Charleville Railway Station is located on King Street, on the southeastern outskirts of the township. The buildings and structures of cultural heritage significance include the passenger station (1957) and the goods shed (1888 with later modifications). The passenger station is a substantial concrete reinforced building opening onto King Street, the goods shed is a corrugated iron building south west of the station on the opposite side of the railway lines and the weighbridge is a small structure north east of the passenger station.
Passenger Station
The passenger station is a long single storey building running parallel to King Street. It has a simple, relatively severe architectural style. The walls are cream and are constructed of reinforced concrete. The hipped roof is clad with red terracotta tiles. A section of the building at each end is recessed from the front elevation. The roof line is broken at these points. The main entrance is located in the middle of this elevation and opens onto a car park off King Street. It is topped with a parapet and shaded by a cantilevered awning. A bronze-sheeted lantern elevator symmetrically placed above the entrance vestibule, projects from the roof. A raised platform runs the full length of the elevation facing the railway lines. This is shaded by a cantilevered awning.
The entrance façade is the most prominent feature of the front elevation. Together with its parapet, it projects slightly forward of the front of the building. Access is obtained through three flat arches placed symmetrically about the centre of the façade. A tall narrow window is located on each side of the three arches. Each of the entrances is very similar in form. A pair of maple double doors within each arch is approached via two granites steps and a shallow alcove. The double doors open in the middle and are topped with a pair of louvred fanlights. Each door comprises eight lights separated by narrow mullions with a pair of chrome push rails placed horizontally across the door about halfway up. A wide stainless steel panel is fitted to the bottom of each door. The words 'Charleville Railway Station' are formed from projecting metal letters on the parapet above the awning over the entrance. A centrally positioned flag pole is fitted immediately above these words.
Large steel framed windows with reeded obscure glass open from the front elevation. Most of these windows comprise eight lights with horizontally pivoting sashes to maximise ventilation. Apart from the front entrance, there are a further three doors along the front of the building. Each entrance is bracketed with fluted pilasters and provided with a shallow concrete step. They are all fitted with double wooden doors and a pair of louvred fanlights above. Each door has a small fixed window near the top.
Like the front elevation, the platform elevation of the station presents a long, low aspect. A wide cantilevered awning with exposed, steel supporting girders extends the full length of this elevation. A series of doors and windows open onto the platform. The windows are similar in design to those in the front of the building. Louvred fanlights are fitted above each of the doors. Public access to the platform is gained through a set of collapsible metal gates.
The front entrance opens into a spacious vestibule with a high ceiling and a polished terrazzo floor. A ticket office opens into the vestibule which functions as the main thoroughfare for passengers moving through to the platform. Maple plywood panelling lines the walls to a height of approximately two metres. A series of painted wooden benches are placed around the walls. A ladies waiting room opens from the vestibule. This is a large room provided with wooden benches. The women's lavatory is accessed through this room.
The remaining rooms are functional in style with undecorated concrete walls and simple fittings. The fibrous plaster ceilings are high and large louvered windows are positioned high in the internal walls to allow airflow through the building.
Two garden beds are positioned along the side of the car park close to the edge of King Street. These bracket the main entrance and from the street. Trees frame the entrance façade.
Goods Shed
The Goods Shed is a large, unlined, corrugated-iron and steel clad building. It has a gabled roof clad in new steel cladding supported on original trusses. Along the elevation opposite the rail, the roof projects and is supported on angle struts. The building is designed for access by both road and rail goods transport and encloses a large open space which functions as a goods storage area and loading docks. A newer office is attached to the outside of the shed at the south western end.
Access by road transport is gained by a series of large steel roller shutters. Six doors are spaced along the elevation opposite the railway lines towards the south east. Another door provides access via a new concrete ramp through the north eastern end. All of the doors open onto a raised, concrete platform inside the shed which extends about two thirds of its width for its full length.
The shed is built over a railway line. The rail enters the south western end of the shed and runs the full length of the internal concrete platform before exiting from the north eastern end. The original, large, hinged wooden doors open outwards to provide access into the shed for rolling stock.
The office located at the south western end is a small lined room outside of the main part of the shed. Double swinging glass doors provide access from the office into the main part of the shed. Another door opens to the outside of the building. A long, waist high counter runs almost the full width of the room facing the double doors. An enclosed corner of the room functions as a supervisor's office.
","history":"Charleville Railway Station was established by the Queensland Government in 1888 as part of a rail link to service Western Queensland. Structures of cultural heritage significance at the station include the passenger station, opened in 1957 and the goods shed, the core of which was completed in 1888. These structures reflect the historic importance of Charleville as a western railway station.
In Australia, government fostered the development of railways as a means of developing the country 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. Railway development became the province of government because of the doubtful economics of building and operating a rail service for the widely distributed, sparse population of rural Queensland. In most cases the capital costs were high in relation to the potential revenue likely to be raised from passengers and freight. These economies imposed a limit on the expansion of railways into remote areas.
The government initially gave priority to developing a railway west of Brisbane. As well as providing graziers and farmers with a more efficient transport link to the coast, railways were seen as a key to encouraging closer settlement west of the Great Dividing Range. The first section of rail, opened on 31 July 1865, was between Ipswich and Bigg's Camp, 34 kilometres west of Ipswich. By February 1868 the rail was extended to Dalby in the Darling Downs. With a railhead provided for the squatters in this region, extensions further west ceased while the railway was developed elsewhere. It was 1876 before construction of the railway westward from Dalby recommenced. The rail was opened to Roma in 1880, Mitchell in 1885 and Charleville on 1 March 1888. With the opening of the rail to the west, the train became an important transport link for passengers and freight.
There were a number of factors that contributed to Charleville's importance as a rail terminus. Situated on the banks of the Warrego River, a natural stock route from New South Wales to Western Queensland, Charleville was already an important regional centre. Moreover, it was to remain the main western rail terminus for at least a decade. The economies of extending the line further west were doubtful. In any case the depression of the 1890s precluded further railway construction for some years. An extension to the line was opened in 1898. However, it was designed to intercept cross-border trade with New South Wales so it was south southwest from Charleville to Cunnamulla rather than west. A further development west did not begin until 1911 when a line to Quilpie was commenced as part of the ill-fated Great Western Railway scheme. Until the opening of this line in 1917, Charleville remained the most western railhead. Also, Charleville was made a locomotive depot due to its distance from the closest existing facility at Roma.
Charleville's importance meant that the station was provided with more than the usual station facilities. By August 1888, most of the station structures were completed. These included platform, tank, booking and telegraph offices, goods shed, stationmaster's house, and guards, enginemen and firemen's cottages. Engine and carriage sheds were moved from Mitchell to Charleville. Cattle and sheep yards were in place by January 1889 and by 1916, a 50-ton weighbridge had been added to the complex. The weighbridge currently on the site is 40 tons and appears to post-date 1976.
The original wooden station building was destroyed by fire on 6 July 1954 and the engine shed was blown down in a severe windstorm in October 2003. Most of the other 1888 buildings appear to have been either removed or demolished.
The Goods Shed has survived a serious fire and has undergone significant modification. On 4 April 1900, a fire destroyed the entire contents of the Goods Shed, then rented from the Government by N Nielsen. It seems that no substantial modifications were made to the structure as a result of this fire. The shed has been upgraded at least twice since that time. In the 1920s, an extension of some 12 metres by 3.7 metres to the platform at the eastern end was approved. Then in 1962, major white ant damage in the office and deterioration of the timber platform was reported. Repair work was delayed because a complete rearrangement of the yard was under consideration but as this did not proceed, tenders were called for renovations in 1974. Substantial changes were made to the structure including a new goods office, reconstruction of much of the timber platform, a new concrete platform and a new toilet.
Following the destruction of the original passenger station, a new station building was opened in 1957. It was designed by Queensland Railways Department's architectural office under the supervision of Charles Da Costa and erected by K D Morris and Sons, Brisbane. Da Costa had been a specialist in re-inforced concrete design for at least thirty years. He trained as a pupil of T. S. Martin of Sydney from 1905, joining Queensland Railways in 1907 as a Junior Draftsman. After retrenchment in 1921, he began private practise as an architect and structural designer in Brisbane. Later he worked for Burns Philp and Company and then, in 1935 rejoined Queensland Railways as an Architect. He became Principal Architect in 1938 and retired in 1955. Charleville Railway Station may have been one of his last designs before retiring.
The building was more substantial than its predecessor. It was built in an era of economic prosperity augmented by a wool industry that was booming in the mid-1950s and in an environment of Government investment in post-war rehabilitation of rail infrastructure. However, at the opening ceremony, the Honourable T Moore indicated that the new building also reflected the continued importance of Charleville as a western railhead:
'Mindful of the important contribution made by the Charleville district to the earnings of the Railway Department (the revenue from outward and inward traffic for the last financial year totalled £ 246, 856 and £ 186, 369 respectively) and the wealth of the State generally, the Government decided that the wooden station building which was destroyed by fire in 1954 should be replaced by a modern structure, worthy of this prosperous and progressive town and district, one which would meet, for many years to come, the increasing needs of the Department's customers and a building which would provide the maximum of comfort for travellers to and from the West...'
Charleville was the third busiest goods station on the Western Line after Quilpie and Cunnamulla and the busiest passenger station at the time, earning £26 810 in revenue from passengers in 1954/55 ahead of Roma (£17 346) and Dalby (£10 816).
The station, as designed in 1954, was a large building almost 92 metres long and 12.5 metres wide with a 162.7 metres long concrete platform shaded with cantilever awnings extending well beyond the northeastern end of the building. A 46 metre long loading dock was built at the north end of the building with access to King Street. The entrance opened to a spacious terrazzo tiled vestibule located in the centre of the building. Some 26 other rooms made up the building including Tranship Room, Cloak and Luggage Room, Parcels Office, Station Master and Assistant Station Master's Offices, Clerks' Office, Telegraph Room, Ticket Office, Ladies Waiting Room, Refreshment Rooms, Store Rooms, Guards and Porters' Rooms, Mail Room and Lavatories.
The design of the building, according to Moore, was influenced by the local climate. The reinforced concrete walls were designed to insulate the interior against extremes of temperature. The building was provided with projecting eaves to provide shade and large windows to capture breezes.
