The Klondyke Coke Ovens are located at North Ipswich. Access is most easily gained via the corner of W.M. Hughes and Musgrave Streets, walking down the hill and then following the pathway around to the right for approximately 200 metres. The path splits in two, with the left (upper) fork going to the ovens and the right (lower) fork going past the brick retaining wall.
The ovens are built into the hillside above Mihi Creek and north of the nearby Ipswich Railway Workshop area. The ovens form a large earthen covered mound of approximately 23 metres in length, 6 metres in width and 2 to 3 metres in height. The mound is heavily covered with vegetation and leaf litter. It is difficult to identify from a distance and the ovens are not visible until in close proximity.
There are twelve ovens arranged in two rows, six ovens in each row back to back. They have a domed shaped appearance. They are 3.45 metres in diameter and 1.65 metres in height. The ovens are constructed of brick and have individual flues. They exhibit various degrees of collapse with two ovens being completely caved in. The ovens have been subject to vandalism such as removal of bricks to form fireplaces and graffiti is evident.
The rubble used to fill between the ovens is visible in some sections and consists of a combination of bricks and various sized rocks.
On the downslope side, towards Mihi Creek, a brick wall of approximately 5 metres in length and between 2 to 3 metres in height, marks a drop from the mound containing the ovens down to a levelled area. The wall has been subjected to heavy graffiti.
Brick debris, coal and coke is strewn around the site as are metal remnants of machinery such as skips, railway lines, crushing machinery, trammel screens, conveyor buckets and trolley parts.
Bricks used to construct the ovens are imprinted with a large 'R' in the centre of the otherwise flat, face of the brick.
","history":"The Klondyke Coke Ovens were part of the Klondyke Colliery located at North Ipswich and were built in the 1940s. Coke production at Klondyke originally commenced in the 1880s. The site had two widely separated periods of coke production and several changes of ownership and names. Its last change of ownership and name occurred in 1948 when the pit had only a small area left to be worked and production ceased in the early 1950s. The site has been lying unused for many years and the coke ovens are overgrown with vegetation.
The discovery of coal in Queensland dates from 1825 when outcrops were observed by Major Edmund Lockyer on the banks of the upper Brisbane River. Two years later, when Ipswich was settled as a convict outstation, known as Limestone, the presence of coal was noted between the convict settlement and Brisbane by Captain Patrick Logan. The following year, explorer Allan Cunningham also marked several outcrops on the Bremer River on his survey map for Governor Darling.
Coal was one of the first minerals in Queensland to be commercially mined. Mining originally commenced at Goodna in 1843 with the West Moreton Coalfield at Ipswich following in the early 1850s. Development of the coal mining industry in Queensland was slow and the quality could not match the quality of coal being produced at Newcastle for use by coastal steamers. However, as coal was required for transport and industrial use, there was remarkable growth of mining to the north and east of the town from the mid-1870s onwards. A symbiotic relationship developed between Queensland Government Railways and the coal industry. Queensland Railways was the coal industry's largest customer since coal supplies were essential to the functioning of the rail network. At the same time rail transport was essential to the viability of coalmines as a coal mine could not survive commercially unless it was directly linked to the rail network. Therefore in Queensland, development of the coal industry was closely linked to the growth of the rail network.
A by product of coal mining was the production of coke. The production of coke was usually regarded as a somewhat unimportant side industry to the actual mining of coal. Unlike coal mining, it was not regulated by legislation and as such no systematic records were kept of the early coke production industry in Queensland. Coke is used as both a fuel and as a reducing agent in smelting iron ore and is produced from baking bituminous coal in ovens at temperatures as high as 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The coke ovens erected on the West Moreton Coalfield were exclusively of the beehive type, so called because of their domed appearance. Beehive coke ovens consisted of a brick dome with a small circular opening (an exit flue) at the apex, and a larger arched opening at one side to permit charging and drawing. They were usually constructed in double rows known as batteries. The space between ovens was usually filled with rubble and earth to provide insulation and the whole battery surrounded by a stone retaining wall to resist the outward thrust of the brick domes. The Klondyke ovens had a capacity of four to five tons.
Coke ovens were charged and emptied in a set pattern. Coal was shovelled into an empty oven to a height of approximately 0.6 metres and ignited. The door was bricked up or closed with an iron plate and plastered with a small hole left for the temporary admission of air. The upper layer of the coal burnt and initiated the distillation of volatile material from the ovens as they met the air supply drawn in through the top of the charging door. The dome was heated to a high temperature and assisted in carbonizing the charge by radiating its heat to the coal. The operation of the distillation and immediate combustion proceeded until the whole of the volatile matter in the coal had been evolved, which took about three days. The coke was then cooled by inserting a water sprinkler through the air hole in the door and was withdrawn manually with rakes. Almost two tonnes of coal was required to produce one tonne of coke.
Using beehive coke ovens for coke production was a common practice for many years. However, advances in coke production technology meant beehive coke ovens technology was outdated by the early 1900s. Despite this, beehive coke ovens continued to be built in the Ipswich coal fields well into the mid twentieth century. There are a number of possible reasons as to why this may have been the case. The more advanced technology enabled the use of coke production by-products but was a more expensive production option. It is possible that the simpler and more economical technology of the beehive style oven was sufficient for production needs on the Ipswich fields. The material and labour shortages bought about by the Second World War may also have been another factor in choosing to remain with beehive technology, they were cheap to build, bricks could be obtained to construct them and they did not require a large labour force to work them. A third possibility is that the coal pit did not have a long enough supply of coal left in it to warrant investing in expensive coke production methods.
The Klondyke Colliery was one of a number of collieries within the West Moreton Coalfield at Ipswich and was one of the longest running. Originally part of the Chuwar field, the first mine on the site, in 1871, was known as Eastwood mine after its owner, John Eastwood. The Eastwood mine was worked until 1877 and then, due to the owner's interest in other mines, laid idle for several years until it was sold to Brydon, Jones & Company in 1884, who renamed the site Mihi mine after the nearby Mihi Creek. It was at this time that the first battery of coke ovens were constructed on what would become the Klondyke Colliery site. The battery was built on the hillside above Mihi Creek and remained in use until 1891 when attention was diverted a new coal development. It was 1908 before the site was mined again, this time by Paul Francis. In 1923 Francis sold the site to a partnership of miners and a barrister who created and floated the company, Klondyke Collieries Limited.
As Klondyke Collieries Limited, coke production at the site flourished. Although it is not known exactly when coke production recommenced at the site, records state in 1942 several new coke ovens were constructed at Klondyke to meet the increased demand for coke for smelting purposes. Records show in 1945 and 1946, Klondyke and Bowen in northern Queensland were the only coke producers in Queensland with Klondyke turning out approximately a sixth of Queensland's coke production. In 1948 the site changed hands again and was renamed Moreton colliery and worked until the early 1950s which was when the pit's supply was exhausted. After the closure of the site, coke production was taken over by the nearby Haighmoor site which remained in production for a further 15 years as Queensland's only cokeworks other than Bowen.
The bricks used to construct the ovens are imprinted with a trademark 'R' and appear to have come from the local brickworks, Rylance Colliery. Rylance Colliery was established in the 1880s and in 1931 expanded to include a brickworks. The company was sold in 1985 and is now known as Claypave.
The land the ovens stand on is now owned by the Department of Natural Resources and Mines. Since production at Klondyke ceased in the early 1950s, the ovens have fallen into a state of disrepair, becoming overgrown with vegetation and subject to vandalism.
","criteria":"The Klondyke Coke Ovens are a good representation of the coke production industry in Queensland. They were one of only two collieries producing coke in Queensland during the 1940s. They are important in demonstrating the development of Queensland's coal mining industry and its role in the evolution of Queensland's history.
|As an industrial archaeological site and a relatively intact example of its type, the Klondyke Coke Ovens have the potential to yield information that will contribute to a greater understanding of Queensland's industrial history and will aid in comparative analysis of similar places.
|The Klondyke Coke Ovens are typical, in scale and type, of coking ovens that were common in the 19th century to the mid 20th century. They exhibit the principal characteristics of beehive coke ovens being dome shaped with individual flues and built in a row in a back-to-back pattern.
|The relatively intact Klondyke Coke Ovens represent a process of coke manufacture in Queensland that was once common but has since been superseded by new technology and is now uncommon.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion C | Criterion D | Criterion B","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":121,"place_ref":602572,"name":"Queensland Woollen Manufacturing Company Ltd (former)","alternate_name":"Boral Hancock Plywood | Australian Fabric Manufacturers Ltd","street_address":"42 and 42B The Terrace","suburb":"NORTH IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2008-09-19","description":"The buildings are situated above the northern bank of the Bremer River within a large industrial area that follows the river down a slight hill. Called "the Top Mill" by the current occupiers, the former buildings of The Queensland Woollen Manufacturing Company are situated on the highest part of the industrial area.
The mill is a large, high walled, rectangular brick building with several extensions and subsidiary buildings added, adjoining the main building.
The main entrance to the mill lies to the north west, and is accessible from the corner of Lamington Parade and The Terrace. The wrought iron entrance gates display The Queensland Woollen Manufacturing Company insignia. The brick wall adjacent to The Terrace has been painted and is a substantial feature in the streetscape of this small industrial area.
To the left of entrance is the main mill building. This structure is a large rectangular building constructed of light red common bricks laid in English bond. It has a sawtooth roof of sixteen sections. On the western side of the main mill building the wall is exposed and four inlaid brick features in cream brick made to resemble arched windows.
Two smaller, single story, brick extensions have been added to the west wall of the main mill, and lead into the main building internally. These buildings have corrugated iron roofs and clerestory windows. These two buildings are aligned north-south, in contrast to the rest of the factory that is east-west.
There is evidence of the demolished brick chimney on the south east corner of the mill. There is a remaining furnace at the base of the chimney; this has been bricked up and is inaccessible due to the storage of plywood surrounding it. There are concrete blocks on which machinery was mounted outside of the steam room. The brick exterior walls contain rows of large sash windows. On the eastern wall these windows have been built approximately three meters off the ground. They now contain glass louvers. On the north and south walls the windows are placed closer to the ground, approximately one meter from the ground; these windows were once timber framed sash windows but are now either louvers or have been bordered up by timber panels.
The interior of the factory is made up of a large open area with several smaller rooms leading from it. The walls throughout are painted brick. Internally, the spaces lead into one another.
The main part of the mill is a large open hall, formerly housing machinery. Timber trusses support the roof, which is unlined. In places the timber beams have been replaced by steel. The floor is concrete.
In the south east corner room a boiler and industrial steam engine were once housed here and were used to power the factory's machines. The large brick chimney and furnace were situated next to this boiler room in the south east corner of the factory. The roof in this room is high to accommodate the steam power machinery.
Beside this room was the wool grading room. Originally it had a timber floor, raised one meter from the existing cement floor. The room is now used as a storage room by the plywood company.
Beside this room to the west was the scouring room. Initially this room contained large cast-iron vats for the scouring process. These were sunk into the floor and were two meters in depth, but have been floored over with cement.
The factory offices still remain intact at the north east corner of the main factory building. Within these brick offices is an original walk-in safe with original iron frame. The walls are plastered. The plastered ceiling of the first office has a small vent; this has a wrought iron cover displaying The Queensland Woollen Manufacturing Company's insignia. Above all the interior doors in the office are louvered panelled windows.
","history":"The Queensland Woollen Manufacturing Company is situated in North Ipswich on level land overlooking the Bremer River. It was established in 1875 and the factory was the first woollen manufacturing plant in Queensland.
Ipswich commenced as a convict outstation known as 'Limestone' in 1827. After free settlement began in 1842, the township developed as an important commercial centre because of its location at the head of navigation of the Brisbane and Bremer Rivers and at the junction of routes to the Brisbane Valley and the Darling Downs. Goods from these regions were channelled through Ipswich en route to the coast and this trade contributed significantly to Ipswich's rapid growth and prosperity. By 1875 an efficient railway had been constructed in Ipswich, increasing Ipswich's value as a commercial centre in Queensland.
In 1875 The Queensland Woollen Manufacturing Company established a woollen mill in Ipswich due to the existence of an efficient wool delivery system. The company bought 7.25 acres and 17 perches of land at the bend of the north bank of the Bremer River. The position of the mill was imperative to its future success; the mill was built meters from 'The Basin' on the Bremer River. 'The Basin' is a man made bight in the Bremer River to allow large ships to turn around. This facilitated the loading and unloading process of shipped goods. Being situated beside the river, the mill had a reliable water source for its steam engines. The railway was also close by.
The timber factory was built and production of woollen Tweed commenced in 1877. To highlight the importance of the mill for Queensland at that time the factory was officially opened in 1877 by the Governor of Queensland, Sir Arthur Kennedy.
Queensland's manufacturing and industrial base was expanding at this time; the woollen industry was at the forefront of this. The pastoral sector of the industry was succeeding and more and more land in Australia was opened up and utilised by sheep graziers. Larger numbers of sheep were grazing, successful breeding programs were ensuring better quality wool, and ovine diseases were being eradicated due to strict quarantine measures and improved veterinarian and environmental knowledge by farmers.
The establishment of the woollen mill in Ipswich provided a centrally located processing plant for the raw wool produced on the Darling Downs. Prior to the building of the woollen mill the raw wool was sent for processing to Melbourne, Sydney or Adelaide (all of which already had well established wool processing plants), but this was costly and inefficient. The Ipswich mill allowed raw wool to be processed locally, benefiting the Darling Downs' sheep graziers. It was also an important indicator that the Queensland economy was developing beyond the supply of raw materials, and vertical integration was occurring, in this case for the sheep industry.
In an effort to encourage successful industry in Queensland, the Government offered the Queensland Woollen Manufacturing Company a bonus of £1,000 for the first 1,000 yards of cloth produced. The mill initially produced only unfinished cloth, this, however, changed as a lack of demand for unfinished cloth forced the company into establishing its own clothing works.
The Queensland Woollen Manufacturing Company produced good quality wool products. Tweeds, flannels, worsteds, blankets, rugs, and apparel were the advertised products of the factory. In an advertisement in the Queensland Times from 1879, the directors of the company advertised the purity of their cloths, 'they are manufactured from Queensland Merino Wool. Free from shoddy mixtures of cloths gathered from prisons, hospitals, lunatic and other asylums'. Many woollen manufacturers in this period followed a practice known as using 'shoddy'.. This entailed pulling apart and recycling discarded woollen products such as knitted goods which would then by woven with newly spun wool. There was demand for this product as it was inexpensive, but The Queensland Woollen Manufacturing Company did not want to be associated with such a means of woollen production, as their advertisement suggests.
In 1881 additions were made to the mill. These were designed by influential Ipswich architect and businessman, Samuel Shenton, who was at the time a director of the mill - a position he held for many years (1875 to 1891). He was also Ipswich mayor for several years (1871, 1872 and 1889). It was not only Shenton who was involved with the mill, as other prominent business and political leaders in Ipswich played a large role in the direction of the mill including several Ipswich mayors. The Queensland Woollen Manufacturing Company was regarded by many of the most prominent members of Ipswich as an important industry to be associated with, as well as a sound financial investment.
By 1887 The Queensland Woollen Manufacturing Company was mentioned in the official Tender for Public Service to the Queensland Government. An entry in the Queensland Government Gazette dated 20 January, 1887, stated the supply of serge, Tweed, blankets and rugs was to be supplied by The Queensland Woollen Manufacturing Company at an annual fee of £600 for the requested amount of goods. In a subsequent letter from the mill's management to the Government it was stated the products that the Government would receive from the mill would be of a far higher quality than those that they received previously from other manufacturers. This may be a reflection on the poor quality of wool products available to many Queenslanders prior to the establishment of The Queensland Woollen Manufacturing Company.
In 1890, the wooden factory was replaced by spacious brick and iron buildings. These buildings were designed by eminent Ipswich architect, George Brockwell Gill. Gill designed many of the grand residences and public buildings in Ipswich from the 1880s to the 1930s. Some of his works include Ipswich Girls' Grammar School (QHR 600565), 'Brynhyfryd' for Lewis Thomas, St Paul's Rectory, The Ipswich Club (QHR 600581), The Ipswich Technical College, and supervision of the construction of the Walter Burley Griffin Incinerator (QHR 600596) in 1936.
The newly built brick factory was a very large addition to the North Ipswich landscape. In early photographs the mill dominates The Terrace beside the Bremer River. The high west wall was built with arched, light brick 'built in' window facades that ran down the length of the side of the building to create an attractive feature in the brick work. A tall, brick, industrial chimney rose from the south east corner of the mill. Within the tall walls various types of industrial equipment processed the wool. The mill was designed to admit maximum possible daylight and ventilation inside the building, before the use of electric light. To do this, large panelled windows were included within the vertical segment of the sawtooth roof. Along the east, west and south walls large windows were built in.
Within the woollen mill buildings the wool was cleaned, spun, and woven on large industrial machines into various forms of cloth. Much of this was then manufactured as garments such as shirts, trousers and suits. Unfinished fabric was also sold. These machines were steam driven. The mill had its own steam engines and boiler for power generation. The steam engine was located beside the large brick chimney in the south east corner of the mill. The machines were secured to great wooden supporting beams that ran below the ceiling.
The wool processing within the mill consisted of various stages: sorting and grading, scouring, drying and dying, carding, combing, spinning, weaving, brushing, and sewing. Each stage was carried out in a separate area of the mill, with each process flowing onto the next in a hierarchical structure; this was a design feature to facilitate efficiency in the mill. In the two smaller south rooms the wool was sorted and graded to determine how it would be processed; the scouring vats were located in the south west room, and here the wool was cleaned of impurities and steam dried and dyed if required. The remainder of the process was carried out in the main area of the mill. The mill contained ten carding machines; these large machines broke up the wool and removed impurities. The combing process further organised the woollen fibres. The largest machines in the mill were the spinning mules on which the wool was spun. The wool was then woven into fabrics on the weaving looms. The woven fabric then went through shaving machines to give the cloth a fine finish. Finally, the fabric would be sewn into various products.
By the end of the nineteenth century Ipswich was experiencing a boom in industry, employment, and wealth. Major manufacturing and industrial plants such as the North Ipswich Railway Workshops (QHR 601526), coal mines, Australia's first cotton mill, and Ipswich Town Wharves (QHR 602567) were major contributors to this success. By 1891 Ipswich's population had reached 13, 059, making it the fourth largest town in Queensland at that time.
Whilst most industry in Ipswich provided employment opportunities for the adult males, the cloth industry employed hundreds of women. The largest single employer of female labour in Ipswich was The Queensland Woollen Manufacturing Company; in 1891 the firm employed 152 women of a total of 226 employees.
Those living in Ipswich at this time patronised local industry; the flannel made by The Queensland Woollen Manufacturing Company was a favourite cloth used by the women for making work clothes for men. The garments made within the mill were also popular with the industrial workers and miners in Ipswich. Known as 'Ipswich Grey Flannels', these were woollen shirts and a standard item of dress for Ipswich men. The woollen mill held a contract with Queensland Railways for the supply of serge for their employee uniforms, as well as with the Queensland Police for the manufacture of serge uniforms.
The Queensland Woollen Manufacturing Company played an important role in the war effort during the First World War. Many of the industries in Ipswich suffered during the War due to reduced numbers of employees and minimised profits, but The Queensland Woollen Manufacturing Company was an exception; the high number of female employees ensured minimal staff reductions caused by the war. The factory was extremely busy throughout the war making army blankets and cloth for military uniforms.
By 1919, as a reflection of the success of the woollen mill in North Ipswich, it was the very first factory to have electric light installed. This meant that the mill could remain productive for longer each day, thus increasing productivity and ultimate profits, as well as benefiting the employees. 80% of the mills products were sold in Queensland. The flannels and blankets, named Ipswich Flannel and Poinsettia Blankets, were renowned throughout Australia for their high quality.
During the 1930s Depression the woollen mill was still in production, acting as an important employer at a time of extreme unemployment throughout much of the world. A reflection of this can be seen in an advertisement in The Queensland Times from 1935 when Australia was still feeling the effects of financial recession. The advertisement claimed The Queensland Woollen Manufacturing Company was tripling its output; the directors had decided to sell the garments at a lower price for the benefit of the consumer. Special lines included Coat and Trousers, and Full Suits, Worsted Suits, either Custom Made or Ready Made. It was claimed the customer was purchasing 'Pure Wool and No Rubbish'. Statistics reveal the cloth and clothing manufacturing industry in Queensland actually increased its employment numbers over the Depression years rather than being forced to decrease them as so many other industries had to do.
The Second World War saw the woollen mill playing a similar role to that of the First, making blankets and cloth for the armed services. During the war years the Federal Government declared dismissals forbidden from vital or 'protected industries' such as the cloth manufacturing industry; prices and wages were pegged. For the workers this was a favourable climate to demand improvements. A larger number of females were employed in the mill during the war due to decreased male employment.
Ipswich was an important centre for the union movement in this period, especially in the several textile mills scattered in the area. The Queensland Woollen Manufacturing Company was involved in this movement. In 1942 employee displeasure brimmed over into a major worker's strike in the woollen mill. To strike in the midst of a world war that enveloped all Australia was not seen in a favourable light by the general public, and the media sentiment at the time regarding the strike at the Queensland Woollen Manufacturing Company reflects this; rhetoric such as 'War work held up' and 'a most unfortunate stoppage in the supplies for the army' was used. The Queensland Woollen Manufacturing Company continued to have industrial disputes in 1943 and 1945.
Many of the windows in the building were changed in the mid twentieth century from timber framed sash windows to louvers. The Queensland Woollen Manufacturing Company was still in production up until 1968 when the company changed hands to The Australian Fabric Manufacturers Ltd. Further construction was undertaken with modern steel framed buildings designed for wool scouring being erected in the 1970s or early 1980s. In 1984 Hancock Bros Pty Ltd purchased the older part of the woollen mills, designating it "the top mill" and the newest parts of the mill complex were purchased first by Prunda Pty Ltd and then Terrace Furniture.
The industrial machinery once used within the mill has long been removed. The factory now produces plywood and the machinery used for this production is vastly different to that once used for woollen cloth manufacture. The steam engine was removed to the North Ipswich Railway Workshops Museum (QHR 601526) when the mill was taken over by the plywood company. The manager's house, once situated north east of the site, was recently moved to the Mining Museum at Kholo for display as "The Queenslander". The mill is now manufacturing plywood for Boral Hancocks. The chimney was removed by the Boral Hancock Company as it had become unstable and unsafe.
","criteria":"As the first woollen mill in Queensland, and an early example of large scale manufacturing, the mill played an important role in the development of the Queensland textile industry and is important in illustrating early vertical integration for the sheep industry in Queensland.
The textile industry was traditionally a major employer of women and The Queensland Woollen Manufacturing Company continued this tradition as it was the largest employer of women in Ipswich in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The mill's placement in Ipswich demonstrates the importance of Ipswich as a trading centre, receiving raw wool from the Darling Downs and passing the manufactured product on to Brisbane for distribution.
As a producer of uniform fabric and blankets for the armed forces in both the First and Second World Wars, The Queensland Woollen Manufacturing Company made an important contribution to Australia's war effort. It has also been important as a supplier of Railway and Police uniforms.
|Built on the elevated corner of a bend in the Bremer River the large brick exterior walls of the mill are a landmark in North Ipswich and have been since the brick structure was built in 1890. Due to the mill's distinctive size, setting and compositional qualities it is clearly visible from many areas around Ipswich.
|The practice of woollen manufacturing in major textile centres such as Northern England was to have key processes carried out in separate manufactories. The Queensland Woollen Manufacturing Company is the first manufactory of its type in Queensland which processed the fibre from raw wool to textiles and garments.
The Queensland Woollen Manufacturing Company is rare as it was the first woollen mill in Queensland.
|The Queensland Woollen Manufacturing Company is important as an early and substantially intact example of a woollen mill in Queensland. The mill is sitting on the bank of a river for both transport and water for steam driven machinery, and its layout provides evidence of its operations. Within the mill are components that allow the reading of the hierarchical movement that occurred within the plant; the large steam engine room with furnace, the wool grading room, the scouring, drying and dying room, the large open halls in which the carding machines, spinning mules, weaving looms, shaving machines were once held, the sewing area and storage rooms all follow a purpose designed floor plan that was not changed for the duration of the woollen mill's existence.
The mill is an example of the work by prominent Ipswich architect George Brockwell Gill. Other notable work by Gill includes the Ipswich Girls' Grammar School (QHR 600565), the Ipswich Technical College, the Ipswich Club (QHR 600581), the Hotel Metropole (QHR 600567), and 'Brynhyfryd' House.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion E | Criterion B | Criterion D","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place 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":138,"place_ref":602569,"name":"Sadliers Crossing Railway Bridge","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"over Bremer River between Tallon Street, Sadliers Crossing and Dixon Street","suburb":"WULKURAKA","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2008-11-13","description":"This high-level steel, concrete and timber railway bridge over the Bremer River between Tallon Street, Sadliers Crossing and Dixon Street, Wulkuraka was built between 1900 and 1902. It is located approximately 25 miles 30 chains (40.02 kilometres) from Roma Street. Its total length is 412 feet (229.8 metres) plus the timber trestles. It has long approaches to allow for flood flows on the Bremer River.
The outer approach spans of timber longitudinals are supported by common timber trestles, both braced and unbraced. The inner approach spans are of riveted continuous rolled steel joists and riveted deck-type continuous plate girders and underslung cross girders supported on concrete piers. The two mains spans are each of 150 feet (45.7 metres). They are riveted 13-panel double-intersection through Pratt trusses (Whipple trusses) supported on concrete piers. The stylistic concrete piers are cement rendered. There are dressed stone cutwaters embedded in concrete to the upstream leading edges.
A cantilevered pedestrian footbridge is attached to the upstream side of the bridge. It has wrought iron stanchions, chain wire and timber top-rail balustrades on both sides. Timber access stairs and mid-landings are attached to each end of the bridge.
The rail line consists of straight double tracks.
","history":"The Sadliers Crossing Railway Bridge, which crosses east-west over the Bremer River between Tallon Street, Sadliers Crossing and Dixon Street, Wulkuraka, is a steel truss, concrete and timber bridge designed by Chief Engineer Henry Charles Stanley. Dating from 1902, it is the second bridge to cross the Bremer River at this site.
In the early 1860s the colonial Queensland government decided to establish a railway as a means of developing the colony. It was argued that rail would reduce freight costs and save travel time for passengers considering the very poor state of Queensland roads. Priority was initially given to creating a rail link to the coast for the well-established and economically-important Darling Downs pastoral region. The river port of Ipswich was chosen as the eastern terminus of the railway. Located at the head of navigation, at the intersection of routes to the Darling Downs and Upper Brisbane Valley, it was the major inland port serving these areas.
The Queensland government began its railway network when it passed a Railways Act on 3 September 1863 This 1864 Railway Act authorized construction of the section from Ipswich to the Little Liverpool Range. Narrow gauge (3 feet 6 inches) was chosen as Queensland's uniform gauge. On 3 January 1864 tenders closed for the first section of the railway from Ipswich to Bigge's Camp. The contract was subsequently awarded to the well know British railway builders Peto, Brassey and Betts whose price of £86,900 was the lowest of five tenders.
Construction of this 21 mile (34 km) section from Ipswich, via Walloon, to Bigge's Camp (later named Grandchester) at the foot of the Little Liverpool Range commenced in February 1864 and the line was opened in July 1865. This initial route from Ipswich differed from that followed by the present railway. Ipswich station was located immediately north of the present one, and the line proceeded due north, with an immediate crossing of the Bremer River to the area now occupied by the railway workshops. It then turned west around the north bank of the river, with bridges over minor creeks such as Mihi and Ironpot creeks. The Main Line was subsequently extended to Gatton (June 1866) and Toowoomba, via ascent of the Main Range, by May 1867.
The rail link from Ipswich to Grandchester remained a vital part of the Main Line but within the first decade of the operation of the line from Ipswich to Toowoomba it was decided to build a deviation near Ipswich. In 1875 the first six kilometres were replaced by a new line only half its length that crossed the Bremer River west of Ipswich at Sadlier's Crossing. This deviation was part of the extension of the line from Brisbane to Ipswich that opened in October 1874. The old line was retained as far as North Ipswich to serve the locomotive and carriage sheds and workshops.
Upgrading of the Main Line continued. In 1891-1892 the original 40 pound iron rails were replaced with harder wearing steel rails. Similarly all bridges on the Main Line were upgraded around the turn of the century to carry locomotives over twice the weight of the original ones. In 1899 it was decided to duplicate the rail track between Ipswich and Wulkuraka, to regrade the section between Ipswich and Rosewood and to raise the level of the Sadliers Crossing Rail Bridge so flood waters could not inundate it as happened in 1893. As a result of the disastrous 1893 floods Whipple trusses, like that used on the Sadliers Crossing Railway Bridge, were preferred for railway bridges until the introduction of through Pratt trusses.
The new bridge was designed while Henry Charles Stanley was Chief Engineer for Railways (1892 to 1901). Stanley was an important early engineer in Queensland. Born and trained in Scotland, he was appointed to Queensland Railways in 1863. After working as chief engineer on several lines, Stanley became responsible for the whole of the colony's railway network in 1892. During the 1890s a number of large metal truss rail bridges were constructed to cross major streams making the connection of important towns and resources possible. In this way they were vital to the operation of the transport system and the development of the state as a whole. Many of these early bridges have since been replaced.
The contract for the Sadliers Crossing Railway Bridge was awarded to J McCormick and Sons. Material and plant for the new bridge were purchased in February 1900. The timber work for the bridge was completed and the 33 foot (10.06 metres) and 50 foot (15.24 metres) steel plate girder spans were in position in 1901. The work was completed in March 1902 and the current bridge over the Bremer River at Sadliers Crossing came into usage. Its double track operated as two single tracks, one towards Rosewood and the other for the Brisbane Valley branch line.
The Sadliers Crossing Railway Bridge is a two span Whipple truss bridge with continuous rolled steel joists. It is the second longest span of its type in Queensland (45.7 metres), the longest being the former Burdekin River Rail Bridge at Macrossan (600442). The Whipple truss was developed by Squire (CE) Whipple as a stronger version of the Pratt truss that was designed by Thomas and Caleb Pratt in 1844. The basic identifying features of the Pratt truss are the diagonal web members which form a V-shape. The centre section commonly has crossing diagonal members. The Pratt truss and its variations are the most common type of all trusses. One of these variations is the Whipple truss, which was patented in 1847, and is also known as the "Double-intersection Pratt" because the diagonal tension members cross two panels, while those on the Pratt cross one. The Whipple truss was popular with the railroads as it was stronger and more rigid than the Pratt.
Duplication and regrading of the track between Ipswich and Grandchester began in July 1914. When completed, the two single lines were converted into double track operation between Ipswich and Wulkuraka.
The bridge has not been substantially changed since its completion in 1902. In 1956 repairs were made to the bracing of No.1 truss. In 1965 plans were prepared for replacing the longitudinals supporting the track with transoms and this work was completed during the following year. In 1977 plans were prepared to replace the corbels on piers 9 and 17, and in 1994 the corner braces were removed to allow for the passage of over-height containers.
The bridge was known earlier as the Red Bridge because of its paintwork and accordingly there is still evidence of red oxide paintwork to steel members of the bridge.
Since the early 1960s there has been little construction of steel bridges by Queensland Rail. Once pre-stressed concrete bridge girders were proved adequate for rail use they became almost universal.
","criteria":"The Sadliers Crossing Railway Bridge, opened in 1902, is important in demonstrating the evolution of the railway network in Queensland. This rail network, established in the 1860s, was vital for the development of the colony through opening land for closer settlement and freighting produce and resources to Queensland's ports. From the 1890s the preferred design of large metal rail bridges to cross major waterways underwent several changes, to withstand flooding and to meet increased load requirements. Early bridges and track on the Main Line from Brisbane to the Darling Downs, which was one of Queensland's most important lines, were upgraded to accommodate heavier, more powerful engines as freight traffic and tonnage increased from the 1890s. Sadliers Crossing Bridge, replacing an 1875 bridge, was built as part of this upgrading.
|The Sadliers Crossing Railway Bridge is a good example of a railway bridge designed by the Department of Railways and Public Works while Henry C Stanley was Chief Engineer of Queensland. The bridge is highly intact and provides important physical evidence of early twentieth century railway bridge design and construction in Queensland. Sadliers Crossing Railway Bridge demonstrates the evolution of the principal characteristics of steel railway bridges around the turn of the twentieth century, especially the change from the Pratt truss to the Whipple truss to the through Pratt truss, which increased the strength of the structure.
|The Sadliers Crossing Railway Bridge is a rare surviving example of the use of riveted double-intersection through Pratt trusses (Whipple trusses), and is the second longest span of this type in Queensland. This bridge and the former Burdekin River Rail Bridge (600442) are the only parallel chord examples of the Whipple design extant in Queensland. A variant of the Whipple truss design, using hogback trusses, is used in the Albert Bridge [QHR 600252], Indooroopilly and the Alexandra Bridge [QHR 600799], Rockhampton.
The cantilevered pedestrian footbridge and access stairs attached to the upstream spans is a rare example of its type and is still in use.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion B","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 demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15323,"place_ref":600548,"name":"United Welsh Church, Blackstone","alternate_name":"Welsh Union Church | Welsh Chapel","street_address":"6 Thomas Street","suburb":"BLACKSTONE","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"This modest timber church has a rectangular nave and sanctuary with rear vestry forming a simple 'T' plan form. A contemporary skillion-roofed toilet block is constructed on the northern side.
Walls are of timber stud frame, now clad in chamferboard; the timber floor is supported on concrete stumps and the comparatively low-pitched gable roof is clad in corrugated galvanised iron. A front entrance porch with separate gable roof has a decorative fretwork pediment infill. Above the porch is a centrally-placed timber fixed ventilator window with a pointed head. The balustrading to the front steps is wrought iron.
The side windows of the church are pivoting timber casements. The front windows are framed externally in unusual projecting decorative timber hoods.
The interior feature some fine cedar joinery in the sanctuary area and liturgical fitments including a silky oak minister's chair. The timber pews have decorative ends bearing pew numbers. A pair of leadlight windows featuring the Welsh dragon are above the doors in the rear wall leading into the vestry/meeting room. The walls display several timber plaques and memorials.
A continuous open-fretwork ventilator runs the full length of the nave walls immediately below the roof springing point. The ceiling is boarded and has iron tie-rod roof trusses.
The rear vestry/meeting room is a large rectangular room with framed photographs and other memorabilia decorating the walls.
The grounds contain a very large camphor laurel tree on the northern side and two rock monuments, one bearing a centenary plaque and one a piece of rock from the site of the mansion "Brynhyfryd".
","history":"The United Welsh Church was built in 1886; it was designed by Ipswich builder/architect Samuel Shenton and constructed by Ipswich contractors Worley and Whitehead. The land was donated by coal-mine owner Lewis Thomas who also helped finance the church.
Lewis Thomas had begun to mine coal at Blackstone in the 1860s. In 1883, a group of Welsh people, formerly slate miners from Blaenau Ffestinog, arrived in Blackstone to work for Thomas. Shortly after their arrival, they held a Protestant church service under a mulberry tree on the banks of Bundamba Creek. They agreed that Welsh nationality took priority over minor sectarian differences and formed a Welsh Church. The first combined service was held in a church hall in the nearby suburb of Newtown on 19 July 1883. Lewis Thomas then allowed use of a cottage in Blackstone for services. As the number of Welsh immigrants grew, this became too small and Thomas donated land for a church. The church building opened officially on 1 October 1886.
Early undated photographs show the church with exposed stud frame external walls; the walls are now chamferboard. It is not known when this work was carried out but it was at least by the 1930s. The building was painted and new seats were made in 1892, the work supervised by architect George Brockwell Gill who had taken over Shenton's practice. The toilets on the northern side were built c1975. The front windows, originally louvred, have been replaced with glass. The church was inundated to the level of the top windows in the 1893 flood, destroying the organ and early church records, and to a few centimetres above floor level in the 1974 flood.
A number of historic photographs, memorials and memorabilia have been placed on display in the main body of the church and in the rear meeting room. A war memorial honour board was installed in 1917 and a plaque was installed in 1986 to honour the centenary of the Cambrian Choir. A pair of glass and cedar doors bearing the name "Brynhyfryd" etched in the glass were installed as a screen inside the entry following the demolition of Lewis Thomas' mansion Brynhyfryd in the 1930s. A cedar fireplace surround from the mansion has been converted into a combined Welsh pioneers/World War II memorial. Leadlight windows depicting Welsh dragons were presented by the St David Society c1985.
The church was known as the Welsh Union Church in the early years but was being called the United Welsh Church by the early 20th century. The church has been controlled by trustees but is currently (1997) in the process of becoming incorporated. In the early years, a full-time minister was appointed but a part-time minister now conducts a weekly service.
The church has been a centre for community social life with activities including church teas, clubs, eisteddfodau and hymn festivals. Early church services were held in Welsh, and in the present day, some hymns are still sung in a mixture of Welsh and English, while Sunday School children are taught a few words of Welsh. The first Gymanfa Ganu (hymn festival) was held in 1902 and is still a biennial event.
An eisteddfod (a traditional music, literary and speaking competition) was held in the church on New Year's Day, 1887, a few months after the church was opened. A local choir was formed to contest this eisteddfod and is still operating as the Blackstone-Ipswich Cambrian Choir. Subsequent eisteddfodau were held in the church or in the School of Arts in Ipswich as interest in the eisteddfod movement grew. In 1888, a Brisbane choir entered the competition and a Brisbane eisteddfod was then held in 1889. These inter-city competitions eventually grew to become the Queensland Eisteddfod, still contested every Easter. A junior eisteddfod and a Silkstone Eisteddfod are still held annually in Ipswich.
This is the only Welsh Church in Queensland and it is thought that there are only three others in Australia - in Sydney, Melbourne and Western Australia
","criteria":"Built in 1886, the United Welsh Church is important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history, in particular the pattern of immigration of Welsh families to coalmining areas in Queensland in the 1880s and the subsequent introduction of Welsh customs such as the Eisteddfod which remain part of Queensland cultural life.
|The church is the only Welsh Church in Queensland and appears to be one of only four in Australia.
|The interior contains historic photographs, memorials, plaques and memorabilia and yields information about Welsh customs and culture maintained in an Australian context.
|The simple traditional form of the exterior and its associated large camphor laurel tree have landmark qualities near Bundamba Creek at the approach to the suburb of Blackstone.
|The simple traditional form of the exterior and its associated large camphor laurel tree have landmark qualities near Bundamba Creek at the approach to the suburb of Blackstone.
|As a venue for church services, social events and eisteddfodau, the place has been closely associated with the social, cultural and spiritual life of Blackstone and of the wider Queensland community since 1886.
","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":15324,"place_ref":600549,"name":"Booval House","alternate_name":"St Gabriel's Convent","street_address":"14 Cothill Road","suburb":"BOOVAL","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-08-21","description":"Booval House is a two-storey brick building with a steeply-pitched hipped roof clad in corrugated galvanised iron and with a separate skillion roof over the verandahs on three sides. All of the verandahs have been enclosed and except for some unusual tapered timber columns on the upper level, all of the original architectural detail has been removed.
\nAt ground floor level, the main core of the house is made up of four rooms, a central hallway and a staircase. Large double bi-parting doors separate two of the main rooms, one of which gives access to the rear kitchen wing and service entry. There are two fireplaces, one with marbled paintwork on timber. The chimney caps for these fireplaces have been closed up.
\nOriginal skirtings, architraves, french doors and some cornices have survived and are of painted timber in simple design. All of the original ceilings in the ground floor rooms appear to have been replaced, some with vee-jointed tongue and groove boards and some with fibrous plaster c1930. Where not covered by wall-to-wall vinyl and carpet, it is evident that some of the earlier floors have been replaced with narrow-width hardwood. A substantial amount of the early glass in the doors and windows has been replaced with figured obscure 'arctic' glass probably c1950.
\nThe internal staircase is of simple design with a low height cedar handrail supported on square painted timber balusters and a turned cedar newel post. The stair is narrow and steep and contains a half landing.
\nThere is a rear wing constructed of brickwork on the south-western corner and this contains an access manhole and a ladder leading down to an underground cellar approximately 5m by 5m in size. The cellar has wall niches for storage and two metal ventilating ducts leading to the outside air.
\nThe kitchen wing is a single storey hipped-roof timber-frame structure with a large brick fireplace/range at the southern end. No early fitout survives in the kitchen or the scullery/laundry immediately to the south.
\nThe upper level of the main house contains four main rooms generally consistent with the plan form beneath. There is also a room accessed directly from the half-landing of the stair.
\nThe upstairs rooms have tongue and groove vertical joist ceilings and the north west corner room contains a fireplace.
\nIn similar fashion to the ground floor, all rooms have French doors opening to enclosed verandahs.
\nThroughout the house, the joinery has been painted and the plastered walls are either papered or painted. No early decoration is visible. Most rooms have fluorescent lighting.
\nVerandahs at the lower level have been enclosed with facebrick walls and banks of louvre windows. At the upper level, the undersill has been clad with fibro and weatherboards and windows of obscure coloured glass extend full length above sill height. Some tapering timber posts remain visible from the inside and there is a triangular pediment placed centrally on the northern facade. The entrance at ground level is secured by means of a contemporary roller shutter door. Parts of the verandahs have been ceiled with ripple iron fixed to provide a fall to an outer gutter under the leading edge of the upper level verandah.
\nA substantial two-storey brick chapel has been constructed to the north-east of the main building and is linked to the north-east verandahs at both upper and lower levels. The chapel wing has four upper bedrooms, a chapel and sanctuary and internal staircase. All of the architectural features, form and materials are of 1960s origin.
\nOutbuildings include a rudimentary shed and fernery to the southeast of the grounds and a modern garage on the south-western corner.
\nThe garden contains some major trees, most notably a curving line of cocos palms to the northern garden, mango trees forming a dense screen to the northern adjoining properties and some poinciana and jacaranda trees along the Cothill Road frontage.
","history":"Booval House is a two-storey brick house built in the 1850s for George Faircloth, manager of the Bank of Australasia in Ipswich. The builder was William Hancock and the architect was possibly William Wakeling.
\nIn December 1859, Faircloth stated in a testimonial that architect William Wakeling had been engaged by him privately, as well as being engaged for supervision of St Paul's Church. This private commission was most probably Booval House.
\nThe house was completed by at least December 20 1859 when Governor Bowen stopped there for refreshments and a change of clothing at the start of his first visit to Ipswich. It was the first major house in the Booval area.
\nIn the 1850s, Faircloth had invested in Moggill Coal Mine, in collaboration with John Panton, Henry Buckley, Louis Hope and Frederick Bigge. In 1861, the company was wound up after Faircloth was discovered to have misdirected bank funds for the venture.
\nIn the early 1860s, many Ipswich people started cotton plantations to take advantage of a world-wide shortage caused by the American Civil War. Faircloth grew cotton on much of the 40 acres surrounding his house. Adjacent to his land was that of the Ipswich Cotton Company under its chairman John Panton; in 1861, Ipswich Cotton Co had 100 acres under cultivation and exported its first 30 bales in July 1862. However, cotton did not fulfil its early expectations and many companies and individual growers lost money .
\nBooval House was auctioned in August 1868 under instructions from the liquidators, the Bank of Australasia.
\nThe purchaser was John Ferrett, the former Trustee of Ipswich Cotton Co. Ferrett had opened a coalmine, the Radstock Pit at Woodend in the 1850s and later had an interest in the adjacent Woodend Mine. He also appears to have continued farming to some extent at Booval House.
\nBooval House was advertised for rent in 1884, the reason uncertain. After John Ferrett died in 1894, control of the property passed to his nephew Harry who was also involved in coal-mining in the Bundamba area, financing the Borehole Mine. In 1896, architect George Brockwell Gill called tenders for a timber extension to the rear of the house and a new iron roof.
\nBooval House remained in the Ferrett family until 1921 when it was sold to the Catholic Church. After standing empty for several years, it was renovated and reopened in 1930 as St Gabriel's Convent for the Sisters of Mercy. A convent school was built adjacent to the house.
\nFollowing white ant damage in 1946, the verandahs were altered and brick supporting columns were built. A brick extension containing a chapel and bedrooms was added in 1969. The number of sisters declined in the 1980s and the house was empty for some time, and the property has changed hands several times since September 1997.
","criteria":"It has a strong association with the early cotton-growing industry in Queensland in the 1860s; with two important early entrepreneurs George Faircloth and John Ferrett; and with the work of the Sisters of Mercy since 1930.
|Built between 1857 and 1859, Booval House is a rare surviving example of a substantial two-storeyed brick house of the 1850s.
|Built between 1857 and 1859, Booval House is a rare surviving example of a substantial two-storeyed brick house of the 1850s.
|Although the exterior has been altered, its general form and massing and its surrounding garden exhibit aesthetic characteristics valued by the community.
|(Criterion under review)
|It has a strong association with the early cotton-growing industry in Queensland in the 1860s; with two important early entrepreneurs George Faircloth and John Ferrett; and with the work of the Sisters of Mercy since 1930.
It is possibly associated with early architect William Wakeling.
","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":15325,"place_ref":600550,"name":"Booval War Memorial","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Green Street","suburb":"BOOVAL","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The First World War Memorial is situated in a park in Booval facing Green Street. The park is surrounded by a low fence consisting of white painted timber posts linked by a metal chain. Hill's Figs (Ficus microcarpa var. Hilli) line the boundary of the park. New landscaping is currently under construction and comprises a pathway and planting, symmetrically laid out with the memorial as the focal point. The original fence surrounding the memorial has been removed.
Access to the park is through a new timber pergola. This is flanked by two large fig trees which align with two more fig trees at the rear of the park. A new pathway leads from the centre of the pergola to the memorial with a gun or 'war trophy' centrally located between the two. The pathway forms a square around the memorial and rejoins at the rear to continue to a rockery and seating. At the rockery, the path branches out diagonally, leading to an exit in one direction and a children's play area in the other. Newly planted trees line the pathway and a flagpole is located on the north side of the memorial.
The memorial stands 22 feet from the ground and comprises a pedestal and column surmounted by a digger statue.
The granite and marble memorial sits on a stepped base of Melbourne bluestone which is painted. Surmounting the base is the pedestal, sitting on a marble plinth capped with torus and cyma recta moulding. The central portion of the pedestal is recessed on all faces and bears the leaded names of the 221 local citizens who served in the First World War and the 16 who died in the Second World War. Also projecting from the plinth at the four corners are free standing columns of red granite with Ionic order bases and capitals. These support a large cornice surmounted by marble urns at each corner with a simple curved pediment between.
Above the cornice is a column of red granite with an Ionic capital of marble. This is surmounted by a marble digger statue, smaller than life-sized standing at ease with arms reversed and supported by a tree stump. He stands with his feet slightly apart and the rifle rests beside one foot and is held across his body.
","history":"The Booval War Memorial was unveiled on the 15 February 1919 by Queensland Governor, Sir Hamilton Goold-Adams. The marble and granite memorial was produced by Ipswich monumental masonry firm, F Williams and Company and honours the 221 local men who served during the First World War. Later plaques honour the 16 who died in the Second World War Plaques commemorating later conflicts have also been added.
In 1918, a committee was established to represent the Ipswich suburbs of Booval, Silkstone, Newtown and Raceview. Funds were raised by entertainments and public subscription to erect a war memorial, of which the foundations were laid by a voluntary 'working bee'. On 27 July 1918, the foundation stone was laid by DA Gledson, MLA. The total cost was £499.
The land was originally in the private ownership of Harold Foote and later subdivided. In 1914 it was resumed by the Bundamba Council for the purpose of a park reserve and after the amalgamation of Councils it came under the jurisdiction of the Ipswich City Council.
Australia, and Queensland in particular, had few civic monuments before the First World War. The memorials erected in its wake became our first national monuments, recording the devastating impact of the war on a young nation. Australia lost 60 000 from a population of about 4 million, representing one in five of those who served. No previous or subsequent war has made such an impact on the nation.
Even before the end of the war, memorials became a spontaneous and highly visible expression of national grief. To those who erected them, they were as sacred as grave sites, substitute graves for the Australians whose bodies lay in battlefield cemeteries in Europe and the Middle East. British policy decreed that the Empire war dead were to be buried where they fell. The word 'cenotaph', commonly applied to war memorials at the time, literally means 'empty tomb'.
Australian war memorials are distinctive in that they commemorate not only the dead. Australians were proud that their first great national army, unlike other belligerent armies, was composed entirely of volunteers, men worthy of honour whether or not they paid the supreme sacrifice. Many memorials honour all who served from a locality, not just the dead, providing valuable evidence of community involvement in the war. Such evidence is not readily obtainable from military records, or from state or national listings, where names are categorised alphabetically or by military unit.
Australian war memorials are also valuable evidence of imperial and national loyalties, at the time, not seen as conflicting; the skills of local stonemasons, metalworkers and architects; and of popular taste. In Queensland, the soldier statue was the popular choice of memorial, whereas the obelisk predominated in the southern states, possibly a reflection of Queensland's larger working-class population and a lesser involvement of architects.
Many of the First World War monuments have been updated to record local involvement in later conflicts, and some have fallen victim to unsympathetic re-location and repair.
Although there are many different types of memorials in Queensland, the digger statue is the most common. It was the most popular choice of communities responsible for erecting the memorials, embodying the ANZAC myth and representing the qualities of the ideal Australian.....loyalty, courage, youth, innocence and masculinity. The digger was a phenomenon peculiar to Queensland, perhaps due to the fact that other states had followed Britain's lead and established Advisory Boards made up of architects and artists, prior to the erection of war memorials. The digger statue was not highly regarded by artists and architects who were involved in the design of relatively few Queensland memorials.
Most statues were constructed by local masonry firms, although some were by artists or imported.
The Booval memorial was designed and executed by the well known and highly regarded Ipswich monumental masonry firm F Williams and Company. Frank William's reputation prompted Daphne Mayo to work as an apprentice to him to learn the art of carving. She did this while waiting to begin a travelling scholarship which had been postponed due to the outbreak of the First World War.
Daphne Mayo is one of Australia's best known sculptors, responsible for many significant works such as the pedimental relief on Brisbane City Hall, the friezes and capitals on the Brisbane Tattersall's Club and the bronze doors for the Public Library of New South Wales. She was born in England in 1895 and came to Brisbane in her childhood.
The statue on the Booval War Memorial is attributed to Mayo as the memorial was constructed during this time and bears a strong resemblance to a model made by her. The statue is of a style repeatedly used by Williams.
","criteria":"War Memorials are important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history as they are representative of a recurrent theme that involved most communities throughout the state. They provide evidence of an era of widespread Australian patriotism and nationalism, particularly during and following the First World War.
|The monuments manifest a unique documentary record and are demonstrative of popular taste in the inter-war period.
Unveiled in 1919, the memorial at Booval demonstrates the principal characteristics of a commemorative structure erected as an enduring record of a major historical event. This is achieved through the use of appropriate materials and design elements. As a digger statue it is representative of the most popular form of memorial in Queensland
|The memorial is of aesthetic significance both as a landmark and for its high level of workmanship, design and materials.
|It has a strong association with the community as evidence of the impact of a major historic event.
|It also has special associations with monumental masonry firm F Williams and Company and Australia's best known female sculptor of the 1930s, Daphne Mayo.
","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":15327,"place_ref":600552,"name":"Rockton","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Rockton Street","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Rockton is a large Victorian-era mansion which shows evidence of its staged construction and alterations over a long period of time.
The earliest wing is a simple lowset single-storey facebrick structure with a hipped roof and generally open verandahs on two sides. The structure is one room in width and has windows and doors opening directly to the open verandahs which provide the only access. The roof is clad with colorbond custom orb profile sheeting. This original wing has a timber floor. Parts of the verandah have been enclosed to provide a small bathroom and storeroom.
The original wing was extended with a more substantial single-storey structure distinguished by the break in the roof between the main hipped form and the separate skillion over the verandahs on two sides. The materials are loadbearing facebrick, timber floor and colorbond custom orb roof sheeting. Verandah posts on these first two wings consist of rectangular profile timber supports with simple column capitals.
The third wing or two-storeyed section is more elaborate both in scale and detail. It has open verandahs on the north-western side with lower verandahs now enclosed in casement windows and weatherboard cladding, The upper construction and detailing of this two-storey wing includes polychromatic brickwork, timber floors, shuttered windows and doors and a steeply-hipped roof surmounted by a widows' walk with cast iron lace balustrading.
The transition between the second wing and the two storey wing is defined on the northern side by an elaborately-detailed bay window which provides an outlook over the garden from the breezeway/ballroom - now the largest room in the house.
Internally, the house has a new kitchen, study and storage in the original wing. The main drawing room, dining and main entry are in the second wing. The two-storey wing contains bedrooms, bathrooms and a staircase. Alterations to the detailing of door and window joinery and plasterwork show the influence of the Arts and Crafts movement.
Outbuildings include an early timber-framed and clad billiard room with a gable-ended roof; a contemporary steel portal-frame, brick-clad garage with gable roof and a brick-walled garden shed with a flat jettied rafter roof structure.
The extensive garden contains stands of massive hoop pines, figs, poincianas, jacarandas and palms set around a circular driveway, providing an impressive setting for the large house.
","history":"Rockton is a substantial brick house, the first section of which was built as a cottage for bank manager William Craies and his wife Sabina in 1855. The cottage was progressively extended and altered by successive owners over a long period, producing a complex but surprisingly harmonious house with great character.
In the 1850s, Craies was commuting between Ipswich and Brisbane as manager of the branches of the Bank of New South Wales in both towns. He then resigned and came to work full-time in Ipswich as a partner with the merchant Walter Gray and Co. To quickly provide accommodation for his family in Ipswich, he built a three room cottage in 1855 on 7ha of land he already owned on Limestone ridge overlooking the town. The cottage faced north, had two fireplaces, a boxroom at each end and a verandah back and front. Behind it to the south was a detached kitchen and bath house.
The cottage was extended within the year by builder William Hancock. Craies sold the house in 1862 because of financial difficulties associated with the collapse of Walter Gray and Co and it was then described as "a good substantial edifice built of bricks with shingled roof and containing front and side and back verandahs, entrance hall, dining room, drawing room, four bedrooms, nursery, pantry, store-room, kitchen, servants room and wash house." There were also several outbuildings, a lawn, garden and kitchen garden, a vineyard of 2000 vines and paddocks for horses and a cow. At this time, the house was considered to be a "country residence", although only 2km from the centre of Ipswich. The purchaser was Robert Towns who rented it. The next owner, in 1873, was Samuel Hodgson.
The house was occupied by the Bullmore family in 1877 and purchased by them in 1882, after which it was again extended. The Bullmores had several daughters who attended the nearby Ipswich Girls' Grammar School after it was established in 1892 and the house was extended for family accommodation and entertaining. A breezeway between two wings was enclosed to form a ballroom and an upper storey was added to the northern end with a "widows' walk" on top. About 1900, the roof was changed to corrugated galvanised iron, a verandah was built onto the upstairs section on the north side and a tower was built, possibly designed by George Brockwell Gill. Bullmore was notable for his establishment of Trelawney Dairy near Harrisville which had associated butter and cheese factories.
In 1918, Will and Laura Haenke bought the house which by then was in bad state of repair and some of the original land had been sold. Haenke was an architect and later became a coal-mine owner, associated with Rhondda Colliery. He relocated the kitchen which had been in the original cottage wing to a position in the "join" of the cottage and the main building, requiring changes to the adjacent verandahs. Haenke also imposed 1930s details such as doorways and a large bay window in the living area. A formal garden was continued during this time and major trees were retained. A swimming pool was built in 1953.
In 1945, a separate residential area was created on the northern side for Haenke's son Willis and his wife Helen who inherited the property when Will died in 1953. Willis continued the family interest in coalmining and Helen was a writer who published several books of poetry and wrote several plays which were performed in Brisbane and Ipswich. Today, Rockton is owned by their daughter Angela and her husband Wybe Geertsma.
Outbuildings remaining today consist of an early billiard room, a brick outbuilding which was converted into a fernery in the 1930s and new garages built to a design by Buchanan Architects c1980. The garden contains very large mature trees including Moreton Bay figs and several limestone walls, as well as formal garden beds.
","criteria":"Rockton is a rare example of a house whose construction commenced in the 1850s; the 1855 wing appears to be the oldest surviving building in Ipswich.
|Rockton is a rare example of a house whose construction commenced in the 1850s; the 1855 wing appears to be the oldest surviving building in Ipswich.
|Together with its outbuildings and garden, it demonstrates the characteristics of a large suburban mansion of the 19th century.
|The place is important in exhibiting aesthetic characteristics valued by the community. It is impressive in its size, its detailing and its cohesive fusion of elements built over a period of more than a century. It retains an impressive setting within a large garden containing mature trees which in themselves have landmark qualities.
|The place is associated with important families of early Queensland - the Craies, Towns, Hodgsons and Bullmores. It is closely associated with the Haenke family who made a significant contribution to Queensland through architecture, coalmining and literature.
","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":15328,"place_ref":600553,"name":"St Francis Xavier Church","alternate_name":"St Patrick's Church | St Francis Xavier Catholic Church","street_address":"6 Church Street","suburb":"GOODNA","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"St Francis Xavier is a traditional cruciform-plan Revival Gothic church of sandstone with steep gabled roof forms clad in corrugated galvanised iron.
The western end has a small gabled entrance porch floored in black and white tiles, while the eastern end has an extended sanctuary and twin sacristies in brickwork. A contemporary timber-framed northern entry porch gives access from the carpark to the centre of the nave. Windows are of pointed arch design, some of which contain fine quality stained and coloured glass memorials.
The nave is dominated by the large archway leading to the extended sanctuary. The raised sanctuary floor has been extended westward into the nave. Niches each side of the archway contain religious statues. The painted boarded ceiling follows the collar-tie roof form and exhibits steel tie-rod and roof bracing.
The church pews are benches in light-coloured timber, low-backed and dating from possibly the 1970s. Other furniture includes a small timber altar of earlier date as well as new altar furniture in light-coloured silky oak (designed by architect Hubert van Hoof).
The walls of the nave display paintings showing the Stations of the Cross and a memorial tablet honouring the first Parish Priest Fr Hayes. On the exterior walls above window height along each side is a steel strap extending the length of the stone work.
The church is complemented by a parkland setting of mature trees, most notably tall hoop pines to the north, east and west. Early church entrance gates have survived at the Church Street boundary in front of the church.
New school buildings are situated close to the southern side of the church and a c1980 brick presbytery and church office are situated to the north-east.
These are not included within the heritage boundary.
","history":"St Francis Xavier Church was design by architect Andrea Stombuco and opened in May 1881, originally as St Patrick's Church. Two major series of extensions and renovations have been made, the first by architects R. Coutts and Sons in 1915 and the second by H. van Hoof in the 1980s.
Construction of the church is well-documented. Local stone came from a nearby quarry, believed to be in Stuart Street; parishioners carted the stone to the site as voluntary work. Most masonry work was carried out by William Hanley but was finished by day labour. Carpentry and painting were carried out by James Madden of Ipswich. The cedar was from Doorey's sawmill at Mt Mistake, and other timber from Reillys and Hancocks of Ipswich. The original front cedar door was painted red and the interior was entirely plastered, except for the ceiling which was lined with "Rosewood pine" painted dark blue. The original roof was Gospel Oak iron.
The church was a substantial one; apart from St Mary's in Ipswich, other Catholic churches built in the Ipswich region at that time were simpler buildings of timber.
The church was originally part of Ipswich parish but became a separate parish in 1892, the first priest being Fr Thomas Hayes. A school was started in 1910 and a convent was built in 1911 for Sisters of Mercy who taught at the school. The convent, a two-storey timber building, is still standing in Church Street opposite St Francis Xavier. A timber presbytery was built in the 1890s but demolished c1980; its position is marked by a flat area encircled by trees immediately to the west of the current brick presbytery.
The church was renovated and extended in 1915 by contractor J.C. Hobbs of Brisbane, to a design by R Coutts and Sons. The main change was construction of a new apse of brick and two side sacristies; to connect the apse, an arch was cut in the stonework of the rear wall. Two side windows of the church were converted into double doors and the remaining six pairs were altered to allow them to be openable. A new altar rail was installed and a new porch was added at the front, floored in black and white tile and containing a lead-light window by Extons. The foundations were strengthened and the walls were tied with iron plates running the length of the building on each side. At this time, two major stained glass windows were installed in the side walls, one in memory of local school teacher John Carroll and the other in memory of Denis Gorman.
The triple window on the western wall and other fittings, Stations of the Cross paintings and statues within the church are also memorials.
The name of the church was changed to St Francis Xavier in the 1920s, apparently to avoid confusion as so many churches were named St Patrick's.
Further changes occurred in the 1970s and 80s, prompted by changing liturgy and changing patterns of church-going. Externally, a light timber structure was built at the northern side entrance to provide a place where the congregation could gather after a service. This was designed by parishioner and local architect Hubert van Hoof. The building was also repaired at this time, including installation of a new floor.
Internally, there have been numerous changes to the sanctuary area following the liturgical changes of the Second Vatican Council; the altar was moved and later reduced in size, and the altar rail was removed. The gallery at the western end has been removed. The current pews are not original, but were recently acquired from another church. New silky oak altar furniture was designed by architect Hubert van Hoof.
","criteria":"The place demonstrates the pattern of development of the Goodna township and the desire of the Catholic community of the area in the 1880s to build a substantial local church
|It is a good example of a Revival Gothic stone church of simple traditional form.
|The church is prominently located near the major shopping area of Goodna and, with its setting of mature trees, has landmark qualities and contributes aesthetically to the streetscape.
|It has had a strong association with the spiritual, social and educational life of the Goodna community since its construction in 1881.
|It was built to the design of important architect Andrea Stombuco.
","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":15331,"place_ref":600556,"name":"Flour Mill","alternate_name":"Old Flour Mill; F.W. Johnson and Sons Motor Showroom; Bridal Mill; Flour Mill Ipswich","street_address":"231 Brisbane Street","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Flour Mill is a complex of attached buildings. The main (former milling) section consist of three floors plus a basement; because of the steep slope, the basement is above ground level at the rear. The mill section is built of load-bearing polychrome brickwork, ornamented with pilasters, arches and string courses. There are pairs of windows on the upper two levels at the front and five windows on each level on the sides. The roof is corrugated galvanised iron with a raised louvred timber ventilator. The basement level extends at the rear and now has an outdoor eating area on top; the brickwork has been built up to form a flat floor for the eating area, but the line of the original skillion roof is still detectable.
The shopfront corresponding to the former mill contains a retail shop on the ground and first floor, with internal stairs connecting the two levels. The third floor of the mill is accessed by an external stair enclosed in corrugated galvanised iron.
At the rear of the original mill is a recently-constructed wing with a brick base and corrugated galvanised iron-clad upper level, now containing a function room.
Attached to the eastern side of the mill is a single storey section (the former flour store) with an ornamental parapet bearing the date 1901. Behind this is the former corrugated galvanised iron-clad grain store. The single storey section contains a sandwich shop on the left and a passageway on the right leading to stairs which give access to the former grain store; one set of stairs leads up to a restaurant while the other leads down to a shopping arcade.
A street awning runs across the front of the entire building. The ceiling of the right-hand section of awning is pressed metal; the ceiling of the left-hand section is ripple iron. Above both shop-fronts are coloured glass fanlights.
","history":"The Flour Mill was built in 1901-2 for the Ipswich Milling Company Ltd, one of a series of flour mills connected with parliamentarian Francis Kates. The architect was G.B. Gill and the contractors were Worley and Whitehead.
The son of a miller, Kates was born in Berlin and, after graduating from Berlin University, migrated to Queensland in 1858. He settled on the Darling Downs and gradually acquired properties and capital. He built the Allora Flour Mills in 1871. He was elected to Parliament in 1878 and showed interest in the development of the rural sector, presenting a bill in parliament in 1885 for the establishment of an agricultural college in Queensland. He was also aware of Queensland's lack of self-sufficiency in wheat production and was involved in building additional mills, the Ipswich mill said to have been his eighth. Ownership of the property was in the name of his son, Francis Henry Kates.
When first completed in 1902, the main mill building at Ipswich consisted of a basement and three milling floors. The steam engine for the mill was imported from America; the boiler was "colonial" and used North Ipswich coal. In a c1935 photo, the skillion-roofed brick extension at basement level at the rear can be seen with two flues projecting through the roof. This extension is not mentioned in early descriptions but was probably the boiler room.
Also at the rear was a large corrugated galvanised iron and timber shed for grain storage, connected to a railway siding; the grain arrived in bags, not as bulk grain. The mill was capable of producing 35-40 tons of flour each week, marketed under the brand name "Snowcloud". Attached to the eastern side of the main building was a single storey section, used as a flour store.
Although the main grain supply was from Allora and other places on the Darling Downs, the company urged local farmers to grow wheat and offered to supply seed at cost price, apparently hoping to save transport costs.
Kates died in 1903, but the Ipswich property continued in the ownership of his son. In 1905, a photograph of the mill appeared in an advertisement for "Wigfull and Bland, Ipswich Flour Mills" using a brand name "Heatherbell"; it is not known under what arrangement this change of brand occurred.
In May 1910, Cribb and Foote bought the property for less than the mill's construction cost, using it to accommodate several departments while their new building was being erected. It seems to have then continued in use as the firm's Stove Department. An awning with decorative timber brackets was erected over the footpath in front of the single storey section and a lift was built.
In 1926, the property was bought by the Johnson family and used as a car showroom. In September 1935, radio station 4IP was established in the top floor, entry being via an external staircase on the western side.
An awning was erected across the front of the building, incorporating the earlier Cribb and Foote section of awning; the date is not certain but was probably in the late 1920s as work appears to be in progress in a 1927 photograph.
Later uses of the mill included housing Paddy's Market and storing furniture. In the mid-1980s, the upper floor was used for a martial arts school and the lower floors became a bridal shop and fabric shop.
In 1985, the property was purchased by Beverley de Witt and it was converted into a restaurant, function room and shopping arcade in 1993. An additional two-storey wing was built at the rear of the mill section to house the function room.
","criteria":"(Criterion under review)
|Completed in early 1902, the mill is an unusual example of an industrial building constructed in a city CBD.
|Although designed to carry out a basic industrial process, the flour mill is carefully detailed and ornamented and is important in exhibiting aesthetic characteristics valued by the community. It is part of the historic shopping precinct known as "Top of Town" and makes an important contribution to the streetscape.
|(Criterion under review)
|The flour mill is associated with politician Francis Kates and his son Francis Henry Kates, and with the development of the family's milling enterprises.
The mill is associated with the important early retailer Cribb and Foote as their stove department; and with the early radio station 4IP which opened in 1935.
The place has special association with architect George Brockwell Gill as an example of his well-detailed brick commercial buildings.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion E | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15332,"place_ref":600557,"name":"City View Hotel","alternate_name":"City View Hotel Ipswich","street_address":"277 Brisbane Street","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The hotel is a two-storeyed brick building with a corrugated galvanised iron hipped roof. On the eastern end is an attached two-storey octagonal tower with ground-level porch. Extensive alterations have been made to the lounge bar to create a "cabaret-style" interior linked through the southern wall to a timber-framed single storey extension. A two-storeyed kitchen-domestics' wing extends at the rear completing the L-shape of the original building.
","history":"The City View Hotel is a two-storey brick buildings, believed to have been completed in 1908. The architect was George Brockwell Gill. The site was a difficult triangular one adjoining a deep railway cutting excavated in 1875. Gill produced a skilful solution to the problem, locating an octagonal two-storey "tower" or bay on the apex to disguise the sharp truncation of the building, while the front facade presents as a traditional two-storey verandahed hotel. The hotel was built for T. Humphreys and the first manager was H. Hutting. The name refers to the hotel's position on the edge of the Ipswich CBD. In the 1980s, some of the brickwork was painted and a beer garden structure was erected on the western end. A two-storeyed brick bathroom and toilet annexe was built in the rear courtyard sometime between 1960 and 1980.
","criteria":"(Criterion under review)
|It demonstrates the principal characteristics of a Federation-era provincial hotel.
|Built c1908, the City View Hotel is a well-detailed brick hotel which exhibits aesthetic characteristics valued by the community. It is prominently positioned at a major intersection and has landmark qualities.
|It is the design of an important architect George Brockwell Gill and is a skilful and typical example of his well-detailed work.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15333,"place_ref":600558,"name":"Queensland Country Women's Association Girls' Hostel","alternate_name":"Queensland Country Womens Association Hostel; QCWA Hostel; CWA Hostel; CWS Hostel Ipswich","street_address":"5 Brisbane Street","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The building is a large two-storeyed timber structure with chamferboard external walls surrounded at both levels by elaborately decorated verandahs. A single storey laundry wing extends at the rear and is connected to the central hallway by an enclosed rear verandah. A skillion-roofed cement clad ablutions block, probably of c1950 construction, is connected to the north-west corner of the ground floor verandah. The front has plantings of palms and hedges, particularly the distinctive double palms each side of the main entry.
","history":"The building was constructed about 1885 as a single-storey timber house for Thomas Towell and his second wife Sarah. When Towell died about 1904, the property passed to his widow Sarah. The next significant owner was Dr Edward Elmslie Brown who bought it in 1908. Within the next three years, Brown added a second storey. Brown used the enlarged building as a residence and consulting rooms and built a timber hospital "Oakdale" adjacent with its entry facing Milford Street. He later added a second hospital building and a matron's residence. Brown died in 1941 and the house was bought by the QCWA in 1949 for use as a hostel for students and young women. A single-storey brick building containing several residential units for elderly women was built c1960 adjacent to the house (on the corner of Brisbane and Milford Streets) and is known as Melody Lodge. One of Dr Brown's hospital buildings in Milford St is now a QCWA hostel for aged people. The matron's quarters in Milford St is now a residence. The second hospital building was destroyed by fire in the late 1980s at which time it was a boarding house.
","criteria":"The place is important in demonstrating the tendency of early Queensland residents to enlarge and adapt existing buildings, having been converted from a single-storey house built c1885 to a two-storey house c1908.
|The QCWA Girls' Hostel is a fine and rare example of a large two-storey timber residence.
|The QCWA Girls' Hostel is a fine and rare example of a large two-storey timber residence.
|It exhibits aesthetic characteristics in its fine Federation detailing including elaborate flower patterned lacework and attractive timber decoration. Its architectural form, scale, siting, detailing and front garden plantings make a significant contribution to the streetscape of Ipswich.
|It is closely associated with the work of the QCWA in providing supervised city accommodation for young country girls, particularly students.
|The place is associated with the life and work of an early telegraph operator Thomas Towell and a prominent early doctor and businessman Edward Elmslie Brown.
","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":15334,"place_ref":600559,"name":"Queensland National Bank - Bank of Queensland","alternate_name":"National Bank of Australasia","street_address":"89 Brisbane Street","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The former Qld National Bank is a simple single-storey rendered brick building with a corrugated galvanised iron roof behind a raised parapet. The symmetrical main facade facing Brisbane St has a central doorway with a modern glass door, surmounted by a pediment and flanked by a pair of rectangular openings which still contain early double-hung timber windows.
The facade is decorated with simple pilasters and imitation block quoins. Beneath each window is a decorative motif consistent with the 1930s date of the building's remodelling. Modern steel frames attached to the exterior hold business signs.
Along the East Street frontage is a single-storey wing consisting of four individual tenancies. The northern end wall is brick and the tenancies have tinted glass shopfronts. The roof height is lower than the original bank building.
","history":"The Qld National Bank is a single storey rendered brick building originally constructed as an office in 1877. The original architect and builder are not known.
The first building on the site was George Thorn's Queen's Arms Hotel, built in 1843. This was demolished probably c1875 and the land sold as separate allotments. The corner site was bought by surveyor and real estate agent Enoch Bostock who constructed an office which opened for business on 1 January 1878. A three-stall stables was built behind the office and blacksmith William Hayne operated from there, using an entry in East Street.
In 1881, the building was bought by the Queensland National Bank which had opened its first Ipswich branch in 1873 in rented premises. After buying Bostock's building, the bank continued to operate from its old premises until the lease ran out. Builder Peter Brown was employed to renovate Bostock's former office in October 1882 and the bank moved there in 1883.
At this time, the bank was a simple rendered building with a central arched doorway and an arched window on either side, all with decorative pilasters and semi-circular heads with keystones. Bank records show that "general improvements" were made in 1935; this is believed to have been when the pediment was built above the entry and the windows and doors were changed.
In 1948, the Qld National Bank was absorbed by the National Bank of Australasia Ltd which also had an Ipswich branch nearby in Brisbane St. The two branches remained in operation until 1973 when the former Qld National Bank building was sold to solicitors Somers and Walker who used it as an office then leased it to the Bank of Queensland in 1981. A modern single storey extension was made along the East Street frontage in the late 1970s, consisting of four individual tenancies.
Until 1981, the interior of the main building had been timber panelled and included a solid timber counter while the main entrance was a panelled timber door. These were all removed by the Bank of Queensland who also added steel frames for signs to the exterior.
The bank was sold in 1987 and after again being leased as offices for Rose Jensen solicitors, became a stationery shop in 1997. It was placed for sale again the same year.
","criteria":"Built c1877, the former Queensland National Bank demonstrates externally the stylistic characteristics of a small provincial town bank.
The place, although altered, retains aesthetic characteristics valued by the community and is part of a row of historic buildings which contribute to the streetscape of the Ipswich CBD.
It is associated with the Queensland National Bank and later the National Bank of Australasia in the provision of financial services in provincial towns.
|Built c1877, the former Queensland National Bank demonstrates externally the stylistic characteristics of a small provincial town bank.
|The place, although altered, retains aesthetic characteristics valued by the community and is part of a row of historic buildings which contribute to the streetscape of the Ipswich CBD.
|It is associated with the Queensland National Bank and later the National Bank of Australasia in the provision of financial services in provincial towns.
","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":15335,"place_ref":600560,"name":"Action Realty","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"93 Brisbane Street","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The three adjacent two-storey brick shops fronting Brisbane present a cohesive group which contribute significantly to the nineteenth century streetscape of this part of Brisbane Street.
The two westerly shops are a matching pair of two-storey, gabled roofed brick shops, the details above the cantilevered awning being relatively intact, with cantilevered wooden balconies decorated with cast ion posts and balustrades and curved corrugated iron roofs. The walls are decorated with polychrome and projecting brickwork and classical mouldings in cement render and have small central triangular pediments. The shop front at ground level has been substantially altered with a large glass display window dominating the entrance at Action Realty and the printers shop next door.
The interior of the Action Realty offices is of modern open plan design with partitions providing individual work spaces and a reception counter at the front. The ceiling of the ground floor has been lowered from its original height. The upper floor has been opened to create a large space over the area of the two shops. It still contains an original staircase in the eastern end of the building. The ground floor ceiling of the printers' shop still displays original ceiling roses and cornices picked out in pink paint.
The earlier 1877 shop blends with the later gabled shops but is of simpler design. The upper balcony also displays cast iron balustrades with decorative iron posts and a convex corrugated iron awning, The upper rooms are accessed by French doors to the balcony. This building has a plain horizontal parapet. A difference in the colour and texture of brick is also visible between this building and the two adjacent gabled shops. The interior design of the upper level is intact in the front section leading on the the balcony. It consists of two rooms with doors to the balcony reminiscent of bedrooms or living rooms in what would have been a shop residence.
This shop also contains a brick-lined cellar accessed via steps at the rear of the building. The cellar runs the entire length of the shop to the Brisbane Street footpath but is not accessible via Brisbane Street. The cellar contains arched supports and the stone foundations are visible.
","history":"The two-storey brick shops which front Brisbane Street were constructed in stages between 1877 and 1893. William George Johnston had purchased two adjacent pieces of land on Brisbane Street in 1876 and 1877 (Sub A of Allotment 1 of Section 2 and Sub B of Allotment 2 of Section 2 respectively) after the Clarendon Hotel, which previously stood on the land, was destroyed by fire on 19 January 1875. He then took out a mortgage for £400 from the Ipswich and West Moreton Permanent Benefit Building and Investment Society on 18 October, 1877 at which time he advertised a tender notice for the erection of a two-storey brick house in Brisbane Street.
The Clarendon Hotel, formerly the Queens Arms Hotel, was established by George Thorn around 1843/44. George Thorn arrived in Ipswich with his wife and son in 1835 as Superintendent of a 'cattle establishment' which was a branch convict settlement of Brisbane. At the first land sales for Ipswich by auction in Sydney on 11 October 1843, Thorn purchased Allotments 1 & 2, of Section 2 Par Ipswich and later Allotments 27 & 28 which covered the corner of the block fronting Brisbane and East Streets. He subsequently established the Palais Royal Hotel on this land soon changing the name to the Queens Arms Hotel.
The Queens Arms was described as a 'long one-storeyed brick building with the main frontage facing East Street'. Thorn was said to have provided the 'best accommodation, breakfasts, dinners, suppers and every other refreshment in five minutes, together with wines, spirits and stabling equal to any in the Colony'. Being one of the earliest public buildings in Ipswich, the Queens Arms was often used for public purposes such as auctions of land and was used as the premises for the Court until the Ipswich Court House was constructed in 1853.
By 1859/60 the name had changed again to the Clarendon Hotel and on 19 January 1875 the building was destroyed by a fire which apparently started in the hotel's kitchen in the early hours of the morning. The fire also destroyed the offices of the Observer and the offices of William Hendren both of which were adjacent to the Clarendon.
It is widely held that the brick cellar which is underneath the 1877 brick building is the remains of the original Queens Arms Hotel, although there is no proof of this claim. If, in fact, the cellar was part of the original Queens' Arms hotel, it would be the oldest surviving structure in Ipswich, linking the city with it's original settler, George Thorn who came to Ipswich in 1835.
After William Johnston had constructed the first of the brick shops in 1877 he leased it to Dan Kennedy who used the building as premises for the Victoria Hotel from 1883 to 1891. There is evidence that the cellar was used for storage purposes at this time, or perhaps earlier, from the grooves cut into the stairs accessing the cellar for wheeling barrels in and out .
The exact construction date of the two gabled brick shops adjacent to the 1877 building has not been ascertained but they did appear in a photograph of Brisbane Street during the 1893 flood. Businesses were registered as operating at the site of the buildings in the Queensland Post Office Directories from the 1880s, including a bakery in the shop closest to East St and a watchmakers in the middle shop. As the shop closest to East Street was used as a bakery and then a café for most of the 20th century it may be plausible to assume that the shop was built in the 1880s and originally used as a bakery. The construction of the shops reflect the establishment of Ipswich as a commercial centre in the booming late 1870s and 1880s.
The shops changed hands several times after William Johnston sold the property in 1917. The shops had been used mostly for hospitality businesses in the twentieth century including Bunces Cake Shop and the Dorothy Belle Café situated in the shop closest to East St and the Metro Café in the middle shop.
In 1970 the property was purchased by Garth Llewellyn and the ground floor of the middle shop and the top level of the two gabled shops were used as offices for Action Realty.
In the 1980s the original iron posts which supported a convex corrugated iron awning were knocked out by a bus and the awning and posts were replaced by the current modern awning across the three shops.
The 1877 building is occupied by a second hand clothing store, the middle shop by Action Realty and the end shop is a printery.
","criteria":"The three adjacent two-storey brick shops at 93 Brisbane Street are important in demonstrating the development of Ipswich as a commercial centre in the latter nineteenth century. In about 1877 the first of the brick shops replaced a previous one-storey brick hotel which had stood on the site from the 1840s. The other two shops were constructed before 1893 and the three buildings are of a substantial nature reflecting the growth and the success of the town centre around Brisbane and Limestone Streets since free settlement commenced in 1842.
|This building is also important because of its aesthetic significance as it contributes significantly to the historical and physical centre of Ipswich. It is an integral member of the central townscape made up of many substantial commercial, religious and civic buildings from the 1850s to the 1910s which presented Ipswich as a confident and affluent city and today create the character if the city centre.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion E","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15337,"place_ref":600562,"name":"Lime Kiln Remains","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"82 Chermside Road","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"There are signs of a stone kiln 6 feet by 5 feet into the steep bank below Brisbane Street. The kiln is in the form of an inverted cone with the lower part of the interior sloping inwards. The stone blocks are of silicified limestone of irregular size. Brickwork was mentioned in a newspaper report of the Scouts' excavation but is not exposed although brick fragments have been observed towards the outer side of the structure. A second kiln could exist alongside the excavated kiln as evidenced by the unusual depression into the bank roughly parallel to the excavated kiln.
The kiln lies at the base of the eastern of two north - northwest / south- southeast spine ridges of Tertiary silicified magnesian limestone. The hollow near the hummock believed to be the source of limestone quarrying in the 19th century.
","history":"The Lime Kiln Remains are thought to have been built by William Hancock (a local builder) in the 1860s. This lime kiln was not the first to be established in Ipswich, however the remains of this kiln are significant as a link to the original settlement of Ipswich, formerly known as 'Limestone'.
Prior to the settlement at Ipswich, lime for building purposes in Brisbane had been obtained by burning sea-shells. It was in 1827 that Captain Patrick Logan discovered limestone deposits on the banks of the Bremer River:
In the general course of last year Captain Logan, in tracing the Bremer (of the late Mr. Oxley, who merely passed its mouth in 1824) from its junction with the Brisbane, discovered at ten miles through its many windings from that point, the calcareous hummocks on its right bank, now named the 'Limestone Hills'.
...Some months after this discovery a kiln was built, and a party of convicts, consisting of an overseer (acquainted with the operations of sapping and mining), and five men (convicts) were stationed at these hills to commence lime-burning.
(extract form Cunningham's Report to Darling, 16 December 1828.)
The kiln operated on what was called Limestone Station until 1839 when the penal settlement was closed. It was reported to have produced 300 - 400 baskets of quick lime per week which were sent to Brisbane via the Bremer and Brisbane Rivers. The town of Limestone, now Ipswich, was established in 1842 on the site of Limestone Station.
Other kilns were constructed subsequent to the original convict construction, the remains of the existing kiln being one of them. Advertisements regarding the setting up of lime kilns at this location, and for the supply of lime by W Hancock, appeared in the Queensland Times from 1864. Hancock's Kiln was later reported as having been 'erected on the most approved English methods.' (Queensland Times, 25 August, 1892).
William Hancock migrated from England in 1856 and worked for a short time in Brisbane prior to moving to Ipswich where he lived until his death on 23 August 1892. Hancock was born at St Ives, Cornwall, went to live in Yorkshire, and was married at Leeds in 1844. Hancock was well known in Ipswich as a 'builder in brick' and building contractor and was involved in the construction of a number of buildings including, additions to Rockton Villa, Colinton Station, Booval House, the foundations of the first railway workshop, the Lands Office and the Wesleyan Parsonage as well as laying pipes for the waterworks in 1877. He also owned a soap and candle works at Churchill. It is quite likely that Hancock would have used lime from this kiln for his own building purposes as well as for sale.
The lime is believed to have come from the hummock of lime residue nearby as early photographs of the hummock show a much greater height than at present and also evidence of terracing such as would occur with mining.
The site was included in land granted to the Ipswich Girls' Grammar School in 1890.
The kiln remains were buried by road widening activities for Brisbane Street but were recovered in 1961 by excavations undertaken by the Limestone District Scout Group. The site has been subsequently infilled.
","criteria":"The Lime Kiln remains are a legacy of the early settlement of the Moreton Bay District. The lime-burning industry was the first established in the Ipswich area and the discovery of lime was the reason for the original settlement. The remains of the Lime Kiln are a link to the initial settlement of Ipswich.
|The Lime Kiln remains are a rare example of 19th century lime-burning technology. They are the only surviving example in the district.
|The Lime Kiln Remains have special association with prominent local builder William Hancock who was a well known building contractor and 'builder in brick' contributing significantly to the built environment of nineteenth century Ipswich.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | 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 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":15338,"place_ref":600563,"name":"Bostock Chambers","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"169-175 Brisbane Street","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Bostock Chambers is an intricately detailed, two storey commercial building on the intersection of Brisbane and Ellenborough streets. It is complemented by adjacent buildings which form a coherent streetscape to Brisbane street. The neighbouring building, Colthup Chambers, was constructed as a separate structure and has almost identical detailing.
Bostock Chambers contains shops on the ground floor with offices on the first floor that are accessed via a stair from Brisbane street. It is constructed of face brick with rendered mouldings to the upper facade and parapet. The hipped roofline is concealed behind the parapet which contains the words 'E. Bostock & Sons, estabd 1865' with the date of construction of the building, '1915', on the corner. The detailing to the upper floor windows is a distinctive feature of the building and includes elaborate rendered sills, and window hoods with timber brackets, fretwork and terracotta roof tiles. Each double-hung window has nine panes to the upper sash and a single pane to the lower sash.
The street awning to the lower floor is early, and has a pressed metal ceiling. Flat brick arches above fanlights and earlier openings are visible at the top of the awning. The ground floor shops open onto Brisbane street and are accessed from the rear through a courtyard containing a loading dock. A separate, single-storey building is set at an angle to the main two-storey building and houses a shop which addresses Ellenborough street. This shop contains a safe set low in one wall and a vault with a heavy metal door at the rear. The shops have been refurbished but some original fabric remains including fanlights to the shop doorways, marble thresholds and a pressed metal ceiling to the corner shop. The individual tenancies are separated by timber vj walls. The stair to the upper floor is intact with marble threshold, double timber doors and timber stair and handrail.
The upper floor is divided into separate rooms, formerly offices, which either face the street or the rear courtyard and are accessed from a central passageway. These rooms are now used for storage and an opportunity shop. The timber doors and windows are intact and the walls and ceilings are timber framed and lined with vj boarding. The central passageway opens to an elevated walkway, above the rear courtyard, leading to a toilet block set above the loading bay. These toilets are early but not original, and consist of two ladies' and one gents' divided by a corrugated iron screen. The only handbasin is external and located on the walkway.
","history":"The Bostock Chambers building on the corner of Brisbane and Ellenborough Streets was constructed in 1915 for the family business of E. Bostock & Sons, a prominent and well established surveyors and auctioneers in Ipswich. The building was erected at a time of renewed building activity in Ipswich at the beginning of the 20th century and is reflective of this boom.
Enoch Bostock had been a prominent member of the Ipswich community from the mid 19th century and created his own successful surveying, auctioneering and real estate business. Bostock established his first business premises in the former Queensland National Bank building (QHR 600559) on the corner of Brisbane & East Streets in 1878, later moving to prmises in Nicholas Street as E Bostock and Sons. Enoch Bostock died on 9 April 1905 after which his sons continued the family business in Ipswich.
In 1914 the land on the corner of Ellenborough and Brisbane Streets was transferred to Henry Alexander Bostock and Frederick Rowland Bostock, Surveyors, and a mortgage was taken out for £2,000. A tender notice was advertised in The Queensland Times by prominent Ipswich architect George Brockwell Gill (a former associate of Enoch Bostock) on 26 September 1914 and the tender was accepted on 13 October 1914. Bostock Chambers opened in July 1915 and was featured in The Queensland Times of 8 July 1915.
The architect, George Brockwell Gill, designed many of the grand residences and public buildings in Ipswich from the 1880s to the 1930s. Some of his works include 'Brynhyfryd' for Lewis Thomas (1889/90), Ipswich Girls' Grammar School (1890/91), St Paul's Rectory (1895), The Ipswich Club (1916), the Hotel Metropole (1906), and supervision of the construction of the Walter Burleigh Griffin Incinerator in 1936. Gill emigrated from London and settled in Ipswich in 1886 where he commenced work as an architect for the firm of Samuel Shenton. Gill took over Shenton's practice in 1889 when Shenton retired. Gill had been elected Associate of the Queensland Institute of Architects in 1904 and Fellow by 1913. He was its Vice-President from 1914-16 and President from 1918-19. George Brockwell Gill's work has made a significant impact on the physical environment of Ipswich, his buildings forming a substantial proportion of the building stock in the CBD and in the suburban streets.
Bostock Chambers has been used as offices and retail outlets from it beginnings and remains as one the most prominent commercial corner buildings in the Ipswich CBD.
","criteria":"The Bostock Chambers buildings is important in demonstrating the evolution of the CBD of Ipswich as a reflection of renewed commercial building activity following the turn of the 20th century.
|The building has high aesthetic value as a prominent corner building in the heart of Ipswich contributing significantly to the streetscape of Brisbane and Ellenborough Streets and to the townscape as a whole. The western end of Brisbane Street is an unusually intact example of an early 20th century shopping centre and commercial district focussed around the street, and the Bostock Chambers building contributes to this particular characteristic significantly.
|The building has special association with the Bostock family being the result of their successful business in Ipswich which commenced operation in the mid 19th century. The building still clearly bears their name.
Bostock Chambers also has special association with the work of George Brockwell Gill as a significant example his work which included many significant civic, commercial and domestic buildings in Ipswich.
","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":15339,"place_ref":600564,"name":"Ulster Hotel","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"25 Brisbane Street","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Ulster Hotel is a loadbearing brick two storey building that stands on the corner of Brisbane and Mortimer streets. The building has a hipped roof with a half gable to the western end and decorative iron roof ventilators. The brickwork is rendered with ruled joints. The exterior wall of the public bar is brought forward to the footpath alignment and continues up past the roof of an upper level verandah to form a decorative parapet which addresses the corner. The arch on the parapet at the corner contains the words 'Ulster Hotel 1910'. The facade of the building then steps back along Brisbane street to form a wider verandah on the first level and ground floor, from which the central entry hall leads into the main part of the building.
The public bar occupies the eastern part of the ground floor of the building. The entrance to the bar on the corner contains early double timber doors with an arched fanlight. A series of double-hung windows with arched heads are situated on either side of the doorway. The door and window openings are emphasised with mouldings at the level of the sill and head with central keystones in each arch. The upper floor verandah is cantilevered out over the footpath with a cast iron balustrade and frieze and a convex roof. Where the building steps back, the parapet ends and the roofline changes to a skillion, separate to the main roof. The ground level verandah has cast iron balustrades with timber fretwork above.
A central hallway is entered from the ground floor verandah. The hall contains a timber staircase with turned timber balustrades, which leads to the upper level. The entrance to the hall features double timber doors with leadlight sidelights and a semi-circular leadlight fanlight. Leading from the hallway to the right is another smaller hall which leads to the public bar and two minor rooms. The interior walls are plastered with timber cornices and architraves and the ceilings are vj boards. The public bar has a pressed metal ceiling and retains the original timber panelled entry doors and timber double-hung windows. The bar fitout is not original and the walls have been lined with timber veneer panelling.
To the left of the main hallway is a space which was originally a large dining room with two small parlours opening onto the street through french doors. The dividing walls between these rooms have been removed but the original doors and windows are intact. A dividing wall has been inserted in the dining room space to form a storeroom. The remainder of the building was not inspected internally.
A single storey kitchen wing with a hipped roof is set at right angles to the building at the rear. A two storey amenities block has been added at the rear of the public bar to provide toilets to the first and second floors. There is a breezeway between this block and the original rear wall. A verandah with a convex roof and timber and iron balustrade detailing is on the first level at the rear of the building. A brick garage with a skillion roof is at the rear of the property accessed from Mortimer Street.
The hotel, situated on a corner site on the gentle slope of Brisbane Street, is a prominent landmark with the streetscape.
It is complemented by a series of three modest timber dwellings, with corrugated iron, pyramid roofing. The two houses closest to the hotel have quite steeply pitched roof slopes
","history":"The land on which the Ulster Hotel stands, allotment 10 of section 27, was originally purchased by Martin Byrne on 1 November 1851 for £12.
From 1872 the Horse and Jockey hotel was operating on the land in a low-set timber building with a shingle roof and attic windows. The first publican was William Thompson who ran the hotel from 1872 to 1880. Thomas Breen then took over the hotel and changed the name to the Ulster Hotel in 1881 and subsequently the hotel changed hands many times in the last years of the 19th century.
On 19 August 1892 the land was transferred to Patrick O'Sullivan and on 25 October 1892 O'Sullivan took out a bill of mortgage for £2,500. This could suggest that the construction of the present hotel began around this time, however the date on the parapet of the hotel reads 1910 suggesting that the hotel could have been constructed or perhaps rebuilt later. O'Sullivan was a local storekeeper and publican and was a member of Queensland's first Legislative Assembly in 1860, representing various Ipswich electorates until 1892. O'Sullivan came to Australia as a convict in 1848, being transported form County Kerry in Ireland and managed to amass significant property investments in Ipswich.
The construction of a new more substantial hotel on the site of a more modest former establishment during the Federation period was reflective of a widespread renewal of the built environment in Ipswich which reflected the established nature of the city as an important commercial and industrial centre.
