Port Moresby, both of which have strong references to the indigenous culture of their particular regions.
Ian Ferrier designed many projects for the Catholic Church throughout Queensland during his career. He graduated in architecture from McGill University, Canada in 1952 and came to Australia in 1953 where he spent two years working in Sydney. He moved to Brisbane in 1955 to work for architect Jack Donoghue. In 1957 he received substantial commissions which enabled him to establish his own practice. Early commissions were mainly in the fields of education, health and ecclesiastical architecture, and throughout his career Ian Ferrier designed some 25 churches and chapels, as well as the Cathedrals of Cairns, Darwin and Port Moresby. Ian Ferrier also played an active role in the affairs of his profession, and in 1980 became National President of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects. He was awarded the Board of Architects of Queensland inaugural Architect of the Year award in 1995, and retired from practice in 1996. Ian Ferrier also designs the Coat of Arms for Catholic Bishops in Queensland, including the Bishop of Cairns, as well as interstate Bishops, universities and municipalities.
Bishop Cahill attended the Second Vatican Council, 1961-65, at which the public worship of the Catholic Church was subject to substantial revision after a period of approximately 450 years of rigidity. St Monica's War Memorial Cathedral was designed to reflect materially the changes mandated by the Second Vatican Council's decree on the liturgy, and it is thought that it may be one of the earliest Cathedrals designed in an attempt to reflect these changes. Of particular note are the following:- the altar is free standing so that the celebrant may face the people; in place of the High Altar is the Bishop's Chair; and the Blessed Sacrament is reserved in a small private prayer chapel to the side. The baptistery is a separate structure with a circular plan attached to the northern side of the narthex, and symbolises baptism as the sacrament of entry to the church in the tradition of the Italian Cathedrals such as Pisa, Florence and Sienna. The baptistery does not reflect the changes mandated by the Second Vatican Council as the Baptismal Rites Latin edition was not produced until 1969, and the English edition in 1971. Similarly, a choir loft was constructed above the narthex, which pre-dated the changes mandated concerning the role of the choir and music in the celebration of the mass.
St Monica's War Memorial Cathedral follows the basic form of the original basilica model of the early churches of the Roman Latin Rite. Bishop Cahill requested the architect to design the Cathedral with arches as a major design element, however Ian Ferrier has said that he found it a challenge to reconcile the use of arches whilst designing in the modernist idiom. He developed a system of reinforced concrete arches along either side of the Cathedral, which house leadlight windows surmounting doors to side verandahs. The side arches were designed in concert with a vaulted ceiling, however due to cost constraints, the vaulted ceiling was eliminated and a flat soffit erected in its place which internally obscures the top of the arch. The Cathedral was constructed with a reinforced concrete frame, with inner and outer skins of brickwork, and the side verandahs were designed to allow the side doors to be left open, particularly during the wet season, to allow cross ventilation. The original design included transepts, which were deleted due to cost constraints, however a section of the southern transept was retained as a side chapel. The original design of the Cathedral also called for more extensive use of marble, particularly to the floors of the nave and sanctuary. The architect's original intention for the leadlight windows was to eventually house stained glass when funds permitted, but in the interim to use gold and light blue glass as per his design for the Sisters of Mercy St Bernard's College, Herberton. However Bishop Cahill did not like the colour blue and requested that the windows be constructed with a field of burgundy red glass with an amber border. It was not until the glass was being installed that the enormous impact of the vast areas of burgundy red glass began to be felt. However, as the glass had been paid for and delivered to site there was no option but to install it.
The foundation stone was laid on 28 May 1967, and the Cathedral was consecrated on 8 July 1968 by the Most Rev. Cahill Archbishop of Canberra-Goulburn, and opened on 14 July 1968 by Cardinal Gilroy Archbishop of Sydney. The Cathedral was dedicated as a memorial to the Battle of the Coral Sea which was fought due east of Cairns from 4-8 May 1942. The baptistery was dedicated to the memory of Patrick and Elizabeth Cahill. On completion of the new Cathedral, the former St Monica's Cathedral ceased functioning as a church, and the Bishop's chair was removed to the new Cathedral. The decision to dedicate the Cathedral as a war memorial was partly to access the provision of tax deductibility for donations to the building fund. The final cost of the Cathedral was approximately $300,000.
Bishop Torpie retired in August 1985, and was succeeded by Bishop John Bathersby. The Most Rev. Dr James Foley became Bishop of Cairns in August 1992.
St Monica's bell was commissioned from M Byrne, bell-founder in Dublin, Ireland. A bell tower was constructed adjacent to the front of the original St Monica's church (demolished in the cyclone of 1927) and the bell was installed, consecrated and blessed in November 1902. Later the tower and bell were moved to the rear of the Bishop's House until the tower was demolished in 1982. The bell has now been installed at ground level in the grounds of the Cathedral.
The Bishop's chair is located behind the altar in the Cathedral. The 'Bishop's Throne' as it was known in ecclesiastical terms prior to September 1968 was presented to St Mary's Church, Cooktown by Mr Ambrose J Madden, a Cooktown merchant and businessman. The Vicar Apostolic of Cooktown moved his residence to Cairns in 1906, but it was not until 1940 that the Very Rev. Thomas Hunt suggested to Bishop John Heavey that the throne should be brought down to Cairns. At the end of that year, by the favour of Mr Charles Hayles Snr, the throne was shipped to Cairns. When the Diocese of Cairns was declared on 8 July 1941, and St Monica's became a Cathedral, the throne was already installed. The chair was transferred to its current location in the new Cathedral in 1968.
On Sunday 30 November 1969 the Colours of the 51st Infantry Battalion, the Far North Queensland Regiment, were put 'to rest' on the wall in the sanctuary of the Cathedral.
The 'Peace Window', a triple arch window at the eastern entrance to the Cathedral, was installed to coincide with the Victory in the Pacific celebrations in Far North Queensland, celebrating 50 years of peace in the Pacific, on 2 September 1995.
In 1998, the replacement of the burgundy red and amber glass in the 24 nave windows commenced. The glass is being replaced with stained/painted glass in a continuous design depicting the whole of Creation as written in the first chapters of Genesis. The artists for both the 'Peace Window' and the Creation series are Gerry Cummins and Jill Stehn of Eumundi, Queensland.
","criteria":"St Monica's War Memorial Cathedral, constructed 1967-68, is significant as one of the earliest Cathedrals designed in an attempt to materially reflect the changes mandated by the Second Vatican Council's decree on the liturgy. After attending the Second Vatican Council, 1961-65, at which the public worship of the Catholic Church was subject to substantial revision after a period of approximately 450 years of rigidity, the Most Rev. Thomas Cahill Bishop of Cairns commissioned Brisbane architect Ian Ferrier to design the Cathedral to reflect these changes. Bishop Cahill was appointed Archbishop of Canberra-Goulburn Arch-Diocese, prior to the completion of St Monica's War Memorial Cathedral, and was later appointed the Chair of the Australian Episcopal Liturgical Commission.
St Monica's War Memorial Cathedral follows the basic form of the original basilica model of the early churches of the Roman Latin Rite. When commissioned to design the Cairns Cathedral, architect Ian Ferrier had designed the Cathedrals of Darwin and Port Moresby, and during his career designed many projects for the Catholic Church throughout Queensland, including some 25 churches and chapels, as well as the Coat of Arms of the Bishops of Queensland.
St Monica's War Memorial Cathedral is an integral member of a highly intact ecclesiastical group which includes the Old Cathedral [601750], Bishop's House [601747], St Joseph's Convent [601749] and St Monica's High School Administration Building [601748], located on a site which has had a strong association with the Catholic community of the region since the Irish Augustinian fathers founded the parish of St Monica in 1885. The Cathedral has had a close association with Catholic worship since its construction, and as the only Cathedral in Cairns (as the seat of the Anglican Bishops is the Diocese of North Queensland centred in Townsville) St Monica's War Memorial Cathedral has performed an important role as a venue for major religious and civic functions.
The dedication of the Cathedral as a war memorial enabled donations to the building fund to be tax deductible. The introduction of the scheme of 'planned giving' in St Monica's parish in 1958 enabled the parish to plan ahead financially and borrow funds accordingly for particular projects. This scheme was adopted throughout Queensland and was an important contributing factor which enabled the construction and adaptation of a large number of churches during the 1950-60s to accommodate post Second World War increases in population, and later to reflect changes mandated by the Second Vatican Council decree on the liturgy.
|(Criterion under review)
|It is significant as one of the earliest Cathedrals designed in an attempt to materially reflect the changes mandated by the Second Vatican Council's decree on the liturgy.
The Cathedral reflects materially the changes mandated by the Second Vatican Council's decree on the liturgy, and also demonstrates a considered response to the tropical climate of Cairns.
|St Monica's War Memorial Cathedral is a landmark which, through its form, scale and materials, makes a strong contribution to the Abbott Street streetscape and Cairns townscape. The Cathedral presents a robust and austere aesthetic which attempts to reconcile the basic form of the original basilica model of the early churches of the Roman Latin Rite whilst being designed in the modernist idiom.
|As a memorial, the Cathedral has a strong association with the Cairns community and the community of Far North Queensland. The Cathedral was dedicated as a memorial to the Battle of the Coral Sea which was fought due east of Cairns from 4-8 May 1942. In November 1969 the Colours of the 51st Infantry Battalion, the Far North Queensland Regiment, were put 'to rest' on the wall in the sanctuary of the Cathedral. In September 1995 the 'Peace Window' was installed to coincide with the Victory in the Pacific celebrations in Far North Queensland, celebrating 50 years of peace in the Pacific.
|St Monica's War Memorial Cathedral is also an integral member of a highly intact ecclesiastical group which contributes markedly to the city's sense of identity and history, as well as illustrating the evolution of the Catholic Church and Catholic education in Cairns and the surrounding region.
","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":16873,"place_ref":602137,"name":"Herries Private Hospital","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"180 McLeod","suburb":"CAIRNS NORTH","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2000-07-28","description":"Herries' Private Hospital is situated at 180 McLeod Street and is surrounded by holiday apartments. Opposite is the McLeod Street Pioneer Cemetery. Herries' Hospital is a two-storey timber building, polygonal in shape, basically a rectangle with the south-west corner truncated to form another (much shorter) side. It has a hipped corrugated iron roof. At the rear of the building there is a skillion roof extending out over the lower floor from the back wall, it covers the kitchen/bathroom area. The building sits on very low stumps.
The wide front verandahs are enclosed. The front verandah section and core are weatherboard with exposed stud framing - the studs are exposed on the inner wall for the verandahs and the outer wall of the core. The sides of the house beyond the verandahs and the rear are walled by corrugated iron.
The front and sides have regularly spaced casement windows divided by mullions into a large central pane of light blue glass with two smaller panes of plain glass below and above it. At the rear is a row of similar windows on the ground floor but the upper floor has three double-hung windows of mullioned plain glass.
The ground floor is entered by a front door on the truncated southwest corner. This is floored in timber, and is sloping in places. Ahead of the front door is a stairway to the top floor, which is very narrow and steep. Behind the stairway is the toilet and bathroom, at the southeast corner of the building. The downstairs area also contains the kitchen, the toilet and bathroom. The back door opens from the kitchen.
Upstairs, the floor is polished timber. The front verandah is open for the front part of the house, but has been closed in to make a room on the southeast corner. The rest of the floor has a central room with a room behind it to the east and another beside it to the north. The room at the back left-hand corner was the maternity room and the one the right hand corner was the operating theatre.
In the backyard are the remains of an outside toilet, a trellis, a post which may be from a washing line, and the remains of an air raid shelter that is currently used to store bricks. The only vegetation on the block is a large fig tree in the back yard.
The property is fenced by a variety of materials, but the front fence consists of concrete piers set in a low (half a metre) concrete wall joined by panels of galvanised iron pipes with galvanised wire mesh. There is a double gate at the northern end and a single gate at the southern end of the fence. The piers are topped by pyramidal caps painted a pale green, while the piers are cream. This appears to echo the paint scheme of the house, which is cream on the lower storey (though deteriorating) and has the faint remnants of a greenish paint on the upper floor, the weatherboards of which appear to have been scraped back.
","history":"Herries Private Hospital is situated at 180 McLeod Street, Cairns, opposite the Pioneer Cemetery. It is an enclosed wooden building moved to its present site from Cooktown in 1920. It was owned by Janet Abercombie Herries, a nurse and midwife, who ran it as a private hospital from 1921 to 1938.
Matron Herries was born Janet Abercombie Mackie in Glasgow, Scotland on 29 August 1869. She trained as a nurse but became ill and was advised, for her health's sake, to live in a warmer climate. She emigrated to Australia and worked as a nurse in North Queensland, marrying Robert Herries in 1902, in Mossman. They had four sons and, when the family moved to Cairns in 1916, Janet Herries took a lease on a two storey house in Bunda Street. In 1918, at the urging of many local doctors, she opened one of the first private hospitals in Cairns, at the Bunda Street house. The hospital cared for nine or ten patients at a time, both maternity and general. The hospital section was upstairs and the family lived on the ground floor.
The land at 180 McLeod Street, Cairns, was first purchased at auction on 20 September 1888 for 27 pounds. The vacant land was sold seven times after that, before being purchased by Mr Francis Albert Blucher, in 1918. In 1920 the building in question was transported from Cooktown and re-erected on the McLeod Street site. It is suggested that this building had originally been a fashion house known as "Miss Timony's Premises" and had been situated on the corner of Charlotte and Walker Streets in Cooktown. This is borne out by the truncated front of the building which gives the appearance of being a corner business premises.
When the lease on the Bunda Street premises expired in 1920 Matron Herries leased 180 McLeod Street from Mr Blucher. On 20 December 1921, the Cairns Town Council records the registration of a private hospital by Janet Abercrombie Herries. While Matron Herries was in residence, the Cairns Post advertised the property for sale as a "...two storey building ... 10 bedrooms ... The property is known as Nurse Herries Hospital and is occupied by Nurse Herries who is a first-class tenant and is willing to take a long lease." It was bought by Mrs Charlotte Mary Cato on 23 October 1923, who later sold it to Mrs Herries on 26 May 1924.
Herries' Private Hospital catered for nine to ten patients at a time and Matron Herries had women who travelled from Herberton, Mount Garnet and other areas of the Tablelands, coming to her for the birth of their children. It is said of her that she worked very hard and earned respect and affection from the Cairns community. Many of Cairns' older residents were born in Matron Herries hospital and these people have a strong feeling of attachment and history to the house.
The building had suffered damage during a cyclone while still in Cooktown, in 1907. During the 1927 cyclone in Cairns, it was more extensively damaged. A member of the family recalled the roof being blown to the cemetery opposite. After the cyclone, the upper verandah was enclosed with windows and alternate wooden louvres and the roof was lined.
When Matron Herries retired in 1939 the hospital was closed. Her husband, who had worked at the Hambledon, Gordonvale and Babinda mills, died in 1941. Matron Herries lived on in the house with her son Charles, a chemist, until her death on 25 October 1958.
In the 1986 cyclone (Winifred) the diagonal front section of the building fell outwards. A builder recommended that the open area on the ground floor and the upstairs louvres be enclosed.
Charles, Mrs Herries' last surviving son, lived in the building until his death in 1996.
","criteria":"Herries Private Hospital, as a known surviving example of one of the many buildings in North Queensland that were moved from declining mining fields and their associated ports to more prosperous towns, is important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history. It was moved from Cooktown to Cairns, preserving in its polygonal shape its original function as a corner commercial building, with one corner truncated to maximise the street frontage.
Herries Private Hospital is strongly associated with the role of midwives and nurses in Queensland's history. Until recently, few babies were born in hospital. Most were delivered by midwives, either in the woman's own home or in that of the midwife. Every town of reasonable size had a number of these small private maternity homes or hospitals. Many also looked after medical cases not severe enough to be admitted to the main hospital.
|Herries Private Hospital demonstrates a rare feature of Queensland's cultural heritage by having a private air raid shelter, constructed during World War Two, extant in its backyard.
|Herries Private Hospital is also important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a private hospital prior to World War Two. Private maternity hospitals, owned and operated by midwives, were once common throughout Queensland. The building has remained in the family of the nursing sister who ran the hospital. Its current form also illustrates the common tendency since World War Two to enclose verandahs, providing more weather tight space., often in response to cyclone damage. It is otherwise little changed.
|Herries Private Hospital has a strong association for many of Cairns' older residents who were born in Matron Herries' hospital. She and the hospital are remembered with affection.
|They disappeared from Queensland after World War Two, but the nurses and midwives who ran them were once an indispensable group of people who looked after the births of most Queenslanders. Of the hospitals which have survived, few are still identified in the public mind as such. Herries' Hospital is still strongly associated with the midwives and nurses who were so important for the health and well being of Queensland's mothers.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | 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 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":17009,"place_ref":602189,"name":"Babinda Hotel","alternate_name":"Former Babinda State Hotel","street_address":"65-85 Munro Street","suburb":"BABINDA","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2002-02-22","description":"The Babinda Hotel is located on Munro Street, Babinda and occupies a prominent position in the town's main street.