The furniture in the building, a quantity of which is still extant, was manufactured partly by contractors and partly by the railway's Northgate workshops.
Charleville is the only station of its design on the Queensland Rail network. Hughenden also has a large concrete station. However, it was built some ten years earlier than Charleville, is less than half the size and is made of pre-cast concrete beams not reinforced concrete.
With the greater use of other modes of transport such as road and air coupled with a decline in rural population, passenger numbers on the Western Line have declined sharply since the 1950s. Passenger traffic through Charleville is now much less than it was when the station was built in 1957.
","criteria":"Charleville station is important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history. Opened in 1888 when the rail link to Western Queensland was first built. Charleville station was the western rail terminus, serving goods and passenger traffic. It remained the terminus for a decade and one of the most important stations on the Western Railway until at least the 1960s.
The complex, which includes a goods shed (1888) and a substantial, concrete passenger station (1957), provides physical evidence of the historic importance of rail as a transport link to the coast and of Charleville as a busy railway station servicing Western Queensland. Charleville was the third busiest goods station and the busiest passenger station on the Western Line prior to the 1960s. The substantial scale of the passenger station in particular is indicative of an era of rehabilitation of rail infrastructure that occurred in an environment of economic prosperity in Queensland following World War II.
|The passenger station is significant for its rarity value. It is the only station of its design and the only station on the Queensland Rail network with reinforced concrete walls, designed to accommodate the climactic conditions of Charleville.
|The passenger station building (1957) remains substantially intact and is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of its type. These characteristics include the use of reinforced concrete exterior walls to insulate the interior against temperature extremes; design features such as projecting eaves to shade the windows and large windows to capture breezes; and the interior arrangement of rooms that provided for clear demarcation between public areas, offices and service rooms. It is also a good example of the work of Queensland Rail design staff under the supervision of Charles Da Costa in the 1950s.
|The passenger station building and the front grounds, including a small garden along the road alignment, have aesthetic value. The building exhibits a visually pleasing symmetry in the street elevation and in its garden setting makes an important contribution to the streetscape of King Street.
","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":15531,"place_ref":600756,"name":"Angellala Rail Bridge","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Roma - Cunamulla Line","suburb":"ANGELLALA CREEK","lga":"MURWEH SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Angellala Creek Bridge and approaches located at 442 miles 42 chains (549.630 kms) from Roma Street and consists of 3 x 2 x 1 x 20 foot (6.1 metre) timber longitudinal with a common braced timber trestle (pier one) and common concrete piers on piers two and three. 7 x2 x40 foot (12.2 metre) riveted half-through continuous plate girders with steel cross girders and transom tops, steel longitudinals, common concrete pier on pier four, common cast iron cylinders on concrete bases (piers five to ten), strengthened with two steel columns on concrete bases at each mid span (piers 4A to 10A) and a common concrete pier at pier eleven.
87 x 2 x1 x20 foot (6.1 metre) timber longitudinals, common braced timber trestles (piers 12 through to 100) or common concrete piers (piers 23-26, 31-32, 34, 38, 41, 51, 53, 58, 61, 64, 66-68, 71-72, 74, 76-80, 82-83, 85, 96-98). The bridge features a maximum span of 20 feet (6.1 metres) and is aligned on a straight track with the approaches being on a forty-chain curve. The abutments, piers and main spans of the bridge are original, however the approaches to the bridge have been reconstructed, and in 1994 intermediate supports allowing larger diesel-electric locomotives to operate between Roma and Charleville were incorporated into the structure.
","history":"Plans for the crossing of Angellala Creek at 66 kms east of Charleville were prepared in 1885 with the construction of the western extension from Roma to Charleville. Part of the Western Railway Act assented to on 25 September 1875 was repealed by the Railway Reserves Amendment Act of 1879, and the money in the Western Railway Account and all funds from land alienation were paid into Consolidated Revenue of Queensland. Construction west from Roma proceeded through the 1880's and there were approaches to build a land grant railway, into western New South Wales and to Adelaide through the south-west by several syndicates.
However the Queensland government undertook construction further west. The railway opened to East Mitchell in 1883, and after completion of the Maranoa River Bridge on 17 January 1885 into Mitchell itself. Further extensions took place to Dulbydilla on 24 August 1885, Morven on 1 March 1887 and opening through to Charleville on 1 March 1888.
Angellala (441 miles 74 chains - 550 kms west of Roma Street) was named after the nearby creek. It opened as a station from 2 May 1910, and was also worked as a crossing loop. From 1929 until 1932 the station was worked unattended, however a station mistress was appointed from 1932 date until 1971. Angellala was a watering stop for locomotives, with the water tank situated at the Charleville end of the yard, and the hydrant at the Roma end.
The crossing of Angellala Creek posed several design problems for the bridge designers, as it was situated in a shallow valley and extensive flood plain. The bridge across the western crossing features the longest timber trestle approach on a rail bridge in Queensland. Overall length of the structure is 2080 feet (634 metres). The main crossing of the creek features 7x 36 feet (12.1 metres) steel spans. The approach from the west is over 1740 feet (530 metres).
It was designed in 1885 when HC Stanley was Chief Engineer.
Plans were prepared for the strengthening of the bridge for heavier C17 class locomotives in 1946 when the spans were halved by installation of intermediate columns. With upgrading for main line (90 ton) diesel-electric's to be used west of Roma, the main spans were strengthened with additional steel pillars in 1994.
The Angellala bridge is the sixth longest in Queensland, the western approach (530 metres) is the longest approach of any railway bridge in Queensland. The riveted and gusseted half -through continuous plate girder spans are the second oldest of their type in Queensland.
","criteria":"The Angellala Creek Bridge is important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history in particular the development of the railway network in Western Queensland
|The riveted gusseted half through continuous plate girder spans are the second oldest of their type in Queensland.
|The bridge is close to the Warrego highway and is and important landmark in the area being a feature of the western approach to Angellala.
|The bridge is close to the Warrego highway and is and important landmark in the area being a feature of the western approach to Angellala.
|The bridge is important for its association with the life and work of its designer Henry C Stanley, Chief Engineer for Railways.
","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":15532,"place_ref":600757,"name":"Queensland National Bank (former)","alternate_name":"'Historic House'","street_address":"87 Alfred Street","suburb":"CHARLEVILLE","lga":"MURWEH SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The former Queensland National Bank at Charleville is a single storey timber building with an exposed frame and is set on low stumps. It has a hipped roof clad with corrugated iron roof. There are verandahs to the front and sides of the building that have a corrugated iron clad awning supported by timber posts. A projecting central portico rising through the verandah awning marks the entrance to the building and is reached by timber steps.
Internally the building features high ceilings and cedar joinery and has four marble fireplaces. Several of the rooms are furnished as a place museum.
There is a picket fence to the street.
","history":"The former bank building was constructed in Charleville in 1888 as the premises of the Queensland National Bank, which had established a branch in the town in 1881.
The town of Charleville was surveyed in 1867 following the surveying of a number of pastoral runs in the district in 1863. Sited on the banks of the Warrego River along a stock route from New South Wales to Western Queensland, the town was to develop as the major service centre for the surrounding pastoral industry. Bullock teams passed through the town, Cobb & Co established stables (as well as a factory for the construction of mail coaches and buggies and an associated sawmill) and in 1888 Charleville's position as a strategic transport node for the south west was confirmed when it became the terminus for the main western railway line which was extended south to Cunnamulla 1898 and west to Quilpie 1917. The Queensland National Bank was the first bank to open a branch in Charleville on 30 July 1881.
The Queensland National Bank was the first and most successful of Queensland's three indigenous 19th century banks. It was established in March 1872 by a group of prominent Queensland squatters, politicians, lawyers, and businessmen who wished to secure development capital free from overseas or intercolonial control. Its first office was established in Queen Street, Brisbane in that year and the bank attracted widespread Queensland patronage. In 1879 it secured the whole of the government's banking business. By 1880 it held 40% of deposits in the colony and dominated the Queensland economy.
In 1888 a larger bank premises was constructed at Charleville to the design of F.D.G. Stanley and built by A Anderson for the sum of £2049/14/9. FDG Stanley trained as an architect in Scotland and emigrated to Queensland in 1861. He joined the office of the Colonial Architect as a clerk in 1863 and was appointed Colonial Architect 1872. He held this position until 1881 when resigned to work full time in private practice. Among his regular clients were several banks including the Queensland National Bank, the Anglican Church and merchant companies. Stanley was one of the most successful architects to practice in nineteenth century Queensland and his work includes the Supreme Court Brisbane, GPO Brisbane, St Paul's Anglican Church Maryborough, the Queensland Club and the Queensland National Bank Brisbane. Stanley designed timber buildings for the QN Bank in St George, Normanton, Allora and Blackall.
The Charleville bank combined business and accommodation areas, as was common practice at the time for branch offices. At the front of the building were a public access area with a teller's area and safe and a manager's office. The rear section of the building provided living accommodation for the manager and his family, including a room for their maid. This and the quality of finish in the building suggest the social position of a manger of the bank in a regional town.
In 1942, probably as the result of a wartime rationalisation of branches in smaller centres, the Charleville branch was sold to Mr Alex Smith who used it as a residence during his lifetime. In 1948, the QN Bank merged with the National Bank of Australasia, later the National Australia Bank. After the death of Mr Smith his daughter, Mrs Claude Young, converted it into a boarding house, and upon her death the Charleville and District Cultural and Historical Society purchased the building, which is now a local history museum.
","criteria":"The former Queensland National Bank building is important in illustrating the development of Queensland as purpose-built premises for a bank formed to serve Queensland interests and needs when the state was a self-governing colony. The quality of its design and construction also demonstrate the importance of this regional branch at a time when Charleville was firmly established as a centre for the pastoral industry of southwest Queensland.
|The former Queensland National Bank is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a regional bank of its era, being a good example of a timber structure combining a banking chamber, office and manager's residence; a type common for rural bank buildings from the nineteenth century until World War II.
|As a well-designed and detailed building the former Queensland National Bank contributes to the townscape of Charleville.
|The former Queensland National Bank has a special association with the life and work of architect FDG Stanley, who designed a number of banks for the Queensland National Bank. It is also associated with the development of the QN Bank, the earliest of Queensland's indigenous banks.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15533,"place_ref":600758,"name":"Charleville War Memorial","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Edward Street","suburb":"CHARLEVILLE","lga":"MURWEH SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The First World War Memorial is situated in a park in Charleville, The park has an ornamental fence and gates and a path leads to the memorial. Also within the park are two guns or war trophies and a flagstaff.