The Ulster Hotel was taken over in 1934 over by a publican of special interest named Dan Dempsey. Dempsey was a member of the Kangaroo rugby team and was given the position of manager by the Bulimba Beer Company and the hotel became known locally as "the Dempsey". Dempsey appears to have been a colourful character who flaunted opening hours, using his own and neighbourhood children to keep an eye out for the police while supposedly playing in front of the hotel. During the beer rationing throughout World War II, Dempsey would put on kegs to suit the hours worked by the miners. It was not uncommon for an 18 gallon keg to disappear in 20 minutes when the miners arrived at the hotel at the end of a shift.
Dan Dempsey's daughter, Norma, and her husband Dennis Flannery took over the hotel in 1953 and they still operate and live in the Ulster Hotel at the present time.
","criteria":"Erected in 1910, the Ulster Hotel demonstrates a period of renewed building activity in Ipswich around the turn of the 20th century being built as a new hotel on the site of a previous hotel. It was one of many substantial public brick buildings constructed during this period and the striking nature of the building also reflects the importance of the local hotel in communities of the era.
|The Ulster Hotel is a good example of a Queensland Federation Hotel with its original design and detailing still either intact or evident.
|The Ulster Hotel has aesthetic significance for its contribution to the Brisbane Street streetscape because of its size, detailing and prominent corner position and for its architectural value which displays a skilled design approach and fine workmanship.
|It also has special association with the local community as a place of social activity since the construction of the present hotel in 1910 and the previous hotel on the site since the latter nineteenth century.
|It also has special association with Ipswich businessman Patrick O'Sullivan, a member of the first Queensland Legislative Assembly m1860 and has special association with Dan Dempsey the popular publican in the early 20th century who gave the pub the nickname the 'Dempsey' and his family who still run the pub today.
","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":15340,"place_ref":600565,"name":"Ipswich Girls' Grammar School","alternate_name":"Girls Grammar School Ipswich","street_address":"82 Chermside Road","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Ipswich Girl’s Grammar School is located on the eastern edge of the Ipswich Central Business District surrounded by residential development on its east and west and Queen’s Park [QHR600 Number] to its South. The school is bounded by the railway to the north, and by roadway on its South, East and West Boundaries. Lime Kiln Remains [QHR600562] are also located at the southern boundary of the property.
\nThe school comprises school buildings and landscape features from as early as the 1890s.
\nFeatures of Ipswich Girl’s Grammar School considered to be of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nAdministration Building (Buildings A, E & F)
\nThe Administration building was the first building constructed on the site. It is a classical two storey rendered brick building, designed by Brockwell Gill, that was constructed in stages from 1892. The first stage consisted of the central portion with a transverse gabled wing to the left hand end. Another transverse gabled wing was added at the right hand end in 1901, completing the symmetry of the building. The gabled ends have pilasters rising up through two storeys and terminating in three semi-circular arches above the upper storey windows. The date of construction of each wing is inscribed in raised lettering below each central upper window. The central portion of the facade consists of a ground floor arcaded verandah with a central semi-circular arch leading to the central entrance door. This semi-circular arch is repeated on the upper verandah and is surmounted by a central gabled roof. Timber finials and decorative timber fretwork are at the end of each gable.
\nThe internal walls of the Administration building consist mainly of a painted rendered finish up to the dado line with painted brick above. The majority of the interior timber joinery is intact. A decorative roof lantern lights the fine timber stairwell in the 1901 wing. The 1892 wing also contains a more simply detailed timber stair. The upper room in this wing features heavy timber roof trusses with a diagonally boarded ceiling lined on the rake and timber honour boards dating back to the formation of the school.
\nThe rear of the Administration building consists of several wings built around a central courtyard. The rear wings were constructed in stages, beginning with a single storey and resulting in two storey wings to three sides of the courtyard. These wings are of brick and timber construction, with narrow verandahs on both sides of a central room core. The verandahs are simply detailed with timber balustrades with a cross pattern and curved timber brackets.
\nAssembly Hall (Building H) (1968)
\nThe Assembly Hall was designed in 1964 by Dr. Karl Langer and terminates the tree lined entry avenue. The hall has a simple gabled portico to the front with a finely textured face-brick main wall behind. A Shillam sculpture of birds in flight is in the forecourt of the building. Double glazed timber doors lead into the foyer at the front of the building. The interior volume of the hall is punctuated by steel webbed truss portal frames which continue out to support the roof of a side aisle on the eastern side. Langer's concern with climatic design is shown in the design of the building. Indirect light is admitted to the hall through eastern clerestory glazing. A folded brick wall to the eastern aisle has glazing on the south walls to admit additional indirect light. High level louvres on the western wall allow the exit of warm air and aid cross-ventilation. Original metal and glass light fittings remain in the foyer and the dark-stained vertical boarded detailing to parts of the hall is intact. The hall has been extended since it was constructed.
\nGatekeeper’s Lodge (Building Y) (1892)
\nThe Gatekeeper’s Lodge is a small timber framed and clad building located to the west of the Memorial Gates. The building is a lowset timber framed house clad with chamferboards. The roofline is made up of three gables with separate skillion roofs to the verandahs. The verandahs are simply detailed with timber railings and brackets. This building has been extended and has had internal alterations. A replica cottage has been constructed next to it to house a theatre workshop.
\nMemorial Gates (1952)
\nThe main entrance to the school is near the intersection of Brisbane Road, Chermside Road, Glebe Road, & Queen Victoria Parade through Memorial Gates (1952) which open to the tree lined Main Drive.
\nMain Drive
\nThe Main Drive is a paved and tree lined driveway leading from the main entrance and Memorial Gates at Queen Victoria Parade to the Administration Building and Assembly Hall, past the Gatekeeper’s Lodge, School buildings and lawns.
\nMature trees line each side of the driveway and frame views to the end of driveway where the Assembly Hall can be seen. The trees screen buildings and views of the school and reveal views to the Administration building as the viewer moves along the driveway.
\nFeatures of Ipswich Girl’s Grammar School not considered to be of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nThe Ipswich Girls' Grammar School (IGGS) was opened in 1892 and was the last of the non-denominational grammar schools to be established in Queensland. In 1863 the Ipswich Grammar School (IGS - for boys) was established being the first Grammar School to be established in Queensland following the Grammar Schools Act, 1860. The advent of the 1860 Act and the ensuing establishment of grammar schools throughout Queensland was seen as a major advancement for education in the new colony. It brought about the first attempts by government and local communities combined to establish institutionalised, academic, secondary education in Queensland, paving the way towards the establishment of tertiary education in the state.
\nThe Grammar Schools Act of 1860 stipulated that where £1000 could be raised by donation or subscription in any district for the establishment of a grammar school, then the Government would contribute £2000 towards the school. The race to establish the first grammar school in Queensland was racked by sectarian rivalry with the Roman Catholic Church being the first contender. However, the controversy concerning church versus state education led to the government refusal of Roman Catholic Bishop James Quinn's proposal to establish grammar schools at Brisbane and Ipswich on the principle that a grammar school education should be secular and free from denominational control. This was the basis on which the schools were eventually established.
\nThe Grammar Schools followed the traditional British format for providing an education based on languages, particularly the Classics, Latin and Greek, and usually English, Mathematics and other academic subjects.
\nThe concept of a formal academic education for women was just emerging in Australia in the latter nineteenth century. The first grammar schools in Queensland, Ipswich and Brisbane, were established exclusively for boys but by 1874 the Brisbane Grammar School had admitted girls into the school and appointed Mrs M. O'Connor as Headmistress. In 1883 two separate Brisbane Grammar Schools were established for girls and boys. In 1881 Rockhampton Grammar was established as a co-educational school and in 1892 a new Rockhampton Girls' Grammar had been established. Again in 1883 the Ladies' Committee in Maryborough had established the Maryborough Girls' Grammar and in 1893 the Townsville Grammar School became co-educational and has remained co-educational until the present.
\nBy the late 1870s there was mounting pressure in Ipswich to establish a girls grammar as expressed in an editorial to the Queensland Times, 21 December, 1876:
\nWe would urge upon our townspeople and particularly upon the trustees of our Grammar School the importance of at once taking steps for the establishment of a Girls Grammar School in Ipswich. Our boys have had the opportunity - of which many have availed themselves - of receiving a thorough English and Classical education. But what has been done in the way of providing higher education for our girls? Nothing!
\nIn 1887 a committee was formed to raise funds for the establishment of a Girls' Grammar School and in 1890 the land for the current site of the school was granted by the Trustees of Queens Park in Ipswich. In the same year, George Brockwell Gill had been appointed architect and was contracted to design a school building for a cost of £3500. Tenders for construction were called in The Queensland Times on 21 Jan 1891 and contractors Worley and Whitehead were accepted with a tender of £3893. The foundation stone of the school was laid on 10 March 1891 by Acting Governor, Sir Arthur Hunter Palmer, K.C.M.G.
\nThe architect of the original building, George Brockwell Gill, designed many of the grand residences and public buildings in Ipswich from the 1880s to the 1930s. Some of his works include 'Brynhyfryd' for Lewis Thomas (1889/90), St Paul's Rectory (1895), The Ipswich Club (1916), The Technical College (1901), and supervision of the construction of the Walter Burleigh Griffin Incinerator in 1936. Gill emigrated from London and settled in Ipswich in 1886 where he commenced work as an architect for the firm of Samuel Shenton. Gill took over Shenton's practice in 1889 when Shenton retired. Gill had been elected Associate of the Queensland Institute of Architects in 1904 and Fellow by 1913. He was its Vice-President in 1914-16 and President in 1918-19. Gill was also a member of the Board of Trustees for IGGS and on his retirement in 1948 he was the Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
\nThe IGGS opened to students on 1 February 1892 with an enrolment of 31 girls under the charge of the first Headmistress, Miss Fanny E. Hunt, B.Sc., University of Sydney, appointed by the Board of Trustees in October 1891. The school also employed two assistant teachers and one junior teacher. The subjects offered included English, Latin, German, French, Political Science, Botany, Chemistry, Physics, Geology, Domestic Economy, Drill and Gymnastics, Geography, Ancient and Modern History, Writing, Drawing and Book-keeping. The school had an immediate impact on the education young women; from the first group of 31 students came the first Queensland woman to take a degree in medicine (Eleanor Greenham), the first woman to take a degree of Master of Arts in Mathematics at Sydney University (Estelle Cribb), a distinguished artist (Violet Rudkin) and a Principal of Osborne College in the Blue Mountains (Violet Gibbons). Both the second and third women to be called to the Queensland Bar were educated at IGGS.
\nLater in 1892, a gymnasium, play shed, stables, fences, roads and trees were added to the school grounds. Amongst the trees planted at this time were those lining the main driveway, forming an avenue consisting of Weeping Figs, Moreton Bay Figs and Camphor Laurels. The gatekeeper's lodge was also built in 1892 by Worely and Whitehead for £153 to the design of George Brockwell Gill. The Trustees of the School demanded that the kitchen, as well as the living room, of the Lodge have a view of the school's gate with the idea that the caretaker's wife would attend the gate while in the kitchen.
\nIn 1901 the original school building was extended on its northern side to the design of George Brockwell Gill, giving the school a symmetrical frontage and adding a decorative lantern in the Northern wing. In 1952 the current gates to the school were opened as the Estelle Cribb Memorial Gates. Estelle Cribb was a former student of IGGS and later became a teacher there after completing her University studies in Sydney. The Cribb family has had a strong association with IGGS from its beginnings, Thomas Bridson Cribb M.L.A. being the first Chairman of the Board of Trustees of IGGS. The Cribbs have served as Trustees on the Board until the present day.
\nIn 1968 the assembly hall was opened which was designed by architect Karl Langer. Langer was a respected authority in house design for the sub-tropics. In 1944 Langer published a paper, 'Sub-tropical Housing' which was a forerunner to subsequent publications on climatic design. He was a lecturer at the University of Queensland for many years. The assembly hall at IGGS exemplifies some of his principles of climate control.
\nThe gatekeeper's lodge was converted into new accommodation for speech and drama subjects by removing some of the internal walls to make a small theatre and classroom and converting the kitchen into a workshop and the bathroom into a make-up room. This work was undertaken by Arthur Lumley in 1983. In 1991 the lodge was extended in period style by David Pagendam and Associates. A replica building has been constructed on the western side of the old lodge as a small theatre auditorium, designed. In 1977 the assembly hall was extended by Bruce Buchanan Architects Pty Ltd.
\nSince 1995 several new complexes have been added to the grounds included the gymnasium on the south-west portion of the school.
","criteria":"Established in 1891, Ipswich Girl's Grammar School is an important example of an early secondary girls' school in Queensland and reflects the development of education in Queensland. The youngest of the Grammar Schools in Queensland, it demonstrates the culmination of the Grammar School movement which saw Grammar Schools established throughout the state since the Grammar Schools Act of 1860.
|It has aesthetic significance as an important civic group with grounds occupying the dominating slope to the immediate north-east of the city centre with townscape importance to the immediate streets and the distant city views. The memorial entrance gates with the 1893 gate-house and the tree-lined driveway leading to the original school building designed by George Brockwell Gill and the 1960s assembly hall designed by Karl Langer are particularly important to the aesthetic value of the school.
|Ipswich Girls' Grammar School has strong association with the past, present and future generations of the school community. It also has strong association with the local community of Ipswich having been a landmark in the city since 1891.
|It possesses strong association with the work of prominent Ipswich architect George Brockwell Gill who designed the original building in 1891 and additions to this building in 1901. It is a good example of one of his earlier works preceding his most notable work for the Ipswich Technical College (1901) and other buildings in Ipswich including the Ipswich Club (1916), Hotel Metropole (1906) and the Walter Burleigh Griffin Incinerator (1936).
\nThe school also has special association with the work of architect Karl Langer who designed the assembly hall opened in 1968. It is a good example of his work exemplifying his principles of design for climate.
","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":15341,"place_ref":600566,"name":"Old Town Hall","alternate_name":"School of Arts | Mechanics School of Arts","street_address":"116 Brisbane Street","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Old Town Hall, a two-storeyed painted rendered masonry building with a hipped corrugated iron roof to the rear, is located in the centre of Ipswich fronting Brisbane Street to the north. The building is situated within a precinct containing the adjoining Post Office [600555] to the east, with London's Pharmacy [600554] adjacent to the Post Office, the former Bank of Australasia [600568] adjacent to the west and the former St Pauls Young Men's Institute [600584] to the southwest.
The building consists of three stages, with the original 1861 hall at the rear, the 1864 section fronting Brisbane Street, and a clock tower added in 1879.
The Brisbane Street section has a symmetrical ornately decorated facade with classical detailing to the street, which consists of a wide central bay with a projecting narrower bay to either side. The ground floor has three arches to the central section, with one arch to either side, with coursed render expressing voussoirs and a vermiculated base. The central arches open to an entrance portico and are accessed via wide steps, with the side arches housing window displays. The first floor is composed similarly, with the three central arches originally to a loggia, but now glazed. These arches have expressed imposts, vermiculated keystones, and decorative mouldings to voussoir and abutments. The side arches house tall narrow sash windows which have similar imposts, voussoirs, keystones and abutment treatments, and which are flanked by circular Ionic pilasters with square Ionic pilasters at the corners of the projecting bay. The pilasters are supported by a deep base, either side of an enclosed balustrade panel of interlocking circles, and in turn support a heavy entablature with a parapet above which has open balustrade panels of interlocking circles.
The clock tower, square in plan, has paired square Corinthian pilasters at each corner supporting an entablature with pediment to each face. The clock faces have been removed, and are now blank. A cantilevered awning has been added to the central section above the ground level, and slightly projects from the building with an edging which mimics the base of the pilasters, but which obscures the former loggia's open balustrade details.
The rear hall was built as a single-storeyed high ceiling structure with a basement to the south. The structure is now two-storeyed with basement, due to the insertion of the mezzanine floor during the 1980s. The building has a corrugated iron hipped roof with ridge ventilators, expressed banding at ground floor and mezzanine level and tall arched windows along the east and west elevations. Door openings have been made in the west wall to allow access to an adjoining recently created public square, and evidence of earlier door and window openings which have been closed over can be seen in the north and south ends of the building. The south elevation, originally the rear of the stage area, has large arched header sash windows to the ground level and three closed over circular openings to the mezzanine level. The basement level has a door flanked by two arched header sash windows either side of a large central arched opening. The opening has been glazed and has a large tiled awning. A steel fire stair has been added to the east elevation.
Internally, the ground floor has a central foyer with paired panelled timber doors in an amber glass panel sidelights and fanlight assembly. Retail tenancies are located to either side, and have been remodelled several times. Toilets and store are located behind these, and a turned cedar staircase with square newel posts accesses the first floor. Walls are rendered, and an arched opening leads into the hall at the rear with a timber ramp accommodating a change in floor level. The hall space has ashlar scribed rendered walls, and has undergone several modifications, including a concrete mezzanine floor with central opening, twin staircases from the mezzanine level to the rear stage area, a central hydraulic lift shaft, and several openings in exterior walls. The rear stage area has a proscenium arch with classical details including side pilasters, entablature and keystone. The stage area is accessed via a central stair, and has a narrow stair in the southwest corner accessing the basement level.
The first floor of the Brisbane Street section has a central reception area with a skylight and offices to exterior walls. The mezzanine level has a hardboard panelled ceiling with cover strip mouldings and curved edges to side walls. The top of the tall sash windows project above the floor level and light the floor area, and arches either side of the proscenium arch access the top level of the stage area. This area has a hipped boarded timber ceiling. The basement level houses toilets and storeroom.
The rear of the site has a bitumen surfaced carpark.
","history":"The Old Town Hall, a two-storeyed painted rendered masonry building with a clock tower and a hipped corrugated iron roof at the rear, is located in the centre of Ipswich fronting Brisbane Street to the north.
\nA Deed of Grant for the original land content, allotments 10 and 23 of section 5, was issued on 7 September 1861 for School of Arts purposes to the trustees Benjamin Cribb, Charles Gray, Frederick Forbes, George Thorn and Henry Challinor. The building was constructed in three stages, with the rear section in 1861, the Brisbane Street section in 1864, and the clock tower in 1879.
\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.
\nThe Ipswich Literary Institution was formed at a public meeting held on 31 July 1850, with its aim being to provide a news room and library. Six days later another public meeting established a School of Arts merging with the Ipswich Literary Institution for the purpose of obtaining the Colonial Government subsidy which was being made available to Schools of Arts.
\nIn July 1854 the name of the literary institution of the School of Arts became the Ipswich Subscription Library and reading room. At a further public meeting on 11 August 1858 the School of Arts Society again changed its name to the Mechanics School of Arts and soon after made an application to the Colonial Government for a grant of land for the purpose of erecting a permanent School of Arts building. Records indicate that at the time a cottage formerly used as the Courthouse was being occupied.
\nThe Government selected the site of the old Courthouse and lock-up in Brisbane Street and the foundation stone was laid on 8 February 1861 by Governor Bowen. The Governor officially opened the Mechanics School of Arts on 24 October 1861, and in his speech Governor Bowen said, Let me observe that I give what has been called the 'glorious title of the working classes' not to those only who earn their living by the labour of the hand, but to those also who earn their living by the more anxious and weary labour of the brain. In one or other sense all men in Ipswich are working men.
\nThe first stage section, set back from the Brisbane Street frontage, housed a library and meeting rooms which were used for civic events, evening classes and for entertainment purposes. The hall originally had an exposed truss roof, but a plaster ceiling was installed in 1878 to improve the room's acoustics. The ceiling incorporated iron bolts with rings for the convenience of acrobats, trapeze artists and other aerial performers. Gas was officially turned on in Ipswich on 15 August 1878, and two large sunlights containing 16 burners each were installed in the building.
\nThe Ipswich Municipal Council had applied to the Government for a grant of land on the southeast corner of East and Roderick Streets for the purposes of building a town hall and a depot for tools and other equipment. This was granted early in 1861 but a further request for money to build the town hall was refused and the Council continued to use a small room in the old Courthouse on a temporary basis. The Council explored a number of options for more permanent premises against a background of opposition from ratepayers who at one time submitted a petition objecting to the erection of a town hall. For a period of seven years the Council occupied a brick building owned by George Thorn in East Street. In 1863 the council requested the School of Arts committee to erect an addition to their building for the purposes of town hall offices.
\nThe School of Arts committee had intended to extend their building towards Brisbane Street for their own use, and plans were made for an addition. The ground floor of the two-storeyed addition was to be let as offices for public institutions, and the first floor was to be a reading room, library, committee room and classrooms. Tenders were called in 1864, and by 18 June 1864 Mr James Cowlishaw had been appointed architect.
\nThe trustees had borrowed £2,000 in 1865, and when the date of release of the mortgage arrived, the trustees were unable to pay monies due. The School of Arts committee approached the Council in November 1868 with a proposal that the Ipswich Municipal Council undertake the management of the School of Arts, and in 1869 the mortgagor sold the land to the Ipswich Municipal Council for £2465. In August 1889 a residence (no longer extant) was built for the School of Arts librarian fronting Limestone Street at the rear of the hall.
\nFollowing the death of Governor Blackall (1809-71), a memorial committee was formed to present a turret clock to the town of Ipswich as a suitable memorial. The position favoured was the School of Arts building, and on 13 November 1879 it was reported that our town clock was illuminated for the first time last night. The clock was illuminated by gas flame, and the tower was designed by Colonial Architect Mr Francis Drummond Greville Stanley. The lighting of the clock was unsuccessful, and in 1896 it was reported that the town clock has loved darkness rather than light for a great many years, as the heat arising from the burners interfered with the workings of the machinery.
\nIn 1901 the new Post Office (QHR 600555) with a tall clock tower was built next door, at which time Ipswich had two clocks side by side, generally unsynchronised. This continued until 1912 when the Post Office clock was illuminated. Tenders were called in December 1912 for the sale of the Town Hall clock which was eventually sold to the Sandgate Town Council for their new council chambers, the Sandgate Town Hall (QHR 601566).
\nBy 1917 the Ipswich Council had outgrown its premises, and plans were drawn up by architect George Brockwell Gill for a second storey, but at £1200 the idea was abandoned. In 1937 the Council was renting additional accommodation in the Soldiers Memorial Hall (QHR 600592), and plans were prepared by architect Douglas Francis Woodcraft Roberts for a new town hall and auditorium to seat 1800 people. This was also abandoned, as 1,500 ratepayers petitioned against the building. A compromise solution involved the council purchasing the adjacent St Pauls Young Men's Institute(QHR 600584) in June 1938, and major renovation works to the town hall were completed by builders Harper and Vincent in 1941. These were the last works to be carried out on the building until the 1970s.
\nIn 1947 the adjacent Bank of Australasia building (QHR 600568) was renovated to house the School of Arts Library, and in 1948 the Ipswich Council formerly took over control of the library. A new Civic Centre was opened in July 1975 at the corner of Limestone and Nicholas Streets by the Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. The council converted the old auditorium and stage area of the Old Town Hall to office space, and the Council Chambers remained in the front section of the Old Town Hall. The library was relocated from the former Bank of Australasia building to the former St Pauls Young Men's Institute , and the rates office was transferred from the Old Town Hall to the former Bank of Australasia building. The council finally moved out in 1985 when a new council administrative building was completed in South Street, and the library was moved to rented premises and a City Council Art Gallery was located in its place.
\nAfter the destruction by fire of Reids Department Store in August 1985, the Old Town Hall building was converted into retail space, including the installation of a concrete mezzanine floor in the hall. In 1995, an hydraulic lift was installed in the main hall space linking the mezzanine floor to the ground floor and a steel fire stair was constructed on the east side.
","criteria":"Although no longer a civic building, the Old Town Hall retains important associations with the cultural and municipal development of Ipswich, and the Ipswich community.
|The interiors include the original proscenium arch, central cedar staircase and some original joinery, and the rear section is one of the few surviving buildings in Ipswich dating from 1861.
|It demonstrates the architecture considered appropriate for a municipal building of the 1860s, and is associated with two important early Queensland architects; James Cowlishaw and Francis Drummond Greville Stanley.
The interiors include the original proscenium arch, central cedar staircase and some original joinery, and the rear section is one of the few surviving buildings in Ipswich dating from 1861.
|Located within the historic centre of Ipswich, the building is an important component of the central Ipswich streetscape of civic buildings, all of which were designed in variants of the classical style.
|Although no longer a civic building, the Old Town Hall retains important associations with the cultural and municipal development of Ipswich, and the Ipswich community.
|It demonstrates the architecture considered appropriate for a municipal building of the 1860s, and is associated with two important early Queensland architects; James Cowlishaw and Francis Drummond Greville Stanley.
","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":15342,"place_ref":600567,"name":"Hotel Metropole","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"253 Brisbane Street","suburb":"WEST IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Hotel Metropole is a substantial two storeyed hotel with basement located on the north-eastern corner of Brisbane and Waghorn Streets at Ipswich. Built in 1906, the Hotel is constructed of tuck pointed red brickwork of flemish bond heavily decorated with contrasting coloured brickwork and cement rendered dressings. The skyline is highlighted with decorative gables to the Brisbane Street parapet which conceals a hipped corrugated iron roof behind.
The principal façade to Brisbane Street is symmetrically composed around central loggia to ground and first floor. The main entrance to the building is via the ground floor loggia which is heavily decorated with painted cement rendered arches, columns and balusters and secured with cast iron grilles. Tessellated tiles line the floor. Additional arched entrances to bar areas are located either side of the loggia with a further entrance located off Waghorn street which currently opens into a more recently constructed beer garden that is fenced off from street access. The ground floor verandah to Brisbane and Waghorn Street elevations has timber posts, a cast iron valance and a recently replaced steel roof structure with curved colorbond roof sheeting and slotted ogee guttering.
The first floor loggia has stilted arches of contrasting brickwork with columns, pilasters, keystones and other cement rendered elements. The remainder of the façade is relieved with contrasting cement rendered dressings, sills, string courses, pilasters, entablature and pediment. The Waghorn Street façade includes a first floor verandah with a balustrade and valance in a sunflower pattern which was common in Victoria on boom era houses and hotels and was registered as pattern no:VIC 444 by J Cochrane & G Scott 17 November 1887. At the rear, the 'back of house' functions are expressed on the exterior of the building to Waghorn Street by a step in the parapet and the change in window treatment.
A timber framed cantilevered verandah with cast iron balustrade of a less elaborate detail is located on the rear elevation and overlooks the railway line.
The exterior joinery is generally intact and comprises double hung windows with four light upper sashes to segmental arched windows, multi-paned fanlights with circular lights to other arched openings and four panel doors.
The main entrance to the building opens off the loggia and provides access to bars either side and to the entrance to the stair hall leading to the accommodation on the first floor. The floor is lined with later parquetry with rendered walls and a pressed metal ceiling.
The entrance to the main stair hall has a fixed arched fanlight above the door with the words 'Hotel Metropole 1906' etched into it. The stair hall also has a pressed metal and contains a substantial and elaborately detailed cedar stair. An arched window with decorative leadlight.
The main bar area to the west of the hall has been substantially altered with the removal of several walls to form one main bar area on the principal corner of the building. Remnant walls have been retained as lintels to allow original plaster ceilings, cornices and ceiling roses to survive. A marble fireplace is located on the northern wall of the main bar and the floors are of timber covered with later linings. The bar area to the east of the hall has been heavily refurbished and little of its early interior is evident.
A kitchen, secondary stair and recently refurbished toilet facilities are housed at the rear of the building. The secondary stair provides access to the upper floor as well as to the basement and service entrance. The basement has a low floor to ceiling height and is used for storage.
The upper floor of the hotel generally retains its early layout and contains accommodation rooms and a common room on the western side of the stair hall. The eastern side has been altered and fitted out as a nightclub. The rear of the building houses single rooms and the bathrooms with internal timber partition walls lined with v jointed tongue and groove boards, timber floors and timber ceilings.
Much of the interior joinery on both levels is intact and generally appears to be cedar.
","history":"The two storey brick hotel was constructed in 1906 to the design of prominent Ipswich architect George Brockwell Gill. In 1915 part of the surrounding property was resumed by the Queensland Railways Department. In 1925 the brewers Perkins and Co took over the lease until 1935 as part of a widespread accumulation of hotels by the company throughout Queensland. When Perkins & Co. merged with Castlemaine in 1928 to form Castlemaine Perkins the brewery held licenses for 19 freehold hotels and 50 leasehold hotels including the Hotel Metropole in Ipswich.
The architect, George Brockwell Gill, designed many of the grand residences and public buildings in Ipswich from the 1880s to the 1930s. Some of his works include 'Brynhyfryd' for Lewis Thomas (1889/90), Ipswich Girls' Grammar School (1890/91), St Paul's Rectory (1895), The Ipswich Club (1916), The Technical College (1901), and supervision of the construction of the Walter Burleigh Griffin Incinerator in 1936. Gill emigrated from London and settled in Ipswich in 1886 where he commenced work as an architect for the firm of Samuel Shenton. Gill took over Shenton's practice in 1889 when Shenton retired. Gill had been elected Associate of the Queensland Institute of Architects in 1904 and Fellow by 1913. He was its Vice-President in 1914-16 and President in 1918-19.
The building has been used as hotel since opening in 1906 and continues as a hotel and nightclub today trading under the name of The Harp of Erin.
","criteria":"Erected in 1906, the Hotel Metropole demonstrates a period of renewed building activity in Ipswich around the turn of the 20th century. It was one of many substantial public brick buildings constructed during this period and the striking nature of the building also reflects the importance of the local hotel in communities of the era.
|The Hotel Metropole is a good example of a reasonably intact Federation hotel displaying fine detailing evidence of its original design throughout the building.
|For its architectural and aesthetic value and as a landmark within the city which contributes to the Brisbane Street streetscape and to the townscape.
|The Hotel Metropole has special association with the local community of Ipswich as a place of social activity since its opening in 1906.
|It is also important as a prominent and characteristic example of the work of George Brockwell Gill, the Ipswich architect responsible for numerous significant domestic and civic buildings in the city.
","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":15343,"place_ref":600568,"name":"Former Council Offices, Brisbane Street Ipswich","alternate_name":"Ipswich Visitors and Tourist Information Centre | Ipswich Library | Bank of Australasia","street_address":"Brisbane Street","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Ipswich Visitors and Tourist Information Centre is single-storey load-bearing brick building. Internally, the remains of the strong room are identifiable and there are modern partitions. Some apparently original sections of cornice remain at the northern end.
","history":"The former Council Offices was constructed in 1878 as a Bank of Australasia with attached manager's residence. The architects were Reed and Barnes of Melbourne. The Bank acquired a lease on the corner of Brisbane and Nicholas Streets, occupied by the original St Paul's Church which was being used as a school. The old building was demolished and a bank was constructed. The bank bought the property in 1925. The bank closed in 1943, and it remained empty until the Council threatened to resume the property, eventually purchasing it. In 1985, the Rates Office moved to the new Council Administration Building in South Street and the former bank was used to accommodate shops after Reids department store burned down. In 1991, the building became the city's tourist information centre and the office of Ipswich Events Corporation.
","criteria":"Built in 1878, the place is important in demonstrating the evolution of banking services in major towns and demonstrates the principal characteristics of a 19th century bank with attached residence.
|(Criterion under review)
|Built in 1878, the place is important in demonstrating the evolution of banking services in major towns and demonstrates the principal characteristics of a 19th century bank with attached residence.
It is associated with the work of Melbourne architects Reed and Barnes as a variant of a standard bank design adapted slightly for the Queensland climate.
|It exhibits aesthetic characteristics valued by the community as a finely-detailed and executed example of a revival classic commercial building. It is an important element in a group of civic buildings and makes an important contribution to the streetscape.
|(Criterion under review)
|It is associated with the work of the School of Arts and Ipswich City Council in providing library services.
","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":15345,"place_ref":600570,"name":"Residence, 1 Burnett Street (c1874)","alternate_name":"William Berry residence","street_address":"1 Burnett Street","suburb":"WEST IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The house at 1 Burnett Street sits on a compact allotment, at a corner with Omar Street, approximately 1km from Ipswich town centre. It occupies a prominent position on a hill overlooking a wide expanse of the town. It is clearly visible at a distance when travelling along Limestone St and from the northern end of Burnett St where Ipswich Grammar School is located. There are a number of other houses on the eastern section of Burnett Street that are entered on Queensland's Heritage Register, including 'Idavine' (600572) on the adjacent allotment and 'Notnel' at 6 Burnett Street (600571). Across the street, a number of timber vernacular cottages have been converted into a single restaurant.
The original house of rendered and painted brick is sited in the front eastern corner of the 617 sqm lot. The render has been scored to create the illusion of large masonry blocks. Its main roof is hipped with a short-ridge and sheeted in corrugated iron. The timber verandahs face the two streets with the eastern verandah edge sitting on the fence-line and the other setback approximately 1.2m. Their roof is continuous with the main roof at a slightly reduced pitch. The upper storey's balustrading is cast iron obtained from elsewhere by the Whybirds. A number of balusters are missing, and some aluminium frieze pieces have been fitted around the lower storey. A photo supplied by the current owner and taken late in the 19th century shows the original verandah edge made up of simple timber columns with capitals, carved brackets and horizontal pieces between them. One chimneystack protrudes from the main roof at the eastern end of the ridge and there is a lone acroteria decorating it. There is also a lone decorated soldered rainwater head fitted to the western face.
A flight of stairs rise through the vernadah space overlooking Omar Street. They were likely built in the period prior to the end of the Second World War when the house was converted to flats. The stairs are screened with lattice and run between the two window rows on this façade.
One end of the gable-roofed, single storey kitchen abuts the main house on its southern façade. Its eastern face is in line with that of the main house. The steeply pitched corrugated iron roof has no overhang with the fascia fixed to the outer wall. This structure has painted brick walls and two hooded windows facing Omar Street and the east. The hoods are skillion with timber battening to the sides and a carved timber piece to the front. The two upper storey rear windows also have these hoods. The kitchen windows are sash with 6 panes in each leaf. A sunroom, laundry and covered patio separate the kitchen structure from the small square of garden to the house's west facing the neighbouring property. The sunroom's walls appear to follow a similar scheme to the main house using scored render. A steel sheeted skillion roof (Lysaght Klip-Lok profile) covers both, having no gutters.
Access to the tiled lower-storey verandah is gained from Burnett Street up a short flight of concrete stairs. The front door has a pivoting glass fanlight and opens onto a central hallway divided in two by an arched opening. The walls are plastered brick and a scraping has revealed a two-part colour scheme (light green atop dark, separated by a thin maroon band). Two rooms open to each side of this hallway. A set of stairs begins at its end and an opening to the sunroom fits under them. To the right are the living and dining spaces, which are joined by a broad archway. There is evidence that this wall was originally complete and featured a two-way fireplace, matching that which is found between the two rooms opening to the left of the hall. A section of brick chimneystack remains within the roof space. The ceilings are 3m in height and lined with 20cm wide beaded tongue and groove boarding. The boarding features a central dummy bead. The hallway's ceiling is lined in a similar manner.
The current owners removed a fibro sheet ceiling to reveal the ceilings boards, 2-part cornices and picture rail fitted at 2.5m. The walls are plaster with a shaped timber skirting, matching the other rooms on this level of the main house. One window opens to the front and back of the house. They, as are all the others in the 8 main rooms are sash with 4 panes in each leaf. The windows and doors throughout feature painted timber architraves and reveals. The floors in the hallway, dinning and living rooms are pine boards.
The two rooms opening to the left off the hallway are yet to have their fibro sheet ceilings removed. The mantelpiece to the fireplace in the front room is possibly polished Cedar, while the opposite one has been painted. It consists of a simple mantel top supported by two columns in relief. The arched cast register grates are still in place, the front rooms' being painted white. In the rear room, used as a bedroom, the brick hearth extends some 15cm with slates laid under the grate. The front room's hearth appears to be stone or concrete.
The stairs have been sanded back in places and appear to be made of Hoop Pine. They complete a 180 degree turn in making their way to the upper storey. Its layout reflects exactly that found below. The outer stringer is not continuous at the bend, suggesting some change has been made. A high window overlooks the stairwell. All internal walls are plaster as the ones below are. However the internal wall corresponding to that which separates the hall and living room below, has been breached to reveal boarding that matches the ceilings downstairs. There is matching joinery to all windows and doors. The room above the dining room has been converted into a bathroom. All ceilings are lined with fibro sheeting. They slope down to meet each external wall in a 30cm wide zone. The upper storey hall opens via a door onto the verandah. The current owners report that the Whybirds lowered the level of this verandah, and this is evident in the three steps leading off this doorway. When this change occurred the original verandah timberwork was replaced. Bolts and nuts can be seen on the interior of certain walls where the verandah roof has been tied back.
On the ground floor, from the rear of the central hallway opens the sunroom. To the left are two doors leading through a thick wall to the large kitchen. Above the doors are fixed frames of rough painted lattice. Its ceiling is lined as the living and dining rooms' are and is sloped at each side. The boards at the south end of the flat section of the ceiling are all cut at a distance of approximately 80cm from the wall. This might suggest the existence of an earlier hearth. In the sunroom, on the wall shared with the main part of the house is a faintly visible curved line suggesting a curved roof may have been removed when the skillion was constructed. The line stops short of the current width of the sunroom.
Grounds
The fences to both streets consist of small columns and a base of concrete blocks cast to resemble rough-hewn stone. They are capped by red clay-bricks with bullnose edges that are laid stretcher face down. Between the columns of the Omar Street fence are fitted painted steel frames with bracing.
A two-storey pavilion, said by the current owners to have been built by the Whybirds, occupies the rear western corner of the allotment. The current owners also believe that this was previously the site of the stables. On the ground floor is a double garage accessed by a driveway coming off Omar Street. Above this are bedrooms. A set of stairs and awning roof connect the pavilion with the covered patio attached to the sunroom.
","history":"History
The residence at 1 Burnett Street, West Ipswich, is a brick house built c1874 for William Berry.
The allotment on which this residence is situated was first purchased on 11 May 1855 as allotment 101, parish of Ipswich, county Stanley [1r 32.5p], by William Berry at a cost of £35. Berry was an Ipswich district farmer who was born c1811 in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and by 1843 was resident in the Moreton Bay region. In March of that year he was one of the signatories to a petition to Sir George Gipps, Governor in Chief of New South Wales, requesting the sale of Crown Lands in the Moreton Bay area to be transferred from Sydney to Brisbane where the petitioners, "being Men of limited Capital", could afford to attend to purchase allotments. The appeal proved to no avail and in the subsequent Crown auction held in Sydney on 11 October 1843 Berry was among the first purchasers of Ipswich allotments. It is not clear exactly when Berry moved to Ipswich, however he was reputedly living there by 1848 and quickly acquired a distinct local patriotism. In 1849, he signed a petition that urged the then New South Wales Governor in Chief, Sir Charles Augustus Fitzroy, not to introduce more than a fair proportion of Crown prisoners to the Ipswich and Moreton Bay region on the grounds that their presence in the area would reduce the future prosperity of the district. Twelve years later Berry was again placing his signature to a petition, this time objecting to the incorporation of Ipswich as a municipality, which the petitioners believed "would be impolitic and injurious to the interests of the inhabitants".
Although extant records indicate Berry was a farmer by occupation, it is known that he was also a land owner and was referred to in his death documents as a freeholder. Between 1852 and 1854 he purchased three town lots in Cleveland, Brisbane, and in August 1866 the title to 2 Burnett Street was transferred to Berry. By 1870, Berry had also acquired Lots 98 and 99 next to 2 Burnett Street, and the area generally became known as Berry's Hill. Ipswich Municipal Council Valuation Registers indicate he utilized these allotments as his garden and he resided in a modest timber cottage at 1 Burnett Street until c1874 when Council records show a brick house was built on the property.
The construction of this larger residence was indicative of both Berry's burgeoning financial status and the increasing economic prosperity of the Ipswich region during the mid to late 1870s. It was an impressive house which Berry described, in an advertisement for sale in September 1886, as having a slate roof, eight rooms, kitchen, servant's room, bathroom and bath, large underground tank, two-stalled stable, buggy shed, wash house and other offices. In April the following year, Berry died suddenly at his Burnett Street house, aged 76 years.
Following Berry's death the property was held in trust by his wife, Margaret Berry, and George Miles Challinor, a clerk of Esk, until July 1889 when title to the land was transferred to William Berry's son, Alexander, although Margaret Berry appears to have remained as occupant of the house.
By March 1900, title to the property had been transferred to Paul Marcel Terlier who retained title to the property until 1945. During this period the allotment was subdivided, with one subdivision sold to the then owners of 2 Burnett Street, Sophia Helena Lewis and Norman Lewis, for use as a garden. The house remained on a reduced parcel of 24 perches and four-tenths of a perch. It was also during Terlier's ownership of 1 Burnett Street that the house was reputedly divided into flats and the verandahs enclosed with fibro sheeting.
In the 30 years after 1945, the property passed between 5 owners, until 1974 when it was registered in the name of Allan and Lily Maude Whybird. Allan Whybird had served as an alderman on the Ipswich City Council in 1964 and as Deputy Mayor between 1970 and 1973. He was also the grandson of John Whybird who established the first removalist company in Ipswich in 1857. The Whybirds carried out some internal renovations during their 10 years of ownership and replaced the original balustrading on the upper verandah with cast iron inserts obtained from the local branch of the Bank of New South Wales, which was demolished in the second half of the 20th century.
By 1984, the property was used as a shelter for homeless youths and was owned by the Ipswich Independent Youth Service, before passing into the hands of the present owners, who have restored the building to its original function as a family home.
","criteria":"The residence at 1 Burnett Street was constructed c1874 and is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history in that it is representative of the burgeoning economic fortunes of the Ipswich region during the mid to late 1870s. The original owner of the residence was a farmer and the construction of this large brick house is indicative of the prospect of rising social and financial status offered to early settlers as Ipswich developed into a wealthy commercial and industrial centre of Queensland.
|The house also assumes a prominent position in the Burnett Street area and is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places and because of its aesthetic significance. The house remains a well-preserved example of 1870s residential architecture and contributes to the overall historical character of the Burnett Street precinct.
|With its rich historical milieu, Ipswich abounds with significant examples of early Queensland housing and architecture and as such this residence represents an important landmark in the local area and forms an integral part of the overall streetscape of the city.
","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":15346,"place_ref":600571,"name":"Notnel","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"6 Burnett Street","suburb":"WEST IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Notnel is located on a long, rectangular, 0.22ha allotment within the suburb of West Ipswich; approximately 1km west of the Ipswich CBD. The site faces northeast to Burnett Street and slopes to the west, bounded by residential properties. It comprises several structures including: a residence named Notnel (c1861) adjacent to Burnett Street; a sulky shed (c1861-1946), southwest of the residence; a poultry shed (c1861-1946), southeast of the sulky shed; and a well (c1861-1946), between the residence and poultry shed. Mature plantings, include a mango and an olive tree. Notnel is located in an elevated position and expansive views overlooking residential properties and Ipswich Grammar School [QHR60601] are available to the north.
\nNotnel (Brick Residence) (c1861)
Notnel is a single-storey, lowset brick and timber residence with corrugated metal-clad, steeply-pitched roofs and southeastern brick chimney-stacks. The building is approximately L-shaped in plan, constructed of brick in Flemish bond and surrounded by timber verandahs. It comprises a main core of four rooms with stairhall and attic, and a dining/kitchen wing with an attached skillion-roofed timber framed and clad laundry at the rear. The main house has a hipped roof and its corrugated metal-clad dormer windows retain early timber shingles under the metal sheeting. The dining room, which extends under the adjacent southeastern verandah has a gabled roof and the tall volume of the kitchen is sheltered under a hipped roof. Adjacent to the kitchen and laundry on the southern corner of the verandah is the timber framed and clad larder.
All verandahs have timber floors, rectangular timber posts and raked ceilings. The verandahs fronting Burnett Street have posts with capitals and ceiling linings of wide boards, stripped of earlier deteriorated lead paint. Lattice doors between plain, timber posts provide access from Burnett Street; flanked by rebuilt cross-braced valances and narrow cross-braced timber balustrades. Painted brickwork delineates the location of a recent addition in the northern corner (now removed). The northwestern verandah is mostly enclosed to form a sleep-out and bathroom. The L-shaped rear verandah (flanking the main house, kitchen and dining wings) has exposed roof framing. The kitchen wing’s southeastern verandah has timber floorboards and wide beaded board ceiling linings.
\nThe interior of the main house comprises four rooms (a large bedroom and lounge room at the front, with two bedrooms, separated by a central hall with a set of steep stairs, at the rear) and an attic above the front portion. All ground floor rooms have clear-finished timber floorboards, plaster walls and ceilings clad in wide beaded-boards. The rear, southwestern bedroom and the staircase retain early floor linings of patterned linoleum. A fireplace, with a cedar mantelpiece, tiled hearth and cast iron grate, is centred on the southeastern wall of the lounge room. The attic is a large, single volume that has unpainted timber floorboards, horizontal timber wall linings and ceiling linings. The dormer windows are lined with wider boards and the northeastern dormer window recess has a painted finish. A timber fixture on the wall adjacent to the stair may be part of an independent communication system. Various names and dates have been etched into the southwestern wall, with the earliest noted dating to 1981.
\nThe dining room, an early infill between the main house and the kitchen, is a long space extending under the verandah, with a wide beaded-board ceiling lining that changes pitch, from angled to flat in alignment with the main house wall. All walls are plastered and the northwestern wall retains its early lath and plaster construction. The brick walls projecting under the verandah with fixed windows either side of the chimney replace earlier timber framed and clad walls which had become unstable due to persistent dampness. The floors are lined with the original pine boards except for a small section in the eastern corner.
\nThe kitchen is a tall volume with a rebuilt mezzanine (using former joist housings) creating an upper-floor bedroom accessed by a steep stair. A timber framed and clad larder adjoins the kitchen, located on, and accessed from, the southeastern verandah. The kitchen and mezzanine have painted brick walls and a coved ceiling of timber beaded-boards. The southwest wall contains a small oven and a former fireplace which houses a woodstove. The larder has beaded board ceilings and timber floors. All walls are lined with horizontal timber boards, with the exception of the northwestern wall flanking the kitchen, which is facebrick. Early built-in shelving is retained.
\nThe laundry retains early fabric and is accessed via the northwestern side. The timber walls and roof framing, including shingle battens, are unlined. Timber floorboards are located at the northwestern end of the space and flagstones, bricks and pavers form the flooring at the southeastern end. A bricked-in sink recess (copper now removed) is located to the southeast of the kitchen chimney. Particularly intact brickwork is located on the wall northwest of the chimney showing early glazing.
\nEarly timber joinery is retained throughout the house including: skirtings and architraves; most of the flooring; panelled French verandah doors with external timber screen doors; low-waisted timber doors with early door hardware; a multi-light double-hung timber-sash window; and a ledged door clad in vertical timber boards (to the laundry).
\nSulky Shed (c1860-1946)
\nThe timber-framed sulky shed is a lowset structure that stands on timber stumps, is rectangular in plan, and has a corrugated metal-clad, gable roof. The walls are clad on the northeastern and southeastern sides with early timber weatherboards, and on the southwestern and northwestern sides with corrugated metal sheeting. Although shorter than its original form, the reconstructed northeastern gable-end retains early fabric, ventilation holes at its apex and original doors. The shed has timber floors and the timber roof and wall framing is internally exposed.
\nPoultry Shed (c1860-1946)
The poultry shed is a lowset, timber structure that has a corrugated metal-clad, skillion roof. It is comprised of two sections: a timber weatherboard-clad southern end, and a partially enclosed northern end that has mesh hung between early timber posts. A timber weatherboard-clad wall separates the two sections, and access is available from the northwestern and northeastern sides. The northern end is divided into two areas by mesh and a small section of early timber slabs is retained on the northeastern wall. At the southern end, timber wall and roof framing is internally exposed.
Landscape Elements
The grounds are well established and include a large mango tree (Mangifera sp.) and a mature common olive tree (Olea europaea) at the rear of the residence. A well (c1860-1946) of an unknown depth is located between the residence and poultry shed. It is covered with a modern, steel grate (not of cultural heritage significance).
The scalloped timber fence aligned with the Burnett Street boundary is a modern reconstruction, based on historical photographs.
Other Structures
Other structures and footpaths within the cultural heritage boundary are not of cultural heritage significance.
","history":"
‘Notnel’, a residence at 6 Burnett Street, West Ipswich, is a brick house built c1861 for David McLaughlin. It is one of Ipswich's earliest surviving residences.
\nIpswich was one of the earliest settlements in Queensland, commencing as a convict out-station known as ‘Limestone’ in 1827. Following free settlement in 1842, the township soon developed as an important regional centre because of its location at the head of navigation of the Brisbane and Bremer Rivers and at the junction of routes to the Brisbane Valley and the Darling Downs. Goods from and to these regions were channelled through Ipswich, and this trade contributed significantly to Ipswich's rapid growth and prosperity. The Ipswich community, together with the Darling Downs pastoralists agitated for Ipswich to be made the capital of the prospective Colony of Queensland. While Brisbane assumed that role after separation from New South Wales in 1859, Ipswich continued to develop as a major regional centre, declared a municipality in 1860 and then a city in 1904.
\nThe allotment on which this residence is situated was first purchased on 11 May 1855 as allotment 97, parish of Ipswich, county Stanley [1r 32.5p], by Patrick O'Sullivan at a cost of £31. O'Sullivan was born in 1818 in Ireland and at the age of 19 he was found guilty of assault with a bayonet at Canterbury, England, and transported to Australia. By 1847, O'Sullivan had settled in Ipswich where he worked as a shopkeeper and was elected to the Queensland Legislative Assembly in 1860.
\nBy March 1857, the title to allotment 97 was transferred to David McLaughlin, an Ipswich builder. He was born in Newtown, Limavardy, in Ireland, and it appears that it was there that McLaughlin first became acquainted with William Lackey Ferguson, a bricklayer. Following Ferguson's emigration in 1860, McLaughlin and his fellow Irishman from Newtown began a building contracting business in Ipswich known as McLaughlin & Ferguson and which successfully tendered for work on the Ipswich Grammar School. As a builder, McLaughlin was in an advantageous position to have his own house built and Ipswich Municipal Council Valuation Registers indicate that a brick cottage and workshop existed on the allotment in Burnett Street as early as 1863.
\nThe cottage may have been built by 1861. In November 1861, a five-roomed brick cottage with detached kitchen, situated in Burnett Street, was advertised for let.[1] The property had a closed-in yard with garden and fowl house. Enquiries were directed to Mr David McLaughlin, on the premises; however, the street number was not provided. The Burnett Street property was also advertised for let in April 1862, with a servant’s bedroom added to the list of features.[2]
\nIn 1870, McLaughlin appears to have removed from 6 Burnett Street with Council records indicating that Alfred Dann was the occupant. When sold it was described as \"just the thing for a gentleman on the lookout for a town house\" and intriguingly said to enjoy \"sea breezes\". Despite the enticements, the property remained in the ownership of David McLaughlin until June 1872, when title to the land was registered in the name of John North. At the time of purchase, the garden had reportedly been a ‘mass of trees and shrubs, with a fernery, an aviary and room to keep ponies’.[3]
\nNorth was born in Hertfordshire, England, and migrated with his sister to Australia in 1854 on board the Genghis Khan. Within 2 years North was living in Ipswich and working for the major department store, Cribb & Foote, where he remained in employment for over 40 years. By 1876, he had acquired allotment 98 adjacent to 6 Burnett Street from William Berry, the then owner of 1 Burnett Street. Ipswich Municipal Council records indicate that North demolished a timber cottage that had stood on this allotment and utilized it for the next 22 years as his garden.
\nNorth died at his Burnett Street residence in August 1898 and the property was passed to his wife, Laura Ann North, who remained there until she sold the estate on 1 February 1907 to George William Wesley Rylatt, a dentist of Brisbane Street, Ipswich. Ownership was then passed to Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Runge who was listed as the registered owner of the property in April 1920. Runge, who also owned 2 Burnett Street at the time, did not live in the house at 6 Burnett Street and continued to rent it until his death in 1923, after which time it was held in trust and eventually transferred to his son, also named Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Runge. After taking possession of the property, Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Runge junior sold allotment 98 as subdivisions.
\nBy 1934, the title to the land had once again changed hands and George Hawley was registered as the owner of the property. The Hawley family had migrated to Australia from England and were farmers in the Fassifern Valley. The Burnett Street estate remained in the family for 56 years and it was named \"Notnel\" (Lenton backwards) by George Hawley in memory of Lenton Avenue where he had lived in England.[4]
\nNotnel was occupied by Miss Olive Hawley and her cousin Ethel Hawley until the late 1980s, and was subject to limited change during the preceding decades. An aerial photograph from 1946[5] shows the hip-roofed residence with kitchen and laundry wing, and two outbuildings to the rear – in the current locations of the sulky and poultry sheds. A third, smaller outbuilding (no longer extant) was visible to the southwest of the laundry and plantings were evident to the west of the kitchen, in the location of the mature mango and olive trees that remain.
\nIn 1990, the title to 6 Burnett Street was transferred to the Small family. George Small and his son Alister and daughter-in-law Desley carried out substantial refurbishments and repairs. [6] Original features were preserved wherever possible and items found on the property, including a brooch, a buckle, coins, a pill box, a purse and crockery pieces have been retained. Major work was carried out by professional builders, bricklayers and joiners. The remainder of the building work was done by George and Alister Small. Works included the rewiring of the residence where previously there had only been two power points. The bathroom was rebuilt and reconfigured to accommodate a shower and the addition of a hot water system; the original bath tub has been retained.
\nIn 1991 there was a program of works carried out to both the interior and exterior. Excavations were undertaken along the southeast side of the house and several rows of brickwork were replaced to address issues with drainage and damp, and a paved courtyard was formed in that area. This side of the residence reportedly had a path and brick retaining wall, which had collapsed during the early Hawley days. The weathered cedar louvre shutters – evident in photographs from the early 1900s – and later boarded enclosures to the northeast and southeast verandahs were removed due to their poor condition, and the cross-braced timber balustrades and valances were rebuilt to approximate original details. The double hung sash windows that enclose the northwest verandah were also installed at this time. In the gardens, brick pathways and a courtyard were added.
\nWorks to the kitchen wing, at the rear of the house, included repairs to the small eastern verandah and larder and the installation of a new timber mezzanine over the kitchen, utilising existing joist housings in the brickwork.
\nThe dining room (an early infill addition located between the main house and former detached kitchen with lath and plaster timber framed end walls clad in wide chamferboards) had its eastern end walls replaced with brickwork and new window openings at this time due to problems with the structural integrity of this part of the room. The chimney piece was also replaced as the original cedar piece had serious water damage, and a cast iron insert was installed.
\nIn recent years, the timber-framed poultry shed (2011) and sulky shed (2012) were reconstructed in their existing locations, using extensive original fabric. The sulky shed, which had been extended in the past, was reduced in length and set above the ground at the northern end but retained its original width and height proportions. Sections of the northeast and southeast house verandahs were also rebuilt in 2013. The brick feature wall and the kitchen garden were added in 2009.
\nIn 2015, Notnel remains in use as a private residence. The place retains extensive early fabric and comprises a brick dwelling with a dormered attic, brick dining and kitchen wing, and a timber framed laundry extension to the rear; set in a large garden with mature trees, a well and timber outbuildings.
","criteria":"Built c1861, Notnel is one of Ipswich's earliest brick houses and remains important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history and in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places. The house was constructed in a period characterized by high unemployment and poor economic conditions, however Ipswich emerged as a centre of business and industrial activity. The house remains one of Ipswich's finest and most significant examples of early Queensland domestic architecture from a period when the growing strength of the city was reflected in the more substantial residential buildings being constructed from the mid-1860s onwards. Built originally for David McLaughlin, a contractor, is an example of a substantial early house in the Ipswich area and remains of interest for its unique features such as the attic and dormer windows.
|Built c1861, Notnel is one of Ipswich's earliest brick houses and remains important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history and in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places. The house was constructed in a period characterized by high unemployment and poor economic conditions, however Ipswich emerged as a centre of business and industrial activity. The house remains one of Ipswich's finest and most significant examples of early Queensland domestic architecture from a period when the growing strength of the city was reflected in the more substantial residential buildings being constructed from the mid-1860s onwards. Built originally for David McLaughlin, a contractor, is an example of a substantial early house in the Ipswich area and remains of interest for its unique features such as the attic and dormer windows.
|Located on Burnett Street, Notnel also assumes an important aesthetic role in the historical streetscape of Ipswich. In a precinct shared with other heritage-listed properties, the house makes a significant contribution to the character of the area and stands as a well-preserved landmark of Ipswich's past.
","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":15347,"place_ref":600572,"name":"Idavine","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"2 Burnett Street","suburb":"WEST IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Idavine is located on a compact lot facing Burnett Street to its north-east. It sits atop a hill approximately 1 km from the Ipswich town center. The house is situated approximately 3m from the front fence line at its narrowest point and 4.5m at its widest. The eastern face of the building is approximately 3m from the side boundary, and the western face is approximately 4m from the boundary at the narrowest point. The front verandah provides the visitor with an uninterrupted vista along Limestone Street, the approach route from the town centre.
The house is timber-framed and externally clad on its exposed faces in chamferboards. All its original timber stumps have been replaced with concrete ones. While the timber floor framing appeared to be in good condition, it was noted that a number of steel bearers had been introduced. Painted timber battens screen the gaps between each exterior concrete stump. The building has two gable projections on the front façade. The smaller of the two sits above the verandah, while the other incorporates a triple window. The main roof is short-ridged and slopes continuously to the edge of the verandah. Where the kitchen abuts the dining room, the main roof is joined to another short-ridged roof sloping at right angles to it. The entire roof is of corrugated galvanized iron with recently installed vents in each ridge.
The bargeboards to the verandah gable are shaped and rounded at each end, with a star pattern cut out from the resulting panel of timber. The triangular gable infill is made of decorated timber. A similarly ornate infill panel adorns the other, larger gable. It projects approximately 30cm from the wall below and is supported by carved timber brackets. A double set is located either side of the triple window below. A finial projects from the gable's ridge.
Entry to the verandah is gained via stairs at right angles to the gable projection and through a set of double lattice doors. Its open edge is decorated with tapering, chamfered timber posts. Between each post is an arched frieze panel in-filled with timber battens and divided by a carved timber drop. The ends of the arched friezes rest on timber capitals. The open edge is also decorated with cast iron baluster panels and balusters beneath a timber handrail. The panels display a cornucopia design motif featuring two horns, one filled with fruit and the other with vegetables. Below the symmetrically curved horns are bunches of wheat and another plant. Located centrally at the bottom of the panel, where the ends of each bunch cross, is a horseshoe. The balustrading pattern matches one registered in Victoria on 7 April 1892 by J Cochrane & G Scott (Turner, B Australia's Iron Lace, St Leonard's, NSW: Allen & Unwin. 1985:183-184.)
The combined effect of the cast iron balustrading and the decorative timberwork to the verandah is to give the house a strong street presence. This is despite the fact that these elements are hidden somewhat by foliage. The cast iron balustrading and handrail continues for almost the entire length of the eastern face of the house, however part of the verandah is enclosed with windows.
The framing is exposed on the exterior face of the building adjoining the verandah. This wall is single skin, vertically-jointed tongue and groove boarding. Exposed framing is found elsewhere facing the kitchen and sleep-out areas. A tripartite, double-hung sash window opens from the verandah into the current living room. A casement window opens between the sleep-out and verandah. The front door, consisting of one side panel and a pivoting glass fanlight, also opens off the verandah. Next to the front door is fixed a timber plaque on which the name 'Idavine' is painted in gold. It was in place when the current owners took possession of the property in 2001.
The front door opens onto a hall with an approximately 3.5m high ceiling. The ceilings in all rooms, except the kitchen, laundry and sleep-out (enclosed verandah), are this height. The hall is divided in two by an arched doorway, on either side of which are fixed glass panels. The walls are lined with vertically-jointed tongue and groove boarding, as are all other walls in the house. In the hall are located the only skirting boards to be found in the house. The floor is polished timber boarding, as are all others excluding those in the bathroom, ensuite, kitchen and laundry. The ceilings in both segments of the hallway are pressed metal, as are the cornices. There are further pressed metal ceilings in the living room, kitchen and main bedroom. All other ceilings, excluding those in the sleep-out and verandah, which are sheeted, are lined with vertically-jointed tongue and groove boarding.
Six rooms open off the hallway, two to the left, three to the right and one to the rear. Above each doorway (all fitted with timber doors) is a decorated frieze panel, except above the rear door where there is a pivoted fanlight. The rooms to the left are the current living and dining rooms, which are joined by a large, rectangular shaped opening. Its shape and the difference in ceiling finishes in each room suggest that this was an amendment to the original plan. Both rooms have doorways onto the sleep-out that feature frieze panels. The living room's pressed metal ceiling incorporates a border and concave cornice. In the centre is located a single square featuring a cherub. In the rear wall of the dining room there is an unusual shaped opening. Above a long rectangular servery is centered a square fixed glass panel. This panel's head height matches those of the doors, as does its width. Therefore it could have been a door at some point. The framing for the hallway walls is exposed in the rooms opening off it.
The majority of rooms with windows opening through the western and southern facades of the house have skillion hoods. Those that do not are sheltered by the overhang of the ensuite's skillion roof. The hoods feature flat, galvanized iron roofs, timber battens to each side and carved timber brackets. All windows are double-hung sashes, except three opening off the ensuite, which are casement.
The last room to open to the right off the hallway has a picture rail fixed at a height of approximately 3m. In its western wall a door opens into an ensuite. This was built after an application was made by the current owners to the Cultural Heritage Branch in November 2001. The ensuite fills in what had been a small entry verandah accessed by a short flight of stairs. The stairs remain, as does the lattice door that once opened into the verandah. One of the ensuite's three casement windows has been covered, although it is visible on the exterior. The door between the bedroom and ensuite has a fixed glass panel above and a timber threshold.
In plan, the kitchen is 'L' shaped and one enters from the hallway at its corner. Three more rooms open off this space. The first is currently (2003) a main bedroom, the second is the main bathroom, and the third room is a small laundry. A bank of timber, casement windows line the external wall of the kitchen, and open onto a patio, which is recent and roofed with clear PVC sheeting. Both doors accessing these rooms from the kitchen have timber thresholds. The main bathroom has a tiled floor from the later part of the twentieth century. Its walls are lined with vertically-jointed tongue and groove, and pine boarding divided by a picture rail at door head height. The bedroom's only window is divided into three parts.
The ceiling to the kitchen slopes to match that found in the sleep-out and verandah areas. In the south-west corner of the house, where the kitchen opens into the sleep-out, there are two windows. One is fixed glass and visible on the rear façade. The other window can only be seen from inside the toilet, which has been added to the building, possibly when it was used as flats. Taking the evidence of the slope in the ceilings and the location of timber thresholds, fixed glass panels above doors, and exposed framing, it is likely that the kitchen space was open at some point.
Grounds
The front fence consists of painted timber frame and palings atop a low, stepped brick wall. The pedestrian and driveway entry gates are made of white, painted tubular steel. A brick pathway leads from the pedestrian gate to the entry stairs. A large palm tree shelters part of the front façade, extending the height of the house's western gable end. There is some small to medium size shrubbery situated within the zone of the front setback.
When moving around the exterior of the house, it becomes clear that a number of level changes occur on the lot. In general terms, a continuous step divides the eastern and western sides of the lot. The western area is flat and allows cars to be driven along the driveway and under the rear of the house. A step of approximately 1.5m runs perpendicular from the rear boundary and meets the underside of the house where the patio has been attached. It moves underneath the house and the difference in level is dissipated toward the front boundary. The eastern half of the yard is also largely flat. Adjoining the verandah are three established trees and some low planting. A large brick BBQ sits against the eastern fence at the point where the patio stairs empty out.
","history":"Idavine, a residence at 2 Burnett Street, West Ipswich, is a timber house for which existing evidence indicates a construction date during the Federation Period.
The allotment on which this residence is situated was first alienated in 1855 as allotment 100, parish of Ipswich, county Stanley [1r 32.5p], by Henry Mort at a cost of £25. Mort was a pastoralist and company director as well as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council between 1881 and 1900. The allotment appears to have remained unoccupied during the 11 years of Mort's ownership.
In August 1866, the title to allotment 100 was transferred to William Berry, an Ipswich district farmer. Although extant records indicate Berry was a farmer by occupation, it is known that he was also a land owner and was referred to in his death documents as a freeholder. Between 1852 and 1854 he purchased three town lots in Cleveland, Brisbane, and in 1855 was the owner of the property, adjacent to 2 Burnett Street, at 1 Burnett Street (allotment 101). Berry resided in a modest timber cottage at 1 Burnett Street until c1874 when he built a brick house and Ipswich Municipal Council Valuation Registers indicate he utilized allotment 100 (2 Burnett Street) as his garden. By 1870, Berry had also acquired Lots 98 and 99 next to 2 Burnett Street, and the area became generally known as Berry's Hill.
Despite Berry's real estate interests in Burnett Street, allotment 100 remained unimproved during his ownership. In 1886 title to the land was transferred to August Knopke and it appears that Knopke erected a timber house on the property c1887-88 as his residence, as indicated in the Ipswich Municipal Council Valuation Register for 1888.
No documentary evidence exists to definitively date the residence which is now located at 2 Burnett Street, however the overall form of the house, ascertained through site inspection, suggests it was built in the Federation period, possibly after the turn of the century. It is unlikely that the current house was constructed by August Knopke and the link between the name 'Idavine' and its owner in 1913, Ida Retschlag (nee Boettcher), may be significant.
Retschlag remained as the registered owner of the property until 1918 when it passed into the hands of Sophia Helena Lewis, daughter of Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Runge & Wilhelmine Charlotte Runge. The property remained in the Lewis-Runge family for the next 60 years and it was reputedly during this period that the house was at one-time used as flats. It is significant to note that following the establishment of an immigration incentive scheme in Germany during the late 19th century, German emigrants formed close communities in many Queenland towns and the association of this house with German owners from 1886 onwards is symptomatic of their influential presence in the Ipswich area.
Since the mid-1970s the property has passed between 6 owners and remains a well-preserved example of the architectural style of its era.
","criteria":"Idavine at 2 Burnett Street is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history and is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places insofar as it is a representative example of Federation-style residential architecture in a precinct of Ipswich containing historically significant timber and brick houses. Its long association with German owners from 1886 onwards is also indicative of the influential presence of German emigrants in Queensland following the well-planned immigration scheme established in Germany during the late 19th century.
|Idavine at 2 Burnett Street is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history and is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places insofar as it is a representative example of Federation-style residential architecture in a precinct of Ipswich containing historically significant timber and brick houses.
|It is also important because of its aesthetic significance, which contributes to the overall historical character of the Burnett Street precinct. As a whole, the streetscape of Ipswich abounds with significant examples of early Queensland housing and architecture and this residence remains an important and well-preserved example of Federation housing in the area. Its well-maintained state also gives it individual aesthetic value, with many of its original internal and external features intact.
","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":15348,"place_ref":600573,"name":"St Michaels Nursing Home","alternate_name":"Gwennap | St Michael's Nursing Home","street_address":"68 Chermside Road","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"St Michaels Nursing Home is a two-storey, brick dwelling with a pyramid corrugated iron roof and a stepped down, straight roof over verandahs to each side. The house is wrapped by verandahs at both levels, although the rear and the southern sides have been enclosed. The land drops away steeply from the footpath, such that from the street, the house appears to be only one storey. A fretwork pediment with paired supports marks the entry at the upper level. This level retains cast-iron balustrades and valance and is accessed from the footpath by a short ramp which bridges the excavated drop down to the ground level. The house has several chimneys, two roof ventilators and paired supports beneath the main roof's eaves.
Units have been added to the site on the northern and southern sides of the original house. They are set well back from the footpath, such that they have little impact on the streetscape qualities of this section of Chermside Road.
The interior of the house is accessed by a large entrance hall which extends to the rear of the original house structure. There is a small foyer area at the front created by a decorative timber partition extending across the hall with an open door-way in the centre. The central feature of the entrance hall is the high, dark-timber, vaulted ceiling extending from the front door to the rear. The foyer partition does not extend to the ceiling so that the continuity of the ceiling is not obstructed. The hall is unusually large and utilises a lot of the internal space on the upper lever of the house making it likely that it would have been used for entertaining purposes.
On the left-hand wall immediately upon entering the foyer is an original ornate timber mantle piece with a central mirror. This has been moved from its former position in the adjacent room, most probably a room used for entertaining.
The upper-floor consists of four main rooms off the hall and an open area with a reception counter in the centre section on the right hand side of the hall, as well as two rooms on the enclosed verandah on the southern side of the house. A sitting room to the right of the entrance displays large original timber window frames facing the verandah (which are duplicated on the other side of the entrance) as well as a fireplace on the internal wall. There are two large rooms on the northern side of the house with doors leading from the hall as well as doors to the verandah. There is another room in the rear South -eastern corner. Most of the original timber window and door frames are extant.
The new additions extend perpendicular on either side of the rear of the original house. The modern wings are constructed of brick and concrete.
","history":"St Michaels, or "Gwennap", as it was originally known, was built for timber merchant Josias Hancock around 1874. At that time the area around Chermside Road Fiveways was a considerable distance from town, the only other families in the area being the Bullmore's of "Rockton" and the Shillitos.
The name "Gwennap" originates from Hancock's birthplace in Cornwall. At the age of 16 his family emigrated to Australia. They arrived in Sydney on 1 November 1856. Josias' father, Thomas, the elder brother of local builder William Hancock, moved to Queensland in 1864 and eventually established a pit-sawing business at Pine Mountain, later purchasing timber mills at Rosewood and Ipswich.
In 1874 Josias married Emily Trevaskes and built "Gwennap". It is possible that the house was built by his Uncle William Hancock. Late in the 19th century Josias left Ipswich to start his own business in Brisbane. Originally this was called Josias Hancock Timber Merchant, later Hancock and Sons and later again Hancock and Gore. His brother Thomas stayed in Ipswich and later became associated with the historic house "Fairy Knoll".
"Gwennap" was purchased by bookseller William Tatham, who moved here from his first home, "The Palms" on Denmark Hill. Tatham had come to Ipswich from Yorkshire and worked at Cribb and Foote until opening his own business on the site of what is now Woolworths. Around 1950, "Gwennap" was purchased by Mr M Daly and was converted to a nursing home. At this time the name was also changed to St Michaels. In July 1970, the nursing home was bought by the Presbyterian Church's Department for Social Mission. While new wings designed by architects Fulton, Gilmour, Trotter and Moss have been added, the structure of the house itself remains essentially unchanged.
","criteria":"Constructed in 1874, St Michael's Nursing Home reflects a period of affluent residential development in Ipswich when many of the town's business and industry leaders built substantial, grand residences in keeping with their financial success and the solidification of Ipswich as a an important commercial and industrial centre.
|It is architecturally significant as a substantial, well constructed home, unusual for its era in its being a two-storey dwelling set into a deeply excavated site.
|St Michael's Nursing Home is also aesthetically significant as one of a number of significant dwellings sited on Chermside Road - opposite Queen's Park, and further north in the Ipswich Girls Grammar School area - which collectively form an important streetscape.
|St Michael's Nursing Home is important for its association with the Hancock family of timber merchants, and the Tatham family who had previously owned "The Palms".
","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":15349,"place_ref":600574,"name":"Ipswich & West Moreton Building Society","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"45 East Street","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The former Ipswich and West Moreton Building Society is an imposing two storeyed building set on the corner of Limestone and East streets. It is constructed of brick which has been rendered and painted on two street frontages with face brick on the rear and side elevations. The building was constructed in three separate stages, the front section in 1888, the centre section was built in 1912 and the rear amenities block was probably constructed in the 1950s. The different stages of construction can be clearly seen on each side facade with different roof, brick and window types apparent.
The East Street facade of the building is symmetrical and divided into three parts, with a central section rising above the parapet which conceals the roof line behind. The central section contains a semicircular arch containing the words 'Building Society 1888 AD' in relief, crowned with a pediment with "Estab 1877" underneath. The keystone of the arch features a symbol consisting of a wand with entwined snakes which was associated with good luck and commerce. Each side of the central section contains pilasters with composite capitals supporting an entablature and pediment. The awning over the footpath and the shop fronts on the street level are recent.
The Limestone street facade is less elaborate and is of rendered brickwork. The parapet continues around to conceal the roofline of the 1888 section while the hip roof of the 1912 section is exposed. The earlier section contains timber double-hung windows with flat arch window heads, while the 1912 part of the building has timber five-light casement windows.
The interior of the building has been extensively remodelled with new partitioning and suspended ceilings. A mezzanine floor has been inserted into the original banking chamber. Very few original interior elements are visible apart from the window joinery which has been partly concealed by suspended ceilings.
","history":"The former Ipswich and West Moreton Building Society building was constructed in 1888 to the design of the former Colonial Architect, F.G.D. Stanley. The Ipswich and West Moreton Building Society was the first building society established in Ipswich, and one of the first in Queensland. It was established in 1877 to meet a very real need for housing finance. A board of directors was appointed in July 1877 including chairman Enoch Bostock, directors E.W. Hargreaves, J. Scott and D. McKay, trustees W. Ginn, J. Mcfarlane and R. Tallon, surveyor S. Shenton and secretary T.W. Hoey. As there was no legislation covering building societies, the Ipswich society was registered in September 1877 under the Friendly Societies Act 1876. It was eventually registered again on 5 May 1887 when the Queensland Parliament passed the Building Society Act 1886.
The tradition of building societies goes back to the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in England in the late 18th century. They were first formed by local members of working class communities to help each other finance the building of houses, of which there was a severe lack in the new industrial centres. They were a part of the self-help and mutual aid movement which saw the birth of friendly societies and trade unions as well as building societies in response to the lack of social welfare and protection for working class members of society. The first building society legislation in Australia came about in 1840 and from the beginnings of building societies in Australia in the nineteenth century they became an important part of the financial market during the 20th century. With the turn of the 21st century many of the original building societies have been taken over by larger financial institutions.
At first, the operations of the Ipswich and West Moreton Building Society were carried on in an office shared with Mr Bostock in Brisbane Street, Ipswich. Mindful of future needs, the Society purchased an allotment at the corner of East and Limestone Streets from James Foote in 1887, at the cost of £1,600. The following year, a two storey brick building with a large basement was erected at a cost of £4,052. The architect was FDG Stanley, the former Queensland Colonial Architect, and the building contractor was Peter Brown. Part of the building was initially leased to the Queensland Woollen Manufacturing Co Ltd, and the clothing manufacturer Bishop and Woodward.
The architect, F.D.G Stanley was the former Queensland Colonial Architect from 1872 to 1881 as well being a prolific architect in private practice. He was one of the most prominent and prolific architects in nineteenth century Queensland demonstrating a high level of quality and diversity in his many works. Some of his buildings include The General Post Office, Queen Street, Brisbane (1871-72), The Supreme Court, Brisbane (1874-75) and in Ipswich the Congregational Church (1869-70) and the Governor Blackall Memorial (1879-80).
The building was enlarged in 1912, due to the expansion of its major tenant, Bishop and Woodward. A further triple-hipped roof brick section, at a cost of £1,245, appears to have been added to the rear. The architect was G Brockwell Gill, and the contractors Hastie and Halliwell.
The architect, George Brockwell Gill, designed many of the grand residences and public buildings in Ipswich from the 1880s to the 1930s. Some of his works include 'Brynhyfryd' for Lewis Thomas (1889/90), Ipswich Girls' Grammar School (1890/91), St Paul's Rectory (1895), The Ipswich Club (1916), The Technical College (1901), and supervision of the construction of the Walter Burleigh Griffin Incinerator in 1936. Gill emigrated from London and settled in Ipswich in 1886 where he commenced work as an architect for the firm of Samuel Shenton. Gill took over Shenton's practice in 1889 when Shenton retired. Gill had been elected Associate of the Queensland Institute of Architects in 1904 and Fellow by 1913. He was its Vice-President in 1914-16 and President in 1918-19.
The Ipswich and West Moreton Building Society survived the depression of the 1890s and the building itself survived the flood of 1893 when the water rose to the first floor of the building. It continued to operate during the first and second world wars and the disastrous years of the Great Depression. In the 1970's branches were established in leased premises at Booval and Goodna, and further branches, sub-branches and agencies were subsequently established in other places in the south-east Queensland region.
Bishop and Woodward closed in March 1959, and the Society's premises were altered again. Six ground floor shops were constructed, designed by architect RF Franklin, and built by contractor TP Turner. A further modernisation of the shop fronts was undertaken in 1976-77, as well as extensive interior remodelling by architects Lumley and Tait Pty Ltd.
On 4 November 1996 the Ipswich and West Moreton Building Society merged with the First Provincial Building Society which in turn was taken over by the First Australian Building Society in December 1997 both of which occupied the old East Street building. The building is now owned and occupied by the Bendigo Bank.
","criteria":"The former Ipswich and West Moreton Building Society building is important in demonstrating the evolution of Queensland's history being an example of the growth of Queensland's financial institutions, particularly building societies, in response to the need for funding for affordable housing. It also reflected the expansion of Ipswich as a commercial centre in the 1880s and subsequently the increased building activity which was taking place in the city centre.
|The building possesses aesthetic significance for the fine detail of its East Street façade and for its streetscape value, enhanced by its prominent corner position in the centre of the city of Ipswich.
|It has special association with the Ipswich and West Moreton Building Society which operated in the building from 1888 to 1996.
|It also has special association with the work of former Queensland colonial architect, FDG Stanley, who designed the building, and the architect of the additions, G. Brockwell Gill.
","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":15350,"place_ref":600575,"name":"Ipswich Court House","alternate_name":"Old Court House; Court House Ipswich","street_address":"75 East Street","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The former Court House Ipswich is a single-storey sandstone and brick Romanesque building. The interior of the original courtroom (Court Room 1) is divided internally into four bays. The early bench is at the western end of the courtroom. The side wings of the 1859 section are of facebrick and are each divided into three separate rooms. The 1936 section is to the west of the original sandstone section. This section is in brick with ruled joint render, and includes a large room (Court Room 2) and several smaller rooms. Court Room 2 is also divided into four main bays. The western facade is of simple Revival Classic design. The building is surrounded on three sides by a rendered brick fence with rendered brick piers and pipe and chainwire infill.
","history":"The former Ipswich Court House is a sandstone and brick single-storey building, the original section of which was completed in 1859 to a design by Charles Tiffin. In the early years of Ipswich, the building was used for public meetings as well as a court house. The original building consisted of the central sandstone courtroom with a vestibule at the front, flanked by two brick wings. The building was too small for its task by 1904. In 1936, a major extension in rendered brickwork was made to the west, adding a new court room and ancillary rooms with the entry off Ginn St. With this addition, the building was able to continue its function until a new Court House was built on a different site in 1982. The State Government carried out conservation work in the 1970s and 1980s. After the building ceased being used as a courthouse, the bench was moved to the original court room and the building became a community cultural centre.
","criteria":"The size and quality of the building demonstrate the importance of Ipswich as a major centre at this time.
|Completed in 1859, the Court House is a rare example of a government building constructed in Queensland prior to Separation.
|It still contains early bench and court fittings and is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of an early courthouse.
|An unusual Romanesque building of sandstone and brick, it exhibits aesthetic characteristics valued by the community and is a landmark on a major intersection. It contributes to a precinct of historic buildings on the edge of the Ipswich CBD.
|It is closely associated with the Ipswich community as the main court house for the district from 1859 to 1982, and also as a venue for early public meetings.
|It is the earliest major Queensland work of architect Charles Tiffin, at that time Clerk of Works for Moreton Bay and later the first Queensland Colonial Architect.
","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":15351,"place_ref":600576,"name":"Uniting Church Central Memorial Hall","alternate_name":"Congregational Sunday School","street_address":"86 East Street","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1993-07-09","description":"The Memorial Hall is a substantial polychromatic brick building with a corrugated iron roof. It has a two-storeyed wing with a gabled roof fronting onto East St, and a two-storey height hall with a gabled roof extending out to the east: the site slopes away and another storey is included at the rear. The East St elevation has a central entry portico, and a decorative gable breaks the roofline above. The eastern end of the building finishes by expressing the hall roof in a gable end, which is flanked by gables projecting to the north and south; this elevation also has a central timber portico. The north and south walls have skillion roofs under clerestory windows, and timber stairs and entrance porticos. The Memorial Hall is a distinctive member of a small grouping of public buildings on East St, which include the Police Station (1930s) and Courthouse [600575] (1859 and 1880).
The exterior is finely detailed, with rich variations in materials and openings. The base of the building has broad arches, while the upper level openings have hemispherical and flat arches. The gable peaks have circular vents. Surrounds include combinations of beige brick voussoirs and toothing, and terracotta voussoirs, hood mouldings, red brick surrounds, and toothed concrete sills and keystones. The main entrance portico to the west has series of concrete arches with keystones on brick columns under a gabled roof. Other external decoration includes beige brick quoins, and several string courses, made up of combinations of diagonally-placed bricks and projecting bricks, with a concrete string course at hall floor level. The building has in total five timber entrance porticos with fine timber detailing including battens and, cross-braced balustrades. The roof is crowned with a timber and corrugated iron fleche with four gables with finials, which when erected contained a Boyles patent ventilator.
Internally, the hall is encircled by rooms. The western end has a large meeting room, library and office either side of an entrance hall, and a timber mezzanine with balcony access to meeting rooms. To the north and south the hall is flanked by aisles, offices and storage areas. The south aisle has been converted to a kitchen. The eastern end of the hall has a stage and backstage area, and rooms under the eastern end are currently used for childcare.
The hall is an impressive two-storey height space with exposed timber trusses, clerestory lighting, a hardwood floor, and rendered masonry walls. The ceiling has exposed rafters and diagonal timber boards. The aisles are arcaded with arches springing from substantial square columns with square capitals and barley twists in the centre. Doorways to ancillary rooms are also arched. The aisles have raked timber boarded ceilings with exposed rafters. The mezzanine sits behind three arches springing from pilasters in the western wall, and has a wrought iron balustrade. The stage has timber partitions to rear, and behind the stage area is a gable wall with a three-light stained glass window. The clerestory windows have multi-coloured panes around their edges.
The principal entrance to the building to the west has arched doors with arched stained glass sidelights, leading to an entry vestibule; similar doors and sidelights lead to the hall. The entrance vestibule is a double storey height volume with timber stairs climbing around its perimeter. The stairs have finely turned and carved balustrades, striped timbers to the soffits, and meet an arched window with coloured glass at the half landing. The vestibule also contains a brass and timber honour roll. The adjacent library has extensive timber shelving, and the meeting room opposite has external entrance doors with coloured glass and timber boarded ceilings with a star-shaped ceiling rose. The mezzanine rooms have exposed framing under gable roofs, with diagonally boarded ceilings.
The Memorial Hall is a very fine and intact building; the interior spaces, particularly the hall and entrance vestibule, have impressive spatial qualities, and contain finely detailed elements. The exterior is distinctive and rich in its use of materials and fine detailing of walls, porticos and openings.
","history":"The Uniting Church Central Memorial Hall is a two storeyed brick building erected in 1895 to the design of architect G Brockwell Gill as a Sunday school for the Congregational Church.
The Ipswich Congregational Church was formed in 1854 with Reverend Edward Griffith as its first pastor. A year later, the first church was erected on a site in Brisbane Street. This was replaced in 1870, with the earlier building becoming the Sunday school. After the 1893 flood destroyed the Sunday school, a new site was sought. In 1894, the East Street site was purchased by the Church.
The site, opposite the court house and police station had previously been granted to the Ipswich Council as a site for the erection of the Town Hall, however this did not proceed and in 1893 was proclaimed a town lot. Plans for the new Sunday school were ambitious, however the work of the Sunday school was considered important, given the secular nature of the state's education system and their enrolment substantial. In 1895, the Congregational Sunday School had 429 scholars and fifty-one teachers under the superintendence of James C Cribb.
G Brockwell Gill's plans provided for a number of classrooms accommodating both children and adults. They were located in the wings of the hall, on the raised platform, and on the front second storey. An infants room and large storeroom were located under the platform at ground level. Opening off the entrance was a library and a room known as the Endeavour Room. The new school cost £3,000. The contractor was W Betts and the brickwork was undertaken by John Mackenzie.
In 1938, the Church acquired the adjoining residence previously owned by prominent church members the Cribb family. After this, Keiraville (QHR 600597) became the manse. In 1957, a new brick church was erected to the north of the hall. This was known as the Central Memorial Church in memory of those who served in the two World Wars. In 1978, the property was transferred to the Uniting Church. In recent years, the church and Sunday school were closed. The hall is now regularly used by various community groups. The lower former infants classrooms is used as a kindergarten.
","criteria":"The Uniting Church Central Memorial Hall is important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history, in particular the development of the Congregational Church in Ipswich and the importance placed on education within the Church.
|It is a rare example of a substantial masonry Sunday School building, and demonstrates the principal characteristics of a substantial Ipswich building by architect G Brockwell Gill.
|It is a rare example of a substantial masonry Sunday School building, and demonstrates the principal characteristics of a substantial Ipswich building by architect G Brockwell Gill.
|It exhibits a range of aesthetic characteristics valued by the community, including the fine detailing and rich use of materials of the exterior; the contribution to the townscape as a distinctive and substantial decorated brick building amongst a group of public buildings on East St; the impressive spatial quality of the hall and entrance vestibule; the decorative detailing of major internal elements; and the fine craft-work of the stairs and stained glass windows.
|As the Sunday school and hall for over ninety years, it has a special association with the Congregational (now Uniting Church) community of Ipswich.
|It has a special association with the life and work of a number of people associated with the life of the church, in particular James C Cribb, Joseph Hargreaves, and Alexander Nichol, who served as Superintendents of the Sunday School; and members of the church, who served during the First World War, whose names are recorded on the roll of honour.
","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":15352,"place_ref":600577,"name":"St Marys Roman Catholic Church Precinct","alternate_name":"St Marys Roman Catholic Church, Presbytery, Parish Hall and Convent, formerly; St Mary's Roman Catholic Church Precinct","street_address":"Mary Street and Elizabeth Street","suburb":"WOODEND","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The St Mary's Roman Catholic Complex is bounded by the wall along the southern side of Elizabeth Street, Mary Street and Roseberry Parade and is sited on a rise of overlooking the central area of Ipswich. The site comprises a number of large prominent buildings surrounded by established landscape features and plantings.
\nSt Mary's Church
\nSt Mary's Church is a substantial sandstone building with traditional cruciform plan, comprising a nave, side aisles, transepts and two towers flanking the eastern front of the building. The church is constructed from sandstone with details including coursing, mouldings, window and door surrounds and tracery.
\nThe walls and towers are in sandstone ashlar with the main wall surfaces in strongly-coloured Helidon freestone with dressed margins. Much of the upper work is light coloured ashlar sandstone work, including pinnacles of simple profile above the nave and outer walls. The front wall features a large mullioned window incorporating a rose window in the upper section. There is an outside door in each aisle as well as the main entrance doors at the east flanked by aisle doors at the base of the two towers.
\nThe body of the church is rectangular in plan with a nave, aisles and twin spires on the front facade. Like its predecessor, the church faces east, a reversal of the conventional church orientation, and addresses the city centre several blocks away. This principal facade of the building, the eastern elevation addressing Elizabeth Street, is symmetrically composed and comprises a central entrance, a large traceried window above, several smaller openings flanked by two large towers. The towers are surmounted by spires, constructed from ashlar sandstone. The principal entrance to the building is through a pointed arched opening recessed in a heavily moulded doorway set within a projecting porch element with steeply pitched gabled awning.
\nThe rectangular sacristy annexe at the western end of the church is constructed of stone from the earlier (1859) church. It is constructed in a more coarse sandstone. The architectural detail is also slightly different including a group of three lancet windows, high in the west wall. The corrugated iron gable roof on this section also at a shallower pitch than the rest of the church.
\nInside the entrance doors there is a narthex separated from the body of the church by a glazed partition in silky oak, with a choir loft above. The flat ceiling over the narthex and aisles has a diaper pattern with Gothic decorative detail. This pattern is repeated along the nave ceiling which consists of a pointed arched vault divided into bays by simple ribs. The same ceiling decoration is also found in the sacristy.
\nThe interior contains carved wooden pews and marble fittings. The nave is separated from the aisles by an arcade of eight bays supported on light coloured sandstone columns. The majority of the paired metal-framed aisle windows contain stained glass on commemorative and devotional themes. Clerestory windows are located in the nave walls in each bay. Bays to the external aisle walls are defined by attached buttresses. The marble tomb of Father Andrew Horan, surrounded by a marble railing with lancet window balustrading, is located in the south eastern corner of the church.
\nThe church grounds are separated from the rest of the St Mary's buildings by a wall in coarsely-textured dressed sandstone with coping, except on the eastern road frontage where it has been replaced by terraced, brick garden walls. A grotto is located in the north-eastern corner near the church. The area surrounding the church is paved in bitumen.
\nSt Mary's Presbytery
\nSt Mary's Presbytery is a two storeyed stone building constructed in 1876 in the manner of an Italian villa, to the design of the architect Andrea Stombuco. It is rectangular in plan with a stair hall leading to four rooms at each level. The restrained classical south facade consists of a double arcade, each of five semicircular arched openings supported on square columns of Tuscan detail and separated by Tuscan pilasters, doubled at the corners.
\nThe upper storey has a balustrade within each arched opening. The hipped roof is sheeted with corrugated iron and has a minimal overhang forming a classical cornice moulding. Two chimney stacks punctuate the roofline. The arcaded facade design returns on the eastern and western ends with three arched openings on each level, with recent additions on the northern side. The architectural ornament is generally austere except for decorated keystones to the arches. Exterior walls are rendered and painted white.
\nSt Mary's Convent
\nThe earliest section, two-storeyed and L-shaped, is constructed from stone with brick surrounds around doorways and windows. Later extensions have been carried out with stuccoed brick and timber. The southern facade comprises stone towers with pyramid roofs, flanking a lower arcaded verandah and a first floor balcony. Most of the stone and brick of the early building has been rendered and painted. The eastern elevation overlooks the river, while the western elevation faces Mary Street. The verandah and balcony at the western end of the southern elevation, part of the 1915 extension, is less grand than that which is part of the original building. The brick extension has stuccoed columns and timber valances. The first floor balcony has timber balustrades with decorative details. The ground floor verandah has three elongated sashed windows with fanlights and round-headed arches. Each window has a rendered sill and label moulding. A staircase has been removed along the eastern elevation and a doorway has been added. The doorway has brick quoining and a shallow arched brick header. Three French doors with brick quoining and breezeway are located along the elevation.
\nThe 1915 chapel extension, now used as a music room, is two-storeyed with a ground floor colonnade and first floor verandah. The verandah has been enclosed at the western end. The western façade is facebrick with parapet. Windows are located the ground and first floors. The former apse has elongated round arched windows and a projecting gabled roof with a timber bargeboard. Two sections are located beneath the projecting gabled roof. These two sections each have a double hung window with small square glass panes. The first floor section of the façade has three elongated double hung sash windows with decorative moulded detailing.
\nThree French doors with breezeways open from the southern verandah. The entrance foyer has a paired-panelled timber door leading into the convent. The doorway is surrounded by a breezeway and fanlight with coloured glass panels. The dado in the entrance is constructed from plaster and painted with a grain effect so that the plaster resembles stained timber.
\nA central hallway leads to a large room at the western end of the elevation. French doors open to the verandah. Two large double hung sash windows are located on either side of a marble fireplace located in the southern end of the room. A doorway leads to another room at the eastern end of the building. From this room, French doors open to the verandah along the eastern elevation. The first floor balcony has a timber floor boards
\nA circular bitumen driveway and garden is located outside the southern facade.
\nSt Mary's Parish Hall
\nThe Hall is a single storeyed brick building with stairs to a choir loft. The high-ridged roof has four ventilators spaced at regular intervals. The southern elevation faces Mary Street where a face brick extension projects beyond the brickwork of the earlier section. The original section of the southern elevation comprises of arched, small, square-paned windows incorporating polychromatic brickwork surrounds.
\nA extension was added to the eastern elevation of the Hall in February 1978. This extension partly covers the original gabled roofed elevation. The visible upper part of the elevation is made up of a polychrome brick window surrounds with projecting brick piers and dentils. The western and northern elevations are similar to the southern elevation comprising face brick divided into bays by brick pilasters with round arched window openings surrounding by polychromatic brickwork.. Dentils are located on both elevations. The round arched window openings in the western elevation are more elongated than the shorter, wider, round-arched window openings in the northern elevation.
\nInternally, the Parish Hall comprises a large open space with columns separating two smaller areas. A staircase is located in the north eastern corner of the Hall leading to a choir loft. A pipe organ is located in the choir loft. An elevated stage is located along the western facade.