The Hotel is a two-storey building, constructed of timber and roofed with corrugated iron sheeting. The front façade of the building features open verandahs with a series of single and double timber posts.
A gabled pediment in the centre of the building with a timber infill defines the entrance to the hotel. Twin timber doors, surrounded by lead lighted windows inscribed with the BSH insignia, provide access to the hotel. On either side of the entrance are a number of casement windows
The ground floor of the hotel consists of two bars (main bar and western bar), dining room, kitchen, gambling room, games room, gym, cellar/storeroom and private office. The second floor consists of a public accommodation wing that opens onto a wide verandah overlooking Munro Street as well as a private residence and an internal verandah that overlooks the games room.
The accommodation wing on the second floor features a number of ornate timber archways in the hallway and double French doors that open onto the verandah.
The main bar on the ground floor features steel beams that run across the ceiling that once transported kegs from the storeroom to the bar. The western bar (originally the private bar) features a silky oak archway and balustrade that defines the entrance of the bar and servery. The lower part of the walls of the main entrance and western bar are also silky oak.
To the rear of the hotel there is a concrete slab that defines the old stable floors.
Babinda Town Study report 2000 - Two storey symmetrical building with hipped transverse corrugated steel roof at front, transverse gable at rear, central gable over street entrance. Raised on timber stumps, low at front, higher at rear because of fall of ground. Front wall at street level is concrete, rest of building is timber framed, with vertical tongue & groove boards. Imposing facade with open verandahs in Federation style. Original details such as verandah balustrades, posts and brackets, leadlight around doorway, office window, timber panelling and stairway are intact. The ornate roof ventilator was removed in the 1980s.
","history":"The Queensland Government constructed the Babinda State Hotel in the town of Babinda between 1916 and 1917. It was the only Hotel at the time constructed and operated by the Queensland Government under the Labor Government's State Enterprises scheme.
The town of Babinda was first established in circa 1912. The township's first entry in Pugh's Almanac describes Babinda as a small township of 100 people on Mulgrave Railway, in a district mainly devoted to sugar-growing, distant 30 miles from Cairns. Between 1914 and 1915 the population of Babinda rose rapidly due to the construction of the Babinda Central Sugar Mill. The town was surveyed for future development in 1915, and private owners bought allotments and began to build homes and businesses. Gradually government facilities were established to serve the local community including a post office, courthouse, police station and state school.
From 1915 the Labor Government, led by TJ Ryan and encouraged by wartime restrictions, food shortages and the consequent high prices, established a series of state-run businesses to compete with private sector business. The idea of state enterprises was not new. During the 19th century governments had operated railways and post offices as monopolies, but the general public accepted these as legitimate areas of government. The new state enterprises were distinctly different and designed to directly compete with private enterprise in order to provide the basic necessities at reasonable prices. The first foray into state enterprises was the establishment of the state butchers shops in 1915. This was followed by the establishment of state pastoral stations, fish supply shops, saw mills, produce agencies, cold stores and mines. Despite the good intentions of the government, the state enterprises lost money except for their one success story, the State Hotel at Babinda.
The construction of a State Hotel at Babinda was linked to the repercussions of the Sugar Works Act of 1911. Under this Act the sale of intoxicating liquor was prohibited in sugar growing areas and the two existing hotel licences in the town were revoked and the owners compensated. This left the town with a definite lack of accommodation in the area and it was muted that the lack of quality accommodation in the town would discourage "the better class of labour" from seeking employment at the sugar refinery. To address this problem the State Government built the first and only state owned and run hotel in Queensland. As it was run by the government, the hotel was also permitted to sell alcohol.
Designed by architects in the Department of Public Works and built by day labour, the hotel opened its doors to guests in May 1917. The hotel was a two storied modern structure of concrete and wood with a corrugated iron roof. It had 58 bedrooms - 24 in the First Class Section and 34 in the Second Class Section and was "splendidly furnished throughout", with reputedly one of the largest bars of any hotel in Queensland. The new State Hotel was designed as a showpiece, and was to be the social centre of Babinda, as well as a major physical landmark in the town. It was the entertainment venue for important visitors and Prime Ministers Hughes and Bruce were both greeted at civic receptions in the hotel.
Initially the hotel was operated by the Home Department and with a Manager appointed and paid by the Department. Following the passing of the State Enterprises Act of 1918 the management of the hotel was transferred to State Enterprises, which were administered by the State Trade Office - a part of the Department of Labour and Industry.
Unlike nearly all other State Enterprises, the State Hotel actually made money. In 1929 its turnover in the bar was more that 300 pounds a week and that of the house was almost 200 pounds a week. However, with the onset of the economic depression from 1929 and the massive losses other state enterprises were experiencing, the newly elected Country Party Government in Queensland was intent on selling off all state enterprises.
Sale of the Hotel was announced in Parliament in September 1929 with the reading of a special bill The Babinda State Hotel Sale Act of 1929. To entice buyers the government offered a monopoly on hotel trade in the town at least until 1935. It was also a condition of the sale that the purchaser make an application to the licensing court for the deletion of the word 'State' from the name of the hotel. Babinda residents opposed the decision to sell the hotel and urged the government to grant additional liquor licences in the area. The Labor party also expressed concern that a syndicate of Italians might buy the hotel, with the leader of the ALP William Forgan-Smith suggesting that action had to be taken to safeguard the rights of Britishers. Despite this opposition the sale of the hotel went ahead as planned.
Comprising of the two storey hotel buildings, including accommodation wings and staff quarters, modern furnishings, plant equipment, sample rooms, shop front and garage, the property was put to auction in March 1930. Only four bids were received for the hotel, the highest bid coming from a Mr J.A. O'Hagan of Brisbane. John O'Hagan, licensed victualler and former licensee of Lennons Hotel and the Hotel Daniel, continued his negotiations with the Government and eventually bought the hotel for 50,000 pounds, payable in instalments without interest. Upon the sale the hotel was re-named the Babinda Hotel.
O'Hagan continued the grand tradition of the hotel up until the Second World War, when business declined and he sold the hotel in 1941. Since that period the hotel has had a succession of owners but has continued to operate as a hotel with accommodation facilities. The hotel has undergone few alterations over the years with the exception of the removal of the second-class accommodation wing and other outbuildings in 1970. It still remains the only hotel in the town of Babinda and dominates the commercial centre of Babinda.
Babinda Town Study report 2000 - The hotel was built by the Ryan Labor government in 1917 as Queensland's only State Hotel, to control the sale of alcohol which was otherwise prohibited within the
Babinda Sugar Works Area. The new State Hotel survived the 1918 cyclone with only minor damage. It operated as a grand hotel, and was the entertainment venue for important visitors to Babinda for many years. Prime Ministers Hughes and Bruce were both greeted at civic receptions in the hotel. There was also a large second class accommodation wing for itinerant workers. In 1930 the Moore Nationalist government sold most of the State Enterprises including the State Hotel. It was bought by
John O'Hagan, who was lessee of Lennons and the Hotel Daniel in Brisbane, he continued the grand tradition until the Second World War, when business declined and he sold the hotel in 1941. It has had a succession of owners since. The second class accommodation wing was demolished in 1970.
","criteria":"The Babinda Hotel, formerly known as the Babinda State Hotel, was erected in the town of Babinda in 1917 and demonstrates important aspects of Queensland's political and economic history of the early twentieth century. As an early building in the town of Babinda, the hotel also provides evidence of the history of Babinda as a sugar growing settlement in far north Queensland.
The hotel provides physical evidence of a period in the history of the state of Queensland, which saw the Labor Government establish a series of state-run businesses to compete with private enterprise.
|The State Hotel was the only hotel constructed and operated by the Queensland Government (one of only two known "state" hotels in the country) as part of the Labor Government's State Enterprises Scheme, which ran from 1915 until 1929.
|The form of the State Hotel, and the facilities provided, demonstrate the characteristics of a country hotel from the early twentieth century.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D","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"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":19623,"place_ref":602500,"name":"Innisfail Court House (former)","alternate_name":"Innisfail Police Station (former)","street_address":"40 Buckley Street","suburb":"YORKEYS KNOB","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2004-12-06","description":"The former Innisfail courthouse sits on a terraced hillside block on Yorkeys Knob north of Cairns. It is an elevated timber building in two parts (the front section and rear right section or former courthouse) with encircling verandahs. It has a corrugated iron pyramid roof over the front section and a corrugated iron hipped roof, terminating in a gable and skillion verandah roof over the right rear section. A set of symmetrical steps with double dowel balustrades leads from a gabled entrance porch at the centre of the front verandah. A white picket fence frames the building as viewed from Buckley Street.
The front and side verandahs feature double slat balustrades and arched timber verandah sweeps. The verandah ceiling is lined with timber. A verandah room is enclosed on the western side with tongue and groove timber boards and double hung sash windows. The buildings have external studs and some weatherboard framing.
Former Offices
Internally the front portion of the building contains an office, a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living/dining area. A line down the center of the hallway floor indicates where the building was cut for removal to its present location. Internal ceilings are lined with timber with four lattice ventilation openings and the floors are polished silky oak. There are three timber archways within the main living/kitchen areas. A number of French doors with glass fanlights lead from the living area to the encircling verandah. The kitchen features sash windows opening onto the western verandah.
A bedroom and bathroom, separated by a fibro partition that reaches halfway to the ceiling (installed during its conversion to a police station) are on the western side of the front portion of the building. The bathroom is lined in tile and fibro cement sheeting boards and its fittings are constructed from materials salvaged during relocation of the building from Innisfail. The bedroom has three French doors, one opening north to the front verandah, one to the enclosed western verandah and one to the internal hall.
Former Courtroom
The rear right portion of the building (former court room) now incorporates a recreation room, guest accommodation, a bathroom and laundry, although its configuration remains from its conversion for police use. Ceilings are lined with timber and floors are original polished silky oak timber. Two lattice ventilation openings are visible in the unpainted ceiling, and four fans and cross bracing of painted metal poles are also evident. The recreation room contains four casement windows with fanlights, two timber doors opening onto the verandah at the rear and two timber doors opening onto the front verandah. There is also an arch door opening onto the verandah facing the street, which has been fitted since the buildings relocation. The lower wallboards on the western side can be opened for added ventilation. Many internal furnishings are original including a courtroom witness box, and prisoner's dock.
A timber door on the eastern side of the recreation room leads to a laundry and bathroom, both with tiled floors and timber walls. There are double hung sash windows with 'kosiosko' glass in the bathroom and glass louvered windows in the laundry opening to the eastern side of the building. At the rear of the recreation room there are five bedrooms, three within the enclosed rear verandah of the former courtroom, and two forming the rear of the former courthouse. All have single skin timber walls and timber ceilings. Glass louvres face south from the bedrooms in the enclosed verandah. A wall that reaches halfway to the ceiling separates the two internal bedrooms (former offices) from each other. Floors throughout are of silky oak, highly polished by the current owners. While most of the flooring timbers are original, a small amount has been replaced using timber salvaged during its relocation. The rear verandah is unpainted and faces the back garden.
A large roof ventilation fleche sits prominently on the roof of the former courthouse. It is located within an elaborate decorative casing with four arched walls and a pyramid roof with filial.
The sub floor is enclosed on three sides with mini orb, with a block wall incorporating the former Innisfail Police Station gaol cell door forming the fourth wall. It has a concrete floor and is used as a garage. A range of material retained since the relocation of the building from Innisfail, are stored under the house. The grounds with tropical plantings compliment the aesthetics of the building, but are not of cultural heritage significance.
","history":"The Former Innisfail Courthouse at 40 Buckley Street, Yorkeys Knob is a high set timber building originally constructed in 1920-21 as a courthouse and government offices on the corner of Rankine and Edith Streets, Innisfail. In 1938 the building was moved a short distance to a site in Edith Street, Innisfail. With the present Innisfail courthouse (built of rendered brick in interwar-classical style) opening in 1940, the timber building was converted to the Innisfail Police Station in 1942. The building was purchased by private owners in 1988, moved to its present location at Yorkeys Knob, Cairns and adapted for use as a private residence.
The Johnstone River area was settled by cedar-cutters, with the first major planting of sugar cane occurring in 1880 by TH Fitzgerald. In 1881 the first sugar mill was erected in the area and a town was laid out at the junctions of the North and South Johnstone Rivers. The town was named Geraldton in 1883, although in 1910 it was changed to Innisfail to avoid confusion with the Western Australian town of the same name.
The town's first official building, described by Dorothy Jones as a "long low iron structure" was erected c1881, probably on the police reserve, and accommodated a Police Station, Courthouse, unofficial Post Office, Lands Office, Customs Office, an office for the Clerk of Petty Sessions and a gaol. Tenders for a new courthouse were called in late 1887, and a timber building was built on the corner of the police reserve bounded by Edith and Rankine Streets. By the late 1900s-early 1910s the Innisfail district was attracting attention from both land speculators and settlers, with a particular focus on sugar production. The Queensland Government expressed its intention of opening up Mourilyan Harbour and of resuming, and extending the local tramline inland from the coast, which gave further impetus to development of the district as a sugar production area.
It was normal practice in colonial days for country and regional courthouses to be built of timber, often with corrugated iron elements. These buildings were usually single story and unassuming, consisting of little more than two or three rooms arranged longitudinally and surrounded by verandahs on at least three sides. Surviving examples from this period in the tropics include Port Douglas (1879) and Croydon (1887). The 1888 timber courthouse in Innisfail suffered considerable damage in the devastating cyclone of 1918, which destroyed an estimated 75% of Innisfail's buildings. It was replaced in 1920-21 with a timber building on high stumps with an iron roof and 8 foot wide verandahs at front and sides. The 35 x 25 foot courtroom at the rear was detached from the front portion of the building by a 5 foot passage. The building also housed offices for various government departments as well as shops.
In the design of Colonial and State Government buildings in Queensland, there is considerable continuity, particularly in the use of timber as the predominant material, and in details of composition. Some of the design details in common use in government buildings, particularly from mid 1880s onwards, are window hoods, eaves details, gable decorations, verandah balustrades and roof vents. While many of these elements including timber composition were common to many buildings in Queensland from early on, government buildings such as courthouses, post offices, schools, and police stations for example, can be distinguished from the common mode by the high standard of architectural composition, the careful detailing, and the attention to climate - as evidenced in the use of sun shading devices, ventilation systems, and the overhang of eaves beyond the verandah edges.
Many buildings constructed in Innisfail after the 1918 cyclone, demonstrate particular adaptations to cyclonic conditions. That many destroyed timber structures were re-built in reinforced concrete, masonry or rendered to offer some protection from the elements, poses historic inquiry of the 1920-21 timber courthouse. It is notable that at least one of the alternative schemes for the new courthouse featured plans of a grand two-story masonry structure in inter-war free classical style. Indeed, courthouse architecture of the time set out to impress and awe the unfortunate citizens who were unlucky enough to be involved in the process of the law. As a result, most surviving examples from the 20th century are more permanent and refined masonry structures such as the Cairns Courthouse (1921) and the Dalby Courthouse (1930s). Even in small country towns it was common for second-generation courthouses to be built this way, replacing an earlier and more basic timber building. The reasons for constructing the courthouse, a symbolically important building, out of timber at this time, may reflect availability of materials as well as economic factors, although further research could enlighten this debate.
Adaptations used in the construction of the Innisfail courthouse however, include the use of steel bolts to anchor the roof to the walls, and the walls to the floor beams, which were in turn bolted to the stumps. Diagonal crossbeams of hardwood timber were used to brace the walls of the building. These elements are thought to be early adaptations of construction methods to cyclonic conditions.
By 1932 some of the verandah space of the building was sacrificed for rooms, including the Police Magistrate and a jury room. The front section of the building was lengthened by 8 feet in 1933 to incorporate a Lands Office and Land Ranger's Office, and the rear of the courtroom extended 8 feet to add a verandah flanked by 2 storerooms. Then Assistant Chief Architect of the Queensland Government Harold James Parr drafted the alterations. Electricity, water and septic toilets were installed in 1933.