The memorial itself is surrounded by a cast iron picket fence with fleur-de-lis finials and a centrally placed gate.
The Italian marble monument stands 23 feet from the ground. It sits on a terrazzo base step, the top of which is layed with light and dark tiles in a chequerboard pattern. Above this is the sandstone base of the monument. This is square in plan with corner buttresses and a simply moulded skirting and cornice. The base displays plaques on all faces, commemorating later conflicts.
Projecting from the centre of the base is a square pillar with engaged columns at each corner. The pillar is of Italian marble and bears leaded names of those who served in the First World War, including the fallen for whom the front panel is reserved. At the top of each face are carved shields bearing the stylised letters AIF (Australian Imperial Forces). The columns are made in three sections and have Doric order capitals and bases. They support a small cornice, surmounted by a larger cornice and frieze
","history":"The Charleville War Memorial was unveiled on October 9 1924 by the Queensland Governor Sir Matthew Nathan. It is thought to have been designed by George Brockwell Gill and cost £1000. The predominantly marble memorial honours the 310 local men who served in the First World War, including the 40 fallen.
The memorial was 'Erected by the citizens of Charleville and district, and Charleville sub-branch of the Returned Services League'. The cast iron fence was subsequently erected some time between 1925 and 1933.
In 1864, the Queensland Government Gazette proclaimed the boundaries of the Warrego Pastoral District. This followed the arrival of farmers from New South Wales in search of sheep runs on the Upper Warrego. The town of Charleville was gazetted in 1868 and laid out by government surveyor W A Tully in the usual grid form, allowing for the roads to be wide enough for large bullock trains to turn in. By 1880 the area had developed into a small town which continued to prosper as a resting point on the stock routes. Development was further encouraged by the railway which reached Charleville in 1888 and the establishment of Cobb and Co. in 1890. Other businesses were established to support the growing infrastructure, however the pastoral properties continued to be the town's main asset.
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 many different memorials were constructed throughout Queensland, the only other known one of this design is at Esk. The Charleville memorial is attributed to Ipswich architect George Brockwell Gill due to design similarities with the Esk Memorial, known to be designed by Gill.
George Brockwell Gill was born in England and emigrated to Australia in 1886 and was soon employed by Ipswich architect Samuel Shenton. When Shenton retired in 1889, Gill took over the practice. He designed many substantial buildings in Ipswich including Ipswich Girls Grammar School and the Ipswich Technical College. He was active in public and church affairs and became president of the Queensland Institute of Architects in 1918. When he retired in 1943, his practice was taken over by Brisbane firm, Conrad and Gargett.
The memorial was constructed in Toowoomba by well known masonry firm, R C Ziegler and Son and then transported to Charleville. The firm of R C Ziegler and Son was established in Toowoomba in c1902 and produced many memorials throughout south western Queensland. The family company moved to Bundaberg where it was still operating in the mid 1980s.
","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.
Erected in 1924, the war memorial at Charleville demonstrates the principal characteristics of a commemorative structure erected as an enduring record of a major historical event. This is achieved through the use of appropriate materials and design elements.
|The memorial is of aesthetic significance for its high degree of workmanship, materials and design. Memorials of this type are rare in Queensland. The only other known one of similar design is at Esk.
|As a memorial representing both the town and district, it has a strong and continuing association with a large part of the community as evidence of the impact of a major historic event and as the focal point for the remembrance of that event.
|It also has special association with architect George Brockwell Gill, and with monumental masonry firm R Ziegler and Sons as an example of their work.
","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":16045,"place_ref":601282,"name":"Hotel Corones, Charleville","alternate_name":"Corones Hotel Norman","street_address":"33 Wills Street","suburb":"CHARLEVILLE","lga":"MURWEH SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1997-07-01","description":"Corones Hotel is a two storey rendered brick and re-inforced concrete building running on a north south axis along Wills Street (Charleville's main street and part of the Warrego Highway) between Galatea and Edward Streets, Charleville. It has an adjoining single storey ballroom and a hall running to the east along Galatea Street.
A bar, foyer, dinning room, kitchen, shops, ballroom, hall and toilets and three shops occupy the ground floor; accommodation rooms and a guest lounge are located on the first floor. There are single storey contemporary motel units in the south east corner of the site which are not considered of cultural heritage significance. A double story building which included staff quarters on the upper level and garages below are located behind the motel units.
The building has a wide two storey verandah which extends over the footpath running down Wills Street and returning along Galatea Street. The verandah has a straight roof and is constructed of timber supported by timber posts with brackets at their tops. There is a simple timber battened balustrade at the first floor.
A high parapet with projecting piers sits above the verandah along Galatea and Wills Streets and returns along the southern elevation from Wills Street and runs south back from Galatea Street. The parapet is accentuated with shaped gable sections at each end and centrally along Wills Street and at the Galatea Street and south ends. A small cornice runs along the top of the parapet and the name HOTEL CORONES is cast in relief with a surrounding border on the south and north ends and centrally along Wills Street. Construction dates AD 1924 and AD 1929 are on the south and north ends of the building respectively. A heavy cornice with supporting dentals runs above the verandah roof between the shaped gables along Wills and Galatea Streets.
The main roof is a skillion form and is clad in corrugated iron.
A rear verandah is situated on the south eastern corner of the building and the kitchen wing with two prominent attached fireplaces extends at right angles from the rear of the building.
The exterior to the ground floor is punctuated with doors to the main entrance foyer from Wills Street and entrances to the bar from both Wills and Galatea Street. Deep casement windows some of which have leadlight designs are regularly positioned along both street frontages. A tiled dado runs along the walls to the bar and to the three shops on the southern end of the building where aluminium windows have been installed. At first floor level accommodation rooms open onto verandahs through French doors.
Adjoining the hotel to the east is a single storey ballroom with a central door and two symmetrically positioned windows with semi circular heads either side. The facade of this part of the building is plain with a simple cornice that forms a parapet to the flat roof over. Adjoining this area is Corones Hall. The Hall is set back from Galatea Street and is entered from a centrally positioned set of heavy wooden doors. The facade is rendered to the height of the adjoining ballroom roof and has piers supporting a dentaled cornice which rises over the entrance in a semicircular pediment. Above this is a brick gabled stepped parapet with projecting piers and plaster coping. The brick work has decorative diamond patterning at the apex of the gable and at each side above the cornice. The name CORONES' HALL is inscribed in plaster relief on a plaster tablet on the gable above the entrance door.
The interior of the hotel retains its original detailing. The foyer has a silky oak panelling, decorated plaster ceilings, and leadlight windows. The main stair is silky oak. Many original furnishings remain.
","history":"The town of Charleville was surveyed in 1867 following the surveying of a number of pastoral runs in the district in 1863. Sited on the banks of the Warrego River along a natural stock route from New South Wales to Western Queensland, the town was to develop as the major service centre for the surrounding pastoral industry: bullock teams passed through the town, Cobb & Co established stables (as well as a factory for the construction of mail coaches and buggies and an associated sawmill) and in 1888 Charleville's position as a strategic transport node for the south west was confirmed when it became the terminus for the Western Main [railway] Line (extended south to Cunnamulla 1898 and west to Quilpie 1917).
The first half of the 1920s was a time of economic prosperity in Queensland unrivalled for three decades. The boom was sustained longer in the building sector than in others; and in Brisbane the transformation of the city's central business district was a tangible legacy of the boom. In Charleville the main streets gave an air of solid prosperity to this centre of one of the richest areas of western Queensland ... it has fine hotels, stores, offices of the leading pastoral firms, and a full complement of general business concerns. There is a most attractive School of Arts, Town Hall, [and] three churches ... There is a most excellent club, the "Warrego" ... The fledgling QANTAS commenced their first commercial services from the town in 1922 ("replacing" the last Cobb & Co coach which ran in 1920); in 1924 the town turned on electric lights; and in 1926 a new Town Hall was completed. However a severe drought in 1926 described by the Charleville Chamber of Commerce as the worst season known by black or white man with losses of sheep to the enormous extent of eleven millions was to bring the state's pastoral and agricultural sectors to collapse and many rural towns entered a slow decline into the world-wide depression of the 1930s.
On the cusp of the boom/bust, Harry Corones was to commence building his grand vision of hospitality for the west to rival the capital's best hotels. Born on the Greek island of Kythera, Harry "Poppa" Corones arrived in Australia in the early 1900s coming to Charleville by 1909 when he was recorded in the Post Office Directories as a "fruiterer". Reputedly on the encouragement of a brewing company representative, Corones became in 1912 the licensee of the Hotel Charleville, which he operated until 1924.
In 1926 Corones became the registered owner of the Hotel Norman, a single storeyed hotel established c1895 located a block south of the Hotel Charleville on the corner of Wills and Galatea Street. In an advertisement in Pugh's Almanac for 1905, proprietor DC McDonald claimed the hotel as the leading hotel of the southern western line ... the home of the pastoralist, agriculturalist and tourist with lofty cool bedrooms, hot and cold baths, and good paddocking - claims which would be later repeated and amplified by Corones regarding his own hotel.
Construction of Corone's Hotel Norman (as it was then called) commenced in 1924. Rising phoenix-like on the site of the old Norman Hotel, the ambitious scheme was built in four stages from the south to the north to enable continuation of trade; the construction dates displayed at either end of the building testifying to the five year enterprise. Significantly, given the number of (timber) buildings in the town destroyed by fire including Corone's former hotel the Charleville (actually destroyed by fire twice), Harry Corone's new hotel was a masonry building. The first two stages were of reinforced concrete, the third including the ballroom and final stages of brick. Costing some £50,000 the hotel was built by day labour with preference given to men of the district. By the end of 1926 the new hotel was two thirds complete; only the bar area of the Norman Hotel remained. The mythology of Corones was also well advanced. According to the Australian Pastoralist, Grazing Farmers' and Selectors Gazette the hotel was the topic of conversation from Roma to Eulo, and out to the far west and north ... In every way the new Hotel Corones will be an example of hotel architecture and comfort scarce equalled in the Southern Hemisphere, and will undoubtedly be a great centre for all western men.