\nThe Schools
\nThe Infant School, located at the north eastern side of the site adjacent to Roseberry Parade and overlooking the Bremer River is a partially one and two storeyed building. The original stone section at the eastern end is two storeyed and the more recent 1909 brick section is one storeyed. The building is approximately T shaped in plan with the stone section forming the stem of the T and the brick wing forming the transverse section.
\nThe stone section has a steeply pitched gabled corrugated iron clad roof and is surrounded by verandahs on all sides except where the brick wing extends. The verandah is supported on paired timber posts with concrete columns on the ground floor. The verandah balustrade is a simple dowel pattern. The interior has been renovated.
\nThe 1909 face brick extension has rendered detailing around door and window openings and more elaborate timber balustrade and valance treatment to the verandah which lines all sides of the building. Gabled pediments projecting from the verandah line emphasise the placement of entrances. The roof has pitched roof lanterns.
\nA small gabled weatherboard extension on the southern corner of the building may date from the earlier boys or girls schools.
\nThe Music Rooms, located adjacent to the Infants' School, are housed in two small buildings, One of the buildings is a masonry structure with hipped corrugated iron clad roof The larger building, closer to the Infant's School, is a more elaborate building and is divided into three tuition rooms internally. The building has stone foundations and is of rendered masonry construction. the openings on this building are triangular headed and a decorative frieze of projecting brackets lines the eaves line of the building. The roof of the building is also clad with corrugated iron.
\nThe Boys' Primary School, located at the corner of Mary and Elizabeth Streets, is a fine two storeyed building with stone ground floor and more recent brick upper storey. The hipped and gabled roof of the building is clad with Marseilles tiles and has a number of gables with battened timber gable ends, reflecting the strong Queen Anne influence of the upper floor. The interior of the upper floor has decorative pressed metal ceilings in neo-classical style.
\nThe Hitching Rail
\nLining the southern side of Elizabeth Street is a short concrete wall with a line of metal hooks which is believed to be an early hitching rail.
","history":"St Mary's Roman Catholic Church Complex is large precinct located in central Ipswich overlooking the central business area and adjacent to the Bremer River and was established from the late 1850s as the home of the Roman Catholic faith in Ipswich. The church has developed over time and now houses a large Gothic church from 1904; a rendered stone presbytery dating from 1876; a stone convent dating from 1874; a parish hall constructed in 1901 and a school building dating from 1884.
\nThe development of Ipswich dates to free settlement in 1842, with the first free settlers in Queensland establishing at Ipswich and West Ipswich. A Roman Catholic presence was established in Ipswich by 1849 when the Ipswich Mission was declared. By 1854 much of the bushland in Woodend Pocket, where the St Mary's Complex was to be located, was cleared and during succeeding decades Woodend became the residential area of well to do early settlers. Established in this area were educational facilities including the Ipswich Grammar School and St Mary's Convent .
\nFollowing the separation of Queensland from New South Wales in 1859, a new Roman Catholic Diocese was created which separated the newly formed Diocese of Queensland from the Diocese of Newcastle. On 14 April 1859 James Quinn, who was residing in Ireland at the time, was appointed the first Bishop of Queensland and arrived in Brisbane on 12 March 1861. Between his appointment and his arrival, Quinn recruited desperately needed clergy and religious Sisters. He arrived in Brisbane with several priests and five Sisters of Mercy, under the guidance of the Mother Superior, Mother Mary Vincent Whitty. The Sisters of Mercy were principally a teaching order, founded in Dublin in 1831 by Catherine McAuley. The establishment of religious schools in the new colony was seen as critical to instilling and strengthening faith in the early community.
\nSt Mary's Church
\nSt Mary's Catholic Church was constructed in 1904 and was the third Catholic church to be built on the site. St Mary's Church was built during the pastorate of Father Andrew Horan, parish priest from 1872 to 1924 and was constructed according to the plan of St Joseph's Catholic Cathedral in Rockhampton, designed by FDG Stanley. The church was built on the same site as the second St Mary's Church which had replaced an earlier timber building located to the east.
\nThe land on which the church was built was owned by the Roman Catholic Church by 1858, and during the next few decades the Church acquired adjacent blocks, including several acres north of the church and presbytery. The first rudimentary church building, designed as a temporary hall, was described by Reverend Alan Brown as a small timber slab building without glass in its windows and with wooden shutters for protection and light. This church was located about midway between the presbytery and the present church. This first church was demolished to build the second St Mary's Church within a year of its construction.
\nThe foundation stone for the second church was laid by the Most Reverend John Bede Polding, OSB, Archbishop of Sydney on 24 October 1858. Father William McGinty, Ipswich's first parish priest, travelled throughout the sparsely populated parish ministering and raising funds for the construction of the church. The stone used in the construction of the second church was quarried near Ipswich and brought to the site on barges on the Bremer River. Gothic in design and cruciform in shape, this building had a slate-covered roof and could accommodate about 600 people. The church was designed by William Holloway Chambers and built by John Petrie, both of Brisbane at a cost of £7000. The building was open for worship in 1859.
\nAt around the turn of the century, it became apparent that the second St Mary's Church was inadequate for the growing community. Father Andrew Horan and the Catholic community resolved to construct a new larger church. Work began on the present church soon after the foundation stone was laid on 28 October 1900, by Archbishop Dunne. When excavating the foundation stones of the second St Mary's Church, a sealed bottle was located which contained a copy of the North Australian dated Tuesday 19 October 1858 and two coins. The North Australian was a newspaper widely circulated in the Ipswich and West Moreton area. Work proceeded on a day-labour basis with Father Horan as general supervisor and Mr Patrick Nugent as building superintendent.
\nWhile the third St Mary's Church was under construction, St Mary's Parish Hall was built to serve both as a temporary place of worship and as a future meeting place for Catholic societies, especially the Catholic Young Men's Society. Although the superstructure of the present St Mary's Church is built from Helidon sandstone, stone from the previous church has been incorporated into some elements of the new building, reputedly the sacristy. The church was dedicated on Rosary Sunday, 2 October 1904 by His Eminence Patrick Francis Cardinal Moran, the third Archbishop of Sydney, and within seven years of the dedication day, the cost of the £40,000 church had been cleared.
\nThe design of the church is said to be directly adapted from the design of St Joseph's Roman Catholic Cathedral in Rockhampton, which was designed by architectural partnership FDG Stanley and Son of Brisbane. St Joseph's was completed by 1899, only shortly before a design for the St Mary's Church was to be planned. The Gothic design of the church was very much in keeping with the nineteenth century English Gothic Revival, rather than the more Italian Renaissance leanings of the Roman Catholic Church.
\nThe Celtic crosses on each of the spires were designed by Mr J McGee of Toowoomba and cast at the foundry of Messrs Evans, Anderson and Phelan of Brisbane. The roof is supported by steel principals made by Messrs Barbat and Co, iron founders of Ipswich. The timber used in the roof was Oregon pine imported by Messrs Saxon and Binns of Sydney. Internally, the balustrade, the tower stairs and the gallery fittings were supplied by Mr A Cole. Seating accommodation was for about 2200 people. The pews were made by Mr John Madden of Ipswich. The paintings of the Stations of the Cross were placed in 1905 and are the work of Italian artist, Giorgio de Pyro, from St Stanislaus' College, Bathurst. The paintings are said to be copies of similar designs in Rome. A bell, hung in the eastern tower of the façade, was cast in Dublin for Father Horan by the firm of Matthew O'Byme. Plumbing work on the church was done by Mr MJ Cuthbert and Messrs Madden and Sons did the carpentry.
\nAlterations and renovations have been carried out on the church over time. In 1919, the original timber altar and altar rails were replaced with marble. The new altar was designed by Brisbane architect Jack P Donoghue and was manufactured by F Williams and Co of Ipswich'. This new work was blessed by Archbishop Duhig on 30 March 1919. One of the larger projects carried out, to mark the golden jubilee of St Mary's, was the reconstruction of the church precinct's entrance approach from Elizabeth Street by Monsignor Molony in 1954 at cost of £7000. The entrance was blessed and officially opened in October 1954. Monsignor Timothy Molony was inducted in 1951.
\nFurther renovations were carried out in 1979. The roof was repaired, the sanctuary was extended and the church was carpeted. In 1980, in keeping with changes mandated by the Second Vatican Council's decree on the liturgy, altar rails were removed and a plain altar facing the people was installed. The marble altar from 1919 is, however, still in place and sections of the marble rails now surround the grave of Father Andrew Horan who is buried inside the church.
\nSt Mary's Presbytery
\nThe first presbytery, a timber cottage, was built in 1860, but by the 1870s was in extremely poor condition and required replacement. It is reported that the Bishop of Brisbane exclaimed that he was, \"heartily tired of looking at the dilapidated pine hut, which has been renewed three or four times, and as often consumed by the indefatigable white ant.\" The congregation of St Mary's and the parish priest at the time, Father Horan, agreed to build a more substantial building. The present presbytery, built in 1876, was designed by the Italian architect Andrea Stombuco who had moved to Brisbane in 1875. The presbytery is one of the oldest buildings in the St Mary's Complex.
\nThe Neo-Classical style building was built of stone and plastered inside and out with Portland cement. The lime and cement was supplied by James Campbell of Brisbane and the carpenter and joiner was J Byrne of Ipswich. St Mary's Presbytery was constructed using day labour and was supervised by Father Horan. The building was constructed for a total cost of £2745/1/9.
\nSt Mary's Convent
\nThe present St Mary's Convent was constructed between 1874-1884 for the Sisters of Mercy, The building replaced the first convent which had been constructed in 1864 and demolished in 1900 when the third St Mary's Church was built on the site.
\nWithin a week of the arrival of Bishop Quinn and his party of priests and Sisters of Mercy in Brisbane on 10 May 1861, Catholics of Ipswich had approached the Bishop to request the immediate foundation of a convent school in the Ipswich area. The Ipswich deputation had requested that the Sisters settle in their town initially, however the first convent was established in Brisbane where development was ahead of Ipswich.
\nSoon after their arrival, in 1863, the Sisters of Mercy arrived in Ipswich to establish a school and convent. To begin, the Sisters rented a cottage in East Street, from Dr Dorsey as their first convent. The land on which the convent would be built was granted to James Quinn in 1864. The land was bordered by Mary Street on the western side and River Street (later Roseberry Parade) on the eastern side. Part of the original land was transferred to John Connor Flannery on 5 October 1874. Title was later transferred to Emily Conlan, Catherine Flanagan, Bridget Murphy and Honoria Griffin as joint tenants on 14 February 1879. Title for further land was transferred to Robert Dunne, Emily Conlan, Ellen Whiny, Mary Potter, Mary Carney and Honoria Griffin on 10 May 1886. The title for the whole of the property was transferred to the Corporation of the Trustees of the Order of the Sisters of Mercy in Queensland on 5 November 1927.
\nThe foundation stone of the first purpose built convent was laid by Bishop O'Quinn on 25 July, 1864 at a site located between the second St Mary's Church and the Christian Brothers School. This convent was designed by Benjamin Joseph Backhouse and was constructed by Messrs John Murphy and Peter Connell. The two-storeyed brick building with a gabled, slate roof was plastered both inside and out and opened in 1865 at a construction cost of cost £1100. This building provided accommodation for six sisters, a refectory and wooden dormitories for school boarders. The convent was extended by Charles Balding in 1866.
\nThe first St Mary's Convent and the second St Mary's Church were demolished in 1900, to make way for the larger third church. Sandstone from the first convent were used to build Music Rooms, adjacent to the Bremer River. The Music Rooms building was designed by John Farrelly and is divided into three sections where the students were taught to play various instruments by the Sisters. These rooms are extant today.
\nAlthough the first convent was not demolished until 1900, plans to construct a new convent began in the early 1870s. In May 1874 the Most Reverend Roger Bede Vaughan, the Coadjutor Archbishop of Sydney was in Brisbane for the solemn dedication of the present St Stephen's Cathedral. Before he returned to Sydney he visited Ipswich at the invitation of Bishop O'Quinn and laid the foundation stone of a new convent. Another ten years was to elapse, however, before the building was completed. Located on the top of the hill behind the church, overlooking Ipswich, the Bremer River and the surrounding countryside, St Mary's Convent was dedicated to St Brigid on 17 June 1884 by Bishop Dunne and the Sisters took up residence.
\nPatrick Nugent did the majority of the masonry work and James Madden was responsible for the carpentry and joinery of the building.
\nAn extension providing additional accommodation for the nuns and a chapel was added to the Mary Street end of the building in 1915. The architects of the chapel were Messrs Coutts and Sons, and the builder was Mr Sydney Ash. The foundation stone was laid on 9 May. 1914 and the completed extensions were dedicated on 15 February 1915. Both functions were performed by Archbishop Duhig, who was at the time Coadjutor Bishop to Archbishop Dunne.
\nThe ground floor housed various reception room and offices and a chapel in the western wing. The chapel was converted into a library when the current chapel was constructed in 1915. With the 1915 extension a walkway on the first floor was constructed which connected the convent to the chape. Over the years, the numbers within the Order declined and the property was eventually sold to the St Mary's Parish in 1994. The Convent is currently unoccupied.
\nSt Mary's Parish Hall
\nSt Mary's Parish Hall was constructed in 1901 as a temporary place of worship while the third St Mary's Church was being constructed. The decision to build the St Mary's Parish Hall, initially as a church, is linked with the growth and development of the St Mary's Precinct during the late nineteenth centuries.
\nThe land on which the Hall would be built was granted to James Quinn on 13 April 1864. Title of the land was transferred to Robert Dunne on 5 May 1899. Near the turn of the century, it became apparent that the second St Mary's Church was inadequate. Work began on the church soon after the foundation stone was laid on 28 October 1900, by Archbishop Dunne. Built at a cost £1726 Archbishop Robert Dunne opened and blessed the building on Sunday 4 August 1901, while the third St Mary's Church was being constructed. The brick building was designed and constructed by Patrick Nugent, the carpentry was completed by Messrs Madden and Sons and plumbing was done by Mr J Cuthbert. Following the completion of the St Mary's Church in 1904, the building became the centre for the social activity of the parish.
\nThe Catholic Young Men's' Society held frequent debates in the Hall. Sir James William Blair, Chief Justice of Queensland, 1924-1940, was a member of one of the debating teams. Sir James was a politician, barrister and judge was born at Coalfalls, Ipswich on 16 October 1870. He was admitted to the Bar on 6 March 1894. Blair was friends with TJ Byrnes, the then attorney-general, and the two shared chambers until Byrne's death in 1898. Blair was considered a master of both written and spoken English.
\nThe hall was extensively renovated and enlarged by Monsignor Timothy Molony, parish priest of Ipswich from 1951 to 1976. An extension, which comprises the foyer to the Hall, was added to the southern elevation in 1978. The Hall remains as a centre for the Parish's social activities.
\nSchools
\nTwo schools on the St Mary's site, one erected for the Sisters of Mercy in 1884 and another erected in 1889 are significant elements of the educational facilities associated with Roman Catholic complexes.
\nUpon the arrival of Father Eugene Luckie in Ipswich to assist Father Manly in 1848, local subscriptions were taken for the erection of a Catholic school in Ipswich. The government agreed to subsidise the building work and a total sum of £125 was collected. A nearby cottage was used as a temporary school whilst this building was under construction. The new school was in use by 1849. In 1861 another school was constructed on the corner of Mary and Elizabeth Streets by Father McGinty.
\nA convent school was constructed on the St Mary's site in 1884, the same year that the Sisters of Mercy took up residence in their new convent. This building was constructed under the supervision of Mr P Nugent at a cost of £2213/613 and is located on the north eastern side of the site, adjacent to Roseberry Parade and overlooking the Bremer River. The school was operating by May 1885 and 300 students were initially enrolled. A description of the facilities and education available at the convent school were supplied in the 1904 Souvenir Booklet, commemorating the opening of the Church recording that the school provided training in drawing, painting, singing, fancy needlework and other fine arts including music.
\nOn 30 May 1909, Archbishop Duhig blessed the foundation stone of rear Additons to the original convent school. The Brisbane Centenary Official Souvenir booklet of August 1924 described the school as having, 'grounds that were beautifully laid out and carefully kept. There were two tennis courts...a very spacious school building in which children may receive Primary and Secondary education which includes Languages, Higher Mathematics and other subjects required for the Queensland University Examinations. Candidates are also prepared for Music, Scholarship, Commercial Course and Pupil Teacher Examinations.'
\nAs well as the Convent School, another school was erected in 1889 as a Boys' School. The first boys' school was constructed on the site of the present Music Rooms earlier. This became the first boys' boarding school in Queensland and was conducted by Father Brun and two fellows brothers from the French Assumptionist order. The Boys' School was relocated to the corner of Mary and Elizabeth Streets. The foundation stone of the new building was laid by Archbishop Dunne on 5 June 1887. This school was built with cut stone on concrete foundations for to cost of £3000 under the supervision of Mr P Nugent.
\nThe School was opened in 1889 and in 1892 the management was turned over from lay teachers to the Christian Brothers, a teaching order. Another storey was added to this building in 1915 making it a two storeyed building. This addition cost £5000 and was blessed by Archbishop Duhig on 14 May, 1916. In 1953 further renovations were made. The place is now known as the St Mary's Primary Boys School and in 1999 was still administered by the Christian Brothers.
\n","criteria":"
This extensive precinct was established in the late 1850s as the central site of the Roman Catholic Church in Ipswich. Development of St Mary's Catholic Church Complex reflects the principal phases of development and growth in Ipswich, particularly during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
|The complex is a good and substantially intact example of a nineteenth and early twentieth century Roman Catholic Complex with a prominent church, presbytery, parish hall, school buildings and convent. The prominence of the site and architectural quality of the buildings make this a particularly good example of an ecclesiastical precinct in Queensland.
|St Mary's Complex is a landmark in Ipswich and has, for this reason, considerable aesthetic and social value. The site has a number of significant buildings and elements which, individually, have aesthetic and architectural value. St Mary's Church is a good and substantial example of early twentieth century Gothic Revival churches. The presbytery is a fine example of building designed in the Italian villa style, appropriate to the sub tropical climate of Brisbane. Further this building is important as a good example of the work of the renowned Catholic architect, Andrea Giovanni Stombuco. The school buildings, parish hall and convent are also fine buildings of considerable architectural merit.
|St Mary's Catholic Church is significant for its association with Father Andrew Horan, Parish Priest of St Mary's from 1872-1924. Father Horan supervised construction of the church and is buried and commemorated inside the church.
|St Mary's Catholic Church is significant for its association with Father Andrew Horan, Parish Priest of St Mary's from 1872-1924. Father Horan supervised construction of the church and is buried and commemorated inside the church.
","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":15353,"place_ref":600578,"name":"Ipswich Central Mission - Wesleyan Chapel","alternate_name":"Original name: Wesleyan Chapel | Ipswich City Uniting Church | Ellenborough Street Church","street_address":"Ellenborough Street","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The church is a simple Wesleyan Chapel extended at the eastern end to provide an entrance lobby and side rooms with gallery above, and at the western end to form a sanctuary and transepts.
The Revival Gothic form includes a steeply-gabled roof clad in corrugated galvanised iron and with a timber louvred roof ridge ventilator. The earlier portions of the building are of painted rendered brickwork with projecting buttresses and tall lancet windows. The rear portion is of English bond face brickwork with painted window and door dressings, string courses, gable decoration and buttress cappings. Window sills are of painted sandstone and the plinth to the walls is of painted rendered sandstone.
Internally, the floor is of hoop pine and the walls are painted plaster. The roof is supported on scissor beams and purlins with pine boards laid diagonally from ridge to eaves. Steel tie-rods connect the bases of each pair of scissor beams.
At the eastern end of the church there is an upper gallery built as the choir stalls and organ loft. The gallery is of timber construction with a stepped timber floor supported on cast iron columns and reached by a small staircase from the entrance foyer.
The sanctuary located at the western end dominates the interior, with a raised pulpit, organ pipes and elaborate stained glass window. Various marble memorial tablets have been placed on the side walls, while the church has many fine stained and coloured glass windows, most of which are memorials.
The built-in joinery work, notably around the sanctuary end of the church and the gallery balustrading, is well-detailed. The earlier work is constructed in cedar and pine while later work around the front entry porch including a panelled dado and screen is of silky oak. The most recent work such as hymn directory boards are in Queensland maple. The pews are of traditional design in pine.
The church occupies a prominent corner position in the city and is seen above a contemporary brick wall, metal fence and painted pilasters. Other buildings on the site are either of recent origin or are early buildings which have been severely modified and extended.
","history":"The Wesley Uniting Church is a brick church, the first section of which was built in 1858 as the Wesleyan Chapel. The original design was possibly by the contractor Samuel Shenton who later practised as an architect. The chapel was extended in 1863 to the design of Benjamin Backhouse and in 1892 to the design of Henry Wyman.
\nIt is the oldest church (in continuous use as a church) in Queensland and is one of a very small number of churches in the state which pre-date Separation.
\nThe first Wesleyan services in Ipswich were conducted by Rev William Moore in 1848, using buildings such as the Court House. Moore rode from Brisbane to Ipswich and back to conduct the services. A timber chapel was built in 1849 facing Limestone St, on land granted to the church.
\nA brick chapel was built in 1858 by Samuel Shenton, facing Ellenborough St. It was extended to the east in 1863 to a design by Benjamin Backhouse, the extension including a gallery with seating for 130 people. In 1892, north and south transepts and a vestry were added, designed by Henry Wyman and built by Perry and Betts.
\nThe church was renovated to celebrate its 75th anniversary in 1923 and again to celebrate its centenary in 1948. A side porch was added in 1924. A brick and steel fence was erected on the east and south sides of the church in the 1980s, designed by architect Jim Armstrong. A major conservation project was carried out in 1990 by Buchanan Architects. The pipe organ was installed in 1905 and rebuilt in 1977.
\nA two-storey parsonage was built by Samuel Shenton to the north of the church in 1864. The building was damaged by fire in 1920 and subsequently renovated, then was extended forward and very extensively altered in 1958 to convert it to offices known as Wyvern House.
\nThe present-day Sunday School Hall was built in 1877, extended in 1897 and remodelled in 1938 and 1967. The Young Men's Hall was built in 1921 and renovated in 1948. The second parsonage, now used as a day respite care centre, was built in 1958, architect Fred Scorer.
\nThe church as an organisation has been a major influence in the Ipswich community, particularly since 1954 when it changed its name to Ipswich Central Mission and became more oriented towards community service. It initiated a number of significant social welfare programs including Ipswich Blue Nursing Service. Light Industries sheltered workshops, Lifeline crisis help service, three aged persons complexes and a day respite centre. It also gave support to establishment of Ipswich Senior Citizens centre and care for \"street kids\" in the city.
\nOriginally a Wesleyan Chapel, the church later became a Methodist Church then in 1977, became part of the Uniting Church in Australia.
","criteria":"The place demonstrates the development of churches in Queensland and the desire of residents to build substantial structures to replace their original rudimentary places of worship.
|Completed in June 1858, the Ipswich Central Mission is the oldest surviving church in continuous use in Queensland and the oldest Uniting Church in Queensland; it is a rare example of a church built prior to Separation.
|Its form, structure, furnishings, memorial tablets and windows demonstrate the principal characteristics of a Protestant church building.
|The place is a fine example of a simple Revival Gothic church building and demonstrates aesthetic characteristics valued by the community. Its prominent corner position at a bend in a major road make it a local landmark and it is one of a group of important historic buildings in central Ipswich.
|The place has a strong association with the Ipswich community through its social welfare programs, and with important organisations initiated by it such as Ipswich Blue Nurses and Ipswich Lifeline.
|It has a special association with the life and work of important early architects Benjamin Backhouse and Henry Wyman, and with builder/architect Samuel Shenton.
","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":15354,"place_ref":600579,"name":"Ginn Cottage","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"1 Ginn Street","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Ginn Cottage is a brick cottage, rendered with ruled joints. The sharply-pitched hipped roof is clad in corrugated galvanised iron. The cottage has an attic level and has dormer windows on the southern and northern faces and symmetrically-placed brick chimneys.
The main house has a verandah on three sides, the rear verandah being enclosed. The front facade has a central doorway with a multi-paned french door on either side, opening onto the front verandah which has a sandstone step onto the footpath. The southern side abuts Meredith Lane.
The interior has four main rooms, two with a fireplace. The two main rooms have pressed metal ceilings and some original four-panelled doors survive. The attic contains two rooms which are lined with tongue and groove boarding and which have internal shutters on the windows. A ledged and braced door is between the two rooms. The attic is accessed by a steep central staircase with simple square balusters.
The rear single-storey kitchen wing is of timber frame clad in fibro-cement and has a hip roof. This wing is extended towards the west with a skillion roof over a small bathroom.
Outbuildings include a weatherboard-sheeted rear toilet block built as amenities for the restaurant and a flat-roofed carport constructed of steel frame.
","history":"Ginn Cottage is a brick cottage with an attic, built in 1859 for William Ginn and his second wife Eliza Jane. The architect and builder are not known.
Ginn was born in Ireland and migrated to Sydney where it is thought he met his first wife, a Miss Graham who died in childbirth. In the 1850s, he moved to Ipswich and managed the produce store of G.H. Wilson. He married Eliza Jane Costly (date uncertain) and they built Ginn Cottage as their family home; the land was purchased in late 1858 and the cottage was built by 1860 when Council rates records begin. In 1886, Ginn complained to the Colonial Secretary that the sale had been defective and the cottage was actually built on part of the roadway behind the Court House; this boundary problem was resolved and the street was named Ginn Street.
In 1879, Ginn left Wilsons and, in partnership with Harry Hooper, formed the merchant firm Ginn and Hooper. Hooper died in December 1896. According to family information, Ginn had already decided to continue his business alone and had mortgaged Ginn Cottage to help finance himself; however he died in January 1897, just before this firm was due to open.
Ginn was also involved in other enterprises including coal mining, a store in Augathella and raising racehorses. He was a founding board member of the Ipswich and West Moreton Building Society and was involved in community organisations.
The cottage is said by the family to have originally included a detached kitchen and stables. A kitchen wing was built attached to the house (said to have been in 1910) and a bathroom and other rear extensions were added at some time prior to 1970. The verandahs were enclosed prior to 1970.
Other alterations include changing the shingle roof (seen in an early family photograph) to corrugated galvanised iron and rendering the brickwork. The dates of these changes are unknown.
By 1970, the building was in poor condition with some internal joinery removed. It was bought by Nita and Noel Buchanan and renovated. After use as professional offices for several years, it was again sold and converted into a restaurant.
","criteria":"(Criterion under review)
|Built in 1859, Ginn Cottage is a rare surviving example of a brick cottage of the 1850s and still demonstrates many of the characteristics of this type of building which was once common in Ipswich.
|Built in 1859, Ginn Cottage is a rare surviving example of a brick cottage of the 1850s and still demonstrates many of the characteristics of this type of building which was once common in Ipswich.
|It exhibits aesthetic characteristics valued by the community and contributes significantly to the streetscape of an important historical area in central Ipswich.
|It is associated with the life and work of William Ginn, a notable early Queensland resident and businessman who is also associated with the formation of the Ipswich and West Moreton Building Society.
","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":15355,"place_ref":600580,"name":"St Stephen's Church & Hall","alternate_name":"St Stephens Church & Hall | St Stephens Presbyterian Church & Hall","street_address":"22 Limestone Street","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The church's western spire makes it a landmark within the city's townscape and the most dominant element of its immediate streetscape. The spire's presence is further accented by it being painted cream, while the remainder of the structure, including the sympathetic addition of a sessions house at the eastern end, is dark brick. The building has a Latin cross plan, and a corrugated iron roof, with ventilation to its ridges. Its detailing, in keeping with the tall spire, is derived from the Gothic style. Its windows and door openings have pointed heads. Detailing to the spire includes: recessed pointed head arches, accented by tracery; voussoirs, alternately projecting; and elaborate moulding. A lighter coloured brick articulates the pointed heads of the church's other window and door openings.
Internally the church still contains most of its original fittings and furnishings including timber bench pews and decorative timber entrance screen. An original gallery overlooks the main floor of the church at the western end of the building and has access to the bell tower in the steeple.
An operational pipe organ sits in a pit on the southern side of the alter platform with the pipes and other mechanisms stored in the upper level of the southern transept. There is a chancelory situated in the northern transept.
A false rear wall has been constructed dividing the main church from the sessions house by a narrow hallway. The church and the sessions display several large cracks in the brick work due to shifting foundations and the floor in the sessions house is a 'floating floor' which is sinking.
The timber hall, separated from the church by a carpark, has a cross-shaped plan, and a gabled portico entry with double access stairs. The hall has a corrugated iron roof with large decorative ventilators, and tall bargeboards. Fine timber-work is used within the upper panel of each tall, narrow window to suggest the tracery of a pointed head arch. Although the hall is built of timber, its detailing is consistent with the Gothic references made in the adjacent church most evident on the gabled front entrance and the timber valances which encircle the building.
Internally the hall still displays its original design clearly with a platform stage at the eastern end of the building looking out over a simple rectangular hall with a curved timber ceiling. An extension has been added at the rear of the building which include the church offices on the northern side.
The lych gate, included in this precinct is at the corner of Gordon and Limestone Streets. It has a brick base and a tiled, gable ended roof.
The plantings include two tall thin pines, mimicking the spire. The squat cypress tree plantings appropriately allow the built structure to dominate the site.
","history":"St Stephens Presbyterian Church stands as the second church to be constructed on the current site in 1864 - 1865. This striking gothic style brick church was designed by architect Joseph Backhouse and continues to be the place of worship for one the oldest congregations in Ipswich.
\nThe first Presbyterian church service held in Ipswich was by Dr. John Dunmore Lang in December 1844. On 19 October 1851 the Reverend Walter Ross McLeod, of the United Presbyterian Church of South Brisbane, preached to a congregation of 150 people, the largest of any church congregation to that date in Ipswich. Following the induction of the Rev. William Lambie Nelson as minister for Ipswich on 30 August 1853, the congregation began to work towards a permanent worship place for the 'Scots Church of Ipswich'. By early November 1855 a church, 40 feet by 26 feet and with a square tower, had been completed according to the plans and specifications drawn out by Mr John Petrie.
\nThe official grant of the land on which the church stood, at the corner of Limestone and Gordon Streets, was not made by the New South Wales Government until 30 December, 1858. On 22 February 1859 there were two further grants of adjacent land, for a school house and manse, bringing the total to one acre.
\nProminent members of the Established Church of Scotland at that time were Arthur Macalister, later Premier of Queensland, John Pettigrew, William Hendren, William Craies and Hugh Nelson (later Sir Hugh). The church took on the name of St Stephens in 1862. This early church proved to have faulty foundations, and had to be replaced.
\nThe present St Stephen's church was erected during the time of the Reverend Samuel Wilson, who arrived in 1863, also the year that the twelve independent Presbyterian Church of Scotland congregations united into the one Presbyterian Church of Queensland, with the Rev. Wilson being appointed the first moderator of the united church.
\nThe foundation stone for the new church was laid by the Hon Arthur Macalister in August 1865. The architect for the new building was Joseph Backhouse, brother of Benjamin Backhouse who designed Ipswich Grammar School. It has been suggested that Joseph Backhouse only supervised the construction of the church under designs made by his brother Benjamin, however this not substantiated. Joseph Backhouse was an architect in Ipswich in 1864-65, and was the town surveyor for the Ipswich Municipal Council in 1865-67. Contractors were Farley, Renny and McHugh.
\nIn 1911-12 the church was virtually rebuilt owing to foundation problems which meant that the walls had to be replaced. The steeple and sessions house were retained in original condition, the roof raised, and two porticos were added at that time. The architect was G Brockwell Gill, and the contractor John Whitehead. The foundations still had problems, and in 1958 the church underpinnings were shored up by planting six metre pyramids of concrete under the building. The transepts were included at that time. However, the sessions house was not underpinned in 1958. In 1978 the sessions house was dismantled brick by brick and a new sessions house, incorporating a kitchen and new offices, was erected in the same place adjacent to, but not structurally adjoining, the existing building. A number of the stained glass windows depict the development of the Presbyterian Church and one came from the original St Andrew's Church in Wickham Terrace, Brisbane.
\nThe foundation stone for the church manse was laid on 12 August 1879, and the building opened in January 1880. The manse was located to the east of the church and it was recently relocated to an acreage property at Anstead. The church still owns the land where the manse had stood and a modern shop building now stands on the land with the rear of the building being used as a worship centre.
\nTenders for the erection of a Sabbath School, or Hall, were called for in 1888 on an allotment of land south of the church granted by James Ivory. The Sabbath School was constructed by builders Robert Wilson & Co for £751 10s 6d and was opened in 1889.
\nThe Women's Guild planted cypress trees at the front entry to the church in May 1941 in memory of their late president, Alice Kirke. A lych gate was erected on the north-eastern alignment in 1958 as a war memorial. In 1977, when several protestant churches united, St. Stephens was one of the congregations which continued as a Presbyterian Church, and its present parish, which extends from Gatton to Goodna, is essentially the original parish of 140 years ago.
","criteria":"St Stephen's Presbyterian Church and Hall are important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history as the buildings are a manifestation of the establishment of the Presbyterian Church in Queensland and the substantial and striking design of the buildings are a reflection of the importance of the Church in nineteenth century communities.
|The grounds of St Stephens Presbyterian Church contain a lych gate on the north-eastern corner constructed in 1958 as a war memorial, an uncommon type of war memorial in Queensland.
|St Stephens Church is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a nineteenth century gothic style brick church including the steeple and the pointed arched window and door frames.
|The Church has high aesthetic significance as a city landmark which has an important townscape contribution. The hall is also aesthetically significant for its fine timber detailing and together the church and hall create a cohesive composition of religious buildings dominating the corner of Limestone and Thorn Streets.
|St Stephens Church and Hall have a strong and special association with its congregation, one of the oldest congregations in Ipswich, as a place of worship and gathering since the 1860s.
|The church has special association with architect Joseph Backhouse (brother of Benjamin Backhouse) as his major work in Ipswich.
","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":15356,"place_ref":600581,"name":"Ipswich Club House","alternate_name":"Ipswich Club","street_address":"14 Gray Street","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-08-21","description":"The Ipswich Club is a substantial, highset timber house, set on timber stumps, and built late in the Federation era. Its street presence is dominated by the structure's northern facade, which features a projecting octagonal porch, set centrally within a double access stair. The octagonal porch or verandah bay is an architectural element which the house has in common with "Bowerbank" and "Arrochar", both of which are also domestic designs by Ipswich architect George Brockwell Gill.
A second faceted porch or verandah bay, on the eastern side of the building, has been partially obscured by additions to the rear of the building. The house has a terracotta tiled roof, which extends over verandahs to three sides, and which features terracotta finials.
A prominent feature of the house is the decorative timber work to the verandahs. The balustrades are wide, white slats, and centrally located in each verandah bay is a circular motif. A scalloped valance is also made from wide, white slats. Dark timber battens enclose the timber stumps supporting the house. An arch of white timber, much like an enlarged verandah bracket, is placed between the stumps supporting the northern, octagonal porch. Such unusual decorative timber features were typical of George Brockwell Gill's domestic work. The house is set back from the street and views of it are framed by mature plantings. It is especially prominent in the view south from Pring Street.
","history":"The grand two-storey timber building which is owned and used by The Ipswich Club was built for Ipswich butcher and pastoralist, J.P. Bottomley in 1916. Bottomley commissioned prominent Ipswich architect, George Brockwell Gill, to design the house as a family home. In 1898 Bottomley purchased allotment 16 from the Cramb estate and the adjacent allotment, 15, was purchased in June 1914. The Ipswich City Council water rates book for 1915-16 notes a new house on site from 1st March 1916.
Bottomley was the youngest of 14 children and was born in Bradford, Yorkshire. He came to Australia, arriving in Ipswich in 1884. Initially he worked with Watson Brothers, Butchers, but later he had his own butcher's business and bought pastoral land in the Burnett and western districts. The business he worked for was probably that of Richard Watson and his two brothers. Watson owned the grand residence, "Elamang", at East Ipswich. Bottomley became a high profile Ipswich figure, serving for nine years on the Purga Shire Council, including four years as chairman, and also serving the Ipswich City Council for two years. He was also president of community organisations including the Ipswich Show Society, Ipswich Chamber of Commerce, Queensland Pastoral and Agricultural Society and the Ipswich Bowling Club.
The architect, Goerge Brockwell Gill, designed many of the grand residences and public buildings in Ipswich from the 1880s to the 1930s. Some of his works include 'Brynhyfryd' for Lewis Thomeas (1889/90), Ipswich Girls' Grammar School (1890/91), St Paul's Rectory (1895), Ipswich Technical College (1898 - 1900) and supervision of the construction of the Walter Burleigh Griffin Incinerator in 1936. Gill emigrated from London and settled in Ipswich in 1886 where he commenced work as an architect for the firm of Samuel Shenton. Gill took over Shenton's practice in 1889 when Shenton retired. Gill had been elected Associate of the Queensland Institute of Architects in 1904 and Fellow by 1913. He was its Vice-President in 1914-16 and President in 1918-19. It seems that Gill designed the residence for Bottomley in 1898, when Bottomley purchased the land, however the house was not constructed until 1916.
The house remained in the Bottomley family until it was purchased by The Ipswich Club 1959. The first men's club in Queensland, the North Australian Club, was based in Ipswich, but had ceased to operate during the 1880's. A colonial house in Foote Lane was purchased as premises for the Ipswich Club, which opened in 1949 with Tom Beirne as its first president. The Gray Street house was purchased for the club in 1959 and it officially opened in 1960. In Bottomley's time, the house was used for community social events and continues to be used for that purpose today as the Ipswich Club.
The building has undergone many internal changes since it became the Ipswich Club. Most notably the construction of a bar in the front east wing and the enclosure of the verandah on the front west wing for use as a restaurant. The rear east wing has been extended to the back of the building obscuring the original line of the verandah and creating a large open space for functions. All decorative ceilings have remained intact as well as the joinery in the central hall.
","criteria":"The Ipswich Club building is important in demonstrating the trend of affluent suburban development in Ipswich in the early twentieth century by entrepreneurs who constructed grand residences as status symbols of their wealth and success.
|The former residence has high aesthetic significance for its grand presence on Gray Street marked by fine timber detailing and set in large, established grounds.
|The club house also has a strong association with the local community for its important role in the city's business and social life as the Ipswich Club.
|The Ipswich Club has a special association with architect George Brockwell Gill as a fine example of his domestic work featuring unusual timber detailing. Gill was responsible for a number of significant civic and domestic designs in Ipswich. This structure is similar to "Arrochar", which has been described as its twin, and "Bowerbank". It also has a strong association with prominent Ipswich citizen, J.P. Bottomley for whom the house was built in 1916.
","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":15357,"place_ref":600582,"name":"Residence, 109 Limestone Street (c1880)","alternate_name":"Colthup's House","street_address":"109 Limestone Street","suburb":"WEST IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The house is set close to Limestone street presenting a single storey to the street with the land falling away to the rear of the property, with two storeys at the rear. It is of load bearing brick rendered with ruled joints. The roofline is a steeply pitched hip and is broken at the verandah line to form a curved profile. The house was constructed from recycled materials from St Mary's Convent and this can be seen in the size of the structural timbers and the distinctive windows.
The upper level consists of a central hallway containing a stair to the lower level, with three bedrooms opening from the left of the hall and two formal rooms opening from the right. The hallway is a generous size and both front and rear doors are original and feature sidelights with Gothic arches and coloured glass. The formal living rooms contain back to back fireplaces and open to the verandah via French doors. The verandah surrounds four sides of the upper level and is enclosed at one side to form a storeroom. The house has been extended at the rear to form a family room, kitchen and bathroom. The core rooms on the upper level have vaulted ceilings of tongue and groove boarding and double-hung windows with distinctive top sashes with curved tops. The hallway ceiling has been lined with plasterboard. The original window and door joinery is intact. The verandah was enclosed earlier and no elements of the original detailing remain.
The lower level consists of a hallway, two bedrooms and a new bathroom. One of the bedrooms was the original kitchen and contains a large fireplace. The area under the front verandah can be accessed from the lower level hall and is enclosed with rough stonework with a concrete floor and a small timber window. This space is said to be the original bathroom and contains a concrete tub, which was apparently a feature of all John Farrelly's houses.
","history":"This two-storey brick house is part of a row of four substantial brick houses on Limestone Street, starting from the corner of Waghorn Street, that were built around 1880 by Ipswich builder and architect John Farrelly. Farrelly originally bought Allotments 8, 9, 10 & 11 of Section 28 in 1878 and apparently built the houses from recycled materials salvaged from a fire which had destroyed St Mary's convent.
\nJohn Farrelly was listed as living at Waghorn Street (corner of Limestone Street) in Postal Directories until his death in 1904 and owned all four properties until that time, suggesting that Farrelly occupied the first of the four brick homes from the corner while leasing the other three houses to tenants. The house at 109 Limestone Street, along with the other three, are an example of the work of an early property developer who contributed to the middle-class suburban development of Ipswich.
\nJohn Farrelly was born in Bawnboy, County Cavan, Ireland where he worked as a builder before he emigrated to Queensland in 1861 and settled in Ipswich. He continued to worked as a builder in Ipswich and was listed as an architect from 1878 to 1901, although he had received no formal training in the field. Farrelly was active in local politics and was an unsuccessful Parliamentary candidate for Rosewood in 1888. He was a supporter of the Catholic Church and the eight-hour day. Some of his architectural work in Ipswich included Buildings for the Queensland Pastoral and Agricultural Society (1885) and St Patrick's Hall in Darling Street Ipswich (1879) among many other cottages and residences in Ipswich built from the 1870s through to 1900.
\nIn 1909 the house was sold to James Barnett Colthup who purchased Subdivision 1 of Allotment 11 of Section 28. James Colthup was a local ironmonger and later a trader in household furnishings and was listed as having commercial premises in Nicholas Street. The house carried the name 'Colthup's House'. 'Colthup's Chambers' are still extant in Brisbane Street as well as 'Colthup Home' in Thorn Street, a modern nursing home which has obscured the presence of an original 19th century residence owned by the Colthup family from 1918 to 1958.
\nIn 1918 James Colthup sold the house at 109 Limestone Street and the property continued to change hands many times during the 20th Century. The house was converted to flats most probably in the 1930s when the verandahs were enclosed and the stair case removed. The back verandah remains enclosed displaying coloured glass windows in the exterior wall.
\nThe house at 109 Limestone Street remains as the most intact example of the four houses constructed by John Farrelly. The original design is easily visible and all interior joinery is still intact. The house also clearly displays evidence that the building materials were recycled. The house still demonstrates the original characteristics of its initial purpose as a late 19th century middle class residence.
","criteria":"The house at 109 Limestone Street is important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history in that it reflects the suburban development of Ipswich in the latter 19th century. As one of four houses constructed around 1880 by the builder John Farrelly it is an example of multiple property development in a time of growth and expansion for Ipswich. It also exemplifies a trend in usage of recycled building materials as common practice during the period of construction.
|The house is an intact example of an 1880s middle class dwelling with original design features and fittings still evident in the fabric. It stands as the most intact example of a group for four adjacent dwellings constructed around 1880.
|The house contributes significantly to the streetscape of upper Limestone Street approaching the hill towards Burnett Street and the surrounding area which is characterised by many examples of 19th century houses. Most notable is the coherent streetscape presented by the four adjacent masonry dwellings (being 109, 107, 105 & 103 Limestone Street) all of similar design and construction.
|The house has special association with life and work of local architect and builder and prominent member of the Ipswich community John Farrelly. Farrelly was registered as an architect in Ipswich from 1878 to 1901.
","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":15358,"place_ref":600583,"name":"Liberty Hall - Mary Tregear Hostel","alternate_name":"Liberty Hall; Mary Tregear Hostel;","street_address":"84 Limestone Street","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Mary Tregear Hostel is a two-storey brick house with a half-gabled corrugated galvanised iron roof and basement cellar. It is constructed with the front wall against the road alignment. At the rear is an attached single-storey timber frame kitchen wing with a floor level approximately 300mm below the floor level of the original front wing. The site has been further developed with a flat-roofed brick and blockwork meeting hall which runs the full length of the eastern alignment.
The original two-storeyed wing has a painted ruled render exterior finish, with solid rendered architraves around the windows. The front elevation is of symmetrical design with a central front doorway flanked with two pairs of colonial sash windows. The upper level has three colonial sash windows. The original ground floor contains a central hallway leading to a small timber staircase and four rooms, one of which has a fireplace with simple painted cedar surround. Ground floor walls are generally of painted plaster, the joinery is of very simple design such as square section balusters under the cedar handrail to the stair. Ceilings are of fibro with timber cornice and doors are of the four-panel type.
The original wing's upper floor has a narrow transverse hallway entered from the stairway top landing. This level has five small bedrooms and a toilet. All of the upper level partition walls are of 300mm wide vertical beaded tongue and groove timber boards, single lined, and all doors are of the simple ledged type, sheeted with vertical tongue and groove. Ceilings of the upper level are of tongue and groove.
A basement cellar extends underneath the whole of the ground floor of the original wing up to the retaining wall against the footpath. The rear kitchen wing supported on concrete stumps contains a kitchen, store-room, dining room, two bathrooms and a toilet. External walls are of asbestos cement "shadowline" sheeting and casement windows. Rear stairs give access internally to a lower level enclosed landing.
","history":"Mary Tregear Hostel is a two-storey rendered brick house with a cellar, built between 1857 and 1860 for Chief Constable Edward Quinn. The property was sold to James Sloane in 1877, then passed to his widow in 1887.
The house then appears to have been rented by blacksmith Hugh Campbell. Hugh's father, Donald Campbell, had been the first free settler in Ipswich after George Thorn, arriving with his family in 1842 and carrying on his trade as a blacksmith. The firm reputedly shod the horses for Leichhardt when he passed through Ipswich on an exploring expedition.
Hugh Campbell also worked as a blacksmith and took over the business after his father died in 1857. The family home and business was at that time on the corner of East and Limestone streets, Ipswich. When the Ipswich and West Moreton Building Society was built on the site in 1887, the Campbells re-established further up Limestone street. Hugh was well-known in the Ipswich community, acting as Clerk of the Course on every raceday. It has been said that the building was called Liberty Hall because of his generous hospitality, but this may have been a local saying rather than a formal name, as the term was in general use at that time.
The house was bought by Hugh's three sons under nomination of trustees in 1910. The smithy closed down in 1916 and Hugh died in 1917 but the house remained in the family until 1942. The QCWA bought the property in 1942. The house was used as a girls' hostel and a fibro and timber army building was moved to the site as a meeting hall.
In 1964, the land was subdivided and a coal research laboratory was built on portion of it. The army hut was replaced by a brick hall on the eastern side of the block, and a rear kitchen wing was built, its materials and construction suggesting a date c1960.
","criteria":"Built between 1857 and 1860, Mary Tregear Hostel is one of the oldest buildings in Ipswich and is a rare example of a simple town dwelling in colonial Georgian style.
|Built between 1857 and 1860, Mary Tregear Hostel is one of the oldest buildings in Ipswich and is a rare example of a simple town dwelling in colonial Georgian style.
|Although its roofline has been altered, it retains much of its original symmetrical form and is valued by the community for its aesthetic contribution to the streetscape of central Ipswich.
|(Criterion under review)
|It is closely associated with the work of the QCWA and in particular, its role in providing supervised accommodation for country girls working in the city.
It is closely associated with the Campbell family, the first free settlers to arrive in Ipswich after 1842, and with an early senior police official Edward Quinn
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion E | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15359,"place_ref":600584,"name":"St Paul's Young Men's Club - Art Gallery","alternate_name":"St Paul's Young Men's Society Hall | Ipswich Regional Art Gallery | St Pauls Young Men's Society Hall | St Pauls Young Men's Society Hall","street_address":"48 d'Arcy Doyle Place (formerly Nicholas Street)","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The St Paul's Young Men's Hall is a simple two-storeyed load-bearing brick building with a painted exterior finish. The plan form is essentially a simple rectangle with an additional north-facing annexe at the western end. The external walls were originally facebrick in Flemish bond. A sandstone foundation stone is on the western wall at street level. The building is on a steep slope and on the northern side, entry is to the upper floor.
The roof is corrugated galvanised iron with ridge ventilators, narrow eaves and slatted timber infill to gable ends. These details together with the timber multi-paned windows contribute to the building's restrained Federation character.
The windows on both levels of the south street alignment are rectangular while those on the western elevation are arched, flanking a semi-circular headed window with projecting keystone, surmounted by a further horizontal window; most windows on this elevation are now filled with glass bricks.
The interior of the building has a fine upper floor ceiling space with exposed queen-post trusses and a ceiling above lined with tongue and groove boarding.
","history":"St Paul's Young Men's Club is a two-level brick building constructed in 1911 as meeting rooms for St Paul's Young Men's Society. The architect was George Brockwell Gill.
The construction of a building for the Society was first proposed in 1907 and in September of that year, Lady Chelmsford, wife of the Governor of Queensland, visited Ipswich to open a bazaar to begin fundraising. Plans were prepared by architect George Brockwell Gill in late 1908 and tenders were called, but the lowest tender of £1030 was beyond the Society's capacity. Further fundraising was undertaken and the foundation stone ceremony was finally carried out in March 1911. The building was opened in December the same year.
The Society's aims were to promote spiritual, intellectual and physical development and the building included a reading room, gymnasium, bath room, billiard room and piano, all for "wholesome exercises for body and mind". The Society's activities included sport, impromptu speeches and mock parliamentary debates.
During World War I, a Soldiers' Rest Room was proposed for Ipswich and the St Paul's Young Men's Society offered their hall. A patriotic committee comprised mainly of local women obtained additional furniture for the hall and also ran the rest room.
In 1938, Ipswich City Council decided to buy the building. The city's need for a new Town Hall and additional Council offices was a recurrent issue in Ipswich over many years and the purchase of the hall was part of a compromise solution. Petitions against the proposal were received but the purchase went ahead in 1939 and the building was used to accommodate Council engineering staff. The glass bricks on the western wall might date from this period but this is uncertain; they were in place by at least the early 1960s.
In 1975, the city library was moved into the building and about the same time, the external brickwork was painted cream to match the new Civic Hall opposite. In the 1980s, the Library was relocated and the building was renovated as Ipswich Regional Art Gallery. Internal modifications included sheeting across windows to provide more hanging space.
At some time, date uncertain, a clerestory or roof vent appears to have been removed. This is suggested by the geometry of timber supports in the ceiling structure.
","criteria":"Completed in 1911, the former St Paul's Young Men's Society Hall is important as an example of a purpose-built hall and meeting rooms for a church-based club.
A brick building with restrained Federation detailing, it exhibits aesthetic characteristics valued by the community, particularly as part of a group of civic buildings in the vicinity of the Limestone St/Nicholas Street intersection.
It was closely associated with patriotic groups during World War I when it was used as a soldiers' rest room.
It is also closely associated with the work of Ipswich City Council in providing important cultural services for the community - a library and later an art gallery.
It is a good example of the work of prominent Ipswich architect George Brockwell Gill, showing his skill in designing a small community building on a limited budget.
|Completed in 1911, the former St Paul's Young Men's Society Hall is important as an example of a purpose-built hall and meeting rooms for a church-based club.
It is a good example of the work of prominent Ipswich architect George Brockwell Gill, showing his skill in designing a small community building on a limited budget.
|A brick building with restrained Federation detailing, it exhibits aesthetic characteristics valued by the community, particularly as part of a group of civic buildings in the vicinity of the Limestone St/Nicholas Street intersection.
|It is a good example of the work of prominent Ipswich architect George Brockwell Gill, showing his skill in designing a small community building on a limited budget.
|It was closely associated with patriotic groups during World War I when it was used as a soldiers' rest room.
It is also closely associated with the work of Ipswich City Council in providing important cultural services for the community - a library and later an art gallery.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion F | 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 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"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15360,"place_ref":600585,"name":"Residence, 103 Limestone St (1879)","alternate_name":"Penrhyn","street_address":"103 Limestone Street","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The residence at 103 Limestone St Ipswich is a small two-storey load-bearing brick house with the external brickwork now covered in ruled render. Because of the steep slope of the land, the house appears single storey along its street frontages but there is access to a lower floor from the northern side. The house has a hipped and slated main roof and a concave curved corrugated galvanised iron verandah roof on four sides.
There are open verandahs on the north and east and an enclosed rear verandah extended to the west. The verandah to the south is enclosed with a rendered wall pierced with a row of louvred windows. Timber lattice covers these windows on the exterior. The southern and eastern verandahs abut the footpath.
The verandah balustrade on the upper level is of a simple square baluster design and the timber verandah posts terminate with a decorative capital immediately beneath the head beam. The lower level verandah is paved in sandstone blocks.
The four main rooms at the upper level have pressed metal ceilings, three of which are vaulted to obtain additional height. The walls are plastered and floors are timber. Most of the original multi-paned colonial sash windows have survived. Below the windows on the exterior is a rectangular recess, a typical Farrelly detail.
There are two cast-iron grate fireplaces on the upper level and an open fireplace at lower ground level.
The lower level has two rooms, each with a pair of tall, narrow multipaned casement windows. The larger room has a pair of panelled doors opening to the north. Behind these rooms is an undercroft area containing a large cement bath.
The small western extension has a pitched and gabled roof and is clad in grooved plywood. It contains a bathroom and an office room. It has colonial sash multi-paned windows and a small rear staircase and entry.
The cottage sits on a combination of brick and stone foundation walls. One of the main internal brick walls of the cottage is supported clear of the ground on a timber log bearer.
","history":"Penrhyn is a rendered brick house on two levels, built in 1879 by builder/architect John Farrelly.
Born in Ireland in 1831, Farrelly came to Australia in 1861 and settled in Ipswich where he worked first as a builder and later as an architect. He was a prominent member of St Mary's congregation and a supporter of Irish institutions such as St Patrick's Day celebrations.
In 1875, John Farrelly bought four blocks of land in Limestone Street and progressively built four brick houses on them, now Nos 109, 107, 105 and 103. No 103, now named "Penrhyn", was built in 1879 and was initially rented. Farrelly occupied it himself with his wife Susan from about 1884.
The house design makes it appear earlier than its actual date of construction and it is probably built partly from demolition materials. Farrelly is recorded as having used recycled materials on several other occasions including the music block at St Mary's and Knockmoyra in Darling Street. The bricks in No 103 appear very old and the concave curve of the verandah roof is more typical of an earlier style.
The house is built into the hillside on Denmark Hill and from an early date, there were problems with the level of Limestone Street. In January 1881, Farrelly complained to Council about "the filling-up of the roadway near his property." This process has continued and the front verandah, now enclosed, is below footpath level.
Farrelly died in this house in 1904 and the Limestone Street property passed to his widow Susan until her death in 1908. The four houses plus a cottage in Waghorn St (since demolished) were auctioned in late 1908 to settle the estate and No 103 was bought by the Watson family several months later. Later owners include the O'Keefes, Parcells and Macadams. It has been used as a rental property for many years and during this time, the verandahs were progressively enclosed.
Conservation work was carried out in the early 1990s. At this time, it was converted into a professional office and a small extension was built on the western side to allow kitchen and bathroom facilities to be relocated from the northern verandah.
","criteria":"(Criterion under review)
|Built in 1879, the residence at 103 Limestone St is a rare example of a slate-roofed brick cottage with a concave corrugated galvanised iron verandah roof and it is one of a rare group of four adjacent houses of the c1880 period by the same builder/architect.
|It is part of a larger precinct of historic houses grouped around Baines Park and, with its prominent corner position, contributes significantly to the streetscape and exhibits aesthetic characteristics valued by the community.
|It has a special association with builder/architect John Farrelly as his own home and in some of its detailing, is a typical example of his work.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | 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 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":15361,"place_ref":600586,"name":"Queen Victoria Silver Jubilee Memorial Technical College","alternate_name":"Ipswich Technical College | Ipswich TAFE College","street_address":"88 Limestone Street","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Queen Victoria Silver Jubilee Memorial Technical College Complex is located adjacent to the Ipswich central business district on a 4092m2 site bounded by Limestone Street to the north, South Street to the south, park reserve to the east and Ellenborough Street to the west. The complex comprises four main buildings which are complimentary in design, scale and form and several smaller single storey outbuildings that house toilet facilities and stores. The technical college site also includes two very large shade trees, on the Ellenborough Street boundary.
1901 Queen Victoria Silver Jubilee Memorial Technical College
The first and most decorative of the buildings, the 1901 Queen Victoria Silver Jubilee Memorial Technical College is the cornerstone of the complex both in its location and commanding presence of its design and articulation.
The 1901 Queen Victoria Silver Jubilee Memorial Technical College building is located at the corner of Limestone and Ellenborough Streets. This intact stately two storey brick masonry building with basement has facades heavily ornamented with an eclectic combination of elements and details including the use of polychromatic tuck pointed brickwork and painted cement rendered details. The hipped roof is of red painted corrugated iron with a rectangular roof lantern which is surmounted by cast iron cresting.
The building entrance at the corner of Limestone and Ellenborough streets is symmetrically framed by identical breakfronts projecting toward the street alignment and between which the stairs to the foyer level are contained. The entrance comprises pairs of five panel timber doors under round arched fanlights accentuated by contrasting brick voussoirs, cement rendered label moulds and imposts and pedimented, bracketed string coursing to each street frontage. The ground floor fenestration comprises stilted round arched windows with five light fanlights and double hung sashes with light coloured brickwork voussoirs and cement rendered label moulds and imposts. The first floor fenestration comprises segmental headed double hung windows with five light sashes accentuated with dichromatic brickwork arches, cement rendered label moulds and imposts and contrasting brick string coursing at sill height The entablature which is punctuated with pairs of cement rendered eaves brackets bears the words DIAMOND 1897 JUBILEE TECHNICAL COLLEGE MEMORIAL in raised lettering to the frieze along the length of the two facades from the north east corner of the building to the south west.
Each of the breakfronts is heavily embellished with contrasting tuck pointed brickwork and cement rendered details. Cement rendered elements include the plinths, pilasters decorated with quoin stones to the ground floor and fluting to the upper section at the first floor level, sills, brackets, imposts, key stones, entablature parapet, pedimented gable and finials. The gable includes bullseye louvred vents.
The fenestration to the breakfronts includes a round arched window with eleven lights to the ground floor and pairs of segmental arched windows with fanlight and double hung sashes within a single segmental arch. The frieze to each breakfront bears the Latin words AUSPICIUM MELIORIS AEVI which roughly translates as 'command better lives' in raised lettering. At ground floor level, commemorative marble plaques with lead lettering detail the opening, architect and builder details.
A brick masonry fence with cement rendered plinth and capping and dichromatic piers and iron balustrading encloses the immediate grounds to the east and south of the breakfronts.
The 1901 college building is very intact and houses offices, a staffroom and a class room on the ground floor; additional offices and a dining room, kitchen and scullery associated with the domestic science facilities on the first floor and store rooms, a staff room and a class room are located in the basement. The scullery houses early sinks, benches and draining boards.
The entrance foyer opens into a large stair hall that is naturally lit by a roof lantern and central light well with sloping timber boarded ceiling. The elaborately detailed timber stair is an open newel type with two quarter space landings providing access to the first floor. The top landing curves to frame the stair well and the angled masonry walls accentuate this feature. These main stairs lead to the first floor only. The rear stair provides access to all three levels (access to the basement has been boarded up) and another single flight stair off the corridor leads to the basement from the ground floor.
1917 General and Commercial Building
The 1917 General and Commercial building is located in Ellenborough street adjacent to the 1901 college and is a simply decorated two storey brick masonry building with full height basement below street level. This building is constructed of tuck pointed brown brickwork relieved with red brick round arched fenestration at basement and ground level and segmental arched windows to the first floor all with cement rendered sills and double hung windows. The roof is divided into three bays of red painted corrugated iron hipped roofs with boarded eaves and the entrance is pronounced at the roof line by a raised parapet at the intersection of two bays. A steep narrow fire stair is located on the southern elevation and its landing is located about one metre above street level.
Access to the building is from Ellenborough street and the entrance hall, which houses the main stair, extends through the width of the building to a secondary timber stair attached on the eastern wall. The interior of this building generally comprises timber floors with rendered masonry walls and a fibrous cement sheeted ceiling with timber cover battens. The ground floor houses the library (which contains early fittings), sewing room, class room, staff room and auditorium. The first floor houses additional class rooms and a staff room and the basement houses an office, store and the engineering workshops which still contain some equipment. Borrowed lights in the footpath have been concealed with bitumen but are still evident in the western wall of the basement.
1924 Classroom Block
The 1924 Classroom Block is located on Limestone Street to the east of the 1901 Technical College building. It too is complementary in its scale and form and materials and as it is at the lower end of the site presents three storeys to Limestone Street. The Classroom Block comprises red brick tuck pointed masonry piers relieved with infill panels of rendered masonry below casement windows with fanlights and cement rendered flat window hoods. Each panel contains fenestration that comprises three eight-light casements with four-light centre pivoting fanlights above. It has a red painted corrugated iron roof with lined eaves. Floors are timber framed and lined and ceilings have a fibrous cement lining with timber batten cover strips.
Classrooms divided by partition walls of timber with a v-jointed tongue and groove board lining are located on each level and are very intact. A few pieces of original furniture survive. The classroom block is connected at first floor level to the technical college building to the west and workshops to the south by timber walkways and verandah.
1937 Workshops Building
The 1937 workshops building is a two storey building of the same construction as the 1924 classroom block and is located on the southern side of the Class Room block building. The open workshop area on the ground level is still evident although now used as a Canteen. The laboratory that was housed on the first floor is no longer operational but the benches and laboratory equipment survive. The timber roof trusses in this building are exposed and the ceiling of tongue and groove v-jointed boards follows the rake of the roof.
","history":"The Queen Victoria Silver Jubilee Memorial Technical College was opened by the Governor of Queensland, Charles Wallace Alexander Napier Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington, on 4 June 1901, at a time when technical education was becoming firmly established throughout Queensland. Queensland's first technical college was established in Brisbane in 1882 and in 1898 The Brisbane Technical College Act was passed which governed only the Brisbane Technical College. Technical colleges established outside Brisbane during this period were initiated and run by independent boards not bound by statutes or regulations and the Ipswich Technical College was the first of these to be established and to construct its own purpose-built college. Other independent technical colleges to follow Ipswich were Warwick (1906), Mount Morgan (1909), and Toowoomba (1910).
\nIpswich commenced running technical classes in August 1891 after a public meeting was held in June where community leaders including the Mayor, the Headmaster of the Ipswich Grammar School and the Chairman of The Queensland Times accepted a Government offer of £250 to begin technical education at Ipswich. Prior to 1891 the only form of technical education available in Ipswich was through a limited range of courses at the Ipswich School of Arts.
\nThe technical classes began with book-keeping, drawing, algebra, and geometry at the Ipswich Middle State School, in rented premises and even in a rented foundry. Arrangements were also made to include dressmaking, cookery, ambulance work, geography, history, Latin and English to the syllabus. The financial difficulties bought on by the depression of the early 1890s forced the college to close between 1893 and 1896. It reopened in 1897 in O'Sullivan's Buildings in Brisbane Street. In the same year the first classes in coal mining began.
\nAt a public meeting in January 1897, it was decided to commemorate Queen Victoria's silver jubilee by erecting a new technical college. The local community raised £1000, and with a government grant of £2000 work began on a site granted by the city council in the Central Gardens. The college, a two-storey masonry structure with a basement was designed by prominent Ipswich architect George Brockwell Gill. The contractor was H Woodford and the brickwork was undertaken by G Williams.
\nThe architect, Goerge Brockwell Gill, designed many of the grand residences and public buildings in Ipswich from the 1880s to the 1930s. Some of his works include 'Brynhyfryd' for Lewis Thomas (1889/90), Ipswich Girls' Grammar School (1890/91), St Paul's Rectory (1895), The Ipswich Club (1916), the Hotel Metropole (1906), and supervision of the construction of the Walter Burleigh Griffin Incinerator in 1936. Gill emigrated from London and settled in Ipswich in 1886 where he commenced work as an architect for the firm of Samuel Shenton. Gill took over Shenton's practice in 1889 when Shenton retired. Gill had been elected Associate of the Queensland Institute of Architects in 1904 and Fellow by 1913. He was its Vice-President in 1914-16 and President in 1918-19.
\nAt this time the college was managed by a local committee with local knowledge and as various committee members were connected with the railway workshops or mines the curriculum was able to meet the needs of the city.
\nBy 1902 the Board of Technical Education, created by thirty-four technical colleges throughout Queensland, was established to regulate and increase technical education and advise the Minister for Public Instruction. In 1903 annual examinations in Ipswich which were previously run by the local College Committee were placed under the control of the Board of Technical Education. In 1905 this Board was abolished when a separate branch of the department was established.
\nThe Ipswich student population expanded rapidly and by 1910 an electrical laboratory had been added to the basement. In 1910 the City Council also agreed that the site on which the College was situated be vested in the Minister for Public Instruction.
\nA lack of complete courses was remedied in 1912 with the introduction of the Mine Manager's Certificate course (issued by the Department of Mines) and the Mechanical and Electrical Diploma Course (issued by the University of Queensland).
\nThe building program was continued with the establishment in 1915 of a Domestic Science area on the top floor of the original college building (still evident today) and the completion of a brick building fronting Ellenborough Street in 1917. The top floor was devoted to the Commercial Day School, Engineering Diploma courses and laboratories and the ground floor was occupied by the Lecture Hall, Library, Dressmaking Room, Drawing Office and Teachers' Rooms. The basement was occupied by the Engineering Workshops, Storeroom, Patternmaking Shop, Plumbing Shop and Blacksmith's Shop.
\nIn 1922 the Domestic Science School, the Commercial Day School and the Preparatory Trade School were given High School Status and students were prepared for the University Junior Exams. In 1924 a new building was opened to house the new high school classes and in 1930 the three separate schools were merged to form the Ipswich Technical High School. This new building was extended in 1941 and stands visible from Limestone Street.
\nIn 1937 a workshops building was constructed on the southern side of the High School building which was later used as the Mining, Science and Student Amenities area. This building now has a canteen on the ground floor and the top floor is vacant with evidence of science laboratories still extant.
\nDuring the Second World War the facilities of the college were used to train a large number of Defence Trainees. The college expanded again in 1944 when a new complex was constructed on the west side of Ellenborough Street to house a Machine Shop and in 1945 a Woodworking Shop was opened and in 1947 a Plumbing Shop was opened on the same site. Both the plumbing workshop and the teachers' common room were built by the Commonwealth Reconstruction Trainees as part of their training program. (NB: This site is not within the listing boundary for the Technical College Entry in the Heritage Register.)
\nFrom 1948 the College Committee was in financial trouble on a number of occasions and in July 1951 the control of the college administration was taken over by the Queensland Government. In 1962 the Technical High School was separated from the Technical College and the Ipswich State High School was established at Brassal.
\nThe Technical College was later absorbed into the Bremer TAFE and now operates as a secondary campus to the main campus in Bundamba.
","criteria":"The Queen Victoria Silver Jubilee Memorial Technical College is important in demonstrating the evolution of Queensland's history as it illustrates the development and growth of technical and higher education throughout the State. It is also significant in demonstrating Australia's close ties with the British Empire at the turn of the 20th century as it was constructed as a memorial to the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria.
The place is also important in demonstrating the development of the civic centre of Ipswich.
|All structures on the site are a good example of technical college structures of the varying periods of construction which evolved in response to progressive thinking in the design and planning of educational institutions.
|The original 1901 building is of considerable architectural merit, and its form and fabric illustrate a skilled design approach It also displays fine quality of workmanship in the detailing of its materials and finishes. The whole site, including the mature trees on the property, makes an important contribution to the streetscapes of Limestone and Ellenborough Streets and the surrounding area, which includes a number of significant civic buildings central to the city.
|The place is significant for its association with the Ipswich community being a principal centre of education since 1901.
|The original 1901 building is a significant example of the work of G Brockwell Gill, who was responsible for many significant civic, commercial and domestic buildings in Ipswich.
","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":15363,"place_ref":600588,"name":"To-Me-Ree","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"7 Macalister Street","suburb":"WEST IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":""To-Me-Ree" stands on the north-west corner of Moffat and Macalister Streets on the southern side of Denmark Hill with extensive southern views. "To-Me-Ree" is a substantial, brick villa with a complex gabled roof-line. Its southern facade has two projecting gables, connected by a verandah which has been enclosed with boarding and coloured glass casement windows. The gables each have round ventilator 'windows' and decorative timber pediments and finials. Each of the gables has cream render quoins which contrast with the home's red brick body. One of the gables has a projecting bay window, with its own three-sided roofing. The chimney is made from a decorative combination of red, cream and ash coloured bricks.
A verandah on the eastern side of the house is supported by timber posts with moulded capitals and elegantly plain, timber brackets and valance. The verandah wraps around to the rear of the house where a pergola extends from the roofline over a large square rockery. The pergola is supported by ornate Italianate pillars on the eastern side. The rockery is bounded at the rear by the driveway which has original decorative iron gates to Macalister Street. Beyond the driveway to the rear of the property is the garden with evidence of a previous structure amongst the established plantings.
The southern and eastern sides of the property are surrounded by an original low brick wall including an original decorative single iron gate displaying the name 'To-Me-Ree' fronting Macalister Street which leads to the front verandah steps.
The entrance to the interior is via a door on the eastern verandah which is surrounded by coloured, patterned glass (matching the glass on the verandah enclosure facing Moffat Street). The entrance leads into a hall-way, with a central timber arch, which extends to the rear of the house with rooms extending from either side.
The kitchen is in the south-western corner of the house which still displays one of two central fireplaces. The other fireplace is in a mirrored position in the living room on the opposite side of the wall to the kitchen fireplace. A room on the Western side of the house is an enclosed verandah which leads to the bathroom and laundry in their original positions on the north-west corner of the house.
","history":"The single-storey, Federation brick villa, "To-Me-Ree", is one of four houses George Williams built on the southern side of Denmark Hill around 1910. Williams and his wife lived opposite "To-Me-Ree", at "Almondsbury", a brick house with steeply pitched gables similar in style to "To-Me-Ree". Williams' daughter, Nellie (Mary Ellen), and her husband, Sydney May, lived at "To-Me-Ree".
The name "To-Me-Ree" stems from May's interest in Aboriginal words and is thought to relate to Port Stephens headland. It is said that May had an extensive collection of Aboriginal artefacts which he displayed in the west room converted from the side verandah. The collection of Artefacts were donated to the GAL and are now on display there.
May moved to Ipswich in 1905 to be organist and choir master at the Ipswich Congregational Church. He also lectured at the University of Queensland's school of music and initiated music summer schools.
A bush house and rock garden were maintained during the May's time, and their garden was an attraction for city visitors. Sydney May died in 1968, Nellie May died in 1972 and one of their daughters, Barbara, continued living at "To-Me-Ree" until her death in 1980.
The house is a fine example of the affluent settlement around Denmark Hill which continued from the latter 19th century into the early 20th century. The house is situated amongst grand residences and substantial brick and timber dwellings which give the area a cohesive character
","criteria":"To-Me-Ree is important in demonstrating the pattern affluent suburban development around Denmark Hill in Ipswich from the late nineteenth century to the early twentieth century.
|It has high aesthetic value as a Federation brick villa which displays fine building and detailing and is part of a group of four house similar in style but architecturally atypical in the area. It also presents high streetscape value being on a prominent corner block on the southern side of Denmark Hill surrounded by substantial houses of varying ages and design.
|It has special association with the May family who occupied the house from its construction in 1910 until 1980, in particular Sydney May, a lecturer in Music at the University of Queensland, who was an active member of Ipswich society contributing to the musical life of the city.
","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":15364,"place_ref":600589,"name":"Claremont","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"1A Milford Street","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Claremont is a single story, Georgian style house with verandahs which addresses the Bremer River on the north. It is built to a U shaped plan with wings of differing lengths. The style is reminiscent of earlier houses in Sydney and Tasmania and is rare in Queensland, although Claremont has some resemblance to Oakwal in Brisbane and to Ormiston House at Wellington Point, which were built a few years later.
The house is symmetrically arranged with french doors opening onto the verandah, which extends around the sides of the house. There is a stone paved verandah at the rear. The verandah roof has been reconstructed to its original form of a concave profile roof supported by simple posts on plain plinths.
It is constructed of a local sandstone, possibly from Woogaroo quarry with brick walls internally. The form of construction is rare, incorporating timber tie beams at lintel level through the stone work. The framing for the original double hipped roof including the box gutter and some battening for slates, remains under the current roof which is single hipped and is clad with corrugated iron.
Decorative detail to the interior, such as the classical motifs on the cornices of the drawing and dining rooms, is simple and classically inspired in accordance with the Georgian style. There are nine chimneys and some original marble fireplaces and grates survive as does some door and window joinery.
There is a brick lined, stone flagged storage cellar beneath the former bathroom on the western side of the house. The original half spiral access stair survives, but much of the floor framing in this room is reconstructed. The kitchen also retains a stone flagged floor.
The gardens retain some elements of the original planting and a number of fine or unusual specimens including Ulmus parvifolia, golden bamboo, early varieties of hibiscus and an early, locally propagated variety of bouganvillea.
The view to the river survives.
","history":"Claremont is a Georgian style stone villa overlooking the Bremer River. It was designed in 1857 by William Claydon Wakefield for John Panton, a prominent Ipswich merchant and was built on the earliest site to be occupied by Europeans in Ipswich. In 1862 Claremont was purchased by George Thorn, originally superintendent of convicts at Ipswich, who became a politician, as did four of his sons. George Thorn Jnr. served as Premier of Queensland while living at Claremont and the house was for many years an important social and political centre in Ipswich.
In 1827, the Commandant of the Moreton Bay Penal colony sent a group of convicts up the Bremer River to quarry and process limestone for building purposes. Huts and a lime kiln were set up, followed by enclosures for animals. The site covered what are now the grounds of Claremont and their immediate vicinity and was named Limestone Station. In 1838 George Thorn was appointed Superintendent of Convicts at Limestone and lived with his family in a cottage to the north west of where Claremont now stands. He stayed on after the penal colony was closed and became a wealthy merchant and pastoralist. Physical evidence for this first European use of the site may survive below ground. The remains of the kiln were visible until the 1960s and their location, close to the current house, is marked.
In 1842, when Moreton Bay was opened for free settlement, the first survey of Limestone was made and this land was divided into blocks and sold. By 1852 it was held by several owners, but all the northern parts of section XXXVI were later acquired by John Panton, the son of the New South Wales Post-Master General, who had moved to Limestone in 1851 and had established himself successfully as a merchant. In 1855, he built a two story warehouse to the northwest of the present house. The site is at the head of navigation of the river and is just upstream of the Pool, an area which permitted steam boats to turn and which was then close to the wharves. His acquisition of this site and location of the warehouse emphasise the importance of the river to Ipswich as a trading centre before the coming of the railway.
In 1857 Panton added a villa designed by William Claydon Wakeling to the site and named it Claremont. Only a few years after this, in the early 1860s, Panton experienced financial difficulties and sold Claremont to George Thorn, who was by then a leading figure in Ipswich. The Thorns were closely involved in politics, George and four of his sons serving as Members of the Legislative Assembly at various times. The eldest son, George Thorn, junior, was Premier between 1876-77 while he was living at Claremont.
In 1874, a section of land running between Claremont and the river bank was resumed as part of the construction of the Brisbane to Ipswich Railway. This reduced the grounds to an area of 2 acres and 23 perches and Panton's warehouse may have been demolished at this point. The property remained in the Thorn family until 1906 when it was purchased by George Rennie Wilson. In 1919 the land was again subdivided and some sold, reducing the Claremont block to 1 acre, 21 perches.
Alterations occurred to the house in the 1920s with the rebuilding of the verandahs to a bungalow style. It was used as a boarding house between 1924 and 1939, when it was sold to Jessie Violet Preddy. The Preddys lived in the house only briefly before it was divided into three flats and the land further subdivided. During the 1940s the house became run down and the ends of both wings were demolished.
In 1964 the property was purchased by the Queensland Sub-Normal Children's Welfare Association and at this time some alterations were made to allow the house to be used as a hostel. These probably included converting the original double hipped slate roof into a single hip roof over the main rooms, installing bathrooms over the cellar and bricking in fireplaces. Landscaping was also done at this time, including the re-use of stone blocks from either the kiln or demolished sections, in order to form garden terraces.
In 1975 the National Trust of Queensland obtained a National Estate Grant to purchase Claremont, which was then sub-leased back to the Q.S-N.C.W.A. for three years. After remaining vacant for two years, the house was leased in 1980 to Architect Bruce Buchanan and restoration work began. In the following year the first open day for the general public was held. The Buchanan's moved out of the house in the mid eighties and the house has not been used since as a residence.
Considerable work has been done to Claremont since it was purchased by the Trust including the reconstruction of the verandah to its original form.
","criteria":"Claremont and its grounds demonstrate the evolution of Ipswich from a convict outpost for burning limestone, to an important early mercantile centre and a major city of Queensland.
|The house is a rare example of an early Georgian villa in Queensland and incorporates early and unusual building techniques.
|The house and its grounds have the potential to yield, through the existing buildings and from archaeological evidence, information on the early use of the site and on the lifestyle of early owners.
|It is also important for its aesthetic value as a work of architecture that is well liked by the community for style, material and detail.
|Claremont has a strong association with John Panton and with the Thorn family, who were connected with the site from the earliest European occupation and who contributed to the development of Ipswich and of Queensland.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion C | 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 has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding 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":15365,"place_ref":600590,"name":"Brickstone","alternate_name":"Brixton","street_address":"11 Murphy Street","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Brickstone is a substantial brick dwelling with a steeply pitched roof which makes it an important contribution to the streetscape. The house comprises of three levels and is of load bearing brick rendered with ruled joints. It has a monopitch hip roof with a central gable to the front verandah and four dormer windows to the attic space. The current dormer windows were constructed in the 1980s when the attic was reopened after the house was converted from flats. New entry stairs were also added at this time to the verandah under the central gable. Earlier photographs show the verandah accessed from the corner stair.
The main level consists of a four room core with a cental hall surrounded by a verandah, which is open on two sides. The rear and part of the side verandahs were enclosed to form servant's rooms which are now bathrooms and storerooms. The stair was installed during the 1980s, originally from another building (apparently from a former doctor's residence at Ipswich Hospital). The majority of the joinery has been replaced, sourced from other demolished buildings, and ceiling roses added to many rooms. The iron columns and balustrading are largely intact on the verandahs.
The lower level contains two large rooms and a cellar. The joinery has been replaced and ceiling roses and other decorative plasterwork added. The attic was reconstructed in the 1980s with sheeted wall and ceiling linings and dormer windows.
A detached building said to contain the original kitchen and wash-house stands to the rear of the house, accessed from the lower level terrace. A new carport and covered walkway has been added at the side of the property.
","history":"This two-storey house with an attic stands on allotment 10 of section 17 proclaimed on 4 March 1861. On 15 April 1861 a section of the allotment was purchased as lot 53 by Mr. James Kirby Swan, a local wheelwright and town land owner. By 1869 a number of sections had been surveyed off the original allotment and all that remained was the section where the house stands, part 3A.
The house was constructed by prominent local builder William Hancock. The precise date of the construction of this house is unknown, however, Swan's name does appear on the 1864 electoral role as residing at this address, thus indicating that the house may have been built for him in the early 1860's. On 15 January 1863 Hancock purchased land adjoining that of Swan's, part 3 of allotment 10 of section 17.
The Hancock family history states that William Hancock built three houses in a line in Murphy Street being numbers 11, 13 and 15 Murphy Street. (This also suggests that the house at 11 Murphy Street may have been built in the early part of the 1860's.) The house at 13 was called 'Cornubia' and was Hancock's residence but has been altered beyond recognition. Hancock actually resided at 11 Murphy Street in late 1875 for a short period (rates, levied at 10% of the valuation of the land, were paid in Swan's name until 4 October 1875 when the land was registered in the name of William Hancock).
William Hancock migrated from England in 1856 and worked for a short time in Brisbane prior to moving to Ipswich where he lived until his death on 23 August 1892. Hancock was born at St Ives, Cornwall, went to live in Yorkshire, and was married at Leeds in 1844. Hancock was well known in Ipswich as a 'builder in brick' and building contractor and was involved in the construction of a number of buildings including, additions to Rockton Villa, Colinton Station, Booval House, the foundations of the first railway workshop, the Lands Office and the Wesleyan Parsonage as well as laying pipes for the waterworks in 1877. He also built and operated a lime-kiln on Limestone Hill and owned a soap and candle works at Churchill.
The house was built in a time of growth and expansion for Ipswich which was benefiting from the profits of coal mining and wool and cotton production. The town was a point of trade with the Port on the Bremer River the first railway in Queensland opening to Grandchester in 1865. William Hancock had directly contributed to this early growth in Ipswich and Brickstone can be seen as part of that contribution.
The house, which has three levels, originally had eight main rooms with a detached kitchen and laundry. In 1877 the house was sold to Mr Samuel Irwin, and since then there have been numerous other owners and occupants, including William Hancock's married daughter Elizabeth; and her unmarried daughter who lived there till she died in 1956.
From around the 1920's until 1982 the house was mainly used as flats during which time the house underwent a number of alterations, the most noticeable being the closure of the attic and removal of the stairs during the 1920's and the enclosure of the verandah. The grey slate roof was replaced by galvanised iron and the attic windows were removed around the same time. (Possibly a similar example of the what the original slate roof would have looked can be seen at 15 Murphy Street.)
In 1985 the house was purchased by Kirk Jensen and Peter Gelherr who reversed the conversion of the flats and redecorated and remodelled the interior of the house in a High Victorian style. The staircase to the attic was replaced with a recycled set of stairs from auction and the attic reopened with dormer windows put in on three sides of the roof. Almost all of the interior fittings and decoration have been added to the house during the 1980s renovations.
In 1989 the house was sold to Mrs Adele Rule who currently resides there.
While the origins of the name 'Brickstone' are unknown, the house is believed to have been known as 'Brixton' prior to renovations.
","criteria":"'Brickstone' (11 Murphy Street) is important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history in that it reflects the beginnings of the substantial residential development in Ipswich around the area known as Denmark Hill. Constructed in the early 1860s this brick house reflects the growing strength of Ipswich as an industrial, pastoral and commercial centre in the latter 19th Century which encouraged the suburban development still evident in central Ipswich today.
|'Brickstone' also draws aesthetic significance from its contribution to the immediate streetscape and, more generally to the lower slopes of Denmark Hill. In particular the large scale of the house on a prominent corner block and the steeply pitched roof make Brickstone a local landmark.
|'Brickstone' has a special association with the life and work of prominent local builder William Hancock who constructed the house and later resided there for a short period. Hancock was a prolific 'builder in brick' and his work is evident in other substantial residences in Ipswich such as Rockton Villa and Booval House.
","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":15366,"place_ref":600591,"name":"St Pauls Anglican Church and Rectory","alternate_name":"St Paul's Anglican Church and Rectory","street_address":"124 BrisbaneStreet","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"St Paul's Church occupies a whole block within the city centre of Ipswich.
The site includes the church, church hall, rectory, gardens and perimeter limestone walls, all of which are dominant landmark elements within the urban setting.
The Revival Gothic church is of Latin cross plan form, with the sanctuary placed at the western end. External walls are of face brickwork and contain five arched windows of stained glass with small pivoting vents. The steeply-pitched gable roof is sheeted with flat pan and roll galvanised iron and is penetrated by dormer window ventilators. The roof structure consists of finely-proportioned hammer beam trusses which intersect above the crossing, supporting a raised lantern roof ventilator. The entrance porch is at the eastern end and leads to a foyer beneath the upper choir loft with timber screen, cast iron lace balustrading and cast iron spiral stair access. The new floor of the church is of traditional clear-finished hoop pine and walls are painted plaster. The church pews are of traditional design and appear to be original.
The northern transept now contains the organ and choir stalls, while the southern transept is extended to accommodate two vestries. Side aisles extend along both sides of the nave, terminating in small chapels at the western end. The church interior contains some fine timber joinery including sanctuary screens, communion rail and panelling of cedar and pine. The interior also contains numerous marble tablets and memorials, pulpit, font and lectern of fine quality. A chapel in the north-eastern corner of the nave honours Mavis Parkinson and contains an altar faced with New Guinea tapa cloth and a small bamboo cross. in a glass case.
The RECTORY is a lowset timber building with verandahs on all sides and a fine projecting pedimented entrance porch to the east overlooking the town centre and d'Arcy Doyle Place. Walls are of chamferboard and the hipped roof is clad in corrugated galvanised iron. The roof form has distinctive metal ventilators and banks of brick chimneys with terracotta chimney pots.
The interior plan form of the rectory remains relatively unchanged except for minor modifications to accommodate the church offices, meeting rooms and storage space. Most of the cedar joinery, except for one fireplace surround, has survived. Contemporary car accommodation has been constructed at the rear and a disabled persons ramp built alongside the northern verandah.
The CHURCH GROUNDS are raised above the surrounding footpaths and contained on all sides by early limestone retaining walls with sloping concrete copings, once surmounted by a small picket fence. A pair of circular crenellated gate pillars exist at the main northeast entrance and are constructed of random rubble limestone matching the walls adjacent. The garden contains some mature trees and a fine-grained Celtic cross memorial set on a stylobate of three steps and engraved with an inscription and traditional Celtic motifs.
","history":"St Paul's Anglican Church is a Revival Gothic brick church completed in 1859, supervised by William Wakeling but probably to a design by Edmund Blacket. The side aisles were added in 1888/89, architect F.D.G. Stanley, and the western extensions were added in 1929, architect G.B. Gill.
The first Church of England services in Ipswich were held in a timber building in Ellenborough Street. A brick church was then erected in 1850 on the corner of Brisbane and Nicholas Streets, opposite the present-day church. This was always intended to be a temporary building and was later used as a Sunday School and day school; it was demolished in 1877.
The foundation stone of St Paul's was laid in 1855 but the church was not completed until June 1859. The architect is believed to have been Edmund Thomas Blacket. Ipswich at that time was in the Diocese of Newcastle and similar designs were used for St Paul's at West Maitland and St John's at Newcastle. Blacket's former pupil William Wakeling arrived in Ipswich in 1856 and worked there for several years including some time as the partner of Thomas Casey as builder/architects; he carried out supervision of St Paul's and was also responsible for "the internal arrangements".
The building was of a high quality because the church was designed and built at a time when Ipswich was socially and economically buoyant. There was also intense rivalry between Ipswich and Brisbane and the rector was hopeful of attracting the new bishop to the church, making Ipswich a cathedral town. A pipe organ was imported from England and installed in 1860, the first in the colony. This organ still exists, although it has been rebuilt, repaired and relocated.
The gallery was built in 1882. At the same time, two lancet windows were installed in the eastern wall and a cast iron porch was added.
North and south aisles were added in 1888, designed by F.D.G. Stanley and built by Robert Wilson and Co.
In 1926, the old cast iron "Galilee porch" was replaced by the present porch; the bell in this porch is from the 1850 church. In 1929, Ipswich architect and prominent parishioner George Brockwell Gill designed and supervised an extension to the chancel, and the addition of an organ chamber, sacristy, chapel and vestry to the west end and southern transept. Major conservation work was carried out in 1992 under the supervision of Buchanan Architects.
The church contains fine stained glass windows and numerous memorials including marble tablets honouring people notable in Queensland history such as George Thorn and Thomas de Lacy Moffat.
In the north-east corner is the Martyrs Chapel which honours New Guinea martyrs including medical missionary Mavis Parkinson who was killed by Japanese soldiers during World War II. The chapel contains a small bamboo cross in a glass case presented by the Bishop of South Tokyo and a cross found in an abandoned German mission. A Celtic cross in grey stone near the church entrance porch also honours Mavis Parkinson.
HALL: A church hall was built in 1908 but was demolished in 1962 along with the timber belltower and replaced by a new brick and steel parish centre which was dedicated as a war memorial; it was designed by Conrad and Gargett Architects.
RECTORY: The rectory was built in 1895-6, designed by G.B. Gill. It replaced an earlier building on the same site which had become dilapidated. There have been only minor changes to this building since construction. It ceased being the rectory c1990 and is now used for church offices.
GROUNDS: The grounds of the church provide an attractive setting, and include a limestone perimeter wall, much of which was built prior to 1876. The Brisbane St section has long been a favourite place for Ipswich people to sit to watch processions. The limestone stone terraces were extended along Nicholas and Limestone Streets in the 1930s and the bus shelter in Nicholas Street was built in 1932.
","criteria":"The place demonstrates the pattern of Queensland's history, exemplifying the buoyant mood of pre-Separation Ipswich and the aspirations of its citizens to construct community buildings worthy of its perceived importance.
|Completed in 1859, it is a rare example of a church built prior to Separation and is the oldest Anglican Church in Queensland; it contains the oldest pipe organ in Queensland.
|(Criterion under review)
|The main church is a fine revival Gothic building constructed over a long period from 1855 to 1929. With its central city setting and landscaped grounds including a fine limestone wall and terraces, it is a major landmark in Ipswich.
|The church has been closely associated with the spiritual and social life of the Ipswich community since the 1850s.
|It is closely associated with two important Queensland architects F.D.G. Stanley and G.B. Gill and also with Edmund Blacket and William Wakeling.
\nIt is associated with the life and work of Anglican Church martyr Mavis Parkinson, a medical missionary who was killed in New Guinea during World War II.
\nThe rectory is a finely-detailed example of a late Victorian residence and is a good example of the domestic work of G.B. Gill.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion C | Criterion E | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history | The place is important 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":15367,"place_ref":600592,"name":"Soldiers' Memorial Hall, Ipswich","alternate_name":"Memorial Hall, Ipswich","street_address":"63 Nicholas Street","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The building contains three levels - basement, ground and first floors constructed of load bearing brickwork and timber floor framing, and stands prominently within a small central city park.
The elaborate pedimented front pavilion of the building is surmounted by a formal raised parapet which together with the rusticated voussoirs, projecting cornice, pilasters, and rising sun motif, give the front of the building an impressive street presence. To give further emphasis to the front, this pavilion is constructed with slightly-contrasting coloured tuck-pointed brickwork.
The entrance portico is approached by flanking balustrade quadrant walls at street level, with stairs leading up to the ground floor. The memorial chamber immediately inside the entrance holds the original marble World War I memorial and a series of timber honour boards for later wars. Several honour boards relocated from other places in Ipswich have also been installed within the building.
The memorial chamber was originally naturally lit from above through a large rooftop lantern and central light well with encircling gallery at first floor level; this is now closed over.
The ground floor also contains the former Assembly Room, Lounge and offices. A silky oak timber staircase leads down to the basement which contains meeting rooms and an office and has a separate entrance on the northern side from the adjacent park. The upper level, reached by a silky oak staircase, contains a variety of meeting rooms. The main meeting room features a large semi-circular window, originally the location of a stained and coloured glass memorial now removed.
The internal detailing of the building is not elaborate, and includes silky oak joinery, painted plasterwork and ceilings of fibreboard with geometrically placed cover battens.
A rear fire escape constructed of structural steel serves the ground and first floor levels.
The roof is a series of hipped and gabled corrugated iron roof forms with a central raised roof over the lantern light.
The adjacent park contains two granite memorials.
","history":"The Ipswich Soldiers' Memorial Hall is a three-storey brick building opened in 1921. It was designed by George Brockwell Gill and built by F.J. Lye. Brickwork was by A. Mansfield, plastering J. Jamieson and joinery Arthur Foote Ltd.
The Returned Soldiers and Sailors Imperial League of Australia was formed in 1916 and a branch opened in Ipswich in September 1917. As the end of the war approached in 1918, the Ipswich branch requested land suitable for a building which could be a recreation hall and war memorial. Land in the Central Gardens was provided by the Department of Lands and construction of the hall was funded by a £6000 loan to the Council from the government, £1250 from the RSSILA and £500 from the Patriotic Committee. Further fundraising was carried out by community groups including Train Tea Ladies (a group which had met troop trains during the war), suburban Comforts Funds and Red Cross. The total cost of the building was £12000, representing a considerable community fundraising effort.
The foundation stone was laid in May 1920, coinciding with a visit by General Birdwood and the building was completed in November 1921.
During discussions with the RSSILA, Ipswich City Council had raised the possibility of combining the Memorial Hall with a new Town Hall for the city. Although this idea was rejected, a compromise was reached and the School of Arts Library, managed by the Council, was moved from the overcrowded Town Hall to occupy the entire upper floor of the Memorial Hall; it remained there until 1947.