The vast majority of timber buildings built in North Queensland have traditionally relied on use of elevation, verandahs, and cross ventilation from windows to keep them cool. More elaborate conventions included regulating fanlights, ceiling vents and louvered openings on both sides of the roof or in gable ends. The former Innisfail courthouse incorporates these more common ventilation features with more advanced techniques.
Plans and sections showing extensions to the building in 1933 reveal an elaborate ventilation system to cope with Innisfail's hot and humid climate. The system featured latticed ventilation spaces in the ceiling that delivered hot air into pipes in the ceiling and out through a cupola-shaped ventilation fleche in a decorative casing on the courthouse roof. Although not in use since the buildings removal from Innisfail in 1988, the necessary elements of the ventilation system are still present in the ceiling. Bell (1984:178) confirms that intact examples of ceiling ventilation such as this are rare, as many have been removed or destroyed during installation of electric lights or ceiling fans. At floor level in the courtroom the lowest wallboards were hinged so they could be opened to increase airflow. Fanlights, sash windows and louvres assisted with ventilation. In 1934 a ventilation grille was installed behind the Judge's Bench and casement windows installed in the Jury's Room. Although electric fans were first installed in 1938, and by 1990 there were 18 fans in the building, these upgrades have not affected the material fabric of the system.
While it is known that similar ventilation techniques were incorporated into other public buildings such as schools and post offices or other courthouses during this period and earlier, the system within the former Innisfail courthouse now at Yorkeys Knob is rare in its survival in North Queensland. In all, the building has seven ceiling ventilation spaces attached to the ducting system and roof ventilator via metal hoods in the ceiling above them. This configuration is preserved intact and remains in the ceiling space.
Between 1920 and 1930 the total population of the Johnstone Shire ballooned from 5,549 to 18,088 people and the number of recorded dwellings rose from 700 to 3,130. The sugar districts of the north Queensland coast experienced a boom during the 1930s and it was considered necessary to expand the courthouse facilities in Innisfail to cope with the increasing amounts of official and legal business. In 1937 plans were drawn up for a new 2-storey brick courthouse, which was completed in 1939.
Timber and iron buildings are well adapted for removal and modification for re-use, and in north Queensland this has been a common response to changing economic conditions in settlements, such as mining towns. Bell considers that this was probably one of the influences on the design of timber buildings, and that it was not unusual for relocated buildings to undergo modification on re-erection, for stylistic or functional reasons, rather than be reconstructed to original forms.
The timber courthouse was moved to an excavated site at 8 Edith Street in 1938, placed on concrete stumps and adapted for use as the Innisfail Police Station, which opened in 1942. The front offices became a Day Room, CIB office, storeroom, Sub-Inspector's office and public enquiry rooms. One corner of the verandah was enclosed for a Senior Sergeant's office. The courtroom was divided into single men's accommodation, with 6 bedrooms and a recreation room. The front double stairway was lengthened and one set of steps was removed to facilitate car parking underneath the building. The room partitions were constructed from fibro cement and the side verandahs were screened with lattice.
Other changes to the building that occurred when it was used as a police station include the installation of a fibrous cement partition between the Public Office and the Enquiries Room (which subsequently become a Radio Room), removal of a partition between the storeroom and Sub-Inspector's office and its replacement with a high arch partition, enclosure of the back verandah of the court room for use as 3 offices, and installation of a toilet on the side of the courtroom building. Several of the casement windows were replaced with louvres and most of the verandahs were enclosed.
A carpark was proposed for the site of the police station in 1988, and the building was purchased by Frank Fisher and Bea Masschelein for relocation as a private residence. It was moved to its present location at Buckley Street, Yorkeys Knob, on the northern beaches of Cairns. The front section of the building was sawn in half to facilitate removal, while the courtroom was removed in one piece. To fit the building on its new block, the arrangement of its two sections has been altered. The courtroom was placed to the eastern rear of the block (to the right of its original position) and joined to the front section by a verandah at the front and rear.
The architectural elements of the building combine grand scale 'Queenslander' features and traditional courthouse architecture. While there are limited associations with government or justice in its current location, the building has become an important element of the streetscape of Buckley Street, overlooking the Yorkeys Knob Marina and Boat Club. Aesthetic features that can be appreciated from the street include the dominant use of timber as a construction material, pyramid shaped corrugated iron roof and the elaborate ventilation fleche and casing of the court room, pattern of 4 panel sash windows and vertically framed frenchlights, encircling verandahs, symmetrical double-elbow shaped front stairs, verandah entrance highlighted as a frontispiece by paired posts and gable pediment, slat balustrading, high set frame, large scale and its siting above street level.
Since its use as a private residence the building has undergone work to restore its original character, such as re-instatement of the front double steps and removal of the verandah enclosures. Internally some changes have been made for functional reasons, including construction of a kitchen in the former CIB office with a skylight in place of the original ventilation opening, construction of a bathroom in the former radio room and the use of the former Public Office as a bedroom. Some antique light fittings and fans have been installed that are similar but not identical to the originals and the former police bedrooms are now used as guest accommodation. The former courtroom is used as a recreation room and an arched doorway, salvaged from the Burns Philp building prior to its demolition in Cairns, leads from the courtroom to the verandah.
","criteria":"The Former Innisfail Courthouse is important for illustrating the pattern of Queensland's history in demonstrating the evolution of design and materials used in the construction of courthouses in regional Queensland. While most second-generation Queensland courthouses dating from the 1920s and 1930s were built using materials such as rendered brick or masonry, the former Innisfail Courthouse is notable in the interwar era for its timber construction and design along more traditional Queensland public building lines.
|The place demonstrates rare and uncommon aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage as a regional example of a naturally ventilated tropical courthouse built of timber and designed for the North Queensland climate. Its sophisticated ventilation system, which has survived largely intact, features low-level hinged wall flaps to allow cool air into the courtroom and associated ducted roof vents. Although certain aspects of such systems are known of, this configuration is not common in public or private buildings in Queensland. It is an important example of this combined ventilation system in Queensland.
Although it has been relocated, and its current siting and use as a residence has no real heritage importance, the former Innisfail courthouse represents a rare and intact example of a naturally ventilated tropical courthouse built in North Queensland.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B","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"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":22226,"place_ref":602605,"name":"WWII RAN Fuel Installation","alternate_name":"World War Two RAN Fuel Installation | Second World War RAN Fuel Installation | Tank Art Centre","street_address":"Collins Avenue","suburb":"EDGE HILL","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2007-02-02","description":"The former WWII RAN Fuel Installation at Edge Hill is located 5 kilometres north of the original port of Cairns, in the foothills of the Mt Whitfield Range. The installation, built into the side of Mt Islay, comprises five large fuel tanks (three in concrete, two in steel), earth and concrete bunds, two pump houses, a fire station (garage), foam tank and part of a disused railway embankment, located within three non-contiguous land parcels. Associated with the installation is a fuel pipeline in Commonwealth ownership, which cannot be included in the Queensland Heritage Register entry for the former WWII RAN Fuel Installation.
Site 1: Tanks 1 and 2
(Lot 346 on RP711610)
Land parcel 346/RP711610 is located on the north side of Collins Avenue near the eastern entrance to the Flecker Botanical Gardens, on a former railway reserve. It contains tanks 1 and 2, a pump house, an earth bund and a concrete bund.
Tanks 1 and 2 are welded steel circular structures set on concrete foundations.
Tank 1 has external steel stairs and pipe fixtures have been removed. Floor panels, roof cladding and steel roof framing have been replaced. Air vents and a doorway have been cut into the side of the tank.
Tank 2 is the northern-most tank and remains relatively intact. The outlet service pipes and internal timber uprights and ceiling are intact. The primary modification is the replacement of the roofing with 'Spandex' cladding and the addition of a galvanised or Zincalume 'collar' immediately blow the roofline.
There is a bund of formwork concrete, approximately 1.5 metres in height, around Tank 1. This is topped with three strands of barbed wire strung between angled metal posts. Tank 2, which is situated on higher land than tank I, has an earth bund faced around the base with dry-stone rubble, roughly coursed.
To the west/south west of the tanks a pump house is situated close to the Collins Avenue road alignment, outside the bunds. This is a small, single-storeyed, in rendered masonry building with a gambrel roof clad in corrugated iron and steel sheeting (possibly replacing corrugated fibrous cement sheeting). The structure rests on a concrete slab. In the front wall there are windows and a pair of large double doors opening to Collins Avenue.
Site 2: Support structures
(Lot 1 on RP17796)
Land parcel 1/RP17796 is located on the south side of Collins Avenue, opposite Tanks 1 and 2, on part of the original Cairns-Herberton Railway alignment. It contains two small former support structures associated with the WWII RAN Fuel Installation: a fire station (garage) and foam tank.
The former fire station is located on the western side of this allotment close to the Collins Avenue road alignment. It is a small, singled-storeyed, gable-roofed garage clad with fibrous-cement sheeting on the walls and corrugated fibrous-cement sheeting on the roof. It has a skillion-roofed side extension, the walls of which are clad in corrugated steel and the roof in corrugated galvanised iron. The whole rests on a concrete slab. The front elevation principally comprises three sets of double garage doors -one in the gabled section and two in the skillion side extension - opening onto Collins Avenue. The former fire station was demolished in late 2006 to make way for the realignment of Collins Avenue.
Also on this land parcel, but separated from the fire station by the former railway embankment, is the former foam tank. The tank is rectangular is shape, of pressed metal with a flat galvanised iron roof supported on timber framing. The whole rests on a brick base that in turn sits on a concrete slab. At the rear the slab extends beyond the current structure, where there are the brick base remnants of other partitions. A metal pipe is connected to the top of one of the walls of the tank and extends into the ground. It has a tap and stop-cock mid-way along its length.
Site 3: Tanks 3, 4 and 5
(Lot 349 on RP715416 and Lot 402 on SP201236)
Land parcel 349/RP715416 is located on the north side of Collins Avenue approximately 500 metres west of tanks 1 and 2, on a former quarry site. It contains tanks 3, 4 and 5, a concrete bund, a former foam shed and a former pump house. This site has been redeveloped as the Tanks Art Centre.
Tanks 3, 4 and 5 are reinforced concrete structures on concrete slabs.
Tank 3 is eastern-most and is used for performing arts. Large holes have been cut into the walls of the tank, one for access and one opening onto an outside stage facing a grassed amphitheatre. Roofing materials and internal fittings have been replaced.
Tank 4 is located in the centre of the site, facing the gated entrance to the Tanks Art Centre. It is used as a gallery and has recent interior wall partitions to facilitate art displays. Doors and ventilation holes have been cut into the walls of the tank. Part of the early Trinity Wharf has been placed inside the tank as a sculptural feature. The fabric consists of heavy timber logs with oyster encrustations and industrial scale links and chain. This sculpture forms a tangible link between Trinity Wharf and the naval fuel storage tanks, reflecting the physical link via the underground pipeline.
Tank 5 is western-most and has had similar modifications to tanks 3 and 4. It has openings for ventilation and access cut into the walls and has had roofing materials replaced.
A bund of formwork concrete about 1.5 metres in height extends along Collins Avenue for the length of the Tanks Arts Centre, overgrown with vegetation such as trees and orchids. Large figs (Ficus spp.) and other tropical species contribute to the landscape within the Tanks Art Centre.
Just outside the bund, close to the Collins Avenue road alignment and just to the east of the entrance to the Tanks Arts Centre, is a former pump house of similar construction to the pump house associated with tanks 1 and 2. It is a small, single-storeyed building in rendered masonry, with a gambrel roof clad in corrugated fibrous-cement sheeting. It functions as the administration building for the arts centre.
A second foam shed is located in the south western corner of Lot 349 just outside the bund wall and facing Collins Avenue. Sharing the same dimensions as the foam shed on Lot 1 RP17796, and resting on a brick base sitting on a concrete slab, this shed has been modified over time. Double doors have been created in the western wall to allow the shed to be used for storage purposes.
","history":"The former RAN Fuel Installation at Edge Hill, about five kilometres north of the Cairns city centre, was constructed in 1943 in response to the increased military presence associated with the Pacific war effort. The installation comprised five large fuel storage tanks, earth and concrete bunds around the tanks, auxiliary buildings and an underground pipeline from the tanks to Cairns wharves. Most of these structures have been incorporated into the Flecker Botanical Gardens, a recreational precinct at the southern foothills of the Mt Whitfield range. Tanks 3-5 have been adaptively re-used as the Tanks Arts Centre, a performance and display space.
Cairns was established in late 1876 as a port to service the Hodgkinson goldfield. In the mid-1880s the Cairns to Herberton Railway was surveyed through the Mt Whitfield range and in 1885 the low swamp lands south of Mt Islay were surveyed into large suburban sections. In December 1886 four of these were gazetted as a temporary recreation reserve of over 71 acres (about 29 hectares). This was extended in 1887 to comprise an area of over 97 acres (about 40 hectares), and by 1892 contained 108.5 acres (approximately 44 hectares). The recreation reserve was gazetted permanently in 1921, as 109.5 acres (just over 44 hectares).
In 1886 an area of 31.5 acres (about 12.75 hectares) on Mt Islay, just north of the recreation reserve and adjacent to the railway, was gazetted as a quarry reserve for the Cairns Municipal Council. This was used for only a few years, the rock being considered too shaly and soft for road fill. In 1908 the gazettal was rescinded.
Cairns' position as the principal access port to the hinterland mining districts was consolidated following completion in 1891 of the Cairns to Kuranda section of the Cairns to Herberton railway. A stopping place, railway siding (for municipal quarry purposes) and shelter shed were constructed a Mt Islay at the three-mile in 1888-89, and was named Edge Hill. In 1911 the line was moved 300 metres east to the other side of Saltwater Creek where a new railway station was erected. The former Edge Hill Railway Station stood where RAN fuel tanks 1 and 2 were constructed in 1943. For some years the Cairns Town Council continued to transport quarry material from Edge Hill to Cairns via its own tramway, using the former railway alignment, but this was abandoned by 1923.
In 1940 about 10 acres (4 hectares) at Mt Islay, above the recreation reserve, again was gazetted as a municipal quarry, this time for land reclamation purposes. The base of Mt Islay lay within the recreation reserve and from 1940 the slope adjoining the gazetted quarry was excavated as part of the quarry workings.
During World War Two Cairns became an important military base in the Pacific region. From September 1942, military personnel began to arrive for deployment. Providing the infrastructure to support the allied war effort at Cairns became a priority, and the decision to build Royal Australian Navy fuel storage tanks in Cairns was given under the highest level of National Security.
Early planning positioned the fuel installation behind wharf no.8 at the dockyards on Trinity Inlet, but as both the Australian and United States navies intended to expand warehouse storage facilities in this area, an alternative site was sought. Two Australian Navy staff visited Cairns in late 1942 and approved a site at Edge Hill that could be camouflaged from the air and would be difficult for an aerial enemy force to attack. It was also sufficiently distant from the wharf precinct to be of little danger to the port if there was enemy action.
The site chosen was on the southern slopes of the Mt Whitfield Range (Mt Islay), adjacent to the recreation reserve. Part of the site was located within a quarry reserve (R.903), part within the recreation reserve (R.267 - now known as Flecker Botanical Gardens) and part on a disused railway reserve. Three large concrete and two large steel fuel tanks were built and commissioned for use by the Royal Australian Navy and the United States Navy in 1943. Up to eight tanks were planned but only five were constructed.
The Allied Works Council, established in February 1942 to co-ordinate civilian construction of Allied military defence facilities in Australia, undertook site preparation and construction of the tanks, auxiliary buildings, bunds and underground pipeline.
The first two tanks were built on the former railway reserve on the north side of Collins Avenue. This land had been leased privately prior to the war and two small buildings were demolished to make way for Tank 2, which lay on the former railway alignment. Tank 1 was constructed on the site of the former Edge Hill Railway Station. Because these tanks were intended to hold dieseline they were constructed in plate steel, sourced from Broken Hill Pty Ltd. There were significant delays during construction, with correspondence between Main Roads, Allied Works Council and the Australian Navy revealing the frustration of all concerned in a project that was considered vital to the Allied war effort. Confusion as to where the steel tanks were to be sited, a lack of graders and poor planning hindered construction. Adjacent to tanks 1 and 2 a small pump house was constructed and an underground fuel pipeline was laid from the pump house along the former Cairns-Herberton railway embankment and under the streets of North Cairns to Trinity Wharf.
