Deep Creek bridge is a concrete viaduct with an 80 foot (24.4m) concrete arch flanked by two smaller 15 foot (4.6m) arches, with the track run on sleepers and ballast in a trough. It has the date of construction, 1905, cast into the sides.
- Embankment.
- 1x15 foot (4.6m) concrete arch, ballasted top, concrete abutment, common concrete abutment.
- 1x80 foot (24.4m) concrete arch with 4x15 foot (4.6m) spandrel arches, ballasted top, common concrete abutments.
- 1x15 foot (4.6m) concrete arch, ballasted top, concrete abutments, common concrete abutment.
","history":"The Mungar - Gayndah Branch was built only as far as Degilbo before the financial depression of the early 1890s halted the rail construction program. Construction resumed in 1905 under the Railway Department's day labour program. William Pagan was Chief Engineer at the time. Construction began on the Degilbo to Wetheron extension in February 1905. William Pagan inspected the extent of the construction and preparatory work on the Deep Creek bridge in March 1905. The bridge was completed and the line opened by 21 December 1905. Pagan described the bridge in his annual report for that year as "a concrete bridge of somewhat novel design".
The bridge represented a substantial development in concrete arch bridge design. It followed the 33 foot spans used in Swansons Bridge on the Main Line near Toowoomba and the 47 foot span at Petrie Terrace road overbridge. It was followed by two substantial concrete arch bridges on the Main Line near Lockyer.
","criteria":"This concrete arch bridge has the third longest span of its type in Queensland and was the third bridge of its type to be constructed in Australia. The bridge frames the rocky valley of the creek and its innovative design was associated with the Chief Engineer, William Pagan.
|This concrete arch bridge has the third longest span of its type in Queensland and was the third bridge of its type to be constructed in Australia.
|The bridge frames the rocky valley of the creek and its innovative design was associated with the Chief Engineer, William Pagan.
|The bridge frames the rocky valley of the creek and its innovative design was associated with the Chief Engineer, William Pagan.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion F | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15264,"place_ref":600489,"name":"Eidsvold Homestead","alternate_name":"Homestead Eidsvold","street_address":"Eidsvold Road","suburb":"EIDSVOLD","lga":"NORTH BURNETT REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Eidsvold Homestead today is a complex of buildings set in established gardens. The 1848 slab house is located at the western end of the homestead yard; the complex of buildings which form the second house are situated in the centre; and the 1967 house is at the eastern end. The property is situated on the Burnett River and is approached from the town of Eidsvold via a bridge across this river. The entrance drive sweeps in from the southwest, veering east along the southern perimeter of the main homestead yard and north to the outbuildings.
Slab house
The 1850s slab house, probably built by the Archer brothers, is the earliest house within the homestead yard. It is located adjacent to the south-western end of an early tennis court, which is surfaced with ant bed and enclosed by a high chain-wire fence. The slab building is in an excellent state of repair. It is rectangular in plan with a central core of rooms enclosed by vertical timber slab walls and surrounded by a wide verandah, which is enclosed along all but the south-eastern corner. The central core has a steeply pitched gabled roof while the surrounding verandah has a shallower pitched skillion roof. The house has a corrugated galvanised iron roof but was previously clad with shingles. These are visible on the underside of the roof. At the western end of the house a tank and a small structure which could be a kitchen or wash-house are located outside the verandah edge. The house and verandah have a wooden floor. Internally the house is furnished in the manner of a residence in the latter half of the 19th century. It functions primarily as a house museum.
The second homestead
The second homestead comprises a complex of five buildings, which are located to the west/south-west of the 1967 dwelling. Three of these structures are connected with stairs or covered ways. The buildings exhibit a variety of size, scale and architectural styles, reflecting the development of the complex over a number of years.