The basement level originally contained a billiards room, games room, refreshment room, showers and bath while the ground floor contained the memorial hall, assembly room, secretary's office and lounge.
Following the opening, further fundraising was carried out and a memorial window was commissioned for the upper floor. It was designed by William Bustard and carried out by R.S. Exton and Company, Brisbane under the supervision of C.H. Lancaster. The window was unveiled in November 1922. When a new RSL Services Club was built at North Ipswich in 1979, the window was removed to the new premises.
The building has been a popular venue for many community organisations including billiards club, dancing classes, dances, Red Cross Blood Bank and the Bush Book Club. During World War II, a temporary "All Services Hut" was erected in the park adjacent to the Hall to serve as a recreation venue for servicemen; it was removed at the end of the war.
The Memorial Hall is currently used as the headquarters of the Ipswich Sub-branch of the RSL and as meeting rooms for the RSL Women's Auxiliary, Legacy and other service organisations. It is still the focal point of annual Anzac Day ceremonies in Ipswich.
Two additional monuments have been erected in the gardens to the north of the Hall - a general memorial in grey granite dedicated in 1986 and a column in grey granite erected by the Incapacitated Service Men's and Women's Association to honour service in all wars, specifically including Borneo and Vietnam. Both were carved by sculptor Tom Farrell.
","criteria":"The Memorial Hall Ipswich, built in 1920-21, demonstrates the patriotic fervour associated with World War I and the community's identification with the goals of the "mother country" Britain at this period in Queensland's history.
|It is a rare example of a very substantial brick soldiers' hall. The interior is generally intact and with the trend towards conversion of the larger halls for service clubs with poker machines, this is becoming rare.
|The Memorial Hall with its honour chamber, memorial tablets, meeting rooms, recreation rooms and offices demonstrates the characteristics and use of a hall for returned soldiers.
|The building is valued by the Ipswich community for its contribution to the townscape of the Ipswich CBD, and demonstrates a high standard of aesthetic design consistent with its civic and patriotic purposes.
|Since 1920, the Memorial Hall has had a special association with the RSL and with various allied groups such as Legacy, Women's Auxiliary and War Widows. It has a strong spiritual and social association with the general community and returned service personnel as the focal point for Anzac and Remembrance Day commemorations. It has strong associations with the wider community because of its use for other purposes such as the city library, blood bank and as a place for meetings and social events.
|The design of the building is the work of recognised local architect George Brockwell Gill and is a fine and typical example of his style at this period.
","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":15368,"place_ref":600593,"name":"Gooloowan","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"43 Quarry Street","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Gooloowan is a large two-storeyed Victorian mansion standing in landscaped gardens.
The building is of load-bearing brick construction with the original facebrick external walls now rendered with ruled joints simulating stone coursing. Floors are of timber and the hipped roof, originally slated, is sheeted with corrugated galvanised iron.
Verandahs encircle the main block of the house on upper and lower levels, the upper level having cast-iron balustrading and a concave curved roof sheeted in corrugated galvanised iron. The verandahs are supported on paired timber posts extending through two storeys. Shuttered windows and french doors open from nearly all rooms onto the verandahs.
A two-storyed service/domestics wing extends at the rear; this wing also houses the kitchen. It has no verandahs other than a simple skillion-roofed enclosure to the southern side which has been converted into a conservatory. At the western end of this wing, above an attached laundry, are two corrugated galvanised iron rainwater tanks.
Internally, Gooloowan has fine cedar joinery including the main staircase and it has rare surviving bathrooms in the main wing. Other rooms include a drawing room, dining room, library (still with many of its early books), sitting room, kitchen, pantry, conservatory and breakfast room on the ground floor. The upper floor has nine bedrooms in the main wing and two former domestics bedrooms in the rear wing. An unusual hand-operated passenger lift is on the rear verandah. Several rooms have fireplaces including some with marble chimneypieces and the ceilings in the main rooms are plaster.
There are two outbuildings - a former billiard room and a double garage which is a contemporary structure. Both are weatherboard-clad with timber floors. The front garden contains large camphor laurel and hoop pines. The property is surrounded by a tall picket fence; a pair of restored original gates give access to a circular driveway and stone entrance steps.
","history":"Gooloowan is a two-storey rendered brick house built for Benjamin Cribb and his second wife Clarissa. The architect was Charles Balding. Tenders were called by separate trades and the work was well advanced by mid-1864.
Benjamin Cribb was born in Dorsetshire, England in 1807 and came to Moreton Bay in the ship Chaseley in 1849 with his first wife Elizabeth. He started a business in Ipswich which he named "London Stores". In 1852, his first wife Elizabeth died and he moved to Brisbane. The following year, he married Clarissa Foote whose brother, John Clarke Foote, became a business partner in 1855. The following year, he returned to Ipswich. As Cribb and Foote, the firm became well-known in Ipswich and the surrounding district, operating several different departments and a large mail order section from several buildings throughout central Ipswich. The firm was highly-regarded for its financial support of farming families in the nearby country districts, offering loans without security other than the word of the farmer. In the 1860s and 70s, it became involved in the cotton industry and owned cotton ginneries at Churchbank near Harrisville.
Benjamin Cribb represented the Moreton Bay district in the New South Wales parliament before Separation and in 1861, was elected to the Queensland Legislative Assembly. He helped found Ipswich Grammar School and his name appears prominently as a supporter of many community organisations.
After Benjamin Cribb's death in 1874, Gooloowan was passed down through the Cribb family and the related Walker family. The most prominent of the later occupants was Thomas Bridson Cribb who became Queensland Treasurer in 1901. The last occupant from the original family was solicitor Miss Marion Walker, one of the first women to be admitted to the bar in Queensland. The house was purchased by the Isbell family in 1988.
There have been few major changes to Goolowan since it was built. The brickwork was rendered, the slate roof was changed to corrugated galvanised iron and the early stables in the grounds were demolished, dates unknown. A rear verandah on the domestics wing was converted into a conservatory c1990, a new garage was built and the boundary fence was reinstated, supervised by Buchanan Architects.
The grounds have been reduced from the original 11 acres but the circular driveway remains with its mature camphor laurel trees, limestone rock terracing and steps to the front entry.
","criteria":"Its surviving early fittings and relatively intact rooms such as bathrooms, library, lift and servants' quarters are important in contributing to an understanding of the daily operation of a mansion in the 19th century.
|Built in 1864, Gooloowan is a rare Queensland example of a substantial two-storey mansion of the 1860s.
|Its surviving early fittings and relatively intact rooms such as bathrooms, library, lift and servants' quarters are important in contributing to an understanding of the daily operation of a mansion in the 19th century.
It is associated with early architect Charles Balding and is a good example of his work.
|The place demonstrates aesthetic qualities valued by the community, being a prominently-sited and handsomely-proportioned Victorian mansion set in an attractive garden.
|The place is closely associated with Benjamin Cribb who founded the important retail firm Cribb and Foote in 1849, and with other members of the Cribb and Walker families who were notable in Queensland through their involvement in retailing, law, politics and community service.
","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":15369,"place_ref":600594,"name":"Central Congregational Church Manse","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"21 Quarry Street","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"This is a large-scaled, double-storeyed timber residence situated on the northern side of Quarry Street. It has chamferboard sheeting to external walls, surrounded by verandahs at both levels. The lower level verandahs have no balustrading while the upper level displays the original cross-braced balustrades to which vertical timber-slatting has been added behind. The original timber decoration to the verandahs is delicate and understated including decorative timber brackets at the top of the verandah posts and timber valances on the lower level. The main hipped roof and the verandah roof are of corrugated iron. There are three long rectangular windows on the upper level enclosed by louvred shutters, the same as the original design, and the lower verandah has a central doorway flanked by two larger rectangular windows on either side. The grounds are symmetrically laid out in sympathy with the house and some bushes are clipped to emphasise the symmetry.
","history":"This two storey timber residence was built as the manse for the pastors of the Congregational Church of Ipswich. The Congregational Church Yearbook of 1883 describes the Manse during its construction as follows: "The edifice will be a two storeyed weather-board house with verandah balcony all round, containing 12 rooms and finished in a style that will do credit to the denomination". It was designed and erected by architect/builder S Shenton, himself a member of the Congregational Church, costing £1221.18.7. Construction of the Manse was commenced and finished in 1883.
The Congregational Church of Ipswich was formed on 2 June 1854 as a union of necessity between the Baptist and Independent faiths due to small numbers of each in the pioneer town of Ipswich. The Ipswich Congregational Church was the first Congregational parish in Queensland and it soon expanded throughout the state in the later decades of the nineteenth century. The church was a fiercely independent denomination refusing to accept any government subsidies or land grants. In 1854 the Congregational Church established a building committee and in 1855 the first congregational church building in Ipswich was built by Samuel Shenton who later designed the manse, and who was a founding member of the Congregational Church. It was situated on the southern side of Brisbane Street near East Street and was a simple single story timber building.
In 1870 a new church was constructed to the design of Samuel Shenton adjacent to the old church which was used as a Sunday School. By this time the parish was known as the Central Congregational Church. The new church cost £2,110 and survived until February 1953 when it was destroyed by fire. The site of the church was bought by the Atlantic Oil Co and became the site of a garage and is now the site of Coles supermarket and carpark. Another congregational church was erected in East Street which is now the East Street City Uniting Church.
In 1936-37 the Manse was sold by the Church and was turned into a number of flats. In 1950 twelve and half perches of the manse grounds was resumed for road works and other sections of the land were subdivided.
Externally the residence remains remarkably intact displaying virtually no changes since a photograph taken in 1896 apart from extra vertical balustrading on the upper storey. The manse remains as the only evidence of the 19th century building activities of the Central Congregational Church in Ipswich.
The architect Samuel Shenton was one of the earliest prominent architects in Ipswich whose works are well known in the city and the surrounding area. He arrived in Ipswich in March 1851 and began work as a carpenter and building contractor. Among his early contracts were Dr Challinor's house and shop in Brisbane Street and fitting out the first Presbyterian Church (1853). Shenton made some significant improvements to central Ipswich in the 1860s with the School of Arts and the Lands Office. During this time he was preparing plans, specifications and quantities and in 1879 his contracting business was taken over by Worley and Whitehead (Ipswich Girls' Grammar School). Shenton practised solely as an architect from 1879 until 1889 when his practice was taken over by employee George Brockwell Gill. Shenton subsequently became heavily involved in community and business ventures as well as local politics. He was an alderman for many years and the Mayor of Ipswich from 1871-1872 and 1889. He died in Ipswich on 3 July 1893. Some of his other more notable and extant works are the Congregational Church Manse (QHR 600594) (1882-83) in Quarry Street, and Faerieknowe (QHR 600600) for EW Hargraves.
","criteria":"The former Congregational Church Manse is important in demonstrating the early development of the Congregational Church in Ipswich and in Queensland. The Congregational Church was one of the earliest independent denominations established in Queensland. Few Congregational parishes exist today due to the merge of many Congregationalist parishes into the Uniting Church in the 20th century. The former manse is significant for exemplifying the importance of the Congregational Church in Ipswich and of churches in general to 19th century Queensland communities.
|It also has special association with the work of architect and builder Samuel Shenton as a fine example of his work in Ipswich. Shenton was a prominent architect and builder in Ipswich from the 1850s to the 1880s.
|The former manse has aesthetic significance for its high streetscape value due to its scale and traditional materials and detailing.
|The former manse has special association with the past congregations of the Congregational Church of Ipswich and the pastors and their families who once lived there.
","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":15370,"place_ref":600595,"name":"Toronto","alternate_name":"Devonshire Cottage","street_address":"30 Quarry Street","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Toronto is a two storeyed, timber house designed in the Carpenter Gothic style of architecture. The building is dominated by its roof that is basically two large intersecting gables. Beneath the corrugated iron roof cladding is the original roof clad with wooden shingles. Each gable features decorative scalloped bargeboards. A single brick chimney with a simple brick moulding protrudes above the roofline and is capped with two decorative terracotta pots. The external walls of the main house are hand-planed pine chamferboards which are approximately 300mm wide. Internal walls and ceilings throughout the house are vertically lined with tongue and groove boards. The house contains seven main rooms, four at ground level with three upstairs. The ground level central hallway is decorated with an intricate fretted semicircular timber panel positioned overhead midway down the hall. A steep and narrow, stained timber staircase connects the two floor levels towards the rear of the house. Most windows in the house are multi-paned double-hung sashes, except at the front where French door with louvred shutters have been installed on both the upper and lower levels. Concave metal hoods with decorative timber fretwork brackets are fitted to windows on both side elevations. Original timber joinery such as fireplace surrounds, doors, architraves and skirtings remain throughout the house.
Full width timber verandahs extend across both the front and rear elevations of the house and a small upper level balcony projects from its front gable. The verandahs and the balcony all have hipped roofs clad in corrugated iron. The front verandah and balcony both feature decorative scalloped valances. The balcony has cast iron balustrading and immediately beneath it is the main entrance to the house, highlighted by a wide valance decorated with tracery. The front verandah area is almost entirely screened with lattice, while the rear verandah is currently glazed and has been partly enclosed to form a modern bathroom.
The existing kitchen wing is a single storey structure, clad with weatherboards, that is attached to the rear verandah of the main house. A small laundry skillion has been attached to the west side of the kitchen. There are three multi-paned double-hung sash windows to the kitchen wing, each fitted with timber and corrugated iron window hoods which are quite different to those on the main house. Internally the walls and coved ceiling are lined with fibrous cement sheeting. The room has two different ceiling heights, the rear section being the lower. A concrete slab has been introduced for flooring. A toilet has been constructed in one corner of the building but is only accessible from the laundry. Adjacent to the kitchen wing is a large brick lined underground water tank to which is connected a hand operated pump.
Towards the south east corner of the property stands the former stables building, currently converted into a garage. The building is clad with wide chamferboards, similar to those used on the main house. A concrete slab replaces the original floor. A large timber fern-house is located at the rear of the property, orientated east-west.
","history":"Toronto is a two storey timber residence erected in 1863 for Mrs Elizabeth Lloyd, who bought the Quarry Street allotment No. 13 for £45 from the Crown in April 1863. Due to a period of great local prosperity, Ipswich, at that time, was considered a leading commercial centre, strongly contesting Brisbane as Queensland's premier city. The house, originally named "Devonshire Cottage", was apparently built for investment purposes for the considerably wealthy Mrs Lloyd, who did not live in the house except for a brief period during 1868. Like Mrs Lloyd, several of Toronto's earliest occupants were members of the Congregational Church. In 1870 the house appears to have been occupied by Reverend Mossop possibly as a Congregational Church Manse.
In September 1873, when the property was put up for sale, the house was described as comprising of five large rooms on the lower floor and four rooms upon the upper floor, making nine in total. There was also a detached kitchen, a servant's bedroom and a large washing shed. A broad verandah occupied the entire front of the house with a balcony above. In the yard was a large tank with a good pump, stables and a cow house.
William Tamlyn bought the house together with several other adjoining allotments. Like Mrs Lloyd, Tamlyn bought the house for investment purposes, choosing to live elsewhere. The house continued to be leased out until 1914, despite a change of ownership to James Jackes in 1882. Jackes was responsible for renaming the house "Toronto" after his birthplace, and for subdividing the property into two allotments in 1911. The reduced sized property was sold in 1914 to Josephine Rowlands, who became the house's first owner occupier.
Toronto was resold in 1940 to Peter and Alice McKelvie who made various alterations to the house including work to the front verandah, some restumping, a new opening between the living and dining rooms and substantial internal works to the former kitchen wing at the rear. The property changed ownership for five years to Colin Medlin and Margaret Grant from 1965 and was then sold to Donald and Ivy Follett who carried out further work to the house. The work involved restumping, rewiring, glazing of the rear verandah and reinstatement of the house's earlier colour scheme based on scrapings. A new timber fern-house was constructed at the rear of the property in 1977 and a new bathroom constructed in 1985.
","criteria":"Constructed in c.1863, Toronto, formerly called Devonshire Cottage, was built during a period of great prosperity in Ipswich when the town was considered a leading commercial centre, strongly contesting Brisbane as Queensland's premier city. The size, quality and favourable location of the house overlooking the city is indicative of the influx of wealthy settlers that moved into the area during the early 1860's in direct response to the town's prosperity.
|The house is an early, intact and rare surviving example of the Carpenter Gothic style of architecture, a typically used for domestic applications, particularly in the Ipswich region but also throughout Queensland.
|The house is an early, intact and rare surviving example of the Carpenter Gothic style of architecture, a typically used for domestic applications, particularly in the Ipswich region but also throughout Queensland.
|The unusual style of the two storey, timber house gives the building considerable aesthetic significance with its prominent gables, decorative scalloped bargeboards, traceried timber verandah and intimate scale. The building offers an important contribution to the Quarry Street streetscape, which is of interest for the variety and quality of nineteenth century housing close to the Ipswich city centre.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion E","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15371,"place_ref":600596,"name":"Walter Burley Griffin Incinerator (former)","alternate_name":"The Incinerator Theatre","street_address":"10A Milford Street","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The incinerator is in a landscaped setting within Queen's Park. The original building comprises two interlocking gable-roofed brick structures partially set into a hillside. The section to the east is four storeys high and that to the west two storeys high. An additional chimney stands alongside the building. The design includes moulded brickwork and concrete dressings but has fewer decorative elements than Griffin's other incinerators. The floors are concrete and the roof timber framed and clad with tiles. The theatre is entered by steps going up onto the flue between the chimneys and the stage has been installed at the far end in the tipping area. The lowest floor level behind the stage has facilities for the actors including a small kitchen. The level above this has dressing rooms and toilets and the top level, where trucks entered, is now used for the storage of scenery flats.
A rehearsal building has been constructed to the west of the incinerator and is a single storey brick building known as the Jean Pratt Building.
Immediately to the north of the former incinerator is a single storey concrete kitchen and amenities block built in 1994.
","history":"The Incinerator Theatre, situated in Queen's Park, Ipswich and opened in 1969, was converted from a 1936 refuse incinerator designed by Walter Burley Griffin for the city of Ipswich.
Architect Walter Burley Griffin was born and educated in America and graduated from the renowned school of architecture at the University of Illinios in 1899. Between 1901 and 1906 he was an associate of the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright. In 1911 he entered a design competition for the future capital of Australia. His winning entry served as the basis for the design of Canberra and Griffin moved to Australia where he designed a number of significant buildings such as the Capitol Theatre in Melbourne and the Sydney suburb of Castlecrag. During the Depression, work for architects was severely reduced and Griffin and his partner, Eric Nicholls, gained the bulk of their work from designs for municipal incinerators. These utilised the reverberatory system patented by Australian engineer John Boadle. The Reverberatory Incinerator Company constructed twelve incinerators in the eastern states, all of distinctive design. Only six are believed to survive, none of them as incinerators. The construction of the Ipswich incinerator was supervised by local architect George Brockwell Gill and was opened in 1936. It is the only building designed by Walter Burley Griffin in Queensland.
To implement the processing of rubbish, the incinerator was built into a hill to allow road access to the top and bottom of the building. On the upper level, trucks carrying rubbish backed in through roller doors and dumped their cargo into hoppers. The refuse was then raked into two burning chambers. Unburned residue was doused with water then hauled by electric motor to an area to the west of the incinerator. The building was initially designed with one chimney, but adding a second work unit and chimney in 1940 extended its capacity. As Griffin was by then dead, it is assumed that his partner, Eric Nicholls, designed these.
The incinerator was designed to process the rubbish generated by a city of 20,000 people, but by 1960 the population of Ipswich was twice this number. Moreover, by this time it was no longer thought environmentally appropriate to dispose of rubbish by burning. Use of the incinerator was therefore discontinued and as the empty building began to be targeted by vandals, in 1965 the council considered demolishing it. Many people wished to see the building retained and a symposium sponsored by the Ipswich Chamber of Commerce supported its preservation. The Ipswich branch of the Arts Council approached the City Council who agreed to grant them a short-term lease providing that a viable use for the building was found. Following several renewals of this lease, in 1969, the Ipswich Little Theatre decided that the building should be converted to an intimate theatre and contributed financially to this project.
The Ipswich Little Theatre is a community theatre formed in 1946 after the pattern of the Little Theatre movement in Britain. Amateur theatre has been important in the development of Australian drama as it provided an opportunity for local playwrights to be heard, as professional theatres tended to stage British and American productions. When commercial theatre declined during the Depression, amateur dramatic societies became a significant part of the cultural life of Australia, being the only form of live performance accessible to a large section of the community. They have been and still are a training ground for actors, playwrights, directors and designers and have given the public an opportunity to hear locally written drama. Ipswich Little Theatre has always fostered local writers although they have also produced Australian and imported plays.
Since its inception, the need for a cheap and readily available venue for meetings, rehearsals and performances had been a constant problem. Initially, the society used the CWA clubrooms, the Cambrian Hall and the Town Hall for performances with meetings and rehearsals held at various places including private homes. Once the society began to acquire scenery, props etc. the need for a permanent venue became more pressing and a fund for this purpose was started in the mid 1950s. Progress received a setback when television arrived and eroded the interest of the public in live theatre. In 1966 the Little Theatre moved to the 4IP building in Brisbane Street. Performances were held at the Town Hall. However, in 1969 this closed and was no longer available as a venue.
In this year the Incinerator was converted into a theatre seating about 80 people. The conversion was effected by using the chimney end of the building, previously thought of as the rear, as the entrance. Engineer Ian Pullar, a member of the Little Theatre, carried out the design and planning. Changes made to effect the conversion included adding an entrance balcony with removable railings, toilets and changing rooms, fire escapes and a covered outdoor area. A rubbish hopper was removed to create a stage area and scenery tower and the space previously used for machinery was converted into an auditorium. The theatre was opened on 22 November 1969 by the Ipswich Little Theatre Company as the Incinerator Theatre.
In 1974 when the Ipswich Branch of the Arts Council went into indefinite recess a new group comprising ILT members and members of the community was formed to continue conversion of the incinerator and promotion of cultural activities. In 1977 ILT took over the lease and responsibility for the building. The available space was not quite adequate and in 1982 a new building designed by Graham Killoran and named the Jean Pratt building was constructed nearby for meetings, rehearsals and storage. The pressed aluminium roof provided to the incinerator in 1966 proved unsatisfactory and was replaced by tiles in 1988. A paved courtyard was created. The first conversion work to the incinerator had provided only primitive facilities and a new amenities building designed by Bruce Buchanan Architects was opened in 1994 to provide better catering facilities and public toilets. The Ipswich Little Theatre Society currently has a twenty-year lease from the Ipswich City Council
","criteria":"The construction, use, expansion and eventual obsolescence of the former Ipswich municipal incinerator demonstrates a growing concern with public health during the twentieth century and of the civic programs undertaken to promote it. In its secondary use as a community theatre the building also provides evidence for the contribution made by the Little Theatre movement to the growth of cultural life in Australia.
|The former incinerator is one of only six surviving examples of the twelve incinerators of this type built in Australia. It is also the only example of the work of architect Walter Burley Griffin in Queensland.
|Although the former incinerator was intended as an industrial building, it is also aesthetically pleasing in its form and setting and was sufficiently well regarded by the community to trigger a campaign to preserve it. Its aesthetic qualities have been important to the success of its recycling as a venue for the performing arts.
|As the first permanent home of the Ipswich Little Theatre Society, the building has a special connection with this community theatre which has made an important contribution to the cultural life of Ipswich.
|The former incinerator has a special association with the life and works of Walter Burley Griffin, illustrating a phase of his career and being as the only work by this architect in Queensland.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion E | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15372,"place_ref":600597,"name":"Keiraville","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"20 Roderick Street","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1993-07-09","description":"Keiraville is a single-storeyed rendered masonry house with a corrugated iron pyramid roof and timber verandahs on three sides. It has two wings forming a U at the rear of the building which adjoin a new brick extension. It is one of a group of three buildings on the Uniting Church site, being located in the well-treed north-eastern portion.
The verandah has paired timber posts with square capitals and decorative timber valances. It is covered by a curved corrugated iron roof, and has a wrought iron balustrade. The northern Roderick St elevation has a small front yard and a modest entrance (currently not used) comprised of rendered masonry stairs and a timber arch spanning between posts which has the words "The Manse" are inscribed upon it. This northern elevation has timber louvred shutters, while the west and east elevations have glazed timber doors with glazed fanlights above. The building sits on a brick screen base. Two tall rendered masonry chimneys and a metal ventilator rise above the ridge of the roof.
The house has a simple square plan with four rooms around a central corridor. It has timber boarded ceilings throughout, some with metal ceiling roses. The north-east and south-west rooms have fireplaces with timber mantelpieces.
The rendered masonry former kitchen wing is attached to the south-western corner of the main house, and has a hipped roof, and a brick chimney. The south-eastern wing is single skin timber with externally exposed framing, and contains two rooms which may have served as accommodation. The verandah to this wing has been enclosed. The space between the wings has been roofed and enclosed, and now links directly to a new brick extension.
The major alterations to Keiraville have focused on the rear of the building, and when viewed from Roderick Street, Keiraville remains an intact late nineteenth century residence in form and detail. Much of the interior detail of the house also remains intact.
","history":"Keiraville is a single storeyed rendered masonry house, the first stage of which was probably erected c1880s by contractor John MacKenzie. Soon after it was sold to the Cribb family. In 1938, it was sold to the Congregational Church for use as a manse.
Allotment 5 on which the house is erected was first proclaimed a town lot in 1884. It was sold in that year to John MacKenzie. In 1888, Clarissa Cribb purchased the allotment, together with the adjoining allotment 4 on the corner of Roderick Street and Warwick Road. The house was lived in by her son Harry Cribb and his wife until 1895. Harry, of the local firm Cribb and Foote, was a well known sportsman and it may have been at this time that the tennis court was erected on allotment 4.
In 1891, the property was transferred to Clarissa Spence, the eldest daughter of Clarissa Cribb. Subsequently the property was owned by various members of the Cribb family. From 1913 until the 1920s the house was lived in by Harry's son, Gordon and his family. Gordon was known as a naturalist and erected aviaries in the grounds. In 1919, the property was transferred to Gordon and in 1923, returned to Clarissa Spence. A photograph dated c1920s shows a detached building to the rear to the rear of the house. Sometime after this, a wing was added to the south east.
After the death of Clarissa Spence, Keiraville was acquired in 1938 by the Congregational Church for use as a manse. The Congregational Church of Ipswich, of which the Cribbs were prominent members, was formed in 1854. Their first church was erected in the following year in Brisbane Street. A second church and parsonage were later erected on the site. After the flood of 1893, the Church purchased property adjoining Kieraville in East Street. In 1895, the new Congregational Hall was erected on the higher ground. Not until 1957 was a church erected on the site, although Keiraville served as the manse for the Congregational Minister for some 40 years after 1938.
The house adjoined the site of the Congregational Church Hall For some 50 years Kieraville was used as the manse. In 1983, the house became the headquarters for the Blue Nurses. A carpark was constructed on the tennis court site. In 1992, a new wing was added to the rear of the building involving alterations to the house. The house is now used by Lifeline.
","criteria":"Keiraville is important in demonstrating the development of Ipswich, which is part of the pattern of Queensland's history.
|It demonstrates the principal characteristics of a late 19th century residence and makes a picturesque contribution to the streetscape.
|It demonstrates the principal characteristics of a late 19th century residence and makes a picturesque contribution to the streetscape.
|(Criterion under review)
|As a manse for over 40 years, it has a special association with the Congregational Church. It also has a special association with the Cribb family, who were prominent in the development of Ipswich.
","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":15373,"place_ref":600598,"name":"Ozanam House","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"66 Roderick Street","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Ozanam House, a single-storeyed timber building with timber stumps and a hipped corrugated iron roof with cast iron ridge cresting and paired timber eave brackets, is located on a northerly sloping site fronting Roderick Street to the north and bordered by Waghorn and Omar Streets. The building is situated opposite Baines park and has views over Ipswich to the northeast.
The chamferboard building has verandahs all round, with the southeast corner enclosed and a kitchen wing at the rear southwest corner. Verandahs have single-skin exposed framed timber walls, curved corrugated iron awnings, curved timber valance and tapered timber brackets, timber dowel balustrades, battened timber skirt between stumps on the north, and timber lattice panels either side of the central entrance stair. The timber verandah details, together with the front row of square stumps, appear to be of a later date of construction than the house. Arch paned french doors open onto the verandahs, and the main entrance has a timber panelled door with patterned glass sidelights and fanlight.
Internally, the building has a central corridor with two rooms on the eastern side, used for storage and containing built in cupboards, and one large room on the western side containing a room divide with timber battened valance. Ceilings are hardboard with timber coverstrips, and walls are vertically boarded. A leaded glass door opens into the kitchen. A lean-to laundry is located on the rear of the kitchen, and a toilet on the southern side of the rear verandah.
A weatherboard shed with corrugated iron gable roof and concrete stumps is located to the south of the house. This building has high level timber hopper shutters and is used for storage. Two large trees are located to the west of the house, and a planted embankment is located along the Roderick and Waghorn Street frontages. A path and concrete steps with a metal gate lead from the house north to Roderick Street.
","history":"The majority of the land on which Ozanam House stands, originally allots 1 and 2 of Sec 83, was alienated from the crown by James Stirling in November 1879. The land transferred to William Berry in 1884 and then to Richard Davies Graham (1833-1918) in 1885.
The date of construction of the building is most likely c.1886, as RD Graham took out two mortgages on the property for £500 and £2000 in June 1886, and he is listed in the Queensland Post Office Directories as having a private practice in Ipswich in 1887 and a private residence in Ipswich in 1888. It is likely that Ozanam House was designed by RD Graham who practised as an architect, civil engineer, licensed surveyor, agent and auctioneer with his firm RD Graham and Son from 1883-87, and whose principal office was located in various addresses in Queen Street, Brisbane. The Ipswich office of the firm is only listed for 1887, and by 1889 Richard Davies Graham is listed as living in Albion and was declared insolvent in 1896.
The property transferred to Samuel Piper in 1892, and then to John Canty, a blacksmith, in 1906. Piper had mortgaged the property for £350 in 1905, and it is possible that the alterations to the front verandah occurred at this time. On the death of John Canty in 1946, the property transferred to Ethel May Senior. The land was subdivided in 1950 with Senior retaining the rear portion, and the Roderick Street frontage containing the house was transferred to Thomas Keith Johnson.
In 1960 the Metropolitan Central Council of Brisbane of the Society of St Vincent de Paul became the owner of the house, and in 1961 took possession of the rear portion of the land. An adjoining allotment fronting Omar Street was alienated from the crown in 1966. The name of the organisation was changed to the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul State Council of Queensland and the land was amalgamated and a new Certificate of Title issued in 1983.
The Society has used the house as a venue for meetings and conferences, and for the storage and preparation of food. The Society named the property Ozanam House, after the founder of the Society Frederic Ozanam. A timber shed was moved onto the rear of the site in the early 1960s, and is used for the storage and sorting of clothes and donations. A hostel for homeless men was built at the rear of the site c.1982, and operated as such until June 1994, since which time it has been used as a welfare office and drop-in centre.
The Society of St Saint Vincent de Paul is an international fraternal organisation of lay people, and the largest lay organisation in the Catholic Church. The Society was named after Saint Vincent de Paul whose life was devoted to helping the poor and the underprivileged.
Saint Vincent de Paul was born in the village of Pouy, southern France in 1581 and ordained a priest in 1600. He devoted himself to the relief of the needy sick, improving conditions for slaves and for those in gaols and hospitals, establishing orphanages and educational facilities and helping those devastated by war. Some of his work became models for government institutions. He died in 1660, was canonised in 1737 and named universal patron of Catholic charities by Pope Leo XIII in 1885.
Frederic Ozanam was born in 1813 in Milan, at that time a French city. Two years later his family returned to Lyons where he spent his youth. At an early age he decided to commit himself to the promotion of better social conditions, the raising of moral standards and the restoration of the catholic faith in France. In 1833, at the University of Paris, Ozanam and his companions formed the Conference of Charity to visit and assist the poor, which two years later became the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul. Ozanam became renowned both for his defence of the faith and his charity towards adversaries. He died in 1853 after a long illness.
The depression of the early 1890s prompted the foundation of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul in Queensland. At the same time, the disastrous flood of the Brisbane River in February 1893 caused great hardship, particularly to the poor of the city. As the Red Hill area was one of the poorest in the city, the parish priest Father J Hegarty called a meeting of his parishioners and the first Conference was formed on 18 February 1894 at Saint Brigids Parish, Red Hill.
","criteria":"(Criterion under review)
|(Criterion under review)
|Ozanam House, one of a group of houses located in a prominent position overlooking Ipswich to the northeast, is a highly decorative 1880s timber residence which makes a substantial contribution to the Roderick Street streetscape and Ipswich townscape.
|The building has been associated with the community and charity work of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul within Ipswich since 1960.
","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":15374,"place_ref":600599,"name":"Garowie","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"59 Whitehill Road","suburb":"EASTERN HEIGHTS","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The house is situated on the western side of Whitehill Road with an easterly frontage to the street. The house has a cement rendered, brick core, which is surrounded by verandahs at both levels. The lower level verandah features paired support columns and has no balustrades. A scalloped fringe of timber battens extends between the support columns, just beneath the upper level's balustrades. At the upper level, the paired supports are spanned by intricate, cast iron lace balustrading. The house has a corrugated iron, hipped roof with stepped down and slightly convex roofing over its upper level verandah. Its entry, facing east, is defined by a central gabled portico, with a fretwork pediment. A decorative, masonry fence and mature plantings, many along the property's front boundary, screen the house.
","history":""Garowie", a grand two-storey residence, was one of several mansions built on the Limestone Hill ridge. It was built by Mesrs Robt. Wilson and Co for James Clarke Cribb, the son of Benjamin Cribb who founded the Cribb and Foote business, and his wife Alice nee Browne. The house was designed by Ipswich builder and architect, Samuel Shenton, and was completed in 1888. It is said to have been modelled on the Denmark Hill home of Benjamin Cribb, "Gooloowan" (QHR 600593).
The architect Samuel Shenton, arrived in Ipswich in March 1851 and began work as a carpenter and building contractor. Among his early contracts were Dr Challinor's house and shop in Brisbane Street and fitting out the first Presbyterian Church (1853). Shenton made some significant improvements to central Ipswich in the 1860s with the School of Arts and the Lands Office. During this time he was preparing plans, specifications and quantities and in 1879 his contracting business was taken over by Worley and Whitehead (Ipswich Girls' Grammar School). Shenton practised as an architect from 1879 until 1889 when his practice was taken over by employee George Brockwell Gill. Shenton subsequently became heavily involved in community and business ventures as well as local politics. He was an alderman for many years and the Mayor of Ipswich from 1871-1872 and 1889. He died in Ipswich on 3 July 1893. Some of his other more notable and extant works are the Congregational Church Manse (QHR 600594) (1882-83) in Quarry Street, and Faerieknowe (QHR 600600) for E.W. Hargraves.
James Cribb served the family company until 1904, when he was elected to the Bundamba Shire Council. He was the Member for Rosewood and the Member for Bundamba (which later became the seat of Bremer), serving a total of 19 years as a state parliamentarian. Cribb was also a member of the Ipswich Hospital Board, a director of the Ipswich Gas and Coke Company and the Queensland Woollen Mills, a trustee of the Ipswich superintendent of the Congregational Sunday School.
After James Cribb died in May 1926, his brother Harry bought the house. Harry Cribb was a state level champion tennis player. Garowie once had a tennis court in the grounds on the southern side of the house which was converted into a bowling green during the mid 1920s. This portion of the grounds as well as the portion to the north of the house were subdivided and separate residences were built although the original fence still remains. Henry Cribb died in July 1944, and the house was sold to K V Mc Donnell. During World War II the house had been converted into flats.
In 1970 the house was bought by Dr and Mrs J Thomas, who began restoring it. The residence was originally brick, and was rendered after 1919. The billiard room, on the southern side, has been relocated. The original fretwork on the front portico is missing, the current fretwork being copied from another residence, "Lakemba", at 14 Chelmsford Avenue, Ipswich.
The name Garowie is supposedly an Aboriginal word for 'Fig Tree Camp'.
","criteria":"Garowie is important in demonstrating the pattern of affluent residential development in Ipswich in the latter nineteenth century by influential members of the local community made successful by the strength of Ipswich's industry and commerce.
|Garowie is also a good example of a late Victorian Queensland mansion with evidence of its extensive original grounds marked out by the masonry fence line along the frontage of Whitehill Road.
The house has special association as an example of the work of Ipswich builder and architect Samuel Shenton, who was one of the earliest prominent architects in Ipswich.
|Garowie is a striking grand residence with important streetscape value particularly for its established gardens and decorative two storey façade with iron-lace balustrading and scalloped timber battens and gabled portico. It's prominent position and scale make it a city landmark.
|It has special association with the Cribb family, built as their family home, in particular its first owner James Clarke Cribb, who served in local and state government. The Cribbs have been a prominent family in Ipswich since its early settlement involved in business, politics and education in the city and in Queensland. They are most notable for the long running department store, Cribb & Foote.
","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":15375,"place_ref":600600,"name":"Fairy Knoll","alternate_name":"Jefferis Turner Centre (former)","street_address":"2A Robertson Road","suburb":"EASTERN HEIGHTS","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Fairy Knoll is a grand and imposing, two-storey, easterly-facing residence, on an elevated area bounded by Chermside, Robertson and Whitehill roads. It has expansive views from its surrounding verandahs, and it overlooks the south-eastern area of Queens Park. It has a brick core which is wrapped by decorative timber verandahs, the detailing of which creates patterns of light and dark, and is typical of Queensland Federation era architecture. The structure has a corrugated iron, pyramid roof, with a lantern at its apex. The lantern lights the home's central stairwell. The upper level verandah has separate corrugated iron roofing. At this level, a gable and pediment, with finial, define the main entry.
The polychromatic brickwork was described in The Queensland Times in 1901 as 'dark-coloured buff facing brick, relieved at the angle quoins and quoins of window and door openings with light-coloured bricks. The arches are finished with a dark brick, tuck-pointed, and the strings with bricks similar to the quoins." There is a ground floor extension to the rear of the house.
The house is situated on substantial grounds which still displays some of the original features and the subsequent changes over the past century. A set of concrete stairs extending from the southern verandah of the house leads to an open level lawn. The driveway accesses Robertson Street and is flanked by mature Mango trees planted in the 1950s. This driveway is the only portion of the original driveway which has survived. There is a set of concrete and brick stairs providing access from the driveway to the main entrance of the house. The large trees to the north-west corner of the house date from the early 1900s as well as the large palm trees to the east, adjacent to the main entry of the house. There are garden beds lining the east, west and south brick bases of the house, edged with matching brick which also date from the 1900s. There remains of a stone wall to the Robertson Road boundary. Remains of the former tennis court area are evident on the open level area cut into the bank beside the entry off Robertson Road. A rose garden now occupies the area.
","history":"The grand two storey brick residence, Fairy Knoll, was completed in 1901 by contractors Worley and Whitehead to the 1896 design of architect George Brockwell Gill. The residence was built for Thomas Hancock (Junior),a successful timber merchant, his wife Louisa Hayne and their ten children.
Thomas Hancock came to Ipswich in 1863 with his parents and brothers and sister. His father Thomas Hancock (Senior) commenced sawing timber at Pine Mountain and later acquired a sawmill in Rosewood. In 1875 he acquired the lease over the North Ipswich timber mill and in October 1880 Thomas Hancock & Sons opened a new mill in Lowry Street, North Ipswich. By 1885 Thomas Hancock & Sons was a successful expanding company employing 138 hands in Ipswich as well as many in their Brisbane offices totalling 274 people. The Ipswich complex included a mill, joinery and moulding plant and a lathe department which produced doors, window sashes and panelling.
Thomas Hancock Senior died in 1891 and the company passed into the hands of his sons Josias and Thomas Junior. Thomas Hancock Junior had married his second wife Louisa Hayne in 1878 and by 1885 they had two sons Thomas and Norman and a daughter Eva and were expecting another daughter, Florence. Thomas Hancock subsequently bought four acres on the crest of the hill above Chermside Road (then Boundary Road) from Ambrose John Foote with the intention of building a family home.
The first house Hancock built on the site was a simple timber home. By 1897 Thomas and Louisa Hancock had five boys and five girls and Thomas dreamed of erecting a two storey brick mansion to replace the wooden house. In 1896 he transferred the title to his wife Louisa and the following year is believed to have commissioned architect George Brockwell Gill to design the new home. Thomas Hancock did not live to see Fairy Knoll completed as he died in 1897. The house was constructed at a cost of £2000 and in 1901 Louisa Hancock and her ten children moved into their new home and Louisa continued to live there until 1947.
The architect, George Brockwell Gill, designed many of the grand residences and public buildings in Ipswich from the 1880s to the 1930s. Some of his works include Brynhyfryd for Lewis Thomas (1889-90), St Paul's Rectory (1895), The Ipswich Club (1916), The Ipswich Technical College (1901), and supervision of the construction of the Walter Burleigh Griffin Incinerator in 1936. Gill emigrated from London and settled in Ipswich in 1886 where he commenced work as an architect for the firm of Samuel Shenton. Gill took over Shenton's practice in 1889 when Shenton retired. Gill had been elected Associate of the Queensland Institute of Architects in 1904 and Fellow by 1913. He was its Vice-President in 1914-16 and President in 1918-19. Gill was also a member of the Board of Trustees for Ipswich Girls' Grammar School and on his retirement in 1948 he was the Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
The newly finished house was described in The Queensland Times in March 1901 which mentioned such features as the 10 foot wide front entrance hall with a solid cedar entrance door and side stained glass windows. An arched opening at the end of the hall led to a walnut staircase in the centre of the building. The staircase was three flights from floor to floor. It was lit by well-distributed light from the lantern in the apex of the roof. The water was supplied by two large, built in brick cisterns, immediately under the roof and lined with iron, which had a capacity of 4000 gallons. The water supply was drawn by gravity.
The gardens were a feature of Fairy Knoll and during the Hancocks' residence there included a gravel drive with the main entrance gates on Robertson Road. The drive was fringed with a Duaranta spp. hedge which made a circus ring in which the Hancock children played with their pony. The grounds also comprised fine lawns and beds and towards Robertson Road there was a circular pond. Today it is a flower garden now known as the Bull's Ring. It is a said that the mature Poinciana trees and Moreton Bay Figs were planted in the days of the first family home and they still stand on the western side of the extension. The grounds also contained a fernery, bush house, and fowl pens. A laundry, store room, earth closet and garage in one large complex stood next to the fowl pens on the northern side of the house. This structure was constructed of weatherboard and chamferboard and had a stone rear wall. The stone wall is still extant.
The Hancock family occupied the house for forty-six years and enjoyed a high standard of living for which the house was designed. The rooms were large and the bedrooms were designed to accommodate one or two persons as opposed to poorer households where the average was three and up to five persons per room. The rooms were furnished with solid oak and cedar furniture. The dining room contained a large table, capable of seating twenty persons, and a sideboard. The Hancocks employed two maids, a laundress and a gardener but none of these staff lived in the house.
During World War II the family were active with the war effort and the light well at Fairy Knoll was used as a spotter's tower as it provided a expansive view of Ipswich and the surrounding areas. After the war had ended much of the Hancock family land around Eastern Heights was subdivided and given to the Anglican, Catholic and Presbyterian Churches and the Scouts.
Louisa Hancock died on 22 April 1947 aged 92. After the death of Louisa Hancock, Fairy Knoll was transformed into a maternal and child welfare home.
The Jefferis Turner Centre was opened in 1952 as part of the Queensland Labor Government's Maternal and Child Welfare program in the 1940s and 1950s. The Maternity Act of 1922 brought about changes in health care in Queensland elevating the importance of maternal and infant welfare to an unprecedented level. In the 1940s and 1950s the program concentrated on developing Mothercraft Homes which provided residential care for mothers and babies as well as training for staff in infant health.
Many alterations were undertaken in the conversion of Fairy Knoll to the Jefferis Turner Centre. Major external changes included the removal of the 4000 gallon water tank from the roof, the enclosure of the verandahs on the southern and western sides, the asbestos cement sheet cladding of the verandah valance and the construction of an extension on the northern side and new out buildings as well as a fire escape from the upper level of the original house. The house was substantially changed internally, the details of which can be found in the Conservation Plan for Jefferis Turner Centre by Margaret Cook and Paul Burmester (February 2001).
The Jefferis Turner Centre was officially opened on 3 August 1952 by the minister for Health and Home Affairs. The centre could accommodate four or five mothers and about ten babies and at the time of opening the home employed three nursing sisters and six trainees. By September 1952 there were six trained nurses living in, five mothers and ten infants.
The building continued as the Jefferis Turner Centre until 1986 when the Department of Health decided to close it and convert it to a centre offering care to intellectually handicapped children. The Jefferis Turner Centre was transferred to the Intellectual Handicap Service in October 1986, its new role being to provide short term respite care for intellectually disabled children while their families had a holiday or when there was a family emergency. Improvements to the appearance of the building were undertaken in 1988 by the Department of Public Works. Enclosed rooms were removed and the verandahs were opened up to their original form. In 2011 the building was again in use as a family home.
","criteria":"The erection of Fairy Knoll in 1901 exemplified the pattern of affluent settlement in Ipswich around the turn of the 20th century. The culmination of the 19th century saw much renewed building activity in Ipswich as a result of local commerce becoming established and was reflected in the establishment of grand residences by successful families in business. Many of these grand homes were established on the hilltop area east of Queens Park, where Fairy Knoll still stands today.
|Designed in 1897, Fairy Knoll is a significant example of a late 1890s grand residence specifically suited to the requirements of a large, wealthy family. It demonstrates early design practices in relation to room function, layout, responses to climate, building materials and workmanship despite its later adaptation for other uses.
Fairy Knoll has strong association with the work of prominent Ipswich architect George Brockwell Gill as a good example of his work.
|Fairy Knoll possesses strong aesthetic value due to its prominence as a landmark in Ipswich which has dominant visual impact on the surrounding area and for its fine detailing and composition. The residence is characteristic of the Federation Filigree style of architecture which is demonstrated by its intricate timber screen, its slender columns of timber dividing the facade into bays, a timber frieze and brackets and timber railings. Its decorative external brickwork also contributes to its aesthetic value. Its setting on a large piece of land with gardens and mature trees is also of important aesthetic significance.
|Fairy Knoll has strong association with the community of Ipswich as a local landmark creating a strong sense of place in the city, particularly in the surrounding streets.
|The building is also historically important as the premises of the fifth mothercraft home established by the Queensland Government. It opened as The Jefferis Turner Centre in 1952 named after the first Director of Maternal and Child Welfare in Queensland, Dr Alfred Jefferis Turner. The Jefferis Turner Centre was part of an ongoing programme of maternal and child welfare instigated by the Theodore government in 1922.
It also has strong association with the Hancock family who built and lived in the home for 46 years. The Hancocks made a substantial contribution to the Queensland timber industry from the 1860s and were recognised as a well-known group of benefactors.
","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":15376,"place_ref":600601,"name":"Ipswich Grammar School","alternate_name":"Ipswich Boys’ Grammar School","street_address":"Woodend Road","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Ipswich Grammar School is a large complex on a generous, elevated site less than 1km west of the Ipswich city centre. The site is bounded by Burnett Street, Woodend Road, Waghorn Street, and Darling Street and the campus buildings cluster on a prominent high ridge across the northern half of the site. The southern half of the site is lower, with scattered buildings amongst playing fields and mature trees.
\nFeatures of Ipswich Grammar School of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nAll other buildings, structures, and landscape features are not of state-level cultural heritage significance.
\nMain Building (1863-1922)
The Main Building is the focus of the campus and stands at the southern edge of the hill, prominently visible from the south-west to south-east across the Maude Kerr Oval and from the 1955 entrance drive. The building is highly intact, retaining a high level of integrity and legibility of its original functions. The building retains important layers of alterations to its fabric made between 1863 and 1922 that reflect key changes to the school operations, and successive educational philosophies.
It is a brick one- and two-storey building on a stone base with a timber-framed roof clad with corrugated metal sheets. The building is Gothic Revival in style, with striking features such as octagonal, battlemented towers, slit windows, stepped buttresses, quoining, bellcote, and steep dormers.
\nDue to the almost 80-year span of construction, there are important differences in the decorative detailing of its parts.
\nThe building comprises four attached, successive sections. These are:
\nFeatures of the Main Building of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nFeatures of the Main Building not of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nImportant open spaces surround the Main Building, providing natural light and ventilation of the interior and allow views to the principal (eastern and southern) elevations.
\nOpen spaces of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nFeatures of the open spaces not of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nScience Building (1913)
The Science Building is a small, single-storey brick building standing to the south of the Main Building. The building is not highly intact – all doors and windows have been replaced, its gutters and roof ventilators have been removed, a verandah has been added to its southern side (1980s), and its interior has been refurbished and retains no visible original partitions or surfaces. The exterior is rendered and scored with ashlar coursing, but it is not known if this was the original exterior finish.
Features of the Science Building of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nFeatures of the Science Building not of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nEdith Fox Dormitory Tower (1973) and JE Hancock Dormitory Tower (1973)
The Edith Fox Dormitory Tower (Fox Dormitory Tower) and the JE Hancock Dormitory Tower (Hancock Dormitory Tower) are two, almost identical, five-storey, brick and concrete boarding buildings. They both stand near the edge of the Maude Kerr Oval: the Fox Dormitory Tower near the north edge and the Hancock Dormitory Tower near the eastern edge but on the eastern side of the Entrance Driveway. They are cylindrical in plan form, with a conical roof and tall centre ventilation stack and have concrete and brick structures. They are accessed by a long, narrow sloping concrete ramp and their interiors are divided into wedges with a central round room.
The interior, which was originally more open plan, retains original partitions and stairs but has been refurbished to remove the original fitout of the central round ablutions rooms and convert the space to a central ‘hall’. Doors have been added to lead to the former bed alcoves which have been enclosed by new partitions to form bedrooms and an ensuite has been added to each new bedroom.
\nFeatures of the Fox Dormitory Tower and Hancock Dormitory Tower of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nFeatures of the Fox Dormitory Tower and Hancock Dormitory Tower not of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nLandscape Features
Landscape features of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
Landscape features not of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nViews
Views of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
Ipswich Grammar School, located in the city of Ipswich in south-east Queensland, was the first secondary school established in Queensland under the Grammar Schools Act 1860. The school’s Main Building (1863-1922) is a fine example of Gothic Revival architecture, and its earliest sections were designed by noted architect, Benjamin Backhouse. The school, its buildings, and landscaped setting reflect education policies and architecture across more than a century, supported by strong, sustained community involvement.
\nDuring the 18th and 19th centuries, grammar schools in Britain began expanding their curriculum beyond the confines of classical languages and literature. Ipswich Grammar School was established in this climate of educational change, expansion, and centralisation.
\nEducation in pre-Separation Queensland was limited to the teaching of reading, writing, arithmetic, and religious instruction, and was often conducted from the parlours of private establishments or homes. After Queensland became a separate colony from New South Wales on 10 December 1859, the Queensland government faced the increasing need to provide an educational system for the new colony. Two important pieces of legislation were enacted in 1860 to facilitate the development of Queensland education ‒ the Education Act 1860, which established a Board of General Education that began standardising curriculum, training, and facilities; and the Grammar Schools Act 1860, which encouraged the establishment of grammar schools by providing a government subsidy of £1000 when an equal sum of money was raised by donation or subscription in any district.[1]
\nEarly efforts to establish a grammar school in Brisbane, resulted in sectarian rancour and suspension of the proposal. However, in Ipswich progress was made quite rapidly with £1000 subscribed by June 1861, although not without some debate. On 20 August 1861, the first meeting held to discuss the establishment of a grammar school in Ipswich was chaired by local Mayor, John Murphy and attended by approximately 200 people. Although sectarian rivalries resulted in the meeting ending in chaos and brawling, at a similarly turbulent meeting staged one week later, it was resolved to establish Ipswich Grammar School.[2]
\nDisgruntled Ipswich Roman Catholics, who believed they were not fairly represented on the committee to facilitate the establishment of the grammar school, subsequently withdrew their money from the fund. Nevertheless, the committee reported by 11 March 1862 that it had acquired all but £40 of the necessary funds. Two weeks later, the first Trustees were elected and in April 1862 they decided to call for plans and specifications, with prizes for the best and second-best submission. Ultimately, Benjamin Backhouse was the only architect to respond to the Trustees’ call and his plans were accepted after some modifications to allow for toilets within the school building.[3]
\nBenjamin Backhouse (1829-1904) practiced as an architect in Queensland from 1861 to 1868, and was responsible for the designs of more than 100 buildings across the colony. Awarded in May 1862, Ipswich Grammar School was a major commission and is his largest known Queensland building.[4]
\nBackhouse designed ‘some of Brisbane’s earliest buildings of architectural pretension’.[5] He had considerable experience with school design and was responsible for the designs of some of the earliest government schools (1864-7),[6] and produced a ‘model’ plan in 1864 for the Queensland Board of Education. This helped to introduce the concept of building standardisation, which influenced government school design and provision for more than a century.[7] Extant examples of Backhouse’s education designs are Warwick National School (1864, QHR 600947 ‘Warwick East State School’) and South Brisbane Primary School (by 1865, QHR 601222 ‘Brisbane State High School’).[8]
\nBackhouse was a prominent citizen, and his short time in Queensland made a notable impact. He was also a Justice of the Peace, council alderman, and played a central role in the establishment of the Brisbane Grammar School.
\nThe Ipswich Grammar School Trustees gained a more enthusiastic response to their call for building tenders following the acceptance of Backhouse's plans, with several replies received. Ipswich building firm McLaughlin & Ferguson was successful with a quote of £2890.[9]
\n1863-1900
Built on a 20-acre (8.35ha) site, within the traditional lands of the Yuggera Ugarapul People,[10] Ipswich Grammar School was located on the top of a ridge that overlooked the thriving town of Ipswich. The site was bounded by Woodend Road and Burnett, Darling and Waghorn Streets.[11]
Dubbed the ‘squatters’ capital’, Ipswich had evolved from the convict out-station of Limestone, established in 1827. Following its survey in 1842 for free settlement, Ipswich developed as an important commercial centre due to its location at the head of navigation of the Brisbane and Bremer Rivers and at the junction of routes to the important pastoral districts of the Brisbane Valley and the Darling Downs. Goods from these regions passed through Ipswich enroute to the coast and this trade contributed substantially to Ipswich's rapid growth and prosperity. Coal was mined at Ipswich from 1846; mercantile, civic, and ecclesiastical services were established during the 1850s; and in the late 1860s the town became the railhead of Queensland’s first rail line, Ipswich to Grandchester.[12]
\nBy September 1863, work on Ipswich Grammar School had progressed well and the Trustees announced in the Queensland Times newspaper that the school would ‘be conducted as nearly as possible upon the plan of the best public schools of the Mother Country... . The school buildings situated on the western hill - overlooking the town of Ipswich and from that elevated position command a varied and extensive view of the surrounding country’.[13] The school became a landmark of Ipswich and a reflection of the growing importance of the town as a centre for business and industrial activity. Its opening was suitably grand with the Queensland Governor, Sir George Bowen, presiding over the event on 25 September 1863.[14]
\nThe 1863 building was a two-storey, face brick structure with a stone base. It had a long east-facing front wing, and a short, perpendicular, rear service wing. The front wing was in two parts: at its northern end was a headmaster’s residence over both levels with visitors’ reception; and at the southern end were the teaching rooms (one large classroom and a double-height ‘school hall’) on the ground floor and boys’ boarding rooms on the first floor. The headmaster (and his family) managed and supervised the boarding operations, and the service wing accommodated a large kitchen, scullery, and larder on the ground floor, and servants’ bedrooms on the first floor.[15] To the rear of the building were open spaces on either side of the service wing: a large ‘kitchen court’ to its north; and a students’ quadrangle to its south.[16] The four functions of the building (headmaster’s residence, teaching rooms, boarders rooms, and service rooms) had separate but interconnected circulation routes, and had a hierarchy of details and decorative finishes.
\nThe school's first headmaster, Stuart Hawthorne (headmaster 1863-9), welcomed its first 18 pupils within two weeks of the school opening.[17] Enrolments quickly ‘far surpassed’ expectations, such that extensions to the 1863 building were deemed ‘urgent’.[18] By July 1864, Backhouse had designed a large extension that tripled the teaching space. This was constructed by McLaughlin & Ferguson in 1865 at a cost of £4500, plus £188 for fittings, twice the cost of the original wing. One third of this cost was covered by the Trustees, a ‘heavy liability’, but one taken on confidently due to the school’s success in attracting students.[19]
\nThe 1865 extension matched the earlier wing in details and materials. It comprised a long, one- and two-storey wing, perpendicular to and extending westwards off the southern end of the 1863 front wing. It formed the southern edge of the student quadrangle. The wing held two functions: teaching rooms at its eastern end, including an expansion of the school hall, two large classrooms, octagonal tower for ‘astronomical observations’,[20] library, and museum;[21] and a new boarding facility at its western end for up to 15 boarders, including kitchen, and laundry. It was managed as a separate business by the Mathematics Master who was also housed in the wing.[22]
\nThe Main Building was built in a Gothic Revival architectural style, reported at the time as being ‘similar [to] institutions at home [Britain]’.[23] It was considered an appropriate style for a grammar school, and was used for the initial buildings at Queensland’s first four grammar schools (1863-1881).[24]
\nThe building, which ‘occupied a very commanding position adjacent to the town’,[25] was considered a fine, prominent edifice in the townscape, illuminated with coloured lights and bonfires for special occasions as early as 1866.[26]
\nIn Ipswich Grammar School’s first three years, student numbers steadily increased, before waning in the subsequent three years owing to the worsening economic climate and the opening of the Brisbane Grammar School in 1869 (relocated 1881).[27] Other grammar schools followed: Brisbane Girls’ Grammar (1875); Toowoomba (1875); Maryborough (1881); Rockhampton (1881); Maryborough Girls’ (1883); Townsville (1888); Ipswich Girls’ (1892); and Rockhampton Girls’ (1892).[28]
\nQueensland’s ten grammar schools shared common characteristics. They typically occupied prominent, elevated, and central suburban locations, on a main thoroughfare. They had generous, landscaped school grounds, which were developed over time with quadrangles, sports fields, and mature ornamental trees. Their main buildings were architecturally similar, in a Gothic Revival or Italianate style, and included a range of teaching facilities (assembly halls, classrooms, and libraries), and accommodation for their headmaster/headmistress and student boarders (dormitories, bedrooms, dining rooms, common rooms, ablutions, boarding master accommodation, kitchens, laundries, and servant accommodation).
\nBetween 1869 and 1900, Ipswich Grammar School had just two headmasters – John Macrae (headmaster 1869-75) and Donald Cameron (headmaster 1875-1900). Although the period from the 1870s to 1900 was characterised by varying economic conditions, it was an era of expansion for the school with student numbers peaking in the mid-1880s, and building and grounds improvements being undertaken.
\nIn 1877, alterations and additions were made, carried out by John Farrelly at a cost of £1262.[29] This included the construction of a long, rectangular brick dormitory, dining, and laundry wing, extending along the southern face of the 1863 rear service wing, and forming the northern edge of the quadrangle.[30] It was a two-storey, face brick structure and brought boarder capacity to 33.[31] The ground floor accommodated a large boarders’ dining room at its eastern end (with access from the adjacent 1863 kitchen), a central stair hall and adjacent bathroom, and a large laundry and wash house at its western end. The first floor accommodated two large dormitories, separated by a central housemaster’s room, with openings and only part-height partitions to allow supervision and maximum ventilation.[32]
\nA long, timber verandah was added to the ground floor of the east and south sides of the quadrangle (to the 1863 and 1865 wings); its detailing matches that of the 1877 playshed so it is likely part of the 1877 work. The school reportedly had a ‘verandah’ added in 1890, built by contractors Worley & Whitehead, but its extent and location are not known.[33] By the mid-1880s, the original roof slates were being replaced by ironbark shingles, and later by corrugated metal sheets. In 1886, the face brick sections of the principal (eastern and southern) elevations and the towers were ‘cemented’ (rendered) over and scribed to resemble ashlar coursing. At the same time the classrooms and school hall interior walls were similarly stuccoed and scribed. Many other repairs and improvements were made to the building at this time.[34] In 1900, a ‘boarder’s balcony’ capable of accommodating a further 16 boys, was added to the school (not extant).[35]
\nFrom inception, sport played an important role at Ipswich Grammar School, as it did at Queensland’s other grammar schools for boys. At the time of the school’s opening in 1863, it was stated that the Ipswich Grammar School’s grounds had ‘ample room for the formation of a cricket-ground’.[36] Cricket fields were built at the other boys’ grammar schools – Brisbane (by 1882),[37] Rockhampton (1886),[38] Toowoomba (by 1889),[39] Maryborough (by 1894),[40] and Townsville (1927)[41] – and formed a prominent feature of their grounds and school life. The lack of a cricket ground was addressed in 1876, when a tender of £20 was accepted for ‘laying down of a cricket ground and clearing the paddock’;[42] (on land no longer owned by the school, located south of what is now Blair State School and bounded by Burnett, Herbert, Cribb, and Syntax streets opposite the current Maude Kerr Oval). This land had been granted to the school in 1863 as part of its endowment under the Grammar Schools Act 1860.[43]
\nThe Ipswich Grammar School grounds were subject to criticism during its early years. In the 1860s the grounds had been largely unimproved and decried by a correspondent to the Queensland Times: ‘the wretched condition of the grounds, uncleared, unstumped, without a drive or a gate at the front entrance ... is a discredit to the institution and the town.’[44] In 1876, another correspondent to the Queensland Times remained unimpressed: ‘There is little in the exterior of the Ipswich Grammar School to attract attention. Only within a few months has any improvement been made in the approaches, by a somewhat unpretending [sic] rail fence. The grounds surrounding are still in the “wattle-cum-gum-tree negligée” style … with a few specimens of shade-trees of modern planting, which really ought to “take umbrage” at the manner in which they have been planted.’[45]
\n1900-1945
In order to fund improvements to the school, an application was lodged with the Department of Public Lands in 1900 to sell a portion of the school grounds.[46] This unsuccessful application was later renewed and approval granted in March 1910. Subsequently, the sale of seven residential allotments comprising 2.5 acres (1ha) at the northeastern end of the school grounds occurred in February 1911 and realised £851.[47] The money raised, combined with a government subsidy and donations made by the Ipswich and district community,[48] was used to build new servants’ quarters (not extant),[49] a room for sick boarders in 1912,[50] and a two-storey timber verandah (not extant) off the northern side of the 1863 headmaster’s residence,[51] as well as to build and equip a new science building.[52]
The Science Building was designed by Queensland architect, George Brockwell Gill, built by John Whitehead at a cost of £1080, and completed in 1913. The funds for the building were raised by the Trustees from the Ipswich and district community and the Old Boys’ Association, as a commemoration of the school’s 50th anniversary.[53]
\nQueensland’s grammar schools followed the British format for providing an education based on languages, particularly the Classics, Latin, and Greek, and usually English, Mathematics, and other academic subjects. However, increasing emphasis was placed on the provision of physical (or practical) sciences (physics and chemistry). At Ipswich Grammar School in 1869, ‘elements of the most important physical sciences’ were taught to students aiming for the learned professions or a university education, while those (the majority) who were not aiming so high, studied natural sciences. In 1907, the Rockhampton Grammar School headmaster reported that parents were demanding practical science be taught or they would remove their children from the school, and universities were making the subject compulsory.[54] The following year, the same headmaster expressed the opinion that a modern science building would make his school ‘thoroughly up to date and compare it with any school in the state’.[55] At a conference for Queensland’s grammar school headmasters and headmistresses held in January 1908, attended by Ipswich Grammar School’s headmaster, it was resolved, that further provision for experimental science studies (physics and chemistry), was essential for grammar schools.[56]
\nCompetition from state secondary schools and technical colleges, and the trend of teaching science to access university courses, led grammar schools to recognise the need for science education supported by good facilities, to enable their continuance. Educational reforms in Queensland between 1909 and 1914 resulted in the introduction of high schools, expansion of technical colleges, inauguration of the University of Queensland, and establishment of a teacher training college. Starting with Brisbane, a high school was established within Brisbane Technical College in 1910, which was expected to feed students into the university’s departments of chemistry, physics, mathematics, and engineering. Warwick Technical High School commenced in July 1910 with a curriculum based on that of Brisbane Technical High School and with the same expectation of qualifying students for university matriculation in science and engineering.[57] In 1912, high schools opened at six major regional centres not already provided with a grammar school.[58] The high school curriculum included science teaching, with Gympie State High School’s laboratory in 1913 including £250 of apparatus and a fume cupboard. More high schools opened in the ensuing years at Roma and Brisbane (1920), and Cairns and Townsville (1924).[59]
\nIpswich Grammar School’s Science Building was a rectangular, single-storey, brick building freestanding in the grounds south of the 1865 wing.[60] It accommodated a large classroom at either end – physics at its eastern end, and chemistry at its western end. The chemistry room had a small protruding chimney, possibly used as a fume extraction ‘cabinet’. Between these was a preparation room (or rooms), accessed from both classrooms.[61] The interior was remodelled in 1953-4[62] and remained used for science until 1970, then geography until 1977, when it was refurbished for music classes. It remained in this use until after 2013 when it was converted for use as a uniform shop and staff offices. In 2023, it remains one of only three known-extant, early, purpose-built science buildings at a grammar school, the others being: Brisbane (1912) and Toowoomba (1918).
\nThe other boys’ grammar schools in Queensland similarly constructed new, purpose-built science classrooms at this time.[63] Although science had been taught at the schools for decades prior, this was usually in generic classrooms. The new physics and chemistry laboratories replaced these earlier, outdated facilities in usually freestanding buildings or semi-detached extensions. Similar science buildings were not provided at the four girls’ grammar schools until the 1920s,[64] by which time the boys’ schools were typically constructing their second generation of science buildings.[65]
\nSoon after the outbreak of World War I (WWI), Richard A Kerr became headmaster of Ipswich Grammar School and remained until 1945. These were tumultuous and uncertain times, but the school flourished under the leadership of ‘The Boss’, as Kerr was affectionately known. By 1921, the 1863 headmaster’s porch was replaced with a wider verandah.[66] Between 1914 and 1930 student numbers more than doubled from 96 to 198, and demand for extra teaching space and dormitories resulted in the 1922 construction of an extension on the western end of the 1865 wing, replacing the small 1865 service block here.
\nDesigned by Gill, the new extension was a two-storey, face brick structure and accommodated four large classrooms (two up and two down) separated by a central stair hall from east to west, that also connected through to the 1865 wing on both levels. It had a two-storey timber verandah along its western side and timber first floor balconies on north and south sides. Built by WE Pickles at a cost of £2466, it was completed early in 1922 in time for the school’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations the following year.[67]
\nOver time, alterations were made to the extension, including in 1954 when it was used to accommodate 18 senior boarders in small rooms and was named the ‘Bradfield Dormitory’. This was in honour of notable Queensland civil engineer and Ipswich Grammar School Old Boy, Dr John Bradfield, and later the extension was renamed ‘Bradfield House’.[68]
\nIn 1923, two timber buildings, accommodating student facilities and boarders’ dormitories, were built adjacent to the western end of the 1877 wing.[69] Subsequently, economic depression during the 1930s and the outbreak of the World War II (WWII), halted further building developments at the school.
\nHowever, the interwar period brought a number of improvements to the school grounds, following continued criticism expressed in print in 1922: ‘The school is a quaint-looking, old-fashioned building, and the grounds surrounding are bare and ugly looking. The poor gravelly soil is very unpromising as a bed for flowers and shrubs to reduce the bare look of the place, and is no great credit to the people of Ipswich. Lawns, gardens, shade trees, and rustic seats are required to give the building the suitable setting.’[70]
\nIn 1923, three early tennis courts (one from at least the 1880s and two from 1903),[71] located in the vicinity of what is now called Maude Kerr Oval, were being ‘thoroughly renovated’ (all were demolished by 1944).[72] In 1925, a new oval was constructed on the school’s land south of Blair State School, for £1200, using school funds and £200 donated by Ipswich Grammar School’s Old Boys’ Association.[73]
\nImprovement to the grounds continued during the 1930s. In 1932, three new tennis courts (not extant) were constructed north of the original driveway.[74] In 1934, a new lawn for sports was laid south of the Science Building .[75] Further work on this lawn, largely funded by the Old Boys’ Association, began in 1939, to create a ’junior sports field’ named in memory of Maude Kerr, the wife of the then Headmaster RA Kerr, who had died at the school in 1938.[76] During 1936 and 1937, the school’s first swimming pool (not extant) was constructed near the centre of the school site.[77] Much of this work on the school grounds during the Great Depression was undertaken by relief workers.[78] In 1939, the Queensland Times, reported that:
\nAs a result of many months of work under the relief scheme, the school grounds were now in a much improved condition. Three excellent tennis courts were available in a good situation; gardens and trees were making a much better show; and soon a junior sports field, which would be a great asset to the younger members would be complete. The field will be called the Maude Kerr Oval ... .[79]
\n1945-1960s
In the two and half decades following WWII, Ipswich Grammar School experienced substantial change. A succession of five headmasters served the school, beginning with William G Henderson (headmaster 1946-51). Enrolments increased as demand for secondary education rose in response to the emergence of new clerical and professional jobs requiring secondary education, and as baby boomers[80] reached high school age, necessitating more buildings to accommodate them. Changes to secondary education including: addition of Year 8 to the secondary school programme from 1964; review of the junior and senior syllabuses; and addition of new courses to the curriculum, also demanded more facilities.[81]
At the same time, Ipswich Grammar School experienced serious financial difficulties as it sought to upgrade its rundown facilities to accommodate increasing student and boarder numbers. The school sought fund-raising support through loans and from the Ipswich and district community through its Ipswich Boys’ Grammar School Centenary Building Fund, launched in 1957, to exclusively fund construction and maintenance of school buildings and facilities (later IBGS Building Fund). Additionally, financial and physical assistance was provided by the Old Boys’ Association and by the Ipswich Grammar School Parents and Friends Association (formed in 1953).[82]
\nIn 1946, a new boarders’ building was constructed.[83] This was named the Murray Hancock Memorial Block, after an Ipswich Grammar School Old Boy who had died during WWII, and extended off the northern side of the 1923 dormitory building. In 1947, the Old Boys’ Association established a War Memorial Library (in the ground floor of the 1863 front wing),[84] and in 1954 a brass memorial tablet was erected in the library (current location unknown) to commemorate Old Boys who died in WWI and WWII. The pressure on accommodation caused by the increase in boarders during the 1950s resulted in alterations to the Murray Hancock Memorial Block c1959, to enlarge the dining room and provide a new kitchen, laundry, and ablutions block.[85]
\nIn 1953, the Ipswich Grammar School Parents and Friends Association refurbished the School Hall through their voluntary labour, and were praised by the school’s new headmaster, Charles E Olsen (headmaster 1953-8).[86]
\nIn the immediate post-war years, further landscaping of the school grounds occurred. Remnant and regrowth native vegetation still covered the western half of the school grounds, apart from a central strip around the three tennis courts and the pool,[87] which was cleared by 1964. Over one weekend in 1951, ‘members of the Old Boys’ Association Council planted 500 pine trees in an L-shaped section of the Grammar School grounds facing Darling and Waghorn Streets … as a memorial grove’.[88] None remain in 2023, nor do other early planting schemes, such as one around the Maude Kerr Oval along Woodend Road and Burnett Street, in place before 1944.[89]
\nWWII had interrupted the construction of the Maude Kerr Oval,[90] but work resumed in 1953 and was completed in 1956.[91] The work required extensive excavation and upon completion the oval was approximately three metres lower than before and larger. The old cricket pavilion was moved from Blair Oval to the new oval, and a picket fence was erected around the perimeter by the Parents and Friends Association.[92] Both features were later demolished. In 1957, Ipswich’s Anzac Day ceremony was held on the new oval, attended by around 5,000 people.[93]
\nTwo more ovals were created by 1961. Oval No. 3 (not extant) was formed in 1956, on the eastern edge of the school grounds for the primary school, which had opened the same year. This oval was replaced by the Ivor G Morris Physical Education Complex in 1978. Oval No. 4 (later called Hancock Oval) was built in the southeast side of school grounds between 1960 and 1961, and was officially opened in 1963. This oval was extended in 1985.[94]
\nFormal entrance driveways were a common feature of Queensland grammar schools. They were typically lined with trees and some were built as memorials or with later memorial gates.[95] In 1955, a new, long entrance drive was completed at Ipswich Grammar School, which ran from the intersection of Darling and Burnett streets in the southern corner of the school grounds, north to the main school building, sweeping around the eastern side of the Maude Kerr Oval. It replaced the school’s original entrance drive from Waghorn Street, which had been planted on both sides with a line of trees. The new entrance onto Burnett Street, with breeze block walls featuring the school’s name and badge, was named the RA Kerr Memorial Entrance to commemorate the former headmaster. Shrubs were planted along the driveway and around the entrance gates and a double row of ‘poplars’ linked the entrance with the new classroom block. In the late 1980s, the lower half of the driveway was realigned to exit into Darling Street and the Memorial Entrance was replaced by a new RA Kerr Memorial Entrance on Darling Street in 1988.[96] In 2023, no poplars remain but a number of mature trees are extant along the driveway’s former alignment.
\nNear the new entrance to the school, a freestanding headmaster’s residence was built; completed in August 1961. It incorporated a visitor reception room/headmaster’s office and was a commodious, four-bedroom house. It was a considerably more private residence than the 1863 accommodations, and was designed by architect and town planner, Dr Karl Langer.[97]
\nIn the 1950s and 1960s, similar new freestanding headmaster’s/headmistress’ residences were built in the grounds of least five of the other seven other Queensland grammar schools operating at this time.[98] Of the six built in the period, five are extant in 2023. Alterations have been made to the headmaster’s residence at Ipswich Grammar School over time.
\nFollowing the completion of the new headmaster’s residence, construction began on a substantial new teaching building also designed by Langer, which at the time comprised the largest expansion of the school facilities since its establishment. The foundation stone was laid on 16 September 1961, and the building was completed in 1962. Costing more than £125,000, the building was funded using a Treasury loan, government subsidies, the Industrial Fund for the Advancement of Science Education in Schools, and donations to the Centenary Building Fund raised from the Ipswich and district community.[99] Of the eight Queensland grammar schools operating at the time, six constructed a substantial new classroom block with science component during the period.[100]
\nThe Centenary Classroom Block was a long, rectangular, four-storey structure with a flat roof. It was in a Modernist style, oriented with its long sides facing north and south. It was cut into the steeply sloping land so that it was only two-storeys at its western end, separated from the 1863 building by a pedestrian plaza, to which its main entrance fronted. The building was prominent from the east, due to its height and location on sloping ground.
\nThe building was laid out with a series of classrooms along its southern side and a broad, open verandah along its north with projecting enclosed stairs and a central toilet block. It had a grid-like concrete frame with face brick and windows in-fill walls, crimped-metal, sheet-clad, bag-rack balustrade, and featured projecting face brick headers and concrete breezeblocks on its end walls. The southern elevation was highly glazed with large, operable, aluminium-framed windows; the verandah wall featured vertical louvres of clear, ribbed glass at ceiling level above a face brick wall, and these facilitated a high level of natural (southern) light and ventilation of the interior.[101] The interior finishes included raw concrete for verandah floors, stairs, and some ceilings, terrazzo in the bathrooms, and flat-sheet lined walls and ceilings. The building’s proportions were substantial, with broad stairs, large classrooms, tall ceilings, and wide verandahs.
\nThe building greatly increased the available classroom space, accommodating 13 classrooms, two science demonstration rooms, three laboratories, offices, masters' rooms, locker rooms, a tuckshop, and a large basement assembly area. The classroom partitions of the upper level were moveable to allow it to be converted to one large space for functions, and the roof structure was supported on steel open-web trusses, exposed within the classrooms.[102]
\nSince construction, the 1962 teaching building has been substantially altered. In 1980, seven classrooms were refurbished and in 1984 the science classrooms were stripped and converted to humanities classrooms and the tuckshop was extended.[103] The greatest change to the building occurred in 1987 with the construction of a four-storey building, the Clive Wyman Building, abutting its eastern wall and wrapping around the eastern half of its northern side. This obscured the building’s prominent eastern wall, and openings were cut through it to connect into the new building. At this time, it is likely that the building’s exterior face bricks were overlaid with a split-face concrete block cladding to match the Clive Wyman Building. At some stage, its vertical louvres were replaced with fixed glass, some verandah walls were replaced by modern glass partitions, and alterations were made to the partitions between classrooms. Also, large red panels now cover the breezeblocks of the western wall.
\nEnrolments continued to rise, but school finances remained problematic. The Board of Trustees were advised that for the school to be financially viable, it was necessary to either cap enrolments at 450 or expand to 1100 students. The school decided to expand.[104] Ambitious fundraising efforts commenced to transform the school ‘from old and proud to modern and capable’.[105]
\n1970s-1980s
\nThe two decades of the 1970s and 1980s were a period of major growth for the school, with an enormous expansion of facilities. In 1972, the school’s first site master plan was completed for the school, by Queensland architect Stephen Trotter within the firm Fulton Collin Boys Gilmour Trotter & Partners, which envisioned a transformation of the grounds with many new buildings in two stages. Stage 1 of this plan was built by KD Morris & Sons[106] and completed in 1973. It included the construction of two new, five-storey dormitory towers (the Edith Fox Dormitory Tower, and the JE Hancock Dormitory Tower), a freestanding house for the dormitory housemaster, an administration building (not extant), library (later converted to a refectory), and a multi-purpose assembly and teaching hall (War Memorial Teaching Complex), all designed by Fulton Collin Boys Gilmour Trotter & Partners. These were all built to the south/southeast of the Main Building, dotted amongst the expansive open landscape.
\nBoarder numbers had grown between 1956 and 1970, prompting the two new dormitory towers, which were built to accommodate approximately 120-140 boys each[107] and were almost identical in plan. They were located far apart on the site – Fox Dormitory Tower standing at the northern end of the Maude Kerr Oval and Hancock Dormitory Tower to the east of the entrance driveway near its centre.
\nPositioned on steep slopes, they were both cut deeply into the earth, which was retained by tall, circular, concrete crib walls. Each was a cylindrical structure with concrete floor plates and loadbearing brick walls, with a tiled, conical roof featuring a tall central ventilation stack. Their exteriors were brick, lightly-bagged with render, and the windows were emphasised by projecting brick nibs and shielded by flat sheet hoods. A sloping concrete ramp provided the main access into the buildings at their second (middle) floor, and two stairwells provided internal vertical circulation. Each floor had a central, round ablutions room with a large ventilation stack to one side. Around this room ran circulation, opening off which were wedge-shaped bed alcoves, with two windows each and separated from each other by nib walls, and accommodating two bunk beds. Two smaller, more-private bedrooms were also provided per floor. This layout was repeated on the first to fourth floors with minor variations; early photographs show the ground floor had similar windows indicating it had a similar layout.
\nAlthough they were shared dormitories, the buildings provided a considerable increase in privacy and amenity for the boarders than had previously been provided by the school’s open, ‘barracks-like’ dormitories. The layout and carpeted floors reduced dormitory noise ‘dramatically’, allowing quiet and privacy for sleep and study.[108] The floor plans were intended to be changeable, with Trotter also providing two possible future interior arrangements.[109]
\nAfter the boys moved into the new towers, the Murray Hancock dormitories became redundant and were converted to art studios, with the entire building being demolished in 2020.[110]
\nThe 1972 master plan provided for a further three matching dormitory towers standing in the school’s northern grounds, however, this did not eventuate. Since their construction, the Fox and Hancock dormitory towers have had some alteration, but this has largely been confined to the interior. In a renovation of the interior completed in 1990 the central ablutions room was stripped of its fittings and converted to a round hall, accessing the surrounding bed alcoves, which were partitioned to form separate, shared rooms. In one corner of each of these new rooms was built an ensuite bathroom.[111]
\nThe Fox and Hancock dormitory towers were the first tall buildings built within the landscape of mature trees and sports fields on the southern half of the school grounds. As such, they were prominently visible from the surrounding streets, and became ‘a notable Ipswich landmark, visible from across town’.[112]
\nA small amphitheatre (named RG Edmondson Memorial Open Air Theatre, not extant) was constructed on the edge of the Maude Kerr Oval for $35,000 and opened on 28 Sep 1977 by the Hon WE Knox, MLA, Deputy Premier and Treasurer. Three new tennis courts were constructed in 1978 within the Ivor G Morris Physical Education Complex (on the site of the former rifle range adjacent to Waghorn Street). However, no tennis courts remain on site in 2023, having been replaced by a new tennis facility at the school’s Brassall complex in 2010.[113]
\nStage 2 of the master plan began in late 1978. It included an expansive sports facility (the Ivor Morris Physical Education Complex, opened in 1980),[114] the CA Turner Manual Arts Building (opened in 1981), the Harry G Wilson Science Building (opened 1983), and the Clive Wyman Building (humanities, library, and computers, opened in 1987).
\nBetween 1980 and 1982, the 1863 section of the Main Building and Bradfield House were refurbished. In 1989, the Ladley Centre (a four-storey, $2.7 million administration building with clock tower) was completed, standing to the northeast of the Main Building, and replacing the 1973 administration building in this location.[115]
\n1990s onwards
Additional buildings were added to the northern half of the site in the 1990s and early 21st century. Primary school classes were gradually re-introduced between 1994 and 2006, commencing with Year 7. Consequently, a new Junior School Building for Years 5 to 7 was constructed during 1998 facing Woodend Road, and opened on 10 October 1999. This was extended in 2005 to accommodate Year 4 students. In 2009, the building was joined to a new Early Childhood Education Centre for Prep to Year 3 students, for whom classes at Ipswich Grammar School commenced in 2006. This building was constructed between the swimming pool and the tennis courts, one of which was converted into a playground. It was officially opened on 12 October 2009.[116]
In the same year, another junior school building was constructed, the school’s multi-purpose Sports Dome, funded by the Federal Government’s Building the Education Revolution (BER). This building comprised an undercroft, a multi-purpose assembly area, and a library on the top level, and required removal of an adjacent school-owned house in Woodend Road and the relocation of another, plus rearrangement of the existing northern bus driveway. It was officially opened on 21 September 2011.[117]
\nFrom 2019 to 2023, work to the grounds and buildings immediately surrounding the Main Building occurred. The 1863 larder, rear and northern two-storey verandahs (by 1912), a 1912 building (likely servants’ quarters and stores), 1923 timber dormitory and boarders’ facilities buildings, and the 1946 Murray Hancock Memorial Building were demolished. These areas and the quadrangle were landscaped and a three-storey STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) building, completed in 2022, was constructed west of 1877 wing.
\nSocial history
Like most schools, Ipswich Grammar School became a community focus, a symbol of progress, and a source of pride, with enduring connections formed with past students, parents, and teachers. Throughout its history, Ipswich Grammar School has celebrated its milestones through commemorative events and school histories for its 50th, 100th, and 150th anniversaries.[118] A strong Old Boys’ Association has functioned since 1907,[119] providing labour and money for school improvements, such as endowing buildings and improving the grounds.[120] This organisation continues to provide such support in 2023.
The school takes pride in its former students’ achievements. Its long and distinguished history is reflected not only in its physical expansion over the years but also in the mentoring by many distinguished Old Boys, including Alfred Backhouse, son of Benjamin Backhouse and one-time Deputy-Chancellor of Sydney University; John Job Crew Bradfield, Chief Engineer of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and designer of Brisbane’s Story Bridge (QHR 600240); Hugh Cornish, television executive; Sir Harry Gibbs, former High Court judge; as well as a host of excelling sportsmen.[121]
\nA number of war memorial projects were undertaken after WWII resulting in memorial buildings and memorial plaques being a feature at the school. The inclusion of war memorials in schools reinforced community connections. War memorials, including honour boards, are a tribute from the community and individuals to those who served, and those who died. They 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. In 1946, the Murray Hancock Memorial Building (not extant), a new wing for boarders, was funded by old boy Viv E Hancock as a utilitarian memorial in honour of his son who died during WWII.[122] The War Memorial Teaching Complex (1973) is a later representation of this type of commemoration.
\nHonour boards and numerous chalices for victories in various sports events are housed at the school, illustrating the academic and sports achievements of generations of Ipswich Grammar School students.
\nIn 2024, Ipswich Grammar School remains a prominent visual presence in the Ipswich townscape, and is represented through various media including photography, sketches, and paintings. The school’s significant buildings reflect its evolution in response to changing education curricula and policies over 160 years, while its landscaped grounds, including sports ovals and mature trees, demonstrate the continued importance of sport and setting to the school’s ethos. The school retains and reinforces strong social connections between it and its past and present school students and staff, and with the Ipswich and wider districts community.
\n\n
","criteria":"
Ipswich Grammar School (1863), the first secondary school established under the Grammar Schools Act 1860 and the longest in continual operation, is important in demonstrating the provision and evolution of secondary education by grammar schools in Queensland. It retains a selection of buildings designed by prominent architects that illustrate key developments in the evolution of grammar schools, set in landscaped grounds with sports ovals and mature trees.
\nThe substantial Main Building (1863-1922, its earliest sections designed by Benjamin Backhouse) is important in demonstrating the provision of education in colonial Queensland and reflects the development of Ipswich as a major regional centre.
\nThe Science Building (1913, designed by George Brockwell Gill), an early physics and chemistry teaching building, is important in demonstrating the provision of purpose-built science teaching facilities at secondary schools, due to increased emphasis on what was termed ‘practical science’ in the Queensland secondary school curriculum in the early 20th century.
\nThe Fox Dormitory and Hancock Dormitory Towers (both 1973, designed by Stephen Trotter) are important in demonstrating the major growth of Ipswich Grammar School boarding student numbers in the post-World War II period, necessitating expanded and improved boarding accommodation and facilities, in accordance with the school’s first masterplan for the site (1972).
\nThe landscaped site with sports ovals and mature trees demonstrates the importance of sport and appropriate setting in the grammar school ethos.
|Ipswich Grammar School is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a 19th century Queensland grammar school, a class of cultural place that has made an important contribution to the provision and evolution of education in Queensland. The first of its kind, the place is an excellent and substantial illustration of its class of cultural place, embodied in its:
\nIpswich Grammar School is important for its aesthetic significance, the Main Building (1863-1922) being an impressive Gothic Revival building in a landscaped setting. Prominently sited on a ridgeline, the Main Building's picturesque arrangement of building wings, gables, and towers silhouetted against the sky, viewed from Burnett Street across the flat, manicured grass of Maude Kerr Oval, is a landmark within the Ipswich townscape. More distant views of the Main Building are had from the surrounding neighbourhood to the southeast, and the place has been the subject of art works since the 1860s.
\nHighly intact, the Main Building (1863-1922) is notable for its fine architectural quality. It is a harmonious and visually pleasing assembly of formal building elements, comprising: well composed and proportioned elevations; asymmetrical forms and winding interior layouts; high-quality construction and decorative treatments; and a Gothic Revival style with attractive architectural features including lookout towers, bellcote, buttresses, tall gables, and steep roofs. The highly intact school hall interior is particularly beautiful with its lofty, trussed ceilings, tall windows, and mezzanine with tracery balustrade.
|Ipswich Grammar School has a strong and ongoing association with past and present students, boarders, parents, staff members, and the surrounding community through sustained involvement since its establishment in 1863. The place is important for its contribution to the educational development of Ipswich and the wider Queensland community, with generations of students taught at the school, and as a venue for social interaction and community focus. Contributions to its operations have been made through repeated volunteer actions and donations by the Ipswich and district community and by former students for over a century via the school’s active Old Boys’ Association.
|Ipswich Grammar School has a special association with architect Benjamin Backhouse, whose considerable architectural contribution, particularly his public buildings and schools, was important in shaping the early Queensland built environment. As the designer of the first two stages of the Main Building (built 1863 and 1865), which forms the school’s core, Ipswich Grammar School was one of Backhouse’s first major commissions and his most substantial built work in Queensland.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15377,"place_ref":600602,"name":"Kyeewa","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"1 York Street","suburb":"EAST IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":""Kyeewa" is a grand, single storey sandstone residence, with a long ridged, hipped, corrugated iron roof. It occupies the highest site in the street and is set up well back from the street alignment. It is located opposite another grand residence, "Merton", and there are an unusually high proportion of houses in York Street of architectural and streetscape value. A stepped down, convex roof shades verandahs to three sides of "Kyeewa", with the front verandah facing north. Above the verandah roof are paired brackets to the eaves of the main roof. The house is set less than a metre above the ground and is supported by brick piers. The verandahs are gracefully simple, with no balustrades. The timber support posts have moulded capitals and triangular shaped, cast-iron brackets. The front steps, now of sandstone, are believed to have originally been timber. The walls facing the verandahs are of rusticated sandstone, with smooth quoins and window dressings.
Full length, three sided bay windows project onto the verandah either side of the main entry. The rear of the house, not visible from the street, is constructed from timber. The garden features a number of established trees, including a large Moreton Bag fig, a mango tree, jacaranda and frangipani trees, and this contributes significantly to the property's value.
","history":"The house was built by workers from the Limestone Street monumental masonry works, run by Ernest Greenway. The stone is believed to have come from the Helidon area. Greenway was a great-nephew of the famous convict architect, Francis Howard Greenway. Greenway's family, from the West Country of England, were reputed for generations as quarrymen, architects, builders and stonemasons. Ernest Greenway married Elizabeth Femister, daughter of a well-known paperhanger and upholster, Alexander Femister, and they lived of "Kyeewa". "Kyeewa" is dated circa 1890. Records of a 1889 Greenway childbirth give Grey Street as the family address, but the next childbirth in 1891 is recorded with a Limestone Hill, so it seems the family had by this time moved to "Kyeewa".
At least until 1986, Ernest Greenway's son, Gordon, lived at "Kyeewa". He was born in 1894. In keeping with the family tradition, he began a career as an architect, working with noted Ipswich architect, George Brockwell Gill. Greenway continued architectural work with the Brisbane City Council and later with Brisbane firm, Conrad and Gargett. "Kyeewa" originally occupied a larger area of land, including an orchard and stables. The latter were on the site now occupied by a house, second from the corner of York Street and Chermside Road. Family records suggest that the house was not completed in accordance with the original plan, and this is further indicated by the rear of the house being constructed from timber, rather than sandstone. Originally the house contained only two bedrooms, a hallway and a drawing room in the masonry section and a kitchen in the timber framed section.
Recent additions to the house include a two story extension on the rear south-east corner of the house in October 1990 and another two storey extension on the rear south-west corner in 1999.
","criteria":"Kyeewa is important in demonstrating the development of Ipswich as a prominent commercial and industrial centre which fostered the construction of grand residences during the late nineteenth century, still evident as part of the city's suburban growth.
|Its scale and siting remain as evidence of a grand colonial dwelling, and the intactness of both the structure and its garden setting, make it a good example of its type.
|It has important aesthetic value as it contributes to the streetscape of York Street which consists of an unusually large number of houses with architectural and streetscape value. In particular Kyeewa's setting on a large piece of sloping land well back from the street, its mature gardens and decorative fence together with the frontage of the house contribute highly to its aesthetic significance.
|It has special association with the Greenways as their family home and their history of involvement with architecture and masonry. It also has special association with the work of Ernest Greenway, a well known, monumental stonemason in Ipswich.
","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":15378,"place_ref":600603,"name":"Hotel Cecil | Jets Club","alternate_name":"Imperial Hotel","street_address":"15 Lowry Street","suburb":"NORTH IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Hotel Cecil is a two storeyed rendered masonry hotel located on the corner of Down and Lowry Streets at North Ipswich. Built in 1887, the Hotel is constructed of brick with a rendered ruled ashlar finish with a continuous sill to the ground floor walls upon which semi circular headed openings with cement rendered architraves finish on plinth blocks. The main entry to the building is from Down Street through a large 6 panel timber door with sidelights and a semi headed fanlight decorated with leadlights that include the name 'Hotel Cecil 1887'and stained glass panels depicting native flora. There are additional entrances at the truncated corner of the building and two further along Lowry Street. The arched windows to the main bar areas at the main corner of the building comprise pairs of semi headed double hung windows with circular lights above.
\nVerandahs on timber posts with cast iron valance extend over the footpath with balconies above to both street frontages. The balconies have timber posts with cast iron balustrade and brackets. Pairs of frenchlights with fanlights above open onto the balconies.