South of Collins Avenue, opposite Tanks 1 and 2 and on the former railway alignment, a fire station (garage) and foam tank were constructed.
Tanks 3-5 were sited further west, on the former quarry located partly within the recreation reserve and partly within a quarry reserve. This area was already part excavated. Further excavation, including removal of a rocky outcrop, was undertaken during the second half of 1943 to create a level site for tanks 3-5.
Tanks 3-5 were sited away from the first two tanks for several reasons. Firstly the landscape was prohibitive and part of the hill had to be removed, with the core left for camouflage, before all five tanks could be constructed. Secondly, having tanks 3-5 located at some distance from tanks 1-2 decreased risk to the whole installation. Thirdly, existing mature trees and the topography could be capitalised on to camouflage tanks 3-5 (tanks 1and 2 relied on heavy steel cables and netting material as camouflage).
Because tanks 3-5 were intended for the storage of crude oil they were constructed in reinforced concrete. This was hand-poured by a team of contractors from Melbourne, with some workers inscribing their names in the concrete bunds surrounding the tanks. A second pump house was constructed adjacent to tanks 3-5, and an underground fuel pipeline was laid from this pump house south east across the adjacent recreation reserve to join the pipeline from tanks 1 and 2 along the disused railway embankment. The former fuel pipeline still runs under north Cairns.
In March 1944 the Commonwealth government requisitioned part of the quarry reserve above tanks 3-5 to establish an observation and communications post for the protection of the fuel storage tanks below.
After the war the Commonwealth removed the structures associated with the observation post on Mt Islay, but decided to retain the fuel storage tanks for their intended purpose. In the late 1940s and early 1950s the Commonwealth formalised its occupation of the land, gaining title to Lot 346 (tanks 1-2), Lot 348 (fire station and foam tank) and Lot 349 (tanks 3-5) and taking up an easement over the pipeline (Lot 95A) as far south as Little Street. The tanks continued to be used for fuel storage by the Australian Navy and private fuel companies. Tank 1 was leased to Caltex from 1957 and the Australian Meat and Grazing Company leased tank 2 from November 1958, to store molasses.
In 1964 work was undertaken on Tank 2 to repair damage from the molasses and Tank 1 was reconstructed. A new roof, supported on four extra steel poles, was constructed over the original, which is still visible from inside the tank. The original timber pole supports also survive in situ.
Tank 4 became inoperable in 1976 when it began leaking crude oil. Caltex continued use of at least one of the tanks until 1983 and the Australian Navy used the remainder until 1987.
In 1991 Cairns City Council purchased all 5 tanks, but not the pipeline, from the Commonwealth, and the land was transferred to the Council. In 1995 tanks 3-5 were refurbished as the Tanks Arts Centre, hosting art exhibitions, performing artists, children's workshops and markets.
In 1991 Cairns City Council purchased all 5 tanks, but not the pipeline, from the Commonwealth, and the land was transferred to the Council. In 1995 tanks 3-5 were refurbished as the Tanks Arts Centre, hosting art exhibitions, performing artists, children's workshops and markets.
","criteria":"The former WWII RAN Fuel Installation is important in demonstrating the impact of WWII on far north Queensland. Its construction was given the highest priority under National Security regulations. Its strategic location in the foothills of the Mt Whitfield Range, 5 kilometres from the port and with dense surrounding vegetation, demonstrates the importance of selecting a secure location for the storage of naval fuel supplies during times of war.
|The installation is a rare surviving purpose-built WWII Naval fuel storage facility associated with the Pacific war and located in an urban setting.
|The installation, which comprises five large fuel tanks, two pump houses, concrete and earth bunds and ancillary structures (including a fire station and foam tank), is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of its type. The complex reveals information about construction techniques, materials, form, design and location of structures specifically designed for storage of naval fuel in 1943. Because of its relative intactness, Tank 2 is particularly noted for this criterion.
|The tanks in particular demonstrate elements of form, scale and material that contribute to the aesthetic significance of the site. Tanks 1 and 2 contain aesthetic value as industrial ruins in an urban environment; the scale, circular form and rusting exteriors form the main aesthetic elements. Tanks 3, 4 and 5 contain high aesthetic values as industrial ruins in a heavily vegetated urban environment. Vegetation such as Ficus spp. and orchids contribute to the aesthetic values of the place.
|The installation has a special association with the work of the Allied Works Council, which made a substantial contribution to the construction of defence facilities in Queensland, particularly in northern Queensland and often in difficult terrain, during WWII.
","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":29196,"place_ref":602744,"name":"World War II Volunteer Defence Corps, Cairns Control Room","alternate_name":"Cairns Scout Shop | Cairns Scout Hut","street_address":"Grafton Street","suburb":"CAIRNS","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2010-04-16","description":"The former World War II communication centre and civil defence control room is located on a 122 square metre State Lease (A/SP 152633) near the corner of Florence and Grafton Streets, at the south-eastern corner of Munro Martin Park. The park is a 2 hectare reserve, rectangular in shape with its boundaries defined by Sheridan, Florence, Grafton and Minnie Streets.
The octagonal concrete building is now painted in scout colours of green and yellow and has eight scout badges painted on the exterior walls representing the various scouting levels. Sitting on top of the concrete roof is a fibreglass structure in the shape of a traditional scout hat, painted brown. The 'brim' of the hat, which overhangs the roof of the former control room, has 120mm wide metal edging.
The front entrance to the former control room faces south-east towards Florence Street and has a timber door. Each of the eight walls measure approximately 3.9 metres long by 3.4 metres high and are off-form concrete 300mm thick. The five southern-most walls have had window opening created and fitted with steel louvres. Each window opening measures approximately 1.5 x .9 metres and is fitted with 80 x 50mm steel mesh covered with a steel grill that is bolted to the walls. There are sets of three air vents on six of the eight walls each vent 120 x 80mm. The front and rear walls do not have air vents and the rear door entrance is boarded closed.
The interior contains one main room and two smaller rooms to the rear with a central corridor leading around the rear interior blast wall to the rear entrance. The interior walls are 150mm thick concrete. The rear section is exposed concrete and in an unpainted state. The main room has painted walls and a tiled floor and has had a ceiling lined with gyprock over the front section of the main room. There is a 300mm square concrete post 2.5 metres inside the front entrance and there is evidence of the removal of a wall between the post and the eastern wall.
","history":"After declaration of World War II a national Volunteer Defence Corps, founded under the banner of the Returned Soldiers League, was taken over by the Army in 1941. In north Queensland VDC units were established in Townsville, Cairns and other larger towns in the region. At Cairns the local VDC used the council chambers as headquarters, but with Japan's entry in the war a more substantial building was required for a civil defence control centre in the event of air raids. In February 1942 it was decided that the Public Works Department would build a reinforced concrete control room in Norman Park for use by the VDC, police and ambulance service to coordinate emergency services in the event of air raids. Construction of the building commenced in March 1942. The building survived post war demolitions and during the mid 1950s was handed over to the Scouting Association of Queensland for use as the organisation's local headquarters.
On 7 December 1941 Japanese aircraft made a surprise attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands. At the same time Japanese forces launched assaults on Thailand, the Philippines and the British colony of Malaya. Three days after Pearl Harbor, two capital ships of the Royal Navy were sunk off the coast of Malaya. This gave the Japanese almost total control of the seas to Australia's north. The sudden fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942 with the rapid, unchecked Japanese advance through the islands of the Netherlands East Indies raised fears of the invasion of Australia. The devastation and high loss of life caused by Japanese air raids on Darwin and Broome early in 1942 underlined the inability of Britain to defend Australia.
A 1941 Queensland Parliamentary report by the Secretary for Health and Home Affair's the Honourable E.M. Hanlon, M.L.A. identified the three potential forms of enemy attacks, air raids, bombardment from the sea or invasion. The commonwealth was the responsible authority in combating and preventing enemy attacks and the state government was responsible to 'maintain the activities of the community during the emergency and to provide for the safety and care of the civilian population and the protection of property'. Air Raid Protection Committees were formed along the Queensland coast. These committees included the local mayor, inspector of police and the government medical officer. The police, local authorities, hospitals, fire and ambulance services were responsible for the safety of the civilian population. Other state government bodies such as railways, main roads, harbours, electricity and gas providers would also be required to maintain those services during the war.
To safeguard the community, six areas were identified where measures would need to be implemented. The training of key personnel in air raid precautions; air raid warnings; the provision of shelters for those people in the streets; safety of people in their own homes; possible removal of non-essential population from vulnerable areas; and closure of schools and removal of school children from vulnerable areas. Air Raid Precautions were introduced in January 1942 and the Air Raid Wardens had the responsibility to ensure compliance with the regulations within the community. Black-out curtains and slit trenches became part of every home in the Cairns area. Air raid practice drills were held on a regular basis both in the daytime and evenings, and during drills people on the streets were required to move to the nearest air raid shelter. The Cairns City Council constructed seven public air raid shelter around the city for the population. The shelters were of reinforced concrete, 300 mm thick and could hold fifty people seated.
Norman Park, now known as Munro Martin Park, was Cairns' first recreational reserve being gazetted in 1882. Tenders were let to clear the reserve at the end of 1887 and sporting groups lobbied the council to fence the reserve so they could hold sporting events. In 1888 the Cairns Cricket Club obtained permission to build a cricket pitch and in 1889 Council received applications for the construction of a running track and tennis courts. The reserve was named Norman Park at a Council meeting on 8 May 1890, after the then governor of the colony of Queensland, Sir Henry Wylie Norman who had just visited Cairns. Over the years the park has played an important part in the daily life of the Cairns community. After conflict between sporting groups regarding access to the park, in 1909 the park committee recommended that sporting bodies move their activities to other venues and that the park be laid out as a garden. In the past Norman Park has served as an important community venue for activities other than sporting events. A circus was held in the grounds in 1891, a memorial service on the death of King Edward VII in 1910, and school children assembled there in 1935 to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of King George V. Brass band contests were held there regularly.
During World War II Norman Park became a focal point for military activity with various military units using it. The council at a meeting on 10 July 1941 gave permission for 'C' Company 15th Garrison Battalion to erect a hutted camp on the park. Over the course of the war over fifty building were constructed on the park. Records indicate that there was a hall on Norman Park prior to its use as a hutted camp and a US Navy store at the southern end of the reserve. The Army erected a timber radio tower on land leased from the Council at the southern end of the reserve in 1944. Elements of the 17th Battalion Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC) were one of the units to occupy the park. The VDC was a 'Dads Army' raised under the banner of the Returned Services League and taken over by the military in 1941. VDC members consisted of men between the ages of 17 and 65 who for various reasons were not suitable for regular military service. Their service consisted of assisting in the defence by guarding important military and civilian places, evacuating civilians if required and in an emergency assisting with the demolition of strategic facilities. The Cairns VDC battalion consisted of about 600 men. Another volunteer unit was the Women's Emergency Corps (WEC) which was raised for the emergency transport of the civilian population if required. Recruited under the umbrella of the 51st Infantry Battalion, local women that wanted to contribute to the war effort could assist in a number of areas from motor transport, horse transport, first aid, cooking or signals.
In early 1942 the local civil defence organisation was housed in the Cairns Council Chambers and the Controller P.A. Anthony stated in a letter to the council that the chambers building provided insufficient protection in the event of an air raid and requested that a control room be built in park land. He also suggested that a band rotunda could be built on top of it and the control room could later be used for storage. The estimated cost was £750 plus another £100 for furnishings. The public service commissioner in a minute dated 23 February 1942 announced that a decision had been made for the erection of a control room as a matter of urgency. It would be constructed in Norman Park by the Queensland Department of Public Works. In addition to its civil defence role, it would also be used by police, fire brigade and ambulance services and functioned as an air raid post, first aid post, and an emergency and essential services post. In discussions with the mayor it was agreed that the fitting and furnishing of the control room would be borne by the Cairns Town Council. A work order for the construction of the control room was issued to the district Supervisor of Works on the 3 March 1942 for an immediate start. The building was designed as a reinforced concrete structure, octagonal in plan with two entrances, each protected by internal concrete blast walls. There were no windows. On completion the building was fitted out with telephones and was used to coordinate air raid warden duties for the Cairns area.
Around 1950 Florence Street was realigned so that it ran in its original position through Norman Park in a straight line from the Esplanade to Mulgrave Road, thereby separating the park with a roadway. After the US Navy store (which had housed the Cairns and Regional Electricity Board since 1946) was removed in 1964 the southern section of Norman Park on the opposite side of Florence Street was used as a children's playground until 1974 when the Civic Theatre was constructed on the site. In 1954 the Cairns City Council proposed redevelopment of the northern end of Norman Park using funds from the estate of half-sisters Janet Taylor Munro and Margaret Hart Martin who died in 1945 and 1948 respectively, and dontated by their niece, Margie Hart Martin for the purpose of beautification of Norman Park. In 1956 the park with its new garden beds and pathways was renamed the Munro Martin Memorial Park.
The former civil defence communications centre and control room survived the post war demolition and removal of public air raid shelters but it wasn't until the mid 1950s that it was given a new role when it was handed over to the Scouting Association of Queensland for their use. The Scouting Association initially used the building as their headquarters for the district which included the Atherton Tableland, Mossman and Cairns scout troops. Later the building became an area headquarters for scouts from Cardwell northward. Some of the early renovations to the building involved the removal of an internal blast wall from the front entrance on the south side of the building and cutting windows into five of the eight walls and fitting steel louvers and security grills. Two other walls had windows partly cut out but were never completed and can only be noticed from the interior of the building.
In September 1980 the Scouting Association started a major renovation program of the Control Room, which involved tiling the floor in the front (southern) section of the building and installing a ceiling. Windows were reconstructed and the exterior of the building was sand blasted and repainted. District and area scout badges were painted on the exterior of the building. On the 6 October 1980 renovated building was the venue for an evening campfire in the park, attended by the Chief Scout of Australia Sir Zelman Cowan and Lady Cowan. By 1982 arrangements had been made with local firm, Rogers Fibreglass, to construct a giant scout hat that would fit over the roof of the building. It was lowered into place at a ceremony on 22 February 1982 with the Mayor of Cairns, Alderman Ron Davis officiating and has given the building a distinctive landmark quality. The building became the Scouting Association's Area Headquarters and Scout Shop. The Scouting Association of Australia, Queensland Branch, hold a special State Lease over the building. The current lease expires on 13 February 2023.
","criteria":"The WWII Volunteer Defence Corps Control Room in Cairns is important in demonstrating some of the principal characteristics of a World War II civil defence control room, including 300 mm external reinforced concrete walls and roof and an internal concrete wall that offered protection from the effects of bomb blast.
|The WWII Volunteer Defence Corps Control Room in Cairns demonstrates an unusual design for a civil defence control room, being purpose built to protect air raid wardens during World War II and to later serve as the base for a band rotunda.
|The WWII Volunteer Defence Corps Control Room in Cairns is important in demonstrating the urgent measures taken for air raid protection and the conditions in which the air raid wardens worked, and is reminder of how close World War II came to Queensland and in particular the State's northern region.
The place is significant evidence of the important role played by volunteers in the pattern of Queensland's history, particuarly the Volunteer Defence Corps operating during WWII.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion D | Criterion B | Criterion A","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":30110,"place_ref":602743,"name":"Babinda Air Raid Shelter","alternate_name":"Babinda Public Toilet Block","street_address":"109 Munro Street","suburb":"BABINDA","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2010-04-16","description":"The former air raid shelter is located in Anzac Park, Munro Street, Babinda, where it remains accessible to the public.
It is an above ground reinforced concrete structure with 300mm thick walls and a 150mm thick roof. It has entrances at both the northern and southern ends. In form, the exterior of the structure has changed little from its original design. The 1992 mural on the exterior walls is not considered to be of State cultural heritage significance.
The structure retains the internal blast walls that were provided just inside the entrances, and next to each entrance a closet, although these are no longer in use and have been sealed.
The interior has been converted into female and male toilets, with a dividing concrete wall erected through the centre of the structure. Apart from the addition of fixtures for water, power and lighting the only other apparent changes have been alteration to the offset ventilation vents to a more open style.
","history":"Babinda air raid shelter was one of 57 public air raid shelters constructed between Mackay and Cairns during early 1942. A Government Gazette notice issued two weeks after the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbour in early December 1941, required Queensland local authorities to provide public air raid shelters. The air raid shelter at Babinda was built to a standard design with 300 mm thick reinforced walls and provided seating for 50 people. As the threat of air attacks receded the building was turned into a public toilet and remains today for this purpose.