The core of this complex is a c1880s/1890s house with a steeply pitched hipped roof and stepped surrounding verandahs. The building is rectangular in plan, with its long axis running north-east to south-west. A central core of rooms is roofed with galvanised corrugated iron. The wide verandahs surrounding this central core are separately roofed at a lower pitch. A number of french doors open onto these verandahs. The house is elevated on stumps approximately 1500mm to 1800mm above ground level. It is open underneath and access is provided via a staircase on the southern corner. Verandah railings are limited to a timber rail at around 900mm above the floor level with an infilling of mesh over which a creeper has grown. The house is extensively clothed in a range of creepers climbing over trellises from ground level, particularly on the south-western and north-eastern corners. Also on the south-western corner a vine covered trellis extends from the verandah head beam. This extension of the width of the verandah roof with vine covered trellises was typical of house construction in the latter years of the nineteenth century as residents strove to shade and cool their living areas.
Attached to this house along its eastern verandah is a substantial extension elevated a similar height above the ground which appears from its architectural detail to have been built between the first and second world wars. The conjoining of these structures of two distinctly different architectural styles typifies the continuing pragmatic realities of life in the relatively isolated communities of western Queensland's grazing lands
This addition is built in the interwar 'Queensland Bungalow' style. Rectangular in plan also, its ridge line runs at right angles to that of the late 19th century house. Again the roof shape is hipped but not at so steep a pitch. An open front verandah runs along the south-western elevation terminated by an enclosed room which runs the full width of the south-eastern elevation. A similar verandah runs along the north-western elevation but this verandah is enclosed with mesh fixed to a timber frame. Both verandahs have separate skillion roofs of galvanised corrugated iron along the full length of the long axis of this extension. A bay window extension fully fenestrated with casement windows is located centrally in the south-eastern elevation. Further sets of casement windows are set one on each side of this bay extension and are shaded by separate sunhoods. The external cladding to this house is chamfer boards. The stumps under are now concrete with decorative scalloped battened sections infilling between the perimeter stumps. Typical of this style of house, gardens are set around the perimeter of the house under the edge of the floor and are partially shaded from the worst of the heat of the sun by the decorative battening between the posts. The vines on the trellises of the colonial house merge with a dense cover of creeper along the north-eastern elevation of the extension. An elevated tank stand is positioned at the southern corner of this house, again with a garden underneath it.
The other buildings in this complex are low-set single gable buildings clad with weatherboard and roofed with corrugated galvanised iron sheeting. The larger of these buildings also have extended verandah skillions as part of their roof forms. The first of these buildings, now used as an office, sits to the front of the elevated complex and towards the western corner. It is rectangular in shape and has a moderately pitched open-ended gable roof with the ridge line along a south-east to north-west axis. A lower section of roof is located on the eastern end of the building. A veranda at ground level is located at the opposite corner. It has a substantial flagstone path leading from it. It is not physically connected to the rest of the building complex.
To the rear (north-west) of the 19th century house are a further two smaller structures, both aligned south-east to north-west. Both are clad in weatherboards and are gable roofed. A verandah at the southern corner of the larger structure is connected via a covered walkway and stair to the colonial house. There is another small verandah on the opposite (northern) corner of this building. A small simple building, now used as a laundry, is located close to this corner but is detached from the group.
The buildings are nestled within a canopy of mature shady trees with extensive shrub and ground cover under-planting. An old bottle tree, Brachychiton rupestre, grows among this vegetation.
The 1967 residence
The 1967 residence is the most easterly of the structures in the complex. It is set behind a semicircular pathway which defines the edge of its front garden. The house is a low set construction, rectangular in plan, raised three steps above ground level and clad with vertical timber planking with a natural finish. This is reminiscent in character of the first slab hut on the property. Ventilation is achieved using floor to ceiling door and window openings, some louvred. The roof is low pitched in a simple open gable form with the ridge running along the length of the rectangular plan. The semicircular pathway in front of the house edges a well maintained lawn area in which is located a raised concrete edged pond. The surface of the pond is covered with a variety of water plants and large ornamental rocks are arranged within the pond.
Ancillary structures
To the west of the main homestead complex there is a line of trees which screens the view to the working structures of the station property from the residential area. These working buildings include a number of older buildings such as stables and yards fenced with slip rail fencing. These are not included within the heritage register boundary. Behind this complex again a line of established shady trees encloses the western boundary of this space. Beyond this are a number of more modern structures, including men's quarters and sheds.