\nAbove the curved balcony roof the masonry walls are articulated by a cornice punctuated with pilasters in low relief the project above the coping on the parapet which conceals the corrugated iron roof. Centrally located on the parapet of each street frontage is a curved gable which bears the words HOTEL CECIL A.D. 1887 in raised lettering.
\nThe interior of the hotel has been recently renovated in a style that replicates details from the period in which the building was constructed. Surviving original interior elements on the ground floor level include the cornices, ceilings and roses, the cedar fireplace mantle and staircase and the walls to the stairhall. The upper floor is in a comparatively intact condition and contains much of its original layout and joinery. The rear verandah has been enclosed and the rear stair survives.
\nThe hotel was extended in 1915 with a skillion roof addition which included three windows to Lowry street. The recent extension has included the removal of the skillion roof and the extension of the building by several bays with a gable roof and verandah that then adjoins a single storey end wing with parapet. The end wing houses the bottle shop and new entrance to the hotel. These recent additions closely replicate the details of the original building.
","history":"The first hotel to operate on this site was the Unity Hotel which opened in 1880 run by Fred Larter. In 1883 James Cooper took over the hotel and in 1887 he changed the name to the Imperial Hotel and an article in the Queensland Times of 19 April, 1887 announced that he was trading out of the 'recently erected and furnished' Imperial Hotel, on the corner of Downs and Lowry Streets, North Ipswich. The competition from this new hotel seems to have led to the closure within a year of the Royal Engineer's Hotel on the corner of Downs Street and The Terrace, which had been operating since the mid 1860's. The Queensland Times of April 1888 reported the transfer of the lease to John Abbott, but by April 1889 the Queensland Times reported that the hotel was part of John Abbott's Estate, and on 3 August 1889 the Government Gazette announced that John Cooper had regained the licence.
There was a push by Ipswich residents to close a number of hotels, as their numbers were then in excess of that allowable by legislation. John Cooper's Imperial Hotel was one of three that consequently lost their licenses, as reported in the Queensland Times of 2 April 1891. However, in July 1891 there was an application by the National Workmen's Club for a club licence for the premises. Despite some reservations about whether the club had adequate control of the premises to satisfy the requirements for the licence, it was granted. The Government Gazette on 28 January 1904 announced the granting of a licence to Thomas Murray at the then-named Hotel Cecil. In 1904 the licensee was transferred to Thomas Murray, and in 1905 the licence passed to W Osborne. By 1911 it had passed to Alexander G Burnett, and in 1918 appears to have passed to his wife, Catherine. There has been a succession of licensees since this time.
In 1999 the hotel was expanded along the Lowry Street frontage which houses a new dining and poker machine area. The middle section of the building previously accommodated a drive through bottle shop and is now a dining courtyard. The exterior of the extension has been designed to replicate the exterior of the original hotel on a single storey level.
","criteria":"The former Hotel Cecil demonstrates the pattern of development in Ipswich in the 1880s when more substantial public buildings were replacing former more modest structures signifying the growth of Ipswich as a residential centre and its strength as an industrial and commercial centre.
|The former Hotel Cecil demonstrates aesthetic significance as a mid-Victorian hotel with high streetscape value.
|The hotel has special association with the local community as a place of social activity since its opening in 1887.
","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":15379,"place_ref":600604,"name":"Railway Historical Centre","alternate_name":"Tarpaulin Shop | Railway Store | Railway Administration Building","street_address":"North Street","suburb":"NORTH IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"This is a fine example of a Victorian warehouse constructed of load-bearing brick on two levels. Outwardly, the building is a symmetrical gable ended structure with a centrally projecting transverse gable to the northern and southern facades. The formal entry is defined by a round headed arch and stairs leading up from The Terrace. Immediately opposite this on the southern side, is an upper level loading platform.
The symmetry of the building is reinforced by equally spaced segmental arch windows on both levels, and ridge ventilators at each end of the corrugated custom orb profile roof.
Internally, the upper floor is dominated by Queen Post trusses which meet at the gable crossing with cruciform trusses. Along each end of the bottom chord are support rails with rope eyelets for suspension of tarpaulins. The original windlass is supported at the centre trusses for hoisting goods to and from the upper and lower levels through a timber trapdoor.
From the lower level, two large doors lead to the southern aligned railway tracks, and a tramway runs through the centre of the floor longitudinally. There is evidence of earlier service entry doors or cartways entering from the Terrace side.
The main timber floor frame is supported on sturdy hardwood columns with timber headstocks. Each bearer is jointed over the headstock with a scarfed joint and square timber key.
An early office compartment exists at the western end of the upper floor, constructed with a raised timber floor and tongue and groove timber partitions. At the eastern end there is a single storey timber frame extension which is not original.
","history":"This building, the oldest remaining on the workshops site, was built in 1878-9 by Ipswich contractors, McGregor and Brown. It was initially used as a Store. It was later used for Administration and then as a Tarpaulin Shop. In 1990, the Tarpaulin Store was converted into the Railway Historical Centre and was used for housing railway archival material and for other related functions.
","criteria":"The Railway Historical Centre is the only remaining building on the southern section of the site, it is evidence of the first period of development of the railway workshops 1864-1885.
|The building retains evidence of its various uses as stores, administration, and tarpaulin store.
|It is fine example of a Victorian brick and stone warehouse and is of particular architectural merit.
","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":15380,"place_ref":600605,"name":"Ipswich Railway Workshops War Memorial","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"North Street","suburb":"NORTH IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The First World War Memorial is situated within the grounds of the Ipswich Railway Workshops. It sits in a small grassed enclosure at the eastern end of the traverser, directly inside the main gate. The monument stands directly in front of a guyed flagstaff and is surrounded by a path which leads up to it. Large camphor laurel trees with circular seats are located nearby.
The memorial stands 32 feet from the ground and comprises a pedestal and obelisk surmounted by a digger statue.
The granite and bronze memorial sits on a painted concrete stepped base, surrounded by two steps of kerbing. Surmounting the base is a Victorian granite pedestal with a bronze Coat of Arms on the front face. The pedestal is square in section and the front and rear faces display ornate bronze plaques with the Queensland Coat of Arms and the Queensland Railway Badge. The names of the 300 (approximately) men who left the works to fight for King and Empire in the European War are listed on the plaques with letters in columns after the names to indicate the 28 who were killed and the 3 who died on service. The plaques also bear the names of the 28 members of the memorial committee and trustees as well as historical inscriptions regarding the signing of the Armistice and Peace Treaty.
The pedestal is capped by four triangular pediments which support a tall obelisk of Victorian granite. A bronze Coat of Arms is located on the front pediment and the dates of the First World War are in bronze on the front face of the base of the obelisk.
Surmounting the obelisk is a digger statue, which at seven feet, is larger than life sized. The bronze statue portrays an Australian Infantry Soldier standing to attention with his rifle held upwards by his side.
","history":"The Ipswich Workshop War Memorial was unveiled on the 27 September 1919 by Queensland Governor, Sir Hamilton J Goold-Adams. The stone memorial was designed by Queensland Railway architect Vincent Price and honours the 300 local men who left the workshops to serve in the First World War.
In July 1915 a mass meeting of the Railway Workshop employees was held to consider what could be done to perpetuate the memory of their 300 fellow employees who had left to serve in the war. By the end of the war 28 of these men had been killed and 3 had died on service.
At the meeting a committee was established to consider what form the memorial should take. It was decided to erect a monument and permission for its erection in the workshop grounds was gained from the Commissioner for Railways, Col. C E Evans, CMG. The grandeur and comparatively high cost (£1400) of the monument is reflective of the patriotic spirit of the railway yard workers.
The unveiling was a public event involving approximately 160 returned soldiers who marched from the Ipswich railway station under the charge of Lieutenant C W King. They were escorted by a Military Band to the workshops where they formed a guard of honour for the Governor.
Australia, and Queensland in particular, had few civic monuments before the First World War. The memorials erected in its wake became our first national monuments, recording the devastating impact of the war on a young nation. Australia lost 60 000 from a population of about 4 million, representing one in five of those who served. No previous or subsequent war has made such an impact on the nation.
Even before the end of the war, memorials became a spontaneous and highly visible expression of national grief. To those who erected them, they were as sacred as grave sites, substitute graves for the Australians whose bodies lay in battlefield cemeteries in Europe and the Middle East. British policy decreed that the Empire war dead were to be buried where they fell. The word 'cenotaph', commonly applied to war memorials at the time, literally means 'empty tomb'.
Australian war memorials are distinctive in that they commemorate not only the dead. Australians were proud that their first great national army, unlike other belligerent armies, was composed entirely of volunteers, men worthy of honour whether or not they paid the supreme sacrifice. Many memorials honour all who served from a locality, not just the dead, providing valuable evidence of community involvement in the war. Such evidence is not readily obtainable from military records, or from state or national listings, where names are categorised alphabetically or by military unit.
Australian war memorials are also valuable evidence of imperial and national loyalties, at the time, not seen as conflicting; the skills of local stonemasons, metalworkers and architects; and of popular taste. In Queensland, the soldier statue was the popular choice of memorial, whereas the obelisk predominated in the southern states, possibly a reflection of Queensland's larger working-class population and a lesser involvement of architects.
Many of the First World War monuments have been updated to record local involvement in later conflicts, and some have fallen victim to unsympathetic re-location and repair.
Although there are many different types of memorials in Queensland, the digger statue is the most common. It was the most popular choice of communities responsible for erecting the memorials, embodying the ANZAC myth and representing the qualities of the ideal Australian.....loyalty, courage, youth, innocence and masculinity. The digger was a phenomenon peculiar to Queensland, perhaps due to the fact that other states had followed Britain's lead and established Advisory Boards made up of architects and artists, prior to the erection of war memorials. The digger statue was not highly regarded by artists and architects who were involved in the design of relatively few Queensland memorials.
Most statues were constructed by local masonry firms, although some were by artists or imported.
The monument at Ipswich involved several makers and is an unusual example of the work of Queensland Railway architect, Vincent Price.
Price was born in Brisbane in 1868 and began his architectural career articled to Richard Gailey. He established his own practice in Brisbane in 1890 but soon became a draftsman in the Chief Engineers Office of Queensland Railways. He remained with the railways until he retired in 1933, his last position being that of Principal Railway Architect.
The digger statue is one of only two in Queensland designed by John Whitehead and Sons, sculptors of London. The pedestal was produced by A L Petrie and Sons of Toowong and the metal plates by Chas. Hanford of Brisbane.
The masonry firm of A L Petrie and Son at Toowong was the largest monumental masonry works in Queensland at this time and were responsible for producing many of the state's First World War memorials.
","criteria":"War Memorials are important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history as they are representative of a recurrent theme that involved most communities throughout the state. They provide evidence of an era of widespread Australian patriotism and nationalism, particularly during and following the First World War.
It is also is also an uncommon example of a monumental memorial erected in a workplace and is a historical record of the participation and sacrifice of a Queensland government agency.
|As a digger statue it is representative of the most popular form of memorial in Queensland, but is also unusual as one of only two bronze digger statues in the state supplied by a London sculptor.
It is also is also an uncommon example of a monumental memorial erected in a workplace and is a historical record of the participation and sacrifice of a Queensland government agency.
|The monuments manifest a unique documentary record and are demonstrative of popular taste in the inter-war period.
Unveiled in 1919, the memorial at Ipswich Railway Workshops demonstrates the principal characteristics of a commemorative structure erected as an enduring record of a major historical event. This is achieved through use of appropriate materials and design elements. As a digger statue it is representative of the most popular form of memorial in Queensland, but is also unusual as one of only two bronze digger statues in the state supplied by a London sculptor.
|The memorial is of aesthetic significance both for its design qualities and as a landmark within the railway precinct.
|It has a strong association with the railyard workforce as evidence of the impact of a major historic event. It also has strong associations with Queensland Railway architect, Vincent Price, as an unusual example of his work, and with monumental masonry firm A L Petrie and Son of Toowong.
|It has a strong association with the railyard workforce as evidence of the impact of a major historic event. It also has strong associations with Queensland Railway architect, Vincent Price, as an unusual example of his work, and with monumental masonry firm A L Petrie and Son of Toowong.
","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":15381,"place_ref":600606,"name":"Little Ipswich State School","alternate_name":"Ipswich West State School; Ipswich West Special School","street_address":"12 Omar Street","suburb":"WEST IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The listing boundary encompasses two separate state schools on a single site - Ipswich West State School and Ipswich West Special School, both of which contain early school buildings.
Ipswich West Special School, at the northern end of the site, contains two early timber school buildings, constructed in 1882. These buildings are typical of the schools constructed during the Ferguson Era (1875-1893) of the Department of Public Instruction and are similar to the B/T4 Type, usually designed for medium to larger schools.
The two wings are set at right angles to each other and are low set, timber framed buildings clad in chamferboards and supported on brick piers. They have steeply pitched gable roofs with stepped bargeboards to the original verandah spaces. Decorative timber brackets are set in front of timber louvred vents at each gable end. Each wing originally contained two separate classrooms with verandahs front and back. At each end wall a large bank of windows is protected by a timber window hood. The classrooms in the eastern wing feature tall, narrow timber windows which pivot from a cental fitting. The original verandah ceilings are lined with diagonal boarding on top of the rafters. Classroom walls and ceilings are lined internally with horizontal boarding. The northern wing has a separate teachers room set at 90 degrees to the main building and accessed from the front verandah.
The northern wing retains one classroom with internal boarded finish, the other classroom has been divided with plasterboard partitions into office spaces. The eastern wing contains two classrooms linked by a concertina door. The rear walls to the verandahs have been removed and the verandah space incorporated into the classrooms. A new classroom block and covered walkway has been added at right angles to the eastern wing.
An early timber play shed is located in the Ipswich West Special School grounds. It is a gable roofed open structure of the B/T5 Type. Surviving early fabric includes large-scale timber posts with curved timber brackets. The posts have been cut off at the base and supported on steel stirrups. The play shed has been re-roofed and the end wall enclosed with steel custom-orb sheeting with weatherboards to each gable end.
Ipswich West State School contains three brick school buildings which were constructed between 1907 and 1919. Brick schools were not as common as timber schools and these buildings do not conform to a particular typology. Brick schools were usually individually designed and were built in areas which had a larger population.
The buildings are set in a U-shape configuration, and are of face brick construction with steeply pitched gable roofs. Decorative timber fretwork is a feature of each gable end, and the south and west wings have louvred vents behind the fretwork. The 1907 wing is separated from the adjoining western wing, the western wing abuts the south wing at one corner and all buildings are connected by a timber verandah. A separate room was constructed for the principal's office at 90 degrees to the west wing, accessed from the verandah. The verandah is simply detailed with slatted timber balustrades, lattice panels and curved timber valances.
The 1907 north wing is a low-set building with equally spaced double-hung windows to three sides. Separate window hoods protect the end windows and the roof is extended down and supported with timber brackets to protect the windows to the northern side. The eastern end of the verandah has been enclosed with weatherboards to form a storeroom. The interior ceilings are lined with tongue and groove boarding and feature a central lattice vent. The original single room has been divided into two offices with a recent glazed partition. Adjacent to the verandah is an early school bell. The bell hangs under a small pyramid roof set on four timber posts on a stone base.
The south wing appears to be the earlier 1911 building because the west wing has been joined to it at the corner and the end window of the south wing has been bricked in. The south wing is high set at the eastern end with toilets under the building. The toilet space is divided by single-skin vertically boarded partitions. The fixtures are recent. The upper floor of the building originally contained three separate classrooms which have now been converted to two classrooms with a multi-purpose space between them. The south wall has equally spaced double-hung windows protected by a roof overhang supported by timber brackets. A timber framed addition with a hip roof is at the eastern end of the building, which is used for offices.
The west wing, probably built in 1919, is high set with play space and a tuckshop under the building. The upper floor originally contained three separate classrooms but has been modified to house the staff room in one original classroom space, with the library occupying two classrooms with the dividing wall removed. Large bays of casement windows to each end wall remain, with the top bay of windows set inwards at an angle. Window hoods with timber brackets and lattice panels protect these windows. Access to the classrooms is provided by double timber doors with fanlights above. A separate brick office, originally for the principal, is accessed from the verandah of this wing. It is a gable roofed extension set at 90 degrees to the building with a single double-hung window.
A brick toilet block stands to the east of the buildings. It is constructed of face brick with a hip roof and high-level louvred windows. Recent school buildings have been set well back from the early buildings and do not intrude on the setting.
","history":"The Ipswich West State School and Ipswich West Special School stand on a site which has been used as a primary school since 1861. Following the first Education Act of 1860 a government based education system was commenced in Queensland and schools began to appear across the state. In 1861, seven National Schools were opened in Queensland which included the coeducational school at Little Ipswich on 5 August. Little Ipswich (now West Ipswich) was an area of early urban settlement in Ipswich and in 1862 there were 52 pupils enrolled at the school.
\nLater agitation by the Ipswich National School Committee forced the establishment of a separate Boys' and Girls' Schools and a new Boys' School Building was erected in 1882 on the site of the present Special School. Contractors Reuben Worley and James Whitehead erected the building at a cost of £621, of which £200 was provided by the local community in accordance with government legislation of the time. The Education Act of 1875 introduced free, compulsory education for children aged 6 to 12 years which prompted an increase in school attendance and a need for additional educational facilities. Local communities were required to provide one fifth of the cost of construction and the Department of Public Instruction provided a teacher and resources.
\nThe school was erected to one of the standard designs of Robert Ferguson, Superintendent of School Buildings for the Department of Public Instruction from 1879 to 1893. This standard design was known as 'Carpenter Gothic', a style used in metropolitan areas and provincial cities from 1880 to 1893. The design addressed problems in earlier school buildings by providing wider verandahs, ample floor space, play sheds, well protected hat rooms, convenient lavatories and decent offices. The design of these school buildings also reflected a change in attitude to the education of children as it responded to the concerns of educationalists including improved light and ventilation for students.
\nThe former Boys' School building displays many of the original design features such as steeply pitched roofs, decorative finials and brackets at the end gables and diagonal boarding on the verandah ceilings. The grounds also contained a play shed, common in the Ferguson era, still standing today.
\nAfter the erection the Boys' School the girls continued to occupy the original 1861 school building. During the floods of 1893 the Girls' School was used for accommodating people who had lost their homes. Building of a new Girls' School began in 1907 and this involved construction of a brick wing by Mr. Harry Woodford at a cost of £613. In 1911 an additional brick wing was added by Wilson and Pickels contractors at a cost of £894/10/-. Work on the final section was commenced in 1919 at a cost £3,123 and was officially opened on 19 June, 1920.
\nThe gradual construction of the three brick school buildings from 1907 to 1919 reflected a change in the design and construction method of state schools due to the increased prosperity in Queensland in the early 1900s. Brick schools were all individually designed and were built in areas where a large population justified their construction. Brick schools were not commonplace which makes the Ipswich West State School buildings a good example of the type of school buildings erected in a established urban area during the period.
\nIn 1934 the Boys' and Girls' Schools again became coeducational, occupying only the brick buildings, with Mr. C.W. Munro as the Headmaster. At this time pupils numbered 232 and remodelling of the school was undertaken at a cost of £682.
\nFor twenty years the old Boys' School stood unoccupied and fell into disrepair. Demolition was resisted by the School Committee who carried out some maintenance and used it as a venue for fund raising functions. In 1957 vocational training for primary pupils of the Ipswich district was introduced and the old school became a manual training centre. The school is the now the premises for the Ipswich West Special School.
\nRecent additions to both school complexes include a new painted blockwork and timber covered way and classroom block designed by Bruce Buchanan Architects Pty Ltd and built in 1991 at a cost of $400,000at the Ipswich West State School, and a new block designed by David Pagenden Architects for the Special School, also built in 1991.
","criteria":"The Ipswich West State School and the Ipswich West Special School are important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history as the layers of school buildings constructed since 1861 reflect the growth of Queensland's education system.
|They are also prime examples of two different architectural types of Queensland State School buildings which changed in response to practical needs, changing attitudes to education and social trends in local communities and the state as a whole. The 1882 buildings (in the Special School Complex) were built to the standard Ferguson design, 'Carpenter Gothic', developed in response to requests by educationalists to improve standards of school buildings in Queensland. The brick buildings (in the Ipswich West State School Complex, 1907 - 1919) were constructed in a period which saw variance in design dictated by the size and wealth of the local community.
|The two school complexes are of aesthetic significance, the brick buildings creating a visually consistent composition unobstructed by recent buildings and framed by mature trees in the school grounds. Both the brick and the earlier timber buildings are significant for their architectural composition and detailing eg. the steeply pitched gabled roofs, timber brackets and finials, diagonal boarding and variety of window types.
|The schools have a strong association with the past, present and future generations of the school communities as a place of continuous education and recreation and as a focal point for the local community since 1861.
","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":15503,"place_ref":600728,"name":"Franklyn Vale Homestead","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Franklin Vale Road","suburb":"GRANDCHESTER","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Franklyn Vale Homestead is a single-storeyed weatherboard building with a projecting kitchen wing and a servants wing forming a northern courtyard. It sits on the crest of a low hill and has substantial early formal gardens, mature trees, including two lines of bunya trees at the eastern and western perimeters. There is a tennis court to the south.
The main section of the building has twin corrugated iron hipped roofs with a central box gutter and is surrounded by verandahs with skillion roofs. The two wings have corrugated iron broken hipped roofs with verandahs to the courtyard. A chamferboard schoolroom with a corrugated iron gambrel roof is attached to the north end of the servants wing and a chamferboard bedroom wing with a corrugated iron gable roof is attached to the southeast corner of the main house. The building sits on timber stumps and has a windmill pump in the centre of the courtyard and an arched entrance gate.
The perimeter verandahs have timber lattice balustrade and boarded ceilings. Timber shingles are visible below the corrugated iron roofs of the courtyard verandahs and lattice panels screen the kitchen verandah. French doors with fanlights and screens open to the verandahs, with the bedroom wing having panelled timber doors. The bedroom wing and schoolroom have tall sash windows with timber framed gauze shutters and the schoolroom has a boarded chimney
Internally, walls are painted horizontal timber boards with stained timber fanlights, doors, architraves, skirting and picture rails. A bay with french doors opens off the lounge and fireplaces have timber surrounds. Ceilings are boarded, with some roses, and floors are carpeted.
The kitchen has exposed roof framing with timber shingles visible below corrugated iron, a central brick double fireplace and walls are single-skin. The servants wing is also single-skin, has window hoods to the west and has a large shower head, originally operated by a cord to release tank water. The schoolhouse has a high boarded ceiling with pitched corners and a fretwork rose. The large fireplace has a timber surround and houses a stove.
A weatherboard meathouse with a corrugated iron pyramid roof and ventilator is located to northwest. It has a separate, internal, timber frame and gauze structure with meat hooks and a concrete floor. A stained timber post-and-beam summerhouse with a corrugated iron pyramid roof and ventilator is located to the southwest near the tennis court. It has a boarded ceiling above the rafters, and single-skin vertically jointed infill boards, with fixed glazing above to the rear, and a solid balustrade with timber gates to the front.
A slab timber shed with a shingle gabled roof is located to the north, with a lean-to to the north and east. The shed consists of timber posts with horizontal slab infill fixed into central grooves. A tankstand is located at the western end with a small structure below.
The grounds include a small weatherboard cottage to the northwest, sitting on timber stumps with a corrugated iron gabled roof and a front verandah. There is also a timber garden shed with a corrugated iron gabled roof and solid timber balustrade.
Exclusion of Furniture: The furniture contained within the homestead is expressly excluded from the cultural heritage significance of this place.
","history":"The present Franklyn Vale Homestead was erected in the early 1870s for Mr & Mrs Edward Crace, son-in-law and daughter of Henry Mort, the owner of the property. It replaced an 1849 slab dwelling, which then was used as a stables until demolished c.1949.
Originally, Franklyn Vale Station was part of the 60,000 hectare Laidley Plains leasehold which, along with Beau Desert, was taken up as a sheep run in 1843 by NSW squatter JP Robinson. The Laidley Plains run extended across the Franklin Valley, named after Sir John Franklin, Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land 1837-43, and identified on Dixon's 1842 map of the Moreton Bay district.
In 1849 the lease and 13,000 sheep passed to Sydney businessman Thomas Sutcliffe Mort. His brother, Henry Jonathan Mort, who had been managing Cressbrook Station in the Brisbane River Valley for DC McConnel, then moved onto Laidley Plains as manager. In the early 1850s Henry began the conversion of Laidley Plains into a cattle station. In 1852 the lease was transferred to Henry Mort and his brother-in-law James Laidley, with Henry managing the Franklyn Vale section of the run, and James managing the remainder as Laidley Plains. This partnership was dissolved in late 1869, by which time government resumptions had reduced Franklyn Vale to about 4,000 hectares freehold.
Henry Mort removed his family to Sydney in 1855, where he joined his brother in Mort & Co. (later Goldsborough, Mort & Co. Ltd), and thereafter resided only intermittently at Franklyn Vale, which was run by managers. However, he maintained a strong interest in Queensland, representing West Moreton in the NSW Legislative Assembly prior to separation.
From 1871 to 1876 Edward Kendall Crace, Henry's son-in-law, resided at Franklyn Vale as managing partner. The Mort family understands the present homestead was erected for Mrs Crace.
By 1891 Franklyn Vale was owned jointly by Henry Mort and his sons Charles Franklyn and Arthur Edward Lisle. Charles had been associated with Franklyn Vale as bookkeeper/overseer from about 1872. In the 1890s he developed the district's dairy industry, establishing a creamery and butter factory at Grandchester c.1893. Arthur took over the management of Franklyn Vale, which ultimately became his home, in 1891. In the 1890s he acquired his brother's interest in the property, and after his father's death in 1900, became sole owner. He developed Herefords and dairy cattle at Franklyn Vale, but mainly used the run as a fattening depot for his two other Queensland cattle properties: Redbank in the Burnett and Avoca in the Brisbane Valley.
In late 1900, established Brisbane architects Addison & Corrie were commissioned to design a school room and guest wing for the homestead, and to undertake minor alterations. It is likely the shingled roof was covered with the present galvanised iron and that the kitchen was enlarged at this time. Mr & Mrs Arthur Mort also improved the garden and are believed to have engaged architect Robin S Dods to design the summerhouse. The homestead remains the property of their descendants.
","criteria":"Franklyn Vale Homestead and associated outbuildings and grounds is important in demonstrating the evolution and pattern of European settlement in the West Moreton district since the 1870s.
|The c1870s slab shed demonstrates a now rare aspect of Queensland's cultural heritage, namely the principal characteristics of 19th century bush technology and building practices, which are no longer common.
|The 1870s homestead and slab building, the 1900s additions, the summerhouse and the formal garden, form a cohesive group which together demonstrate in their intactness and in their arrangement of elements, the principal characteristics of a south east Queensland homestead complex of the late 19th and 20th centuries.
|The relationship of the buildings in scale, form and materials, their siting in the landscape and relationships with the surrounding established gardens, exhibit an aesthetic quality valued by the local community and those interested in Queensland homesteads and their gardens.
|Franklyn Vale Homestead has a special association with the Mort family and their contribution to the development of the Queensland pastoral industry since 1849.
","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":15504,"place_ref":600729,"name":"Grandchester Railway Complex","alternate_name":"Bigge's Camp","street_address":"Ipswich Road","suburb":"GRANDCHESTER","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Grandchester is in a predominately rural setting in a bend on the Western Creek. The station building is situated on a timber platform and adopts a unique architectural form with a hipped roof and peripheral verandah to all elevations, posted on the ends and roadside and carried on later plain brackets over the platform. There is a prominent central chimney stack with arched cowls (compare the surviving station master's house at Wallangarra [1887] and the former at Esk [1886].
External linings are rusticated with 265mm exposed faces and double hung windows without horns having glazing bards. Internal alterations have been extensive although evidence of the original two bedrooms, living room, waiting room and office is presumed to exist, especially in the form of early timber ceiling linings and cornices. There is a roll of honour board inside, painted by Hugh F. O'Brien, Toowoomba.
There is a signal cabin with a 22 lever T-bar machine in the down end of the building, placed out of service presumably in 1988 with the introduction of CTC.
The tank is a two tier cast iron tank altered from a single tier tank at an unknown date. The linings to the stand are recent and the shaped ends to the main beams project through the linings. There is an associated dam which is presumed to supply the tank , also a brick well and associated pumphouse.
The station master's house is a standard elevated second class house with a pyramidal roof, peripheral verandah and later(?) ventilator. The verandah post enrichment may be uncommon, but the overall form is not uncommon.
","history":"Grandchester, originally known as Bigge's Camp, is the western terminus for the first railway in Queensland and the first section of the Main Line to Toowoomba, opened from Ipswich on 31 July 1865. Works were carried out to the station building in 1875 and 1876. The goods shed was also built in that year. T. Neville signed a contract to undertake work on the station buildings on 19 December 1878.
The tank was relocated from Laidley in 1876 and a locomotive stationed here from 1885 to assist trains over the Little Liverpool Range. James Stewart signed a contract on 14 March 1885 to build an engine shed, and Worley and Whitehead signed a contract to build a second goods shed on 15 June 1885.
The station master's house was built in 1910 and alterations carried out to the station building around that time. By 1961 the complex consisted of a station building with signal cabin, two tanks, cream shed, closet, pumphouse, station master's house, forkline to cattleyards, engine shed and coal stage. The engine shed had been demolished by 1963 and the trucking yards were discontinued in 1991.
","criteria":"Grandchester Railway complex has historical importance as the western terminus of the first railway in Queensland, opened on 31 July 1865.
Grandchester as a place is commonly acknowledged to be an historical railway site of State significance. It was the first railway station built in Queensland using local materials.
|The survival of a station building incorporating quarters is also rare (compare Clifton, Springsure and Pentland).
|(Criterion under review)
|The station building and tank are key elements demonstrating its early date and are understood to have existed on this site from the mid-late 1870s, predating other railway buildings in Queensland with the possible exception of Gracemere (Central Line), Murphys Creek (Main Line), Nobby and Clifton (Southern Line).
|(Criterion under review)
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion C | Criterion D | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15505,"place_ref":600730,"name":"Grandchester Sawmills","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Symes Street","suburb":"GRANDCHESTER","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Grandchester Sawmills is located on the southern side of Symes Rd in the town of Grandchester. The sawmill is set back from the road on a sloping piece of land which backs on to the railway line. Grandchester Railway Station is visible from the rear of the sawmill.
The sawmill machinery is housed in a gabled structure with mono pitched roof extension at one end under which the locomotive boiler sits minus its undercarriage. The sawn timber roof structure is supported on round timber posts. It is not enclosed by any walls. The mill is powered by a locomotive boiler from Walkers - built C17 No.922 and a steam engine. The boiler has a name plate attached to one side reading 'Old Reliable'.
The sawmill is driven by a belt and pulley system. All saws, except for one small electric saw, are powered by the steam engine. A small pyramidal silo stands to the rear of the main sawmill structure which is used to store the sawdust for the boiler.
Three other structures stand on the property. A timber house to the north-west of the mill, a small timber building directly in front (north) of the mill bearing evidence it was once a petrol station and another small timber structure to north- east of the sawmill.
","history":"The Gillam brothers started the Grandchester Sawmills in 1941. While at this time World War II brought a severe reduction in housing activity, after a short resurgence when the depression lifted, the declaration of war with Japan at the end of 1941 was followed by a huge upsurge of construction for military purposes. As structures were needed quickly and were expected to be temporary, the demand for milled timber grew rapidly.
One of Queensland's earliest major industrial enterprises was Pettigrew's sawmill in Brisbane. Opening in 1853, the sawmill predated the separation of Queensland as a colony by six years. Within two decades sawmills were commonplace and were an important investment in the regional economy.
The Grandchester sawmill is powered by steam and this factor makes it an unusual phenomenon in Queensland and Australia. The steam engine was built by "Marshall Sons & Co. Ltd, Engineers, Gainsborough, England." The date of construction is unclear, however a small plate records a machinery inspection in 1911. The steam engine was first used in the Nestle's factory in Toogoolawah (since demolished). It was then used in the Lowood butter factory and afterwards in the Hoods Sawmill, Gatton.
Initially, two traction engines were used for boilers but the brothers acquired the boiler of a No. 922 Ipswich based railway steam engine, built by Walder Brothers, Maryborough in 1966. The boiler is fuelled by sawdust from the circular saws and is a cheap and efficient method of power.
The mill is still operating, being a small family operation cutting mainly crating timber.
","criteria":"The timber industry has been a significant part of Queensland's history as timber getters were among the first Europeans to live and work in the colony. Grandchester Sawmills demonstrates the evolution of the timber in Queensland. The small sawmill was opened in 1941 at a time when the Second World War demanded increased production of sawn timber in Queensland. The continued success of the business is attributed to it responding to the changing demands for sawn timber in Queensland.
|The Grandchester Sawmills is one of the few remaining steam powered sawmills left in Queensland, if not Australia, still in commercial use. The machinery used to power the sawmill is uncommon and of high technological interest.
|The saw mill has a long association with the Gillam family and their employees being owned and run by them since 1941 to the present day.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | 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 a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15506,"place_ref":600731,"name":"Rosewood Scrub Historical Society Building","alternate_name":"Walloon Shire Council Office & Meeting Hall | Rosewood Shire Council Office | Rosewood Shire Council Branch Office","street_address":"73 Edmond Street","suburb":"MARBURG","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"This small, single-storeyed weatherboard building with a corrugated iron gable roof, fronts Edmond Street to the south and is located adjacent to the former Queensland National Bank and First World War memorial [600733].
The building has timber stumps and a verandah to the south with a single-skin exposed framed south wall with central, double entry doors. The verandah has a curved corrugated iron awning, timber posts, cross-braced balustrade and central stair.
The east and west elevations have a single sash window with a metal hood, and the north has a central timber door accessed via a timber ramp.
Also on the site is a masonry public toilet block to the southeast of the building.
","history":"This small timber building was erected in mid-1913 as offices and meeting place for the Walloon Shire Council.
Although the town of Walloon (on the Ipswich-Grandchester railway) was established in the 1860s, Marburg, established in the late 1870s in the centre of the Rosewood Scrub district, proved the natural administrative centre for local government. The Walloon Divisional Board, proclaimed in 1879, initially met at the Plains paddock, then at Woodlands (TL Smith's Marburg residence), and then at premises in Marburg. In 1903 the Walloon Divisional Board became the Walloon Shire Council.
In 1912 the council, whose Marburg office was considered beyond repair, petitioned the Queensland Lands Commissioner to grant part of the ungazetted Marburg water reserve for the purpose of erecting new council offices. That part of the reserve fronting Edmund Street was favoured, as it was centrally located and close to the railway terminus, which had reached Marburg late in 1911. Executive authority to reserve the site was granted early in 1913.
Tenders were called in March 1913, and the two-roomed premises were constructed the following June by Marburg contractor A. Jendrachowski, with a contract price of £126. The main room at the front was used for council meetings and the reception of ratepayers on council business. The smaller room at the rear served as the Shire Clerk's office, storage for council documents, and a strong-room. The Walloon Shire Council met in their new premises for the first time on 7 July 1913.
The building functioned as the shire offices and meeting place of the Walloon Shire Council until early in 1917, when the Shire of Walloon Shire was abolished and divided between Rosewood Shire and Ipswich (later Moreton) Shire, with Marburg falling within Rosewood Shire. The last meeting of the Walloon Shire Council was conducted in the Marburg Shire Hall on 8 February 1917. Rosewood Shire Council maintained the Marburg building as a branch shire office for some time, possibly into the 1920s, during the peak of Marburg's 20th century development.
The Queensland Country Women's Association leased the building from 1932 until c.1943, when the Marburg CWA went into recess and the building was used as the headquarters of the local War Comforts Fund. The CWA renewed their occupancy in 1946, and remained in the building into the 1970s. Concomitantly, the building has served as the meeting place for a variety of community clubs, societies and organisations, in particular the Marburg Scouts Group, and later the Marburg Progress Association. Currently, it is leased by the Rosewood Scrub Historical Society.
","criteria":"The Rosewood Scrub Historical Society Building, erected in 1913, is important in demonstrating the evolution of local government in the Marburg district, and the way in which local government functioned in a small Queensland country town in the early part of the 20th century.
|It is important in exhibiting a range of aesthetic characteristics valued by the Marburg community, in particular the building's form, scale and materials, and its contribution to the streetscape of Edmond Street and to the Marburg townscape.
|It is part of an historic precinct in the centre of Marburg, which includes also the adjacent former Queensland National Bank and First World War memorial [600733] and the Marburg Hotel [600732], which is valued by the Marburg and district community for social and cultural reasons.
","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":15507,"place_ref":600732,"name":"Marburg Hotel","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Edmond Street","suburb":"MARBURG","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"This two-storeyed timber building, with a corrugated iron hipped roof, is located on the corner of Queen and Edmond Streets in the centre of Marburg, opposite the former Queensland National Bank and First World War memorial [600732].
Both street facades have double-height full length verandahs which are supported by timber posts. Both street facades also have cross braced exposed timber framing, but the rear walls are clad in chamferboard.
First floor verandahs have decorative cast iron work with the verandah floor sloping outwards to a noticeable degree. The verandah roof is formed by a curved corrugated iron awning which has sagged in places along its length. Ground floor verandahs have large advertising signage in the position of the original valance. Entry to the public bar is from the verandah via the front corner door.
The building sits on timber stumps. At the rear there is a single-storeyed chamferboard kitchen house, attached to the building via a covered breezeway and open deck.
The ground floor contains hotel facilities and has been substantially altered. The first floor contains accommodation, most of which is of original plan form. Internal walls are of single skin tongue and groove board. Internal doors have fanlights above on the ground floor and fretwork panels above on the first floor. Rooms open onto the verandahs via french doors, and rooms at the rear of the building have sash windows with pressed metal window hoods.
","history":"The Marburg Hotel, initially single-storeyed, was erected probably early in 1881 for Marburg farmer and Walloon publican, Weigand Raabe. The 0.81 hectare site was registered in his wife's name in mid-1880; a mortgage of £180 was taken out in January 1881; and by June 1881 races and sports were being held at Weigand Raabe's Marburg Hotel. It was among the first buildings in the town, and was the first hotel.
The Marburg district was developed principally by German settlers, who in the early 1870s cleared farms from the dense Rosewood Scrub. By late 1885 the district supported a population of approximately 5,000, and the town boasted a Court House, School of Arts, primary school, two hotels and electricity supplied from TL Smith's Woodlands sawmill.
Following Weigand Raabe's death in 1883, the hotel was placed under trusteeship. In mid-1884 Auguste Raabe, his widow, renewed the hotel license, and married Otto Sakrzewski, a Marburg storekeeper and carpenter, who then held the license from mid-1885 until mid-1887. Thomas Mortimer was licensee from mid-1887 until mid-1890, at which time Sakrzewski was appointed trustee and renewed the license. Sakrzewski raised a £600 mortgage on the property in 1890, and the second storey may have been added then.
The Sakrzewski family held the license until 1921, and the freehold remained theirs until 1925, having been sold to Otto's brother, Albert, c.1915. The hotel then passed through several owners, lessees and licensees until purchased by Queensland Brewery Ltd in 1936. It has remained Marburg's sole hotel since 1947. In 1986 the freehold was acquired by the Bowden family, who have been licensees of the Marburg Hotel since c.1944.
The Marburg Hotel remains one of the oldest buildings in the town. It has operated continuously as an hotel since 1881, and was a highway landmark and popular stopping place for travellers from 1923 to 1969, when the Brisbane-Toowoomba highway passed through Marburg.
","criteria":"Marburg Hotel, erected c1881 with additions c1890. is important in demonstrating the evolution of part of Queensland's history, being associated with the emergence of Marburg as the centre of a flourishing agricultural community in the 1880s.
|It is important in demonstrating some of the principle characteristics of a late 19th century Queensland rural hotel, in the intactness of the setting, street elevations and upper floor.
|It exhibits a range of aesthetic characteristics valued by the Marburg community, including the contribution through scale, form and material to the streetscapes off Queen and Edmond streets, and the landmark quality of the building, being an expression of the centre of the town.
|It has a strong and special association with the Marburg community, being: an integral part of Marburg social and recreational life since 1881 and part of an historic precinct in the centre of Marburg, which includes the nearby former Queensland National Bank and First World War memorial [600731], and the former Walloon Shire Council Office [600731].
","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":15508,"place_ref":600733,"name":"Marburg Community Centre and First World War Memorial","alternate_name":"Queensland National Bank (Former) | National Bank of Australasia","street_address":"71 Edmond Street","suburb":"MARBURG","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"This single-storeyed chamferboard building, with a corrugated iron gambrel roof, is located on the corner of Queen and Edmond Streets in the centre of Marburg, opposite the Marburg Hotel [600732] and adjacent to the Rosewood Scrub and Historical Society Building [600731].
This building is L-shaped in plan, has concrete stumps with timber stumps to the perimeter, and a central parapeted section of the south wall, fronting Edmond Street. The southeast corner has a decorative timber porch with double entry doors, cross-braced balustrade, curved brackets and a parapet concealing a corrugated iron skillion awning. The western elevation has a partly enclosed verandah with timber posts, cross-braced balustrade, curved brackets and a corrugated iron skillion awning.
The building has sash windows and corrugated iron hoods with timber brackets and battens.
Internally, the building has tongue and groove boarding to walls and ceilings, moulded timber architraves and sills, a central masonry strongroom and carpeted timber floors.
A First World War Memorial, consisting of a marble plaque, and flagpole are located at the southeast corner of the site.
","history":"This single-storeyed timber building was erected in 1912 for the Queensland National Bank, as their Marburg branch premises.
The QNB had established a branch office at Marburg in 1887, occupying temporary accommodation in the Marburg School of Arts until construction of substantial bank premises in 1888. Following the banking crisis of 1893, the Marburg branch was closed early in 1894, and the bank premises and land were sold. In 1906 the QNB re-established a branch at Marburg, in a small timber building purchased from Weise Bros. It was the only bank in Marburg at the time.
With the extension of the railway line from Rosewood to Marburg in 1911, opening officially on 26 January 1912, confidence in the district's future increased. In August 1911 the QNB purchased the present site at the corner of Edmond and Queen Streets, near the railway terminus, and in the first half of 1912, Ipswich contractors Hastie and Halliwell erected new bank premises to a design prepared by Ipswich architect George Brockwell Gill. The building housed the banking chamber, manager's office, strongroom, bedroom for a resident banking officer, and a bathroom. A kitchen was not included, and the manager's residence was separate.
By 1912 the QNB was one of two banks in Marburg, and an agency of the Government Savings Bank was established c.1915. After 1926, however, the QNB remained Marburg's sole banking establishment.
In September 1919 a flagstaff and memorial tablet, honouring local soldiers who had served in the First World War, were erected in the front yard of the QNB premises. Large numbers of Australian troops were being repatriated at this time, and such expressions of local patriotism were not uncommon. The choice of site for the Marburg memorial emphasised the central role of the Queensland National Bank in the district, both in its physical location in the middle of town, and in its provision of a financial infrastructure to the farming community it serviced.
The Edmond St premises were occupied by the QNB until 1948 and then by the National Bank of Australasia Limited. In 1970 the Marburg branch of the NBA was closed, but the building was maintained as an agency of the Ipswich branch until 1975. In 1976 the site was sold to the Marburg & District Residents' Association Inc., who use the building as a community centre. A doctor's surgery, supplying the sole local medical service, also operates from part of the premises.
","criteria":"Marburg Community Centre and First World War Memorial is important in demonstrating the evolution of Queensland's history, being associated with the growth of Marburg as a rural district centre in the 1910s and 1920s.
|The sapling flagstaff demonstrates an uncommon aspect of Queensland's cultural heritage, being an unusual type of war memorial in Queensland.
|The building is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a small, rural Queensland, timber bank premises of the early 20th century, being substantially intact and retaining the original bank vault.
|The place is important in demonstrating a range of aesthetic characteristics valued by the Marburg and district community, including the contribution of the building, through scale, form and material, and of the First World War Memorial, to the streetscapes of Queen and Edmond streets and to the Marburg townscape; and the decorative timber exterior joinery.
|The place is part of an historic precinct in the centre of Marburg, which includes also the adjacent former Walloon Shire Council Office [600731] and the Marburg Hotel [600732], which is valued by the Marburg and district community for social and cultural reasons.
|The place has a special association with the Queensland National Bank and its role in promoting the development of rural Queensland in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
","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":15509,"place_ref":600734,"name":"Woodlands","alternate_name":"St Vincent's Seminary | Marburg Campus, Ipswich Grammar School","street_address":"Seminary Road","suburb":"MARBURG","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Woodlands is a large, ornate, rendered brick building with two main levels surrounded by verandahs, plus cellar, observation deck and tower.
The roof comprises two hips, separated by a masonry balustraded tower section. A curved roof is set down on four sides over open verandahs, with cast-iron paired columns, valance, and upper level balustrade. The main roof eaves, decorated with zigzag fascia, project a small hip into the verandah roof over central doorways on the east and west.
The southern elevation has a double-storey portico, aligned with the central masonry section, bearing the name Woodlands and the year 1868. [This refers to the year Charles Smith first took up land in the Rosewood district, not the date of construction of the house.] Either side are two semi-circular pedimented frontis pieces. All have elaborately decorated crests, finials and bargeboards. A large bay window projects either side. This elevation, designed as a front entrance, stands close to steep terracing, overlooking secluded grotto areas. It opens into a vestibule some 2.4m wide, with early mosaic tiled floor. The building, however, is entered from the east, where the driveway encircles an expanse of lawn. This elevation is less formal with arched windows to the front dining room, and rectangular windows to service areas. External joinery to windows and doors is painted. The ground level verandah is concrete floored, and unlined above.
Internally, a hallway about 1.5m wide runs east to west. Doors are four panelled with sidelights and semi-circular fanlights, of varying pattern and colour.
Ground floor dining rooms and sitting room have plaster ceilings with elaborate circular surrounds to central lights. Doors are cedar panelled with rectangular fan lights over. Deep cornices and pelmets are of moulded cedar. The front dining room has walls of full height cedar, with 4 inch [100mm] beaded vertical boarding above the panelling to dado height. The fire place is dark grey marble. The sitting room has full height cedar panelling and a white marble fireplace. The formal dining room opposite has rendered walls with deep cedar skirting. The fireplace is painted. The adjoining office has an angled fireplace sheeted over. This room leads into a vaulted strong room in the northwest corner, rendered, with metal vent grilles.
The kitchen is a large square room with recent ceramic tile floor and fittings c1960s. Storerooms with rendered walls and tiled floors lead off under a wide-arched opening. The scullery in the northeast corner is of painted brickwork and hardboard ceiling, with recent mosaic tiled floors. The WC, between scullery and eastern entrance, has rendered walls.
There are stairs leading up at the eastern end of the hall, and adjacent to the vestibule. Balustrades are of turned cedar with monumental and elaborate newel posts. The underside of the eastern stair is painted boarding. That adjacent to the vestibule, of cedar panelling.
The upper level contains ten bedrooms, some of original dimensions, some divided by hardboard partitions, reusing in places, original panelled doors. Original walls are rendered, several with cornices and light surrounds matching the ground level rooms. The fireplace in the southwest bedroom is painted. The adjoining small bedroom is an exception, having window joinery painted internally. A sitting area above the ground level vestibule has a corrugated iron ceiling and moulded cornice. The door, and sashes to floor level, leading on to the southern verandah, are not early. Earlier glazed panels are in place above. The eastern door from hallway to verandah is of timber and glazed panels, with twin-paned fanlight of yellow patterned glass, and side lights of blue, above green bubble glass. The verandah is floored with 4 inch [100mm] shot edged boarding. The roof is unlined.
Central to this upper floor, a narrow winding stair, leading to the tower, has painted turned balusters and moulded rail. The tower overlooks, through arched openings, hipped roofs either side. Leading out to the masonry balustraded areas over the water tanks, are doors with semi-circular fan lights, boarded on the north, one panelled on the south.
From the ground floor, a stair with turned cedar balusters descends to the cellar. Cellar walls are of rough sandstone with arched openings headed in cross-bracing in spaces between 12 inch [300mm] joists. Along the eastern wall are low timber platforms.
Woodlands is an outstanding grand residence in a rural setting, overlooking undulating open country to distant hills. It is associated with a picturesque hillside graveyard; large secluded grotto; olive grove and other plantings including Bunya pines (Araucaria bidwillii); and disused dairy buildings. There are three other buildings in the grounds, formerly associated with St Vincent's seminary: now Bougainvillaea House, Poinciana House and Jacaranda House.
","history":"Woodlands, an imposing, two-storeyed brick residence, was erected in 1889-91 for Thomas Lorimer Smith, saw miller, timber merchant, contractor, sugarcane grower, sugar mill proprietor, and active member of the Marburg community. It was designed by Ipswich architect George Brockwell Gill.
Thomas had married Mary Stuart in 1881, and at Woodlands they raised a large family. Their first residence was a modest, single-storeyed timber house near the saw mill. In the late 1880s they commissioned Ipswich builder/architect Samuel Shenton to design an imposing two-storeyed brick residence, to be erected on the hill above the Woodlands mills.
Shenton had established himself in Ipswich by 1851 as a carpenter, builder and contractor, and was advertising as an architect and builder by 1874. He had been involved in local politics since 1863, and served as Mayor of Ipswich in 1871-72 and in 1889. From 1886 talented young London architect George Brockwell Gill was employed in Shenton's office, and took over the architectural practice when Shenton retired in 1889. It is understood that Woodlands was designed by Gill, rather than Shenton, whose designs prior to being joined by Gill had been modest and pragmatic in style. The Smith family later attributed the design to Gill, whose other notable works included Brynhyfryd [1889-90] at Blackstone [demolished], Ipswich Girls' Grammar School [1890-91]and Ipswich Technical College [1898-1900].
Tenders for the construction of a mansion at Marburg for TL Smith were called by Shenton in January-February 1889. Construction took over 2 years to complete, the Smiths moving into their new home in July 1891. The bricks were made locally, likely on the property [as with brick-lined dams constructed near the sugar mill in 1883]. Red cedar used in the panelling in the dining and drawing rooms reputedly came from Wivenhoe in the Brisbane River Valley and was milled at Woodlands. Cabinet maker and joiner Joseph Klee is understood to have worked on the timber panelling for over a year.
In the 1890s, economic depression, falling sugar prices, unreliable rainfall, and government encouragement to dairy farmers, led to a decline in sugar cultivation in the Marburg district. TL Smith took out a substantial mortgage on his property in 1897, and in January 1906 the Woodlands Estate was subdivided and put up for sale by order of his mortgagees. At this time the estate comprised 29 improved scrub farms, a large sugar mill [to be sold with farm no.22], 1¾ miles of sugar tramway, 38 iron cane trucks, distillery, saw mill, milking herd, numerous small sheds, 12 small cottages and Woodlands Homestead, offered on about 7 acres with an orchard of fruit trees and olives. Several of the farms sold at this time, but the Smith family retained Woodlands residence and much surrounding land. The sugar mill was purchased by Marburg Sugar Co., the chief shareholders of which were Gibson Bros of Bingera, Bundaberg, but the era of the small mill was over - Marburg farmers were no longer keen to grow sugarcane, and the Marburg Sugar Mill closed c1919.
In 1925 TL Smith, still resident at Woodlands, was interviewed by the Brisbane press and a description of the house published:
On the crest of an isolated hill the "lookout tower" rises some 50ft above the ground level, giving a beautiful view of the surrounding country. The house is of two stories, built of brick, covered with a cement coating. Doors and windows, of massive design to conform with the spacious rooms, are all of beautifully grained red cedar cut in the Brisbane Valley. Above the top story are two brick 10,000 gallon tanks, which receive all the water from the roof, and from these tanks the water is reticulated through the house, and provides flushing for a septic system. The house took four years to complete, most of the bricks being made in the vicinity. At present the area held is about 300 acres. . . . .
Thomas Lorimer Smith died in 1931. Woodlands was retained by the Smith family for over a decade, until transferred in 1944 to the Corporation of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane, along with nearly 130 acres of the Woodlands estate. Archbishop Duhig had purchased the property in the hope of encouraging missionaries of the Society of the Divine Word, evacuated from New Guinea to Brisbane in May 1944, to stay in Queensland.
The Society was founded in 1875 in Style, Holland, and had established a base elsewhere in Australia early in the 20th century to provide support for its missionaries in New Guinea. The Divine Word missionaries accepted Duhig's offer, and at Woodlands established the first mission seminary in Queensland. The main residence was renovated, two timber-framed buildings were erected in the grounds for use as classrooms and dormitories, and the place opened as St Vincent's Seminary in 1945. In 1954 title to the property was transferred from the Catholic Church to The Society of the Divine Word.
By 1986 the main building, then containing 8 bedrooms, 2 servants' bedrooms, sitting and dining rooms with full height cedar wall panelling, large sandstone cellar, and 8 fireplaces, remained largely in its original form. The grounds by this time included a 25 metre in-ground pool, two additional dormitory buildings, a chapel, and a small cemetery associated with St Vincent's Seminary, and in which 18 persons had been interred, including Dr Eucharist Sirois and his wife, who ran a private hospital in Marburg during the 1910s and 1920s. In 1986 St Vincent's Seminary closed and the property was sold to the Ipswich Grammar School, which uses the property for weekend activities, seminars, and conferences.
The Smith family established themselves in the Rosewood-Marbug district in the 1860s/early 1870s. Thomas' father, Charles, had arrived in Queensland from England in 1862, and in 1864 was joined by his wife and family. He established a saw mill at Sandy Creek, Walloon, on the outskirts of the Rosewood Scrub, in 1865, and c1866 took his eldest son, Thomas Lorimer Smith, into his saw milling business. Charles Smith was among the first to select land in the Rosewood Scrub, taking up about 1000 acres c1870. This included 568 acres [portion 392, parish of Walloon] selected in September 1870, on part of which Woodlands mansion was erected 20 years later. In 1876 TL Smith entered into partnership with his father, and together they erected a new and larger saw mill on portion 392, close to the then emerging township of Marburg, in the heart of the Rosewood Scrub. The Marbug saw mill opened early in 1877. In the same year Charles retired, leaving the running of the mill to his son. The mill was destroyed by fire early in 1880, but was rebuilt within a few months.
Charles Smith died in December 1880, his interest in the Marburg saw mill and land passing to his son Thomas. TL Smith named the property Woodlands, expanded the saw mill - adding a joinery plant - and in the early 1880s, as the district converted to agriculture, moved into sugar cultivation and manufacture. The first sugarcane was planted c1881, a sugar mill was erected next to the saw mill in 1882, and the first crushing and sugar manufacture took place in 1883. TL Smith invested heavily in the sugar mill, erecting a sugar refinery in 1884, an electric light system in 1885 [illuminating the mills, offices, stables, and his private residence], a telephone line between the Marburg mills and Walloon (the nearest telegraph station) in 1885 and a large rum distillery near the mills in 1886. In 1888 he installed more powerful machinery in the sugar mills and distillery, and laid steel tramways on the Woodlands estate to transport sugar cane and other produce to the mills. By 1889, TL Smith's sugar mill and distillery were considered the most powerful and by far the most modern, in Southern Queensland. In March 1889, giving evidence before the Royal Commission into the Queensland Sugar Industry, TL Smith stated that he was employing 36 South Sea Islanders at Woodlands, which comprised about 1200 acres, with 250 acres under cane. He claimed to have invested £20-25,000 in the sugar mill, distillery, planting, fencing, and tramway. In the late 1880s, Smith also began to plant grapes on the Woodlands estate, intending to expand into the production of wines and brandies.
In the 1880s and 1890s, TL Smith was the most influential landowner and employer in the Marburg district, and was actively involved in the progress of Marburg township [established early 1870s] and community. He was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1884, and in 1885 erected the Marburg School of Arts, for which he supplied electric power from his saw mill for the opening celebrations. He also negotiated with the Edison Electric Light Company to supply power to several buildings in the township. He was a member of the Marburg School of Arts Committee, and in 1890 was appointed to the Church of England building committee, having donated an acre of land on the Marburg-Kirchheim Road for the erection of an Anglican church in the Rosewood Scrub. In the 1890s he encouraged the expansion of the local sugar industry, agreeing to purchase cane from other farmers in the Marburg district.
","criteria":"Woodlands is important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history, being associated with early non-indigenous settlement of the Rosewood Scrub and the development of the Marburg district as a sugar-producing region in the late 19th century.
|It is a comparatively rare example of a substantial town mansion erected in a rural setting in Queensland, reflecting a way of life to which its builder, a successful entrepreneur of working-class background, aspired.
|The place survives remarkably intact, and is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a grand, two-storeyed brick residence with wide, ornate verandahs, observation tower, sandstone cellar, early water reticulation system, and set in substantial grounds [which include an olive grove, other significant plantings including Bunya pines (Araucaria bidwillii), and disused dairy buildings], and with fine vistas over rural surroundings.
|The place has aesthetic significance, generated by the formal design, the use of rendered brick and stone, the large public rooms and fine joinery work and cedar panelling internally, the decorative verandahs with cast-iron posts, balustrading and valances, the garden setting [which includes a picturesque hillside graveyard and a large, secluded grotto], and the prominent ridge-top location. The place has landmark value from the main Ipswich-Toowoomba road.
|The house is an excellent example of the 'grand scale' domestic work of Ipswich architect George Brockwell Gill, and has a special association with saw-miller, timber merchant and sugar-mill proprietor Thomas Lorimer Smith and his family. As St Vincent's Seminary, the place has a special association with the work of the Society of the Divine Word in Queensland from 1945 to 1986. Two substantial timber-framed dormitory/classroom buildings and a later chapel [now kitchen-dining room] in the grounds are significant for their association with St Vincent's Seminary.
","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":15510,"place_ref":600735,"name":"Glendalough","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"96 John Street","suburb":"ROSEWOOD","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Glendalough is a large, ornate , early 20th century timber home, high-set on a large corner allotment in the small town of Rosewood, near Ipswich. Despite a number of early accretions, the house presents a unified, elaborate form, with subtle suggestions of sectional rebuilding and extension.
The roof contains a central pyramid with square ridge crested in cast iron. Gables decorate the eaves line to the eastern front and south. A verandah roof, set down around four sides, is interrupted by a projecting dominant front gable with hooded sash and side lights, and a rear hipped kitchen section with a rectangular window bay. A gabled portico projects over the front stair landing. The front stair, with balustrade of crossed timber members, descends in one flight, turning out into the garden from an intermediate landing.
Adjoining the main roof on the southeast is a smaller, short-ridged pyramid which roofs that section of verandah, extended an equivalent width to the south. This forms the living room. Decorative eaved gables face east and south.
All gables are sheeted and battened, with scalloped bargeboard. The high east gable of the southern wing, has a barge board of differing profile.
An octagonal bedroom 5.27 metres wide projects from the northeast corner. It has a segmental low-pitched sheet metal roof with central finial. Within each face is a large window with four-paned upper, and two-paned lower sash, and a smaller twin-paned window above.
Open verandahs with consistent cast iron balustrade follow the southeast facing corners of the house, and remain in place along the tree-screened north, between an enclosed bathroom section and the octagon. Bay windows, of chamferboard to sill height, project into the front verandah space to the east and south. Walls between are of vertical boarding. The front wall and window are set back behind a line of timber posts supporting the main roof. A slatted valance spans between these posts. The verandah ceiling is flat sheeted and battened. Verandah posts are timber, with moulded capitals, and fretwork brackets. Wooden blinds filter light to the wide front verandahs. On the outer face of the southern extension, a high arched and dowelled valance, with pendant, elaborates the bays. Bay windows reduce a narrow verandah space to about half a metre.
Interior rooms have pressed metal ceilings. Early light fittings, and cedar joinery remain in place. Walls are 4 inch [100mm] vertical tongue and groove boarding. The opening from hall to lounge has been widened. Here and most notably in the hall, panels of lattice wrap around the central section of wall nibs. Fretwork of relatively recent date has been applied to the doorway between hall and dining room. The octagonal bedroom windows contain original pale green and yellow glass, and darker replacement panes.
From the octagon a walk-through sash opening leads to the northern verandah. Here a stair of later date leads down.
Under the house, all stumps are of timber. Diagonal battens surround the house, except where rear bays, sheeted in both weatherboards and chamferboards, enclose a storeroom and disused bathroom. There is, in places, attached, an additional outer skirt of short vertical battens. Along each side is a second line of diagonal battens one bay back.
A central stump supports the octagon, and here previously painted floorboards have been re-arranged, adding to evidence of the probable re-building of this room.
The house is set in a spacious garden accommodating formal and informal plantings.
","history":"This large timber residence was constructed in at least two stages, with the flamboyant early 1910s extensions constructed for Rosewood storekeeper Thomas Ernest Bulcock and his wife Edith Mary Bourke, who were married in June 1910.
Rosewood had been established as a private town following the construction of the Ipswich to Grandchester railway in 1864-65. Situated on the southern edge of the Rosewood Scrub, the town developed as a service centre to surrounding farms. In the late 19th and early 20th century the district boomed with the expansion of the dairying industry.
TE Bulcock was the son of seed and produce merchant and former Queensland parliamentarian, Robert Bulcock, MLA for Enoggera 1885-88 and MLC 1894-1900. He was born in Brisbane c1872 and worked with Brooks and Noble, hardware merchants, before moving to Alfred Shaw and Co. Thomas and his brother Arthur Bulcock launched their own business c1908, when they purchased a general store at Rosewood established by Frederick Lound, which they then conducted as Bulcock Brothers' The Trade Palace. The firm proved successful, and by c1919 was described as one of the most extensive general storekeeping businesses on the southern railway, between Ipswich and Toowoomba. By this date TE Bulcock also had an interest in a Rosewood auctioneering business, Whitworth and Bulcock.
In December 1910, Bulcock acquired title to a residential site of just over 1.25 acres in John Street, Rosewood. It is thought that a 6-roomed house was extant on the site at the time, and that Bulcock commissioned the flamboyant extensions which so distinguish the house from its neighbours, soon after purchase. He raised a mortgage of £800 on the land in March 1911, which may have helped pay for the additions. A c1919 [probably earlier] photograph of the house shows the extensions, which included a large billiard room on the south side of the house an octagonal summer sleeping room on the north side, and winged stair at the front. The accompanying description reads: Eight lofty and spacious rooms, in addition to kitchen and offices, are contained in the interior, while a feature of the house is a summer sleeping-room, formed by the bay, octagonal in shape, and 12 feet across, with windows on all sides. The house stood in a flower garden adorned with statuary.
A late 20th century fabric analysis suggests that the house was constructed in at least two stages, the first comprising living room, dining room, central hallway, three bedrooms and kitchen, with verandahs to three sides [the 6-roomed original house]. The large billiard room on the south side of the house and the verandah and sleeping room on the north side are clearly additions.
During the Bulcocks' residence, Glendalough was a focus for local social occasions. The family was well-known in the community, and TE Bulcock was a member of a local masonic club. About 1923-24 the Bulcocks appear to have sold their Rosewood business, and left the district. In late 1923 Glendalough was transferred to the Grant family, who resided there until c1958. The house remains a family home.
","criteria":"Glendalough, erected circa early 1900s with substantial early 1910s additions, is important in illustrating the pattern of Queensland's history, being a fine example of the home of a successful local merchant in a small Queensland town during the boom years of the early 20th century. TE Bulcock's success reflected the growing affluence of the Rosewood district, which prospered in the early 20th century along with the dairy boom.
|Glendalough is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a substantial, early 20th century timber residence of a wealthy and influential local citizen, designed to impress, which employs decorative timberwork, design elements which accommodate the warm Queensland climate - including wide verandahs on all sides and a well-ventilated summer sleeping pavilion - and a substantial garden. The layout of the large formal entertaining areas provides evidence of the social standing of its original inhabitants, and of the building.
|Glendalough makes a significant contribution to the Rosewood townscape, was closely associated with a prominent local businessman and the social life of the town, and is valued by the community as a local landmark.
|Glendalough makes a significant contribution to the Rosewood townscape, was closely associated with a prominent local businessman and the social life of the town, and is valued by the community as a local landmark.
","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":15511,"place_ref":600736,"name":"St Brigids Church","alternate_name":"St Brigid's Catholic Church","street_address":"28 Matthew Street","suburb":"ROSEWOOD","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"This is a large, ornate weatherboard church. It consists of three flush gables, the central one taller and wider, facing Railway Street. In plan it is a simple broad rectangle. Small gabled porches project at the front, and each side. At the rear, a skillion-roofed central section adjoins with gabled landings.
The church is set on timber stumps, about 1 metre high, with battening between.
Roofs are of corrugated iron, with front and porch gables surmounted by a cross and decorated with triangular timber fretwork panels on curved metal brackets. Three square, capped, ventilators line the ridge of the main gable. Three small steep louvred and gauzed gables ventilate the outside roof slopes. Windows are lancet shaped. Seven, of multiple openings, are aligned along each side; others symmetrically arranged at front, and at the rear. They are operated internally.
Rear stairs to the western side porch have been removed for the installation of a ramp. A detached timber-framed toilet block is under construction, close to the rear western corner. The rear landing is tilted on its stumps and closed to access.
A timber, cross-framed belfry with a shallow pyramidal corrugated iron roof, and bell in place, stands apart, to the rear of the church.
The church is set back some 50 metres from the street with a triangular grassed forecourt, hedged in part, with tall dense native shrubs. A flame tree (Brachychiton spp) and a fire-wheel tree (Stenocarpus spp) have been planted on the central axis of the church and forecourt.
Internally, a main high pointed vault is flanked by smaller similar vaults each side. A central aisle and smaller side aisles lead to a highly decorated chancel and side chapels. These spaces are divided by timber posts, chamfered. Between the posts, curved, chamfered timber members meet to form a line of pointed arches, above which extends a frieze of white-painted, moulded timber uprights.
Above the frieze are panels of pressed metal linking into the pressed metal vaulted ceilings, all highly decorative and painted in shades of blue.
The floor is of 4 inch [100mm] boards of crows ash, carpeted in the chancel, along the aisles and path linking side porches.
Walls are lined in 4 inch [100mm] tongue and groove boarding, with lower and upper panels vertical, and a central section in diagonal boarding. The rear chancel wall is flat-sheeted, with large stained-glass windows, high under each vault. The central window depicts St Brigid, the left St Agnew and the other St Philomena. The central window is surrounded by an emblematic painting of foliage, grapes and wheat. Either side of the altar, this wall is painted with angels in shades of blue.
The altar and altar rail are pointed to resemble marble. Doors, either side lead into the flower rooms and sacristy. The central, closed, rear landing is used to store cleaning equipment.
At the opposite end of the church, above the entry, a gallery is supported on smaller intermediate posts. To the underside, a pressed metal ceiling, similarly elaborately painted, is of a different pattern from the vaulted ceilings. The gallery is approached by a timber stair, its balustrade crossing a window space. The gallery floor is raked, of 6 inch [150mm] boarding.
A confessional, flat-sheeted, stands in one corner to the right of the ground floor entrance.
The church, a large and striking form, set in flat extensive grounds, exhibits a highly ornate and interesting interior.
","history":"This large elaborate wooden church was built in 1909-1910 and replaced an earlier, smaller St Brigid's Church, also of timber. It was designed by Reverend A Horan of the Ipswich parish who also donated the cost of the foundations. It was built on the day-labour system under the supervision of builder and contractor, RJ Murphy. A substantial amount of the labour was gratuitously performed by local residents.
Initially, Mass in the Rosewood district was celebrated in settlers' homes, and after 1875 in a room at The Rising Sun Hotel. This practice continued until the first St Brigid's Church was built in 1885. The locality was a prosperous one, with sugar, timber and dairying supporting the predominantly Irish and German population. The foundations of the second church were blessed on 13 December 1908 and the building, which could accommodate a congregation of 1000, was opened for Divine Services on 13 February 1910 by Bishop Duhig. Rosewood was the first country place in which, as a priest, Bishop Duhig had celebrated Mass.
St Brigid's Church remained part of the Ipswich parish until the appointment of Father Timothy Kelleher as Rosewood parish priest in 1915.
The interior of the northern wall was improved for the 1935 Jubilee Celebrations. Three stained glass windows by RS Exton & Co of Brisbane, and flanking murals on fibre supports by the important Queensland artist, William Bustard, were added. A scroll on the diagonal boards of the lower central section of this wall was probably painted about this time. After 1951 this part of the wall, including the top lancet-shaped sections of the vestry doors, was sheeted. It was painted with a new mural, using a photographic re-assisted technique. The scrolls on the lower sections of the side chapels were probably painted about this time. An early altar table used to celebrate Mass in settlers' homes has been brought into the church.
The altar rail gates, one of the confessionals and the organ have been removed. The rib and pan roof was replaced after 1973 and the earlier dark weatherboards are now painted a light colour. Plantings on the main southern elevation and the bitumen roads either side of the church are recent.
The place has been identified in the 1997 Expanded Ipswich Heritage Study as a place of cultural heritage significance to the community.
","criteria":"St Brigid's Church, Rosewood, erected 1909-10, is significant historically for its close association with the development of the Rosewood district in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and with the expansion of the Catholic Church in Queensland.
|The place is significant for the rare ecclesiastical mural by important Queensland artist, William Bustard.
|It is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a large, substantially intact timber country church built in the early 20th century.
|The place has considerable aesthetic appeal, generated by the form, materials, decorative qualities [especially the gable decoration and pressed metal ceilings] and artworks, including stained glass windows and painted wall murals.
The place is significant for the rare ecclesiastical mural by important Queensland artist, William Bustard.
|The place is valued by the local community as part of Rosewood's heritage.
","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":15874,"place_ref":601101,"name":"Rosewood Police Complex","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"1 John Street","suburb":"ROSEWOOD","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1994-06-06","description":"The Rosewood Police Complex, located in the centre of Rosewood on the northern corner of Railway and John Streets, consists of a former court house and a police residence either side of a recently constructed police station. The complex forms a significant element within the streetscape of John Street, characterised by predominantly timber buildings.
The former court house is a single-storeyed timber building with a half-gable and hipped corrugated iron roof and concrete stumps. The building has a T-shaped plan with the court room, facing John Street to the southwest, surrounded on three sides by verandahs, and offices to the northeast.
The building has weatherboard cladding to the exposed northeast end, and single-skin exposed framing to the verandah walls. The northwest verandah has been enclosed with hardboard sheeting and louvred windows. Verandahs have a timber rail balustrade, timber posts and curved valance, with french doors and sash windows opening from the court room. The northeast end has sash windows with timber batten and corrugated iron hoods.
Internally, the building contains early court room furniture including a timber witness stand and Judge's bench. The building has boarded ceilings and vertical timber boarding to walls.
The police residence, located on the corner of Railway and John Streets, is a single-storeyed weatherboard building with a half-gable and hipped corrugated iron roof. The building has a verandah on the southern side enclosed with weatherboard and louvres, and a verandah on the northeast, which is a later addition, enclosed with weatherboard and casement windows. An enclosed verandah room is also located on the western side.
Internally, the building has vertically joined boarding to walls and boarded ceilings. Doors have fanlights and windows are mostly timber sashes.
The police station, a recent single-storeyed masonry structure, is located between the former court house and the police residence fronting John Street to the southwest.
","history":"The Rosewood Police Complex includes the former court house building and the police residence, both of which were completed in 1908.
Records indicate that a Police Station was established in Rosewood by the late 1870s. Until the early 1890s, Court at Rosewood was held in the single constable's room of the police barracks on the site of the present Police Residence at the corner of John Street and Walloon Road (renamed Railway Street). A detached Court Room was erected in 1892 on the adjacent site, fronting Walloon Road. By the turn of the century, court facilities were again inadequate and tenders for additions to the Court House were called in 1902.
In 1905, a report described the condition of the police buildings as being in very bad repair, and concluded that "...Rosewood being a town of considerable importance, ...the wisest course would be to erect new Police Station Buildings."
The local community opinion appears to have been divided over the site of the new buildings, between another site, possibly the School Reserve which would enable the existing site to be sold for business premises; and retention of the existing site. Eventually, it was decided that the existing site was the most central and therefore the most suitable, and a new court house with offices for magistrate and constable, and a new police station (used as the police residence), double-cell buildings and stable were erected by C Risdale in 1908 for approximately £800. The old court house and police buildings were sold and removed from the site.
The Court House
Following erection of the new Court House, the Police occupied the two offices at the rear of the building. This arrangement appears to have existed until 1916, when a Clerk of Petty Sessions (CPS) was appointed to Rosewood, after which the Police and the CPS occupied one office each. During the late 1940s, the Court House was also used as additional sleeping accommodation for Constables attached to the Police Station.
By the late 1960s, the facilities provided for the police in the court house were inadequate, limited to one office with no public counter and limited storage space. The northern verandah of the court house was enclosed in 1977 to provide additional office space for the police. By 1986, there was again insufficient space to accommodate the police, and a new police station was completed in 1987. During construction of the new building, the existing cell block and other outbuildings were removed, the cell block being relocated to the Rosewood BMX ground as a club canteen.
The Rosewood court house was closed in 1991.
The Police Residence
A verandah was added to the eastern side of the Police Residence in 1923, and enclosed in 1939. An additional residence was completed in 1985 on adjoining land, with frontage to Railway Street.
","criteria":"The Rosewood Police Complex survives as evidence of the development of Rosewood as a centre for the surrounding district during the early 20th century.
|The former court house is a good example of an architectural type developed by the Public Works department.
|Through the use of materials, architectural forms and scale, the complex is a significant element within the Rosewood townscape.
|The site, associated with the police from the 1870s and buildings dating from 1908, maintains a strong association with the Rosewood 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":16289,"place_ref":601526,"name":"North Ipswich Railway Workshops Complex","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"North Street","suburb":"NORTH IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1997-04-21","description":"The North Ipswich Railway Workshops Complex occupies a large site on the northeast bank of the Bremer River in North Ipswich, approximately 1.5km north of the Ipswich central business district (CBD). Its main entrance is from North Street at the east. At the western end of the complex, the heritage boundary runs to the northeast and the south to meet the Bremer River at either end, reflecting the 1863 alignment of the former Mihi railway line.
\nThe complex comprises an extensive collection of workshop, warehouse, technical facility, administration and workers’ amenity buildings, as well as a water tower, railway sidings, and landscaped outdoor areas. Generally, the workshop buildings are located at the western side of the site and flank a central east-west axis, which is shaped by the strong linear alignment of a Traverser. The main entrance, water tower, administration, amenity and technical facility buildings are generally at the east side of the site; and a large railway yard is located at the south end of the complex.
\nThe main entrance to the complex is marked by a Timekeepers’ Office (accessed from North Street), and opens into a large, open and partly-landscaped square, which features the Ipswich Railway Workshops War Memorial (QHR 600605), dedicated to the enlisted workers of the railway workshops. Various other open spaces within the site provide a setting for and views to and from significant buildings, and facilitate the understanding of the historical functional relationships between buildings.
\nFeatures of North Ipswich Railway Workshops Complex of state-level cultural heritage significance include:[i]
\nMihi Line Alignment (1863)
\nThe heritage boundary running along the western side of the site reflects the 1863 alignment of the Mihi Line (the original line from Ipswich to Grandchester). Northwest of the complex, this alignment connects to the location of a former rail bridge (located within Mihi Creek Complex, QHR 645610) via a Sandstone Railway Culvert (QHR 602562), and to the south, it curves past the Riverlink Shopping Centre to meet the Bremer River Rail Bridge (QHR 602568). While the railway tracks have been removed, the alignment at the south connects with the current rail corridor.
\nFeatures of the Mihi Line Alignment also of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nFeatures of the Mihi Line Alignment not of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\n1880s Buildings:
\nThe 1880s Buildings comprise five propose-built railway workshops. The buildings are arranged in a parallel alignment to the north of the Traverser axis and west of the Blacksmith Shop, and include:
\nThe five 1880s Buildings share a similar scale, form, material treatment and ornamental detail. They are all single storey, long and narrow structures with short sides (gable ends) that face south/north and are separated by laneways. Constructed of simple and robust materials, the buildings are articulated and detailed in a style typical of the late Victorian era, with a bold use of brickwork in projecting plinths, pilasters, corbels, dentil courses and string courses.
\nThe large main entrance doorways to the gable ends are generally round arch openings, symmetrically placed in the elevation and often flanking a smaller central window. These large openings enable the movement and transportation of rolling stock, materials and machinery into the buildings, via railway tracks leading from the Traverser axis and/or other buildings (some tracks have later been removed or concreted over). To the long elevations, window and door openings generally have arched headers. Door and window dressings are a combination of Helidon freestone, bricks or cement render, and feature a restrained use of coloured brick or stone voussoirs and keystones, raking arches and moulded projections.
\nA range of early machinery associated with the functioning of the workshops is retained within the buildings.
\nFeatures of the 1880s Buildings also of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nFeatures of the 1880s Buildings not of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\n1903-04 Buildings and Structures:
\nThe ten 1903-1904 buildings and structures accommodate railway workshops, storage, power generation, and water storage and supply. The workshop and storage buildings are generally dispersed along the Traverser, with the power generation and water storage and structures concentrated in the northwest corner of the complex. The Pump House stands on the bank of the Bremer River at the west of the complex. These buildings and structures include:
\nWater Tower (1904)[ii]
\nThe water tower is a rendered masonry tower with a metal water tank at its top, located at the highest point at the north end of the site. The water tower is a prominent feature of the complex and is visible from North and WM Hughes streets as well as from the complex’s yards and Traverser.
\nFeatures of the Water Tower also of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nFeatures of the Water Tower not of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nPump House (1903)
\nThe Pump House is located on the east bank of the Bremer River, west of the fenced railway workshops complex site. It comprises a metal (cast iron)-framed structure that protects a pump (now decommissioned) used to reticulate water up to the Water Tower at the highest point of the site.
\nFeatures of the Pump House also of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nPower House (1903)[iii]
\nThe Power House is a large, purpose-built, single storey building with two prominent towers located on the rise of a hill at the northern end of the complex. The building and its two towers are visible from around the workshop's yards and traverser as well as from North and WM Hughes streets. From its raised position, the Power House also has views over the workshops, and to, from and between the Traverser.
\nFeatures of the Power House also of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nFeatures of the Power House not of state level cultural heritage significance include:
\nBogie and Brake Shop (1904), Blacksmith Shop (1903, extended 1922 and by 1946), Supply Warehouse (1904, extended 1914 and 1925), and Maintenance Carpenter’s Shop (1903, extended 1927)
\nThe Bogie and Brake Shop, Blacksmith Shop, Supply Warehouse and Maintenance Carpenter’s Shop are four purpose-built workshop and warehouse buildings of similar design, located along the north side of the Traverser.
\nFeatures of the Bogie and Brake Shop, Blacksmith Shop, Supply Warehouse, and Maintenance Carpenter’s Shop also of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nFeatures of the Bogie and Brake Shop, Blacksmith Shop, Supply Warehouse and Maintenance Carpenter’s Shop not of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nBoiler Shop (1903, extended 1918, 1936 and 1944), Erecting and Machine Shop (1903, extended 1928 and 1938), and Carriage and Wagon Shop (1903)
\nThe Boiler Shop[iv], Erecting and Machine Shop and Carriage and Wagon Shop are three purpose-built workshop buildings of similar design, located along the south side of the Traverser. The workshops front the Traverser to the north, with laneways between, and railway tracks access the buildings from the southern rail yards.
\nFeatures of the Boiler Shop, Erecting and Machine Shop, and Carriage and Wagon Shop also of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nFeatures of the Boiler Shop, Erecting and Machine Shop, and Carriage and Wagon Shop not of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\n1906-12 Buildings:
\nThe 1906-12 Buildings comprise timber and metal-framed, lightweight structures of varying styles, functions and details. They include:
\nThe Timekeepers’ Office is a distinctive, two-storey building that is located at the eastern end of the site (fronting North Street). Marking the front entrance to the workshops complex and formerly used as the official employee entry / exit point to clock in and out of work, the ground floor’s long (east and west) elevations feature wide doors connected to internal thoroughfares (interior partitions defining thoroughfares have been removed; locations identifiable by nibs in walls). The thoroughfares ran through the building and led to a large square to its western side. Its first floor features offices, with a verandah along its west side overlooking the workshops and square.
\nAt the north end of the square is the highset, single-storey, timber-framed Dining Hall. The building comprises a large central dining room (partitioned off at its eastern side for offices and classrooms (1935)), with a projecting meeting room (former kitchen) to the west and offices (former dining room) to the east, and a kitchen, retail shop and toilets (former rear verandah, now enclosed) to the north. It has a verandah wrapping its front (south) elevation, which forms the main entrance into the dining room. To the understorey of the building are bicycle racks that were formerly used by the workshops employees, separated into bays for employees of different trade shops.
\nThe Loco Store stands within the railway yards at the south end of the complex. It is a long and narrow, timber and metal-framed building, constructed in two stages – with its southern section featuring materials (including the roof trusses and roof lantern) recycled from earlier workshops buildings. It comprises a singular internal space.
\nThe Paint Shop and Fibreglass Shed are located at the western edge of the complex. The Paint Shop is aligned along the south side of the Traverser, adjacent the Carriage and Wagon Shop, and the Fibreglass Shed is northwest of the 1880s Buildings. These two buildings are constructed of simple and robust materials, and comprise singular internal spaces for use as workshops.
\nFeatures of the 1906-1912 Buildings also of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nTimekeepers’ Office (1911)
\nDining Hall (1912, extended 1935)
\nLoco Store (1906, extended 1909)
\nFibreglass Shed (1911)
\nPaint Shop (1912)
\nFeatures of the 1906-1912 Buildings not of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\n1930s-40s Buildings
\nThe 1930s-40s Buildings comprise two face brick structures, immediately fronting North Street at the eastern edge of the complex, and a timber-framed structure within the railway yards at the south end of the complex. These structures include:
\nFeatures of the 1930s-40s Buildings also of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nTool and Gauge Shop (1941)[v]
\nLaboratory (1939 & 1941)
\nLighting Up Shed (c1940)
\nFeatures of the 1930s-40s Buildings not of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nTraverser (1982) and Traverser Track (1903), including views along ‘Streetscape’
\nThe Traverser forms a strong east-west axis through the centre of the complex: from the Boiler Shop at the east, to the boundary fence at the west. It comprises a platform (the Traverser, 1982) that runs horizontally along metal railway tracks (1903), and facilitates the efficient movement and distribution of rolling stock and materials to, from and between workshop buildings.
\nThe Traverser axis provides a visual and physical connection between most of the 1880s and 1903-04 workshops, and forms a manufactured streetscape of robust industrial buildings. Buildings along this streetscape share a cohesive and consistent scale (tall single-storey buildings), material treatment (face brick walls, corrugated roofs, render and stone quoins, and timber doors) and ornamental detail (arched doors; polychromatic brick dentils and courses). The streetscape enables east-west views from one side of the workshops complex to the other, as well as views to, from and between the workshops, which contributes to an understanding of the historical functioning of the complex as a whole. The Traverser streetscape is a distinctive feature of the workshops, demonstrating functional and visual relationships within the site.
\nFeatures of the Traverser and Traverser Track also of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nFeatures of the Traverser and Traverser Track not of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nRailway Sidings and Alignments
\nVarious railway tracks and sidings are retained throughout the site, running between, through and across workshop buildings; through the southern yard; and through the north end of the site. The yard at the southern end of the site features an extensive network of railway tracks that fan out toward the workshops at the north from the corridor of the Main Line at the south. Remnants of sidings remain at the northwest end of the site, indicating a network of railway tracks that fanned out from the northwest toward the workshop buildings to the south.
\nFeatures of the Railway Sidings also of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nLandscape and Setting
\nThroughout the complex, there is a range of landscape features, such as mature trees, gardens, open spaces, footpath alignments and embankments that contribute to the setting of the place and planning geometry of the site, and / or were planted as a part of the social projects to beautify the workshops.
\nFeatures of the Landscape and Setting also of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nFeatures of the Landscape and Setting not of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nFeatures not of state-level cultural heritage significance
\nFeatures of North Ipswich Railway Workshops Complex not of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\n\n
\n
___________________________________________________________________
\n
[i] Reference numbers refer to a composite building labelling system derived from Buchannan Architect’s 1996 Conservation Management Plan ([R] labels), and Queensland Rail ([IS] labels). Most buildings are painted with their applicable reference number.
[ii] The interior of the Water Tower was not inspected in 2020.
[iii] The interior of the Power House was not inspected in 2020.
[iv] The interior of the Boiler Shop was not inspected in 2020.
[v] The interior of the Tool and Gauge Shop was not inspected in 2020.
The North Ipswich Railway Workshops Complex, established in 1864 and moved to this site from 1885, was Queensland’s premier railway maintenance facility. Constructed in two main stages, the workshops provided a comprehensive, large-scale facility for constructing, assembling and repairing rolling stock to supply the railway network across Queensland. Six large brick workshop buildings (one later demolished) were constructed in the 1880s, followed in the 1900s by seven additional large workshop buildings designed around a Traverser; a Power House and water facilities to supply electricity to the complex; and a network of railway lines connecting the workshops. Additional buildings, including administrative and staff facilities (Timekeepers’ Office, and Dining Hall) were built in the 1910s, and technological facilities (Tool and Gauge Shop, and Laboratory) during World War II. The workshops, one of the largest employers in Ipswich and one of the largest industrial undertakings in Queensland, operated on the site until the 1960s, when its functions were gradually transferred to new railway workshops at Redbank. The North Ipswich Railway Workshops Complex continues to function with a small number of staff, and a railway museum opened in the complex in 2002. The complex also includes a section of the alignment of Queensland’s first railway, the Mihi Line, surveyed in 1863.
\nEstablishment of the workshops
\nIn the Australian colonies, governments fostered the development of railways as a means of developing the country and encouraging settlement. Queensland’s first railway survey was undertaken by the New South Wales Government in 1856, and following separation, Queensland Parliament passed the Railway Act in 1863, enabling railways to be constructed in the colony. The railway network developed along decentralised lines extending from ports to pastoral and mining centres.[1]
\nThe construction of Queensland’s first railway line started in early 1864. Unusually, the line did not start from the capital: the colony’s most urgent need was to improve transport to the productive Darling Downs region, while transport between Brisbane and Ipswich could be serviced by river.[2] The first section of line, running from Ipswich 34km west to Bigge’s Camp (later Grandchester, QHR600729), was opened in July 1865, gradually extending to the Darling Downs and further west. This was the first stage of the four-stage Southern and Western Railway project which linked Ipswich to Toowoomba in 1867, Warwick in 1871, and Dalby in 1878. The link between Ipswich and Brisbane was completed in 1875.
\nAn essential feature of the railway network was a workshop where the Queensland Railway Department could assemble and maintain its rolling stock. Queensland’s first workshops were built in North Ipswich, about 1km south of the present site (Lot 382 SP275337 in 2021). The site, situated on the northern banks of the Bremer River opposite the Ipswich town centre, was chosen for its proximity to shipping facilities and the railway terminus.[3] From 1864, an array of general purpose of workshop buildings were constructed,[4] including two pre-fabricated ‘erecting shops’ shipped from England.[5]
\nInitially the workshops undertook assembly and maintenance work only, as locomotives were imported pre-fabricated from Britain. In 1865, however, the workshops began building rolling stock in-house, commencing with an engine truck and progressing to ten wagons in 1866. In 1877, the workshop staff constructed its first locomotive, an A10 class constructed mainly from existing spare parts. The workshops also maintained a fleet of vehicles, some of which experienced significant wear on the Main Range line; assembled locomotives, which were still imported into Queensland; and built castings and fittings for the Brisbane railway extension.[6]
\nAdditional railway workshops were opened at Rockhampton, Mackay, Cairns and Townsville, serving the central and northern divisions of Queensland’s divided railway system. Supplementary workshops for the southern division were opened at Toowoomba, but the North Ipswich workshops was the only one which built new locomotives.[7] The workshops became one the largest employers in Ipswich, with skilled workers arriving from England and southern colonies.[8] Between 200 and 400 men were employed at the workshops in the 1870s and early 1880s.
\nMihi Line Alignment (1863)
\nThe workshops were reached via a section of railway line known as the ‘Mihi Line’. This line – the first section of the Ipswich to Bigge’s Camp railway – was Queensland’s first section of railway, surveyed in 1863 and built in 1864. The line followed the north bank of the Bremer River, passing through the workshop site and crossing three iron bridges at Wide Gully, the Mihi Creek junction and Iron Pot Gully, before extending southwest to Wulkuraka. A bridge was constructed across the Bremer River to connect the line to the terminus at Ipswich. The first test locomotive (Faugh-a-Ballagh) was run along the Mihi Line, between the workshops and Wide Gully, in January 1865.[9] The line was officially opened in July 1865.
\nAfter flooding and embankment collapses, a section of the Mihi Line near Mihi Creek (1 mile 5 ½ chains from Ipswich) was realigned in 1868.[10] The Mihi Line was bypassed in 1875 in favour of a shorter route between Ipswich and Wulkuraka across Sadlier’s Crossing,[11] but a small section of the Mihi Line was left operational for the workshops and surrounding coal mines.[12]
\n1880s buildings
\nBy the 1880s, the North Ipswich Railway Workshops had reached capacity. Its buildings were cramped and unable to produce sufficient rolling stock to equip the new railway lines opening across the colony.[13] From 1879, private manufacturing firms were engaged to construct locomotives and other rolling stock,[14] but these were also inadequate for the growing volume of work. In January 1884, funding was set aside for new railway workshops at North Ipswich.[15] The original site was unable to expand further, so additional land was obtained directly north of the railway workshops.[16] The new site, a large flat area between the Bremer River and the main road to the Ipswich waterworks (later North Street), was accessed from the old workshops via a recommissioned section of the Mihi Line, with branch lines constructed into the buildings.[17]
\nSix new workshops buildings were constructed on the new site between 1884 and 1889: the Carriage Erection Shop (later Trimmers’ and Electroplating Shop); Wagon Shop (later Wheel Shop); Paint Shop (later K-Mill) and Machine Shop (later Tarpaulin Shop); Fitting Shop (also used as a Wagon Shop; not extant)[18]; and the Blacksmith or Smithy (later Spring Shop). Most of these were arranged in a formal east-west row, with parallel buildings aligned north-south, establishing the basic layout of the workshops.
\nThe six buildings, designed by staff within the Queensland Railway Department under the direction of Chief Engineer Henry Stanley, were both functional and attractive. Though simple and robust industrial buildings – each building comprising a large open space in which relevant machinery was installed[19] – they were carefully articulated and detailed with contrasting coloured brickwork, giving them a ‘very attractive appearance’.[20] The buildings applied similar form and materials to create a cohesive but imposing ‘colony’ on the site.[21] The impressive scale and design drew public attention, with journalists and officials visiting the workshops.[22] The two sets of purpose-built large beech timber doors of the Carriage Erection Shop (6ft 9in x 10ft 6in) were displayed at the Brisbane Exhibition in 1885, a month before they were installed at both ends of the building. [23]
\nCarriage builders, fitters, blacksmiths and carpenters were transferred to the new workshops as the buildings were completed. The 102 acre workshop site was formally gazetted in 1892.[24]
\n1903-4 buildings
\nTwelve buildings had been planned for the 1880s expansion,[25] but financial restrictions, political considerations and flooding postponed further construction.[26] Workshop functions over the next decade were undertaken at the old and new buildings, though this situation was less than ideal. The rail connection between the two workshops was cut by floods on multiple occasions, and the 1880s buildings were ‘never properly used’.[27] Engines were left in the yards awaiting repair for long periods of time,[28] and boiler repairs were undertaken in the open air as there was insufficient room undercover.[29] As Queensland’s railway system expanded further through the 1890s, the North Ipswich workshops again became inadequate to carry out the necessary volume of work.[30] Plans were prepared for a new set of workshops to be built alongside the 1880s buildings.