The township of Babinda was established about 1912 as a small settlement on the Mulgrave railway. Between 1914 and 1915 the population of the town rose rapidly due to the construction of the Babinda Central Sugar Mill. Government facilities were established to serve the local community including a post office, court house, police station and state school. The town continues to service the surrounding sugar-growing industry and its economy is heavily reliant on the Babinda Mill, which dominates the entrance to the town. Until 1995 Babinda was administered by the Mulgrave Shire Council, before amalgamation with Cairns City Council. The town is now included within the Cairns Regional Council boundaries.
Until 1927 the land that is now occupied by Anzac Park was the Babinda sports ground. The land was later subdivided and partly sold off and the remaining property retained as public parkland. A war memorial to honour those from the district who served in World War I (1914-1918) was originally erected in Munro Street nearer the centre of the town. The memorial was moved to the park in the 1930s, when it is believed that the area was named Anzac Park.
With the declaration of war in September 1939, the Queensland Premier's Department, as the agency responsible for co-ordinating civil defence works in the state, began implementing home security policies outlined in the Commonwealth War Book. Air Raid Protection Committees were formed along the Queensland coast. These committees usually consisted of the local mayor, inspector of police and government medical officer. Air raid precautions were organised and all schools in north Queensland were required to provide slit trenches for pupils. As the threat of war with Japan increased, construction of public air raid shelters was planned in main centres considered vulnerable to air attack. The Queensland government undertook to finance the shelters on behalf of the local authorities with the adjustment of costs deferred. Special legislation was passed enabling local authorities to obtain loans from the state government for the purpose of air raid shelter construction and to levy special rates to meet interest repayments.
On 7 December 1941 Japanese aircraft struck the US naval base at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands. At the same time Japanese forces launched assaults on Thailand, the Philippines and the British colony of Malaya. Three days after Pearl Harbor, two capital ships of the Royal Navy were sunk off the coast of Malaya. This gave the Japanese almost total control of the seas to Australia's north. The sudden fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942 and the rapid, unchecked Japanese advance through the islands of the Netherlands East Indies raised fears of air attacks on Australia. The outlook during the first six months in 1942 looked very grim and the possibility of Japanese air raids and invasion was considered likely.
The Public Works Department was responsible for the enforcement of orders issued under the National Security (General) Regulations, relating to the provision of air raid shelters for the protection of the public. Local authorities were responsible for the construction of public air raid shelters, as well as for enforcing orders relating to the provision of shelters by building owners. Hotels, flats and boarding houses occupied by 15 or more people, or buildings in which 30 or more worked, were required to provide air raid shelters for those people. Local authorities were responsible for the construction of public air raid shelters and in the event that this was not possible the Public Works Department would supply the men and materials required. However in most circumstances the local authority carried out the works. A list of public air raid shelters required for construction by local governments was published in the Government Gazette on 23 December 1941.
The Babinda public air raid shelter was ordered for construction by the Public Works Department on 16 January 1942. It was the only public air raid shelter ordered for the town. Other public air raid shelters ordered to be constructed in neighbouring towns in far-north Queensland in January 1942 were: Cairns (9), Innisfail (3), Gordonvale (2) and Atherton (1).
The Babinda shelter was constructed by Mulgrave Shire Council during 1942 to the same standard design as the public air raid shelters constructed in Cairns, for which drawings have been located. Public shelters at Cairns, Babinda and other centres in north Queensland were designed to accommodate 50 persons seated. They were above-ground structures with 300mm reinforced concrete walls and 150mm thick roof. Where there was the possibility of debris falling on top of the shelter the thickness of the roofs was increased to 300mm. The shelters contained an open entrance at either end protected by an internal blast wall. A small room at each entrance, referred to on a drawing of Cairns Air Raid Shelter as a closet, may have contained male and female toilets (water closets). The interior comprised one large room with a timber bench along the western wall between the two internal blast walls, which could accommodate up to 20 persons seated; and a long, double timber bench positioned north-south in the centre of the room, which could accommodate a total of 30 persons seated. An alcove for a lamp was provided at the end of each blast wall. Eighteen offset open air vents around the building provided ventilation while protecting the occupants against direct blast from a near miss.
As the threat from air attacks lessened, the shelter was turned into a public toilet by Mulgrave Shire Council during 1944-1945 and remains today for this purpose. The building was last used as a public shelter during Tropical Cyclone Larry which passed through Babinda on 20 March 2006 causing severe damage in the town. The building remains effective as a cyclone shelter for public use.
","criteria":"Babinda Air Raid Shelter is important in demonstrating the urgent measures taken by State and local authorities for protection of the public from attack by hostile forces during a time of war, and is a reminder of how close World War II came to Queensland and in particular the State's northern regions.
|The Babinda Shelter is the most intact example of a public air raid shelter in north Queensland and demonstrates now rare and uncommon evidence of the civil defence role in the Babinda and the Cairns area during Word War II.
It is the only known public air raid shelter in north Queensland with intact internal blast walls within each entrance.
|Babinda Air Raid Shelter demonstrates the principal characteristics of a World War II Air Raid Shelter built for public safety. The extant features demonstrate the design, construction and dimensions of a public air raid shelter of the World War II period. Surviving characteristics include: the reinforced concrete floor, walls and roof; internal blast walls; the wartime closet cubicles (now sealed); and the public park location.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D","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"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":31331,"place_ref":602738,"name":"Floriana","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"183-185 The Esplanade","suburb":"CAIRNS","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2010-04-30","description":"Located on the Cairns Esplanade facing east towards parkland and ocean views stands Floriana, a large, double-storey former family house of the interwar period, which has been converted into multiple-residency holiday accommodation. It stands on a rectangular-shaped block of land between a set of 1930s Spanish Mission style flats (which form part of the same holiday accommodation complex) and a recent high-rise apartment building. The former house is set back from the street and is partially concealed by a front garden containing palms, ferns, shrubs and small trees. It is constructed from a variety of materials, including rendered brick and timber, and has a multi-hipped roof clad with corrugated fibrous cement sheeting. The former family home now houses ten residential accommodation units and an administration office.
In form the building comprises two main rectangular sections, each incorporating different materials and standards of workmanship: a front section addressing the Esplanade, and a slightly smaller section to the rear. The front section, the long side of which runs across the block, has a wide entrance bay projecting from the centre of the eastern (front) façade. The lower level of the front section is constructed of rendered masonry, with some chamferboard sections along the north and south sides. The upper floor is timber-framed and clad entirely in chamferboards. A single hipped roof sits over the main portion of the front section, with a separate hipped roof over the entrance bay. A skillion-roofed timber extension attached to the northern side of the house is the only major exception to the symmetry of the front façade.
The smaller rear section, which is stepped in on the north and south so that it is not as long as the front section, has the same chamferboard cladding continued around the upper floor, and a partially enclosed verandah area located in the centre of the western (rear) façade. The ground floor, originally an open area with an enclosed bathroom in the south-west corner, is now a combination of enclosed rooms (with chamferboard-clad walls) and semi-enclosed spaces with either vertical batten or diagonal lattice screens. A rear timber staircase ascends from the north-west corner of the house and along the western façade. The roof over the rear section is made up of two parallel hipped roofs extending at right angles from the roof of the front portion of the house. Attached to the end of these hipped sections is a narrower skillion extension over the partially enclosed stair and verandah area. Apart from this skillion section, which is clad in corrugated iron, the main roof is clad in fibrous-cement sheeting.
The front (eastern) façade of the house is divided into three bays by a central projecting bay which houses the main entrance on the ground floor and an enclosed balcony on the upper floor. The brick walls on either side of the entrance bay are ornamented by raised stripes in the render work. The main entrance has a later timber double door, flanked by early timber louvred panels that extend from waist height to lintel height. Immediately below these panels are narrow, rendered brick garden beds. Above the doorway is a narrow concrete ledge with a patterned edge detail and above this the name Floriana is set in relief into the render. Decorated square pillars stand at each corner of the entrance bay, extending up to window height on the first floor and containing small flower boxes on top. The enclosed front balcony on the upper level of the entrance bay has early timber-framed casement windows on all three sides. These double windows open outwards with three lights in each leaf, two of which (the top and bottom) are patterned art glass.
A single large window sits on either side of the entrance bay on both floors. The ground floor windows are semi-circular in shape, timber framed with a decorative masonry detail around the edge. The left hand window is unaltered, with the centre leaf a casement window that open outwards, while the right hand window has been altered to contain a glass-paned door opening out onto an enclosed area (a recent fence around this enclosed area is not considered to be of cultural heritage significance). The upper floor has cantilevered bay windows with flared chamferboard skirtings. Each one has four six-light casements.
The north façade has extensions added to the upper floor. The largest is an early timber extension supported on diagonal brackets. It houses a small bathroom and a verandah that faces the street. Next to this is a smaller semi-enclosed area with a lower floor level (function unknown). The area beneath these projecting extensions is in-filled with screens and used for storage. The west or rear façade has a cantilevered flat profile polycarbonate roofing with a bullnose edge, attached to the northern side below the level of the upper floor, supported by metal tie rods from above (not considered to be of cultural heritage significance). Beneath this awning the ground floor area is semi-enclosed with lattice screens. The upper floor has a semi-enclosed verandah area in the centre screened by a timber balustrade and louvered panels. Along the south boundary, a low skillion roof clad in transparent corrugated polycarbonate sheeting creates a covered walkway between the house and a high block work wall for part of the length of the house. Accommodation units on the ground floor are accessible via exterior doors.
The front entrance doors open into a short vestibule, which then opens into a central foyer with curved, timber-panelled side walls. Stained a dark brown, these walls separate the foyer from accommodation rooms on the south side of the house and an office on the north side. A semi-circular hole has been cut into the north wall to create a reception area counter. The foyer floor is polished timber ornamented by a central square formed by different types of in-laid timber in the centre of the room (part of the early ballroom floor). Other ornamental features include decorative plaster cornices and borders around entranceways. The main staircase occupies an alcove at the far end of the foyer, opposite the entrance. The winding half-turn staircase retains the original carved handrails and timber treads and is the dominant feature of the interior. Accommodation units and public areas (such as a laundry) occupy the remainder of the ground floor on the southern and western sides.
On the upper floor, six doors lead off the landing that wraps around three sides of the top of the staircase. Five of these lead into accommodation units and one leads via a small public sitting room to the rear verandah and staircase. Four of these doors appear to be early and in their original position and one appears to be the original front door relocated to the upper floor. The rooms in the former central core of the upper floor, which contained the dining room, sitting room and front balcony, have been divided by additional partitions in order to create accommodation units. Each unit consists of one or two rooms and an ensuite bathroom, and most have a kitchenette. Despite these alterations, many features such as ceiling roses, cornices and bay window seats remain in situ. Two further units are accessible via the rear verandah area and have share kitchen facilities.
Ground surfaces around the house are generally paved and the front garden is landscaped with recent garden beds. The front fence has a low concrete base with rounded concrete posts, each topped by a sphere. Between each post runs a tubular metal top and bottom rail. Low hedges are planted immediately behind the fence line. A driveway runs between Floriana and the Spanish Mission units to access a rear yard which contains a swimming pool, barbeque area and a small, single storey building along the southern boundary (use unknown). These features, as well as modern signage and shade structures found within the front garden and attached to the front façade, are not considered to be of cultural heritage significance.
","history":"Floriana at 183 The Esplanade, Cairns (now known as Floriana Guesthouse) is the former city residence of Maltese migrants Paul and Paulina Zammit and their family. The two-storey rendered brick and chamferboard house was constructed in 1939 and originally comprised five bedrooms, a sitting room, dining room and kitchen on the upper floor; and a bathroom on each level; with the whole of the ground floor occupied as a large ballroom, which was converted into two flats and an entrance foyer in the late 1940s. Aspects of its design related to the prominent, central entry with a wide bay projection above and the building's address to the street were influenced by traditional Maltese housing. It stands adjacent to a set of Spanish Mission-style flats, also built by Zammit only a few years previous employing the same architect, Edwin Roy Orchard, and establishing a proud presence on the Cairns Esplanade.
Paulus Franciscus Michael Antonius Zammit was born in Birkirkara, Malta circa 1889. About 1911, at the age of 22, he married 19 year old Paulina Modesta Angela Aquiline from the same town. This small British Crown colony in the Mediterranean Sea had prospered through the nineteenth century, its population expanding but its economy dependent on British military spending, particularly in the development of the port at the capital Valletta. When military funding ceased in 1907 unemployment and poverty ensued. The Daily Malta Chronicle, which became the vehicle for discussion on emigration due to a lack of government action, campaigned for an emigration program and promoted Australia as a land of opportunity.
An earlier attempt at organised migration from Malta to Queensland in 1883, when 69 labourers were sent to the cane fields of the lower Burdekin, had not proven successful. Overcrowding of the ship Nuddea and subsequent dissatisfaction with working conditions on the cane farms had deterred further emigration until the early twentieth century, when the Maltese government, unable to fund an emigration scheme, nonetheless concluded that its people would be welcomed by the Australian government in solving the problem of labour shortages in its developing northern territories. Between 1905 and 1919, 2248 Maltese arrived in the southern states, many of whom moved north.
Paul Zammit immigrated to Australia in 1912 in the early phase of its renewal, ahead of his wife. He arrived in Melbourne in April and travelled on to Sydney before heading to north Queensland, where he worked in the Chillagoe mines and then cutting cane near the coast, before settling in Mooliba near Bartle Frere around 1919.
Paulina Zammit had arrived in Queensland by December 1913, with the couple's first child. Over the following 20 years they had nine more children, all born in Queensland. The Post Office Directories list the Zammits as farmers at Mooliba (later known as Pawgilly) from 1919, and nearby Bartle Frere from 1927. When the Bartle Frere State School opened in 1922, the elder children were on the attendance record and Paul Zammit was on the school committee. All of the Zammit children attended this school, the youngest being enrolled in 1936.
Once established in Queensland Zammit used his growing prosperity to support numerous migrants from Italy and Malta, either through sponsorship or provision of various forms of assistance. From 1919 to 1929 just over 3000 Maltese men immigrated to Australia. The Orvieto, the first ship carrying Maltese migrants here following the end of WWI, arrived in 1920 reuniting a number of pioneering families in the Mackay and Innisfail areas. One such man was Joe Brincat who was later given employment by Paul Zammit cutting cane at Babinda, having initially worked at the Chillagoe smelters, as Zammit had done when he first arrived in Queensland. Family information has indicated that at least five other families were sponsored and assisted by Zammit over the course of his life.
Zammit's success and his community efforts were being recognised widely. In 1933 a branch of the Maltese Farmers and Settlers Association was formed in North Queensland during a visit from Dr Charles Mattel, a former AIF medical officer who was touring Queensland, meeting with Maltese migrants, forming the association, and drawing attention to the fact that the Maltese were law abiding British citizens after the unrest that occurred in the wake of the 1927 strike at the South Johnstone Sugar Mill. During his Cairns visit Dr Mattel noted that Paul Zammit of Bartle Frere was one of the most successful sugar farmers in North Queensland, with property reputedly worth £65,000. In the 1934 Australia Day Address given by the Maltese Commission for Labour, Captain Henri Curmi, in Malta, his achievements were cited as a source of inspiration to prospective Maltese emigrants. He was further praised by the Bishop of Far North Queensland, Bishop Heavy, at a 1936 function held at the Catholic Club Rooms in Babinda, where Paul was the president, for the work the family had done for the church in the region both financially and in facilitating pride in Maltese heritage. At this time he was also Far North President of the organisation that produced bi-lingual The Voice of the Maltese in Australia and Farmers' Advocate Weekly.
Paul Zammit had begun investing in residential property in Cairns, although the family was still resident on their Bartle Frere cane farm. In December 1932 two parcels of land at 183 and 185 The Esplanade (which included the later site of Floriana) were transferred to Paulina Zammit. These blocks were located on one of Cairns' premier streets, overlooking Trinity Inlet. According to family information, in 1934 the Zammits built the Spanish Mission-style flats, designed by former Sydney architect Edwin Roy Orchard, which are still located at 185 The Esplanade today. In mid-1935 they acquired 67 The Esplanade (later the site of the Continental Hotel, which Zammit also built). They also acquired another block of flats on The Esplanade in about 1935 (later known as Hayles Flats but no longer extant).