The final stage of building was completed in 1929. The hotel now stretched almost an entire block of Charleville's main street. According to the A & B Journal of Queensland it was a magnificent white building ... an outstanding feature in a progressive town ... the best equipped and most up-to-date hotel outside the metropolis ... generally acknowledged as the calling-place of all distinguished tourists and travellers... The Hotel itself produced a 12 page brochure about this time which included black and white photographs of the interior: on the ground floor the lounge had gleaming copper-topped tables, deep leather lounges and chairs and led to a writing room and telephone booth, the dining room enticing in its cleanliness was capable of seating 150; the private bar which gave exclusive service amidst convivial surroundings was screened from the public bar by an ingenious arrangement a French polished oak partition with mirrors; the public bar was very modern and luxurious and a cool cement court-yard formed an entrance to the ball-room. Upstairs all accommodation rooms opened onto the verandah - some were equipped with their own bathrooms designed to please the most fastidious and the upstairs lounge was just the place for a real restful smoke. Corones Hall located on Galatea Street had a floor unexcelled outside Brisbane and was largely in demand for exclusive balls, parties, and banquets. Capable of seating 320 at dinner, the hall was built for coolness with a number of high set windows and electric ceiling fans. The lights with Venetian shades of various hues [were] adjustable either to dimness or the reverse, and an orchestra platform added to its popularity and beauty.
Furnishings throughout including the bedroom furniture, dining room, lounge room, chairs, settees, sideboards, etc were designed and manufactured by that well known Queensland home furnisher F Tritton Ltd George Street Brisbane from that beautiful Queensland wood, the Queensland maple. Carpets, linoleums, floor coverings, curtains, etc (British throughout) were all laid and fitted by Trittons.
The architect of this magnificent modern hotel was William Hodgen jnr (1867-1943). The son of pioneer Toowoomba building contractor William Hodgen, in 1886 he became a cadet in the Colonial Architect's Office and in 1891 enrolled at the Architectural Association in London whilst working with a number of prominent London architects. In December 1896 he returned to Queensland commencing practice the following year in Toowoomba when he immediately received a substantial commission from retailer TC Beirne for works to his newly established Fortitude Valley premises as well as winning a competition for a new wing to the Toowoomba Hospital (the Victoria Wing). In practice until his death in 1943 (from 1935 in partnership with his sons as W Hodgen and Hodgen), Hodgen's practice, like that of contemporary Harry Marks (1871-1939) (who also was a member of one of Queensland's architectural family dynasties) was both extensive and broadranging from domestic (eg the Toowoomba residences "Tor" (1904) [DEH file ref 601325) and Tyson Manor (1905) [Entry in the Heritage Register 600864], institutional (eg Glennie Memorial School (1914), to industrial (eg flour mill and wheat and flour stores for Crisp O'Brien 1911) and a number of hotels in western towns including in Charleville, the Hotel Charleville (1913; rebuilt again after a second fire 1931). Hodgen's second Hotel Charleville was similar but of a smaller scale to the Hotel Corones - both had lost the classical and arts and crafts elements typical of his early hotels, and instead adapted simplified Art Deco decoration on the facade. Both hotels are a dominant presence in Charleville's main street; but it is the Hotel Corones which is regarded as Hodgen's major single work and the highlight of his career.
For over thirty years the Hotel Corones ("The Leading Hotel of the West") flourished as a tourist, pastoral and CTA (Commercial Travellers Association) House. Harry Corones' advertisements and stationery proclaimed vice-regal patronage; and in addition to wealthy local graziers, celebrities such as Amy Johnson, Gracie Fields, and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester were guests at the Hotel. In 1936 there were on average 133 guests per week and during World War II when "American" servicemen occupied the local aerodrome and hospital, "Poppa" Corones did a roaring trade with dances held "every night" in Corones Hall. In 1959, the state's centenary year, Charleville's civic welcome to its Royal visitor, HRH Princess Alexandra took place in front of the hotel and Corone's advertisement in the town's centenary souvenir book could still proclaim that Charleville Means CORONES because Corones is the centre of Charleville's social activities and the rendezvous where business agreements can be made in surroundings which, by their comfort and restfulness, provide the perfect setting for quiet consideration. People who insist on the best in fine living invariably made Corones their home while in Charleville.
Just a few years later, however, a Licensing Commission Report described Corones as at one time (past tense) the leading hotel in Charleville now overtaken by the new type of hospitality accommodation, the motel in the shape of the newly rebuilt Victoria Hotel-Motel. Drought in the 1960s was also to severely impact on the local (including Corones') economy: the heyday of both the town and the Hotel was over.
In 1972 Harry Corones died; his elder son, Peter and wife Mary who had operated the hotel for some time prior to Harry Corone's death continued its stewardship. In 1982 the hotel was acquired by Doreen and Bob Bishop. It was acquired by the present owners in 1989. In 1990 a motel was erected to the rear of the hotel: in April of that year, the disastrous flood which covered much of the town, entered the ground floor of the hotel. As a result substantial works including the restoration of the main stair were carried out; about this time some bedrooms on the upper floor were also converted into bathrooms and what are believed to be the former Commercial Travellers' sample rooms on Galatea Street were converted into a shop and motel style accommodation. In 1993, the hotel was listed by the National Trust of Queensland. The Hotel Corones is now operated by Gordon and Frances Harding as both a local pub and (in recognition of the hotel's iconic status) a cultural tourist attraction in the state's south west: Corones Hall is regularly used for functions such as weddings and balls, daily tours of the hotel are conducted by Mrs Harding, and the mythology of both the man and his hotel continues.
","criteria":"Riding on the statewide economic boom of the 1920s, Harry "Poppa" Corones built his hotel which was to become a byword for hospitality in the west. Spanning nearly a block of Charleville's main street, the Hotel Corones was also to become in the succeeding decades, a symbol of both the prosperity and the changing fortunes of the town and the pastoral industry of south west Queensland, which it served.
|The man and his hotel became synonymous: the use of the Corones name as the hotel name represented a significant break in the English tradition of the naming of hotels within an accepted nomenclature, a marketing strategy which was to see both the man and his hotel achieve (a joint and severable) iconic status in the west. That this icon was also of Greek origin was even more singular: Greek migration to Queensland in this century was most visible in the small business sector; the Greek cafe and green grocer became standard fixtures in the state's cities and throughout rural Queensland. Harry Corones' move into the hotel industry and the scale in which it was undertaken (uncompromisingly proclaimed by his ambitious plans for the Hotel Corones) represented a significant leap. Moreover in the (predominantly British) mythology of the (Queensland) west, the Greek hero was (and is) a rarity.
|The Hotel Corones is the major work of architect William Hodgen whose Toowoomba practice extended throughout the west including a number of country hotels including others in Charleville (Hotel Charleville 1912; and the Hotel Corone's close relative the Hotel Charleville as rebuilt (again) 1931). A dominant landmark in the Charleville townscape, the quality and intactness of the hotel in particular the interiors (including not only the accommodation areas of the hotel, foyer, and dining room, but also uncommonly, a substantially intact bar area) as well as furnishings and fittings make the Hotel Corones an exceptional example of an intact interwar hotel (albeit one conceived on a grand scale).
|In common with so many Queensland country towns, a number of timber buildings in Charleville (including the hotel previously leased by Harry Corones, the Hotel Charleville) had been destroyed by fire. The Hotel Corones was one of several substantial masonry buildings erected in Charleville during the 1920s and 1930s: particularly given that so few of the earlier major buildings of the town remain these buildings are an important part of the built fabric of the town as well as a demonstrable attempt to break with a rather bleak tradition associated with the use of timber as a building material in the hot dry climate of the west.
|Riding on the statewide economic boom of the 1920s, Harry "Poppa" Corones built his hotel which was to become a byword for hospitality in the west. Spanning nearly a block of Charleville's main street, the Hotel Corones was also to become in the succeeding decades, a symbol of both the prosperity and the changing fortunes of the town and the pastoral industry of south west Queensland, which it served.
|The man and his hotel became synonymous: the use of the Corones name as the hotel name represented a significant break in the English tradition of the naming of hotels within an accepted nomenclature, a marketing strategy which was to see both the man and his hotel achieve (a joint and severable) iconic status in the west. That this icon was also of Greek origin was even more singular: Greek migration to Queensland in this century was most visible in the small business sector; the Greek cafe and green grocer became standard fixtures in the state's cities and throughout rural Queensland. Harry Corones' move into the hotel industry and the scale in which it was undertaken (uncompromisingly proclaimed by his ambitious plans for the Hotel Corones) represented a significant leap. Moreover in the (predominantly British) mythology of the (Queensland) west, the Greek hero was (and is) a rarity.
","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":30560,"place_ref":602715,"name":"Landsborough's Blazed Tree, Camp 69","alternate_name":"Landsboroughs Tree | Landsborough Tree","street_address":"Mitchell Highway","suburb":"BAKERS BEND","lga":"MURWEH SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2009-06-18","description":"The blazed tree that marks Landsborough's Camp 69 is a Coolibah (Eucalyptus coolibah) located near a tributary of the Warrego River system on a grazing leasehold of just under 684ha, about 29 km south of Charleville off the Mitchell Highway near Bakers Bend.
The blaze on the trunk reads:
V.+Q. EXPN
L.C.69
MAY 16
1862
The lettering varies, perhaps evidence of one person starting the blaze and another completing it, with the 'V+Q' being broader lettering than the remainder.
The blaze appears to be made on an existing Aboriginal scar, which Landsborough's party likely enlarged and cut to suit their needs.
","history":"The blazed tree at Camp 69 south of Charleville was marked during William Landsborough's 1862 expedition south from the Gulf of Carpentaria in search of cross-continent explorers Robert O'Hara Burke and William Wills.
\nBuke and Wills, who had set out from Melbourne on 20 August 1860 to cross the continent from south to north, were reported missing in June 1861. Four official relief expeditions were soon organised to search for them: Alfred William Howitt's party formed in Melbourne; John McKinlay's party formed in Adelaide; Frederick Walker's party formed in Rockhampton; and William Landsborough's party formed in Brisbane (appointed by the Victorian and Queensland governments). The Victorian government appointed Captain Norman of HMCS Victoria as Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Expedition Parties (the Walker and Landsborough expeditions).