","history":"Eidsvold Homestead, established in 1850 by the Archer family, is significant in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history. It is one of the earliest homesteads in Queensland and one of the first homesteads in the Burnett region. It is important in illustrating the pattern and nature of pastoral settlement in this district.
The homestead complex is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places: it contains examples of housing from three stages of station development. The agglomeration of many built structures of disparate architectural styles and from different eras is typical of the way in which homesteads evolved. The original slab hut which may date to 1850, is a particularly good example of the earliest type of station housing. A 'second' home, forming part of a complex of several buildings commenced in the late nineteenth century, is an example of the housing type that prevailed, at the time, on more established properties in Western Queensland. It has a central core of rooms that opens to wide verandas via French doors. Vine covered trellises extend the veranda roof to provide added shade and coolness. A detached building was erected along this building's eastern veranda between the first and second world wars. It is built in the popular Queensland Bungalow style of the 1920s and 1930s. Finally, the architect-designed 1967 homestead is a product of the more prosperous later years of the station. It is a good example of the work of prominent Queensland born architect, Guildford Bell.
The homestead complex has aesthetic importance as a picturesque and rustic place set in a rural environment.
The place has special association with the lives of influential and significant people from the history of Queensland. The slab hut is important as a homestead which may well have been built by the Archers, a well-known family of early Queensland pastoralist explorers. The later buildings have links with other significant figures. Francis Ivory, who resided on the property in the late 19th century home, was a member of the Queensland Legislative Council in the late nineteenth century. The property is also significant as the station on which the well-known and successful Santa-Gertrudis breed of cattle was first introduced to Australia in 1955.
","criteria":"Eidsvold Homestead, established in 1850 by the Archer family, is significant in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history. It is one of the earliest homesteads in Queensland and one of the first homesteads in the Burnett region. It is important in illustrating the pattern and nature of pastoral settlement in this district.
|The homestead complex is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places: it contains examples of housing from three stages of station development. The agglomeration of many built structures of disparate architectural styles and from different eras is typical of the way in which homesteads evolved. The original slab hut which may date to 1850, is a particularly good example of the earliest type of station housing. A 'second' home, forming part of a complex of several buildings commenced in the late nineteenth century, is an example of the housing type that prevailed, at the time, on more established properties in Western Queensland. It has a central core of rooms that opens to wide verandas via French doors. Vine covered trellises extend the veranda roof to provide added shade and coolness. A detached building was erected along this building's eastern veranda between the first and second world wars. It is built in the popular Queensland Bungalow style of the 1920s and 1930s. Finally, the architect-designed 1967 homestead is a product of the more prosperous later years of the station. It is a good example of the work of prominent Queensland born architect, Guildford Bell.
|The homestead complex has aesthetic importance as a picturesque and rustic place set in a rural environment.
|(Criterion under review)
|The place has special association with the lives of influential and significant people from the history of Queensland. The slab hut is important as a homestead which may well have been built by the Archers, a well-known family of early Queensland pastoralist explorers. The later buildings have links with other significant figures. Francis Ivory, who resided on the property in the late 19th century home, was a member of the Queensland Legislative Council in the late nineteenth century. The property is also significant as the station on which the well-known and successful Santa-Gertrudis breed of cattle was first introduced to Australia in 1955.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion F | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15291,"place_ref":600516,"name":"Gayndah State School","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"33 Meson Street","suburb":"GAYNDAH","lga":"NORTH BURNETT REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Gayndah State School is situated on the southern side of Messon Street, the main street in Gayndah. The school is a complex of six buildings from varying periods and is characterised by its well established grounds with mature plantings. Entrance to the school is gained from Messon Street via a decorative wrought iron gate commemorating the centenary of the school reading 'Centenary: 1863 - 1963'.