\nIn 1898, two boilers which had been repaired in the North Ipswich workshops exploded at Roma Street station. A Court of Inquiry was held and recommended that the workshops should be ‘enlarged, extended and equipped with most modern tools and appliances.’[31] As plans had already been prepared and funding set aside, a contractor began work on the new buildings in March 1899. At the same time, a new Chief Mechanical Engineer, William Nisbet, was appointed and began a tour of inspection of workshops in America. On his arrival in Queensland in August, he redesigned the layout of the building and site plans.[32]
\nConstruction recommenced in September 1899. Eight new workshop buildings were constructed over the following four years: a Boiler Shop; Erecting and Machine Shop; Carriage and Wagon Shop; Power House (1903); Blacksmith or Smithy (1903); Pattern Shop (1904); Foundry (1904); and Stores (1903, later Supply Warehouse); as well as a cast-iron Pump House (1903) and Water Tower (1904), both associated with the Power House. Timber sheds were also constructed for the woodwork section, but are no longer extant.[33]
\nThe buildings in the complex were again designed within the Queensland Railway Department. The department employed a number of well-regarded engineers, draftsmen and architects in the late 19th and early 20th century. Those who signed plans for the North Ipswich Railway Workshop Complex buildings included: Henrick Hansen (also responsible for the design of station buildings at Emerald (QHR 600490), Mount Morgan (QHR 600752), Archer Park in Rockhampton (QHR 600777) and Longreach (QHR 601970)); Vincent Price (who also designed the railway stations at the Townsville Railway Station and North Yards Railway Workshops (QHR 600906), Gympie Railway Station (QHR 602036) and Cairns Railway (QHR 600755)); Henry Stanley (Chief Engineer of Railways 1872-1901, and responsible for the design of railway bridges including the Burdekin River Bridge (QHR 600442) and Albert Bridge (QHR 600232)); William Pagan (Chief Engineer 1902-1911, and responsible for the design of railway bridges on the Mungar to Monto line, the Toowoomba to Helidon line, and Swansons Rail Bridge (QHR 600871));[34] and Francis Jones (who later designed the Isis District War Memorial and Shire Council Chambers (QHR 601507)).[35]
\nThe new buildings revealed the range of activities that were performed at the workshops. Boilers were repaired and manufactured in the Boiler Shop. Rough castings, fittings and forgings were machined in the Machine Shop, and locomotives were built or overhauled in the Erecting Shop (dismantled, parts replaced, new boilers fitted and reassembled). New wagons and passenger cars were built in the Carriage and Wagon Shop, and old ones were repaired. The Pattern Shop created and stored timber patterns, which were used to produce castings. The Foundry cast the moulds from scrap metal fed into a furnace. It featured separate iron, brass, copper and tinsmith sections, multiple cranes and moulding beds.[36] Materials were kept in the Stores, ‘from the proverbial needle to beyond, even the proverbial anchor.’[37]
\nThe 1880s buildings were converted for new purposes: the Carriage Erection Shop became a Trimmers’ shop (for manufacturing upholstery for carriage fittings) and later also performed electroplating; the Paint Shop, which had been used as a sawmill since its completion, became the K-mill; the Wagon Shop became a Wheel Shop (preparing new wheel-sets and axles, and repairing old ones); the Erecting and Machine Shop held woodworking machinery, linked to the K-mill by a new corrugated iron structure; and the old smithy, after a brief stint as a training centre, became a Spring Shop, manufacturing and repairing laminated and spiral springs.[38]
\nThe layout of the new buildings followed the ‘distinctive planning geometry’ adopted in late 19th century railway workshops around Australia (including Sydney and Launceston) and the world (including Crewe and Swindon in England).[39] The plan centred on rows of workshop buildings, accessed by parallel railway tracks and a traverser (a transverse distribution track which carried locomotives and equipment between the workshop buildings).[40] Ipswich’s buildings were positioned in two rows, aligned with the 1880s buildings; the rows were separated by an east-west aligned Traverser Track. The buildings were grouped by function: those associated with assembly, repair and maintenance (the Boiler Shop, Machine and Erecting Shop, and Carriage and Wagon Shop) were positioned south of the track; those involved with supply, manufacture and storage of components (the Smithy, Store, Foundry, Forge, and Pattern Shop, as well as the timber mills and sheds) were laid north of the track, adjacent to the 1880s buildings.[41] Ancillary buildings were positioned to the northeast ‘overseeing’ the workshops.[42]
\nThe layout aimed to maximise the efficient transport of material across the site. As the shops each operated separately by task, they were positioned so that components could be passed easily from one building to another, from manufacture (the Pattern Shop, Blacksmith and Foundry; the Stores, timber storage and sawmills), then across the Traverser for assembly (in the Boiler Shop, Erecting and Machine Shop, and Carriage and Wagon Shop). An array of rails was laid from the Mihi Line to the southern end of the Boiler Shop (which had 2 bays or ‘roads’ running through the shop), Erecting and Machine Shop (13 bays[43]), and Carriage and Wagon Shop (14 bays). Rolling stock that required repairs and maintenance, was railed along the Mihi Line to the bays at the southern ends of the Erecting and Machine Shop or Carriage and Wagon Shop. Obsolete machinery, or that awaiting service, could be parked in this southern yard. A further fan of lines ran from the Mihi Line to the northern end of the Blacksmith, Foundry, Forge and Pattern Shop. A coal line ran to the Power House.[44]
\nThe use of electricity to power the machinery was a major feature of the modernisation. Ipswich lacked an electricity supply, so a Power House was an essential new building. It was positioned on the elevated ground to the northeast of the workshops. Underground cables and overhead circuits connected the workshop buildings to the Power House, and powered around 200 machines across the site. The provision of electricity also allowed the installation of improved machinery, such as travelling cranes, added to most of the buildings to carry heavy equipment. Details of its functions were published in contemporary electrical journals in London and New York.[45]
\nIn order to provide a water supply, a cast-iron Pump House was constructed on the banks of the Bremer River, and a 50,000 gallon water storage tower was built on the high northeast ground near the Power House. Water was pumped from the Bremer River by machinery in the Pump House, into the Water Tower for storage, and distributed to the Power House.[46]
\nThe construction site became a popular outing. Visitors included the new ‘Federal Premier’ EJ Barton, who ‘manifested the keenest interest in this growing branch of the Railway Department’.[47] Contemporary visitors commented on the visual appeal of the facility. Like the 1880s buildings, all of the new buildings were constructed in red brick.[48] They featured saw-tooth roofs with glass on the upward angle and galvanised iron on the slopes; arched entrances and rounded windows; and restrained ornamental dressings; as a contemporary newspaper reported:
\nThere has been nothing attempted in the way of external elaboration beyond the white brick segmental arches over the whole of the windows on the side faces; the cement arches, bands, quoins, and base course on the end elevations; and the string and dental courses which relieve the walls.[49]
\nThe Foundry and Blacksmith Shop also featured restrained use of coloured brickwork. The buildings lined the sides of the traverser track, which provided ‘an avenue as wide as an ordinary street’,[50] giving the workshops a village-like appearance. Contemporary reports emphasised the use of ‘nothing but the best workmanship and material… as it is apparently the desire that nothing faulty or inferior shall find a place on the ground.’[51]
\nThe size of the shops – particularly those south of the Traverser, which were up to 300ft (91.44m) square – also impressed visitors.[52] Buildings such as the Blacksmith Shop and the Foundry were about three times bigger than their predecessors. Photographs of the new workshop buildings were featured in newspapers in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.[53]
\nStaff were transferred to the new buildings from February 1903, and an official opening ceremony was held in July 1903, when the Power House was switched on.[54] The final employees to leave the old workshops – the moulders – were transferred to their new premises in June 1904.[55] The entire workshop yard was also fenced with an 8ft (2.44m) high galvanised iron fence.[56] The building programme had cost £450,000.[57]
\nThe old buildings on the original workshop site were demolished,[58] except for the 1879 Railway Store Building (later the Railway Historical Centre, QHR 600604), which was put to use as a tarpaulin shop.
\n1906 – World War I
\nOn completion of the building programme, the workshops were considered ‘extensive enough to build all the engines required for Australia, and most of the rolling stock too’.[59] While not the largest in the country, the Ipswich workshops had experienced the most comprehensive overhaul of the Australian railway workshops. The Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Adelaide workshops, visiting in 1905, declared the workshops ‘excellently built, planned and equipped’, with the electric plant and tools ‘of the most modern type’.[60] The Chief Mechanical Engineer, however, had predicted that extensions would be necessary within ten years of the workshops’ completion.[61] By December 1907 ‘… the premises, large though they were thought to be six or seven years ago, are in a rather congested state in some departments’.[62]
\nRequirements for additional buildings, largely for ancillary or administrative functions, were considered from 1904. Post 1903-4 buildings were constructed on a less expensive scale than the earlier buildings. A Spray Paint Shop (later Loco (Locomotive) Store), erected in 1906 and extended in 1909 to include a brake shop, was built using material from the old workshop buildings.[63] A new Paint Shop was constructed west of the Carriage and Wagon Shop in 1912; the large building was built in galvanised iron sheeting on timber posts, supported by bed logs.[64] Timber drafting and administrative offices were built in the ancillary section of the workshops (giving rise to the name ‘administrative hill’[65]), but were later demolished. A roundhouse, accommodating 50 engines, was built to the south of the workshops in 1910, but is no longer extant.[66]
\nImprovements to the 1903-4 buildings were also made. The Smithy was altered in 1908, as it was prone to overheating. The output of the woodworking section was increased with the construction of a band sawmill (also known as the Waterhouse mill, or the ‘breaking down mill’; later the Fibreglass Shop), at the northwest end of the site circa 1911.[67]
\nIn 1910, attention turned to the section of the workshops fronting North Street. A two-storey timber Timekeepers’ Office was constructed at the front gates in 1911, providing office accommodation for the timekeepers and gatekeeper, and a focal point for the entrance to the workshops.[68] A single-storey timber Dining Hall was constructed near the Timekeepers’ Office in 1912 to provide the workers with a low-cost daily lunch. Funded by the Railway Department but operated by the employees, the Dining Hall included a main dining room, kitchen, pantry, office, reading, smoking-room and wide verandahs.[69]
\nWith its new facilities operational, rolling stock production boomed at the workshops in the 1910s.[70] Over 4,500 items of rolling stock were produced in the decade, including C18 locomotives from 1913, and the first petrol-powered rail motor in 1916, to serve small country lines.[71] Between 1900 and 1910, 2,000km of new railway lines were laid across Queensland,[72] and the workshops workforce expanded fivefold between 1900 and 1912.[73]
\nDuring and immediately after World War I, events undertaken at the workshops gave it particular prominence in the public eye. About 300 of the 1600 employees were engaged in production of munitions during the war, particularly shell casings made using BHP steel.[74] The work was undertaken in a purpose-built structure, which was later removed. In April 1918, an experimental smelting of iron ore from Biggenden was carried out in the moulders’ furnaces.[75] In December 1919, the Vickers Vimy aircraft of Ross and Keith Smith broke down near Charleville after completing the first flight from England to Australia by an Australian crew. North Ipswich Railway Workshops repaired the engine and built a new propeller blade. They were proudly displayed outside the workshops before being railed to Charleville.[76]
\nInterwar and WWII expansion
\nThe workshops remained busy in the 1920s, constructing engines and locomotives and repairing rolling stock from across the state. In 1923 the workshops produced its one hundredth locomotive, a C19 class nicknamed ‘Centenary’. [77] The shops were also kept busy with demands for suburban and passenger carriages, sleeping carriages, lavatory cars, coal wagons, cattle wagons for meatworks and drought-affected sheep, fruit wagons, open wagons for carrying concentrates from Mount Isa, training cars, luggage and mail brake vans.[78] Extensions were added to the Erecting and Machine Shop, Wheel Shop, Pattern Shop, and Stores to try to keep pace with requirements, and some of the new contracts were outsourced to private enterprises.[79] By 1925, 2,047 workers were engaged at the workshops,[80] though employment numbers fluctuated as staff were put on reduced time or retrenched in quiet periods.
\nInquiries into the administration and function of the workshops were held in 1923 and 1929. The former proposed few changes, but the latter, undertaken by railway experts from Victoria, recommended extensive improvements at Ipswich, including the creation of a testing laboratory. The 1929 inquiry also criticised Queensland’s numerous but underfunded railway workshops, and recommended that railway design, research and manufacture be centralised at Ipswich.[81]
\nThe Great Depression put improvement works on hold,[82] though contracts for rolling stock continued in the 1930s. The workshops’ first diesel locomotive was built and dispatched to Etheridge in 1939. Some building extensions were made in the late 1930s, including an extension to the Boiler Shop in 1936 and a second extension to the Erecting and Machine Shop in 1938.[83]
\nBy 1937, the Railway Workshops comprised ‘the largest of all engineering works in the State’, employing 2,000 men across the 50 acre site.[84] It was also the largest and most extensive of the railway workshops in Queensland. Over the course of the 19th and 20th century railway workshops had been opened at Toowoomba, Willowburn, Rockhampton (QHR 600783), and Townsville (QHR 600906); with repair depots at Roma, Mayne, Maryborough, and Normanton; and small repair facilities at Bundaberg, Gympie, Mackay, Cairns, Emerald, Woolloongabba, Alpha, Innisfail, Wacol, Charters Towers, Cloncurry, Hughenden, Wallangarra and Warwick. These workshops and repair facilities focused on repairing and maintaining rolling stock in their local districts, and lacked the extensive facilities and manufacturing departments of North Ipswich.
\nThe testing Laboratory, recommended in 1929, was finally constructed 1939 to provide facilities for testing materials used in the workshops. Initially a single storey building of brick and concrete,[85] the Laboratory featured a central work room, a special lab, dark room and space for micro photography, an office, store and balance room.[86] It was constructed on the ‘administrative hill’ at the northeast of the workshops site, and was accessed from within the workshops via a path behind the Dining Hall.[87] The ‘attractive red brick building’ was the first brick building in the precinct.[88]
\nWhen World War II began in 1939, the workshops again became involved in wartime production. In 1941, the Commonwealth and State governments entered a joint arrangement to build a new Tool and Gauge Shop at the Railway Workshops, to supply tools for accurate mass-production at a munitions factory opened at Rocklea.[89] The Tool Shop was anticipated to catalyse a post-war mass-production industry, bringing long-term benefits to Queensland.[90] Charles Da Costa, employed by the Queensland Railway Department in the mid-20th century and designer of the Landsborough Station Public Air Raid Shelter (QHR 602709) and Charleville Railway Station (QHR 602368), prepared the designs of the Tool and Gauge Shop.[91] The shop was erected south of the Laboratory, the second brick building on administrative hill.
\nThe munitions work also necessitated the addition of a second floor to the Laboratory in 1941.[92] Two open timber-framed buildings – a Lighting-up Shed and a Wagon Repair Shed – were built in the southern yards. A timber tank stand was also built next to the Water Tower, to supplement the workshops’ water supply.[93]
\nA 30-ton casting, the largest ever made at the workshops, was produced in 1942.[94] In 1944, an x-ray plant was commissioned for the Boiler Shop to detect flaws in casting and welding.[95] In 1946, a ‘modern apparatus for determining copper content by electro-deposition on rotating platinum electrodes’ was approved for installation at the Laboratory.[96]
\nPostwar to 21st century
\nIn the immediate post-war period, Queensland was faced with ageing stock and little immediate capacity for new production. Reports began circulating in 1946 that the railway workshops would be moved from Ipswich: the workshops were again cramped, and the site, once believed to be large enough for future development, lacked room for expansion. An inquiry held in 1947 recommended that a new workshop should be built in southeast Queensland for locomotive construction and repair, as well as new workshops in the Rockhampton and Townsville areas.[97] It was also decided that future rolling stock would be steel where possible, reducing the need for large sawmills at the Workshops.[98]
\nNew railway workshops were opened in 1958 in the Ipswich suburb of Redbank, on the site of a decommissioned army camp. Although it was originally intended for steam locomotive production and repair, its construction coincided with the change to diesel electric and it became the centre for diesel locomotives.[99]
\nThe Ipswich workshops, set up to build and maintain steam-powered rolling stock, became increasingly obsolete with the conversion to diesel. The last of its 216 steam locomotives had been constructed in 1952, before diesel electric locomotives replaced steam across the railway network.[100] In 1965, the Foundry and Pattern Shops were transferred from Ipswich to Redbank, and the buildings were repurposed as the Bogie and Brake Shop, and the Maintenance Carpenters Shop, respectively.[101] Attempts were made to modernise the Ipswich Railway Workshops, with new functions introduced to the foundry, Erecting and Machine Shop and Boiler Shop. New buildings were constructed at the northern end of the North Ipswich Railway Workshops site, including training centres and plan printing buildings (not extant). The rest of the workshops focused operations on maintaining steam locomotives and wooden carriages, but by the 1990s this rolling stock had been almost completely removed from service.[102] In 1995, the relocation of remaining activity from North Ipswich to Redbank was commenced.[103]
\nBuildings on the workshops site were removed in the late 20th and early 21st century, including the roundhouse;[104] part of the Forging Shop; the Prescott sawmill at the southern end of the site; the timber tank stand; and part of the sawmill at the northern end.[105] The Traverser was replaced in 1982.[106] Most buildings added to the site after WWII were also removed in the 2010s.[107]
\nIn 2001 the Queensland Museum acquired part of the site for use as a railway museum.[108] The Railway Workshops Museum opened in the Boiler Shop, and Erecting and Machine Shop in 2002, with museum storage included in the latter building.[109] The Dining Hall was converted for patron use as a café. In 2005, other parts of the site including the northern end, a section of the southwestern corner, and the site of the former roundhouse were transferred to private ownership.[110]
\nIn 2015, the Railway Signal Cabin and semaphore signal (QHR 602464) from nearby Ellenborough Street was dismantled and removed to the Fibreglass Shed. In 2021, the Signal Cabin remains in the Fibreglass Shed.[111]
\nIn 2021, railway workshop operations continue to be carried on in some of the buildings on the workshop site, employing a small number of staff. [112] The Boiler Shop and Erecting and Machine Shop continue to function as the Workshops Museum.
\nMachinery and infrastructure
\nThe technical work carried on at the workshops required specific machinery, largely imported either from overseas or other colonies or states. The unique nature of this work required machinery not found elsewhere in Queensland. Much of the historic machinery has been retained at the Workshops, providing a source of information about railway manufacturing in the 19th and 20th centuries. This includes wood machining equipment (originally held in the sawmill building (K-Mill)); drop hammers, forges and tools (originally held at the Blacksmith Shop); smithy equipment (originally held in the Spring Shop); electrical equipment (first held in the Power House); and specialised measuring equipment (originally held in the Tool and Gauge Shop), including a steel tensile testing machine (J Brabant, 1 ton). Machinery associated with the Power House remains on site, including parts of the 1903 white marble switchboard, the fire alarm and time whistle.[113] Ceramic electrical conduits remain in place in a number of workshops, reflecting the original power supply. Travelling cranes erected in most of the workshops from 1903 remain in situ. Inspection pits and rail tracks also remain in the Carriage and Wagon Shop, and Erecting and Machine Shop.[114]
\nLandscaping
\nLandscaping features were added to beautify the ‘drab’ industrial site.[115] Formal gardens were designed in 1911 for the Power House forecourt, and two fig trees were planted in the social space between the Traverser Track, the Power House and the Dining Hall.[116] In 1939 Governor Sir Leslie Wilson addressed the employees from a dais erected beneath one of the ‘giant Moreton Bay figs’ at the workshops.[117] A pair of fig trees were also planted in the central gathering area, flanking the war memorial.[118]
\nPalm and pine trees were planted in the administrative section from the mid-1910s. Some were removed in the 1940s for the Tool and Gauge Shop, with one pine tree reported to be replanted elsewhere on the site.[119]
\nWorkers were also encouraged to beautify the site with gardens, tended to during lunch breaks and awarded at an occasional garden competition. Features included a fish pond, flower beds, vegetables, avocado and mango trees; a bowling green.[120] Though some of these were later removed, visible remnants remain throughout the site.
\nSocial
\nOver the course of its operation, the workshops employed on average more than 1,500 people at a time, reaching up to 3,000 just after WWII.[121] As one of the largest places of employment in Ipswich, the workshops had a continuing and major impact on the lifestyles of thousands of families who resided in the city. The workshops provided direct employment to generations of families, indirect employment to shopkeepers and other local businesses, and supported the growth of industrial firms in the district.[122] Workshop employees also took part in social, cultural and other institutions of the town; in 1902, for example, the supervisor of the electrical machinery at the workshop Power House began conducting classes at the Ipswich Technical College, which included guided tours of the workshops.[123] The workshops formed such a fundamental aspect of Ipswich that in 1946, when they were proposed for removal to Wacol, the President of the Ipswich Chamber of Commerce declared, ‘We might as well pack our bags and get out.’[124]
\nThe workshops also created its own community with its own culture, particularly after its unification on a single site in 1903-4.[125] Sports teams, a band and choir formed within the workshops, performing at lunch breaks, weekends, and even at national competitions. Social welfare groups, including ambulance and fire brigades, were created. Volunteer committees ran the dining hall lunch service and lunchtime entertainments at and near the traverser track, drawing a broad range of speakers and performers from politicians to religious leaders to singer Harold Blair. Political meetings, industrial action and strikes were held outside the Timekeepers’ Office. Friendly rivalries between the different workshops were demonstrated through sporting fixtures and garden competitions. During WWI, the workforce raised funds for the onsite War Memorial (QHR 600605), and raised almost £14,000 for war savings certificates during WWII.[126] A dinner was held in 1928 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the new workshops.[127]
\nWorkshop employees expressed their sense of pride in their work and identity in the workshops.[128] In 1904, a visitor to the recently-completed workshops reported:
\n‘“They are the finest shops south of the Equator” we were informed by our guide, in quite the approved ‘Murcan fashion, and certainly after the shops had been inspected we did not feel inclined to dispute the assertion.’[129]
\nEmployees had affiliations with their particular work department, and remnants in each building reflect those associations, such as old timber lockers with messages and chalked notices within the Bogie and Brake Shop. Workshop employees also took great pride in the Power House because of its technical achievements.[130] Other buildings had connections across the entire workforce. The Timekeepers’ Office, as the official entry and exit point for the workshops, was purpose-designed to control the large numbers of employees changing their shift at any one time. It became the site associated with industrial action and lockouts, particularly in the late 1910s and early 1920s. The Traverser Track and Dining Hall, as central social gathering places, engendered a shared sense of pride. Bicycle racks remain in-situ under the Dining Hall, labelled and positioned to reflect the hierarchy in place at the workshops. The work day was regulated by the time whistle, which was erected on the Power House, and was audible as far away as Haigslea, 18km west.[131]
\nPhotographs of the workshops were published from the 1880s, and detailed explanations of each workshop department with illustrations was republished over the following decades.[132] Films of the workshops were recorded in the 1920s for entertainment and educational purposes. In the 21st century, the workshops served as a backdrop for film and television series including The Railway Man (2012) and We Were Tomorrow (2016).[133]
\nWorkers’ reunions were held at the workshops in the 21st century, following the opening of the Workshops Railway Museum.[134]
","criteria":"The North Ipswich Railway Workshops Complex, established in 1864 and relocated to this site from 1885, are important in demonstrating the development of Queensland’s railway network. The workshops were the first railway workshops constructed in Queensland, assembling and maintaining rolling stock for the railway system, and later expanded into constructing locomotives. As the main railway workshops for Queensland until the 1960s, the scale and complexity of the site illustrates the importance of the rail system to Queensland. The major investment by successive governments in the workshops reflects its importance to the operation of the rail network and demonstrates the increasing self-sufficiency and sophistication of Queensland industry and technology.
\nThe Trimmers’ and Electroplaters Shop, Tarpaulin store, K Mill, Wheel Shop, and Spring Shop are significant as some of the first buildings constructed as part of the workshops expansion in the 1880s. The Wagon and Carriage Shop, the Erecting and Machine Shop, the Boiler Shop, Supply Store, the Blacksmith Shop, the Bogie and Brake Shop, and the Pattern Shop were constructed in the early years of the 20th century as part of a new phase of larger purpose-built structures intended to improve, modernise and expand the functions of the workshops.
\nThe Power House, completed in 1903, is a demonstration of the increased use of electricity at heavy industrial sites in Queensland from the early 20th century. Constructed to support 2-phase, 60 cycle AC power, it is an early surviving powerhouse containing rare early 20th century electrical machinery, and is supported by the cast iron Pump House and Water Tower.
\nAdditional buildings constructed after 1904 (the Loco Store (built as the Spray Paint Shop and Westinghouse Brake Shop), Paint Shop, Fibreglass Shed (built as a sawmill) and Lighting up Shed) demonstrate the ongoing use and growth of the workshops.
\nThe North Ipswich Railway Workshops Complex illustrates the distinctive planning geometry which formed the model for late 19th century railway designers and engineers worldwide. This includes parallel rail tracks leading into rows of fairly equally-spaced workshop buildings, intersected by a transverse distribution axis (Traverser and Traverser Track). The railway tracks laid across the site, including within the buildings and the southern yard, are significant in providing essential connections between the workshop buildings.
\nTechnological facilities constructed in the 1930s and 1940s (the Laboratory and Tool and Gauge Shop), demonstrate the evolution of the railway rolling-stock production process. The Tool and Gauge Shop is significant for the production of necessary tools used in the manufacture of munitions during World War II. It is one of only two known purpose-built tool munitions buildings constructed in Australia at that time.
\nThe Mihi Line Alignment (1863) is significant as part of the first railway line in Queensland, a major step in the development of Queensland’s transportation network. The alignment continued to serve the workshops after the main line was diverted in 1875, playing a vital part in the operation of the workshops.
|North Ipswich Railway Workshops Complex is uncommon as one of only four large-scale railway workshops established in the 19th century in Queensland (including Rockhampton, Townsville and Toowoomba). Retaining a high degree of intactness and integrity, the place is distinctive as it featured the most extensive facilities and manufacturing departments in Queensland, and was the only railway workshop in the state in to build new locomotives.
|The place has the potential to contribute information that may lead to a greater understanding of the manufacture, maintenance and repair of railway rolling stock in late 19th and early 20th century, and the associated activities and infrastructure in Queensland. Substantial evidence of industrial work practices from this time survives, including an extensive range of machinery and plant.
\nThe buildings illustrate the changes to technology and workplace amenity over more than a century. In association with documentary evidence, detailed analysis of site planning, interior layouts, fabric, and associated machinery and plant may provide further information on the nature of historical operational activities, staff working conditions and amenities, and the manufacture, maintenance and repair of railway rolling stock (including blacksmithing, heavy steel fabrication, boiler making, fabrication, and laboratory material testing) used in 20th century industrial practices and on this site.
|North Ipswich Railway Workshops Complex, a purpose-designed facility for the manufacture, maintenance and repair of railway rolling stock, is an excellent and intact example of a railway workshops complex constructed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Through its spatial arrangement, form, fabric, materials, circulation patterns and open spaces, the place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of its type, with its large site comprising an interconnected network of buildings and railway tracks organised for the efficient movement of personnel, materials, machinery and rolling stock to, from and between workshops buildings and the main railway line. Other principal characteristics demonstrated include: features for the generation and supply of power and water; staff office, amenity and recreation buildings; a main site entrance; facilities for the research and testing of railway equipment; railway yards; and machinery, boilers, gantries and furnaces associated with the manufacture, maintenance and repair of railway rolling stock.
\nThe place retains excellent, intact examples of railway workshop buildings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These buildings (including the Trimmers’ and Electroplaters Shop, Tarpaulin Store, K Mill, Wheel Shop, Spring Shop, Supply Warehouse, Maintenance Carpenter’s Shop, Boiler Shop, Erecting and Machine Shop, Carriage and Wagon Shop, and Paint Shop) are important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of their type, which include: a long, large-scale building form; large door and window openings; large-span roof trusses allowing for sheltered and unimpeded workspaces (or bays of work spaces); high ceilings; well-lit and ventilated interiors; construction of simple and robust materials; provision of electrical, compressed air, hydraulic and water services; connection to railway tracks (running through, near and/or adjacent to buildings); features facilitating the manufacture, maintenance and repair of railway rolling stock (including machinery, boilers, gantries, furnaces and inspection pits).
|Highly intact, North Ipswich Railway Workshops Complex has aesthetic importance for its expressive and beautiful attributes. The place is also a landmark of Ipswich and is central to the area’s identity, with the industrial aesthetic of its extensive collection of buildings and associated structures juxtaposed against its surrounding residential setting.
\nAs Queensland’s principal facility for the manufacture, maintenance and repair of railway rolling stock between 1865 and 1965, the place expresses a prevailing spirit of progress, prosperity, confidence and optimism of the railway industry in Queensland in the 19th and 20th centuries. This is embodied in the complex’s: substantial size; cohesive set of structures that feature a balanced uniformity of scale and a common material palette (of face brick, corrugated metal, timber, and polychromatic brick ornamentation); provision of extensive staff facilities; high-quality workshop buildings that feature simple, strong and functional forms, durable materials, and detailed face brick exteriors; ornamentation and high level of detail to otherwise utilitarian structures (including the Power House, Water Tower and workshops, which feature articulated decorative treatments, and Romanesque and Classical-style details); and its open setting (allowing for set-back views of buildings including the Power House, Dining Hall, Boiler House, Timekeepers’ Office, Laboratory and workshops along the Traverser) with mature trees. Photographs of the complex featured heavily in contemporary Queensland newspapers, railway promotional material and in postcards.
\nThe place is also important for its well-composed attributes as a cohesive set of structures laid out in an ordered manner in an open setting with strong axes and view corridors. The workshops buildings display a high degree of architectural uniformity of design, scale, and materials (face brick, corrugated metal, timber, and polychromatic brick ornamentation). The strong axes and open nature of the Traverser frames views of the manufactured ‘streetscape’ of workshop buildings fronting the north and south sides of the Traverser; and to, from and between the east and west sides of the complex. The complex, in particular the visually distinctive Traverser ‘streetscape’, has featured in photographs and been used as a backdrop in various films.
\nStanding on a rise with a commanding presence over the complex, the Power House (1903) has particular aesthetic significance for its beautiful attributes, which are embodied in its: composition; grand scale; use of a complementary material palatte of polychromatic face brick, render and stone; and restrained use of Romanesque Revival style details (including heavy masonry walls, small openings, round arches to openings, prominent towers, vigorous gable roofs, robustly textured and polychromatic brick ornamentation, and stone voussoirs). Its imposing design and the high level of careful detailing also express the importance placed on the new form of power at this period of history, and the pride of the Workshops in its adoption of the new technology. Important views include those to, from and between the Power House and Traverser, facilitated by an open, landscaped space that slopes down from the south of the building.
|North Ipswich Railway Workshops Complex contains evidence of a high degree of technological achievement, demonstrated by its intact surviving fabric and machinery. Forming a self-sufficient, extensive complex of interconnected buildings and railway tracks with its own electrical, compressed air, hydraulic and water services, the place’s site planning facilitated complex functional patterns that maximised the efficient transport of material and rolling stock across the site (ensuring components passed easily from one building to another, from stages of manufacture across the Traverser for assembly). The complex’s scale and design drew considerable public attention, with details of the its buildings featuring in Queensland newspapers and journals, and its advanced machinery contributing to early 20th century heavy engineering practice.
\nThe Power House was a major technological achievement of its time and supplied electricity to the complex 16 years before power was supplied to Ipswich by the Ipswich Electric Light Co. Details of the Power House’s equipment and functioning were detailed in international electrical engineering journals shortly after its opening. Considerable evidence survives that enables an understanding of how it functioned; in particular, it retains historic machinery and equipment, including a 1901 overhead travelling gantry crane, hydraulic accumulator (that supplied water under pressure to the riveters and flanging presses of the Boiler House), coal fuel bunkers, ash removal system, electrical equipment, part of an early switchboard, and a steam-driven hydraulic pump.
|North Ipswich Railway Workshops Complex has a strong association with its current and former employees. For most of its history, the workshops employed more than 1,500 people at any one time, peaking at more than 3,000 just after World War II. The Workshops created a community within itself, demonstrated through the establishment of sporting and music clubs, together with its own workplace culture. Workmen took pride in their workplace, including its technical achievements, and personalised the industrial environment through landscaping and other impacts still visible in some of the buildings. Communal buildings and spaces, including the Dining Hall, Timekeepers’ Office and the Traverser Track, served as popular social places for workers to hold lunchtime concerts, debates, lectures, political meetings and strikes.
\nNorth Ipswich Railway Workshops Complex also has a strong association for the people of Ipswich with the development of their community. As one of the largest places of employment in Ipswich, the workshops had a major ongoing impact on the lifestyles of thousands of individuals and families who resided in the city. At various times the workshops community interacted with the outside community through its own sporting and service clubs. As a result of its central location, the daily routine of Workshops life was noticeable to people in other walks of life. Ipswich people took pride in the achievements of the Workshops, as evidenced by numerous newspaper articles and features in commemorative magazines over a very long period of time. The use of some of the Workshops buildings as a railway museum since 2002 has rejuvenated the community connection to the Workshops, allowing public access to a space long regarded as a significant part of the North Ipswich landscape.
|North Ipswich Railway Workshops Complex has a strong association with the Queensland Railway Department, as its main maintenance facility serving all of Queensland for over 100 years. It continues to have a strong association with Queensland Rail, successor to the Queensland Railway Department, as a maintenance facility that has been operating since 1865. The buildings on the site are part of a tradition of railway architecture and design in Queensland, and are significant for their association with the work of several important architects, engineers and railway planners employed by the Department, including Henry Stanley, William Pagan, Henrick Hansen, William Nisbet, Francis Jones, Vincent Price and Charles Da Costa.
","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":16377,"place_ref":601616,"name":"Purga United Church","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"68 Purga School Road","suburb":"PURGA","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2005-09-06","description":"The Church is a small building set about 13 metres back from the front of an open grassy block, comprising 1746 square metres, facing Purga School Road. It is positioned about five metres from the western boundary. A second building, the Purga Federation Community Cultural Centre (opened in 2001) is located at the rear eastern corner. Access to the block is gained through a gate facing Purga School Road or from a gate into the adjoining school property.
The form of the church is very simple. It is a small building, rectangular in plan, about eight metres long and five and a half metres wide. The design is functional; there is an absence of external decorative features. The lack of any obvious Christian iconography is notable. Concrete stumps have been used to replace the original timber and elevate the building to a height of approximately one metre. The space between the floor of the church and the ground is in filled with horizontal planks. The structure is timber framed and clad with weatherboard. All of the windows are tall pivoted sash windows. Each of these is divided into two frames, one on top of the other. Each frame is divided into four lights made of clear glass. The bottom frame of each window pivots about a horizontal axis in the middle of the frame. Access at the front of the building is via a porch and a set of double, ledge and brace timber doors. At the rear access is via a simple wooden door. It has an unpainted, corrugated iron, gabled roof pitched at about 45 degrees. The church is finished in white paint.
One of the narrow sides of the building faces the street. The entrance porch is located on this side. It is raised to the same height as the rest of the building and projects from the center of the elevation. Access to the porch is gained through two openings on either side, each with a set of steps. It has a gabled roof pitched at about 45 degrees. A window opens on each side of the porch. It is unlined and has a fibro floor.
The two side elevations are identical. Each has windows spaced equally along its length. Rear access is via a wooden ledge and brace door at the left end of the rear elevation. A set of steps lead to the door. The only window in the rear wall opens slightly to the right of center. Unlike the others, this window has a red corrugated iron awning. A green corrugated iron water tank and tank stand is positioned at the right end of the rear elevation.
The interior of the church comprises a single room that is unlined and unpainted with the exception of the window frames, which are finished in coloured varnish. The timber floor is bare, except for a long narrow carpet extending the length of the room along the center. A small wooden platform and pulpit are against the wall opposite the main entrance. The central part of the pulpit is about one and a half metres high. It consists of two square section posts joined with timber paneling. The bottom section of paneling comprises two vertical recessed panels. The top half consists of a single panel extending the full width of the central part of the pulpit. This panel is decorated with fretwork depicting an elliptical radiant sun motif surrounded by a floral pattern. Blue felt fabric is fixed to the rear of the panel and shows through the openings in the fretwork. On top of this is a book rest inclined at approximately twenty degrees and finished in blue felt fabric. Two shorter square section posts are set back from the front of the platform about one metre from each side of the central section of the pulpit. Each of them is joined to the central section by two wooden rails.
The church is furnished with rows of plain wooden pews. The old wooden organ reputedly dates from the opening of the church. The white glass light fittings are also reputedly original. A more recent fluorescent light is fitted along a beam above the pulpit. Framed historic photographs and a clock of recent manufacture are hung on the walls.
There are three gardens in the grounds. At the front western corner of the block, there is a memorial garden dedicated to Helen Kay Aquilina. There is a small landscaped garden, edged with concrete, in front of the church porch and another garden near the entrance to the Purga Federation Community Cultural Centre at the rear of the block. Two benches are positioned along the western side of the church and another next to the memorial gardens. A chain wire fence surrounds the grounds.
","history":"The Purga United Church has played an important and valued role in the community at Purga, a rural district south of Ipswich, for over eighty years. Designed to serve people of all religions in the district, it was erected in late 1922 on a site facing Ipswich-Boonah Road. In 1995 it was moved to its current location on Purga School Road where the building continues to function as a multi-denominational place of worship. A long-standing member of the Purga community has described the church and nearby school (1871) as local 'landmarks'.
\nThe first recorded non-indigenous settlement of the area occurred in the 1840s when William Wilson took up a pastoral run in the Mount Flinders area. Following the declaration of the Ipswich Agricultural Reserve in 1860, the Purga area was opened to closer agricultural settlement. During the American civil war (1861 — 1865) a shortage of cotton on the world market created opportunities for cotton farming in Australia. Cotton growing provided an impetus for development in the Purga area and by 1868 virtually all farmers in the district were cultivating this crop.
\nFrom the 1860s, a small community developed at Purga. In 1871, a State School opened and by 1894, the community had a post-mistress. Roman Catholic services reputedly were held in the home of John Dwyer a settler who had arrived from Ireland in 1862 or 1863. It seems likely that church services for other denominations also were held in homes or in the school building. The Methodist church had traveling ministries in the Ipswich area before and after the turn of the century.
\nIn 1922, the community decided to build a church that served all religions. As a descendant of one of the original church trustees noted: 'it was built for the people of Purga, it wasn't built for a separate religion'. This practice was a common response in early Queensland rural communities to the challenges of a scattered population and a shortage of clergy. What is unusual about the Purga Church is that it was erected comparatively late in the pattern of settlement of southeast Queensland.
\nThe reason for this decision at such a late stage of the development of the community is unclear. When reporting on the stump capping ceremony for the new church, the Queensland Times (12 December 1922) noted only that the need for a church had 'long been recognised' by the community. A range of denominations were represented in the small community. Six religious denominations were distributed between 23 families at the Purga State School in 1922. It is probable that there were insufficient members of any single denomination to justify the construction of a church building dedicated to one of these churches. In addition, at a national level, a spirit of cooperation had developed between three of the denominations represented in the district: the Presbyterian, Methodist and Congregational churches. The Ipswich newspaper, the Queensland Times had been reporting the efforts of these churches to form a union during 1922 and 1923. One of the points in favour of such a union was stated to be the more efficient use of church resources.
\nConstruction of the Purga church commenced in late 1922 on portion 58 on C155913, fronting the Ipswich-Boonah Road. On 9 December a stump capping ceremony was held. The gathering included ET Bell, MLA and Rev. GK Kirke (Moderator of the Presbyterian Church). When welcoming the guests, Cr TR Morgan, the chairman of the union church building committee, noted that it was intended to build the church by voluntary labour. The building committee secretary, M Dick, gave the projected cost of the building as about f170. It is believed that the labour, money and building materials were donated by the local community. The church was built on land owned by the Harding family. In late December 1922, a fifty year lease was formalised between the Harding family and the trustees of the church. The Hardings received a nominal rent of one shilling per annum which a descendant of the family believes was returned to the collection plate.
\nThe church continued to function as a cooperative venture supported by members of all religions represented in the community. All denominations contributed to maintaining the building. According to a local resident, in the mid-1950s when the church was painted for the first time, members of different churches represented in the district volunteered to work on the project. Visiting ministers from a range of religions led the weekly combined services. A photograph in the church, dated 1924, shows a small multi-denominational Sunday School. The marriage of Thomas Forsyth to Hannah Hodgson in 1925 was reputedly the first to be held in the church.
\nThe increasing secularization of Australian society in the late 20th century led to falling church attendances everywhere and from about the late 1960s, weekly religious services at the Purga church ceased due to lack of attendance. The Sunday School probably ceased soon after 1971. Despite this, the church continued to be valued by the community. In the late 1970s or early 1980s, the roof was replaced. Religious services continued to be held in the church for all denominations in the district but not as frequently as before.
\nIn 1989 the Purga Friends Association was formed to foster community spirit and local awareness of the district's history. The Association's first project was to move the church to its present location. After the lease of the land occupied by the church expired in the 1970s, the community's ownership of the church had become less secure. The Association successfully negotiated for the use of Crown land adjoining the former Purga State School and in 1995, the church was moved to its present site. The following year, the land was gazetted as a Reserve for Historical purposes under the control of the Purga Friends Association as trustees.
\nIn 2005, weddings, funerals and multi-denominational church services at Christmas, Easter, Mother's Day and Father's Day continued to be held in the church at its new location. Most of the church fittings reputedly are original. This includes the church organ, which was recently refurbished and continued to be used at services.
\n\n
","criteria":"
The Purga United Church is important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history. The community at Purga developed during the 1860s, opening its first school in 1871. The church was built as a non-denominational church in late 1922. Union churches were more typical in earlier Queensland rural communities. They were built as a means of dealing with the challenges of a small population of mixed religion and a shortage of clergy. The construction of a union church at Purga at such a late stage in the development of Queensland is unusual.
|The church demonstrates an uncommon aspect of Queensland's cultural heritage. It is a rare, intact example of a purpose built union church that continues to function as such. The church was built and maintained by voluntary contributions from members of several denominations in the district and clergy from different religions led combined services. Though no longer held weekly, multi-denominational religious services continue to be held on special occasions.
|The building demonstrates the principal characteristics of a multi-denominational church. It has many design features that are typical of simple rural churches including a steeply pitched roof and a pulpit. There is a notable absence of religious symbols or icons that would link it to a particular denomination. Most of the existing features of the building, including the church organ are reputedly original.
|The building has a strong association with the community at Purga for social and spiritual reasons. It has been valued by the Purga community and has functioned as its spiritual centre for over eighty years. Multiple generations of families still living in the district have worshipped at the church. After changed circumstances rendered its tenure less secure, the Friends of Purga Association moved the church to its present location in 1995 because they feared its loss.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16447,"place_ref":601687,"name":"Tallegalla State School (former)","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"2-6 Tallegalla Two Tree Hill Road","suburb":"TALLEGALLA","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1998-02-02","description":"The Tallegalla School is sited on a ridge on the highest point of the surrounding landscape. The school is bordered by Minden-Rosewood Road and Twotree Hill Road. The site comprises a number of buildings, including the original school room, a teacher's residence from 1932, an early playshed and a latter playshed, several corrugated tanks on stands, two concrete septic tanks, and a number of large established trees and gardens.
Access is provided to the school via a driveway from Minden-Rosewood Road. The driveway curves eastward toward the school building and terminates in a small round driveway. Flanking the driveway are a number of established trees including several jacarandas, a Moreton Bay fig and a Bunya pine. The principal buildings are aligned parallel with Minden Rosewood Road, with the residence closest to the corner of the two roads and separated from the school site with a fence.
The school building is a one storeyed gable roofed structure, elevated on low timber stumps. The timber framed building is clad externally with horizontal weatherboards and internally with VJ boarding. The roof is clad with corrugated iron and this is also used for window awnings on the eastern and western elevations. The building has a rectangular plan with partially enclosed verandahs on the northern and southern elevations, over which the pitch of the roof becomes more gradual. A small, centrally located, open tread timber stair provides access to the northern elevation of the building which is lined with a semi open verandah, only enclosed near the two ends to form small enclosures which were an original feature of the design. Flanking the stair are timber posts, through which a simple two rail timber balustrade runs, and forms the stair balustrade. Centrally located on this and on the southern face of the building are simple entrance doors. The entrance door on the northern elevation is flanked by two casement windows made from the original sash windows. The interior if the building is lined with VJ boarding on the walls and ceilings and the timber boarded floor is covered with carpet.
The elevated residence is an asymmetrical building with hipped and gabled corrugated iron clad roof. The timber framed building is clad externally with horizontal weatherboards and internally with VJ boards. The building comprises five principal room including a large kitchen with early stove recess, a bathroom and separate toilet and an enclosed verandah on the south eastern corner. Open tread timber stairs access the front, southern side of the house and the rear, northern elevation. The building has a number of casement windows in groups of four on the front elevation, groups of three lining the enclosed verandah, and, elsewhere, groups of two. Corrugated iron clad window hoods, with sides of timber battening, provide sun shading to many of the pairs of casements. Internally the building is clad with VJ boarding on the walls and ceilings and has a timber boarded floor. The internal doors are generally four panelled with high mid (or lock) rails.
The early play shed is a lowset, fully enclosed, timber framed and weatherboard clad building, with a gabled corrugated iron roof. The building has two timber doors on the northern façade both surmounted by operable transom windows. The doors are timber boarded and internally braced. The building has a number of early six paned vertical sash windows. Internally the space is undivided and has VJ timber boarded walls, timber floor and timber boarded ceiling. Early fittings, including shelving and cupboards are found inside.
The more recent playshed is a steel framed, open structure comprising corner posts supporting a shallow pitched iron clad gabled roof awning and a concrete slab floor. It is built into sloping ground and has two low concrete block lined, retaining walls. There are a number of corrugated iron water tanks on the site, all elevated on timber or iron frames. Two concrete septic tanks indicate where toilets once existed, to the north of the school building.
","history":"The Tallegalla School was opened on 10 June 1879 as a state school for the local area known as the Rosewood Scrub. A timber school building and timber residence were erected at that time and the residence was replaced in 1931 by the present building.
The Rosewood Scrub, an area comprising what is now Tallegalla, developed in the late 1870s as settlers followed timber getters who cleared some of the dense vine scrub previously thought to be impenetrable. By 1880 fifty selections were taken up in the area, mostly by German migrants who were arriving in Queensland under migration schemes run by the Queensland Government aimed at encouraging closer settlement of rural areas. After the Land Act of 1868 land in the Rosewood Scrub, to the west of Brisbane, was opened for clearing and settlement. The area became known as Tallegalla and an official survey was completed in July 1872. A small township developed which comprised school, rail station, post office, two churches, hotel and cemetery. In 1997 very little remains of the Tallegalla township, with only the school and cemetery apparent.
Requests were made to the state government for the provision of a state school in the Tallegalla area in January 1876 by a school committee formed for the purpose of lobbying the government. The secretary of the School Committee, Mr John Dart, wrote a number of letters to the government in 1876 suggesting possible sites and seeking a formal survey of the area. A formal application for the establishment of a state school was lodged after a public meeting on 14 October 1876. The application suggested a two acre site on a prominent corner of Portion 513, parish Walloon, owned by a local farmer, Wilhelm Arndt who was willing to donate the land from his 100 acre selection. The land offered by Mr Arndt was centrally located, near a local post office and on an elevated site visible from a great distance. According to the application form about fifty local children between the ages of 5 and 14 were expected to attend the school and a local subscription of about £50 toward building costs was expected. The two acres of land was officially surveyed on 6 November 1876 and the site was gazetted as a reserve for a school on 15 August 1878. This significant time delay in the registering of the school reserve resulted in the land not being excluded from Portion 513 when an survey was drawn of the larger block for the Certificate of Title. This situation was rectified in June 1938 when the land was officially excluded from the Title.
Construction at the school began, with local subscriptions totalling £56. The first structure on the site was a one roomed timber school building, apparently designed by Colonial Architect, Francis Drummond Greville Stanley, before the design of schools in Queensland became the domain of the Department of Education in about 1880. Stanley instigated in Queensland a system of standardised school designs which could be used in a number of locations, a system which occurred previously through default. The gabled roof building designed for use at Tallegalla was elevated on low timber stumps and was flanked on the north and south by full length verandahs which were partially enclosed at the two ends of the northern side and housed hand basins. The school remains much in the same form as its original design and was lined internally in 1926 and the southern verandah was enclosed gradually from 1955. A more significant change to the building occurred in 1938 when several openings were altered to allow for better natural lighting. Whereas the openings previously were designed to allow for uniform light from all directions, new thinking in the mid 1930s indicated that lighting from some directions was more conducive to studying. Associated with this work was the internal painting of the school.
Another important element of the school site was the teachers residence which was not completed with the original school building, though by 1880 plans had been made for its erection. Residences were an important element of school sites as it was thought they attracted better quality teaching staff. By 1880 the students at Tallegalla School were taught by Mr John Marquis, who replaced Mr Edward Henry Vivian Dunbar, the first head teacher at the school. In 1880 the School Committee raised sufficient funds to enable the Education Department to finance construction of a residence which was a simple four roomed cottage surrounded by verandahs. Many changes were made to this residence in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century before it was replaced in 1931. Alterations included adding a rear verandah in 1892, internal lining in 1895; the addition of a detached kitchen and bathroom in 1898 and the addition of two detached bedrooms in 1911 to house the large family of the then Head Teacher, Daniel Courtney.
By 1932 a new timber residence was constructed replacing the early residence. The tender of EJ Wilton from East Ipswich was accepted for the construction of the building for £514 and for construction to be complete within 8 weeks from the acceptance date which was 1 December 1932. The building was a standard Type 3 School Residence designed by the Works Department with examples of that type built throughout Queensland between 1929 and 1950. Construction of the building was completed in February 1933 and by 1937 the verandah of the building which was located on the south eastern corner was enclosed. Since then, a toilet has been added to the verandah space of the building.
Associated with this work was the removal of a detached bedroom wing from the original residence and its reconstruction as a play shed. An earlier play shed was constructed on the grounds by the School Committee in about 1906 but by 1932 this octagonal timber shade structure was deteriorating and thought to be a health hazard. The Department of Education were supportive of the removal of the detached wing for use as a replacement playshed if the work was done at no cost to the Department. By 1972 another steel framed playshed was constructed and the former building became used as a store.
The school grounds have seen significant changes during the life of the school. From the late 1880s, head teacher, John William Watkins, instigated a tree planting programme at the school which saw many of the trees which exist on the site today, including the avenue of jacarandas and figs lining the driveway.
","criteria":"The Tallegalla State School is a remnant of a formerly larger settlement, Tallegalla, of which there are few remnants. The school was established in 1879 and reflects the closer settlement of the Rosewood Scrub area and reflects the development of rural country schools in Queensland
|The school building is a rare surviving example of a small timber school designed by colonial architect, FDG Stanley.
|The site, with intact school building, 1931 residence and former playshed is a good and characteristic example of a small rural state school.
|The school grounds have considerable aesthetic significance as a local landmark, with large established trees and situated on an elevated site comprising well composed and prominent buildings within a picturesque garden setting.
|The school has important associations with the local community as a school as well as a local meeting place for about 115 years.
|The school building has associations with FDG Stanley as one of his few surviving timber school buildings.
","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":16558,"place_ref":601821,"name":"Challinor Centre","alternate_name":"Sandy Gallop Asylum | Ipswich Mental Hospital | Ipswich Hospital for the Insane","street_address":"11 Salisbury Road","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1996-12-02","description":"The Challinor Centre is a place which contains many buildings and items of significance. These include the old pavilions - Blair Pavilion (1908), Byron House (1917), Charles Pavilion (1917), Clair House (1917), Dagmar House (1933); buildings constructed as part of the administration/recreation/service area in the centre of the site- the Administration Building (1914), Bakery (1913), Bath Houses (1913), Boiler house and Chimney (1913 & 1946), Former Disinfecting Room (1919), Kitchen (1913), Laundry (1912), Store (1917), Recreation Hall (1916); the former hospital - Grace House (1917); and features on the site including mature trees, grounds, roadways and the Reservoir (1914) located between the administration area and Byron House.
\nThe site is accessed via Parker Avenue which runs alongside the show reserve from the Ipswich Boonah Road. The planning of the site is divided into distinct male and female areas separated by administration/recreation/service area which is sited at the end of the entrance driveway. A feature is the radial planning which facilitated development on the ridge line and allowed buildings to be positioned to provide the best views for patients. Roadways follow this radial planning.
\nSignificant buildings are well designed and of individual architectural merit. Blair Pavilion is the largest building on the site and is in a arts and crafts style with dark brickwork and stucco walls and a high pitched roof. The Administration Building is in a neo-classical Georgian style and provides an imposing vista upon entering the site. The remaining buildings in the recreation/service area are in the arts and crafts style. Other significant buildings on the site are bungalow style brick structures, low set, allowing patients easy access to the grounds. These include Dagmar House, Byron House, Charles Pavilion, Clair House and Grace House.
\nThe site has extensive grounds and contains many mature trees and some gardens. Some trees relate to the previous entry driveway which ran from the Boonah Ipswich Road to the original 1878 pavilion where Arthur pavilion now stands. The palm trees in front of the Administration Building were planted shortly after that building's construction. The circular garden developed at the same time exists in form but the planting has been replaced. The site also contains remnants of the sunken fence in front of Blair pavilion and end wall of a sunken fences in the old Female division which is now part of a carport.
","history":"Sandy Gallop asylum, as it was first known, was established in 1878 as a branch asylum of the Goodna asylum. It occupied a 140 acre site on the southern outskirts of Ipswich. The main building consisted of a single storey timber and masonry structure which contained three dormitories and two day rooms. The asylum received mainly chronic cases from Goodna. By the 1880s, it was accommodating more that 100 patients.
\nThe constant growth in admissions of patients to asylums in Queensland prompted the creation of Sandy Gallop as a separate institution. From 1910 it was known as the Ipswich Hospital for the Insane. A major building program was undertaken between 1908 and 1917 at the instigation of James Hogg who was the Inspector of Hospitals for the Insane(1898-1908), and his replacement HB Ellerton (1909-1937). Buildings erected included two male wards, three female wards, hospital, administration building, laundry, recreation hall, kitchen, boiler house, and medical superintendent's residence. By 1920 the asylum was accommodating almost 450 patients.
\nChanges in legislation in 1938 and approaches to the treatment of mental patients saw the name of the institution change to the Ipswich Mental Hospital in 1938. The number of patients continued to grow throughout the 1940s and 1950s and overcrowding and staff shortages became major problems. Another phase of building activity occurred in the late 1950s and early 1960s but did little to alleviate the difficulties of overcrowding. By the 1960s, more than 600 patients were being accommodated in the institution.
\nAs a result of the reorganization of mental health services in 1968, the institution was designated as a training centre for the intellectually disabled. It was renamed Challinor Centre and remodeled. In 1973 the original 1878 building was demolished and replaced by a substantially larger single storey brick complex. Other new buildings included a canteen (1978), workshops (1979) and a staff development centre (1981). Attention was given to providing recreational facilities for residents and in 1978 a sporting oval was constructed on part of the site of the former farm.
\nThese building works and improvements were intended to forge a new identity for Challinor and make a distinction from its previous role as a lunatic asylum and mental hospital. This process also involved the demolition of buildings of the previous era where possible. Almost all evidence of farming activities including sheds and yards had been removed by the late 1970s. In 1973 Allison House (the former No 1 female ward) was demolished and a section of the nurses quarters was demolished in 1981. The former medical superintendent's residence was demolished in 1984 after being partially damaged by fire.
\nFrom the 1970s a program of normalization and deinstutionalisation saw a steady decline in the numbers in the centre. Clients were encouraged and assisted to move into community based accommodation. The Challinor Centre was closed in 1994, and was adapted by the University of Queensland as its Ipswich campus from 1998-2014. The University of Southern Queensland acquired the site in 2015.
","criteria":"Challinor Centre is significant as the most complete example of an asylum in Queensland based on the principles of 'moral treatment', which heavily influenced the design of most asylums in the 19th and early 20th century. The principles of 'moral treatment' stressed the importance of providing a pleasant environment for patients, and are evident at Challinor in the extensive vistas, the well designed buildings, the distinct areas of male and female patients, the sunken fences, the gardens and mature trees, water supply, ventilation systems, and provision of employment, and recreation areas.
Challinor Centre is also significant for its pivotal role in the development of services for intellectually disabled in Queensland. Throughout the 19th century and well into the 20th century, little consideration was given to the needs of the intellectually disabled in Queensland asylums. They were simply regarded as belonging to the class of insane. A growing awareness of the special needs of the intellectually disabled in Queensland resulted in the construction of the first facilities for children at Challinor in 1933. This building, later known as Dagmar House accommodated children with severe intellectual and physical disabilities. From the mid 1930s, Challinor began to cater more and more for these children.
|Similar radial planning was used at Claremont Hospital in Western Australia, but the Challinor site is unique in Queensland.
|At Challinor the extensive grounds and views from the site are one of the most striking aspects and are of significance in demonstrating the principles of 'moral treatment'. The buildings were sited to take advantage of the vistas and the sunken fences were constructed to maximise the views from the building and give patients a sense of freedom. The south-eastern section of the golf course is significant as a open space over which there are extensive views to the south and south-east.
'Moral treatment' also emphasised the value of useful employment and recreation and the Challinor site is significant in demonstrating this. Although only remnants of farming activities remain, the laundry, kitchen and other workrooms survive as evidence of the patients' activities. Evidence of recreational activities also survive. The recreation hall survives remarkably intact. A tennis court was constructed on the open area to the south of Blair Pavilion. The present golf course was constructed during the 1920s principally for the staff but it was also intended for use by the patients.
Although the Challinor site is significant as a group of buildings and features, Blair Pavilion, along with its grounds, is of special significance as an exceptionally intact example of a building based on the philosophy of 'moral treatment'. No other building within the network of Queensland asylums more successfully demonstrates the principal aspects of 'moral treatment': the combination of large dormitories and single cells illustrates the separation of patients according to type of insanity; the design of the building, the sunken fences and the impressive vistas in all directions shows the importance attached to pleasant surrounds; the sophisticated ventilation system and large windows highlights the importance given to lighting and fresh air; and the remnants of the exercise yards and tennis court reveal the importance given to exercise and recreation.
|Challinor Centre is significant for the architectural qualities of the buildings, in particular those erected in the period 1908-16. They included the administration building, recreation hall, service buildings, Blair Pavilion, Grace House, Byron and Clair Houses, and Charles Pavilion. The architectural branch of the Department of Public Works was responsible for the design of these buildings. The period between 1900 and 1915 was arguably the golden era of the branch in terms of the quality of its work. Many of the finest public buildings in Queensland were designed in this period and included courthouses, police stations, customs houses, public offices, and asylum buildings. The buildings at Challinor are significant examples of the work produced by the Works Department.
Of particular architectural significance are Blair Pavilion and the administration building. Blair Pavilion is an extremely good example of the federation Arts and Crafts style. It has typical features of the style including dark brickwork, with roughcast upper walls. The external aspects of the ventilation system have been skilfully incorporated into the roof design in the form of large fleches. The administration building was designed by A S Hook, a young English architect, who after a brief period of employment with the Queensland Department of Works, had a successful and important architectural career in New South Wales. The building and its circular driveway, is an imposing entrance to the asylum. It is the front piece of the administration and service buildings. The Georgian style of the building was a speciality of the government architects office in Queensland. This building is one of the finest examples of this style in Queensland and one of the earliest.
Challinor Centre is significant for its landmark qualities within the Ipswich townscape. Challinor centre occupies one of the highest ridges in Ipswich and is a landmark within Ipswich. While the showgrounds and vegetation conceals the Centre from immediate view, it is readily recognisable from more distant vantage points. From the southern side of Denmark Hill, the Centre is prominent on the southern skyline. Similarly the Challinor buildings, particularly the chimney, dominate the skyline eastwards from Lobb Street. Approaching Ipswich from the south along the Warwick Road, Blair Pavilion is prominent on the horizon. These vistas are given prominence by the openness of the site due to the minimal development of most of site and the open landscape of the golf course. This contributes to the institutional nature of the site and its landmark qualities.
|The principles of 'moral treatment' also influenced the design and planning of Wolston Park and Toowoomba asylums. However, at neither place were the principles of moral therapy as thoroughly applied or as clearly articulated as at Challinor. The site of Wolston Park was not chosen for its views but for its convenience, situated on the Brisbane River halfway between Ipswich and Brisbane. The development of Wolston Park has been haphazard. A constant shortage of funds prevented any systematic planning and major flooding in 1893 disrupted plans that had been made. Toowoomba asylum was based on the pavilion plan but the wards faced each other rather than outwards to allow for views.
\nAt Challinor, Blair Pavilion (1907) and the No 1 female ward (1908), were dramatically different. Both buildings and the layout of their features, such as sunken fences were located on a radial grid which ran around the ridge of the site in an arc. The buildings were orientated on top of the ridge looking out at the surrounding countryside. The combination of planning and site allowed the principles of 'moral treatment' to be fully exploited in the physical configuration of the buildings and their grounds, and formed the basis of all future development on the site until 1940.
|(Criterion under review)
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion F | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place 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 is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16634,"place_ref":601898,"name":"Wright Family Houses","alternate_name":"Oaklands (100 Mt Crosby Road) | Wrightson (106 Mt Crosby Road)","street_address":"98/100/106 Mt Crosby Road","suburb":"TIVOLI","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2004-01-30","description":"The Wright Family Houses are located on large allotments fronting Mt Crosby Road in Tivoli, north of the Ipswich city centre. Each allotment is long with a narrower frontage to Mt Crosby Road. The allotments extends down a gully toward a branch of Sandy Creek, where Perseverance Mine was located. All three houses are well set back from the road and are of timber construction with a square floor plan.
98 Mt Crosby Road
The residence at 98 Mt Crosby Road has a short-ridge pyramid roof and is sheeted in corrugated iron. The front verandah has been removed. A section of side verandah on the southern side of the house remains with its iron lace balustrade, its posts, brackets and capitals, and an acroterian remains on at least one corner of the roof guttering. The iron lace is similar to or identical with that of the earlier house, Oaklands, at 100 Mt Crosby Road, and the brackets are similar or identical with those on the later house, Wrightson, at 106 Mt Crosby Road. Walls facing the former front verandah are single-skin, vertically-jointed boards with horizontal bracing. Under the main roof are 5 bedrooms, a sleepout, study, formal lounge with marble and tiled fireplace, dining room, living room, and a kitchen. A small hip-roof structure at the right of the house is sheeted in corrugated iron and may originally have functioned as a service wing or business office.
No internal site inspection of 98 Mt Crosby Road has been possible for this assessment.
100 Mt Crosby Road [Oaklands]
Oaklands, at 100 Mt Crosby Road, is surrounded by a well-established garden, which provides strong evidence of early garden layout and includes a number of mature fig trees in the front yard. Early tiled garden-edging remains lining the borders of the front path leading to the main entrance of the house. The house has a short-ridge pyramid roof clad in corrugated iron, with two corbelled chimeystacks of brick construction rising above. Paired decorative brackets to the eaves of the main roof are located on all façades of the house. The house is surrounded on 3 sides by a stepped verandah with a skillion roof. The rear verandah has been enclosed and extended. The front pediment features a decorative timber bargeboard and finial, and the verandah has been enclosed sideways-sliding sashes featuring panelled coloured glass. The original cast iron balustrades have been retained.
No internal site inspection of 100 Mt Crosby Road has been made. Given the intactness of the exterior of the house and the garden, it would be unlikely that the interior was greatly altered.
106 Mt Crosby Road [Wrightson]
The pedestrian entrance to the residence at 106 Mt Crosby Road is lined by garden beds, which retain some reference to the original garden layout and which screen the façade of the house from Mt Crosby Road. The well-established garden includes a number of mature pine and conifer trees in the front yard. The front boundary is enclosed with a timber-paling fence and the side perimeter is enclosed with a wire fence. There is one vehicular entrance onto the site from Mt Crosby Road leading to a later garage on the northern side of the property. The northern perimeter of the property abuts Tivoli State School and the southern side of the property adjoins Oaklands. The original timber stumps of the house have been replaced with concrete stumps and the sub-floor is enclosed with timber battens.
The house is timber-framed and externally clad on its exposed faces in 6 inch deep chamferboards. The main roof of the residence is pyramid shaped and sheeted in corrugated iron, with 2 brick chimneystacks rising above. The stepped verandah has a bull-nose roof profile. Access to the verandah is gained by a short flight of timber stairs. The decorative fretwork pediment above the stairs features a sunray motif, which is repeated in the timber brackets to the verandah posts and which was a common embellishment of Irish design. The front walls are unlined, vertically-jointed boards braced by horizontal beams. Dowel balustrading encloses the verandah and lattice infill panels have been installed in the front verandah bays. The northern side of the house is enclosed with a combination of early 20th century sliding and fixed windows with coloured glass. To the rear of the house is a recent covered patio area adjoining the house and a pool. A separate garage and an attached covered bay are located to the northern side of the building.
The early front door, which has a cast iron knocker, central door knob, fielded panels and bolection moulds, opens into a short central hallway which extends half the depth of the house. Internally, 2 rooms open off a short hallway. Both rooms have French doors opening onto the front verandah. The room to the left also has a sliding door opening in an area that includes 2 bathrooms, toilet and storage spaces, created by enclosing the southern verandah. At the end of the hallway a single glazed timber door with etched glass provides access to the living room, which has a white marble fireplace. To the right of the living room is a bedroom with french doors opening on to an enclosed area, which is an enclosed part of the verandah. Access from the living room to the kitchen, with its original brick fireplace, is gained through a doorway. The rear section of the house, which appears to be a 20th century extension, is now used as a laundry, dining room and storage room. Substantial interior renovations, which are most evident in the rear section of the house and in the kitchen, have been carried out. The joinery and floors have been stripped of their original finishes.
There are timber floors throughout the house and all walls are lined with vertically-jointed tongue and groove boarding. Similarly, all ceilings are lined with vertically-jointed tongue and groove boarding, excluding the dining room which features what appears to be a pressed metal ceiling. All rooms have high picture rails. The hallway and living room both have bolection mould skirting boards, while all other rooms have plain skirting boards.
","history":"The Wright family houses precinct at 98, 100 and 106 Mt Crosby Road, Tivoli, are 3 timber houses on adjoining allotments built c1898-1903 for John and Elizabeth Wright.
The allotments on which these residences are situated were originally a part of the land purchased in 1864 as Portion 66, parish of Chuwar, county of Stanley [43 acres], by Josiah Bowring Sloman, part proprietor of the Queensland Times. The land appears to have remained unimproved during the 30 years of Sloman's ownership and by the mid-1890s it had been subdivided.
In September 1894, the title to the subdivisions on which the houses at 98 and 106 Mt Crosby Road now stand was transferred to Elizabeth Ann Wright, the wife of John Wright. Five years later Elizabeth was registered as the owner of the allotment where the main family house, known as Oaklands, was constructed and which is now delineated as 100 Mt Crosby Road. John Wright was born in 1837 at Coolbawm, county Kilkenny, Ireland, and married Elizabeth in 1862. He and his wife arrived in Moreton Bay on board the Naval Reserve in 1867 and in October of that year he moved to Ipswich to find work, while his wife and children remained in Brisbane. In the 1860s, Ipswich was an emerging centre of commercial and industrial activity and, despite the financial crisis of this period, it remained a place of opportunity for early pioneers. Coal mining was a burgeoning industry in the district at this time and Wright was from a long line of colliery owners in Ireland and had worked for several years in his father's mine before embarking for Australia This experience secured him a job at the Old Tivoli Pit owned by Harry Hooper and John Robinson, where he remained until 1873. In that year he negotiated a lease with Josiah Sloman, who then owned Portions 65 and 66, for mining rights on the land and with the financial backing of John Blond, a Brisbane coal dealer, he opened a small mine known as Perseverance Mine. Wright's mining interests continued to expand over the years with the opening of the Eclipse mine in Tivoli as well as mines in other coal-bearing districts like Purga, Walloon, Burrum and Oakey. While the Eclipse mine was lost in the 1893 floods, along with 2 of John's sons, the family business remained strong and his youngest sons, Andrew and John, later became mine managers. The Wrights became the largest producer of coke in Queensland and in 1910 the Jubilee History of Ipswich reported that the Wrights held contracts with the Mt Crosby Pumping Station, the Ipswich Pumping Station, Queensland Woollen Company, Electric Light Company of Toowoomba and Queensland Railway.
Although John Wright's mining interests were spread over Queensland, he resided in Tivoli until his death in 1915 and acquired a distinct local patriotism. While described in The History of Queensland (1919) as a "man of quiet disposition, reserved, and unassuming", he was known to have supported many local charities and with his wife helped found a Sunday school in the area. The Wrights also became prominent freehold landowners in the North Ipswich district, with Brassall Shire Council Valuation Registers showing the family owned several estates by the early 1900s. Despite their numerous real estate interests, the Wrights favoured the allotments on Mt Crosby Road (formerly known as Tivoli Road and Junction Road) for their family homes. No documentary evidence exists to definitively date the main family residence at 100 Mt Crosby Road, however it is known to have been existence by January 1898 when it was described in The Queenslander as "one of the nattiest villas in North Ipswich". The adjoining properties at 98 and 106 Mt Crosby Road reputedly were built for Andrew Wright and John Wright junior probably by 1903, the year of the earliest extant Brassall Shire Council Valuation Register, which records that on the land now covered by 98, 100 and 106 Mt Crosby Road there existed 3 residences owned by Elizabeth Ann Wright.
The juxtaposition of these properties is as much a physical representation of the rising social and financial fortunes offered to Ipswich colliers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as it is a reminder of the concept of the extended family and a way of life no longer common. The Wrights were a close-knit family and their houses were a nest of domesticity. Elizabeth Ann Wright retained ownership of the land on which Oaklands stands until her death in 1920, after which the house was reputedly left vacant until 1922 when Elizabeth Ann Barbet, the youngest daughter of John and Elizabeth Wright, became the registered owner. Four years later the property passed to Benjamin Morgan, a close friend of the Wright family whose father had reputedly built a hut of chaff bags in a gully below Oaklands. The estate remains in the Morgan family.
The property at 98 Mt Crosby Road remained in the hands of Elizabeth Ann Wright until 1915 when the title was transferred to Andrew Wright. In 1931, Catherine Wright, the wife of Andrew, became the owner of the estate and retained the title until 1953. Since that time the property has passed to a number of different owners.
The house now known as Wrightson, at 106 Mt Crosby Road, was owned by Elizabeth Ann Wright until 1911 when the title to the property was transferred to John Wright junior. After his father's death in 1915, John Wright reputedly moved to the Darling Downs to manage the family's mining interests in the region but Wrightson remained his property until 1924 when title to the estate was transferred to Robert Hutchins Hunter. Since that time the property has passed had 5 owners. The house has been renovated in recent years.
","criteria":"The Wright family houses are important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history and in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural place. Built for the collier and mining proprietor, John Wright and his wife, Elizabeth, these houses are representative of the burgeoning economic fortunes of the Ipswich region during the late 19th century. As Ipswich developed into a wealthy commercial and industrial centre of Queensland and as the coal industry continued to expand in the area, the construction of these 3 houses is indicative of the prospect of rising social and financial status offered in late-19th century Ipswich. The houses communicate a tangible link with the district's mining heritage.
|The Wright family houses are important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history and in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural place. Built for the collier and mining proprietor, John Wright and his wife, Elizabeth, these houses are representative of the burgeoning economic fortunes of the Ipswich region during the late 19th century. As Ipswich developed into a wealthy commercial and industrial centre of Queensland and as the coal industry continued to expand in the area, the construction of these 3 houses is indicative of the prospect of rising social and financial status offered in late-19th century Ipswich. The houses communicate a tangible link with the district's mining heritage.
|The houses are also important because of their aesthetic significance, which contributes to the overall historical townscape of the Ipswich area. With its rich heritage, Ipswich abounds with significant examples of early Queensland architecture and as such these houses represent an important landmark in the area and their integrity as a group is strengthened by the direct connection between them.
","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":17056,"place_ref":602251,"name":"Deebing Creek Mission (former)","alternate_name":"Deebing Creek Aboriginal Reserve | Deebing Creek Aboriginal Mission | Deebing Creek Aboriginal Home","street_address":"South Deebing Creek Road","suburb":"DEEBING HEIGHTS","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2004-09-24","description":"Located approximately eight kilometres south of Ipswich City, access to the site of Deebing Creek Mission is from the Cunningham Highway and at the end of South Deebing Creek Road.
Historic plantings at the site include a large Bunya Nut Pine Tree. Other historic plantings include two large Fig Trees, a Mango Tree and a Date Palm.
The 1907, 20,000 gallon underground brick tank constructed at the Deebing Creek Mission to alleviate the poor water supply remains in-situ. This underground tank is now screened by thick vegetation on three sides and has an old fence around it. The tank has been used as a rubbish dump and has numerous car tyres in it.
Evidence of terracing remains at the site near the southern boundary fence as the land falls away to Deebing Creek. A large stone on which the children of the school sharpened their lead pencil has also been reported at the site in proximity to the terracing and water tank.
A single headstone was erected at the Cemetery dedicated to Mrs Julia Ford who died in 1896. However oral evidence from Mr John Lynch and Mr Les Davidson, and a 1975 report by Mr J. Skinner, Land Inspector to the Land Administration Commission indicate that there were as many as 13 additional burials at the Cemetery. This is substantiated by a newspaper article of 1892 stating that two people had died at the Mission that year and were buried at the nearby Cemetery. The remains of several stone cairns thought to mark the locations of some of the additional grave are also present at the Cemetery.
There are two old huts on the land dating to the Second World War which do not relate to the Mission period. Local Indigenous families squatted in the huts during the 1950s-1960s.
There is a high level of archaeological potential at the Deebing Creek Mission site. Inspection by officers of the Environmental Protection Agency and Traditional Owners revealed a possible location for the Deebing Creek Mission school site and Superintendent's residence including the presence of ceramics, old bottles, glass and a harmonica. Additionally, it is known that Aboriginal residents constructed housing along the banks of Deebing Creek (Figure 2). Published reports state that each house was made of timber with up to four partitions, dirt floors and concrete steps leading from the back of the house towards the banks of Deebing Creek.
","history":"Deebing Creek Mission comprised areas of land which were gazetted for Aboriginal purposes from 1892 to 1948. The first area of land to be gazetted was R. 177 (see #3 & 4 in Figure 1) situated at what is now known as Lot 219 RP858789. This area does not appear to have been used as a place of residence, but from about 1900 it was used as a farm to support the Mission. Two further portions of land were gazetted as Aboriginal Reserves in 1892, the first in lieu of a Water Reserve, and the second nearby on the west bank of Deebing Creek. This area, with the proclamation of additional land, became what is known as the Deebing Creek Mission and a place of residence and work for missionaries and Aborigines until 1915. This Mission was transferred to Purga in 1915, although the Deebing Creek Mission land, remained an Aboriginal Reserve and was used for grazing purposes. Purga Mission was closed in June 1948 and all the reserves were rescinded in December 1948.
Around 1887 the Aboriginal Protection Association of Ipswich commenced work on the establishment of a mission at Deebing Creek. It is not clear from the records if a specific religious denomination had responsibility for the Mission, although it is understood that the Reverend Peter Robertson, Chairman of the Aboriginal Protection Association, was a minister of the Presbyterian Church. The Aboriginal Protection Association, comprising Reverend Peter Robertson and local business figures William Foote, George Thorn and John Greenham formed with philanthropic and economic motives to establish a Mission. The Committee had sole authority to run the Mission from 1892-1897. At the time of estalblishment there were two known groups of Aborigines in the Ipswich area. The first were camped in Queens Park in Ipswich and the second at Purga. It is thought that a combination of the two groups were the core of the first residents at the Deebing Creek Mission.
The Statistical Returns for Deebing Creek School No. 612 (the Mission school) for 1900 state that all of the children attending the school belonged to the Salvation Army, but this may have come about because the Superintendent, Thomas Ivins, appointed in 1896 was a member of the Salvation Army. A report from the Chief Protector in 1906 states that the Deebing Creek Mission, situated five miles (8 kilometres) from Ipswich, was controlled by a Board appointed by the Church authorities. However, the name of the Church has been blackened out in the report. It is evident, however, that the Aboriginal Protection Association, the term regularly used by the committee, managed the Deebing Creek Mission, but relied heavily on the Government to assist financially. The Committee saw this as a legitimate claim after the Deebing Creek Mission was asked to take orphan children and was proclaimed an Industrial School in 1896. The Industrial and Reformatory Schools Act of 1865, provided that Aboriginal and 'half-caste' children under the age of fifteen could be brought before a bench of magistrates and ordered for detention at a relevant mission.
The Reverend Edward Fuller became the first manager of the Deebing Creek Mission. From February 1892 he was thought to have lived in a tent for a year, after which he and his family lived in an architect designed house overlooking the bark huts of the Aborigines along Deebing Creek. It is not stated where this was situated, but it may have been on R. 371 (see #1 in Figure 1), the area gazetted in lieu of a water reserve in April 1892. The mission was supplied with provisions by the Government from February 1891 to February 1894 when a grant of £250 per annum was authorised. This continued until 1896.
In July 1892 a deputation from the committee of the Ipswich Aboriginal Protection Association requested that the land already granted to the home be vested in trustees and that a small additional area of land be granted in the immediate locality for the purposes of the Mission. This occurred on 29 October 1892, with the gazettal of a temporary Reserve for the use of the Aboriginals of 41 acres adjacent to Deebing Creek. This description aligns it to the east of portion 197, and is denoted on the survey plan as R. 65 (see #2 in Figure 1), a part of which is now Lot 228 on CC2905, an Aboriginal Cemetery Reserve. Trustees of the Aboriginal Protection Association were appointed.
The first record of the number of Aboriginal residents at the Mission appeared in correspondence of 1893, which indicated that there were 33 people. The numbers varied as some went away to work and returned at other periods. Prior to the Aboriginal Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act of 1897 the Aboriginal people of Deebing Creek Mission were free to come and go as they pleased. There were only two Aboriginal workers on the Mission at that time.
With the passage of the Aboriginal Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act1897, the lives of Aboriginal people became increasingly controlled by the State. This Act was described as being passed 'to make Provision for the better Protection and Care of the Aboriginal and half-caste Inhabitants of the Colony, and to make more effectual Provision for Restricting the Sale and Distribution of Opium'. The Act established the positions of Protectors of Aborigines who administered the Act, and to whom a report was provided each year on each Mission and government settlement. It also provided for the establishment of government-run reserves, made provision for the removal of Aborigines to reserves, and provided for written agreements for the employment of Aborigines. The Act provided Regulations to control the residence, movement, employment and wages, in effect, every aspect of an Aborigine's life. The Act also expanded official control over mixed-race families. This control, of course, extended to the residents of the Deebing Creek Mission after 1897, especially in relation to agreements for employment outside the Mission.
Both children and adults were sent to Deebing Creek Mission from all over the State, from north Queensland as far west as Charleville. Aboriginal people who were sent to reserves away from their traditional lands are known as 'historical' people. The reserves which became their homes were the traditional lands of other groups, but the State authorities did not take this cultural aspect into account in removing people from place to place. Nonetheless the reserves, such as Deebing Creek Mission, became 'home' to those who were sent there by the Aboriginal Protectors. This has caused great difficulties for Aboriginal Peoples.
A typescript report, probably from Archibald Meston in 1896, stated that the Deebing Creek Mission provided a home and food in varying numbers for up to 150 people. He commented that the children received a plain public school education, and that the Aborigines provided labour for clearing, fencing and cultivation on the land that was suitable. Evidence from Meston's official report of 1896 indicates that the Mission consisted of a Mission house, buildings at the head of the creek and housing for Aborigines which Meston considered were too close together.
A short history of the school dated 30 January 1894 verifies that work began at the Mission in 1887 by the then present committee of the Aboriginal Protection Association. In 1894 there were 62 Aborigines at the Station and 27 attending school. An amount of £20.6.8 per month was received from the Government. J Fitzgerald was the teacher and Superintendent. At this stage a tent was being used as a school-room. Each adult male was required to work on the Mission for four hours each day and each family was encouraged to build their own dwelling. By 1897 the land had been fenced off into three portions and the houses and gardens had been fenced off from a common area. Thirteen cottages had been erected.
A report dated 5 September 1894 from the Police Magistrate to the Under Secretary, Colonial Secretary's Office, states that there had been clearing of timber at Deebing Creek Mission and substantial 2 railed fencing erected. Two new huts were in evidence and another one was being built. There were about twenty children at the school. It was reported that the land was poor and that 12 young men were doing fencing and clearing.
Evidence that a school had been established by 1895 is also located in the Register of Purga Aboriginal School (formerly Deebing Creek) which shows the name, residence and admission age of children from 21 January 1895. Twenty-five names appear on the admission register for 1895. Thereafter the numbers ranged from 3 to 20 until the school was relocated to Purga Mission site in 1915. On 4 September 1895 correspondence indicates that there were new cottages, and that a tent that had been used as a school-room had been replaced by a new building to accommodate 80 people. There was at this time mention of the game of cricket being played.
A report dated December 1895 on the material organisation of Deebing Creek Provisional School shows that the school was a rough slab building, canvas lined, and with shingles, being 36 feet long, 13 feet wide with a semi partition about 10 feet from the entrance. It was close to the Superintendent's quarters. Another hardwood building, 38 feet by 12 feet, to accommodate children being sent was thought not to be required, in which case it was to be converted to a school room.
The only evidence of the location of the school in the Deebing Creek area appears on the original plan. This plan indicates that the school was situated on R. 371 (see #1 in Figure 1), the area of land granted in lieu of the water reserve. A report of 1931 states that the school was erected on the south-west corner of the portion. In 1905 the Secretary of the Aboriginal Protection Association reported to Dr Walter Roth, Chief protector of Aborigines, that the portion on which the farm was situated was R. 371 (see #1 in Figure 1) and the House was on the west and the farm on the east end.
Correspondence from the Chief Protector of Aborigines to the Home Secretary on 1 February 1907 provides an indication of how the Industrial and Reformatory Schools Act 1865 was administered. The Chief Protector stated that the Government was pleased to remit the unexpired portions of the sentences of detention passed upon the undermentioned Industrial School children: Paddy, Jacky and Chloe - sentenced by the Bench of Magistrates, Roma on 7 June 1904, upon conviction on charges of being neglected children, to detention in the Deebing Creek Industrial School for seven years.
On 21 November 1896 the Government established, under the Industrial and Reformatory Schools Act 1865, an Industrial School at the Deebing Creek Mission, near Ipswich, to be known as the Deebing Creek Industrial School. The gazettal notice included the appointment of Thomas Ivins and Charlotte Emily Ivins as Superintendent and Matron respectively. The grant of £250, authorised in March 1894, was continued until June 1896, at which time a grant of £50 was given to assist in building rooms for orphan children. In 1896 the Reverend Peter Robertson, chairman of the Aboriginal Protection Association, requested and was granted funding for building and to purchase more land. In 1902 it was reported that the Mission received 3s. 6d. weekly for each child committed there under the Industrial and Reformatory Schools Act 1865. At that time there were twenty-three committed children.
The Statistical Returns for Deebing Creek School from 1895 to 1923 indicate that the name of the first school was Deebing Creek Provisional School, No. 612. The school retained this number when it became the Purga Aboriginal School. The building was thought to have been removed to the Purga Creek site in 1915.
After the passing of the 1897 Act, regular reports were submitted to the Parliament from the Northern and Southern Protector of Aborigines until 1904 when the positions of Northern and Southern Protector were amalgamated to the position of Chief Protector. Although the Aboriginal Protection Association was managing the Mission at this time, it was apparent that the Committee or the Superintendent provided a report to the Protector each year. These reports provide some indication of the number of Aborigines who were admitted or attended the school and the number residents at the Mission. The numbers varied at Deebing Creek Mission largely because of the itinerate work that occupied Aboriginal people outside the Mission. From 1896 the numbers resident show a high of 150 that year to a low of around 54 in 1913. Similarly the school admission register shows a high of 21 admissions in 1896 and a low of one admission in 1910, but these figures are sometimes at variance with those shown in the Chief Protector's Report.
On 20 November 1896 the Aboriginal Protection Association notified the Government that they had bought adjoining land to prevent new houses being built too close together along Deebing Creek, and requested £100 towards the cost. This was probably the additional 110 acres of land purchased by the committee from Joseph Gutteridge, but in May 1897 it was decided to convey the land to the Government rather than have it vested in trustees. The annual grant was increased to £550. The additional land was stated as being portion 197 of 57 acres and portion 204 of 53 acres, adjacent to R. 65 (see #2 in Figure 1) which had been gazetted as an Aboriginal Reserve on 29 October 1892.
Meston was not the only person to complain about the unsuitable locality of the Deebing Creek Mission, especially in relation to the absence of fertile land, but also the proximity of the Mission to Ipswich and the availability of alcohol. The only fertile land available was the Nine Mile Reserve. During January and February 1901 there was a dispute over the use of the Nine Mile reserve, the Reserve for the Use of the Aborigines at Purga Creek. This was a part of the original land reserved in January 1892 for the use of Aborigines but had not been used, and no buildings had been erected by the mission because of threats by local residents. As the Mission grew it became necessary to utilise the land and the Aboriginal Protection Association decided a fence was required. Local residents petitioned against this as the Nine Mile was used for camping and water for stock. The dispute led to a deputation asking that the Mission not continue fencing, a decision that was reversed by the Home Secretary. Letters to the Editor from both sides of the argument appeared in The Queenslander. The Reverend Robertson claimed that the Mission was not able to build a fence on a property they had owned for 9 years, and also that produce of cream and timber produced by the Mission was being boycotted. There were some vicious letters from the local constituency in the newspaper, one suggesting that an alternative piece of land be found for the Mission. Reverend Robertson stated that due to the Mission's increase the Committee had bought three farms at Deebing Creek and two at Purga.
Improvements to buildings and land were made and reported from time to time. In 1904 it was reported that improvements on the Mission property itself were made to the value of over £250, and in 1907 a 20,000 gallon underground tank was to be constructed at Deebing Creek Mission to alleviate the poor water supply. The 1907 Protector's Report published a photograph of Deebing Creek Mission which shows about 8 homes in the background with numerous people in the foreground of the image. The Aboriginal people were interested in attending and competing in the footrace in Ipswich called the Sheffield Handicap. In 1907, for the purposes of the Aborigines attending the footrace, the operation of the 1897 to 1901 Act was suspended for same. This referred to the Aboriginals Protection and the Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897 which controlled the movement of Aboriginal people outside the reserves; they were required to have a permit to travel. In 1909 it was reported that a new home had been erected beside the school for the committal children. The reports during this time also showed a gradual improvement in the farming operations, with an increase in stock and vegetable produce which supplied the Mission with meat, milk and vegetables, with some at times being sold to supplement the Mission's income.
The 1910 Protector's Report suggests that there was a marked improvement in the homes and life of those residents who had been the longest under the influence of the Mission. It was reported that the Aboriginal people made it a true home.
In 1912 two new homes were built at Deebing Creek Mission and improvements made to others. It was stated that the Mission controlled about 2,072 acres of land, which including 200 acres at Deebing Creek.
In 1914 the Deebing Creek Mission was relocated to Purga. It is not stated clearly in the records exactly where the buildings from Deebing Creek Mission were relocated to and what improvements were made. The Government, who it is known was managing the area in 1920 when the Salvation Army took over, may have taken over management of Deebing Creek Mission around 1914.
In correspondence on 18 December 1914, the Reverend Robertson requested payment to assist the removal of buildings from Deebing Creek Mission to Purga. The letter stated that for 25 years 'we' have been in charge of the Mission and have spent every year more money on food and clothing for the people than received from the Government. The Aboriginal Protection Association had concerns regarding the paying of their accounts. It is interesting to note that from this time the Reverend Robertson is not mentioned in reports or correspondence and the Committee is mentioned in the 1914 Protector's Report for the last time. Although the records are not clear on this point, it appears that the Aboriginal Protection Association of Ipswich may have decided to abandon the management of the Mission after its moved to Purga.
It is apparent from documents in relation to the prickly pear infestation at Deebing Creek in 1929 that the Mission there was not occupied, but under the control of the Salvation Army and John Bleakley, Chief Protector. The document refers to the Salvation Army Aboriginal Colony. In 1931 a report by the Ranger in relation to the proposed opening up the Deebing Creek Mission area for selection stated that a school had been erected on the south west corner of portion 204.
The 1934 Report of the Aboriginal Department indicated that the farm had been subdivided, and a considerable amount of ring barking and suckering had been carried out at Deebing Creek.
In 1967 some Ipswich Aboriginal people, under the leadership of Mr Les Davidson, petitioned the Queensland Premier requesting that their burial grounds, bora rings, cave paintings and any cemetery excavations be preserved as are European burial grounds. This letter identified two burial grounds, one at Deebing Creek Mission and one at Purga.
Undated newspaper clippings from 1974-1975 gave publicity to the request of the Aboriginal people, whose ancestors were buried at Deebing Creek Mission, for their land to be returned. Mr Davidson also enlisted the assistance of Senator J. L. Cavanagh to have the land of their forefathers returned. Mr Davidson said that Aborigines who were born at Deebing Creek Mission included people from around Ipswich, Cherbourg, Brisbane, Beaudesert and country areas.
On 21 February 1976 land was gazetted for the resumption of an area of 3,600 square metres being part of Agricultural Farm No. 7869, Lot 218 CC2906, for Aboriginal Cemetery purposes. At the same time an easement was proclaimed, which was resumed from the same Lot. This was surveyed on 25 June 1975 and is currently gazetted as Lot 228 CC2905. The Cemetery Reserve, Lot 228 CC2905, is situated on the west bank of Deebing Creek, which was a part of the original Aboriginal Reserve, R. 65 (see #2 in Figure 1).
During 1977 there was correspondence in relation to compensation for the owners of the land from which the resumption was executed. There was also discussion relating to access for visitors to the reserve. It appeared that access to the Cemetery was to be controlled by the Lands Department for the purpose of clearing the area and repairing headstones until the matter of compensation was finalised.
From 1978 to 1980 there is correspondence in relation to requests from Mr William Thorpe for access to land records for his personal research. One of the letters from the Department of Aboriginal and Islander Advancement to Mr Thorpe indicates that the Department was undertaking research to ascertain the names and burial places of the original residents of Deebing Creek Mission. Other papers indicate that there was a proposed submission to the Aboriginal Development Commission to obtain several hundred acres of land at Deebing Creek.
On 23 November 1985 an Order in Council of 21 November 1985 rescinded the proclamation of a portion of land of 55.847 ha in the Ipswich Land Agent's District, parish of Purga (Churchill) which had been proclaimed for Public Purposes on 25 August 1886 and gazetted on 28 August 1886. The area of about 138 acres aligned largely with the Aboriginal Reserve R. 177 (see #3 & 4 in Figure 1) proclaimed on 2 January 1892 that was reduced in size in the re-gazzetal in 1901.
","criteria":"Deebing Creek Mission is important in illustrating the pattern of Queensland's history as it was an institution created to house, utilise labour and control the movement of Aboriginal people in the latter part of the 1800s until its closure in 1915 when the Mission was moved to Purga.
|The intactness of an underground water facility, historic plantings, and the cemetery at Deebing Creek Mission have the potential to reveal further information about 19th and 20th century life and burial practices at an institutionalised Mission.
|Deebing Creek Mission has a strong association with the Indigenous community as evidence of the impact of a major historic event. The Mission is of great significance to the traditional Aboriginal people of that area, and also to others known as 'historical people' who were sent to live at the Mission from 1892-1915. The Cemetery is a significant burial ground for Aboriginal people in the area relating to Mission times.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion C | Criterion G","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"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":19479,"place_ref":602356,"name":"Queen's Park","alternate_name":"Queens Park","street_address":"Milford Street","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2002-09-27","description":"Queen's Park is currently bounded by Brisbane Street to the north, Milford Street to the west, Chermside Street to the east and the boundaries of Lots 1- 2 RP 99201 and Lot 442 SL 4125 to the south excepting an access road from Griffith Road between these lots.
The northern section of the original reserve is occupied largely by Ipswich Girl's Grammar School, though it contains two memorials and a striking pyramidal structure of limestone terracing alongside Brisbane Street. The entrance gates are now on a triangular piece of land to the northwest corner of the park and separated from it by Limestone Street. The section of the original reserve to the south is now known as Limestone Park and contains several major sporting facilities. The section in the centre is officially Queen's Park and also contains the Burley Griffin Incinerator, which is separately entered in the Queensland Heritage Register [600596].
Queen's Park contains two ridges of silicified magnesian limestone running north-northwest and south-southeast. This type of limestone has been used for stonework features within the park. These are of a consistent and distinctive style and are constructed of rubble with stone capping and include walls, steps, terraces and several gateways with cylindrical posts.
The section to the north of Brisbane Street contains a knoll, the northwestern end of the limestone ridge. This has a striking landscaped feature of limestone paths and terraces reminiscent of a stepped pyramid topped by trees. There are two identical memorials on each side of structure and near the road. These are low obelisks formed of limestone rubble on concrete bases with a panel of contrasting basalt rubble on each face. They have pyramidal limestone caps. That on the southwest commemorates Allan Cunningham, botanist and explorer, and that to the north is dedicated to Thomas Glassey, an early reformist Member of Parliament for Ipswich. Behind his memorial is a feature called 'the hummock' a remnant of the limestone ridge encircled by a low stone wall.