\nHowitt early ascertained the fate of Burke and Wills in September 1861, but the other expeditions had left before news could reach them.
\nWilliam Landsborough, the son of a Scottish clergyman, was an experienced bushman, explorer and part owner of Bowen Downs station in northern Queensland. In the mid 1850s he was in partnership in a station on the Kolan River in the Burnett district and from 1856 had undertaken much private exploration in search of new pastoral land. He explored and named Mount Nebo in 1856, the Broadsound district in 1857, the Comet and Nogoa Rivers in 1858, and the Bonar (Bowen) River in 1859. From Rockhampton he and Nat Buchanan then traced Aramac Creek and the Thomson River to the Plains of Promise. In 1861 he applied for 15 runs of 100 sq. miles (259 km²) each on the Plains of Promise and with Buchanan and Edward Cornish formed the Landsborough River Co. to stock these runs, which he named Bowen Downs. He was recommended to lead the Brisbane expedition in search of Burke and Wills by the Queensland Surveyor-General, AC Gregory.
\nOn 26 August 1861 Landsborough's expedition left Brisbane in the brig Firefly for the Gulf of Carpentaria, where Walker and his party, who had proceeded overland from Rockhampton, was to rendezvous with Norman and Landsborough at the Albert River. On 4 September 1861 the Firefly was wrecked in the Gulf but the expedition was rescued three days later by Commander Norman in the Victoria.
\nA depot was established on the Albert River and during October, Landsborough explored the surrounding district, marking numerous trees with a distinctive broad arrow before the L.
\nLandsborough had instructions from the Royal Society of Victoria to search for Burke and Wills south-west from the Albert River. If that failed, he also intended to search for them along Cooper's Creek and then make for Brisbane or Rockhampton. As instructed, from mid-November 1861 to mid-January 1862 he explored south-west towards Central Mount Stuart, discovering and following the Gregory River, until near the site of later Camooweal he found desert with a network of dry channels. On 30 December 1861 he reached the furthest extent of his search. Realising that rain could flood the country and isolate his starving party Landsborough struggled back to the Albert River depot, having found no trace of Burke and Wills. During this journey Landsborough named the Gregory and Herbert (later Georgina) rivers, Lake Frances, Lake Mary and the Barkly Tableland and on his return reported the area well-suited for sheep raising.
\nLandsborough's explorations in this area contributed to the extension of Queensland's western boundary. At the time of separation from New South Wales in 1859, this had been set at longitude 141° East. In September 1860 AC Gregory had recommended to the Queensland government that the border, which passed through the Plains of Promise, be moved to 138° East to provide the district with access to a port in the Gulf. A year later, realising that the northern relief expeditions in search of Burke and Wills would increase knowledge of the area, Governor Bowen wrote on 5 September 1861 to the Secretary of State for the Colonies advising that Queensland legislature would protect any settlers who moved into the area, provided the western boundary of Queensland was extended to 138° East to include access to the Gulf. This was agreed to, and the boundary was altered on 12 April 1862, placing the Albert, Gregory and Herbert (Georgina) rivers and much of the Barkly Tableland, within Queensland.
\nOn his return to the Albert on 19 January 1862 Landsborough discovered that Walker, who had reached the depot and reported finding tracks on the Flinders River to the south-east, had replenished his supplies from the Victoria and had left again to resuming the search. Landsborough had the option of returning south on the Victoria or proceeding overland. As provisions were now limited, Norman was opposed to Landsborough heading south, but the explorer ignored his advice, hoping to augment his provisions at new pastoral stations along the way.
\nThe southern expedition comprised: Landsborough (commander), George Bourne (second in command), W Gleeson (a sailor by trade, but groom and cook to the expedition), Jemmy (a Queensland Native Police trooper originally from Deniliquin in New South Wales), Jacky (an Aboriginal guide from the Wide Bay district) and Fisherman (an Aboriginal guide from the Brisbane region). At 4pm on 10 February 1862 they commenced their journey south, taking 14 pack horses and 6 horses for riding. The party followed the river systems southward, averaging just over 20 miles per day, and rarely travelled on a Sunday. For most of the journey they travelled through well-watered, grassed land, and the horses fared well for most of the journey.
\nIt was Fisherman's job to mark the trees at each campsite. In an 1866 publication describing his experiences on this expedition, Landsborough commented:
\n\"The importance of marking trees properly cannot be overrated. The marks should be made only on strong, healthy trees, and at conspicuous points; and the directions should be unmistakeably clear and accurate.\"
\nDuring February and March they followed the Flinders River south-east looking for traces of Burke and Wills. They traversed the Plains of Promise and named the isolated hills visible from the Flinders River: Fort Bowen, Mount Brown and Mount Little. By early April 1862 the party was on the Thomson River, which Landsborough had explored before, following this south. Having not found a station in this area, and with rations running low, Landsborough decided to leave the Thomson and on 10 April headed east via creeks to the Barcoo River/Cooper's Creek in the 'known' districts. He relied heavily on the Aborigines in his party, who obtained the assistance of local Aboriginal guides for much of the distance. By 22 April the party was working down the Barcoo, and on the night of 22/23 April experienced their first and only attack by local Aborigines. Jemmy, the Native Police trooper, was on watch and raised the alarm, which saved their lives, the explorers frightening off their attackers with gunfire.
\nIn late April 1862 Landsborough left the well-watered pastoral country along the Barcoo heading for the Nive River to the south-east, and on 1 May found old dray tracks - evidence that they had entered known country.
\nOn 9 May Landsborough's party reached the upper reaches of the Warrego River, having found pastoralists' marked trees and deep horse tracks en route but no sign of an out-station, and that evening established Camp 67 on the left bank of a creek that they believed was the head of the Warrego. By this stage the party was starving and the next day (10 May) Landsborough made the decision to leave the Warrego and head south-south-east for the next river system in a more settled district. He had no local Aboriginal guides and for much of the time was without Jacky and Jemmy, who had backtracked to look for a missing pistol. After travelling about 50 miles without finding water he decided to return to the Warrego. The horses became terribly distressed during this journey, being without water for 72 hours and travelling 120 miles before water was found near the Warrego on 13 May (Camp 68). Here the party rested the next day, in part to refresh the horses and also to allow Jemmy, who had suffered a severe burn to his back after having rolled into a fire on the night of 10/11 May, to regain some strength. On 15 May the party left Camp 68 and in the evening established camp 69 on the west bank of a creek that fed into the Warrego River.
\nOn the morning of 16 May the party left camp 69 to follow the Warrego downstream south-south-west. As Fisherman had to take Jemmy's place in rounding up the horses in the morning, he and Landsborough stayed behind the rest of the party to mark trees at the camp, catching up with the others in the evening.
\nOn 21 May 1862, having continued to follow the Warrego downstream, Landsborough's party reached a station occupied by Williams and Neilsen, and learned that Burke and Wills had perished. Both Landsborough and George Bourne in their later accounts of the expedition expressed surprise on hearing that Burke and Wills had perished, having found the country well-watered for most of their journey.
\nFrom Williams and Neilson, Landsborough was able to re-provision the expedition before continuing south. His party arrived at Bunnawaunah on the Darling River, a settled district, on 1 June, and continued along well-known tracks via Menindie to Melbourne, which they reached in October 1862. In Melbourne Landsborough was fêted as the first explorer to cross the Australian continent north to south, and a gold-mining town in Victoria was named in his honour.
\nLandsborough's reports on the valuable pastoral land he had encountered during the expedition sparked a rush for land in the Gulf country. However, the comparative ease with which his expedition had crossed the continent soon prompted rumour that he had been more interested in looking for new pastoral country than in searching for Burke and Wills. This he strenuously denied, and never applied for the lease of any of the pastoral country he had discovered during his crossing of the continent.
\nThe success of Landsborough's 1862 expedition was due largely to his reliance on indigenous knowledge of the terrain he traversed. His journal reveals that he rarely travelled without Aboriginal guides; there are constant references to local Aborigines leading Landsborough's party to water or to showing them the best route, or to Jemmy, Jacky or Fisherman finding water. When he lost access to this local knowledge, as in his attempt to head south-south-east from the Warrego in May 1862 (camps 67-69), his party came close to perishing.
\nLandsborough later became a controversial police magistrate and commissioner of crown lands in Carpentaria, based at Burketown on the Albert River. Towards the end of his life he was awarded £2,000 for his Gulf country discoveries, which he used to purchase a property at Caloundra, just north of Brisbane, where he died in 1886.
\nWilliam Landsborough has long been recognised for his contribution to the opening of western Queensland to non-Indigenous settlement: he has been included in Australian biographical dictionaries since the 1880s; both Queensland and Victoria have a town named in his honour; there is a Landsborough Creek south of Hughenden (a tributary of the Thomson River); the former Shire of Landsborough (later Caloundra City, and more recently Sunshine Coast Regional Council) was named after him; and numerous Queensland roads commemorate him, including the Landsborough Highway in western Queensland (linking Cloncurry, McKinlay, Kynuna, Winton, Longreach, Barcaldine, Blackall, Tambo, and Augathella with the Warrego Highway east of Charleville) and at least 15 other Landsborough roads and streets throughout the State.
","criteria":"The blazed tree at Landsborough's Camp 69 just south of Charleville was marked on 16 May 1862 and is important for its association with the first official crossing of the Australian continent from north to south. Between February and May 1862 explorer William Landsborough left a trail of blazed trees from the Albert River in the Gulf of Carpentaria to the Warrego River near later Cunnamulla, demonstrating a practical route for driving livestock overland to north-western Queensland. Comparatively few of the blazes survive, either having grown over or trees destroyed through past clearing practices, fire, flood, termites or harsh environmental conditions. Surviving blazes associated with this expedition remain important markers of a major event in Queensland history, which precipitated a rush for pastoral land in western and north-western Queensland in the early 1860s. There are only two known surviving examples of blazed trees from the 1862 Landsborough expedition in the Charleville district, at Camp 67 and Camp 69. The lettering on these blazes remains extremely well preserved.
|The blaze at Camp 69, which remains highly visible, is rare tangible evidence of a remarkable feat by Landsborough and his party as the first exploration expedition to cross the Continent from north to south, in the process opening much of western and north-western Queensland to pastoral settlement.
|The place has a special association with the work of William Landsborough (1825-1886) in exploring the western and north western districts of Queensland in 1861-1862.