In October 1938 Orchard completed plans for a city residence for the Zammit family, which was to be built at 183 The Esplanade, adjacent to the c1934 flats. Orchard was an established Sydney North Shore architect who is credited with designing the earliest Californian Bungalow-influenced houses in New South Wales between 1913 and 1915 (three of his Sydney designs have been entered in the New South Wales Heritage Register). He relocated to Mareeba during the Depression and was involved in the tobacco industry until 1933, when he established an architectural practice in Cairns. He registered with the Queensland Chapter of the Royal Society of Architects in 1936. Orchard's other projects in the Cairns region included: Tobruk Memorial Pool (in partnership with Jack McElroy), St David's Anglican Church at Mossman, motor showrooms and a hotel in Atherton, the Tinaroo Dam lookout shelter, the Great Northern Hotel at Mareeba, the remodelling of the Courthouse Hotel in Cairns, and the Australian Hotel in Mackay. Much of his north Queensland work was influenced by the work of Dutch-born modernist architect Willem Marinus Dudok, whose use of dramatic massing, asymmetry, and overhanging eaves achieved international recognition and influence in the 1920s and 1930s. Orchard returned to live in Sydney in 1963 and died within a week aged 72.
In his design for the Zammit Cairns residence, Orchard tempered the use of modern materials, hipped roofs with wide eaves, and the demands of the tropical north Queensland climate, with elements of traditional Maltese house design. The building was double-storey, with the ground floor constructed of rendered brick and the upper level timber-framed and clad with chamferboard. The multi-hipped roof was clad in Durasbestos. Internally the public rooms (sitting room, dining room, front balcony and rear verandah) occupied the core of the upper level, with five bedrooms and a kitchen encircling it on the northern and southern ends of the building. Most of the ground floor was one large, timber-floored ballroom. By elevating the main living spaces, maximum advantage was taken of views to Trinity Inlet and banks of casement windows opened to sea breezes.
A large, decorative, half-winding internal staircase, handcrafted by a Maltese timber sculptor Mick Farrugia, ascended from the centre of the ballroom to the upper level. Behind the staircase on the ground floor, doors led to an undercroft space with washing facilities and another plainer stair leading to the rear verandah on the upper level. A bathroom and toilet, enclosed with chamferboards, was located in the south-west corner on each level. The timbers used inside included maple, silky oak, and Johnstone River hardwood. Farrugia and his family were sponsored immigrants nominated by the Zammits. Apart from the staircase and curved walls installed in the entry when the ballroom became small flats, he also custom-made furniture for the main and guest bedrooms.
The key elements of traditional Maltese design employed in the Zammit house included the composition of the street façade dominated by a centrally-positioned, street-level entry consisting of glass louvers either side of a door, a projecting bay above imitating the Maltese stone balcony; and then internally a decorative winding staircase leading off an entry vestibule, inside the front door and leading to the public spaces on the upper floor; and a public ballroom occupying the whole of the ground floor.
The Zammits moved into their new Cairns home around the time of the declaration of war in Europe, in September 1939, naming it Floriana, after a portside suburb of the Maltese capital Valletta.
From 1942 North Queensland became the base from which allied forces fought the war in the Pacific and south-east Asia. Cairns was inundated with American and Australian soldiers, who were accommodated in the city's hotels and guesthouses and in a camp established in 1943 along the seaward side of the Esplanade, from Kerwin Street to the end of Minnie Street and just over a block to the south-east of Floriana. Gun emplacements were installed along the Esplanade and a Catalina flying boat base was established near the hospital, almost adjacent to the south-east of the house.
The Zammit family, who were all proficient at a variety of musical instruments, regularly entertained top visiting US and Australian Army show bands and the ground floor ballroom hosted many social and fundraising events. Two of the Zammit daughters married American servicemen and left as war brides to live in the United States, and another married an RAAF serviceman. The wedding celebrations were held in the family home.
In 1946 the Zammits converted the southern part of the ground floor ballroom into a flat for one of their married daughters, and the northern half was similarly converted soon after. Curved timber-panelled partitions, constructed by Mick Farrugia, created a central foyer just inside the entrance vestibule and sandwiched between the new flats, from which the staircase rose to the upper level. The flats only ever accommodated visiting relatives and friends.
Both during and after the war Paul Zammit continued to run the cane farm at Bartle Frere. In 1947 he funded the construction of a small concrete church there, the Church of St Paul, which was opened on 31 August by the Catholic Bishop of Cairns, the Most Rev. J Heavey. Its concrete blocks were made on Zammit's farm by his cane-cutters in the off-season, and the small local community funded the furnishings. Paul was awarded the Bene Merenti Medal by Pope Pius XII in January 1948, in recognition of his work for the Catholic Church in Queensland.
At this time an article in the Maltese News, a publication of the Maltese Social Society in Melbourne, discussed Zammit's reputation as the biggest sugar cane farmer in the Cairns district and acknowledged the unfailing support he had given to Maltese settlers in the area over the years. In addition to the friends and family he had assisted, he also financially supported Father John Camilleri through his studies at the Capuchin Seminary in Italy during the 1950s. Camilleri was to go on to serve the Diocese of Cairns for more than forty years until his death in 2006.
From the late 1940s Paul Zammit expanded his business interests in north Queensland. Between 1948 and 1953 Zammits Prospecting Pty Ltd, in partnership with the Fisher brothers, held five mining leases in the Batavia Gold Fields. The family also owned a number of rental houses around Cairns, as well as the two blocks of flats, and constructed the 65-room Continental Hotel at 67 Esplanade, which opened in 1956 and was one of the first high-rise buildings in Cairns. Zammit sponsored his wife's niece and her husband, Joe and Catherine Gatt, to come to Australia to work in this hotel. When they first arrived they lived in one of the ground floor flats in Floriana. The Zammits owned a holiday home at Yorkey's Knob.
Paul Zammit died in 1959, family sources attesting to the fact that he had achieved great success in business and engaged in much community work while being unable to write or read English and being only a tentative speaker of it. Ten years later Paulina transferred Floriana and the adjacent Spanish Mission flats to their son Salvatore and his wife Jean. She died in December 1979. Salvatore Zammit and his family lived in Floriana until 1981. In March 1982 the house and the adjacent flats passed out of the Zammit family and were converted into the Floriana Guesthouse and Hotel, offering a total of 24 guest rooms. Alterations to the house included the conversion of the upper floor into self-contained flats, and reconfiguration of the two downstairs flats into three. It is likely that at this time the semicircular hole was cut in the northern timber-panelled wall of the central entrance foyer to create a reception window, and timber louvered sliding doors were installed on the southern side of the entrance foyer.
In December 2006 an expensive and extensive renovation was completed, transforming the former Spanish Mission flats from a budget hotel to an upmarket Mediterranean-style complex with one and two bedroom villas and a pool, which were marketed as Floriana Villas. The original Floriana, known as Floriana Guesthouse, retains the early 1980s layout and currently comprises 10 ensuited rooms and self-contained bed sits.
","criteria":"Floriana, a two-storey brick and timber house located on the Cairns Esplanade overlooking Trinity Inlet, was constructed in 1939 as the city residence of Paul and Paulina Zammit and their family. The place demonstrates the contribution that Europeans have made to the evolution of Queensland as a multi-cultural society. It demonstrates how in the early part of the 20th century some immigrants to North Queensland were able to advance financially and socially. The house is a clear marker of the success of the Zammit family in Queensland which is announced to both the North Queensland community and the Maltese diaspora. It does so by explicitly blending features of Queensland and Maltese design.
Mr Zammit was an immigrant from Malta in 1912 who became one of the most successful sugar farmers in North Queensland with a property near Bartle Frere serving the Babinda Mill. He subsequently became a major investor in gold mining and property development. Maltese immigrants were a significant part of the development of the sugar industry and Mr Zammit became a leader of the Maltese community throughout Queensland.
The place is significant because the Zammits selected a site in the best residential street in Cairns, employed a notable architect (Edwin R Orchard) and erected a substantial two-storey house that incorporated a number of traditional Maltese elements within the overall format of a Queensland house of its era. The design is unique in that it incorporates the principal characteristics a modern interwar house - multi-hipped roof, wide overhanging eaves, enclosed balconies and Art Moderne (Art Deco) decorative interior detailing - with the elements of traditional Maltese housing. These elements included: the provision of a prominent, centrally positioned ground floor entrance emphasised by a semi-enclosed balcony above the entrance vestibule and louvred timber panels either side of the main door; the whole of the ground floor taken up by a large ballroom; and at the core of the house, a substantial and decorative winding staircase which is of aesthetic value in its own right. Maltese timber sculptor, Mick Farrugia, crafted both the central stair (1939) and the 1946 ground floor vestibule walls.
","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":35058,"place_ref":602835,"name":"Meringa Sugar Experiment Station","alternate_name":"Meringa Sugar Research Station","street_address":"71378 Bruce Highway Meringa","suburb":"GORDONVALE","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2014-07-18","description":"Meringa SES is in a small locality south of Cairns in Far North Queensland. The place comprises a complex of sugar research buildings and experimental cane fields on two sites adjacent to the Bruce Highway and North Coast rail line. Surrounded by privately-owned cane fields, the two sites are separated on either side of the small rural Hall Road.
\nThe site layout is determined by the cyclical operations of the place, and the scientific process of creating new cane varieties. The Photoperiod Facility initiates cane flowering, which leads to the Crossing Facility where flowering cane is cross-pollinated, pollinated cane seed is raised in the Glasshouse, and mature cane may be returned to the Photoperiod House to continue the cycle. Aspects of the process are tested in the laboratories along the way.
\nFeatures of the place of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nFeatures of the place not of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nMain Complex
\nThe Main Complex comprises two linked research buildings (the Office and Laboratory Building, and the Office Building) and the Entomologist’s Residence arranged around a looped driveway, set on flat terrain amongst mature trees and lawn. To the rear (east) of this are two early agricultural buildings – the Glasshouse, and the Implement and Tractor Shed and Stables Building.
\n\n
Commemorative Stone (1957)
\nStanding near and facing the main entrance to the site from the highway is a Commemorative Stone, a granite boulder with plaque dedicated by the Queensland Cane Growers Association to the work of the Meringa SES.
\nFeatures of the Commemorative Stone of State-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nFeatures of the Commemorative Stone not of State-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nEntomologist’s Residence (1917)
\nStanding to the north and facing west to the highway is the Entomologist’s Residence. Highly intact, it is a highset, one-storey, timber-framed and -clad building comprising a central four-room core with short, central hall encircled by a wide verandah. A kitchen wing is attached to the rear verandah that has a laundry ‘washhouse’ enclosure in its understorey. The house has a fenced front yard and is surrounded by lawn and mature trees. Some of the verandah has been enclosed and some partitions in the kitchen wing have been removed. In 2022 it remains in use as a staff residence.
\nFeatures of the Entomologist’s Residence of State-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nFeatures of the Entomologist’s Residence not of State-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nOffice and Laboratory Building (1962)
\nFronting west directly onto the looped driveway is the Office and Laboratory Building. It is a one-storey, slab-on-ground, cavity brick building with a steel-framed, gable roof. The exterior walls are red face brick, and the roof is clad with pan-and-rib metal sheets. It has a T-shaped floor plan of two perpendicular wings (originally offices in the front and laboratory behind) separated by a breezeway. The building has had many of its windows and doors replaced to new designs and its interior has been modernised with the demolition of original partitions and insertion of new ones, and new linings throughout. The interior of the building is not of State-level cultural heritage significance. In 2022 it remains in use as an office and research laboratory for the station.
\nFeatures of the Office and Laboratory Building of State-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nFeatures of the Office and Laboratory Building not of State-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nOffice, Workshop, and Lecture Building (1969)
\nThe Office, Workshop, and Lecture Building stands to the south of the Office and Laboratory Building (1962). It faces north and comprises a two-storey concrete and brick building with former workshops and lecture theatre on the ground floor and former offices and library on the first floor. It includes a ground level, open-sided covered way extending north off its front entrance to meet the breezeway of the earlier Office and Laboratory Building. The building remains externally intact; however, its interior has been modernised with the demolition of original partitions and insertion of new ones, and new linings and uses throughout. Excluding the northern porch, the interior of the building is not of State-level cultural heritage significance. In 2022 it remains in use as an office building for the station.
\nFeatures of the Office, Workshop, and Lecture Building (1969) of State-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nFeatures of the Office, Workshop, and Lecture Building (1969) not of State-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nGlasshouse (1957)
\nThe Glasshouse stands to the east of the main complex. It comprises a one-storey, steel-framed, glazed structure supported on concrete half-height wall upstands and slab. It stands near other agricultural structures, none of which are of State-level cultural heritage significance. Minor changes have been made to the original fabric, including replacing the glazing with polycarbonate sheets. In 2022 it remains in use as a glasshouse.
\nFeatures of the Glasshouse of State-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nFeatures of the Glasshouse not of State-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nImplement and Tractor Shed and Stables Building (1935)
\nThe Implement and Tractor Shed and Stables Building stands east of the Glasshouse. It is a one-storey, timber-framed, slab-on-ground structure with a gable roof, and its walls and roof are clad with corrugated metal sheets. A short section of tram rails, used to move equipment and plants, runs along the north side of the building. There have been some alterations to the layout, including removing the horse stalls and replacing some doors and windows. Extensions have been made to its east and south sides, which are not of State-level cultural heritage significance. In 2022 it remains in use as an agricultural shed.
\nFeatures of the Implement and Tractor Shed and Stables Building of State-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nFeatures of the Implement and Tractor Shed and Stables Building not of State-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nPhotoperiod Facility (from 1986)
\nThe Photoperiod Facility is a complex of sugar cane research buildings (including three large Photoperiod Houses: 1986, c1998, and 2008) and cane growing plots standing on a flat area of open land north of the Main Complex, across a small creek that runs through the site. The use and work of the Photoperiod Facility is of State-level cultural heritage significance, but no physical fabric of the facility (buildings, structures, fields, etc) is of State-level cultural heritage significance.
\nCrossing Facility (from 1977)
\nThe Crossing Facility is a small group of sugar cane variety crossing sheds surrounded by thick vegetation, standing to the north of the Photoperiod Facility, north of Hall Road. The complex includes two large open-sided sheds used for cane variety crossing. The surrounding vegetation acts as a filter for windborne cane pollen from nearby fields, preventing it from contaminating the facility. The use and work of the Crossing Facility is of State-level cultural heritage significance, but no physical fabric of the facility (buildings, vegetation, etc) is of State-level cultural heritage significance.
","history":"Meringa Sugar Experiment Station (SES) was established near Meringa, south of Cairns, in 1917 and has made a strong contribution to the development of the Queensland sugar industry, first as an Entomological Station researching insect pests, and from the 1930s as a sugar cane breeding facility. One of a number of SES’s built in Queensland, Meringa was the most important. It became the regional centre of research for the Queensland Government’s Bureau of Sugar Experimental Stations (BSES, established 1900) in the fields of agronomy, entomology, and mill technology. Still in use as a sugar research facility in 2022, the place retains early buildings from its Entomological Station operations and from its later, expanded activities.