The park contains a number of early plantings including alternating hoop and bunya pines beside the gates on Chermside Road. There is also a stand of grass trees (Xanthorroea australis) near the present lookout that are believed to have existed when the park was formed. Intentional plantings include fig trees, bunya and hoop pines, bottle trees and bamboo. Many of F.W. Turley's plantings survive, including trees lining Brisbane Road and plantings of the bougainvillea that he helped to popularise.
The park contains a number of buildings, major examples of which are:
The Curator's House is a timber building with a corrugated iron roof and is situated on a slight rise. The house has been altered internally, although it retains battened ceilings, much original joinery and some leadlight. A clipped box hedge has been cultivated in front of the house to form the words 'Queens Park'. There are also bougainvillea plantings around the house. Close to this are brick bush houses, the smaller of which is a 1941 bush house built by Turley.
The Incinerator Theatre is within a fenced area and has a modern rehearsal hall nearby. Although the former incinerator was intended as an industrial building, it is also aesthetically pleasing in its form and setting and was sufficiently well regarded by the community to trigger a campaign to preserve it. Its aesthetic qualities have been important to the success of its recycling as a venue for the performing arts.
The sports clubs premises in the Park include those of the Ipswich Lawn Tennis Association, which is located on the Chermside Road boundary near Rockton Street intersection. It has several courts and a timber clubhouse with a tiled gabled roof and a gabled porch extending over a verandah at the front. The interior contains an office, early timber shower cubicles and a kitchen.
The Croquet Club has a court (lawn) overlooked by a timber and fibrous cement clubhouse. It is set on low concrete blocks and has a gabled roof clad in corrugated iron and topped by two decorative ventilators. The interior comprises a large open hall lit by windows with coloured glass inserts, a kitchen and (store?)
The Ipswich Bowling Club is located in the northern section of Queen's Park and comprises a two-storey late 20th century brick clubhouse and bowling greens.
Queen's Park also contains several memorials. These are:
The Macfarlane Memorial (1895). This commemorates a former Ipswich mayor and Member of Parliament John Macfarlane and is in the form of a sandstone obelisk on a corbelled base with a leaded marble plaque on the northern face. On the back of the monument, the stonemason is identified as E. Greenway, Ipswich.
The WB Darker Memorial Rotunda (1949). This Rotary Club of Ipswich project is dedicated to Walter Darker; a prominent Rotarian who was Chairman of Directors of several major Brisbane companies, President of the Associated Chamber of Commerce of Australia and Chairman of the Queensland Division of the Red Cross. The shelter is hexagonal in form with a metal-clad roof supported on timber posts with decorative brackets. It shelters seating.
The Naval Monument (1967). This faces Brisbane Street and is a cairn of concrete bricks on a concrete base and is topped by a metal anchor. A metal plaque on the base records its dedication to the naval servicemen of the Ipswich and West Moreton District.
Other built features in the park include an open-air wedding chapel, a modern kiosk and children's playground, bush houses and a nursery.
","history":"Queen's Park, Ipswich is the central section of a reserve granted in 1858 as a botanic garden and park for public recreation.
In 1842 Henry Wade set aside a 'reserve for public recreation and botanic gardens' at Woodend in the first survey of Ipswich, though this was not developed. In 1855 Walter Hill was appointed Director of Brisbane Botanic Gardens and the 'branch' botanic reserves at Ipswich, Toowoomba and Warwick were under his supervision. The people of Ipswich objected to the site reserved by Wade and a public meeting was held in 1856 regarding a change of site to the current area. In 1858, the proposed reserve was approved, provided that land was made available for railway use. It was much larger than the current area now designated Queen's Park and was bounded by Torch Street to the north, incorporating a section of riverbank; Milford Street to the west, Salisbury Road to the south and Chermside Road to the east. It included two major limestone features and a spring in the southern section where Aborigines camped until the 1890s.
In 1859 trustees for the park were chosen in accordance with the system also used for other Queen's Parks. They were all men very prominent in Ipswich in the 19th century - John Panton, George Thorn Jnr., Patrick O'Sullivan, Frederick Forbes, Christopher Gorry, Henry Challinor, Arthur McAlister, Henry Kilner and George Faircloth. The Board of Trustees were formally appointed in 1862 and a Deed of Grant for 207 acres was recorded on 8 May 1862. In the following year they issued rules for opening hours and the protection of flora in the park by impounding grazing animals and banning the cutting of grass and trees. These regulations seem to suggest that the reserve was regarded as a town Common by the public and may have been the trigger for several petitions made between 1863 and 1872 for council control of the reserve.
Walter Hill, Director of the Brisbane Botanic Gardens, supplied plans for the park layout, together with suitable trees from the Brisbane Gardens, including araucarias and cupressus, in 1864, though he noted on a visit in 1876 that the plans had not been followed. However, at this time the trees supplied by him were said to be growing well and the park was in good order with a drive and entrance gates and enclosed by a post and rail fence. The Brisbane Botanic Gardens and Acclimatisation Society had also supplied fruit trees and flowering shrubs by 1875 and a house had been built for the Superintendent. Facilities built while the park was a government garden included a bush house erected in 1890 and a band rotunda constructed in 1891. Ipswich was noted for its champion bands and performances drew huge audiences for Saturday concerts in the park.
Serving a scientific and commercial purpose as well as a recreational one, the park was also active as a horticultural/agricultural experimental station and propagating garden. It supplied plants for Arbor Day plantings and to the Brisbane Botanic Gardens. Trials of clover are reported as being carried out in 1891. Government support was provided in the form of grants in aid and by 1890 the Ipswich gardens had received £8300, more than any other regional reserve except the Botanical Gardens at Rockhampton, demonstrating the importance of the work carried out by such facilities.
The original reserve shrank in area over time. A section to the north of the park which included a length of river bank, was resumed for the railway which opened to Brisbane in 1874 and two roads were cut through the park. This division of the park into three sections affected the way in which the park developed. The central section of the reserve was gazetted as a Park Reserve on 18 August 1891 and a School Reserve to the north was excised. The Central Boys and Girls School reserves were possibly also excised at this time. In 1893 Queen's Park was transferred to Ipswich City Council. The following year, the southern section, now Limestone Park, was transferred to Ipswich City Council
Land within the park was leased to several sporting associations. The first of these was the Ipswich Croquet Club, which was founded in 1902 and was allotted space for a court in the park. The Ipswich Bowling Club was founded in 1910 and opened a green for play in the park in 1912. A clubhouse was built for them to the design of W Haenke in 1914. This was removed to make way for a new clubhouse in the 1960s.
In 1915, F W Turley, who had trained at Kew Gardens in England, was appointed as curator and began a number of works that are still prominent features of the park. Under his direction more trees were planted in what was a still fairly open landscape. Turley planted bougainvillea in several locations in the park, popularising the plant to an extent where it was voted as the floral emblem of Ipswich in 1930. One variety, which has a brick red flower, is called Turley's Special after him. \t
In the 1930s Depression a number of large-scale works including the construction of walls, gates and terracing were carried out in the park by relief labour. The park curator's house was relocated to the current site and in 1936 enclosures were built to accommodate a menagerie. This included emus, kangaroos and ducks and at one time had koalas, dingos and a fox. The sports clubs also commissioned building works in this period. In 1933 William Haenke designed a clubhouse for the Croquet Club and in 1934 a clubhouse was built for the Ipswich Lawn Tennis Association. Haenke also extended the Bowls Club in 1935. He was born in Ipswich and, after working for a Melbourne firm of architects in the 1890s, returned to practice in his native town in 1900 until his death in 1953.
In 1935 a reverberatory incinerator was constructed in the southern section of Queen's Park to process the city's refuse. Built to the design of Walter Burley Griffin, it is now one of only six surviving examples of the twelve incinerators of this type built in Australia. Although it ceased its original function in 1960, it has been adapted as an intimate theatre, opening in 1969 as the home of the Ipswich Little Theatre.
Other sections of parkland were leased for diverse purposes in the Interwar period. In 1928 a service station was established on the northeast corner of the park and a section on the western side was used to construct the King George V memorial scout hall that opened in 1937. Following World War II a kindergarten was constructed close to this site.
In 1960 the introduction of a one-way street system isolated the entrance gates to the northwest and they are now located on a small island between roads. In 1967 the Haenke bowls clubhouse was replaced by a two-storey brick structure, which was extended and modified in 1977.
Queen's Park has continued to develop and recent work has included the redesign of the menagerie as a nature garden and the reconstruction of an early bell gazebo that collapsed in the 1980s. In 2001 the Nerima Japanese garden was created in an area formerly occupied by steel framed glasshouses.
","criteria":"Queen's Park is important in demonstrating the pattern of development in Queensland, being an early park reserve intended to serve the scientific and economic needs of the colony as a botanic garden and also as a place of resort for public recreation. It is also associated with the development of several sports organisations in Ipswich, the croquet, bowls and lawn tennis associations having facilities in the park from early in the 20th century.
|Queen's Park was one of three government reserves for gardens located at the early settlements of Ipswich, Toowoomba and Warwick, other of which were later established in a few other key regional centres.
|It is a good example of its type, being an early Queen's Park Reserve for botanic and recreational purposes, which began under the aegis of the Brisbane Botanic Gardens and the administration of boards of trustees chosen from prominent local citizens, then eventually passing into the control of local government authorities. It preserves examples of mature plantings, garden layout, stone walls, bush houses, rotundas and other park structures which reflect changes in ideas and usage over time.
|Queen's Park has aesthetic significance as a major landmark in the city of Ipswich. Its natural landform of gentle slopes and elevated position contribute to the visual character of the town and important vistas can be obtained to and from the park. It contains several major buildings of good quality design, such as the Burley Griffin incinerator, the sports clubhouses and the park curator's house and features many fine examples of stonework in local limestone.
|The park has a strong association with the people of Ipswich as a place of recreation, incorporating a parklands, zoo area, facilities for tennis, bowls and croquet, a band rotunda, a wedding chapel and is a source for plants for homes in Ipswich.
|It has associations with the life and work of Walter Hill, the first Director of the Brisbane Botanic Gardens, and of the early 20th century curator, F W Turley, who oversaw much of the planting and landscape features that are still evident today and with other curators and gardeners. It is also associated with the prominent Ipswich men who served as Trustees from 1862 until the last part of the 19th century and with architects M W Haenke and W Burley Griffin who designed buildings in the park.
","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":19554,"place_ref":602433,"name":"Ebbw Vale Memorial Park","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Brisbane Road","suburb":"EBBW VALE","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2004-05-17","description":"Ebbw Vale is a small suburb and the soccer field occupies approximately 1/7 of the populated land area.
The park contains two playing fields. The original soccer field faces Brisbane Road and the second field to the rear of the site is also used for cricket, baseball, softball and touch football as well as swap meets and other gatherings.
A car park and a two-storey brick clubhouse separate the two fields. The clubhouse has a skillion roof and large windows on the upper storey that overlook the main soccer field. There is also a bank of stands and a viewing box, a small canteen and concrete toilet block, a metal storage shed and a recreation area comprising a shelter, picnic tables and benches
The other major feature of the park is the war memorial that is situated at the corner of Brisbane Road and Jordan Street. It comprises a square granite base supporting a pedestal of white Helidon sandstone and a life-sized statue of a Digger in marching kit above crossed British and Australian flags. Pilasters of brown sandstone with Corinthian capitals separate recessed marble plaques on each face of the pedestal. These bear the names of 22 volunteers from the district.
","history":"Ebbw Vale Memorial Park was first known as the Whitwood ground, as in the early 1890s the owners of the Whitwood Colliery made the land available for their employees to use as a football ground. The colliery fielded two teams and soccer has been played at this venue ever since together with other sports.
Football in various forms is a very ancient game. It has been played in Britain since at least the Middle Ages, though there were few rules and these varied from one district to another. In 1815 the first written rules were drawn up and 1863 the Football Association was formed in Britain. At this time the two codes of Rugby and Association football were defined. In 1870 an 11 player team was agreed upon and regulations were further refined in the in the 1870s and 1880s.
The word 'soccer' was coined from the abbreviation 'assoc' (as opposed to the derivation of the term 'rugger' from rugby) in the 1880s, though it was not in general use at that time.
This codification took place when many Britons were emigrating to Queensland and Ipswich drew miners from parts of England and Wales where football was very popular. Improvements to conditions and hours of work won by trade unions increased the leisure time of working people, including the gaining of a Saturday half day off, and this helped to promote team games like football.
In Queensland, the Anglo-Queensland Football Association was formed in 1886 and regular matches were held between several Brisbane teams. The Pineapple Hotel was used as headquarters of the Association and a team called the Pineapple Rangers was formed and played in the field behind the hotel, now used again for soccer games. The first soccer game played in Ipswich took place on the North Ipswich Reserve on 26 June 1886. Ipswich became officially involved with the Association from 1887. In 1889, the Association changed its name to the Queensland British Football Association. In the 1890s the game was well promoted and popular in Queensland; Maryborough and Rockhampton also having strong association football teams. Intercolonial matches were staged and in 1914 Brisbane hosted the second annual conference of the Commonwealth Football Association.
The land comprising Ebbw Vale Memorial Park was formed from Lot 227 acquired by William, Joseph, John and James Stafford in 1890 and an irregularly shaped strip of land, part of the adjoining lot 226, which was added to the block in 1892. The Stafford brothers owned the Whitwood Colliery, having sunk the Whitwood number 1 shaft near the end of Whitwood Road, Ebbw Vale in 1887. In 1899, number 2 shaft was sunk on the northern side of the Brisbane-Ipswich Railway line opposite Railway Street. The coal reserves in this area had previously been proven by driving a tunnel under the soccer field from the first shaft.
Several collieries had football teams formed by miners including Stafford brothers at Dinmore, Wright's at Tivoli and Lewis Thomas at Blackstone. The first soccer game at the Whitwood ground to receive press coverage was held on 5 July 1892, though it is clear that games had already been held there for some time. The home team at that game was a combination from the players of the Bush Rats, Dinmore and Whitwood teams. By 1893, the Whitwood ground was also being referred to as 'St Helen's' as well and this name was later used for the football team itself. In 1909, when the nearby railway station opened, it was also called St Helens, before being renamed Ebbw Vale the following year. Ebbw Vale is a town in Wales and was the name of an early coal mine in the area.
In 1904 James Stafford left the colliery partnership and during 1911 all three of his brothers died. Johanna Stafford, widow of Joseph, took over the running of the business, though rising costs and a falling market affected profits. By 1917 she was in partnership with her brother in law, Richard Darker and his son, Walter. Around this time, members of the St Helen's Club, officially formed in 1912, were raising money locally with the intention of purchasing the ground, already referred to in 1915 by the Queensland Times as 'the famous old Whitwood ground'. This did not eventuate and in 1924, the Council of the Shire of Moreton acquired the land, although the mining rights below 70 feet continued with the colliery.
Responsibility for running and maintaining the field was originally in the care of 'trustees' from the local community and it continued to be cared for by volunteer effort, in some cases over three or four generations of the same families. The players are said to have originally used a stand of trees on the ground for changing and then the verandah of Stan McCrea's house nearby.
In the 1940s, team sports suffered as players were called up for the defence forces, but St Helen's organised the 'Ipswich Essentials' composed of miners, railway employees and others in reserved 'essential' occupations. After the war, the club entered a golden era when soccer was very popular in Ipswich and matches between the four major district teams, Saint Helen's, Blackstone Rovers, Bundamba Rangers and the Dinmore Bushrats, were hotly contested. St Helen's was a very successful club and had large spectator support and a number of outstanding players. Lance Petie, Duncan McKenna and Chas Matters played for Queensland and Alan 'Oscar' Pitcairn, Gordon 'Bunny'Nunn, Col Kitching, Cliff Sander and Brian Vogler all played for Australia. Sander, Vogler and Kitching represented Australia in the 1956 Melbourne Olympic team, together with coach Al Warren. 1956 was a peak year for St Helen's peak when they won all major trophies offered.
In the 1960s soccer in Queensland became more professional and top players were drawn to major ethnic clubs in Brisbane. This inevitably had an effect on teams like St Helen's that lost players. Dinmore merged with Redbank and then this club merged with St Helens in 1966 to form St Helens United. In 1967 St Helens regained some team members and won the Ampol Cup.
In 1969, the local war memorial was moved to the grounds from near the Ebbw Vale railway station. This digger statue on a sandstone pedestal was made by A L Petrie and was unveiled on 14 May 1918. It honours those from the area who served in WW I and includes the names of several soccer team members including William Jeffrey, Peter Jeffrey, H Mills and possibly LW Breslin
Ebbw Vale became a suburb of Ipswich in 1949 and in 1971 a new certificate of title was issued to the Council of the City of Ipswich. It continued to be leased to the sports club, initially through individuals, then from 1993 to St Helen's United Soccer and Recreation Club Inc. At this time, the clubhouse was built using volunteer labour.
St Helen's merged with Coalstars Soccer Club in 1997 to form the Ipswich Knights. At the time it was agreed that the Coalstars' ground would be upgraded to QSF Premier League standards and the Ebbw Vale field used women's and junior matches. Some local families now have fourth generation members playing soccer on the field. While soccer has always been played at the ground, it has also provided a venue for cricket and for baseball, softball and touch football. Other clubs have also used the facilities. The field, being an accessible open space, has also been used for community gatherings at Christmas and on Australia Day. A community breakfast was held of the field for Anzac Day 2002.
","criteria":"The ground at Ebbw Vale was made available as a venue for football and cricket games for employees of the Whitwood Colliery in the late 19th century. Soccer became an important sporting activity in Ipswich through the city's coal mining industry and its links with Yorkshire and Wales, where pit football teams were common. The Ebbw Vale field is connected with the development of soccer in Queensland, both as an early pit field and as the home of a successful club that produced a number of state, national and Olympic players in the mid 20th century.
|Ebbw Vale Memorial Park is uncommon as a 19th century soccer ground in Queensland, which has been continuously in use for this purpose. Raymond Park (Pineapple Park) in Brisbane is slightly older, but this has not been in continuous use for soccer.
|Ebbw Vale Memorial Park has been traditionally maintained by community effort and local volunteers have cared for the ground and provided coaches and players, in some cases for several generations. The park has social significance as a testimony of continuous voluntary service and because it forms a recreational focus for the local community.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | 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 a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":19555,"place_ref":602434,"name":"Purga Aboriginal Cemetery","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Carmichaels Road","suburb":"PURGA","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2008-09-18","description":"The Purga Aboriginal Cemetery is located approximately 15 kilometres south of Ipswich City along the Ipswich-Boonah Road. A signpost at Carmichaels Road (off the Ipswich-Boonah Road) marks the turn-off to the cemetery, following Carmichaels Road approximately one kilometre to a right hand turn and travelling c100m to access the cemetery driveway. A recent amenities block has been constructed in the south-west corner of the reserve. This is not considered to be of cultural heritage significance.
The whole area is one hectare with a smaller portion within the reserve fenced off with a chain wire fence and gate. This fenced off portion has a number of early marble headstones, one dating to 1918. Other graves within the fenced off portion are marked by simple timber crucifixes and low-set concrete headstones. The grave of Aunty Janey Arnold is located in the fenced off portion. A number of graves are located in the larger area of the reserve outside the small fenced portion. These graves are marked in various ways including simple timber crucifixes with small brass plaques and concrete surrounds and more elaborate granite headstones. A timber sign in the south-west corner reads 'DOREEN THOMPSON MEMORIAL CEMETERY'.
","history":"Purga Creek Aboriginal Mission comprised areas of land gazetted for Aboriginal purposes from 1892 until they were rescinded in 1948. The first area of land to be gazetted was R.177 situated about 8kms south of Ipswich in an area referred to as Purga Creek (South). Buildings and structures associated with the Purga Creek Mission site no longer exist. The cemetery, gazetted in 1968 but in use much earlier, retains a long association with the Purga Creek Aboriginal Mission with the earliest marked grave dating from 1918 a few years after the establishment of the mission.
The Purga Creek Aboriginal Mission was established in 1914 as a self-supporting farm and a training venture for future employment and remained so until 1948 when the mission closed. At the time the buildings were described as being dilapidated with better facilities available at other State Aboriginal settlements. The closure of the mission also ended a 27 year association of the Salvation Army with the place.
An earlier mission had been established at Deebing Creek in 1892 following the selection by the Aboriginal Protection Society of a suitable site to accommodate Aborigines. Set up in Ipswich by a group of businessmen and women, in 1889 the society was taken over by members of various local church groups. A particular concern of the society was the accessibility of alcohol by the Aborigines. Deebing Creek was a place of residence and work for missionaries and Aboriginal people until 1914 until when the mission moved to Purga Creek. During the period of time when the mission was located at Deebing Creek, R.177 (now known as Lot 219 RP858789) was referred to as the farm at the Nine Mile or the Nine Mile Reserve, with farm produce supporting the Deebing Creek Mission.
One of the first to complain about the suitability of the Deebing Creek Mission site, and the absence of fertile land, was Archibald Meston. In 1897, under the provisions of the Aboriginal Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897, Meston was appointed Protector of Aborigines for south Queensland. Under the act, the lives of Aboriginal people became increasingly controlled by the State, providing for the establishment of government-run reserves, provision for the removal of Aborigines to reserves, provided for written agreements for the employment of Aborigines as well as controlling the residence, movement, employment and wages of Aboriginal people.
In September 1901 an area of 112 acres was gazetted as a temporary Reserve for Aborigines. This was much the same parcel of land gazetted in January 1892 (R.177) though slightly smaller in area. By 1910 several acres of the Nine Mile Reserve had been cleared and stumped and twelve acres had been placed under crop. By 1913, when trying to operate the Nine Mile farm from Deebing Creek became increasingly difficult, a move to Purga Creek about 4kms south of Deebing Creek was proposed. This move was also thought necessary to minimise the temptation for Aboriginal people to obtain alcohol from Ipswich.
In 1914 the Committee governing the Deebing Creek Mission purchased a small farm of 62 acres close to the Nine Mile Reserve at Purga, as a site for the proposed relocated mission settlement. This is understood to be portion 60 (now Lot 60 on CC1433) located between Purga Creek to the west and the Ipswich-Boonah Road and Fassifern Branch Railway to the east, just west of the Nine Mile Reserve. Apart from the convenient proximity to the railway, the new site provided space for the erection of increased dormitory and storage accommodation as well as extra cultivation.
Most of the cost of relocation was met by the State government with £200 being approved towards the cost of removing and re-erecting the principal buildings (including the school) from the old site at Deebing Creek to the new Purga Homestead. Opportunity was taken to discard the old system of slab huts and to erect, utilising inmates' labour, new, neat timber cottages on stumps, to receive the families transferred from Deebing Creek. These cottages were aligned around three sides of a square paddock of about six acres, and could be closely supervised from the official quarters. The resident mission population rose to 85 that year.
Aboriginal children and adults from all over the State - from North Queensland and as far west as Charleville - were sent to Purga Creek Mission. Aboriginal people who were sent to reserves away from their traditional lands are known as historical people. The reserves which became their homes were the traditional lands of other groups, but the State authorities did not take this cultural aspect into account in removing people from place to place. Nonetheless reserves such as Purga Creek Mission became home to those who were sent there by Aboriginal Protectors.
In 1915 there was 20 acres of land under cultivation at Purga Creek, sufficient produce had been grown both to provide for the mission and to sell locally, and the mission had produced prize winning herds of pigs, dairy and beef cattle.
In 1920 the Salvation Army, which appeared to have had some involvement, perhaps from a temperance and charitable aspect, with the Purga Creek Mission from the early mission days, was approached by the State government to take control of the site. The Salvation Army accepted and made immediate improvements, including construction of a large school hall, a dining hall for the orphans, repairs to the girl's dormitory and conversion of the old school into a boy's dormitory. The Salvation Army used the term 'colony' instead of 'mission'. The War Cry reported the official function of the opening of the Aboriginal Colony in January 1921. When the Salvation Army took over there was accommodation for 40 boys and girls and room for 100 Colonists.
The Reports of the Aboriginal Department over the years in relation to Purga were brief, mainly stating the number of orphan children maintained at the Purga Industrial School, an aspect of the Salvation Army work, and an update on the agricultural operation. In 1933 it was stated that a well was sunk in the village. This is the first time the word 'village' is used in connection with Purga Mission. There appeared to be encouragement of the cultivation of private gardens by Aboriginal residents. Whilst archival records for Purga Creek are sparse between 1914 until about 1935, reports from the interwar period show that married couples and their families were encouraged to live in their own huts on the mission and cook for themselves from weekly rations. Orphaned children and unmarried adults resided in dormitories. The Aboriginal men worked on the farm or went out to work.
By the mid-1940s with a decreasing population and with buildings deteriorating a Visiting Justice, JJ Leahy wrote to the Under Secretary of the Department of Health and Home Affairs in January 1947 regarding the poor state of the buildings at Purga. The Salvation Army requested urgent repairs to the buildings at Purga Mission buildings in April 1947. The brief report on the Purga Mission in 1947 showed that renovations and improvements had been made to the buildings. A total of ten children were then at the mission.
In 1948 the Director of Native Affairs indicated that Purga Mission was to be closed, the official date of closure being 30 June 1948, which is also the date of the school's closure. The total number of residents was seven. The children were sent to other Aboriginal Settlements. The Land Administration Board was to take over all the land and improvements within the Mission Reserve, apart from the church building, which was to be left to the disposal of the Salvation Army. The proclamation to rescind a number of reserves including R.177 appeared in the Queensland Government Gazette in December 1948.
In March 1968 a Reserve for an Aboriginal Cemetery (R. 841), under the control of the Director of Aboriginal and Island Affairs as trustee, was proclaimed. An area of one acre (Lot 217 CP858790) was excised from the original R.177 (now lot 219 on RP858789). The earliest marked headstone dates to 1918, indicating that the cemetery was in used from the earliest years of the Purga Creek Mission.
In May 2002 an article headed 'Indigenous community mourns elder' appeared in The Courier-Mail recording the death of Brisbane elder Aunty Janey Arnold, a long-time Indigenous rights and equity campaigner. Aunty Janey was born about 1908 in an Aboriginal camp site on the outskirts of Mitchell. When she was one, Aunty Janey's family was moved to Deebing Creek Mission outside Ipswich and later moved to the nearby Purga Creek Mission. Auntey Janey was buried in the Purga Aboriginal Cemetery.
Harold Blair, the world renowned tenor, was the most famous of Purga Creek Mission residents, being brought to Purga when he was 3 months old and stayed until he finished his schooling at 17 years of age. When he died in 1976 a memorial service was held at the Purga Aboriginal Cemetery and his ashes were scattered at that site.
","criteria":"Purga Aboriginal Cemetery is important as a place of ritual and ceremony having a strong association with the Aboriginal community associated with Purga Creek Mission, established in 1914. The cemetery is the resting place for the Aboriginal people from the Purga Creek Mission and their descendents, including Aboriginal people who were moved to Purga Creek from other areas around Queensland, and who are known as 'historical' people.
|Purga Aboriginal Cemetery is important in illustrating the pattern of Queensland's history as it is connected to the establishment of the Purga Aboriginal Mission in the area in 1914 when the mission moved to Purga Creek from Deebing Creek. Whilst the mission closed in 1948 the cemetery remains open and has had recent burials. The cemetery is a physical reminder of the practice of isolating Aboriginal people from the mainstream Queensland community in the early twentieth century.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion G | Criterion A","criteria_definitions":"The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":19586,"place_ref":602464,"name":"Railway Signal Cabin and Turntable","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Ellenborough Street","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2005-05-27","description":"The elevated timber signal cabin and adjacent turntable are situated close together to the east of the bridge across the Bremer River and are faced on three sides by the exterior walls of a large shopping centre.
The elevated signal cabin is a rectangular timber structure three storeys high. It has a gabled roof clad in corrugated iron sheeting with a timber finial at each end. The cabin houses a 55-lever T-bar interlocking machine by MacKenzie and Holland. The top level houses the signal levers and good visibility is provided for the signalman by banks of windows to each side. The machinery to which the levers are connected is below and single windows light the two lower levels.
An external staircase on the north side gives access to a door on the second level and leads to a narrow landing on the top floor, which is shaded by a roof. The structure contains a pericope for signalmen to obtain a view under the adjoining vehicular bridges over the rail corridor. There is a Synchrome Electric clock on the northern elevation. There is also a semaphore signal mast to the north of the signal cabin.
The turntable is situated to the north east of the signal cabin. It is a standard 60-foot table with pneumatic motor, originally powered by the Westinghouse air brake pump and system on the steam locomotive.
","history":"The three-storey timber signal cabin at Ipswich containing an 1881 McKenzie and Holland mechanical interlocking signal frame and the nearby locomotive turntable and semaphore signal were once important components of the Ipswich railway station infrastructure.
The early governments of Queensland placed a high importance on providing reliable transport from the coastal cities to the productive interior regions and it was one of the motivating factors for the 1859 separation of Queensland from New South Wales.
The first railway in Queensland started from Ipswich, a provincial centre, rather than the capital, because it was thought that river transport adequately linked Brisbane and Ipswich and that the major need was to improve transport between Ipswich and the productive Darling Downs region. Work started in early 1864 and the first section of line, from Ipswich to Grandchester, was opened in 1865, gradually extending to the Darling Downs and eventually further west. Ipswich and Brisbane were linked by rail in 1875.
Although the Ipswich railway workshops were at North Ipswich, the railway station was in the centre of the town, on the southern side of the river. The line from the station passed over a combined rail/road bridge across the Bremer River. It then passed through the workshops, continued beside the river, crossed Mihi Creek and on to Grandchester and the Darling Downs.
There have been three railway stations at Ipswich, all situated close to the same site. The first was immediately south of the Bremer River Bridge and opened on 31 July 1865. When the extension from Ipswich to Sherwood opened on 5 October 1874, space did not allow a direct connection and the trains had to reverse. Trains from Brisbane had to pass the junction then reversed in, while those from Toowoomba could run straight into the station but had to reverse out before continuing to Brisbane. When the Ipswich deviation was opened on 26 April 1875 it provided a direct line through Ipswich. .
Where more than one train uses a railway line it is important to avoid train movements that may result in a collision. Early methods to prevent this included a Staff and Ticket relay system where a physical token was carried on the train and was passed to the next train travelling in the opposite direction before it could proceed. An Electric Staff functioning as part of an electronic system was introduced later, but operated on much the same principle. With the ongoing growth of the rail network, and where train movements have become more frequent and complex, the further evolution of safeworking has seen the development of Centralised Train Control (CTC). This is a system where the signals and points controlling movement are operated from a remote computer location. Within QR other forms of train control are now replacing or augmenting this system also.
An interlocked yard is a railway yard where semaphore or coloured light signals are controlled in such a way that signals cannot be set to proceed unless the points that operate in conjunction with the signals are correctly set. A mechanical interlocking device is a system of rods, sliding bars and levers that are configured so that points cannot be changed in conflict, thus preventing movements that may cause a collision or other accident.
The earliest designs used various ingenious and patented methods to interlock the levers. Stevens & Sons invented a tappet system that later became almost universal but didn't renew their patent so that this system was adopted by many other manufacturers.
McKenzie and Holland (originally McKenzie, Clunes & Holland) were one of the earliest signalling contractors in Britain and supplied many railway companies, though few of these mechanisms now survive. In 1873 they introduced a new design of lever frame that would set the style of all frames to come. A dogleg on the shape of the levers allowed them to stand upright in the frame when in the normal position, which made them easier for a signalman to use. The locking mechanism was known as cam and soldier rotary locking and remained in use for many years, although later models refined the design.
At the International Exhibition in Sydney in 1880, Herbert, the Commissioner for Queensland Railway, was impressed by a display of McKenzie and Holland interlocking machines. The New South Wales Government bought the equipment on display, using it for the first installation in Australia. Queensland ordered the same equipment for Roma Street and Ipswich stations and this arrived in October 1881. Although the interlocking mechanism was a major factor in ensuring safety at busy stations, traffic on much of Queensland's railway lines was insufficient to warrant the installation of the expensive machinery required and most lines obtained safeworking by staff and ticket or a similar system. The fact that the only mechanism installed in Queensland outside Brisbane was at Ipswich suggests a high level of traffic at Ipswich and its importance as a railway centre.
At Ipswich, a contract was immediately let for a signal cabin and the interlocking was completed in late 1883. The design of this first cabin is unknown, but signal cabins in Australia have followed precedents that proved successful overseas and the current signal box generally resembles elevated cabins built by McKenzie and Holland in Britain. On 12 August 1895 a contract was let to W. Chaplain to build a new signal cabin and this is the cabin now in place. It controlled train movements between Thomas Street and East Ipswich stations and to the Railway Workshops across the river. The cabin is unusual in being three, rather than two storeys high, its location making this necessary, so that the signalman could see over the top of the bridge and also the main line to the west.
A contract to build a new station on the through line, in a cutting, was let to Henry Wyman on 9 March 1886. This opened on 17 October 1887. This station had one through platform with dock platforms at either end. Extensive alterations were planned and began in 1914. It was intended to include a new station building west of the original station on the through alignment between West and Waghorn Streets, though this was not built. Work completed included a subway in line with West Street, a new platform and the foundations for the proposed station.. A new 60-foot turntable was installed as part of these alterations in 1921, replacing a 41-foot turntable that was too short to accommodate the new locomotives. Electropneumatic signalling and interlocking was to be installed, but was installed at Gympie instead, so that Ipswich retained its mechanical interlocking system. A third railway station was eventually built in 1974.
The other major feature remaining from the railway infrastructure is a locomotive turntable. Ipswich station was unusual for a major station in having only a single line, as the double track main line between Brisbane and Toowoomba was slewed to pass through the station, which only had one through platform face, other platforms being dead ends. A turntable provides for the rotation of locomotives, being a section of line mounted on a rotating platform with the operating mechanism beneath. As part of the station yard alterations in 1921, a new 60-foot (19 metre) turntable was provided near the elevated signal cabin, replacing the old 41-foot (13 metre) turntable that was too short for modern steam locomotives. An English Cowan Sheldon and Co Ltd no 10297 motor that was installed in 1957 operates it.
Diesel electric locomotives replaced steam locomotives on Queensland railways during the 1960s, with Ipswich being the last fully dedicated steam locomotive depot in southern Queensland. They could travel in either direction without turning so that turntables became unnecessary and many turntables and fork lines have been removed, so that they are now uncommon. The turntable at Ipswich was in use for both steam and diesel a locomotive when many locomotive hauled trains terminated there. The turntable is still a part of QR operations and is still used for turning steam locomotives.
Although Ipswich was only the second station in Queensland to have mechanical interlocking installed, it was retained long after its withdrawal from Roma Street. The technology became obsolete, as electrical interlocking or electro-pneumatic systems replaced mechanical interlocking. Computerised Centralised Traffic Control signalling systems that allow control of trains, generally from a single dedicated location up to several hundred kilometres away, now control most of the network.
The section of railway yard containing the signal cabin and turntable has been isolated from the railway station by the development of a large modern shopping centre. The signal cabin was de-commissioned in 1995.
Positioned on the former main line leading to the Ipswich Railway Workshops is a semaphore signal and mast to the north of the signal cabin, which is now a rare surviving example in Queensland on the main line.
","criteria":"The Railway Signal Cabin with its mechanically interlocked signalling system and Turntable for positioning and turning steam locomotives are evidence of the development of rail transport in Queensland. As the earliest such interlocking system outside the capital, it demonstrates the importance of Ipswich as a railway centre when the establishment of a railway network was seen as the key to encouraging wider settlement in Queensland and providing reliable transport for people, goods and raw materials between the coastal cities and the productive interior regions.
|The McKenzie and Holland mechanism for controlling signals, and consequently train movements, was installed in 1883 as one of only two in Queensland, the other being at Roma Street in Brisbane and which has not survived. It is now rare in Australia, as very few signal boxes survive with mechanical interlocking systems in place, particularly of such an early date.
|The elevated signal cabin is the largest and best surviving example of its type, which is now rare in Queensland, as is the turntable and the semaphore signal. The signal frame is the second largest ever used in Queensland.
|The interlocking system, semaphore signal and the locomotive turntable are good examples of an obsolete technology that was vital to the safe operation of the railway and were technically sophisticated at the time of their commissioning. The signal cabin demonstrates the characteristics of its type well, being elevated and positioned to provide commanding sightlines for the signalman. The top level has banks of windows to provide a good view and lighting. This level houses the lever frame and the level below contains the mechanism. The turntable is a good example of its type, being operational and recently serviced, and in its original location.
The McKenzie and Holland interlocking frame represents the most advanced technology available in its field at the time of its manufacture and made a major contribution to the safety of rail travel.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion F","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 in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":19589,"place_ref":602467,"name":"Heiner Road Railway Overpass","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"2 Downs Street","suburb":"NORTH IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2004-05-28","description":"The overbridge abutments are situated on the north side of the Bremer River near the abutments of the 1865 Bremer River bridge and behind the early goods store (tarpaulin store), which was part of the first Railway Workshops at Ipswich. The overbridge carries a road, but the railway track that ran between the abutments has been removed. Traces of its route can still be discerned in some places by the presence of depressions formed under sleepers and hand forged spikes
The abutments are 21 feet apart and are supported by flanking walls on each side. They are constructed of large coursed blocks of medium to coarse grained and pebbly sandstone with lime mortar. The stone has become considerably weathered, though traces of edge dressing can be seen on some blocks. Ponding and drips of poured lead are visible between and on the front surface of some blocks.
The concrete bridge over the cutting is recent and is marked LXXXX (1990). It does not cover the full width of the abutments and is finished with plain timber handrails.
","history":"The Heiner Road railway overpass was probably constructed in 1864 over the line that connected the government wharf on the Bremer River with the North Ipswich railway workshop site. It consists of a modern bridge over substantial stone abutments that are a rare survivor of the earliest railway infrastructure in Queensland and evidence for the way in which the railway network was established.
A reliable transport network was essential to allow the development of the colony of Queensland and the transport of settlers, goods and raw materials. It is very rare for a first railway to start from a provincial town, rather than the capital and the fact that it did reflects the early history of European settlement.
The first settlement in Moreton Bay had been a penal colony, established in 1824. By 1842, the colony had closed and the area was thrown open for free settlement, though two years before this, squatters had arrived on the Darling Downs and had moved sheep, wool and supplies overland to Sydney, rather than to Brisbane, as it was then was closed to civilian traffic.
Ipswich, at first called Limestone, was first used by the penal colony as a source of lime for building. Being on a navigable river, the Bremer, when free settlement began, it soon developed into a thriving trading centre. By 1843, the Moreton Bay region was represented in the New South Wales parliament and questions concerning the development of the area raised the importance of transport. In 1856, a route from the Darling Downs to Brisbane through Ipswich was surveyed. Planning continued, but in 1859, the long sought separation of Queensland from New South Wales was proclaimed. Elections for a Queensland legislature were held in 1860 and a Select Committee appointed to look into transport. By 1845 the Bremer had a regular river trade but could not take large vessels. Bridges and roads were few and subject to the vagaries of the weather. At the time however, the provision of a rail system was normally considered the province of private enterprise.
Following a failed private scheme to set up a horse drawn tramway, the Queensland government stepped in. The first Railway Bill was presented in August 1863. There was heated debate about the cost, route and construction of the proposed line. Economy was necessary as the population was small and unlikely to make a railway immediately profitable. Moreover, the terrain over the main range to the Downs was difficult. Abram Fitzgibbon, an Irish engineer with international experience in railway construction, was engaged and recommended a narrow gauge track to allow economic construction. This too was controversial but was accepted. The Queensland railway was the first in the world to be constructed as a government enterprise. Surveys for the first section of line between Ipswich and Bigge's Camp were completed by the end of 1863. It was decided to run the line from Ipswich to the Downs because Ipswich was already accessible by water. Tenders were called at the end of 1863 and that of Peto, Brassey and Betts, a well-known British firm, was accepted. Most of the materials, including locomotives in knock down form, were sent from Britain to Ipswich by river steamer and the first sod was turned at North Ipswich on 25 February 1864. The first consignment of materials arrived by steamer on 15 August 1864.
A line was laid down to the wharf to receive consignments of materials and move them to a workshops site on level ground above. Public pressure for a bridge across the river resulted in a change of plan and the terminus was moved to South Ipswich in the business centre. A bridge was constructed to carry both road and rail and was just completed in time for the opening of the first section of rail to Grandchester on 31 July 1865. Following the principles used to keep costs down, most bridges on the first line and on subsequent lines were timber. The Bremer River Bridge was the most important of four metal bridges and it, and the Heiner Road overpass had stone abutments in a similar style. The abutments of the bridge were later rebuilt and the bridge itself superseded, carrying road traffic only.
The Wharf Line continued in importance until Ipswich was linked to Brisbane by rail in 1874, following which river traffic diminished in importance. The line was later extended to Hancock's sawmill and was in use for many years. The railway workshop activities soon outgrew the area near the overbridge and a new site was chosen in 1884. Only the 1870s stores building remains on the original site.
The importance of the Heiner Road overpass diminished considerably when the new David Trumpy Bridge across the Bremer was opened in 1965 and the (1865) road bridge was demolished, leaving only its abutments. The overbridge abutments have weathered considerably and some stone from the upper section is missing. The bridge itself has been replaced at least once and the current concrete and timber bridge does not extend across the full width of the abutments. It is now surfaced with gravel. The rail and sleepers of the wharf line were subject to replacement over the years and have been removed, as has the wharf.
","criteria":"The Heiner Road Railway Overpass is important in illustrating a vital step in the development of Queensland when the first stage of the new colony's railway network was established, opening in 1865. The Wharf Line predated the construction of the main line between Ipswich and Grandchester. Because Ipswich was a river port and the majority of components for the railway were delivered by ship from Britain, the line connecting the government wharf with the workshops, where assembly took place, was laid first and was an essential part of the construction strategy. The plans for the substantial masonry abutments that carried the road connecting with the rail and road bridge over the Bremer River over the this line survive and are evidence for the importance accorded to this overpass and to the inauguration of the transport network essential to develop the colony.
|It is a rare survivor of the earliest railway infrastructure in Queensland and is also one of the very few overpass abutments in Queensland carried out in stone.
","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":19646,"place_ref":602524,"name":"Sandstone Railway Culvert and Remains","alternate_name":null,"street_address":null,"suburb":"WULKURAKA","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2005-06-24","description":"The original line to Bigges Camp ran via North Ipswich roughly following the north bank of the Bremer River before crossing Mihi Creek and turning southwest towards today's Wulkuraka. The original line beyond Wulkuraka is still in use, although it has been duplicated, realigned and re-graded.
The sandstone culvert, a small brick-lined drain and the remains of railway line embankments are all found on the bushland reserve. The remains of the embankments begin in the northeastern corner of the property and end just short of the southern property boundary.
The sandstone culvert is situated in the northeastern corner of the reserve close to the property boundary. The area immediately adjacent to the culvert contains a number of trees of varying ages, and is thickly covered in tall grass and other scrub. The culvert measures approximately 2 metres in width and 2.5 metres in height. The length of the culvert from the southeastern entrance to the remains of the northwestern end is 16 metres.
The base and lower half of the culvert is constructed of poor quality grayish sandstone to a height of approximately 1 metre. These sandstone blocks are heavily weathered as a result of water erosion. The curved roof is made of fired red bricks built in two overlapping layers. Both the sandstone and upper brick structures feature lime mortar, which is in poor condition and is crumbling.
The southeastern end of the culvert remains intact. Inside the culvert, the middle section is largely intact though a small amount of graffiti is present on the upper brick walls. The northwestern end has disintegrated badly. At a point 10-12m from the Southeastern end, the lower sandstone and upper brick sections have collapsed and been washed away. Some of the scattered sandstone blocks have been pecked, suggesting that this side of the culvert was dressed for aesthetic purposes.
A small brick-lined drain is located along the railway line embankment to the southwest of the culvert. This drain is made from the same red bricks as found in the larger culvert. It is difficult to determine the overall condition of the drain as it is heavily silted up, though what is visible is in an average condition.
Significant physical elements of the place include:
- The complex created by the presence of the culvert, the remaining railway line embankments and the small brick-lined drain;
- The sandstone used in the culvert, which is contemporary and probably from the same source as that used in the abutments found in the Heiner Road railway overbridge (QHR 602467).
","history":"The separate colony of Queensland was established in 1859. The few inhabitants of the new colony looked to intensify economic exploitation of the land and increase the size of the population. The building of railways was seen to facilitate both of these aims and as such was given a high priority by the new Queensland government. Consequently, the Southern and Western Railway Bill was introduced to parliament in August 1863 and the government appointed Abram Fitzgibbon, an Irish engineer with international experience in railway construction, as Chief Engineer (later Commissioner for Railways). Fitzgibbon's first task was the construction of a railway between Ipswich and Toowoomba.
Planning for the new railway meant serious economic and geographic challenges had to be overcome. Earlier railway construction in the southern Australian colonies was modelled on the railways of Great Britain and featured broad gauge, double track, easy grades, wide radius curves and substantial station buildings. It was quickly discovered that the construction costs for such a rail system were beyond the budget of the fledgling Queensland colonial government. The natural geography around the Darling Downs also precluded an easy grade, with any railway requiring a steep ascent of the eastern escarpment of the Great Dividing Range and the crossing of several creeks and streams.
Fitzgibbon proposed a radical engineering solution to these challenges through the adoption of a narrow 3 feet 6 inch (1067mm) gauge. Standard gauge at the time was 4 feet 8½ inches (1435mm) and was in itself considered narrow when compared with other broad rail gauges then in use throughout the world. By using narrow gauge, savings on construction costs could be achieved. The disadvantages of such a decision meant sharper curves on ascending ranges, lower speeds, lighter bridges and as a consequence, smaller locomotives and rolling-stock. The use of narrow gauge was largely untried anywhere else in the world, except for small-scale narrow gauge operations in New Zealand and Wales.
Substantial cost savings were also to be made through the use of standard designs for bridges, buildings, houses and yards. At this time, the quality of Queensland timber was largely unknown and little was to be used on the first railway, except for sleepers. Bridges were to be built of iron with brick and stone culverts. It was only later that Queensland became a leader in wooden bridge design, with the emergence of elaborate timber designs and later more economical timber structures.
Construction of the railway was contracted to Peto, Brassey & Betts, a firm with considerable railway construction experience worldwide. A fixed sum contract was negotiated for the construction of the first line between Ipswich and Bigges Camp (today's Grandchester), with a follow on contract for four other sections of line between Bigges Camp and Toowoomba. Lady Diamantina Roma Bowen, wife of the first Governor-General of Queensland, turned the first sod of earth for the first section of railway on 25 February 1864.
The first consignment of construction materials arrived in Ipswich by steamer on 15 August 1864. An initial line was laid down to the wharf in Ipswich to receive consignments of materials and move them to a workshops site on level ground above. Public pressure for a bridge across the river resulted in a change of plan and the terminus was moved to South Ipswich in the business centre. A bridge was constructed to carry both road and rail and was just completed in time for the opening of the first section of rail to Grandchester.
The first trial run along the line with a train was on 13 April 1865. The first section of line between Ipswich and Bigges Camp (a distance of twenty-one miles) was officially opened to traffic to great public fanfare on 31 July 1865. The line ran from the Bremer Bridge and passed the original workshops and running sheds (North Ipswich Railway Workshops Complex - 601526) to the west and crossed Wide Gully. Extensions to the line were later made to Toowoomba (1867), Dalby (1868) and Warwick (1871).
The building of the Sadlier's Crossing Bridge and deviation, which opened in 1875, made the old line via Mihi Creek redundant and it fell out of use except for a short section to the Ipswich workshops and to service a coalmine. The line was officially closed on 26 April 1875.
Queensland Railways demonstrated the viability of the use of narrow gauge, thereby influencing other countries including Japan, Africa and New Zealand to also adopt the technology. The construction of the Ipswich to Bigges Camp railway, of which the Sandstone Railway Culvert at Wulkuraka is a part, set the precedent for the construction and design of the many lightly constructed and sinuous narrow gauge railways that have since been built around the world.
","criteria":"The Sandstone Railway Culvert and Remains at Wulkuraka are important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history as a product of the first main line railway constructed in Queensland. It illustrates the unique development of the Queensland railway network and provides tangible evidence of the geographic, demographic and economic development of the fledgling Queensland colony in the 1860s.
|As physical evidence of Queensland's first railway, the place is an uncommon and endangered part of Queensland's cultural heritage. The sandstone culvert was constructed in 1864-5 and is contemporary to the abutments of the Heiner Road railway overbridge (602467) making it one of the few surviving remnants of the first railway ever to be constructed in Queensland. The Sandstone Railway Culvert and Remains at Wulkuraka are also significant as uncommon and endangered elements of the oldest surviving 3 feet 6 inch railway found anywhere in the world.
|The place has a special association with Abram Fitzgibbon, who made an important contribution as Queensland's first Commissioner for Railways and initiator of narrow gauge rail in Queensland. Fitzgibbon's use of narrow gauge revolutionized railway design in Queensland, Australia and throughout the world. Fitzgibbon also brought with him a number of well-qualified railway engineers, providing valuable expertise in railway construction and design, thereby shaping the development of the modern Queensland rail network.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | 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 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":19872,"place_ref":602562,"name":"Sandstone Railway Culvert","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"About 130m west of the corner of WM Hughes Street and Musgrave Street","suburb":"NORTH IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2008-11-13","description":"The Sandstone Railway Culvert is located in a deep gully about 130m west of the intersection of WM Hughes Street and Musgrave Street at North Ipswich. It is contained within a large undeveloped parcel of urban land that slopes down to the edge of the Bremer River.
The culvert comprises a long tunnel, about 1.2m wide, beneath an unsealed roadway. It is lined on the floor and to about a third of its height along the sides with rusticated sandstone blocks. The blocks lining the floor are long and considerably narrower than those lining the side. There are two courses of blocks on each side of the culvert. The arched roof of the culvert is lined with bricks.
The portals of the culvert are fashioned from dressed sandstone, cut to form an arch; the brick roof of the culvert is not visible externally. At the eastern end of the culvert, the arched sandstone portal intersects with a wing wall made from rusticated sandstone blocks. Both portals are obscured by vegetation at the foot of the gully.
","history":"The Sandstone Railway Culvert (c1865) at North Ipswich is located near the north eastern corner of the North Ipswich Railway Workshops. It is one of the few surviving original components of Queensland's first section of main line railway constructed between 1864 and 1865.
Queensland's colonial government fostered the development of railways as a means of developing the State and providing social benefits. It was argued that rail would reduce freight costs and save travel time for passengers. An added incentive for rail development in Queensland was the very poor state of the roads. In wet weather especially, this hampered the transport of freight.
The Ipswich reach of the Bremer River was chosen as the eastern terminus of the first main line railway instead of Brisbane because of the importance of Ipswich to the Darling Downs pastoralists. The town was located at the intersection of routes to the Darling Downs and Upper Brisbane Valley. It was the head of navigation of the Brisbane and Bremer Rivers and the town reach of the river was a major inland port for the pastoralists. Ipswich residents together with many pastoralists had campaigned for the town to become Queensland's capital. Eventually, Brisbane assumed that role but Ipswich remained an important regional centre.
The Chief Engineer responsible for construction of the railway was Abraham Fitzgibbon, later to be engaged as Queensland's first Commissioner for Railways. Charles Fox and Son, an engineering firm based in England, were appointed as consulting engineers and Peto, Brassey and Betts, contractors with worldwide railway construction experience, were engaged to construct the line. Several months prior to its completion, operating staff also began to be recruited.
Construction of the first section of main line between Ipswich and Bigge's Camp (Grandchester) officially commenced on 25 February 1864 with the turning of the first sod at North Ipswich by Lady Roma Bowen. The first part of the route for this section commenced in the vicinity of the present Ipswich railway station, it crossed the Bremer River at the town reach and followed the north bank from the North Ipswich Railway Workshops, across Mihi Creek and Iron Pot Creek, joining the route of the present main line at Wulkuraka. The line to Bigge's Camp was officially opened on 31 July 1865.
The culverts built for the Southern and Western Line were built to standard designs approved by Fitzgibbon in 1863. They were of masonry or timber construction: concrete was not used for culverts in Queensland until the 1880s. The North Ipswich culvert was built to the standard design for 4ft (1.2m) wide brick culverts. This design comprised a floor and sides of cut sandstone with an arched roof made from a double layer of bricks. Another extant culvert at Wulkuraka (QHR 602524) is built to the design for 6ft (1.8m) wide brick culverts. There are no known examples of intact timber culverts on this section of line.
In 1875, the first part of the route, six kilometres of line between North Ipswich and Wulkuraka including the North Ipswich culvert, was bypassed by a shorter line to the south of the Bremer River via Sadlier's Crossing. This was built as part of the main line connection to Brisbane, approved in 1872. The rail link to Brisbane rendered the river trade along the Bremer and Brisbane Rivers redundant and spelt the end of the river port at Ipswich. A portion of the old line between North Ipswich and Wulkuraka was retained to serve the Railway Workshops and a small coal mine.
The North Ipswich culvert is one of only three known culverts that belonged to the first section of main line. The other culverts (QHR 602524) are located near Wulkuraka. They are the earliest known railway culverts in the State.
","criteria":"The culvert is a highly intact example of the standard design for brick culverts on the Southern and Western Railway. The culvert follows the design approved by the Engineer in Chief for construction of the line, Abraham Fitzgibbon, in 1863 and comprises floors and sides of sandstone with an arched roof of bricks.
|As an original component of Queensland's first section of main line railway, the Sandstone Railway Culvert (c1865) at North Ipswich is important in demonstrating the evolution of Queensland's history. This section of main line, running between the Bremer River at Ipswich and Bigge's Camp (now Grandchester), marked the beginning of Queensland's rail network and was an important step in the economic and social development of the State.
As an element of the now bypassed section of main line between the original terminus at the Bremer River and Wulkuraka, the culvert provides tangible evidence of the economic and geographic priorities of the colonial government in the 1860s. The government decided to terminate the first main line at the Ipswich reach of the Bremer River because it functioned as an inland port for the pastoralists of West Moreton and the Darling Downs. This decision reflected the influence of the pastoralists in these regions and their requirements for faster, more economic transport to port.
|The North Ipswich culvert is rare as one of the few surviving original components of Queensland's first section of main line railway. The railway culverts at North Ipswich and Wulkuraka (QHR 602524) are the only original culverts belonging to the first section of main line that are known to remain intact; they are the earliest railway culverts known to be extant in the State.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion D | Criterion A | Criterion B","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":20499,"place_ref":602567,"name":"Remnants of Ipswich Town Wharves","alternate_name":"Walter Gray and Co Wharf | J & G Harris Wharf | Australasian Steam Navigation Wharf and William Collins and Son Wharf | Ipswich Town Wharves Remnants","street_address":"Bremer Street","suburb":"NORTH IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2006-07-31","description":"The wharf remains are located in the River Terraces development at Ipswich, between the railway bridge and the David Trumpy road bridge.
Site 1
The central position on the riverbank of this site is approximately 27° 36'40.41" S x 152° 45' 39.49" E. Two timber piles are extant on the site projecting out of the water at low tide. These are 3.8m apart and each average 16 cm in diameter. They stand 1.27m from the riverbed to top. They are constructed from a dark red timber, possibly iron bark.
An associated artefact field on the riverbed extends up to 18 m downstream from the downstream pile and upstream merges into the artefact field associated with Site 2. It extends up to 12m into the river channel.
Site 2
The central position of this site is approximately 27° 36'39.77" S x 152° 45' 37.48" E. Three timber bearers measuring about 30 cm in diameter project up to 2.9m horizontally from the riverbank. The outer ends are modified (scarfed) on the underside to enable them to sit onto piles or a wharf head. The timber may be turpentine. A stone wall underneath these bearers is built into the riverbank. This wall is covered at high tide.
An associated artefact field extends upstream from the site and downstream merges with artefacts associated with site 1. The field extends up to 17m into the river channel.
","history":"The remnants of Ipswich Town Wharves are an archaeological site that contains visible remains of two wharves. Horizontal timbers extending from the riverbank, together with an associated stone wall are probably the remnants of the Australasian Steam Navigation Wharf (c1867). Vertical piles projecting out of the river a short distance downstream are probably the remains of the J and G Harris landing (ca1862). The site was also the location of a wharf owned by Walter Gray & Co (1847 - c1862) and was used by William Collins and Son in the first part of the Twentieth Century. Archaeological deposits originating from the wharves also exist on the riverbed.
Ipswich commenced as a convict outstation known as 'Limestone' in 1827. After free settlement began in 1842, the township developed as an important regional centre because of its location at the head of navigation of the Brisbane and Bremer Rivers and at the junction of routes to the Brisbane Valley and the Darling Downs. Goods from these regions were channelled through Ipswich en route to the coast and this trade contributed significantly to Ipswich's rapid growth and prosperity.
The people of Ipswich, together with the Darling Downs pastoralists wielded considerable political influence and agitated for Ipswich, rather than Brisbane, to be made the colony's capital. One of the key factors in favour of Ipswich was its role as an inland port. It was argued that goods could be shipped from Ipswich directly to Moreton Bay, by-passing Brisbane.
There were sound practical reasons why this was a viable proposition. Poor road conditions meant that it was more convenient for the pastoralists to transport bulk goods from Ipswich to the coast along the Bremer and Brisbane Rivers using riverboats. This meant that goods had to be transferred from the riverboats to ocean-going vessels in Moreton Bay but this was necessary even for goods shipped from Brisbane because the Brisbane Bar prevented large vessels entering the river.
A pastoralist, James Pearce, started the first steamer service from Ipswich in 1846 using the vessel, Experiment. In 1848, a committee of townspeople was formed to upgrade the Ipswich 'landing place' to a proper wharf with improved road access. By the 1860s a wharf precinct had developed between the present location of the railway bridge and The Basin, a section of the Bremer River downstream from the town centre that was wide enough to permit steamers to turn.
River trade peaked in the 1860s and 1870s, especially after Ipswich became the eastern rail terminus. In 1860, the Port of Moreton Bay was extended to Ipswich. At least six wharves lined the south bank of the Bremer between The Basin and the bridge. The wharves were linked to large stores built along the north side of Bremer Street. Bales of wool and cotton were slid down chutes to smaller wharf-side sheds. The wharf remnants presently located on the site were once among the largest and most important in the precinct.
Walter Gray's wharf, which was located at Site One, was one of the first wharves to be established in the precinct. In 1847, Gray, a Scottish immigrant, occupied a block of land that extended from Bremer Street to the riverbank at Site One. He commenced business as a general storekeeper and agent trading in wool and other produce which he conveyed to Brisbane using Reid and Boyland's punts. His business reputedly became the largest mercantile house in the district operating extensive stores capable of holding several hundred bales of wool.
Gray became a prominent member of the Ipswich community. He was treasurer of the committee of Ipswich businessmen that built the Ipswich town wharf in 1848. He supported establishing Cleveland as the colony's main port and, in the 1850s, together with other Ipswich businessmen, bought land and signified his intention to build jetties there where punts could load and unload cargoes. Gray promoted cotton cultivation and was a shareholder and director of the Ipswich Cotton Company. In 1860 when the Port of Moreton Bay was extended to Ipswich, his facilities were licensed as the bonded store where dutiable goods could be stored.
In 1856, a surveyor described the wharf as 'not a properly built wharf, but more of an earth bank'. Associated facilities included a shed enclosed on one side with bark near the river, a slab and shingle wool store higher up the bank, a wooden slide down to the wharf from the store, and a road 'cut into the bank and made with stone'. By 1861, wool presses, at least one of which was steam powered, were located on either side of the stores fronting Bremer Street. A steam-powered cotton gin was added, probably in early 1862. Gray also had a store on the corner of Bell and Bremer Streets.
Walter Gray died in 1862 and, by 1865, John and George Harris, merchants and agents from Brisbane, had taken over the wharf site. Harris's and Gray had jointly acted as agents for at least one ocean-going ship just prior to his death. J and G Harris built a large brick store on the southern side of Bremer Street on the Bell Street corner opposite the wharf. They probably also upgraded the wharf to a more substantial timber landing with a new wharf-side shed in the early 1860s. The upstream side of the new shed was shaped in a 'v' configuration to withstand water pressure on the regular occasions that the Bremer flooded the site. In 1867 J & G Harris was paying rent for a water frontage of 130 feet (39.6m). This was the third largest frontage in the precinct. Harris's appears to have ceased operation at the site by 1878 when they applied to the Ipswich Town Clerk to remove their buildings.
The Australasian Steam Navigation Company (ASN) wharf was established next to Gray's wharf between 1856 and 1861. ASN had an interest in the Ipswich shipping trade as early as 1856 when Gray acted as their agent. In 1860 they launched a steamer, Ipswich, specifically for trade between Brisbane and Ipswich. By July 1861, the company had acquired the site next to Gray's and had completed improvements on it.
Originally formed in Sydney in 1839/40 as The Hunter's River Steam Navigation Company, ASN had become the principal shipping firm in the Australian coastal trade by the 1850s. The company commenced a regular service to Moreton Bay when it opened to free settlement in 1842 and in 1844 they established their first wharf facility in Brisbane. The company's activities contributed significantly to the expansion of settlement in Queensland.
Initially, the ASN wharf was a small timber wharf or an 'earth bank' similar to Gray's wharf. A shed was located immediately adjacent to the wharf and a store fronted Bremer Street. A slide linked the wharf-side shed and the store.
ASN rebuilt most of their wharf facilities in 1867 after a flood had destroyed their earlier buildings. A new 90 feet (27.4m) long shed was built next to the wharf. 50 feet (15.2m) of this was partitioned off for customs use. The walls were 10 feet (3m) high and the centre beam, 17 feet (5.1m) high. The structure was fastened with iron ties and braces and roofed with galvanised iron. Like Harris's shed, the upstream wall was shaped in a 'v' configuration to deflect floodwaters. A new wharf was also built at this time. In 1867, ASN were paying rent for a river frontage of 163 feet (49.7m), the largest in the precinct. ASN had probably ceased operations from the Ipswich wharf by 1874 and in 1879 their wharf lease terminated.
After 1875 when the rail link to Brisbane was opened, the period of intense riverboat activity ended. A partial revival of river trade occurred in the 1890s probably due in part to the lack of a rail link to Brisbane after the loss of the Indooroopilly Bridge in the 1893 flood. However, the economic and political motives that had stimulated the trade in the 1860s and 1870s no longer existed and it became difficult to justify expending money on keeping the river route viable.
Nevertheless, two commercial river services operated in the early 20th Century from the site. In 1903 William Collins & Son used a wharf next to the remains of Harris's wharf. Collins operated a number of vessels between Brisbane and Ipswich including the Mary, Eucalypta, Essex, Myora and Advance. A 'stiff legged' timber crane was used to unload goods at the wharf. Increasingly unable to compete with road transport, Collins ceased the river service in ca1927.
In 1932 Percy Manders commenced trading using the 40 feet (12m) cargo vessel MV Eclipse. Manders made three trips weekly carrying 18 - 20 tonnes of all kinds of merchandise. He initially used the former Collins wharf and crane.
Virtually no further development took place at the site from the time of Manders' operation until 2006 when the area was landscaped as part of the River Terraces development.
Prior to this development, in January 2006, archaeological surveys were completed at the sites. These surveys mapped the remains of the wharves and recovered artefacts.
","criteria":"The Remnants of Ipswich Town Wharves on the town reach of the Bremer River, are important in demonstrating the evolution of Queensland's history insofar that they are surviving evidence of the important early river commerce between Ipswich and the coast. Ipswich was one of the first river ports to be established in the colony. As the westernmost point of access to Moreton Bay via the Bremer and Brisbane Rivers, the town was a major port for the Darling Downs and West Moreton until the railway opened to Brisbane in 1875. During this period, the Bremer and Brisbane Rivers below Ipswich constituted one of the most important mercantile routes in the colony. The wharf remnants are evidence of this commerce and Ipswich's key role in it. The wharf remnants are also physical evidence of an important aspect of the historical rivalry between Ipswich and Brisbane. The river trade, in which the wharves played a vital role, underpinned Ipswich's rapid growth and prosperity and was the key to its viability as an alternative export port to Brisbane. The river commerce was an important factor in the town's bid to become the colony's capital.
|The Remnants are rare as surviving physical evidence of the early commerce between Ipswich and the coast along the Bremer River and Brisbane Rivers. There are no other known remains of this important early trade route. The remnants of the wharves are uncommon insofar that they constitute a largely undisturbed archaeological site in an urban setting. The site functioned as a wharf precinct from the 1840s until at least the 1930s. From that period until 2006, no significant built development took place on the riverbank or in the river.
|As an archaeological site, the remnants of the wharves have the potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of the historical river trade along the Bremer and Brisbane Rivers and Ipswich's role in this. They also have the potential to contribute to our knowledge of trade to and from the Darling Downs and West Moreton, regions that made an important contribution to the development of Queensland. Most of the goods being conveyed to or from these areas prior to 1875 were channelled through the Ipswich wharves.The site has the potential to contribute to our knowledge of the Australasian Steam Navigation Company (ASN). An ASN wharf occupied the site from ca 1861 to ca 1874. ASN was the principal shipping firm in the Australian coastal trade by the 1850s. Its activities contributed significantly to the expansion of settlement in Queensland.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion C","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"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":20506,"place_ref":602568,"name":"Bremer River Rail Bridge and pylons and abutments of old bridges","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"off Bremer Street","suburb":"NORTH IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2006-12-11","description":"The Bremer River Rail Bridge and old bridge abutments are made up of a railway bridge that is still in use and the sandstone abutments of two bridges, now removed, that were located immediately to the east of it. On the south side of the river, the bridge and abutments are set in riverside parklands in the business centre of Ipswich. The north side of the bridge and the adjacent north bank abutments are situated in a commercial development.
1865 abutments
The 1865 abutments are physically separate from the other structures a short distance to the east of them.
Made of light coloured, rusticated sandstone blocks, they are wide, massive structures set into the banks of the river. The lower section of the northern abutment is wider than the upper section, forming a kind of plinth. On the southern abutment, the lower courses of sandstone are mostly buried. A sandstone parapet wall is extant along the eastern and western ends at the top of each abutment. Shallow buttresses project from the corners facing the river.
Narrow, horizontal sandstone mouldings running the length of each face divide the facades into horizontal sections. On both abutments a moulding runs along the top of the bottom section, the upper section and the wall.
1897 abutments and piers
These abutments form part of the abutments of the 1915 bridge. They are massive but narrower than the 1865 abutments. Like the 1865 abutments they are set into the riverbank. The 1897 abutments are made of rusticated sandstone blocks darker in hue than the blocks of the earlier abutments. A masonry cornice runs around the top of the wall.
A sandstone parapet wall runs along the eastern edge at the top of each abutment. The walls terminate in rectangular sandstone columns. These columns extend downwards to form pilasters on the eastern facades of the abutments. A narrow projecting sandstone coping runs along the top of each parapet wall.
The dark grey, cast iron cylinder piers that supported the 1897 bridge are still extant. These have wide bases that taper sharply inwards at about one third of the height of the piers. The bridge was supported at two points across the river. At each point is a pair of piers. The bridge sat atop a steel girder that is still extant resting between the tops of each pair. Narrow horizontal members and diagonal braces join each pair of piers at three points between the top and bottom.
1915 bridge
The 1915 bridge comprises three 45.7m spans of riveted, five-panel, through Pratt trusses. Truss bridges usually comprise a combination of vertical and diagonal members fixed between a pair of horizontal girders. Pratt trusses are characterised by diagonal members that slant down, inwards towards the centre of the span. A single railway line passes between the trusses of the Bremer River Bridge and timber decking fills the area between the rails and the structural members of the bridge.
The bridge has concrete abutments designed to match the adjacent sandstone abutments of the 1897 bridge. The cornicing of the 1897 abutments continues around the top of the 1915 abutments. A sandstone parapet wall similar to the one on the 1897 abutment runs along the western edge.
At each of the support points for the 1897 bridge, a third pier, identical in design to the earlier ones, was erected and the supporting beam was extended to support the 1915 bridge.
","history":"The Bremer River Railway Bridge (1915) and the adjacent cast-iron piers (1897) and masonry bridge abutments (1897 and 1865) are located on the banks of the Bremer River near the business centre of Ipswich. The 1865 abutments are the remains of the most substantial bridge on the Southern and Western Railway, the first railway to be constructed in Queensland.
Queensland's colonial government fostered the development of railways as a means of developing the State and providing social benefits. It was argued that rail would reduce freight costs and save travel time for passengers. An added incentive for rail development in Queensland was the very poor state of the roads. In wet weather especially, this hampered the transport of freight. Priority was initially given to providing a railway link to coastal ports for the well-established and influential pastoralists of the Darling Downs.
Ipswich was chosen as the eastern terminus of the railway because of its importance to the Darling Downs pastoralists. The township was a river port, the head of navigation, located at the intersection of routes to the Darling Downs and Upper Brisbane Valley. It was a major inland port servicing the Darling Downs and Ipswich residents together with many pastoralists cherished the hope that the town might become Queensland's capital. Brisbane eventually assumed that role but Ipswich remained an important regional centre.
North Ipswich was originally chosen as the site for the terminus. However, the residents of Ipswich had wanted a high-level bridge to connect north and south Ipswich since the early 1860s. So it was decided to extend the railway to south Ipswich by building a road-rail bridge across the Bremer River. This extension added to the overall cost of the line without contributing to the efficiency of the route. Extra expenditure was needed for the bridge and the additional three kilometres of line needed to reach the new site.
Abraham Fitzgibbon, later engaged as Queensland's first Commissioner for Railways, was appointed Chief Engineer on contract and Sir Charles Fox and Son, an engineering firm based in England, were appointed as consulting engineers. Peto, Brassey and Betts, contractors with worldwide railway construction experience, were engaged to construct the line, including the Bremer River Bridge. Several months prior to the completion of the line, operating staff also began to be recruited.
The original North Ipswich railway workshops were completed in 1864 on a cramped site adjacent to the Bremer River close to the northern end of the planned bridge. It soon began to produce rolling stock for the new railway completing an engine truck in 1865 and ten wagons in the following year.
The first Bremer River bridge was designed by Sir Charles Fox and Son and pre-fabricated in Britain. This may explain the pin-jointed members, as these would have simplified the task of assembly in an economy with little skilled labour and unsophisticated manufacturing technology.
It was a deck-type iron bridge with pin-jointed lattice girders on cast-iron cylinder piers. It had substantial abutments (extant) made from sandstone, similar to that used in the abutments of the Heiner Road Bridge over the former Wharf Branch Line. The stone is believed to have been quarried locally at Denmark Hill. Comprising three spans of 150ft (45.7m), it was 67ft (20.4m) above the high tide level. 12 ft (3.7m) of the width of the bridge was reserved for rail and 23ft (7m) for general traffic. It was an uncommon example of a road-rail bridge and this explains its wide abutments.
The Bremer River Bridge was not the first iron bridge to be completed on the line. The first was completed in April 1865 and crossed Wide Gully. However, the Bremer Bridge was described in the Brisbane Courier (1 August 1865) as 'the most important structure on the first section of the line'.
By Saturday, 29 July 1865, the bridge was sufficiently complete to allow a locomotive to cross safely carrying Macalister (the Lands and Works Minister) and Fitzgibbon. On 31 July, Governor Bowen officially opened the railway at Bigge's Camp (now Grandchester), the western terminus of the line. Fitzgibbon, Hockings (the Mayor of Brisbane) and Herbert (the Colonial Secretary), also participated in the ceremony attended by a large contingent of pastoralists.
By 1866, it became evident that the northern abutment of the bridge was inadequately designed. A report in March 1867 cited inadequate foundations, poor quality masonry and lack of drainage as the cause of the problems. It had to be rebuilt following a flood in May 1867, when cracks appeared under each girder and nearly every stone in the face showed signs of fracture or damage.
In 1875, with the opening of the Ipswich Deviation, the main western line bypassed the Bremer Bridge. Nevertheless, the bridge continued to carry increasingly heavy loads. This is because it provided access to local coalmines and, more significantly, the North Ipswich Railway Workshops, Queensland's largest facility for manufacturing and maintaining steam locomotives and rolling stock. Expansion of the site took place in 1877 and in 1884 construction of new and larger workshops commenced at an adjacent site.
Given the on-going expansion of the Workshops and Queensland Government Railways' program of continually upgrading its locomotives to more powerful ones, the bridge was required to bear a growing volume of traffic including increasingly weighty locomotives en route to or from the Workshops.
In 1881 a new signal cabin and state of the art interlocking mechanism was installed at the southern end of the bridge at the junction of the main western line and the line across the bridge to the Workshops. The cabin of the signal box was unusual in being three, rather than two storeys high, so that the signalman could see over the top of the bridge and also the main line to the west. It was the only such mechanism to be installed in Queensland outside Brisbane at the time and this is indicative of the high volume of traffic passing through the junction.
In October 1893, it was found that the cross girders of the old bridge were overstrained and in many cases showed fracture of the material. A March 1894 memo to the Chief Engineer's Office stated that the bridge was no longer strong enough to carry the current traffic. Instead of recommending the bridge be reinforced, it proposed that a new bridge should be built. This was partly prompted by on-going problems that had been experienced with the Ipswich Council over maintenance of the shared bridge. It was decided to transfer the old bridge to council ownership for the exclusive use of road traffic. The contract for the new bridge was let in January 1896.
This bridge was constructed by Beatty and Walsh under the supervision of Government Engineer, F. L. Keir. The resident engineer was C. S. Graham. Messrs J. W. Sutton and Co of Brisbane cast the cylinder piers and made the girders. The 1897 Bremer River Bridge and the Indooroopilly Bridge were the first to be riveted using a pneumatic machine.
The bridge was a three-span, six-panel, through Pratt truss design resting on concrete filled cylinder piers. It is believed to have been the first bridge to use a Pratt truss on Queensland railways. Like the earlier bridge, it had masonry abutments; these, together with the piers, are still extant. The new bridge only carried a single set of rails. Its substructure was painted maroon and its superstructure French grey.
First introduced in c1890, Pratt truss bridges became Queensland Government Railway's preferred form for major spans until the adoption of reinforced concrete. Patented by Americans Caleb and Thomas Pratt in 1844, the Pratt truss was a very popular design in the United States. The design was such that lighter materials could be used in construction. The diagonal members could be thinner since they were subject to tension forces only and the trusses were deeper enabling the use of bracing across the top members. This stabilised the trusses thus allowing lighter members to be used. This resulted in a more cost-efficient design.
A major expansion of the Ipswich Workshops at the beginning of the 1900s, together with further upgrades of locomotives led to constantly increasing demands on the bridge. The first 12-ton axle load engines, the B17 locomotives, were built at the Workshops between 1911 and 1914. In 1913, the Workshops commenced building C18 locomotives. Together with their C19 derivative, these were the largest conventional locomotives ever to run on the Queensland Government's railways.
Between 1913 and 1915, the substructure of the 1897 bridge was widened and a third bridge (still extant) was built with stronger spans. Like the 1897 bridge, it was a through Pratt truss design. The new bridge was strong enough to carry all of the locomotives in use at the time but the 1897 bridge was restricted to C16/C17 locomotives and was used for shunting operations only.
In March 1967, the 1865 bridge was demolished. It had been rendered redundant in 1965 by the construction of the David Trumpy road bridge. The 1897 bridge was removed in 1987 leaving just the extant span on double track piers.
","criteria":"The earliest masonry bridge abutments (1865), adjacent to the Bremer River Rail Bridge in Ipswich, are important in demonstrating the development of Queensland's history insofar that they constitute physical evidence of the establishment of Queensland's first railway, an important step in the development of the State. They are all that remain of the first Bremer River Road-Rail Bridge, the most substantial structure on this railway. The siting of the 1865 abutments reflects the priorities that influenced the decisions of the Government of the day. Southern Queensland was chosen as the location of the State's first railway because of the priority given to providing a rail link to the coast for the Darling Downs pastoralists. Ipswich was chosen as the eastern terminus because of its importance to the Darling Downs pastoralists as a regional centre and the head of navigation. The location of the bridge within Ipswich was influenced by local demands for a high-level road bridge across the Bremer River.
As an uncommon conjunction on one site of a railway bridge and the remains of two earlier bridges (1865 abutments, 1897 abutments and piers, and 1915 bridge), the Bremer River Bridge structures, as a group, are important in demonstrating the evolution of bridge abutment design and the effect of changing locomotive technology on bridges in Queensland's rail system from its inception until the construction of the most recent bridge in 1915. Three bridges were successively built on the site because of the need to continually upgrade infrastructure as Queensland Government Railways adopted more powerful, heavier, locomotives. Together with an important railway signal cabin and turntable (602464) located at their southern end, the bridges formed important infrastructure supporting the operation of the North Ipswich Railway Workshops (601526). This infrastructure contributes to our knowledge of the operations of the Workshops, which was Queensland's largest facility for the manufacture and maintenance of steam locomotives and rolling stock. As the only rail link to the Workshops from the early 1870s, the Bremer River Bridges were a vital part of its operations and had a relationship to the weight and power of the locomotives being manufactured and serviced by the Workshops at this time.
|The 1865 abutments are rare surviving remnants of Queensland's first railway line. The only other known extant components of the line include some masonry culverts and Grandchester Railway Station.
|The 1865 and 1897 abutments are examples of masonry bridge abutments from the 19th Century and as such, are important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of this type of structure. They are wide, massive structures set into the banks of the river. Masonry parapet walls run along the edges at the top.The 1915 bridge is important as an intact example of a through Pratt truss railway bridge from the early 20th Century. Introduced c1890, the Pratt truss became a popular design for major spans.
|As part of the first Queensland railway line, the 1865 bridge abutments are closely linked to the inception of Queensland Rail and so have a special association with this important Queensland organisation. Abraham Fitzgibbon, the Chief Engineer for the construction of the line, was also Queensland's first Commissioner for Railways. Operating staff for the new railways department were appointed just prior to the railway's opening and the line was the first to be operated by them.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | 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 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":20528,"place_ref":602573,"name":"Baptist Church and Memorial Gate (former), Ipswich","alternate_name":"Central Baptist Church, Ipswich | Former Ipswich Baptist Church & memorial gates | Studio 188","street_address":"188 Brisbane Street","suburb":"IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2006-07-04","description":"The former Baptist Church and memorial gate stand at 188 Brisbane Street in an area of Ipswich called Top of the Town. The former is a rendered brick building with an Art Deco-influenced front elevation comprising a series of engaged piers and a porch, and a gabled, corrugated iron-clad roof; while the gate stands a few metres to the north against the street and consists of a gable roof supported on 6 barley-twist columns. The former church is set back from the street alignment and is raised above it by the steep slope of the site. Its visual dominance of the surrounding area is further embellished by the backdrop provided by the open space behind the memorial gate.
\nEntrance to the church is gained 3 ways: up a tall flight of concrete stairs to the front porch; through the memorial gate and up to a side extension via a recent stairway, and via a ramp that runs from the street and zigzags up the slope to the extension entrance. The sloping ground behind the gate and in front of the former church - cut through by the recently constructed interconnecting stair and ramp - is landscaped with beds of low shrubs and shaded by a number of trees. A concrete retaining wall separating the former church site from that at the rear, which addresses Limestone Street, forms a striking backdrop. A driveway providing access to premises on Limestone Street runs beside the south-western side of the church and is outside the heritage boundary for this place.
\nThe Art Deco-inspired front elevation of the church is the key feature introduced as part of GB Gill's 1938 refurbishment and is made up of a series of engaged piers forming a parapet wall to the main face of the church and repeated in style on its porch. The detailing of the larger piers at each end and framing the centre, along with the smaller piers in the bays created by these, emphasises verticality, as well as solidity. The pattern of render is smooth for the piers and other built-up details, and rough cast in the bays. Double, glass-panelled entrance doors, approached by a flight of concrete steps from the footpath, provide access through the porch. A stained timber Latin cross is fixed to exterior of the door mullions. Tall, narrow windows with no arch at their heads and filled with coloured lead lights, open either side of the porch. Above it, as well in each porch side wall, there are shorter windows of otherwise similar dimensions. The central one is filled with fixed louvres. A set of stained timber, double doors open from the porch into the interior. These are high-waisted with coloured leadlight windows set into each top panel, the design of which features a narrow border, green background lights and a central arrow and torch motif. This patterning is extant in many of the early windows facing Brisbane Street.
\nThe south-western elevation of the church, facing the driveway, has changed little from that designed by Gailey: 6 bays framed with shallow engaged piers connected top and bottom, the first 5 punctuated by tall, narrow windows with round-arches and sills, and that at the rear featuring both a narrow window, shorter than the others because of the sloping land, and a timber door with semicircular fanlight. The bays are rough cast render while the frame is smooth render. The windows are filled with 4 coloured lead lights, 3 of which pivot along the horizontal centre line. The rear elevation is again Gailey's design, rendered in a similar pattern with a rough cast face framed by smooth-rendered, engaged piers at each corner curving to the top plate connecting them under the gable end. A small, narrow window with round-headed arch and fixed louvres opens high into the centre of this wall.
\nThe north-eastern elevation has a gable and hip roof extension appended to it (1994), made of rendered concrete block and timber roof framing with a suspended ceiling. A number of early windows taken from the church wall removed to make way for this extension have been in it. The extension fits generally inside the first and last wall bays of the earlier church. The leadlight glass used in all the original tall, narrow side windows features green rectangular lights inside a narrow red and then yellow border. The side entrance to the former church features a large set of double timber doors surrounded by a glazed frame.
\nThe interior of the former church comprises the extension on the eastern side of the building where front-of-house facilities have been inserted, the former worship hall, which is now the theatre, and some back-of-house facilities in the southern part of the building where the vestry and flower room had been. The theatre space has a new stage at the southern end, behind which the proscenium wall stands with former door openings behind a black curtain. The walls and ceilings feature a regular grid of steel lighting gantries and the original windows are behind coloured screens, set off the wall by approximately 10cm.
\nThe memorial gate stands on the alignment with the street and comprises a gable roof, framed in timber, lined on the ends with weatherboards, and clad in corrugated metal sheeting. The roof is supported on 6 barley-twist columns with ionic capitals and founded on a low wall.
\nA low concrete wall, styled to resemble the front elevation of the church, runs the length of the allotment boundary with the street and footpath. It opens to allow access onto the site, with short piers at the entrance to the gate, the ramp, and the stairs leading to the former church (from north to south along Brisbane Street). A sign has been installed near to the ramp entrance (2012), which is not considered to be of cultural heritage significance. The new stair and ramp, and the landscaping in the area of the memorial ground behind the gate are not of cultural heritage significance.
","history":"The former Ipswich Baptist Church, first designed by eminent Queensland architect, Richard Gailey and erected in 1877 on Brisbane Street, was originally a simple gabled brick building in a classical idiom. The church acquired adjacent land on Limestone Street and established a Sunday School hall and a manse there. An Art Deco-influenced refurbishment of the church was completed in 1938 under the direction of prolific Ipswich architect, George Brockwell Gill. A gateway comprising a gable roof supported on barley-twist columns was opened by the church in 1954 to honour those from the church who fought, suffered and died during World War II, and to provide an entrance to memorial grounds established next to the church on Brisbane Street. In 2004 the congregation established itself elsewhere and the church was sold to eventually be transformed into a performance venue by the Ipswich City Council in 2012.
Ipswich was one of the earliest settlements in Queensland, commencing as a convict out-station known as Limestone in 1827. From its inception as a free settlement in 1842, Ipswich was important as a port on the Bremer River located at the intersection of routes to the Darling Downs and Upper Brisbane Valley.[1] Its people, together with many squatters, cherished the hope that the town might become the capital of the prospective Colony of Queensland, however, Brisbane assumed that role after separation from New South Wales in 1859. Nevertheless, Ipswich remained important as a major regional centre, being declared a municipality in 1860 and then a city in 1904.[2]
The Ipswich Baptist congregation was the second to be formed in Queensland. Initially the colony's first Baptists met in Brisbane as part of a United Evangelical Church formed in 1849 under the leadership of Reverend Charles Stewart, a Baptist Minister, and including Presbyterians and Congregationalists.[3] After the retirement of Stewart in December 1854, the Baptists separated from the union, forming an independent congregation in Brisbane in August 1855.[4]
At Ipswich, the Baptists initially held combined services with the Congregational Church from the early 1850s. They commenced meeting independently in June 1859 in a hired bowling alley and in January the following year officially formed a Baptist Church with 7 members.[5]
The congregation built its first church in August 1860: a small chapel constructed in the West Street garden of the church's first pastor, Rev. Thomas Deacon [he died shortly before the chapel's opening][6]. In the mid-1870s, after Rev. J Straughen took office, the congregation experienced a surge in numbers growing from 38 in August 1875 to 78 in December of the following year. During 1876 it became clear that the West Street chapel was too small and the decision was made to erect a new church building. The Rev. Deacon's widow generously gifted the first chapel, and its site including the house, to the church trustees on the condition that they were used by them in Ipswich. Ultimately that property was sold and another on the main street of town purchased for a new church.[7]
Tenders for the new church were invited in The Queensland Times on 7 October 1876. The firm Messers McKenzie and Co. was contracted for the brickwork and Messrs MacGregor and Brown for the woodwork.[8]
The architect responsible for the design was Richard Gailey, who was a devout Baptist and would become Brisbane's longest-practising and most prolific private architect of the colonial era.[9] Born in Ireland, Gailey trained to be an architect in Londonderry before travelling to Queensland in 1864 and deciding to settle here. He set up as an architect the following year and by 1868 was prospering to a degree that enabled him to marry a woman from Belfast. It is apparently after his wife's conversion to the Baptist faith, that he became a member at the Wharf Street church in Brisbane.[10] For most of the work he did for the Baptists, he gave his services for free; the grandest monument he created for them being the City Tabernacle on the corner of Wickham Terrace and Upper Edward Street in Brisbane, built in 1889-90 (QHR 600175).[11] His other notable works include: the Courier Building in Brisbane's CBD (1885-87, now demolished), the Regatta Hotel at Toowong (1886, QHR 600331), School House at Brisbane Grammar School (1887, QHR 600124), the Smellie and Co. warehouse opposite the Brisbane Botanic Gardens (1888-89, QHR 600097), the Bank of New South Wales (former) in Gympie (1890-91, QHR 602775), Moorlands at the Wesley Hospital site at Auchenflower (1892, QHR 600052) and the Walter Reid and Co. warehouse in Rockhampton (1892-93, QHR 600815). At his death in 1924 at the age of 90 he was described as the 'Doyen of Brisbane Architects' by The Brisbane Courier.[12]
The Ipswich church was the fourth of at least 8 churches or chapels he designed for the Baptists during their greatest period of expansion between 1865 and 1890, and is now the oldest extant one in its original location.[13] The only older church is that in Chapel Street in Nundah, which was built in 1876 to a design by Gailey but later moved from its original site on Fortescue Street in Spring Hill.[14] The simplicity of the Ipswich church design - gable-roofed brick building with engaged piers, round-arched windows filled with stained, leadlight glass (red border and green lights) and gabled porch with decorative balustrade[15] - was typical of Gailey's early work for the Baptists, which otherwise tended to be in timber. His later churches, most notably the City Tabernacle and the Baptist Church on Flinders Parade at Sandgate (1887), are more complex, reflecting the increased strength of the church and the capacity of the congregations they served.
On the Separation Day public holiday, 11 December 1876, Rev. J Straughen presided over a ceremony for laying the foundation stone of the new Ipswich church.[16] A sealed bottle containing Ipswich newspapers and clippings, and a copy of a report read at the ceremony by the church secretary, Mr J Fletcher, were put into a prepared place under the foundation stone. Mr E Gregory, a foundation member of the Baptist church in Ipswich who was also responsible for establishing the Ipswich Herald (later The Queensland Times) laid the foundation stone. He used an ivory handled silver trowel, still held by the Ipswich Baptist Church, and engraved by Mr McCuskie of the North Ipswich railway workshops.[17]
The church was officially opened just over 6 months later on 17 June 1877. It was approximately 25m by 9.8m in plan and about 5.5m high (at the top of its gable) with a corrugated iron roof and a floor of milled boards. Contemporary descriptions of the church state that it could accommodate 350 people.[18] The classical style employed in its design was common in 19th Century commercial and government buildings but relatively rare in churches. Where the classical style was used for a church, it was often by non-conforming denominations such as the Baptists.[19]
The interior of the Ipswich church followed a layout that was typical of those for a Baptist congregation: designed around a symbolic axis, a raised dais was located in the centre of the southern end with a baptismal font, a fundamental part of Baptist worship, immediately beneath it. The pews were arranged symmetrically about the axis in front of the dais and the font.
The new church was completed during a period of economic buoyancy and increased building activity in Ipswich, the colony's 'second town' according to the 1876 edition of the Australian Handbook. Queensland had experienced severe economic depression in 1866 with only gradual improvement occurring over the following decade. As the economy improved during the late 1870s, Ipswich entered a period of prosperity.[20] In July 1877, The Queensland Times noted a considerable number of buildings planned, under construction or recently completed including the Lands Office, a new benevolent asylum (QHR 601821) and the Queensland Woollen Manufacturing Company buildings (QHR 602572). The city' retail and commercial heart centred on Brisbane Street and the area west of Nicholas Street known as 'Top of the Town'.[21]
Baptist Sunday School had commenced at Ipswich by 1864. During 1900 a timber hall for that purpose was built facing Limestone Street on land acquired by the church.[22] This building was designed by local architect, George Brockwell (GB) Gill. Funds for the hall, together with those to enable renovations to the church also carried out in 1900, were raised from bazaars, interest free loans and donations. The Ladies Work Society played a prominent role in fundraising through the sale of their craft work.[23] In 1924 a manse was opened next to the hall and to the rear of the church.[24]
After World War I and years of depression when congregation finances were limited, a scheme to substantially renovate the church was put forward in 1937 during the pastoral term of Rev. Gray A Parker.[25] By the following year the remodelled church was complete[26], its 'futuristic and perpendicular' façade[27] in an Art Deco style that was popular between the world wars but unusual in churches. The front porch was completely replaced and fitted with stained glass, leadlight windows, with matching ones in the front wall, and all of the exterior walls were rendered. The interior alterations included a full-width polished timber vestibule with stained glass, leadlight windows (now removed, matching the design of other new windows in the facade and featuring an arrow and torch motif) and panelling of the vestry with polished timber. The design was completed by GB Gill, the architect for the Sunday School nearly 40 years previously, while the contractor was Mr HE Wildey. Dedication of the renovated church took place on 19 June 1938, when a number of pieces of church furniture were donated: a pulpit table, Communion chair, 2 pulpit chairs, oak hymn-board, crystal vases, pedestal and pulpit hymn book.[28]
Born in London, Gill emigrated to the colonies in 1886 before settling in Ipswich, taking over an existing practice[29] and establishing himself as a active member of the community for over 50 years before his retirement in 1943.[30] Gill was elected Associate of the Queensland Institute of Architects in 1904 and Fellow by 1913. He was its Vice-President from 1914-16 and President from 1918-19.
His early works include Brynhyfryd, a grand residence at Blackstone for Lewis Thomas (1889-90), and the original building of Ipswich Girls' Grammar School (1890-91, QHR 600565), for which he served as a member of the Board of Trustees and later was board Chairman.[31] Later, more outstanding works in Ipswich, include the City View Hotel (1908, QHR 600557), the Cribb and Foote department store (1911) and the Soldiers' Memorial Hall in Nicholas Street (1921, QHR 600592).[32] Of the 16 buildings and 2 memorials Gill designed that are entered in the Queensland Heritage Register, the Ipswich Club (1898, QHR 600581) and the Hotel Metropole, a block further west of the church on Brisbane Street (1906, QHR 600567), are notable examples of his skill with large timber houses and polychrome brickwork respectively.
The Art Deco-inspired refurbishment of the Ipswich Baptist Church is stylistically very different from Gill's other work, and it is plausible that he or a member of his office took inspiration from his work in supervising the construction of the Walter Burley Griffin-designed municipal incinerator (QHR 600596, now a theatre) in 1936 at Queens Park in Ipswich.[33] Early in 1937, the year in which the church refurbishment was being planned, Griffin died unexpectedly aged 60 years while working in India.[34]
The allotment adjacent to the church, purchased by the Baptists in about 1940, was dedicated as a war memorial in 1950 by which time it had come to be used informally as a park.[35] The Rev. JH Bird, who had come to the pastorate in 1947, led a group of volunteers in terracing the area and laying its grass.[36] Concrete steps were set into the terraced faces. On 25 March, the Ipswich Mayor, Alderman JT Finimore, officially opened the park as the Central Baptist War Memorial Grounds.[37]
The memorial entrance to the park, a covered gateway with a plaque and wrought iron gates, was erected 4 years after the park was opened and dedicated by Rev. H Kestell Cornish on 25 April 1954.[38] During the ceremony, the entire congregation led by ex-servicemen filed slowly through the gates.[39] The memorial plaque bore the words 'A tribute of remembrance to the men and women of this church who fought, suffered and died during the 1939-45 war' and was mounted on the front gable.