","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":30561,"place_ref":602716,"name":"Landsborough's Blazed Tree, Camp 67","alternate_name":"Landsboroughs Tree | Landsborough Tree","street_address":"Mitchell Highway","suburb":"CHARLEVILLE","lga":"MURWEH SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2009-06-18","description":"The blazed tree that marks Landsborough's Camp 67 is a Coolibah (Eucalyptus coolibah) located on a levee in a small local creek that feeds into the Warrego River system, on private freehold about 10km south of Charleville, off the Mitchell Highway.
The girth of the tree measures 3.7m at 1m above ground level, and the canopy extends to 13.5m from the trunk.
The blaze is on the southern side of the trunk (orientation 193¿) and is now close to ground level, the result of sedimentation deposited over nearly 150 years of seasonal flooding. It reads:
+Q EXPN.
L. C. 67
MAY 10
1862
The chiselled lettering is broad and has been painted to increase visibility.
The blaze appears to be made on an existing Aboriginal scar, which Landsborough's party enlarged and cut to suit their needs. The scar is 700mm in width, with a visible heath of 740mm and maximum regrowth of 260mm. There is distorted regrowth on the upper lateral margins of the scar, the result of successive chainsaw cutting into the regrowth to maintain the blaze's visibility.
The tree has another scar on the opposite side of the trunk to the blaze, which is most likely the result of Aboriginal people removing the bark.
","history":"The blazed tree at Camp 67 just south of Charleville was marked during William Landsborough's 1862 expedition south from the Gulf of Carpentaria in search of cross-continent explorers Robert O'Hara Burke and William Wills.
Buke and Wills, who had set out from Melbourne on 20 August 1860 to cross the continent from south to north, were reported missing in June 1861. Four official relief expeditions were soon organised to search for them: Alfred William Howitt's party formed in Melbourne; John McKinlay's party formed in Adelaide; Frederick Walker's party formed in Rockhampton; and William Landsborough's party formed in Brisbane (appointed by the Victorian and Queensland governments). The Victorian government appointed Captain Norman of HMCS Victoria as Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Expedition Parties (the Walker and Landsborough expeditions).
Howitt early ascertained the fate of Burke and Wills in September 1861, but the other expeditions had left before news could reach them.
William Landsborough, the son of a Scottish clergyman, was an experienced bushman, explorer and part owner of Bowen Downs station in northern Queensland. In the mid 1850s he was in partnership in a station on the Kolan River in the Burnett district and from 1856 had undertaken much private exploration in search of new pastoral land. He explored and named Mount Nebo in 1856, the Broadsound district in 1857, the Comet and Nogoa Rivers in 1858, and the Bonar (Bowen) River in 1859. From Rockhampton he and Nat Buchanan then traced Aramac Creek and the Thomson River to the Plains of Promise. In 1861 he applied for 15 runs of 100 sq. miles (259 km²) each on the Plains of Promise and with Buchanan and Edward Cornish formed the Landsborough River Co. to stock these runs, which he named Bowen Downs. He was recommended to lead the Brisbane expedition in search of Burke and Wills by the Queensland Surveyor-General, AC Gregory.
On 26 August 1861 Landsborough's expedition left Brisbane in the brig Firefly for the Gulf of Carpentaria, where Walker and his party, who had proceeded overland from Rockhampton, was to rendezvous with Norman and Landsborough at the Albert River. On 4 September 1861 the Firefly was wrecked in the Gulf but the expedition was rescued three days later by Commander Norman in the Victoria.
A depot was established on the Albert River and during October, Landsborough explored the surrounding district, marking numerous trees with a distinctive broad arrow before the L.
Landsborough had instructions from the Royal Society of Victoria to search for Burke and Wills south-west from the Albert River. If that failed, he also intended to search for them along Cooper's Creek and then make for Brisbane or Rockhampton. As instructed, from mid-November 1861 to mid-January 1862 he explored south-west towards Central Mount Stuart, discovering and following the Gregory River, until near the site of later Camooweal he found desert with a network of dry channels. On 30 December 1861 he reached the furthest extent of his search. Realising that rain could flood the country and isolate his starving party Landsborough struggled back to the Albert River depot, having found no trace of Burke and Wills. During this journey Landsborough named the Gregory and Herbert (later Georgina) rivers, Lake Frances, Lake Mary and the Barkly Tableland and on his return reported the area well-suited for sheep raising.
Landsborough's explorations in this area contributed to the extension of Queensland's western boundary. At the time of separation from New South Wales in 1859, this had been set at longitude 141¿ East. In September 1860 AC Gregory had recommended to the Queensland government that the border, which passed through the Plains of Promise, be moved to 138¿ East to provide the district with access to a port in the Gulf. A year later, realising that the northern relief expeditions in search of Burke and Wills would increase knowledge of the area, Governor Bowen wrote on 5 September 1861 to the Secretary of State for the Colonies advising that Queensland legislature would protect any settlers who moved into the area, provided the western boundary of Queensland was extended to 138¿ East to include access to the Gulf. This was agreed to, and the boundary was altered on 12 April 1862, placing the Albert, Gregory and Herbert (Georgina) rivers and much of the Barkly Tableland, within Queensland.
On his return to the Albert on 19 January 1862 Landsborough discovered that Walker, who had reached the depot and reported finding tracks on the Flinders River to the south-east, had replenished his supplies from the Victoria and had left again to resuming the search. Landsborough had the option of returning south on the Victoria or proceeding overland. As provisions were now limited, Norman was opposed to Landsborough heading south, but the explorer ignored his advice, hoping to augment his provisions at new pastoral stations along the way.
The southern expedition comprised: Landsborough (commander), George Bourne (second in command), W Gleeson (a sailor by trade, but groom and cook to the expedition), Jemmy (a Queensland Native Police trooper originally from Deniliquin in New South Wales), Jacky (an Aboriginal guide from the Wide Bay district) and Fisherman (an Aboriginal guide from the Brisbane region). At 4pm on 10 February 1862 they commenced their journey south, taking 14 pack horses and 6 horses for riding. The party followed the river systems southward, averaging just over 20 miles per day, and rarely travelled on a Sunday. For most of the journey they travelled through well-watered, grassed land, and the horses fared well for most of the journey.
It was Fisherman's job to mark the trees at each campsite. In an 1866 publication describing his experiences on this expedition, Landsborough commented:
"The importance of marking trees properly cannot be overrated. The marks should be made only on strong, healthy trees, and at conspicuous points; and the directions should be unmistakeably clear and accurate."
During February and March they followed the Flinders River south-east looking for traces of Burke and Wills. They traversed the Plains of Promise and named the isolated hills visible from the Flinders River: Fort Bowen, Mount Brown and Mount Little. By early April 1862 the party was on the Thomson River, which Landsborough had explored before, following this south. Having not found a station in this area, and with rations running low, Landsborough decided to leave the Thomson and on 10 April headed east via creeks to the Barcoo River/Cooper's Creek in the 'known' districts. He relied heavily on the Aborigines in his party, who obtained the assistance of local Aboriginal guides for much of the distance. By 22 April the party was working down the Barcoo, and on the night of 22/23 April experienced their first and only attack by local Aborigines. Jemmy, the Native Police trooper, was on watch and raised the alarm, which saved their lives, the explorers frightening off their attackers with gunfire.
In late April 1862 Landsborough left the well-watered pastoral country along the Barcoo heading for the Nive River to the south-east, and on 1 May found old dray tracks - evidence that they had entered known country.
On 9 May Landsborough's party reached the upper reaches of the Warrego River, having found pastoralists' marked trees and deep horse tracks en route but no sign of an out-station, and that evening established Camp 67 on the left bank of a creek that they believed was the head of the Warrego. By this stage the party was starving and the next day (10 May) Landsborough made the decision to leave the Warrego and head south-south-east for the next river system in a more settled district. He had no local Aboriginal guides and for much of the time was without Jacky and Jemmy, who had backtracked to look for a missing pistol. After travelling about 50 miles without finding water he decided to return to the Warrego. The horses became terribly distressed during this journey, being without water for 72 hours and travelling 120 miles before water was found near the Warrego on 13 May (Camp 68). Here the party rested the next day, in part to refresh the horses and also to allow Jemmy, who had suffered a severe burn to his back after having rolled into a fire on the night of 10/11 May, to regain some strength. On 15 May the party left Camp 68 and in the evening established camp 69 on the west bank of a creek that fed into the Warrego River.
On the morning of 16 May the party left camp 69 to follow the Warrego downstream south-south-west. As Fisherman had to take Jemmy's place in rounding up the horses in the morning, he and Landsborough stayed behind the rest of the party to mark trees at the camp, catching up with the others in the evening.
On 21 May 1862, having continued to follow the Warrego downstream, Landsborough's party reached a station occupied by Williams and Neilsen, and learned that Burke and Wills had perished. Both Landsborough and George Bourne in their later accounts of the expedition expressed surprise on hearing that Burke and Wills had perished, having found the country well-watered for most of their journey.
From Williams and Neilson, Landsborough was able to re-provision the expedition before continuing south. His party arrived at Bunnawaunah on the Darling River, a settled district, on 1 June, and continued along well-known tracks via Menindie to Melbourne, which they reached in October 1862. In Melbourne Landsborough was fêted as the first explorer to cross the Australian continent north to south, and a gold-mining town in Victoria was named in his honour.
Landsborough's reports on the valuable pastoral land he had encountered during the expedition sparked a rush for land in the Gulf country. However, the comparative ease with which his expedition had crossed the continent soon prompted rumour that he had been more interested in looking for new pastoral country than in searching for Burke and Wills. This he strenuously denied, and never applied for the lease of any of the pastoral country he had discovered during his crossing of the continent.
The success of Landsborough's 1862 expedition was due largely to his reliance on indigenous knowledge of the terrain he traversed. His journal reveals that he rarely travelled without Aboriginal guides; there are constant references to local Aborigines leading Landsborough's party to water or to showing them the best route, or to Jemmy, Jacky or Fisherman finding water. When he lost access to this local knowledge, as in his attempt to head south-south-east from the Warrego in May 1862 (camps 67-69), his party came close to perishing.