\nEstablishment of Meringa and Sugar Industry
\nMeringa is part of the traditional country of the Gimuy Walubara Yidinji people.[1] The area was first occupied by non-Indigenous people in the late 1870s, and the small locality of Meringa was subdivided into residential allotments (but not developed) in 1885 – by which time a Native Police camp had been established on the later site of Gordonvale, on the Mulgrave River about 2km to the southeast of Meringa.[2] A sugar mill, the Mulgrave Central Sugar Mill, was established on the Mulgrave River in 1896; the town of Nelson (later Gordonvale) was surveyed adjacent to the sugar mill that year, and the area developed as a sugar growing district.[3]
\nSugar was an early, profitable, and government-encouraged industry in Queensland, particularly in the north. Sugar was first crushed in commercial quantities in Queensland in the early 1860s, near Cleveland, east of Brisbane. In 1878 the Queensland Government began selling Far North Queensland land along the Bloomfield, Daintree, Mossman, Barron, Mulgrave, and Johnstone rivers. Land was secured by small farmers and larger companies, and by 1884 the sugar industry was established in the region.[4] Initially, Queensland’s sugar plantations were worked using South Sea Islander indentured labour, and sugar was processed at plantation mills; but legislation from the mid-1880s, along with later Commonwealth legislation, led to the abolition of indentured South Sea Islander labour by 1904. The Sugar Works Guarantee Act 1893 also provided government loans for central mills that, when paid off, were handed to the growers as cooperative mills. As a result of such developments, a system of large plantations with their own sugar mills and a South Sea Islander workforce was replaced, by the early 20th century, with a system of smaller sugar farms and central sugar mills.[5]
\nSugar continued to be important to Queensland’s economy. After Federation, the sugar industry was regarded as vital to Australia's economic priorities and as a means to occupy the north of Australia as part of the country’s defence strategy. From the 1910s, the Australian sugar industry became highly protected, regulated, and increasingly mechanised, receiving active support from both Queensland and Commonwealth governments through legislation. The number of small cane farms in Queensland grew from 359 in 1893 to 4,238 in 1911.[6] By the beginning of World War II, sugar was an important component of the Queensland economy, providing export earnings as Queensland's major crop and creating regional growth. As a proportion of primary production, sugar grew from less than 10% in 1910 to 18% in 1940.[7]
\nBy the 20th Century, research into cane disease resistance, farming techniques, and technological innovation was considered important and was supported by the Queensland Government, leading to the establishment of SESs where this work would occur. The world’s first SESs were established in 1885 in Louisiana, USA, and Java, Indonesia; followed by Hawaii, USA (1895), and Saint Kitts, West Indies (1899). Queensland's first SES was established in late 1900 at ‘The Lagoons', a State Nursery in Mackay.[8] By the 1890s sugar growers wanted government research into soils and new cane varieties, and a laboratory had been added at Mackay in 1898. The next year it was announced that the Mackay facility would become a SES. Walter Maxwell, Director of the Hawaii SES, was invited to Queensland, visiting in December 1899. He later accepted a job as Director of the BSES, starting in November 1900.[9]
\nThe BSES was established under The Sugar Experiment Stations Act 1900. Initially administered by Queensland's Department of Agriculture (later the Department of Agriculture and Stock), the BSES undertook research to assist growers and millers improve the breeding, planting, growing, harvesting, and milling of sugar cane. The work of the BSES was financed through a Sugar Fund, established by the 1900 Act.[10]
\nMaxwell, who headed the BSES until 1909, recommended a total of three SES be established in Queensland, but this did not occur immediately. Although a soils laboratory and director's headquarters operated in Bundaberg from August 1901 to 1910, an SES was not established in the area until a cane farm with two residences was acquired at East Bundaberg in 1913.[11] Prior to 1913, field experiments with sugar cane varieties were carried out at the Mackay SES. A third SES was established at South Johnstone (south of Innisfail) in 1917-18, located across the river from the sugar mill, and sugar cane was growing there by December 1919.[12]
\nEntomological research by the BSES began in 1911 with the appointment of the American Entomologist Alexandre Arsène Girault to work in Gordonvale (then still called Nelson) in a rented building. Alan Parkhurst Dodd was appointed assistant entomologist, and worked at Gordonvale, and later Meringa, between 1912 and 1921.[13] Girault was replaced by Edmund Jarvis in 1914. At that time the insect of most concern was the greyback cane grub, the larval stage of the native greyback cockchafer or cane beetle (Dermolepida albohirtum). Although the adult beetle ate cane leaves, the grub inflicted more damage by attacking the cane's roots.[14]
\nEstablishment of Meringa Entomological Station (1917)
\nTo further research into cane grubs, in 1916 the Department of Agriculture and Stock asked for 5 acres (2ha) of land near the Gordonvale State School for an Entomological Reserve for the BSES, but was instead offered 10 acres (4ha), thickly timbered and with good soil, of a large Camping Reserve on the east side of the North Coast Railway north of Meringa. This land was surveyed in June 1916 and gazetted a Reserve for Entomological Purposes in August 1916.[15]
\nTwo residences, a laboratory, and an insectary were constructed during 1917 on the southern half of the reserve.[16] The Entomologist's Residence was a two-bedroom house and included a dining room and drawing room on the south side; an encircling verandah; and a semi-detached kitchen and maid's room off the north end of the rear (east) verandah. There was also a bathroom in the northeast corner of the rear verandah, adjacent to the kitchen. A wash house was included under part of the kitchen. Around 1949, a toilet enclosure was added adjacent to the bathroom, on the northern verandah, and a doorway existed between the two bedrooms by this time.[17]
\nThe Entomologist’s Residence was first occupied by Dr James Franklin Illingworth, who replaced Jarvis as Entomologist in 1917. Illingworth began extensive field tests with lime, fertilizers, arsenic, and creosote as soil fumigants to see how they impacted on cane grub attacks. These experiments were not successful, but Illingworth did provide cane growers with advice on improved cultivation methods.[18]
\nThe Assistant Entomologist’s residence was located south of the Entomologist’s Residence, facing south.[19] The Entomological Laboratory, shown east of the Entomologist’s Residence in a 1916 site plan, consisted of four rooms, with a verandah to three sides, and a small laboratory enclosed at the end of one verandah.[20] By 1928, the laboratory building contained a museum, holding displays of various insect pests for the education of sugar farmers.[21] A 1935 photograph shows the buildings arranged around a large looped driveway, which entered the site from the highway to the west.[22]
\nEntomology was only one aspect of the BSES’s operations. In the late 1920s the BSES was split into four divisions: Soils and Agriculture, Pathology, Entomology, and Mill Technology. When the Pathology Division was formed, Queensland had a greater number of sugar cane diseases than any other cane-growing country.[23] By 1931 the BSES had three SESs (Mackay, Bundaberg, and South Johnstone); one entomological station (Meringa); two entomological laboratories (Mackay and Bundaberg); as well as administrative offices and laboratories in Brisbane.[24] In 1933 the Advisory Committee (later Advisory Board) of the BSES was established and its first meeting was held in 1935.[25]
\nExpansion for Cane Variety Research (1930s-)
\nAlthough Meringa SES began as an entomological station, it commenced research into cane varieties in the 1930s. The BSES transferred cane breeding from South Johnstone to Meringa from 1934, concentrating the BSES’s entomological, cane breeding and agricultural work in the north at Meringa.[26] In 1934 the BSES’s Divisions of Pathology and Entomology were combined.[27]
\nAfter South Johnstone closed, seedlings were raised at Meringa, Mackay, and Bundaberg, and glasshouses were built at all three stations in the 1930s. Cross-breeding, previously conducted at a farm at Freshwater from 1930 (all crossing being conducted there by 1935), was eventually transferred to Meringa, where 300 varieties were in cultivation by 1950.[28] Meringa was the headquarters for all the BSES’s cane breeding and became the centre for pathology, agronomy, and mill technology in the north. It was also the point of origin for all ‘Q’ cane varieties, which by 2013 comprised 98% of the sugar cane grown in Queensland.[29]
\nTo accommodate the cane breeding programme at Meringa, adjacent land was obtained. Land to the south was gazetted a Reserve for Experimental Farm on 27 August 1938. Two other reserves were added prior to 30 April 1953 (when all four of Meringa SES’s reserves were cancelled and replaced with a special lease).[30] Another block was obtained in 1959, east of the original station. After further acquisitions to the east and north, by 2014 Meringa SES covered 63 hectares.[31]
\nPrior to its official opening as an SES on 13 September 1935, by FW Bulcock, Queensland Minister for Agriculture and Stock, a burst of construction occurred at Meringa. This included building an Implement and Tractor Shed and Stables Building, which accommodated a large implement and tractor shed, fertiliser store and mixing room, and stables with four horse stalls and a feed and harness room. Also built at this time was a large timber-framed glasshouse, and a four-bedroom cottage on the block to the south (removed from site in 2003). The 1917 Assistant Entomologist’s residence was converted into a soils laboratory with a museum and library.[32]
\nCombatting the Cane Grub
\nAt this time, a special enclosure for cane toads was being used at Meringa SES. Around 100 toads (Rhinella marina) were brought from Hawaii to Meringa, arriving June 1935, escorted by Assistant Entomologist R W Mungomery. It was hoped that they would eat cane beetles (even though Mungomery wrote in 1933 that the beetles did not spend enough time on the ground for the toads to be effective).[33] After being bred in the special enclosure, 2400 toads were released at sites around Gordonvale in August 1935.[34] The retired New South Wales Government Entomologist Walter Froggatt opposed the toad releases, and successfully lobbied the Commonwealth Department of Health to ban them in November 1935. In January 1936 Froggatt wrote ‘[t]his giant toad, immune from enemies, omnivorous in its habits, and breeding all year round, may become as great a pest as the rabbit or cactus’.[35] However, Minister Bulcock soon persuaded Queensland’s Premier William Forgan Smith to recommend to Prime Minister Joseph Lyons that the ban be overturned, and the releases continued from September 1936, creating a significant ecological hazard while also failing to control cane beetles.[36]
\nWhile Meringa SES was introducing the cane toad to Australia, in 1935 the Mackay SES moved to a better site, on the Peak Downs Highway at Te Kowai.[37] A fourth SES was officially opened west of Ayr in 1954, on 90 acres (36.4 hectares) of land purchased in 1948.[38] A fifth SES was built at Tully in the mid-1970s. The BSES also operated a Pathology farm at Eight Mile Plains from c1952 to 2001, after which it was relocated to Woodford.
\nAlthough the number of SESs increased, Meringa remained the most important. During the 1940s and 1950s, annual farmers’ field days were held at Meringa, where by this time all cross pollination for Queensland was carried out.[39] Experiments on greyback cane grubs with insecticide benzene hexachloride (BHC), also known as ‘gammexane’, began at Meringa in 1945 — and this was then allowed for use by farmers from 1947.[40] In 1957 a granite boulder with plaque was installed at the entrance to Meringa SES, within the island of the looped driveway. It was dedicated by the Queensland Cane Growers Association for: ‘the major service performed by the Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations to the cane growers of Queensland in initiating and carrying to fruition the research which led to the successful control of the cane grub the industry’s worst pest’. However, due to its danger to human health and the environment, the use of BHC in Australian agriculture ended in the 1980s.
\nAutonomy and Formation of the Sugar Experiment Station Board (1940s-50s)
\nSugar producers harboured concerns about the lack of autonomy of the BSES from the Queensland Government, and in the late 1940s made moves to rectify this. The Sugar Producers’ Association formed a committee to draft the constitution for a new sugar industry-funded and -controlled research institute, resulting in the formation of the private company Sugar Research Limited, incorporated 22 February 1949. Its inaugural board first met in March 1949 and decided to establish a Sugar Research Institute [QHR 602642] in Mackay. The institute, a complex accommodating offices, laboratories, workshops and the company’s administrative headquarters, was opened 22 August 1953 by the Federal Treasurer, Sir Arthur Fadden.[41]
\nWhile this was occurring, the Queensland Government took steps to separate the BSES from the public service. In 1951 the SES Advisory Board was replaced by the SES Board, a statutory corporation (body corporate created by statute) set up to administer the BSES. Its four board members were Queensland’s Minister for Primary Industries, the Under Secretary for Agriculture and Stock, a growers’ representative, and a manufacturers’ representative. All BSES property was transferred to the board.[42]
\nBuilding Expansion, Peak Staff Numbers (1960s)
\nConstruction continued at Meringa in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1956 the glasshouse was destroyed by Cyclone Agnes and was replaced in 1957 with a new Glasshouse, constructed just to its east.[43] In 1955 the original laboratory, which had been used as a residence for the previous 20 years, was remodelled as a plant breeding laboratory.[44] It was later removed from the site by 1983.[45] By 1957 a crossing facility building (not the buildings extant in 2022) existed on the northern portion of Meringa SES (across Hall Road).[46]
\nFurther infrastructure was required at Meringa to accommodate its increasing staff as plant breeding activities expanded and Meringa became the regional centre for research in the fields of agronomy, entomology, and mill technology. In response, in 1962 a new one-storey brick Office and Laboratory Building was constructed southeast of the 1917 residence, to accommodate plant breeders, entomologists, and a mill technologist. It included offices and a large laboratory. This new building was constructed on the looped driveway, blocking the eastern side of it.[47]
\nIn 1969 a two-storey brick Office, Workshop, and Lecture Building (1969) was constructed to the south of the 1962 Office and Laboratory Building, on the site of the former Assistant Entomologist’s residence, which was sold for removal.[48] At this time, staff numbers were at a peak, comprising 20 officers and six field labourers. The 1969 Office Building included a soil grinding room, a lecture theatre, dark room, and workshops for plant breeding, agronomy, and entomology on the ground floor and offices for a Mill Technologist, Pathologist, Agronomist, and Technical and Field Assistants, as well as a library, on the first floor.
\nBy 1979, the looped driveway had been reformed to allow the roadway to pass in front of the new office buildings and it was finished with bitumen.[49]
\nCrossing Facility (from 1977) and Photoperiod Facility (from 1986)
\nBy 1973, cane varieties bred by BSES made up 61% of all varieties grown in Queensland.[50] In 1977-80, a new Crossing Facility was constructed on the northern portion of the site (across Hall Road).[51] It comprised large sheds surrounded by dense vegetation, which acted as a filter for windborne pollen from the surrounding cane fields. Inside the sheds, which functioned as agricultural laboratories, fabric ‘lanterns’ were hung from the ceiling and were lowered over flowering cane to provide a closed environment for cross-pollinating to create new varieties of cane.[52]
\nIn 1986, the first of three photoperiod houses was built, which was duplicated in 1998 and 2008, forming a Photoperiod Facility to the north of the earlier buildings.[53] A major technological advancement, the photoperiod houses were large sheds that created an environment to artificially initiate cane flowering.[54] They included tram rails extending out of the shed for trolleys holding trays of growing cane, which were moved in and out of the shed. The interior environment was created and controlled through mechanical and electrical services to simulate different optimal conditions for flowering. In 2009, a seed storage freezer room was built to the east of the photoperiod houses, and in 2012 a juice shed was built east of the freezer room.
\nThese two facilities were designed to be practical workspaces, raising cane plants under scientific conditions, critical to the station’s operations. The facilities have been adapted and modernised over time to remain world-class agricultural laboratories.
\nAn Industry-owned Operation (2003-)
\nIn 2003, BSES Limited, an industry-owned company, replaced the BSES, taking over its assets and activities. In mid-2013 the assets and activities of BSES Limited were combined with those of the Sugar Research and Development Corporation (SRDC) and the milling research activities of Sugar Research Limited (SRL) to form Sugar Research Australia (SRA), a single-entity research management and research company formed to address national research, development, and experimentation priorities.
\nHeadquartered in Indooroopilly, the SRA then controlled the SESs at Meringa, Tully, Ingham (established post 1975), Brandon (Ayr), Te Kowai (Mackay), and Kalkie (Bundaberg East), and a Pathology Farm at Woodford.[55]
\nSome alterations have occurred to Meringa SES over time. In c2015, the Office and Laboratory Building (1962) and Office, Workshop, and Lecture Building (1969) were renovated, involving primarily internal changes. This included removing partitions, installing new partitions, and replacing windows.
\nIn 2022, Meringa SES continues to operate from the site. It is the major plant breeding station for the Australian sugar industry and the only location where field crosses of sugar cane varieties are made.[56] During its operation, several scientists whose work has been of importance to the Queensland sugar industry have been associated with the place. These include Edmund Jarvis (1869-1935, entomologist), James Franklin Illingworth (American entomologist), Edwin James Reuben Barke (cane breeder), Reginald William Mungomery (1901-1972, entomologist), James Hardie Buzacott (1902-1984, plant breeder), Gilbert Bates (entomologist), George Wilson (entomologist), and Alan Parkhurst Dodd (entomologist).[57] The sugar industry continues to be important to Queensland’s economy, generating $3.8 billion in economic activity in 2020-21, with around 3700 Queenslanders directly employed in sugar manufacturing.[58]
","criteria":"Meringa Sugar Experiment Station (SES), established in 1917 as the first and only entomological station of the Queensland Government's Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations, is important in demonstrating the Queensland Government's efforts to support the state’s sugar industry, an important part of Queensland’s economy since the 1860s.
\nThe surviving buildings from each phase of the Meringa SES’s development represent the evolution of the purpose of the facility, and the sugar industry’s priorities, over more than 100 years. The Entomologist's Residence (1917) is important evidence of the facility’s initial use as an entomological station; the Implement and Tractor Shed and Stables Building (1935), and the Glasshouse (1957) are products of the station’s expansion into cane variety research from the mid-1930s; while the Office and Laboratory Building (1962), and the Office, Workshop, and Lecture Building (1969) are evidence of the increasingly scientific operations of the facility from the 1960s. The Crossing Facility (current buildings from 1977), and Photoperiod Facility (from 1986) are important functions on the site that reflect more recent technological advancements in its plant breeding program.