With a view to the approaching centenary of the Ipswich Baptist congregation, renovations were again undertaken in 1958. The church ceiling had to be replaced, the interior was painted and a cross (now removed) was installed in the apse on the rear wall. The refurbished church was reopened on 15 February 1959.[40]
More changes took place in 1979. The platform area in the church was improved and a larger courtyard area was provided at the entrance. A sealed parking area was also established on the top terrace at this time (between the rear of the church and Baptist buildings on Limestone Street).[41]
The final alterations to be made to the church by the Baptists were in the late 1990s. Between 1993 and 1994, a larger entrance was made into the church on its eastern side.[42] A large covered area was added to this extension in 1998.
In 2004, the Baptists sold the church complex and built a new place of worship in the Ipswich suburb of Brassall. The former church stood vacant for a number of years, becoming a target for vandals, before McDonald's Australia Limited purchased it along with the other properties that had constituted the former Baptist Complex with its church and memorial ground on Brisbane Street, and the Sunday School hall and manse on Limestone Street.
In 2009, McDonald's demolished the hall and manse, and built a retaining wall between that site and the memorial ground and church, in order to construct a restaurant and car park on Limestone Street. It transferred the memorial ground, gate and church to Ipswich City Council in 2012; council then carrying out a substantial refurbishment of the site to create a youth theatrical venue called Studio 188 that operates as an adjunct to the Ipswich Civic Centre.[43] The design for the transformation of the church and its grounds were completed by Gibson Architects, an Ipswich firm.[44]
","criteria":"Constructed in 1877 to a design by renowned architect, Richard Gailey, and given its Art Deco-inspired exterior in 1938 by prolific local architect, George Brockwell Gill, the former Ipswich Baptist Church is the oldest Baptist church known to survive in its original location in Queensland; as such it is physical evidence of the early establishment and later strength of the Baptist congregation in Ipswich. Being the church of only the state's second congregation of Baptists, it also demonstrates the importance of Ipswich as a regional centre during the late 1870s.
The war memorial gate, located adjacent to the former church, is important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history, being associated with the nationwide movement to honour those involved in conflicts such as World War II.
|The Ipswich church is the oldest known surviving Baptist church still in its original location in Queensland.
The Art Deco elevational treatment, applied to the church in 1938 when it was remodelled to a design by Ipswich architect, George Brockwell Gill, is rare for buildings of this type in Queensland; indicative of a preference among non-conforming churches for adopting an architectural style distinct from those employed in Roman Catholic and Anglican churches.
|The former Ipswich Baptist Church is important as an example of the early work of Richard Gailey, Brisbane's longest practising and most prolific private architect of the colonial era. It was the fourth of at least 8 churches Gailey designed for the Baptists, a body of work which culminated in the City Tabernacle in Brisbane (1889, QHR 600175), the denomination's principal place of worship in Queensland. The simplicity and restraint of the Ipswich church's design is typical of Gailey's early work for the Baptists, his later churches being far more decorative.
The church's 1938 Art Deco remodelling is important as an unusual example of the work of prominent Ipswich architect George Brockwell Gill. A resident and active community member of Ipswich where almost all of his work was done, Gill's career spanned more than 50 years from the 1880s. Fourteen of his works in Ipswich alone are entered in the Queensland Heritage Register.
The memorial gate is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a commemorative structure located in a prominent place to act as a tangible and enduring reminder of those men and women from the church who fought, suffered and died during World War II.
|The former Ipswich Baptist church and its memorial gate are important for the significant aesthetic contribution they make to the streetscape of Brisbane Street, one of Ipswich's most important thoroughfares. The verticality of its Art Deco front elevation - set back and raised up from the street with the slope of the site, and standing against a backdrop of open space behind the memorial gate - is visually striking. The aesthetic of the former church and its memorial gate is in strong contrast to the area's commercial character.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion E","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":21160,"place_ref":602581,"name":"James Sangster Memorial","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Downs Street","suburb":"NORTH IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2008-09-18","description":"The James Sangster Memorial is constructed of sandstone and stands 4.5m high. It sits on the Downs Street boundary of Brown's Park, flanked by boundary tree plantings to each side and the rest of the park behind it. It acts as a closure to views east along Canning Lane. The memorial is capped by a broken obelisk, symbolising a life cut short with its floral wreath motifs symbolising remembrance of the dead.
The stepped base on which the memorial fountain stands is relatively plain. Above this base the pedestal carries the bowl at the front, with a column recessed into each corner. Above this is a heavy projecting label mould, which at the front, receives the shaped top of the dedication plaque and on the other three sides bears a laurel wreath. Above the plaque is a wreath, carved chiefly of roses. Dropping from the centre of the broken obelisk is another wreath and under this there is a floral motif located on each face.
The dedication on the replacement plaque reads:
Erected
By
public subscription
in memory of
Constable
James Sangster
who lost his life in
a gallant attempt at
rescue in the flood
waters of the Brisbane River
5th February 1893
","history":"The James Sangster Memorial, located at Brown's Park, North Ipswich, was dedicated on Saturday 7 May 1898 with funds raised by the people of Ipswich. It was erected to commemorate the heroism of police constable James Sangster who drowned, aged 25 years, in February 1893, whilst attempting to rescue two people trapped by floodwaters.
The 1893 floods were the outcome of the 'Mooloolah rainfall event', the highest recorded rainfall in south-east Queensland to that date, with 1715mm of rain falling in 72 hours. From 30 January 1893 the rain effects of three tropical cyclones affected south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales in quick succession. Over 889mm [35 inches] of rain in the Brisbane River catchment caused heavy flooding and extensive damage. Approximately 52,000ha were flooded as the river rose 3m or more above normal level in some places. Over a two week period from 1-14 February 1893, 35 people were killed, 500 were injured and over 5,000 were made homeless. Over 600 houses were destroyed; 150 of these were washed away, many out to sea. Several of the 35 deaths occurred as houses were swept away and others as people tried to use boats in the torrent. In Ipswich the Bremer River overflowed its banks on Friday 3 February with the water reported at being approximately two metres deep in Brisbane Street that night.
On Saturday, 4 February, the Brisbane River rose close to the Jackson family home at Blackwall, near Kholo, about 10kms from Ipswich. Mr Jackson, an engine driver on the Ipswich line, was at work at the time. Mary Jackson remained in the house with John Rowe, a farm worker, whilst Mrs Jackson and her other children, including 17 year-old Kate, rowed to shore. The plan was that, after reaching the riverbank, Kate, who was described as an excellent rower and swimmer, was to return to the house for the other two. As the boat neared the riverbank, however, it overturned. Mrs Jackson and one of her daughters sought refuge in a tree and were rescued by nearby railway workers. In spite of her swimming ability, Kate was not strong enough to hold the other three children (two sisters and a brother) and all four drowned. Their bodies were recovered the following Tuesday.
With waters rising Mary Jackson and John Rowe, who had remained in the house, climbed onto the roof. As the waters rose, the house was lifted and carried downstream crashing into a large tree. Both managed to cling to the tree and climb into branches above the water. Constable James Sangster had arrived at the riverbank on horseback, meeting a rescue party with a boat. He and another man attempted to reach the two but the boat was swamped. Sangster, who could not swim, reached a sapling as the other man swam safely to shore. Rescue attempts continued however the sapling snapped and Constable Sangster disappeared with onlookers powerless to help. His body was never recovered. Mary Jackson and John Rowe remained in the tree for 22 hours until the waters receded and they were rescued safely.
Sangster had applied for admission into the Queensland police force on 21 May 1890 and was sworn in on 4 August 1890, aged 22 years. He had been living in the colony for three years residing for some of that time in Charters Towers. Originally from Aberdeenshire in Scotland, he had no relatives in Queensland. He arrived in Ipswich in November 1890 and was based at the North Ipswich Police Station.
After the tragedy, members of the Jackson family decided to raise funds by public subscription to erect a memorial in Sangster's honour. A memorial fund committee was established to erect a monument in Brown's Park, North Ipswich. The government contributed £20 to the fund. The memorial, occupying a prominent position in Brown's Park, was completed by Messrs C Wilson & Co. and was unveiled on Saturday 7 May 1898 at a well-attended ceremony and to the sounds of the Brisbane Police Band. A marble lion's head was located immediately above the fountain's bowl.
The James Sangster Memorial is the only known monument in Queensland erected by public subscription to commemorate a police officer serving at the time of his death. The Queensland Police Museum records other police officers who have had headstones and memorials erected by police colleagues, including Senior Constable Alfred Wavell who had a memorial headstone erected "by comrades in conjunction with the government of Queensland" at Corinda, south-west of Burketown in October 1889, after being fatally shot whilst on duty. Another officer, Senior Constable William Conroy, had his headstone erected by the "Queensland government and officers and men of the Queensland Police Force" in July 1895. Senior Constable Conroy had been stabbed during a domestic dispute on Thursday Island.
The Sangster memorial was erected at a period when public memorials honouring prominent local citizens were popular expressions of public sentiment. Other Queensland public memorial drinking fountains erected to commemorate an individual include: the Eagle street Fountain, Brisbane (QHR 600087), erected between 1878 and 1880, dedicated to firefighter James Mooney who lost his life whilst fighting a fire in Queen Street in 1877; the Mary Watson Monument, Cooktown (QHR 600421), erected in 1886 by the citizens of Cooktown to honour Mrs Mary Watson, who perished, along with her infant son and her Chinese employee Ah Sam, from thirst and exposure on one of the islands of the Howick group, northeast of Cooktown, in October 1881; the Dr EA Koch Monument, Cairns (QHR 601681), erected in 1903 by the citizens of Cairns, to honour the doctor's work in tropical medicine in Cairns and district in the late nineteenth century; and the FDA Carstens Monument, Port Douglas (QHR 601053) erected c1907-1908 by his widow to honour her husband's work with the Port Douglas Divisional Board.
In 1989 conservation works were undertaken to the James Sangster Memorial by T. A. Farrell, stonemason and sculptor. At this time some of the stonework and the plaque were replaced. The stone came from Helidon with the original stone coming from Denmark Hill. The original lead-lettered, marble memorial plaque has been removed to the Queensland Police Museum in Brisbane.
The James Sangster Memorial is now the focus for the annual Police Remembrance Day service in Ipswich. Since 1989, National Police Remembrance Day has been observed in Brisbane and many regional centres throughout Queensland on 29 September, which coincides with the Feast of the Archangel St Michael who was said to have always fought evil.
The memorial was restored again in 2006 with the State government contributing $9,600 through the Community Memorial Restoration Program and $1,000 donated by the Queensland Police Service. At this time, the monument was moved 15m back from the road further into the park to accommodate widening of the street. Following the restoration the monument was re-dedicated on 4 August 2006, the same day on which Constable Sangster had been sworn in to the Queensland Police Force in 1890.
","criteria":"Dedicated on 7 May 1898, the James Sangster Memorial Fountain is significant for its symbolic association with the impact of the devastating floods of 1893 that affected south-east Queensland. Constable Sangster lost his life attempting to save lives in the floods in the North Ipswich area, his heroism being acknowledged by the community and the colonial government with the construction of the memorial fountain. The James Sangster Memorial is the only known monument in Queensland erected by public subscription to commemorate a police officer serving at the time of his death.
The memorial fountain is distinctive as it provides a tangible and poignant reminder of the impact of the 1893 floods and illustrates how one community worked through a grieving process after it was affected by one of the highest floods recorded in the colony to that date.
","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":31391,"place_ref":645610,"name":"Mihi Creek Complex","alternate_name":"Mi Hi Creek | Mihi Junction | 700010","street_address":"Mihi Junction","suburb":"BRASSALL","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2010-07-16","description":"The Mihi Creek Complex is located at North Ipswich in a grassy expanse of broken, undulating land that slopes down to a bend in the Bremer River. Identifiable remains of coke manufacturing are concentrated in the area north of Mihi Creek in Lot 5 on AP3320. The remnants of the railway are located on both sides of Mihi Creek but particularly evident in Lot 34 on SL4200 and Lot 1 on RP146565.
The route of Queensland first main line railway is featured in original plans held by Ipswich Railway Workshops Museum for the railway. The former railway embankments comprise two sets of raised embankments on Lot 1 on RP146565 (the 1864 alignment) and on Lot 34 on SL4200 (the 1867/8 alignment) and are visible either side of Mihi Creek. Both sets of embankments run in arcs which are roughly parallel to the curve of the bank of the Bremer River to the south.
The larger of the two embankments (the 1867/8 alignment) runs in a gentler curve and is located furthest from the river. The embankments terminate at steep slopes on either side of Mihi Creek where the bridge abutments once stood. On the western side the embankments are readily discernable, rising in height to the edge of the creek. To the east the embankments tend to merge with rising ground and are less identifiable. At the tops of the embankments where the soil is thin, unformed sandstone blocks are visible. The tops of these blocks are at ground level. A number of blocks are also located at the south western corner of the site near where the smaller embankment crosses a gully. A block bearing pick marks is also located in this area.
The remains of an unknown number of broken bridge piles from the 1867/8 bridge remain in situ in the bed of Mihi Creek on Lot 34 on SL4200. Six piles have however been removed to allow the installation of foundations for a new bridge crossing the creek at the same point. From the piles removed, it was noticed that these had sharpened ends reinforced with strips of cast iron and matched the description given for the bridge in the original design drawings.
Dressed sandstone blocks were also identified on the western approaches of the 1864-5 bridge as was a suspected buried sandstone culvert (or the remains of one) on the 1864 line west of Mihi Creek within Lot 1 on RP146565. These remains consist of several cut sandstone blocks, embedded in the side of the 1864 embankment. Later build up of solids on top of this spot, including the installation of garden beds, may conceal more remains from the culvert. A culvert is shown at this location on early plans for the railway. Additional culverts of this style still exist in the nearby area - at Wulkuraka to the west (QHR 602524) and directly east of the site across Mihi Creek at North Ipswich (QHR 602562).
The first battery of beehive ovens, the 'Mihi Ovens' built c.1884 by John Wright and Brydon and Jones & Coy, then owners of the Mihi Mine, is located on Lot 5 on AP3320 immediately north and west of the Klondyke Coke Ovens. The ovens were recorded by Whitmore (1983) and re-located by DERM (2010). In 1987 Whitmore (1991:228) noted a programme of tipping and re-contouring in this area which threatened to engulf the ovens. This fill event has been verified by DERM test excavations (DERM 2010a:1-2). The entrances of three ovens from this original bank of ovens are now partly exposed on the slope situated between the upper and middle terraced areas to the immediate west of the Klondyke Coke Ovens. The full extent and dimensions of the ovens remains unclear, though this battery has been described as consisting of 12 ovens (Whitmore 1983:30). Their orientation is most likely similar to other beehive ovens on the Ipswich - West Moreton field, being either back-to-back or in a stagger pattern. The space between each oven would be filled with earth or rubble for insulation, and evidence of compacted orange clay was recorded in DERM during test excavations in the area (DERM 2010a:1-2). Evidence of a stone retaining wall surrounding the ovens has not been re-located, but sections may still survive.
The remains of a two small brick structures of unknown function are situated immediately north of the oven sites. Unknown Structure 1, located closest to the ovens and immediately above their adjacent rail spur cutting, is constructed of mortared orange bricks and measures approximately 2m x 3m. Metal artefacts of unknown function remain in situ within the structure, and efforts to identify these artefacts may provide information on the function and use of this structure. Unknown Structure 2 is situated 5m north of the first structure. It is constructed of roughly made though well mortared together cement bricks and measures 2m x 2m and is 2m in height. A cement 'capping' has been fitted over the structure, with later bricks added above. The southern elevation features a small cement brick return. The function of this structure remains unknown, though the Unknown Structure 2 may be a capped ventilation shaft installed for one of the two tunnels dug during operations of the Francis Mine on this site between 1908 and 1923.
The 'Mihi Ovens' and adjacent Klondyke Coke Ovens were fenced and partially cleared of pest vegetation by DERM under the supervision of DERM heritage officers between February and April 2010. Stumps and root structures of all large trees and plants remains to help maintain the structural integrity of the surrounding soils and the ovens themselves. The alignment of the fence follows the topography of the area and encompasses the predicted extent of the oven battery, the two unidentified brick structures located above the oven batteries, a section of low retaining wall on the lower terrace area to the south of the ovens, and a number of other elements thought to relate to the coke manufacturing operations. The 'Mihi Ovens' fence is an extension of the existing fencing for the Klondyke Coke Ovens erected by DERM in 2009. It runs adjacent to Parker Lane in the north, then downhill in a southerly direction before running in a southeast direction to rejoin the Klondyke Coke Ovens fence (DERM 2010b:13).
A short section of rail line of unknown date or origin and passing through a small cutting is extant in the vicinity of the coke manufacturing site on Lot 5 on AP3320. This line may represent the spur line constructed sometime between 1884 and 1890/1 while the coke manufacturing operations were owned by John Wright, but would have served the nearby coke ovens (built in the 1940s) and possibly the original battery of 12 ovens located immediately west.
A small bridge, probably originally used as a trolley/tram bridge for the coke or mining operations, was located in the northern section of Lot 5 on AP3320 and is now used as a pedestrian bridge across creek to Clem Street.
Brick debris, coal and coke is strewn across Lot 5 on AP3320 as are metal remnants of machinery including skips, crushing machinery, trammel screens, conveyor buckets and trolley parts.
","history":"The Mihi Creek Complex is a cultural landscape created as a result of mixed within the area since the early 1860s. Past use of the area is divided into two distinct though connected historical phases - the use of the area by Queensland Railways for Queensland's first main line railway, and then as an evolving coal mining and coke manufacturing operation in 1871, concluding around 1960.
1. Railway Operations (1865 - 1875):
Queensland's colonial government fostered the development of railways as a means of developing the State and providing social benefits. It was argued that rail would reduce freight costs and save travel time for passengers. An added incentive for rail development in Queensland was the very poor state of the roads. In wet weather especially, this hampered the transport of freight.
The Ipswich reach of the Bremer River was chosen as the eastern terminus of the first main line railway instead of Brisbane because of the importance of Ipswich to Darling Downs pastoralists. Ipswich was becoming a major inland port and was located at the intersection of important transport routes to the Darling Downs and Upper Brisbane Valley.
The Chief Engineer responsible for construction of the railway was Abraham Fitzgibbon, later to be engaged as Queensland's first Commissioner for Railways. Charles Fox and Son, an engineering firm based in England, were appointed as consulting engineers and Peto, Brassey and Betts, contractors with worldwide railway construction experience, were engaged to construct the line.
Construction of the first section of main line between Ipswich and Bigge's Camp (Grandchester) officially commenced on 25 February 1864 with the turning of the first sod at North Ipswich by Lady Roma Bowen. The original route followed the north bank of the Bremer River crossing Mihi Creek and Iron Pot Creek and joining the route of the present main line at Wulkuraka. The line was officially opened on 31 July 1865.
The first bridge over Mihi Creek was one of four bridges constructed on the line between Ipswich and Grandchester. The embankment of the Mihi crossing was exposed to flood waters from the Bremer River and Mihi Creek and began to subside after a flood in April 1867. The crossing was notorious for the sharp reverse curves in the approaches to the bridge. In May 1868, the Mihi deviation was completed at a cost of about £6350 and opened for traffic. This crossed the creek above the flood level about 200m further up stream and it followed a gentler curve. The old line was removed and the bridge was dismantled and stored.
The line was used until 1875 when a new line was opened to the south across the Bremer River, cutting out the original first six kilometres from the Ipswich Railway Workshops and through Wulkuraka. However, a portion of the line between North Ipswich and Wulkuraka was retained to service the Ipswich Railway Workshops and also for the use of coal mining and coke manufacture that were then occurring at Mihi Creek.
2. Coal Mining and Coking Operations (1864 - c1960)
The discovery of coal in Queensland dates from 1825 when outcrops were observed by Major Edmund Lockyer on the banks of the upper Brisbane River. Two years later, when Ipswich was settled as a convict outstation, known as Limestone, the presence of coal was noted between the convict settlement and Brisbane by Captain Patrick Logan. The following year, explorer Allan Cunningham also marked several outcrops on the Bremer River on his survey map for Governor Darling.
Coal was one of the first minerals in Queensland to be commercially mined. Mining originally commenced at Goodna in 1843 with the West Moreton Coalfield at Ipswich following in the early 1850s.
Primary sources of historical information for coke manufacture in the West Moreton field, and across Queensland generally, are scarce as the early regulation of Queensland's mining industry was focused mainly on gold mining. Coal mining was not regulated until the 1880s with the passage of the Mines Regulation Act 1881, the Mineral Lands Act 1882 and the Mineral Lands (Coal-Mining) Act 1886. The Mines Regulation Act allowed the appointment of mines inspectors and the first was appointed in January 1882. While these inspectors reported regularly on the operations of coal mines, coke manufacture was not covered by the definitions of the Act and therefore not considered officially part of the mining industry and went largely unreported (Whitmore 1983:5). Coal mining was not covered by specific legislation until 1925, and these regulations also made no mention of coking (Whitmore 1983:5). This has led to no systematic record keeping of coke manufacture in Queensland - especially concerning production numbers, value, equipment used, people employed, or any other detailed characteristic (Whitmore 1983:5). Information contained in Queensland government records is fragmentary - except for State owned enterprises such as that at Bowen and Mount Mulligan in northern Queensland (Whitmore 1983:6).
A by product of coal mining, coke was usually regarded as a somewhat unimportant side industry to the actual mining of coal. Coke is used as both a fuel and as a reducing agent in smelting ore and is produced from baking bituminous coal in ovens at temperatures as high as 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,100 degrees Celsius). Coke manufacture became an important extractive industry from the late 1860s with the introduction of mechanically driven transportation, such as steam-powered ships and trains. Sites for coking of coal were most often located adjacent to transport systems, road, rail or water.
In 1871, the Eastwood Mine opened at Mihi Creek and was named after its owner, John Eastwood. The Eastwood Mine was worked during the 1870s and into the early 1880s. Due to the owner's interest in other mines it then laid idle for several years until it was sold to John Wright and Brydon, Jones & Coy in 1884 who renamed the site to Mihi Mine (Whitmore 1983:30). A short rail spur-line was built, connecting their mining rail/tram infrastructure to the Ipswich railway (presumably to the 1868 main line alignment of the Ipswich - Grandchester rail line).
Twelve coke ovens, known as the Mihi Ovens, were soon constructed on the hillside above Mihi Creek (Whitmore 1983:30). Coke ovens erected on the West Moreton Coalfield were exclusively of the beehive type, so called because of their domed appearance. Beehive coke ovens consisted of a brick dome with a small circular opening (an exit flue) at the apex, and a larger arched opening at one side to permit charging and drawing. They were usually constructed in double rows known as batteries. The space between ovens was usually filled with rubble and earth to provide insulation and the whole battery surrounded by a stone retaining wall to resist the outward thrust of the brick domes. The Mihi Ovens remained in use until 1890/1 when Wright's attention was diverted a new coal development at the New Bishop Mine located nearby (Whitmore 1983:30).
It was 1908 before the site was mined again, this time by Paul Francis, a Cornish miner who had been working in the Ipswich area since the 1870s (Whitmore 1991:224; QHR 602566). He named his venture the Francis Mine, constructed a horse whim for hauling loaded coal skips out of his tunnel, sank an air shaft to the workings and erected bunkers of '60-tonnes capacity' (Whitmore 1991:224). The exact location of Francis' first tunnel is not known but in 1917 a second tunnel was driven into the hillside probably below Viking Street (Whitmore 1991:224, 228). A siding was also laid which connected to the railway workshops which terminated below the tunnel.
In 1923 Francis sold the site to a partnership of miners and a barrister who created and floated the company, Klondyke Collieries Limited. As Klondyke Collieries Limited, coke production at the site flourished. The horse whim was replaced by an electric winder, and air shaft sunk to the workings and fitted with an electric propeller fan, a screening and crushing plant was erected, and power supplied by the Electric Supply Company Limited (Whitmore 1991:225).
The ovens were used throughout the 1930s (Bryce 2009:2). By 1942 several new beehive ovens had been constructed to meet the increased demand for coke for smelting purposes though the actual market for this coke remains unknown (Whitmore 1983:11) (see also QHR 602566 - Klondyke Coke Ovens). In 1945 and 1946, Klondyke and Bowen in northern Queensland were the only coke producers in Queensland, with Klondyke turning out approximately a sixth of Queensland's coke production (Whitmore 1983:30).
In 1948 the site changed hands again and was renamed Moreton Colliery and worked until the early 1950s when the pit's supply was exhausted. Bryce (2009:5) recalls that the ovens were still being used as late as 1960. After the closure of the site, coke production was taken over by the nearby Haighmoor site which remained in production for a further 15 years as southern Queensland's only coke works (QHR 602566).
References
Bryce, Ian. (2009) Interview with Margaret Cook.
Department of Environment and Resource Management (2010a) Klondyke Coke Ovens Vegetation Clearing and Test Excavations, 16 March 2010. Unpublished report for Heritage Branch, Department of Environment and Resource Management.
--- (2010b) Klondyke Coke Ovens: Maintenance Work Report, June 2010 [Draft], Unpublished report for Heritage Branch, Department of Environment and Resource Management.
Queensland Heritage Register
601526\tNorth Ipswich Railway Workshops Complex: entry in the Queensland Heritage Register
602524\tSandstone Railway Culvert and Remains: entry in the Queensland Heritage Register\t
602562\tSandstone Railway Culvert: entry in the Queensland Heritage Register
602579\tMi-Hi Creek Railway Bridge Approaches: Nomination to the Queensland Heritage Register.
Whitmore, R.L. (1983) Coke Oven Technology in the Ipswich Area, Report to the Department of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, University of Queensland
-- (1991) Coal in Queensland: From Federation to the Twenties, University of Queensland Press: St Lucia.
","criteria":"The Mihi Creek Complex provides physical evidence and has potential for additional evidence relating to the early development of the Ipswich area, with archaeological artefacts associated with Queensland's first main line railway, early coal mining and coke manufacture.
Archaeological artefacts associated with the early railway are rare surviving remnants of Queensland's first section of main line railway and provide tangible evidence of the priority placed on the development of the Ipswich region in the formative years of the Queensland colony. The very need for the railway reflects a government desire for faster, reliable and more economic transport to and from the region to promote commerce, industry, growth and settlement.
The remnants of coal mining and coke manufacture are important in demonstrating important industries in the region's and Queensland's history. Coke manufacture played an important though under-recognised role in early coal mining and related industries over an extended period of time (1870s - c1960). The Mihi Creek Complex includes archaeological artefacts which illustrate early examples of processes and activities relating to the increasing demand for quality coke for use in early Queensland industry in the late 19th century (particularly for rail and maritime industries and coal-powered engines generally).
Archaeological investigations within the Mihi Creek Complex have potential to answer a range of research questions about late 19th Century railway construction and design, and Queensland's late 19th and early 20th Century coke manufacturing industry.
The area immediately adjacent the former rail line embankments have high potential to contain further structures and archaeological evidence associated with Queensland's first section of main line. This area has potential to provide further information about the construction of rail formations and embankments at the inception of the State's railway development. Comparative analyses of elements of the line within the Mihi Creek Complex area with other known previously recorded features (e.g. QHR 602562, 602524, and 601526) have potential to shed new light on this important development in Queensland's history.
The paucity of primary documentary material relating to coke manufacture in Queensland makes archaeological evidence the primary source relating to coke manufacture. Subsurface remains would feature high integrity due to lack of disturbance since the cessation of coke manufacture in c1960. Archaeological investigations within the Mihi Creek Complex could produce evidence which would confirm or challenge contemporary understandings of the coke industry in Queensland, particularly about coke manufacturing processes, coking infrastructure, coke plant layout, organisation and evolution through time.
While the colliery and coking operations at Mihi Creek were one of a number of the type within the West Moreton Coalfield, they were also one of the longest running (1870s - c1960) and underwent significant change over time, including owners and potentially equipment and production techniques. Archaeological investigations have potential to reveal important information about specific operations at Mihi Creek, particularly the full extent of coal mining and coke manufacture, the types of equipment used (other than beehive oven type and probable number in the original battery), and the precise location of key features.
Coke manufacture at Mihi Creek went through several phases and intra-site analyses into changing work practices and inter-site comparisons with other coke manufacture sites would provide insights into the degree of change and/or continuity in coke manufacture practices on the West Moreton Coalfield and potentially across the State.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion C","criteria_definitions":"The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":null,"place_ref":650002,"name":"Marburg State School","alternate_name":"Marburg Rural School","street_address":"Louisa Street","suburb":"MARBURG","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2015-10-09","description":"Overview
Marburg State School occupies the whole of an approximately 4ha, sloping block within the small rural township of Marburg in the Brisbane Valley. The school complex is accessed via Louisa Street and is surrounded by agricultural and residential properties. Visible from the school entrance and at the highest point of the site is a Sectional School Building (1922). East of the Sectional School Building, a Teachers Residence (1926) faces south to front the entrance driveway. The landscaped grounds are well-established and include an avenue of mature fig trees along the length of the curved driveway that provides an attractive entrance to the school. The layout of the grounds is clearly divided into areas based on use, including: a teaching area with playing field at the southern end; a residence with garden area to the east; a mature forestry plot in the northeastern corner; and a former horse paddock in the northwestern corner. The school is prominent in its rural location and is clearly visible from the adjacent, Warrego Highway.
1922 Sectional School Building (Block A)
The 1922 Sectional School Building is a highset, timber-framed structure that is clad in weatherboards and stands on combination of timber, concrete and metal stumps. The building is long and narrow, running on a northeast-southwest axis, and has a corrugated metal-clad, Dutch-gable roof with circular roof ventilators and additional gablets on the southeastern side. The teachers annexe on the northwestern side has a hipped roof. The building has timber floors and access is via timber stairs to the northern verandah (now enclosed).
An early timber-framed casement window with a horizontally centre-pivoting fanlight is retained in the southwestern wall of the teachers annexe. Recent additions that are not of cultural heritage significance include: modern windows; verandah wall openings; flat sheet wall and ceiling linings; and linoleum and carpet floor linings.
\nThe northern verandah has a raked ceiling clad in v-jointed (VJ), tongue and groove (T&G) timber boards. A small section of early VJ, T&G wall lining is located within the verandah wall of the teachers annexe.
\nThe interior is divided into four classrooms by modern partitions, although timber lattice ceiling vents and metal tie rods indicate the original five-room layout. The coved ceiling is hipped at the end-walls and is lined with VJ, T&G timber boards.
\nThe teachers annexe comprises four administration and storage rooms organised around a central hallway. The two northwestern-most rooms are a modern extension. All walls and ceilings are lined with modern flat sheeting, and the timber floor is lined with modern linoleum.
\nThe understorey has a concrete slab floor and is partially enclosed with timber battening and corrugated metal sheeting. It is used as a shaded play-space and has storage rooms at the southwestern end, enclosed with corrugated metal sheeting – some sections of the corrugated metal sheeting have early Lysaght stamps.
\n1926 Teachers Residence
The 1926 Teachers Residence is highly intact. The building is highset on tall concrete stumps, clad in weatherboards and has a corrugated metal-clad hipped roof. It is comprised of a core of bedrooms, with a verandah (now enclosed) at the front (south) and a dining verandah (enclosed) at the rear (north), and a rear wing attached to the northern side of the dining verandah. Timber stairs provide access to the front and rear verandahs. Wide, timber-framed, corrugated metal-clad window hoods shelter windows on the eastern and western sides, and rounded metal hoods shade the northern windows. Early timber joinery is retained throughout the building including: low-waisted French doors with 2-light fanlights from the core to the front verandah and dining room; low-waisted timber doors with fanlights to the core’s central hallway; VJ timber-clad doors to the pantry in the rear wing and to the understorey washhouse enclosure; and a double-hung timber sash window to the pantry. Other windows are modern, set within original openings. The entry landing (including toilet) on the eastern side of the building is modern and not of cultural heritage significance.
The front verandah retains its single-skin verandah wall, with post and belt rails supporting VJ, T&G timber boards. Its raked ceiling is lined with modern flat sheeting.
\nThe core is comprised of three bedrooms and a living room, centred around a short hallway. The rear wing includes an eastern kitchen with stove alcove, a central bathroom and pantry, and an eastern former servant’s room. All interior walls and ceilings are lined with VJ timber boards; the north and south walls of the dining verandah are single-skin with post-and-belt-rails exposed. The walls of the stove alcove are lined in flat sheeting. A small window seat built into the western wall of the dining room is lined in VJ, T&G timber boards. Skirtings and cornices throughout are timber and of a simple profile. The building’s timber floors are lined with modern carpet and linoleum.
\nThe understorey has a concrete slab floor and is enclosed with timber, battened screens. A washhouse at northeastern end is enclosed with flat sheeting.
\nGrounds and Views
The school grounds are established and well laid-out. The school is prominent in its location and the sloping nature of the site provides opportunities for views of the surrounding, rural area to be obtained from within the school grounds and the school buildings.
The driveway, running approximately northwest from the school entrance toward the Sectional School Building, features an avenue of established small-leaf fig trees (Ficus spp.), with one large leaf-fig tree (Ficus sp.) at the southern end. The avenue enhances the school’s prominence in its location, provides a picturesque setting for the school and generates a strong sense of place upon entry to the school.
\nNorth of the Teachers Residence, a variety of hoop pines (Araucaria cunninghamii), Norfolk pines (Araucaria heterophylla) and kauri pines (Agathis robusta) stand within a forestry plot; sections of which are planted in rows. The forestry plot is accessed from the southern end via a gateway with a metal sign featuring the words, ‘Environmental Park; QLD’s 1st School Forestry Plot; est. 1928’.
\nIn the northwestern corner of the grounds is the horse paddock – a fenced, grassed area that slopes down to a northern creek-bed and features several shade trees.
\nOther structures
Sheds, play equipment, walkways, tennis courts, the multi-purpose hall, and other structures within the school grounds are not of cultural heritage significance.
Marburg State School opened in 1879 as Frederick State School (renamed Marburg State School in 1888) on a small site within the small agricultural settlement of Frederick, to serve its growing rural population. In February 1920, Marburg Rural School commenced in rented buildings until the rural school and primary school moved to the current school site in June 1922. The school has been in continuous operation since establishment and has been a focus for the local community as a place for important social and cultural activity.
\nEuropean occupation of the Rosewood Scrub and nearby Sally Owens Plains for pastoral purposes dates from the early 1840s.[1] Frederick’s (Marburg’s) establishment, as an agricultural settlement, dates from the 1860s when the area was settled, primarily by German migrants.[2]
\nThe original state school opened on a small sloping site in Edmond Street on 18 March 1879. The school, comprising a classroom and residence, was constructed by J Byers and had an average daily attendance during the first year was 31.8 pupils.[3]
\nThe provision of state-administered education was important to the colonial governments of Australia. Following the introduction of Queensland’s Education Act 1860, which established the Board of General Education and began standardising curriculum, training and facilities, Queensland’s public schools grew from four in 1860 to 230 by 1875.[4] The State Education Act 1875 provided for free, compulsory and secular primary education and the establishment of the Department of Public Instruction. This further standardised the provision of education, and despite difficulties, achieved the remarkable feat of bringing basic literacy to most Queensland children by 1900.[5]
\nThe establishment of schools was considered an essential step in the development of early communities and integral to their success. Locals often donated land and labour for a school’s construction and the school community contributed to maintenance and development. Schools became a community focus, a symbol of progress, and a source of pride, with enduring connections formed with past pupils, parents and teachers. The inclusion of war memorials and community halls reinforced these connections and provided a venue for a wide range of community events in schools across Queensland.[6]
\nTo help ensure consistency and economy, the Queensland Government developed standard plans for its school buildings. From the 1860s until the 1960s, Queensland school buildings were predominantly timber-framed, an easy and cost-effective approach that also enabled the government to provide facilities in remote areas. Standard designs were continually refined in response to changing needs and educational philosophy and Queensland school buildings were particularly innovative in climate control, lighting, and ventilation. Standardisation produced distinctly similar schools across Queensland with complexes of typical components.[7]
\nDuring the 1880s Marburg grew as a commercial centre for the surrounding agricultural area and as an administrative centre for Walloon Division (1879-1903).[8] In 1888 the school was renamed Marburg State School to reflect the town’s change of name, and it continued to grow – with additions in 1888, reroofing in 1904, and repairs and improvements in 1908.[9]
\nGrowth of the town continued in the new century. Marburg gained rail connection to Ipswich and Brisbane when the railway line was extended from Rosewood in 1911, but the siting of the railway station reduced the grounds of the school.[10] Additional land on the western side of the school reserve was added but was steep and unsuitable for a playground.[11]
\nThe idea of rural schools, to educate country children in practical subjects, arose in the early 20th century following the establishment in 1897 of the Queensland Agricultural College at Lawes near Gatton to train young men in agriculture and related sciences.[12] The college, administered by the Department of Agriculture and Stock, was part of a wider scheme of introducing ‘scientific agriculture' to the colony, which included experimental farms and travelling model dairies.[13] Within the school system, a limited form of rural instruction was introduced in syllabus changes made in 1905 and 1915.
\nJohn Douglas Story, Under-Secretary of Public Instruction from 1905, believed like many others, that Queensland’s future depended on agricultural development. Between 1914 and 1916 he finalised a plan for three tiers of agricultural education – rural schools, state high schools, and University Agricultural Department. In 1910, to provide expert guidance from within the Department of Public Instruction, Story appointed James Clement Stubbin as Queensland’s Teacher of Agriculture. Stubbin promoted the notion of a scientific approach to agriculture by writing a textbook on the school garden, agricultural bulletins, and constantly touring schools to give lessons on topics such as milk and cream testing, planting and pruning. In 1917 Queensland’s first rural school was established as an adjunct to the Nambour State School. [14]
\nWith the success of the Nambour Rural School, the Department of Public Instruction decided to open three more rural schools in 1920, one of which was at Marburg.[15] Consequently, a 10-acre (approximately 4ha) lot in Louisa Street, about half a mile (805m) to the northwest of the first school site but close to the Marburg town centre with its railway station, was purchased from A Beutel for £250 on 30 August 1920 as the future site of the Marburg Rural School.[16] This proximity to the railway station was important because ‘pupils aged between 12 and 14 years and ex-pupils to 17 years were eligible for free rail travel and free tuition at a Rural School one day per week’.[17] Pupils from Rosewood, Minden, Tallegalla, Lark Hill. Glamorgan Vale, Haigslea and Walloon were allotted a day for attendance at Marburg Rural School.[18]
\nRural school classes were held in rented buildings in the Marburg Show grounds until 1922, when the former school buildings were transported to the new site and repurposed as vocational classrooms.[19]
\nThe purpose of rural schools was to educate children to enable them to develop rural areas and to provide a means of extending country children’s education beyond the compulsory years with an additional year of agricultural and domestic studies.[20] Altogether 30 rural schools opened in Queensland between 1917 and 1939. Each was located in prime fruit-growing, dairying or agricultural areas and functioned ‘as a central school for the surrounding district schools, teaching domestic, commercial, agricultural and vocational classes’.[21]
\nThe new Sectional School Building at Marburg State School was built to a Department of Public Works (DPW) standard design (D/T1), with some modifications, for £2990 and was ready for use on 29 January 1922.[22] A 1921 plan of the Sectional School Building shows it as a long, weatherboard-clad structure, highset on tall stumps, with a Dutch-gable roof and two circular roof vents. A teachers annexe was attached to the verandah on the northern side, and included one space for the head teacher and another for the assistant teachers. Stairs either side of the teachers’ annexe provided access to the verandah, which was enclosed at the western end for hat and coat racks, and at the eastern end for use as a store room. Large banks of windows spanned the southern wall. The interior was divided into five 21ft 6in (6.55m) wide classrooms of varying lengths, and a science room was located at the eastern end. Three western classrooms were connected via folding glass doors and each classroom featured a ceiling vent.[23]
\nTwo vocational training buildings were constructed from the former school building, which was cut in half and moved to the site.[24] Reconstruction and fitting out of the vocational building was supervised by a Mr Ash, for £215/10s, and was completed by 5 March 1923.[25] This included enclosing under the buildings with sheet metal. Its total cost was £718.[26]
\nThe layout of the school grounds was designed by William Ernest Bick, curator of the Brisbane Botanic Gardens. His 1922 report stated that:
\nI found it difficult to make a good approach from street to school buildings owing to [the] sports ground. The roadway is 16ft (4.88 m) on plan and swings around flagpole. The trees on drive and on boundarys [sic] are 33ft (10.06 m) apart.
\nIn the Forestry plots I have provided for about 144 [trees] and proposed to plant 1 of each 6 kinds of soft and 6 kinds of hardwoods. The fruit trees are put down at 25 ft (7.71 m) apart this will give plenty of room for cultivation, it will depend of course on what kind of tree you wish to go in for, and the distance apart can be arranged to suit small growing trees. The space for garden plots I have left for your own design.[27]
\nA meeting of the school committee in 1925 decided the horse paddock in the northwestern corner of the site would be fenced off. The work was to be completed through working bees and the government would supply the wire. During the same meeting, arrangements were made to plant shade trees on the northern side of the school grounds and it was noted that the Department of Public Instruction advised of its intention to construct a new Teachers Residence.[28]
\nMost Queensland state schools incorporated a teachers residence on the site, particularly in rural areas. In Australia, only Queensland offered free accommodation to teachers, the government policy applying to male teachers (only) from as early as 1864. This was partial recompense for a low wage, an incentive for teacher recruitment in rural areas and provided onsite caretakers. Refinement of the standard residence design occurred over time, with each modification responding to teacher complaints and Teachers' Union agitation. Following World War I, teacher shortages were blamed on the inadequacy and shortage of teachers' residences. Consequently, many new teacher residences were constructed across Queensland in the 1930s and again following WWII.[29]
\nResidences designed by the DPW’s architects, and constructed to the high standard demanded by the state, were typically of a higher-quality in design, materials and construction than most similarly-scaled private residences. The detached Teachers Residence was located within the school grounds at a distance from the teaching buildings, usually with a separate, fenced yard with gardens and trees. The designs ranged from one to four bedrooms and evolved simultaneously with the teaching buildings to keep up with modern needs and styles.
\nA new Teachers Residence was built at Marburg Rural School in 1926 for £1145.[30] It was located on the eastern side of the site and faced south toward the entry driveway. The 1926 plan shows the residence as a highset structure, with an 8ft (2.44m) front verandah and a 10ft (3.05m) rear verandah – the rear verandah was enclosed with weatherboard cladding and casement windows. Southern and eastern stairs accessed the front and rear verandahs, respectively. The interior comprised a core of three bedrooms and a dining room arranged around a central hallway; and a rear wing included a kitchen with stove alcove, pantry, bathroom, and servant’s room. The understorey housed a wash house (below the kitchen).[31] In the same year, a fence was constructed around the residence and the understorey was enclosed with battens.[32]
\nThe school retains a forestry plot in the north-east corner of the site, which was the first established in Queensland in 1928.[33] Forestry plots were the product of after-school agricultural clubs, introduced in 1923 at primary schools, under the ‘home project’ scheme. Curriculum driven, these clubs had a secondary commercial value as well as disseminating information and helping to develop a range of skills. The Department of Primary Industry provided suitable plants and offered horticultural advice.[34] School forestry plots were seen by the government as a way of educating the next generation about the economic and environmental importance of trees, as well as providing testing grounds for new species. Located throughout the state, the plots were a means of experimenting with a variety of tree species in different soil and climatic conditions. The sale of timber grown in school plots provided an additional source of income for the school, and the plots themselves were an attractive feature of school grounds. At Marburg State Rural School 275 exotic and indigenous trees were planted initially. Encouraged by the Education and Forestry Departments, by 1953 about 380 Queensland schools were undertaking forestry projects.[35] An account in the school’s 125th Anniversary Book recalls that the trees were ordered from the Department of Forestry, planted in rows, and spaced two metres apart.[36] Trees planted include: Bunya Pine (Araucaria bidwillii), Kauri Pine (Agathis robusta), Crows Ash (Flindersia australis), Mexican Cedar (Taxodium mexicanum), Pinus longiflora, Pinus radiata, Pinus insularis and Silky Oak (Grevillea robusta). Ongoing planting occurred. The trees remaining include Hoop Pine (Araucaria cunninghamii), Kauri Pine, Silky Oak and Norfolk Island Pine (Araucaria heterophylla).
\nIn addition to the usual school subjects, farm-craft, leatherwork, blacksmithing and domestic science were taught.[37] Other activities at the Marburg Rural School were a calf club; a forestry nursery germinating seeds of selected hardwoods and softwoods, and planting the seedling tubes around Marburg; an orchard of citrus and nut trees; pasture renovations using grasses, legumes and fertilizers; potato growing; milk and cream testing; pig raising on the school farm; room competitions; and meal preparation.[38]
\nAs well as the forestry plot, other landscaping and tree planting took place in the school grounds. An orchard was created on the site of the current pre-school; an ant-bed surfaced tennis court was added by the school community in 1927, to the west of the Teachers Residence, after levelling of the site; and paths and gardens were laid out between the school buildings by the early 1930s. Eighteen fig trees (17 small leafed and one with large leaves) lining the driveway from the entrance gate to the school buildings were planted in the 1930s.[39]
\nThe rural school scheme was phased out between the 1940s and 1960s due to a move to larger farms by the late 1940s and the consequent decline in government emphasis on closer settlement; as well as the transfer of domestic, vocational and commercial subjects to the curriculum of the growing number of state high schools.[40] Marburg Rural School reverted to a state school in 1963 after the cessation of vocational and domestic science training at the school. In 1959 the vocational building burnt down and classes were transferred to Ipswich. Domestic science classes ceased in 1963 and the building was sold for removal.[41] This change coincided with a decline in Marburg’s population towards its lowest level in the late 1960s.[42]
\nAdditions and alterations to the school continued in the post-World War II period. In 1959 improvements to the lighting of the Sectional School Building were made for £855.[43] Also at this time, the eastern store room was removed from the verandah of the Sectional School Building. Hat and bag racks were added, and louvres were inserted into the building’s verandah walls.[44] A 1969 plan indicates the extension of the teachers annexe by 16’ (4.88m) to the north to accommodate a staff-room and services-room. At this time, the building’s internal partitions were also altered to accommodate four larger classrooms; and the southeastern and northwestern walls were replaced to include new openings.[45]
\nMinor alterations have been made to the Teachers Residence since its construction. The front verandah has been enclosed with weatherboard cladding and most external windows have been replaced with aluminium frames (the openings remain in their original locations).[46] A 1966 plan shows the addition of a weatherboard-clad toilet extension on the eastern side of the rear verandah, and to accommodate this, the repositioning of the eastern set of stairs.[47]
\nIn 1966 a new toilet block north of the Sectional School Building was installed.[48] A modular pre-school building was added in 1978 southeast of the Sectional School Building, on the former orchard site, and replaced in 1990-1 by a new building southeast of the residence.[49] The modular pre-school building, adjacent the Sectional School Building, was removed from the site between November 2014 and March 2015.[50] The tennis court was relocated to the southwestern corner of the site between 2005 and 2009; and in 2015 the location of the original tennis court is used as a car-park.[51] In 2009 Marburg State School was granted $250,000 for the construction of a multi-purpose hall as part of the Building the Education Revolution project (Primary Schools for the 21st Century (P21) component).[52] This multi-purpose hall was constructed by January 2012 and is located southeast of the Sectional School Building.[53] The flagpole on site in the 1920s is not extant in 2015.[54]
\nCelebrations of the school’s 75th Jubilee were held in 1954, its centenary in 1979 and its 125th anniversary in 2004. The latter two events included publication of the school’s history.[55] The school’s bell, which had been stolen, was replaced in 1979 and is located northwest of the Sectional School Building in 2015.[56]
\nIn 2015, the school continues to operate from its 1922 site. It retains its Sectional School Building, Teachers Residence, forestry plot and horse paddock, as well as its landscaped grounds. The school is important to Marburg, having been a focus for the community and generations of Marburg and district students have been taught there. Since establishment it has been a key social focus for the Marburg community with the grounds and building serving as the venue for many social events.
","criteria":"Marburg State School, established in 1879, is important in demonstrating the evolution of state education and its associated architecture in Queensland. It retains good examples of standard government designs that were architectural responses to prevailing government educational philosophies. At Marburg State School these standard designs are: a Sectional School Building (1922), which demonstrates the evolution of Department of Public Works (DPW) timber school designs to provide equally for educational and climatic needs; and the highly-intact Teachers Residence (1926), which provides evidence of Departmental policy to provide accommodation for married male head teachers as an inducement to teach in country areas and to provide a resident caretaker on the site.
\nThe school is important surviving evidence of the establishment of rural schools in Queensland, a popular initiative to provide a practical education for rural students and encourage them to stay on the land.
\nThe forestry plot (1928), the first established in Queensland, is important surviving evidence of a movement to convey the economic and environmental importance of forestry to students while creating an attractive landscape feature and income for schools.
|Marburg State School is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of Queensland state schools with their later modifications. These include: timber-framed buildings constructed to standard designs by the Queensland Government; and generous, landscaped sites with mature shade trees and play areas.
\nThe Teachers Residence is an excellent, intact example of its type – retaining its highset, hipped roof and weatherboard-clad form with early joinery; and comprising a core of three bedrooms and a living room, a front verandah (now enclosed), a rear dining verandah (enclosed), and a rear kitchen and bathroom wing.
\nThe Sectional School Building is a good example of its type, retaining its highset form with play space beneath, gable roof, blank end walls, northern verandah, large south-facing windows, projecting teachers rooms, and internal features such as coved ceilings lined in tongue-and-groove boards.
\nThe forestry plot at Marburg is an excellent example of its type, containing several pine tree species planted in rows.
|Marburg State School, with its grounds designed by William Ernest Bick (horticulturalist, landscaper and curator of the Brisbane Botanic Gardens 1917-40), is important for its aesthetic significance. It possesses beautiful attributes due to the intactness of its well-composed original layout, which includes: a Fig-lined driveway that gracefully sweeps from the entrance, uphill around the school oval and to the school buildings; a forestry plot; a horse paddock; mature trees; and expansive rural views. The sloping grounds are divided into areas designated for specific uses, creating a harmonious park-like landscape within a rural setting.
|Schools have always played an important part in Queensland communities. They typically retain significant and enduring connections with former pupils, parents, and teachers; provide a venue for social interaction and volunteer work; and are a source of pride, symbolising local progress and aspirations.
\nMarburg State School has a strong and ongoing association with the Marburg community. It was established in 1879 through the fundraising efforts of the local community and generations of Marburg children have been educated there. The place is important for its contribution to the educational development of Marburg and district and is a prominent community focal point and gathering place for social and commemorative events with widespread community support.
","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":null,"place_ref":650021,"name":"Ipswich North State School","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"9 Fitzgibbon Street","suburb":"NORTH IPSWICH","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2016-02-05","description":"Ipswich North State School occupies a prominent site located in the predominantly residential suburb of North Ipswich. The school is bounded by Fitzgibbon Street to the north, Downs Street to the west, the former school residence and tennis courts to the south, and residences along Pine Street to the east. The heritage register boundary encompasses the western portion of the allotment (1.32ha); an area consistent with the 1871 school reserve and defined by two level rectangular platforms surrounded by concrete retaining walls (1934-37). Facing Fitzgibbon Street, the prominent Depression-era Brick School building (Block A, 1934-37) is situated on the northern platform and makes an important visual contribution to the streetscape, and is a landmark for the area. The southern (lower) platform comprises a large playing field with perimeter shade trees.
\nDepression-era Brick School building (Block A, 1934-37)
\nBlock A is a substantial, classically-detailed, two-storey masonry structure, with an undercroft. The building is L-shaped in plan and comprises three sections: a symmetrically arranged range (1934) with projecting entrance bay to the front (north) elevation; a single storey extension to the east (1934); and a double storey wing, with undercroft, to the west (1937) that projects from the front elevation. The hipped roof is clad with terracotta tiles. A modern wing (Block B) is connected to the southeast of Block A and is not of heritage significance.
\nThe building is elegantly composed, with load-bearing face brick walls and rendered decorative elements to the first and second floors; and a rendered base finished to resemble channel-jointed ashlar. The face brick is primarily red and has contrasting pilasters of a dark brown brick, which have simple, rendered capitals. The projecting entrance bay features a gabled pediment over a central first floor doorway, which has a rendered aedicule and is accessed from a landing flanked by stairs. The pediment is supported by pilasters and a circular accent vent with rendered surround is centred on the face brick tympanum. The projecting gabled wing to the northwest features similar classical detailing but is narrower and without external stairs; as are the two pedimented bays that frame the south elevation of the range.
\nThe interior layout of the central range is symmetrical, with face brick stairwells at the east and west ends flanked by enclosed landings (former hat rooms) that are used for storage and offices. Verandahs (enclosed c1952) on the northern side access the first and second floor classrooms. There are three (formerly five) classrooms to the first and second floors, with modern concertina doors inserted to form a narrow utility space with sink on each floor. The classrooms have plaster walls with picture rails, timber-framed floors covered with modern carpet, and flat sheeted ceilings with timber battens. The classrooms retain original partition bulkheads and latticed ceiling vents, which indicate the original layout. The projecting entrance bay has a central hallway flanked by reception and a sick room to the first floor, and a teachers’ room and computer-server room to the second floor. The first and second floors of the western wing have two rooms each separated by a central hallway that is a continuation of the verandah. A vertical vent (1952) is retained in the office adjacent to the western stairwell, on the second floor.
\nThe building retains much of its original timber-framed joinery. Windows to external walls are predominately banks of tall narrow-sash casements with fanlights, set between the face brick pilasters. Windows to the face brick verandah walls are double-hung sashes with fanlights and concrete sills. Classroom doors are low-waisted panelled timber with fanlights. Joinery has been removed to form openings in the face brick walls to the first floor hallway in the west wing. The verandahs have been enclosed with banks of awning windows. The verandah floors are concrete, covered with modern vinyl. Early sinks are retained at the eastern end of the verandahs.
\nThe undercroft level has a perimeter of rendered piers and walls and is primarily open play-space. The central piers are face brick that have been painted with bright colours and murals. Bathrooms are located at the east and west ends. They retain original layouts and v-jointed (VJ) timber lined partitions. The floor is concrete and the area under the western wing has outlines for hopscotch and other games inscribed into the slab. Timber bench seats are situated between the perimeter piers.
\nLandscape Elements
\nThe school grounds are well established and the sloping site has been terraced to form two level platforms with school buildings and a parade ground to the north, and sporting facilities on the lower platform to the south. Both platforms are surrounded by Depression-era concrete retaining walls with concrete surface drains and silt pits.
\nThe northern platform (1934) is roughly square in plan and features a centenary memorial entrance gate (1967) on the corner, at the intersection of Downs and Fitzgibbon Streets. Concrete stairs, centred on the northern and western retaining walls, also provide access from the street. Block A is prominently sited on the platform, set back from Fitzgibbon Street behind a symmetrically arranged landscaped area with garden beds and a semicircular concrete pathway. A parade ground to the south of the building has a bitumen surface with line markings for a basketball court. A row mature fig trees (Ficus sp.) is situated in a grassed area to the west of the parade ground. Concrete stairs punctuate the retaining wall between the north and south platforms, which is painted with murals.
\nThe level playing field on the southern platform has a cricket pitch to the centre and shade trees to the perimeter. There is a row of mature figs on the eastern side, figs and a silky oak (Grevillea robusta) to the west, and a mature fig to the south. Concrete stairs in the southern retaining wall (1937) provide access to the former tennis courts below (outside the heritage register boundary).
\nThe school is sited on a rise, and the elevated position and terraced nature of the site affords opportunities for views to and from the surrounding area. The substantial-sized Block A is a prominent feature of the streetscape and is a landmark for the area.
\nOther structures
\nElements within the registered boundary that are not of cultural significance include: Block B and adjacent modern storage block; modern amenities and landscape features; and modern partitions and joinery.
\n","history":"
Ipswich North State School, located east of Downs Street and south of Fitzgibbon Street in North Ipswich, opened in 1867 as North Ipswich National School, to accommodate the growing population of North Ipswich. In the mid-1870s the school was divided into a Boys School and a Girls and Infants School, which were reclassified as state schools c1876. In 1935 the two schools combined to form Ipswich North State School, housed within a Depression–era Brick School Building (constructed 1934, extended 1937). The school includes terraced grounds, retained by concrete walls which were built around the Brick School Building and its parade ground in 1934 and around the lower playground in 1937. The school has been in continuous operation since its establishment and has been a focus for the local community as a place for important social and cultural activity.
\nNorth Ipswich is an early suburb of the city of Ipswich, which was initially known as Limestone.[1] After the penal settlement closed in 1839, and free settlement began from 1842, Limestone was renamed Ipswich, and developed as a river port for pastoralists on the Darling Downs. Ipswich became a municipality in 1860, and was proclaimed a part of the port of Moreton Bay the same year.[2]
\nNorth Ipswich’s development accelerated from the early 1860s. The area north of Lawrence Street, around the later site of Ipswich North State School, was subdivided in 1864;[3] by which time an immigration depot existed on the North Ipswich side of the Bremer River.[4]
\nMany of the immigrants arriving at the North Ipswich depot were destined to work on Queensland’s first railway. Construction of the Southern and Western Railway commenced with a ceremony in North Ipswich on 25 February 1864.[5] The first section, to Grandchester, was opened in July 1865 and passed through the site of the current railway workshops in North Ipswich [QHR 601526]..[6]
\nThe development of Ipswich and North Ipswich soon led to schools being established. In pre-separation Queensland, education was provided initially by fee-charging religious schools and private academies. They catered principally for children in the main population centres of Brisbane and Ipswich.[7] A more organised approach to education commenced with Governor Fitzroy’s appointment of a National Board of Education in 1848. The Board established and administered schools where parents contributed one-third of the building costs and guaranteed an average attendance of at least 30 pupils.[8] Schools were opened in Warwick (1850), Drayton (1851) and Brisbane (1859).[9] Following separation from New South Wales in late 1859, the Queensland Government introduced the Education Act 1860, which created a Board of General Education to oversee the development and administration of schools in the colony. The number of public or national schools increased from four in 1860 to 230 by 1875.[10]
\nTwo national schools, each sub-divided into separate schools for boys and girls, were established in Ipswich in the early 1860s: in Brisbane Street (Ipswich); and Omar Street (Little Ipswich, now West Ipswich State School, QHR 600606). In 1864 these schools had an total average daily attendance of 201 and 103 pupils respectively,[11] and by April 1865 there was a movement to establish a national school in North Ipswich, where a building had already been hired for teaching local children.[12]
\nThe establishment of schools was considered an essential step in the development of early communities and integral to their success. Schools became a community focus, a symbol of progress, and a source of pride, with enduring connections formed with past pupils, parents, and teachers.[13]
\nAt a meeting of local residents in the North Ipswich immigration depot in April 1865, a Mr Fitzgibbon moved that a primary school of the vested class be founded under the Board of General Education. Mr Hawthorne, of the Ipswich Grammar School (established 1863), stated that ‘seeing there had been such a large influx of population to North Ipswich on account of the important works [the railway] now going on, it was time a school was established.’[14]
\nThe site of the National School (No.61) at North Ipswich, on an allotment of over 2 acres (0.8ha) that was granted by the Government (the current site, east of Downs Street, and south of Fitzgibbon Street), was arranged in March 1867 by R Macdonnell, the Inspector General of Schools, and the school was later opened by Macdonnell on 1 July 1867.[15] However, the school site was not officially gazetted until 1871, when 3 acres and 30 perches (1.3ha), was gazetted a Reserve for a National School.[16]
\nThe school originally operated from a timber building, divided into separate rooms for the boys and girls, which was ‘very pleasantly situated on an eminence commanding a fine view’.[17] The initial enrolment was 26 pupils, but this rose to an attendance of 90 by September 1867.[18] In the 1860s North Ipswich was mostly thick bush, and pupils who rode to school kept their horses in a paddock fronting Lawrence Street.[19]
\nThe North Ipswich National School expanded and was reorganised in the 1870s. In the mid-1870s it was divided into the North Ipswich (or Ipswich North) Boy’s School No.61, and the North Ipswich (or Ipswich North) Girls' and Infants' School No.246.[20] In September 1875 the Girl’s and Infant’s school had 186 pupils enrolled and 141 pupils present, while the Boys School had 111 enrolled and 74 present.[21] By June 1876 the Boys School was in its own building, while the Girls and Infants School had two buildings.[22] The two schools became state schools, under the State Education Act 1875, which provided for free, compulsory and secular primary education and established the Department of Public Instruction. [23]
\nEnrolment at the two schools reflected the continued development of North Ipswich. By the late 1870s, businesses in North Ipswich included a sawmill (Reilly),[24] the Queensland Woollen Manufacturing Company (operational 1877, at the east end of The Terrace), and Ipswich Gas and Coke (operating from 8 The Terrace from 1878). [25] The railway workshops also continued as a major employer. A brick Railway Store Building [QHR 600604] was built in 1878-79, and in 1884 new railway workshops were built further north, two blocks northwest of the North Ipswich schools.[26] In 1887 it was reported that North Ipswich was rapidly advancing, with new houses near the new workshops, plus a police station and barracks and a Post and Telegraph Office built within the preceding year.[27]
\nThe Boys School and Girls and Infants School at North Ipswich continued to expand from the 1880s, with additional buildings added to each. [28] In 1907 a tender for a new teacher’s residence was accepted,[29] and in 2015 this was still located to the south of the school, fronting Lawrence Street.
\nIpswich also continued to grow. It was declared a city in 1904, and by 1910 it had a population of 10,000. At this time there were 22 coal mines near Ipswich, including at Tivoli, north of North Ipswich.[30] Businesses in North Ipswich by this time included Arthur Foote’s joinery works, the Pommer Brothers’ North Ipswich Ice and Butter factory (still extant, 9 The Terrace), and FE Barbat & Sons, Engineers.[31] During World War I, the railways workshops employed 1600 men.[32]
\nBy 1933 a decision was made to combine the boys, girls and infants schools into one new, multi-storey building. That year, the railway workshops had 1300 employees (down from 2400 ‘not long ago’),[33] the Boys School had an enrolment of 231, and the Girls and Infants School had an enrolment of 293.[34]
\nThe new school building was a result of a Government initiative to boost employment. The Great Depression, commencing in 1929 and extending well into the 1930s, caused a dramatic reduction of building work in Queensland and brought private building work to a standstill. In response, the Queensland Government provided relief work for unemployed Queenslanders, and also embarked on an ambitious and important building programme to provide impetus to the economy.
\nEven before the October 1929 stock market crash, the Queensland Government initiated an Unemployment Relief Scheme, through a work programme by the Department of Public Works (DPW). This included painting and repairs to school buildings.[35] By mid-1930 men were undertaking grounds improvement works to schools under the scheme.[36] Extensive funding was given for improvements to school grounds, including fencing and levelling ground for play areas, involving terracing and retaining walls. This work created many large school ovals, which prior to this period were mostly cleared of trees but not landscaped. These play areas became a standard inclusion within Queensland state schools and a characteristic element.[37]
\nIn June 1932 the Forgan Smith Labor Government came to power from a campaign that advocated increased government spending to counter the effects of the Depression. The government embarked on a large public works building programme designed to promote the employment of local skilled workers, the purchase of local building materials and the production of commodious, low maintenance buildings which would be a long-term asset to the state. This building programme included: government offices, schools and colleges; university buildings; court houses and police stations; hospitals and asylums; and gaols.[38]
\nMany of the programmes have had lasting beneficial effects for the citizens of Queensland, including the construction of masonry brick school buildings across the state. Most were designed in a classical idiom as this projects the sense of stability and optimism which the government sought to convey through the architecture of its public buildings.
\nThe construction of substantial Brick School Buildings (type E/B1)[39] in prosperous or growing suburban areas and regional centres during the 1930s provided tangible proof of the government’s commitment to remedy the unemployment situation. The Queensland DPW and Department of Public Instruction 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. [40]
\nDepression-era Brick School Buildings form a recognisable and important type, exhibiting many common characteristics. Frequently, they were two storeys above an open undercroft and built to accommodate up to 1000 students. They adopted a symmetrical plan form and often exhibited a prominent central entry. The plan arrangement was similar to that of timber buildings, being only one classroom deep, accessed by a long straight verandah or corridor. Due to their long plan forms of multiple wings, they could be built in stages if necessary; resulting in some complete designs never being realised. Ideally, the classrooms would face south with the verandah on the north but little concession was made for this and almost all Depression-era Brick School Buildings faced the primary boundary road, regardless of orientation. Classrooms were commonly divided by folding timber partitions and the undercroft was used as covered play space, storage, ablutions and other functions. [41]
\nDespite their similarities, each Depression-era Brick School building was individually designed by a DPW architect, which resulted in a wide range of styles and ornamental features being utilised within the overall set. These styles, which were derived from contemporary tastes and fashions, included: Arts and Crafts, typified by half-timbered gable-ends; Spanish Mission, with round-arched openings and decorative parapets; and Neo-classical, with pilasters, columns and large triangular pediments. Over time, variations occurred in building size, decorative treatment, and climatic-responsive features.[42] The Chief Architect during this period was Andrew Baxter Leven (1885-1966), who was employed by the Queensland Government Works Department from 1910 to 1951, and was Chief Architect and Quantity Surveyor from 1933 to 1951.[43] The drawings for the new school at North Ipswich (1933) are initialled F.T.J (drawn and traced), presumably Frederick Thomas Jellet, born in 1898, trained in Victoria and employed by the Queensland Department of Works as a temporary draftsman in the 1920s.[44]
\nDuring 1934 the new Brick School Building at North Ipswich was constructed on the site of the old timber Girls and Infants school, facing Fitzgibbon Street. During the 1933-34 school holidays the northern wing of the latter was relocated to a site ‘between the main body of the girls school and the playshed’, to be used for classes during construction of the new school.[45]
\nBy April 1934 work on the new building was well in hand. Concrete retaining walls, approved in November 1933 at a cost of £1768,[46] were also nearly completed. It was stated by the Under Secretary of the Department of Public Works (G M Colledge) that the school would ‘be one of the most modern schools in Queensland, incorporating all the latest ideas for accommodation’. It was also reported that ‘a considerable amount of relief work has been used in the preparation of the site’.[47] A foundation stone was laid on 8 June 1934, by F A Cooper, the Secretary for Public Instruction.
\nThe new building at Ipswich North State School had two storeys and an undercroft, was rectangular in shape and was designed in a Neo-classical style. It had an estimated cost of £12,900, and would accommodate 432 pupils in 11 classrooms, with possible extensions to accommodate up to 752 pupils.[48] The roof was terracotta, with a prominent fleche, and a septic tank system was provided.[49] Plans from November 1933 show that most of the undercroft was a play area, flanked by stairwells, lobbies and infants’ lavatories, with one-storey lavatory blocks at each end (boys in the western block, girls in the eastern). The first floor had five classrooms, with cloakrooms and stairwells at each end, and a teachers’ room and head teacher’s office either side of the vestibule in the projecting entrance bay. The second floor had five classrooms between the cloakrooms and stairwells, with a teachers’ room and sixth classroom in the projecting entrance bay. The centre three classrooms on each floor were separated with folding partitions rather than walls, and could become large assembly rooms. The plans show that the first and second floors had an open verandah running along the northern side of the classrooms.[50]
\nConcrete retaining walls and concrete surface drains surrounded the new building, creating a platform, with proposed tennis courts at the rear corners of the platform and stairs to the north, west and south. [51]
\nThe new Brick School Building was ready for use by the 1935 school year. The Boys School and Girls and Infants School both closed at the end of 1934,[52] and moved into their new building in 29 January 1935. Ipswich North State was officially opened on 4 May 1935 by F A Cooper.[53]
\nHowever, there was still a need for further student accommodation. The second section of the school, to accommodate 160 pupils, was approved in August 1936. This had an estimated cost of £2388, and was added at the west end of the existing building by mid-1937.[54] The addition, built above and to the north of the western lavatory block, consisted of two classrooms each on the first and second floors, and a play area (north of the lavatory block) on the ground floor. The new classrooms were separated by a continuation of the northern verandah of the main building. [55] At this time the old wing from the Girls and Infants School, which had been used as a kindergarten, was moved to elsewhere on the grounds.[56] Retaining walls, approved in August 1936 for £2136,[57] were added around the lower playground and the school’s tennis courts (located at the southern end of the school’s grounds) c1936-7.[58]
\nThere were some minor changes to the school during the 1940s. In 1942, during World War II, air raid trenches were dug in the lower playground,[59] and between the mid-1940s and mid-1950s the school committee grassed the oval and planted trees along Downs Street.[60] The mature figs (Ficus sp.) along the eastern and western borders of the lower playground appear to date from this period. However, some trees extant today predate World War II, including the fig trees located just south of the west end of the Brick School Building, and one fig tree at the south end of the school, just north of the residence. [61]
\nBy 1947 the railways workshops in North Ipswich employed almost 3000 people,[62] and Ipswich North State School continued to expand in the 1950s. The northern verandahs of the Brick School Building were enclosed with groups of nine awning windows after 1951;[63] a ventilation shaft was installed from the infant boys' lavatory to the roof, through the cloakrooms, in 1952;[64] and a room (probably the front classroom on the second floor) was converted into a library in 1955.[65] A new two-storey brick and metal wing with two classrooms above a play area (Block B in 2015) was added to the rear of the eastern end of the Brick School Building (Block A in 2015) in 1957.[66] This was completed in January 1958, and was opened 27 August 1958.[67]
\nAfter 1958 the school grounds also expanded, beginning with land acquired southeast of Block B by 1969.[68] Land was also obtained in 1973, fronting Fitzgibbon Street to the east of the school.[69] By 1974 the grounds covered 2.7ha, including land east of the school residence on Lawrence Street, and land fronting Pine Street; and by 1977 the school covered 2.9ha, with additional Pine Street frontage.[70]
\nAlthough the school grounds expanded, local employment was shrinking. The functions of the railway workshops were progressively moved to Redbank between 1965 and 1995,[71] and the school’s enrolment declined over this period, falling from 600 in 1967 to 275 in 1989.[72]
\nHowever, changes continued at the school. A memorial archway and plaque was erected at the corner of Downs and Fitzgibbon Streets for the school’s 1967 centenary. In 1971 a typists’ room and staff room were established, in the projecting entrance bay of the first and second floors respectively;[73] and in 1977 the two first floor classrooms of the 1937 extension became a library and storytelling room, with the joinery removed from door and window openings onto the verandah and window openings enlarged to the floor. By this time there was a work room and store in the former western cloak room of the first floor, and a ‘work and storeroom’ in the former eastern cloakroom.[74]
\nBy 1991 a tuckshop and storeroom existed on the ground level of the projecting entrance bay;[75] and by 2000 the classrooms on the first and second floors of the 1934 section had been reconfigured to form three classrooms, instead of five, on each floor. There were also storerooms in the former cloakrooms of the second floor, and a ‘teacher aid’ area in the former eastern cloakroom of the first floor. The projecting entrance bay on the second floor contained a staff room in the original classroom, and a health room in the original teachers’ room.[76]
\nA school dental clinic opened to the east of the original school reserve, on Fitzgibbon Street, in 1978, and a Preschool building was constructed fronting Pine Street in 1991.[77] Other modern additions to the school have included covered play areas and Special Education buildings. A war memorial, consisting of a sandstone boulder and flagpole, was built between Block A and Fitzgibbon Street in 2004.
\nThe school grounds have contracted in size since 2000. Land was sold on Pine Street in 2003, reducing the school size to 2.6ha, and the tennis courts and the 1907 residence on Lawrence Street were sold in 2014. The school grounds now cover 2.3ha.[78]
\nIn 2015, the school continues to operate from its original site. It retains its Depression-era Brick School Building and retaining walls dating from the 1930s, with terraced grounds and mature trees. The school is important as a focus for the surrounding community and generations of students from the area have been taught there. Sunday markets are held on the school’s lower playground. Enrolment in 2012 was 126; rising to 215 in 2014. [79]
","criteria":"Ipswich North State School (established in 1867 as North Ipswich National School) is important in demonstrating the evolution of state education and its associated architecture in Queensland. The place retains an excellent example of a government designed Depression-era Brick School Building (built 1934, extended 1937), which was an architectural response to prevailing government educational philosophies; set in landscaped grounds with retaining walls (1934-37) and mature trees.
\nThe Depression-era Brick School Building and landscaping of the school grounds are the result of the State Government’s building and relief work programmes during the 1930s that stimulated the economy and provided work for men unemployed as a result of the Great Depression
\nIpswich North State School is also a result of the population growth of North Ipswich, which was the site of Queensland’s first and principal railway workshops (1864-1995), employing thousands of people. North Ipswich has the most imposing state school building in Ipswich, reflecting the past importance of the suburb.
|Ipswich North State School is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a Queensland state school built during the Depression era. The school comprises a Brick School Building constructed to a government design and a landscaped site that retains Depression-era retaining walls, assembly and play areas, a playing field with cricket pitch, and mature trees.
\nThe substantial Depression-era Brick School Building is a highly-intact, excellent example of its type and retains a high degree of integrity. The principal characteristics it demonstrates include: its two storey form, with an undercroft; face brick exterior; high-quality design with classical influence and detailing; central range symmetrically arranged around a projecting entrance bay; and terracotta-tiled hipped roof. The building has a linear layout, with rooms accessed by verandahs, and an open play space and toilet facilities in the undercroft.
|Through its substantial size, high quality materials, face brick exterior, elegant formal composition and decorative treatment, the Depression-era Brick School Building at Ipswich North State School has aesthetic significance due to its expressive attributes, which evoke the sense of progress and permanence that the Queensland Government sought to embody in new public buildings in that era.
\nThe building’s assertive massing, classically-influenced design, and elegant composition contribute to its dignified streetscape presence, and contrast with the surrounding small-scale residences and commercial premises. Prominently sited and set within terraced grounds comprising two level platforms articulated by Depression-era concrete retaining walls, the building is a landmark for the area.
|Schools have always played an important part in Queensland communities. They typically retain significant and enduring connections with former pupils, parents, and teachers; provide a venue for social interaction and volunteer work; and are a source of pride, symbolising local progress and aspirations.
\nIpswich North State School has a strong and ongoing association with the North Ipswich community. It was established in 1867 through the fundraising efforts of the local community and generations of North Ipswich children have been taught there. The place is important for its contribution to the educational development of North Ipswich and is a prominent community focal point and gathering place for social and commemorative events with widespread community support.
\n","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":null,"place_ref":650091,"name":"Silkstone State School","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Molloy Street","suburb":"SILKSTONE","lga":"IPSWICH CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2019-03-29","description":"
Silkstone State School stands on a large site in the suburb of Silkstone, approximately 2.5km east of the Ipswich central business district. Bounded by roads on all sides, the school occupies an entire town block except for the northeast corner, where the former head teacher’s residence, standing in a separate house yard, is now a private residence (not part of the QHR place). A complex of teaching buildings stands on the middle of the site with a playing field on the north and south sides.
\nThe features of state level cultural heritage significance are:
\nSite Layout
\nThe impressive, symmetrical form of Block A is revealed at the end of an attractive 180m long walk along a path from a front entrance gate on Glebe Road, through a tree grove to a formal garden and forecourt on axis with the centre of Block A.
\nBlock A (1915), Suburban Timber School Building (C/T8)
\nBlock A is a large symmetrical timber-framed and -clad building with a prominent gable roof surmounted by three tall ventilation fleches. Highset on tall face brick pillars, it is E-shaped in plan with centre and end wings projecting north to the building’s front. The building has wide verandahs, with sweeping timber brackets and battened balustrade, that are the primary circulation. At the building’s rear (south) is a small projecting porch with flanking stairs and battened timber work.
\nThe building has been converted to administration use and has had seven of its ten large former classrooms divided by partitions to form smaller offices with suspended ceilings. The original lofty coved ceilings lined with pressed metal have been removed in some locations but are retained in at least four classrooms.
\nDoors and windows have been altered over time and include double-hung windows (c1992) onto the verandahs that mimic traditional detail.
\nFeatures also of state cultural heritage significance include:
\nFeatures of Block A not of state level cultural heritage significance include:
\nLandscape Features
\nFront Entrance Gate (1957)
\nA metal front entrance gate stands on the Glebe Street boundary and is the formal entrance to the school. It comprises metal side posts (which have replaced the original brick pillars), short decorative metal gates, and a decorative metal overhead arch bearing the school name.
\nFront Entrance Path (by late 1920s)
\nA straight concrete pedestrian path runs from the front entrance gate through the formal garden to the forecourt in front of Block A. The path is shaded by a grove of trees (existing here prior to 1946). The trees are an informal mixture of mature and immature or short-lived species including jacarandas, figs, palms, eucalypts, and melaleucas: none is of state level cultural heritage significance individually, however, their general location, form, character, and composition is.
\nFormal Garden (by 1928)
\nThe formal garden is a large shield-shaped open grassed space enclosed by a low wide hedge. It is bisected by the front entrance path, which also branches to encircle it on the outside of the hedge on both sides. It has a central circular garden bed. Modern bench seats, the hedge, and all other shrubs are not of state level cultural heritage significance.
\nForecourt (by 1928)
\nThe forecourt is a flat area immediately north of the centre of Block A with a curved, branching concrete path from the front entrance path to both stairs of Block A. The layout is original but surfaces are modern.
\nThe flagpoles, small memorial stone, and hedge are not of state level cultural heritage significance.
\nNorth and South Playing Fields (1915)
\nThe north and south playing fields are large grassed recreation fields for play and informal sport.
\nModern playground equipment, water tanks, goal posts, cricket pitch and practice nets, and the sports shed are not of state level cultural heritage significance.
\nTennis Court (1918)
\nA tennis court stands east of the front entrance path in its original location and size. It has a concrete surface surrounded by a tall chain link fence. Its appearance blends with the overall landscape and its surface colour and markings are not conspicuous.
\nThe fence, surface, and sports equipment are not of state level cultural heritage significance.
\nTrees
\nAdditional to those mentioned earlier, trees of state level cultural heritage significance include:
\nFeatures of the Place Not of State Level Cultural Heritage Significance
\nFeatures of the place not of state level cultural heritage significance are:
\nSilkstone State School was established in 1915, originally on a 9 acre (3.6ha) site, 2.7km east of the Ipswich CBD. More land was added to the school between 1946 and 1948, totalling the size of the school at 13 acres (5.3ha). The school retains an excellent example of a Suburban Timber School Building (Block A, 1915) set in landscaped grounds with mature trees and playing fields. In continuous operation since its establishment, it has been a focus for the local community as a place for important social and cultural activities.
\nThe Ipswich area was the traditional land of the Jagara people.[1] Free European settlement began in the area in 1842 and it developed as a mining town and river port for Darling Downs pastoralists, becoming a municipality in 1860.[2]
\nCoal mining was one of Ipswich’s premier industries and by the turn of the century several extensive coal mines employing large numbers of miners had been established on the Ipswich coal fields, several kilometres east of the city’s CBD. The largest and most profitable mine by this time was Aberdare, owned by former Welsh miner and prominent Ipswich entrepreneur, Lewis Thomas.[3] Miners and their families, many of whom had come to Australia from Wales, lived in the suburbs near the fields, including Blackstone, Bundamba, Newtown, and Silkstone.[4] This close-knit mining community celebrated their Welsh culture, establishing one of Queensland’s earliest Welsh churches [QHR 600548] in Blackstone in 1886. One year later they held the first eisteddfod, heralding the beginning of this continuing tradition in Ipswich.[5]
\nTo service this population, Newtown State School was established in 1882. As enrolments grew the school became overcrowded and residents in neighbouring suburbs, particularly Silkstone, whose children attended the Newtown school, appealed to the Department of Public Instruction for a school of their own. The department decided to construct a new, larger school for the area, replacing the Newtown school.[6] In 1914 it purchased a 9 acre (3.6ha) hilltop site, overlooking the surrounding area, for the new school.[7]
\nUnder the stewardship of the Department of Public Works (DPW) and its staff of some of Queensland’s most innovative architects, school buildings became more advanced through an evolution of standard designs.[8] In the early 20th century, with a growing concern about child health in education, the DPW evolved its school building designs with recommendations from medical professionals on light and ventilation. Notably, high-set buildings were introduced c1909, providing better ventilation as well as informal teaching space and a covered play area in the understorey. This form became characteristic of Queensland schools. A technical innovation developed at this time was a continuous, hinged ventilation flap on the wall at floor level to increase air flow into the classroom and, combined with a ceiling vent and large roof fleche, improved internal air quality and decreased temperatures.[9] Windows were considerably enlarged and sills were lowered to provide a greater amount of light into the room. These windows were provided to one wall of the classroom only, the wall to the left hand side of the student, and any other windows remained small and very highset. [10] Smaller classrooms in serial arrangement were preferred as they were easier to light well and correctly. The lighter and airier interiors met with immediate approval from educationalists.[11]
\nThe early twentieth century experimentation culminated in the 1914 introduction of the Suburban Timber School Building type, solving many of the problems of light, ventilation, and classroom size that plagued previous school designs, as well as providing the ideal, modern education environment. The grandest of the standard timber designs of the time, and including all of the lighting and ventilation techniques developed, the type was used for large, model, or high profile schools in growing suburban areas. It was not extensively deployed, lasting until around 1920. It was this new type that was chosen for Silkstone and it would be the most substantial built.[12]
\nIn May 1915, a marble tablet requested by the school committee was laid at the school by the Minister for Public Instruction, JW Blair, on the centre of the understorey wall of the building, which was still under construction.[13] Amongst other dignitaries present, was the Under-Secretary for Education, JD Story. The ceremony was well attended by school committee members, parents, and future students. The minister proclaimed that ‘the people were about to have a new school on most modern lines, erected on one of the finest sites in Queensland … It was for the sake of the child that the new and improved style of school building had been introduced’.[14]
\nThe new school was officially opened on 4 December 1915. Initially called the Silkstone-Newtown School, by August 1916 it was formally named Silkstone State School.[15] The opening ceremony was attended by the Minister for Public Instruction, HF Hardacre, as well as other dignitaries including JD Story. Amidst a large crowd of staff, parents, students, and community members, the Minster declared Silkstone State School ‘one of the most beautiful schools, if not the most beautiful wooden school in Queensland’.[16] Further, he stated ‘the development of a series of architectural schemes had resulted in the present building, with its excellent provision for light, ventilation, and sanitation’.[17]
\nThe new school building (Block A in 2019) was believed at the time to be the most innovative school design in Queensland, surpassing the much-celebrated Cannon Hill State School [QHR 602854] that had been opened only two months before (also a Suburban Timber School Building).[18] Silkstone State School stood on an elevated site, overlooking the district and to the distant southern mountains. It was a weatherboard structure with a 6ft 6in (1.98m) tall, open understorey of brick piers which included concreted play areas and small ‘lavatory stands’ (hand washing basins). The building had a gabled Marseilles tile-clad roof with ventilation fleches and decorative timber work. It accommodated ten classrooms, separated by tall, glazed timber folding partitions with ‘hyloplate’ (blackboard) panes, allowing the spaces to be combined.[19] The building had 10ft (3m) wide verandahs on one side of the classrooms only. A head teacher’s office and separate staff room were accommodated in a small central front projecting block.
\nThe classrooms had abundant natural light and ventilation. They had 15ft (4.5m) high coved ceilings lined with decorative pressed metal and ventilation grilles connected via ducts to the roof fleches. The verandah walls had a hinged ventilation board at the base and windows in this wall were very highset with 8ft (2.4m) high sills. Other than these windows, each classroom had one wall with a large area of windows, sheltered by an external hood. The desks and hyloplate were arranged in relation to this window so that light from it fell on the left hand side of the student. These large windows were lowset (3ft/0.9m sills), an ‘acid obscured glass’ bottom sash, and a fanlight that was fixed open. In this way optimum, single source light was provided yet a student’s view outside was blocked.[20]
\nA timber-framed and -clad teachers residence was also built on the northeast corner of the site in 1915. The total cost for both buildings was £4629. The Minister explained that ‘the influences of surroundings were so valuable that the Department was doing well in spending sums of money in beautifying architecture’. He believed it would benefit the characters of children as well as being a credit to Queensland. [21] The school was one of the largest in Queensland at the time with Block A designed to accommodate 528 students.[22]
\nAn important component of Queensland state schools was their grounds. The early and continuing commitment to play-based education, particularly in primary school, resulted in the provision of outdoor play space and sports facilities, such as ovals and tennis courts. Also, trees and gardens were planted to shade and beautify schools and schools celebrated Arbor Day from 1890. Aesthetically-designed gardens were encouraged by regional inspectors, and educators believed gardening and Arbor Days instilled in young minds the value of hard work and activity, improved classroom discipline, developed aesthetic tastes, and inspired people to stay on the land.[23]
\nFrom its beginning, Silkstone State School had a strong and active school committee which successfully implemented major improvements over many years. On 20 April 1916 the committee held an Anzac Day ceremony at the school featuring a flag raising ceremony on a recently installed flagpole donated by the Minister for Railways and fabricated in the Ipswich Railway Workshops. The school bell was also donated by the Ipswich workshops, with the pole on which it sat, donated by the Camerons, a prominent Ipswich family.[24] The day was attended by teachers and students and patriotic, moral lessons were given. Arbor Day was first celebrated at the school on 1 May 1916 and repeated in September that year. Both were well attended and Ipswich City Council donated many of the trees. Students were tasked with preparing the ground prior to planting. Following the initial ground preparations, the holes were deepened using gelignite donated by the Aberdare Collieries and detonated by local miners.[25] Many trees were planted in the grounds and each teacher from the school was given the opportunity to name a tree; several were named after Department of Public Instruction administrators and others after former head teachers.[26]
\nThrough the school committee’s fund raising efforts and a ‘successful garden fete’ held in the school grounds, in 1918 two tennis courts were laid south of the teacher’s residence. The courts were revenue-producing, leased to sporting groups on Saturdays and hosted local and interstate competitive matches in the following decades.[27]
\nEnrolments grew and in 1922 a new infants school building was built at a distance south of Block A. As with Block A, the infants school was designed on the most modern lines to provide the best learning environment for the children.[28]
\nThe school committee was active in the interwar years. Through its fundraising events it completed grounds improvement projects in the school, often with volunteer labour. This included a swimming pool in 1927,[29] a path from Glebe Road to the front of the school laid by 1928, and a fernery and aviary in 1928. In 1929 the committee built a large gold-fish pond with elaborate central fountain in the front formal garden and decorative timber archways at the garden entrance.[30] The committee purchased a film projector in 1933 for educational films for the children, making Silkstone State School the first Queensland school to install this innovative teaching technology.[31]
\nIn 1934 Block A’s roof tiles were replaced with corrugated metal sheets, which was also performed on the teachers residence the following year.[32] In 1937 the infants school was extended. During the Great Depression, further groundworks were undertaken by relief workers including cementing paths, fence maintenance, and building stone retaining walls to create terraces including terracing the northern playing field between Glebe Road and Block A was terraced into three flat fields.[33]
\nThe school grounds were extended westwards in 1947 when the land fronting Prospect Street was gradually acquired, affording the school a complete block. This comprised multiple land parcels and the relocation of a house off the site in 1948.[34] Soon after, trees from the Ipswich City Council’s nursery were planted along the Prospect Street boundary.[35]
\nBy 1951 enrolments at Silkstone State School had reached 1000 students.[36] To accommodate this, new classroom buildings were constructed between 1950 and 1963: Block E, three classrooms (1950); Block M, a temporary three classroom building (1951); Block D, five classrooms (1955); Block C, four classrooms (1956); and Block G, two classrooms (1963).[37]
\nIn 1954, a survey of Ipswich state schools praised Silkstone as having ‘one of the best’ playing areas that left ‘little to be desired’. Silkstone was then the ‘biggest state school in the area with an enrolment of 1100’ and had ‘a playground area recognised as one of the best in the state’.[38]
\nFor the school’s 75th anniversary in 1957, a decorative metal entrance gate with brick pillars was constructed on Glebe Road. It was unveiled in November of that year by the Minister for Education, JCA Pizzey, and a plaque was laid to honour the occasion.[39]
\nIn the 1960s the local Lions Club planted a row of pencil pines along Molloy Street boundary on the east side of the south playing field.[40]
\nFurther buildings were added over time. A canteen was built in 1969. In the 1970s a preschool unit (Prep in 2019), classroom building (Block H in 2019), and library building were constructed. In 1996 a new classroom building (Block B in 2019) was built west of the library. In 2008 two large new brick classroom buildings (Blocks J and K in 2019) were added on the southern part of the North Playing Field (by this time the North Playing Field had lost its retaining walls dividing the different levels) and a modular building for Outside School Hours Care was added between the residence and the tennis courts. In c2010 another modular building was added for prep classes and a new large multi-purpose hall replaced the earlier hall. Some of the mature trees planted along Prospect Street in the late 1940s were removed for this building.[41]
\nDeliberately lit fires caused considerable damage to the school. The first in 1996 destroyed a 1950s classroom block.[42] The second on 21 September 2009 destroyed the 1922 infants school buildings.[43]
\nOver the years the fernery, aviary, the garden’s archways, fish pond, and fountain were removed. The brick pillars at the Glebe Road entrance were removed and replaced by steel posts. However, the decorative ironwork was retained. Most of the stone retaining walls in the school were also removed, including the terracing on the north playing field.
\nChanges have been made to Block A over time. By 1948 enclosures were made to the verandahs and understorey and in 1973 the teachers rooms were extended.[44] In 1992 the building was partially converted for administration use with the removal of folding partitions and pressed metal ceilings from these rooms and addition of suspended ceilings and partitions to form small offices. Some high-level windows were removed, doors and windows were rearranged, and new double hung windows were added. In 2009 some external stairs were demolished, verandahs were opened up with reconstruction of original verandah details, a lift was added to the central projecting wing, and further partitions were added.[45]
\nIn January 2015 the school residence was sold, becoming a private residence.
\nSilkstone State School, established in 1915, has played an important role in the Silkstone and district community and continues to do so. Generations of students have been taught there and many social events held in the school’s grounds and buildings since its establishment. With its strong Welsh heritage, Silkstone State School has a long history of involvement in eisteddfods and over the years has achieved many awards for choral work.[46] The school continues to be a centre for social, sporting and community events.
","criteria":"Silkstone State School (opened 1915) is important in demonstrating the evolution of state education and its associated architecture in Queensland. The place retains an outstanding representative example of a standard government design that was a response to prevailing government educational philosophies. The Suburban Timber School Building (Block A, built 1915), the most substantial example of its type, demonstrates the evolution of timber school design, including experimentation with light and ventilation, by the Department of Public Works.
\nThe school’s generous, elevated site and formal layout including entrance garden, mature trees, and open fields for play and sport demonstrates the importance of play and aesthetics in the education of children.
|Silkstone State School is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a Queensland state school of the early 20th century. These include: a teaching building of standard design by the DPW set in a landscaped site with mature trees, gardens, and play and sport areas.
\nBlock A is an outstanding, intact example of a Suburban Timber School Building and demonstrates the principal characteristics of this type. These include its: impressive, highset timber-framed and -clad construction; open understorey accommodating play areas; facebrick understorey piers; symmetrical design with classroom wings linked by verandahs; sweeping verandah brackets; teachers rooms; hat and cloak rooms; and a strong consideration for natural light and ventilation, including elevated classrooms with open understorey, high level windows and fanlights, lofty and coved ventilated ceilings, hinged wall ventilation flaps at floor level, and distinctive roof fleches.
\n|
Silkstone State School has aesthetic significance for its picturesque qualities created by the carefully composed relationship between Block A and landscape features of the place. Standing on the centre and highest part of the site, Block A is reached via an axial pedestrian path from a decorative entrance gate, through a grove, to a formal entrance garden and forecourt that reveals the building’s impressive form.
\nBlock A has a sense of pleasant simplicity and order through its elevated symmetrical form, dominant roof with prominent fleches, wide verandahs, extensive well-crafted timber work, and coved pressed metal ceilings. The building is enhanced by its setting with vistas to and from the building across the open, treed grounds.
\nThe grounds include lines of mature boundary trees, and large grassed playing fields to the north and south, which creates an open verdant character within the surrounding close residential development.
|Silkstone State School has a strong and ongoing association with past and present pupils, parents, staff members, and the surrounding community through sustained use since its establishment in 1915. The place is important for its contribution to the educational development of Ipswich, with generations of children taught at the school, and has served as a prominent venue for social interaction and community focus. Contributions to its operations have been made through repeated local volunteer action, donations, and an active Parents and Citizens Association.
","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"} ]}