Landsborough later became a controversial police magistrate and commissioner of crown lands in Carpentaria, based at Burketown on the Albert River. Towards the end of his life he was awarded £2,000 for his Gulf country discoveries, which he used to purchase a property at Caloundra, just north of Brisbane, where he died in 1886.
William Landsborough has long been recognised for his contribution to the opening of western Queensland to non-Indigenous settlement: he has been included in Australian biographical dictionaries since the 1880s; both Queensland and Victoria have a town named in his honour; there is a Landsborough Creek south of Hughenden (a tributary of the Thomson River); the former Shire of Landsborough (later Caloundra City, and more recently Sunshine Coast Regional Council) was named after him; and numerous Queensland roads commemorate him, including the Landsborough Highway in western Queensland (linking Cloncurry, McKinlay, Kynuna, Winton, Longreach, Barcaldine, Blackall, Tambo, and Augathella with the Warrego Highway east of Charleville) and at least 15 other Landsborough roads and streets throughout the State.
","criteria":"The blaze at Camp 67, which remains highly visible, is rare tangible evidence of a remarkable feat by Landsborough and his party as the first exploration expedition to cross the Continent from north to south, in the process opening much of western and north-western Queensland to pastoral settlement.
|The blazed tree at Landsborough's Camp 67 just south of Charleville was marked on 10 May 1862 and is important for its association with the first official crossing of the Australian continent from north to south. Between February and May 1862 explorer William Landsborough left a trail of blazed trees from the Albert River in the Gulf of Carpentaria to the Warrego River near later Cunnamulla, demonstrating a practical route for driving livestock overland to north-western Queensland. Comparatively few of the blazes survive, either having grown over or trees destroyed through past clearing practices, fire, flood, termites or harsh environmental conditions. Surviving blazes associated with this expedition remain important makers of a major event in Queensland history, which precipitated a rush for pastoral land in western and north-western Queensland in the early 1860s. There are only two known surviving examples of blazed trees from the 1862 Landsborough expedition in the Charleville district, at Camp 67 and Camp 69. The lettering on these blazes remains extremely well preserved.
|The place has a special association with the work of William Landsborough (1825-1886) in exploring the western and north-western districts of Queensland in 1861-1862.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion B | Criterion A | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | 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":33458,"place_ref":602822,"name":"Myendetta","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Myendetta Station Quilpie Highway","suburb":"CHARLEVILLE","lga":"MURWEH SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2013-12-02","description":"Myendetta is a substantial timber homestead on a large property (15981.036ha) of flat, lightly wooded land, 30 kilometres south-west of Charleville.
The house sits within the remnants of a house garden that in 2013 is defined by a lawn. The front of the house faces south-east onto a flat grassed area, once a tennis court. It is a single-storeyed, low-set timber-framed building with an encircling verandah and a semi-detached service wing to the north.
The house has a very large, steep hipped roof clad with corrugated metal sheets, a ventilated ridge cap, and a decorative ventilating fleche. Under the roof cladding is a layer of insulating timber boards. The roof is continuous over the verandahs but at a shallower pitch. The verandahs are without balustrade and the rectangular timber verandah posts are turned on their side to present the larger dimension to the elevation, thereby creating a robust visual impression with the posts supporting overscaled brackets. The verandah walls are single-skin, v-jointed boards with exposed, stop-chamfered framing. The verandah floor is wide timber boards. The verandah ceiling is unlined in places, leaving the timber board roof insulation visible, and in others the ceiling is lined with a further layer of timber boards.
The south-east-facing entry is prominent, sheltered under its own projecting hip roof and is reached by short flight of concrete stairs. The verandah width is generally six feet six inches (approx. 2m) but enlarges to 12 feet (approx. 3.6m) wide in two locations - at the entry and along the front of the sitting and dining rooms; and on the south-west outside the school room.
The house layout is divided into quarters by a central, cruciform hallway. At the juncture of this hallway is an octagonal hall with four semicircular archways of decoratively moulded timber, one over each of the corridors. The house has only two windows - fixed casements in the sitting room. All rooms have wide French windows with broad fanlights opening onto the verandah with timber framed flyscreen doors.
Generally, the interior has clear finished timber board floors, single-skin timber partitions with moulded timber skirtings, belt rails, picture rails, architraves, and cornices. The ceilings are v-jointed boards. There are built-in timber cupboards throughout the house. The interior retains an original light fitting in the dining room and an original electricity board survives.
The service wing is attached to the north-eastern verandah of the main house. It was extensively renovated both externally and internally in recent years and now contains a large commercial scaled kitchen. It has a hipped roof clad with corrugated metal sheets and a ventilated ridge cap. The verandah is shielded from the north-western sun by timber battens fixed in a chevron pattern.
A detached building immediately north of the service wing is the dairy/butcher. It is a timber building with a steep, hipped roof clad with corrugated metal sheets and a ventilated ridge cap. The walls are clad with weatherboards. There is no documented evidence to suggest Robin Dods was the architect.
Other alterations to the original building include:
-\tupdated bathroom fittings and fixtures;
-\treplacement of original timber stumps under the main floor structure with steel posts and concrete footings; and
-\tnew sewerage system.
Other outbuildings are not of cultural heritage significance.
","history":"Myendetta (1910), located 30 kilometres south-west of Charleville, was designed by eminent architect Robert Smith (Robin) Dods for grazier Charles Decimus Edmund Francis.
\nPastoral settlement of the Warrego district in which Myendetta is located commenced in the early 1860s when large pastoral leases were taken up. Survey of the town of Charleville occurred in 1867 and Murweh Divisional Board was established in 1879. The town's growth and importance in the Warrego district increased when it served as the terminus of the western railway from 1888 until 1898, before the rail line was extended to Cunnamulla. The town developed as a major service centre for the surrounding pastoral industry and Cobb & Co. established stables and a factory there for the construction of mail coaches. On 21 March 1894 the town of Charleville was proclaimed a separate municipality.
\nCharles Francis, born in 1860, was the youngest son of a prominent Cambridge legal family and was educated at Eton and Oxford. He migrated to South Australia circa 1880 following an elder brother and worked his way north to the Charleville area.[1] The first evidence of Francis in the Charleville district is in September 1887 when two selections on the road from Charleville to Roma were transferred to him from Keyran Ryan.[2] In 1890 Francis was the lessee of Portion 18v, parish of Dillalah, county of Palmer (later Burrandilla). In the ensuing years he aggregated a large grazing property by taking over the leases of surrounding blocks of land and selecting land.[3] Over time he built up a holding of 10 contiguous blocks totalling almost 46,000 acres (approx. 18,600ha) which were bounded by the Warrego River at its conjunction with the Ward River on the east.[4] The land was used for sheep and cattle raising. In 1901 Francis married Marian Anne Challacombe and a daughter and son were born in 1904 and 1907 respectively. He became a leading member of the community and served as a Justice of the Peace and Magistrate from circa 1915. On the death of CDE Francis in 1929 the property passed to only son Clement Edmund Francis and remained in the family's ownership until 2010.[5]
\nFamily lore tells that Francis received an inheritance of £3,000 following his mother's death, which ‘enabled him to build something of quality'.[6] Circa 1906 Francis decided to build a new homestead on his large property, away from the flood-prone Warrego River, and chose Dods as the architect. To enable the new construction, a 1890 foot deep artesian bore was sunk in 1908 near the future homestead and around the same time a woolshed and shearers' quarters were erected.[7]
\nThe reason for the selection of Dods as the architect for Myendetta is unknown. Francis would have been aware of Dods as he designed a homestead at nearby Augathella in 1903 and in 1906, as Anglican Diocesan architect, he designed the alterations to All Saints Church, Charleville, as well as the new church hall, built in 1910.[8] Dods' working drawings for Myendetta date from March 1908.
\nDods (1868-1920) was a New Zealand-born architect who lived briefly in Britain before coming to Brisbane in the 1870s. He later trained as an architect in Scotland and England under a number of esteemed architects who were working in the Arts and Crafts idiom. His architectural career began in Edinburgh in 1886, articled with architects Hay & Henderson. He attended evening classes at the Edinburgh Architectural Association until 1890 and formed a lasting friendship with (Sir) Robert Lorimer (1864-1929), eminent Scottish architect and fellow proponent of Arts and Crafts. In 1890 Dods moved to London, where he worked with the Fortifications Branch of the War Office and in the office of notable architect (Sir) Aston Webb. In 1891 he was admitted to the Royal Institute of British Architects and travelled in Italy. In 1894 Dods visited his mother in Brisbane and while there won a competition for a nurses home at the Brisbane General Hospital [QHR 600223]. He returned to Brisbane in 1896 and started in practice with architect Francis Hall as Hall & Dods. Dods has been acknowledged as ‘one of the most significant early 20th century Australian architects'[9] and unique as a rare practitioner of the Arts and Crafts style in Queensland.
\nArts and Crafts was an international design movement flourishing between 1860 and 1910, its influence continued into the 1930s. It was led by artist and writer William Morris and architect Charles Voysey and was inspired by the writings of John Ruskin and Augustus Pugin. The style championed traditional craftsmanship using simple forms and often applied medieval, romantic or folk styles of decoration. Importantly, it valued local variations in traditions so that good design would have relevance within its context. Arts and Crafts architecture is characterised by solidity and heaviness through well-proportioned solid forms, wide porches and prominent steep roofs. The texture of ordinary materials is expressed in the detailing and building composition is asymmetrical.
\nThe practice of Hall & Dods was the most influential source of modern design in Brisbane, producing a wide range of accomplished buildings, and was credited with achieving an 'architectural revolution' in Brisbane.[10] Dods was responsible for most of the design within the firm, integrating contemporary British design philosophies with the traditions of Queensland housing and the requirements of a subtropical climate, and producing practical, attractive, and finely-detailed houses. The partnership ended in 1913, when Dods left to practice in Sydney. Dods died prematurely in 1920.