\nThe Meringa SES is also the site of important scientific achievements and events in sugar cane agriculture, including breeding new cane varieties that became ubiquitous in Queensland; testing insecticides to control cane pests that became standard practice; and the introduction of cane toads into Queensland.
|Meringa SES is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a sugar experiment station in Queensland that has evolved over time. These include residential, office, and laboratory buildings; a glasshouse; implement and tractor shed and stables building; land for experimental crops; and other structures associated with breeding sugar cane, such as crossing and photoperiod facilities.
|Meringa SES has a long and special association (since 1917) with Queensland's Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations (BSES), and with the work of its notable research scientists, including Edmund Jarvis, James Franklin Illingworth, Edwin James Reuben Barke, Reginald William Mungomery, James Hardie Buzacott, Gilbert Bates, George Wilson, and Alan Parkhurst Dodd. Since 1900, the BSES has played a crucial role in the development of the Queensland and Australian sugar industry. Sugar Research Australia, formed in 2013, incorporates Queensland's BSES and continues this important association, with Meringa SES now the major breeding station for the whole Australian sugar industry.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | 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 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":35078,"place_ref":602833,"name":"Hydrographic Survey Bench Mark, 1878, Bessie Point","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Bessie Point, off Pine Creek-Yarrabah Road","suburb":"EAST TRINITY","lga":"CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2014-05-09","description":"Bessie Point is located on the southeast side of Trinity Bay, east of Cairns, and is reached by the Pine Creek-Yarrabah Road. The road runs north alongside Rolling Bay before turning sharply to the southeast at Bessie Point.
The split granite boulder on which the bench mark broad arrow is chiselled stands just to the Rolling Bay (west) side of Bessie Point, at the top of the beach, close to the road. The boulder, which lies in the intertidal zone, is roughly 3 metres in diameter and about 2 metres high. The upright broad arrow is chiselled in the upper half of the northwest face of the boulder. The arrow, which is above the average inundation level, is approximately 50cm tall and 70cm wide.
","history":"A broad arrow bench mark, or datum mark, is chiselled into a large granite boulder on the Rolling Bay (west) side of Bessie Point, located on the east side of Trinity Bay. The arrow was cut in early February 1878 during a hydrographic survey of Cairns Harbour by Navigating Lieutenant Edward Richard Connor, Royal Navy (RN). The bench mark, used to indicate the datum (low water ordinary spring tides) from which the depth of water in the harbour was calculated, is surviving physical evidence of 19th century efforts to survey the Queensland coastline to assist marine navigation, and of the development of Cairns as a port.
\nWhen the Hodgkinson goldfield was discovered in 1876, Trinity Bay was chosen as its port - since Cooktown, established in 1873 as the port for the Palmer River goldfield, was too far north. The first settlers arrived in Trinity Bay in October 1876 and Cairns became a port of entry on 1 November 1876. The town of Smithfield, surveyed in late 1876 on the north bank of the Barron River,[1] was an early rival to Cairns, but it was largely abandoned after heavy flood damage in 1877.
\nThe founding of Port Douglas in 1877 almost stifled Cairns, as Port Douglas provided an easier access route to the Hodgkinson. When tin was discovered on the Wild River in 1880, the road from Port Douglas to Herberton was also preferred to the pack tracks from Cairns. However, Cairns salvaged its economy after a heavy wet season in early 1882 closed the road from Port Douglas, resulting in calls for a railway from Herberton to the coast. On 10 September 1884 the government announced Cairns as the preferred terminus for the railway, over rivals Port Douglas and Mourilyan; Cairns' future as the main settlement and port for Far North Queensland was assured.
\nAlthough ships delivered freight and passengers to Cairns from October 1876 and the town was surveyed the same year, the harbour was not surveyed for shipping until 1878. Until then, buoys were used to guide ships from the Fairway buoy (marking the channel entrance) through the channel towards Trinity Inlet, with a lantern on shore serving as a leading light at night.[2]
\nMarine, or hydrographic, surveying involves mapping the seabed and coastal features to enable safe navigation. It developed as a highly specialised branch of surveying in 19th century Britain. A triangulation network was established over the area to be surveyed, from the mainland to the sea or adjacent islands, with control points on coastal hills or headlands. ‘Coast liner' parties then conducted a land survey of coastal features; recorded high and low water lines; and took soundings to determine the depth and composition of the seabed.[3]
\nWhile the ‘mother' survey ship would take soundings in deep water, ‘chicks' (smaller boats, initially rowed and later steam powered) would run lines of soundings from the shore to deep water, using a lead line. Sounding positions were fixed by reading sextant angles between the three nearest control points, and were then plotted on a field chart. Soundings were taken at all stages of the tide, and were later corrected for the height of the tide to reduce them to a common datum (a quantity or set of quantities that serve as a reference or basis for calculation of other quantities). On completion of a survey, the tides and datum were related to a permanent bench mark for use in future surveys. [4]
\nA bench mark is a point, at a known elevation above or below an adopted datum, marked on a durable object. Bench marks such as an upward-pointing broad arrow symbol (used to denote a government survey from 1852)[5] could be chiselled on a rock - as was the case at Bessie Point. Alternatively, metal disks could be attached to a rock, or to a concrete block. Often a horizontal line was cut, balanced on the point of the arrow, although only an arrow was cut at Bessie Point. Other examples of broad arrow bench marks cut into rocks exist at Bowen (1887), and at Princess Charlotte Bay in the Flinders group of islands (1899, by HMS Dart). In the case of the Bessie Point 1878 bench mark, which is cut into the largest boulder on the shoreline, the datum was low water ordinary spring tides, calculated as being 12 feet (3.66m) below the broad arrow.[6] All water depths (in feet) on the map of Cairns Harbour made in 1878 thus represented the depth available at low water ordinary spring tides, that water level being 12 feet below the bench mark. The tidal range for spring tides in the bay was 8-10 feet (2.4-3m).
\nThe survey of Cairns Harbour in 1878 was part of an ongoing process of surveying the Queensland coastline and its harbours and rivers. In 1770 Captain James Cook in HM Bark Endeavour was the first British navigator to chart the coast of what is now Queensland, and he visited and named Trinity Bay. Admiralty surveys commenced after the establishment of the British Admiralty Hydrographic Office in 1795. Queensland's waters were charted and surveyed by navigators including Matthew Flinders (1799 in the schooner Norfolk; 1802 in HMS Investigator); Lieutenant Charles Jeffreys (1816-17 in HM Brig Kangaroo); Lieutenant Phillip Parker King (1819-21, HM Cutter Mermaid and HMS Bathurst); Lieutenant John Oxley (1823, HM Cutter Mermaid); Captain Henry J Rous (1827, HMS Rainbow); John Clements Wickham (1839, HMS Beagle); John Lort Stokes (1841, HMS Beagle); Captain FP Blackwood and Lieutenant CB Yule (1843-45, HMS Fly and HM Cutter Bramble); Captain Owen Stanley (1847-48, HMS Rattlesnake); and Captain HM Denham (1858-61, HMS Herald).[7]
\nAfter Queensland's separation from New South Wales in 1859, more accurate charts were required as the new colony developed its ports. Coastal shipping was of vital importance to Queensland's economy prior to World War II, given the size of the state, the lack of all-weather roads, and delays in completing the coastal rail link from Brisbane to Cairns. In 1860-61 Queensland entered into an agreement with the British Admiralty to split the annual costs of hydrographic surveying (then about £3000 per annum). The Admiralty would provide staff and instruments and publish charts, while the Queensland Government would provide the lodging, subsistence and ‘means of locomotion' for staff.[8] The focus was on charting a safe shipping route along the Queensland coast, but the Admiralty surveyors could also assist the Queensland Government with its river and harbour surveys.[9] In 1861 Lieutenant (later Commander) George Poynter Heath, RN, was appointed as marine surveyor to Queensland's Surveyor-General's Department, and in his first year he surveyed the Maroochy and Mooloolah rivers in the Spitfire. In 1862 he was appointed Portmaster and Marine Surveyor of Queensland.[10]
\nThat same year Master James Jeffery was appointed as Queensland's first Admiralty Surveyor. He hired a local vessel to survey the Great Sandy Strait, Hervey Bay, and the mouth of the Mary River, but soon persuaded the Queensland Government to have a surveying schooner constructed. HMS Pearl, a 60 foot 6 inch (18.44m) vessel built in Sydney by Mr Chowne of Pyrmont, came into service in October 1863. It was later lengthened by 4.27m in 1868.[11] HMS Pearl was rigged as a fore and aft schooner, was of 70 tons burden with a light draught (for use in shallow waters), and left Brisbane to complete a survey of Hervey Bay in late October 1863.[12] Between 1864 and 1866 Jeffery surveyed Moreton Bay, Keppel Bay, and the outer route to Point Danger.[13]
\nJeffery was replaced in 1866 by Master (Staff-Commander from 1870) Edward Parker Bedwell, who had joined the RN in the late 1840s and the surveying service in 1857. Bedwell was posted to Australia as chief assistant to the NSW hydrographic survey in 1864, later taking charge of the Queensland survey.[14] Bedwell continued the survey of Moreton Bay until the beginning of 1868; and from then to 1879 he surveyed the coast between Danger Point and the north end of the Cumberland Islands (near Mackay); the Brisbane, Mary, Burnett and Fitzroy Rivers to their principal townships; plus Port Curtis and Bowen. The coastal survey from Capes Townshend and Palmerston to the Percy Islands (between Rockhampton and Mackay) took four years. Bedwell was assisted by Navigating Lieutenant EHS Bray from 1867-1870; Navigating Sub-Lieutenant (Navigating Lieutenant from 1872) Edward Richard Connor from HMS Clio from late 1870 to the end of 1878; and Navigating Lieutenant Haslewood for part of 1879.[15] Navigating Sub-Lieutenant A Leeper also assisted from November 1877.[16]
\nEdward Connor joined the RN in 1861 as a Master's Assistant. From 1864 he was in the hydrographic service, working in the Mediterranean, the English Channel, the Straits of Magellan, and Queensland waters. Connor served on HMS Nassau from 1866 to 1869, and was severely wounded in an engagement with the indigenous people of Tierra del Fuego in 1867. After leaving the Admiralty survey at the end of 1878, Connor appears to have returned to England c.1880 and he also spent two years with the Royal Chartered British North Borneo Company, in command of the Governor's armed yacht, before returning to Australia in the mid-1880s, where he joined the NSW Naval Brigade as a Lieutenant. In August 1900, as a Commander, he was sent to China during the Boxer Rebellion, in command of the NSW Naval Brigade. He was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG), gazetted 25 July 1901, retired as a Captain in 1902 and died at home in Sydney on 2 January 1903, aged 56.[17]
\nIn January 1878 Connor travelled from Brisbane to Cairns on the SS Victoria, arriving the evening of 31 January. He commenced work the next day (what vessel he used is not detailed), completing the survey of Cairns Harbour in fine weather by 9 February. He then travelled to survey Port Douglas on the SS Dugong, and returned to Brisbane on the SS Elamang on 22 February. He reported to the Colonial Treasurer, in a letter dated 24 March 1878, that Cairns Harbour, at the extreme south end of Trinity Bay, had an anchorage sheltered from ‘east by south to west'.[18] Three channels existed from the anchorage into the port, the east channel being the most direct, and at least 6 inches deeper than the other two. He noted that the ‘shoalest' water (7 feet 6 inches [2.29m] at low water springs) was found from one to two miles inside the Fairway buoy. The water then deepened gradually until there was over 30 feet (9.14m) just off the wharves (on the west side of the mouth of Trinity Inlet). He added that he had left well defined datum marks at both Cairns and Port Douglas. His report included a map of Cairns Harbour, scaled at 4 inches to the nautical mile, which indicated soundings in feet, reduced to low water ordinary spring tides. The datum mark at Bessie Point was indicated on the map as being ‘12 feet above low water ordinary Sp[ring tides]', and near the map's title it was stated that the datum mark was ‘on top of the largest boulder on Bessie Point'.[19]
\nAlthough Trinity Inlet provided a safe harbour, continuous dredging of a channel through the bar was required for larger vessels to reach the inlet, and the depths required were calculated from the datum indicated by the bench mark at Bessie Point. For example, in 1890 the bar was dredged to provide 13 feet (3.96m) depth of water in a 200 foot (60.96m) wide channel at low water ordinary spring tides, but by 1894 part of the channel had re-silted to a depth of 8 feet 6 inches (2.59m). Later the bar cutting was dredged to 15 feet (4.57m) in 1902, only to re-silt to 12 feet (3.66m) by 1905. The Cairns Harbour Board took over the port in 1906, and concrete wharves were commenced in 1910. By 1915 a 19 foot (5.79m) deep entrance channel had been dredged, and the bar cutting was 5.5 miles (8.85km) long.[20] The spoil from dredging was used for land reclamation on shore.
\nAs well as surveying Cairns harbour in 1878, and accompanying Bedwell on his missions, Connor also spent time surveying the coast of New Guinea, the Brisbane River and Cook Harbour (1873), and the Gulf of Carpentaria (1875).[21] In 1877, while surveying Broadsound in command of HMS Pearl, Connor had a severe attack of ‘acute rheumatism', and had to be let off at Mackay.[22]
\nDuring Connor's time with the Queensland survey the 39 foot (11.89m) steam launch Sabina was built in 1872 to assist HMS Pearl, and in 1878 the 195 ton screw steamer Llewellyn was chartered to replace the Pearl. The surveying staff transferred from the Pearl to the Llewellyn in July 1878.[23] Bedwell reported that the steamer could cover much more ground in less time than the schooner.[24] Other survey ships that operated in Queensland during the 1860s and 1870s included HMS Salamander, HMS Virago and HMS Basilisk.[25]
\nBy end of 1879 the Admiralty survey had reached Cape Conway north of Mackay, but Queensland decided to withdraw from the Admiralty agreement for financial reasons. Total expenditure on the Admiralty survey in 1879 was £7961 (the increase being due to the use of the Llewellyn) of which the British government only contributed £2500.[26] However, the Pearl continued survey work for the Queensland Government, under Captain CE Pennefather, surveying ports and rivers in the Gulf of Carpentaria in the early 1880s.
\nDespite the withdrawal of the Queensland Government from the project, the British Admiralty continued its own surveying of Queensland waters, and the ships involved included HMS Alert from 1881, and HMS Dart from 1883. The agreement with Queensland was renewed in 1885, although this time the Admiralty accepted the larger share of costs, and the new Queensland gunboat HMS Paluma was lent to the Admiralty for survey work, charting the coast north of Bowen. This agreement expired on 31 March 1895, but co-operation between Queensland and the Admiralty continued, as a bill was introduced in the Queensland Parliament in late 1894 to continue funding the Admiralty survey (while using a British ship) at a rate of £3270 per year, for six years from 1 April 1895.[27]
\nIn the late 1880s HMS Myrmidon assisted with surveying the Great Barrier Reef, and in 1897 HMS Waterwitch joined northern surveying operations. During surveys Admiralty crews planted edible plants, and released pigs and goats on islands for shipwreck survivors. After Australian Federation in 1901 the Admiralty continued to work off Queensland into the 1920s, using the HMS Dart, HMS Penguin, and HMS Fantome. The Hydrographic Branch of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) was formed in 1920, and Australia's first naval survey vessel, HMAS Geranium, began surveying the Great Barrier Reef in 1924.[28]
\nBy the 1920s the use of Cairns Harbour was changing. The completion of the railway from Brisbane to Cairns in 1924 resulted in a decline of passenger ships travelling from the south. However, the port continued to export the produce of Far North Queensland, and was used as a naval base by the RAN and US Navy during World War II. Today the port of Cairns is mainly a cruise ship destination and fishing fleet base, although it still exports and imports goods, and continues to be used by the RAN.
","criteria":"The Hydrographic Survey Bench Mark at Bessie Point demonstrates the main characteristics of Admiralty survey marks; a broad arrow chiselled above inundation level into a large durable object.
|The Hydrographic Survey Bench Mark at Bessie Point (1878) is important surviving evidence of the work of the Admiralty survey of Queensland's coastal waters, harbours and rivers, from 1862 to the 1920s. This survey was essential for safe shipping navigation and the economic development of Queensland.
The establishment of a bench mark at Bessie Point was an important part of the development of Cairns as the main port for Far North Queensland. A survey of Cairns Harbour, including Trinity Bay and Trinity Inlet, was necessary for safe navigation and for development of the harbour.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion D | Criterion A","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"} ]}