\nDods' residential work employed local building techniques combined with a sophisticated discipline and a common-sense response to climate. Dods' houses were mostly built of timber with detailing that was a celebration of craftsmanship. The most noticeable characteristic of his Queensland houses (built between 1896 and 1917) was a general feeling of solidity and substance. This was the result of a number of design decisions including: designing a generous roof (often the largest element) continuous over the verandah and over a lower, rear washhouse. The roof was always simple in geometry and often finished with terracotta tiles, flat shingles or pan-and-tile profile, flat iron sheeting with a prominent rolled joint. Corrugated iron was only used where it was necessary to reduce the cost. Generally low-set, the houses often had an enclosed or screened understorey to give the house a visually solid base. Individual elements were oversized to appear substantial as if under heavy loads. Bold, dark, earthy colours, darkly-stained timber, rough-sawn weatherboards with mitred corners, roughcast rendering and face brickwork in dark colours were used to give the house a weighty gravity. The building materials and finishes were chosen to allow the building to mellow over time, providing it with a well-established appearance.
\nThe house designs take a formalist approach to planning including formal entry halls and traditional planning arrangements. The plans were generated through a consideration of aspect, with living spaces well-oriented and internal layouts permitting cross ventilation. They are also notable for their informal spaces, a particular feature being the inclusion of generous verandah piazzas[11]. The plans respond to the social needs of the clients in an honest and functional way. The houses were often provided with generous, considered service spaces including back halls and wash houses. The health and comfort of the occupants were major considerations. Ventilation devices included wide window and door openings, ventilated gables and ridges, and ventilation fleches. Piazzas were generous, allowing comfortably-furnished, semi-outdoor living. Operable shading and enclosure of the piazza was sometimes achieved by adding timber vertical louvres above the verandah handrail, creating a room habitable in most weather. Interiors included fine decorative timber joinery and panelling. Fireplace surrounds and built-in cupboards were also a feature.
\nThe composition of facades and circulation routes are a more nuanced element of Dods' houses and highlights his originality and artistic skill. Facades often only implied symmetry. Entries were often off-centre or perpendicular, emphasised by wide and expressive entry stairs. Projecting bay windows and corner fireplaces were recurrent elements.
\nDods designed gardens as a setting for the house, a practice more common in Britain than in Queensland. They featured formal parterre gardens, terraces and walls, flower beds, tennis courts, hedges, topiaries, flowering ornamental trees, and geometric path and lawn layouts. Garden furniture and structures were designed including seats, pergolas, trellises, fences and gates.
\nMyendetta is an example of the homesteads built by Queensland's most successful pastoralists. As funds became available over time, they built comfortable, architect-designed homes or extended their earlier homesteads into residences more befitting their status. Most of these grand homesteads were built in the prosperous settled districts of south-east Queensland - Darling Downs, Moreton and Wide Bay Burnett districts, where pastoralists held freehold title; relatively few were built in the far west where land was leasehold.[12]
\nBetween 1901 and 1913 Dods designed and built six homesteads for rural properties - Langlo Downs, Augathella (1903, destroyed by fire); extension to Nindooinbah, Beaudesert [QHR 600027] (1908); Ringsfield, Nanango (1908); Wyambyn, Beaudesert [QHR 602821] (1909); Myendetta, Charleville (1910); and Kengoon, Kalbar (1913).[13] These were large dwellings that often formed the centre of groups of outbuildings. Their garden layouts were also an important feature.[14]
\nRural homesteads built in Queensland in the early part of the 20th century were large homes, often on elevated (flood-free) sites with a scenic outlook, surrounded by gardens. As well as those listed above, Marshlands near Hivesville (1910) designed by Hall & Dods (but not believed to be Dods' design) was built during this period, as was Hidden Vale near Grandchester (Eaton & Bates, 1903).[15]
\nMyendetta was built by Gibbs Brothers, Charleville builders and contractors who also constructed the FDG Stanley-designed Charleville School of Arts. Myendetta Station's vegetation was Mulga scrub, unsuitable as a building material, so all building materials had to be brought in. Weatherboards and framing were hardwood while the v-jointed walls, floors and ceilings were Hoop Pine.[16]
\nWhen completed in 1910 Myendetta was a ‘state of the art' home complete with electricity generated by its own generator powered by water flow from the artesian bore.[17] Hydro-electricity powered by artesian flow was a new technology pioneered at Thargomindah in 1898 (the first town in Australia to have hydroelectric power). This preceded the electrification of Charleville by 13 years. The house was flyscreened and well ventilated. An outbuilding was equipped with a cold room, insulated with charcoal and sealed with a layer of cork then cooled by air forced through water-soaked hessian curtains by an electric fan.[18]
\nThe house was approached from the west along a curve around the south to an entry porch on the south-east. It was rectangular in plan with a six feet (1.8m) wide cruciform corridor separating four banks of rooms 14 feet (4.27m) wide. The house accommodated a large dining room, sitting room, drawing room, sewing room, a master bedroom with ensuite bathroom, four other bedrooms, a second bathroom, and a school room. At the juncture of the cruciform hallways was a central octagonal hall with four semicircular archways, one over each of the corridors. A verandah encircled the house and was generally six feet six inches (1.98m) wide. It widened to 12 feet (3.66m) to create piazzas in two locations: outside the sitting and dining rooms, and outside the school room. The entry projected to form an even larger verandah space, approximately 16 feet wide (4.8m). The house had few windows (only two fixed casements to the sitting room); rather, it had pairs of six feet (1.8m) wide French doors with glazed fanlights and gauzed timber-framed flyscreen doors to the exterior.
\nLinked by a covered verandah to the north-eastern end of the house was a semi-detached service wing that accommodated a kitchen, a wash house, and a servants' room or large store room. The wing had a north-western verandah approximately 8 feet wide (2.4m) accessed from the large kitchen via French doors. The wash house was at ground level reached via a short stair. The wash house was open on one side to the yard. Six water tanks were located nearby. Early photographs show that the service wing was largely screened from the entrance view.[19]
\nIn an almost featureless landscape, the roof, which was the largest element with a massive 40 degree pitch that flattened to 25 degrees over the verandah made a powerful visual statement. Under the roofing iron, the roof framing was sheeted with one inch (2.5cm) thick pine boards giving the structure great strength as well as a degree of insulation. The roof apex had a decorative ventilator and elsewhere the roof had ventilated ridges. The verandah posts and beams were oversized and held large brackets. The composition of large roof and oversized structural elements imbued a robust nature to the homestead. The verandahs were without balustrade, giving an air of relaxed habitation and a strong connection between the house and the landscape. The whole composition was further enhanced by the placement of water tanks on stands of varying height that were fed from either the bore or rainwater from the roof.[20]
\nAnalysis of Myendetta reveals Dods' deft architectural response to the harsh, variable climate of Charleville, which is relatively dry and hot with large temperature variations annually and diurnally. The plan layout is determined by the position of the sun at the time of day that the room would be used. Used primarily in the morning, the school room and adjacent piazza are on the south-western corner of the building, away from the north-eastern, morning sun. Conversely, the dining room and adjacent piazza, primarily used in the evening, are on the north-eastern corner of the building away from the south-western afternoon sun. The entire main building is surrounded by a verandah, sheltering all external walls from the sun and the vast, ventilated roof space, almost twice the height of the interior rooms, provided a huge sun shield. The wide, straight halls funnelled breezes through the house. All rooms opened onto the hall on one side and the verandah on the other with doors and operable fanlights to allow access to any breeze regardless of its direction.
\nDods' colour scheme for the house was dramatic, consisting of large areas of dark, rich colours contrasted by feature elements in bright, light colours. The scheme also included sophisticated painting techniques and stencilling internally.
\nMyendetta included other elements designed by Dods. To the north-east of the service wing was a small, detached building containing a dairy and butcher shop, to the south-west of the house was a grass tennis court, and to the south-east was a rose garden and orchard.
\nMyendetta was altered very little after construction. After the bore ceased to flow in 1971 the power supply was replaced by a diesel generator and by 1976 power was obtained from the mains. Some time after 1950 the tennis court was moved from the south-western side of the house to the south-eastern, replacing the rose garden and citrus orchard. At the same time a timber-battened fern house was added between the house and the service wing.[21] In 2002 early colour schemes were found to survive under the existing paint scheme. In 2003 Myendetta was open for tours displaying historic household items and explaining the history of the station. In 2007 the service wing was renovated, including the addition of reverse cycle air-conditioning.
\nIn 2010, the Australian Institute of Architects added Myendetta to its list of nationally significant 20th century architecture, namely the Institute's National Register of Significant Twentieth Century Architecture. It is one of sixteen 20th century residential places which form the Institute's nomination to the International Union of Architects' (UIA) World Register of Significant 20th Century Australian Architecture and to the Australian Government National Heritage List.[22]
\nThe property was purchased by the current owner in 2010 and in 2013 the homestead is used as a manager's residence.
","criteria":"Myendetta is a fine, intact example of the high-quality residential work of Dods that is characterised by a pervading sense of tradition, solidity, and an honest use of materials. Designed in an Arts and Crafts idiom, the low-set timber house has deliberately oversized timber elements and openings; verandah piazza; steep dominant roof; finely-detailed, built-in timber furniture; a well-considered service zone; and an interior layout that optimises cross ventilation and solar orientation.
|The low-set house with dominant, large roof, generous verandahs and garden stands dramatically in the extensive, flat landscape.
A sense of robust, rural domesticity is engendered by its wide verandahs and piazzas without balustrade; spacious, well-ventilated living rooms; and the use of oversized elements, such as the hunkering roof, large, closely-spaced verandah posts and large openings.
Highly intact, Myendetta is important for its Arts and Crafts aesthetic, notably for its fine craftsmanship, high quality materials and skilful arrangement of informal and formal living spaces.
|As one of only six Queensland homesteads designed by acclaimed architect Robin Dods, Myendetta is a rare and intact example of his homestead designs.
|Myendetta (1910) is important in illustrating the contribution of notable architect, Robert Smith (Robin) Dods, to the evolution of Queensland architecture.
The homestead is also important in demonstrating the evolution of climatically adapted timber housing in Queensland. It is an exceptional example of design responses to extreme climatic conditions and originally incorporated hydro-electric power.
It is a highly intact, representative example of the substantial homesteads built on pastoral land.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion B | Criterion A","criteria_definitions":"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 demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history"} ]}