The original masonry school building is located at the western end of the school site and forms only a small part of the total school complex. This building is superficially joined to an adjacent timber building its eastern side by a covered walkway. The building is single-storeyed and comprises a central-gabled core running north/south with three attached wings, one extending to the west from front (northern) elevation (the original teachers bedroom), one extending east from the front elevation (a later addition) and one extending east from the corner of the rear elevation (also a later addition). The eastern elevation of the building creates a U-shaped courtyard incorporating part of the original verandah. The building is constructed basically of brick with some weatherboard included on the eastern additions and has a corrugated iron roof.
The northern elevation is characterised by the façade of the gabled-core which displays a decorative scalloped valance along the facia board, an inscription in relief which reads 'Erected AD 1861' and a large multi-paned window with a corrugated iron hood. The same fenestration is repeated on the southern elevation of the central core.
The eastern elevation is characterised by the two original dormer windows in the roof which remain visible and the chamfered timber verandah posts which support the awning of the remaining portion of the original verandah. From the verandah two original double timber doors with glass panels gain entrance into the school room. Both are surmounted by two four-paned fan-lights.
The interior of the central core was the original school room and is an open-plan rectangular space with a high coved timber ceiling featuring large supporting timber cross-beams. There is evidence of an internal wall having been removed at some stage. Two large multi-paned windows feature at either end of the room and internally the third dormer window can be seen towards the northern end of the room, however it is built over externally. The floor is carpeted and the masonry wall are rendered and painted internally. There are two doors which open to the southern side of the building, one to the front porch on the northern side and one to the rear.
The rest of the school complex extends to the east of the original school building with the main part of the school being formed by two separate elongated timber structures running parallel creating a central recreational garden area. There is a tuck-shop building and a classroom wing to the rear of the original building and a library wing at the most easterly end of the site.
","history":"Construction of the National School at Gayndah was commenced in 1861 after members of the Gayndah community submitted designs for a primary school to the Board of General Education in 1860 which were approved and £700 was granted towards the cost of construction. The building was completed in 1862 and the first schoolmaster, Hercules Smith, took up duties in September 1863.
Gazetted in 1849, the town of Gayndah initially developed as the centre for a number of large sheep stations taken up in the Burnett region during the 1840s. Gayndah's early growth as a pastoral "capital" is largely attributed to the determination of the squatters and the town developed as the administrative centre for the area, as the school (QHR 600516) was established in 1861, and post office and court house were erected. A branch of the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney was opened in 1864, and a local government authority was established in 1867. By the late nineteenth century, cattle had replaced sheep as the dominant pastoral activity. Citrus orchards also flourished, and together with cattle and dairy farming, provided the basis for the development of Gayndah from the turn of the century.
National Schools were established by Governor Fitzroy (NSW) in 1848 at which time he appointed a Board of National Education to undertake the task of creating a system of government schools similar to the National School system in Ireland. There were two National Schools in Queensland at the time of separation in 1859; Warwick (1850) and Drayton (1851). Following separation, The Education Act of 1860 created a Board of General Education to oversee the administration of National Schools throughout the new Colony of Queensland.
Two new National Schools were constructed in 1860 (Brisbane Boys and Brisbane Girls); seven new National Schools were opened in 1861, four more in 1862 and three in 1863. The regulations which required local communities to raise one-third of the costs were relaxed and fifteen new schools opened in 1864. However, the 1866 fiscal crisis temporarily retarded the construction of additional schools. The Gayndah National School was established at a time of heightened growth in the establishment of schools throughout the Colony. National Schools remained the dominant form of government primary schools until 1875 when major reforms in education were put in place throughout Queensland.
Construction of National Schools was regulated by government standard and local communities could apply to the Board of Education for an approved school plan or, as in the case of Gayndah, they could supply their own design for approval in accordance with the following recommendations. School rooms had to be at least 16 feet wide and where attendance would exceed 20 students, the width was to be 18 to 20 feet. The recommendations also provided for teachers residences which were to contain four rooms and a kitchen
The original school building at Gayndah consisted of a brick schoolroom, 40 feet by 20 feet, with an adjoining infants' classroom 12 feet by 20 feet, under the same roof with a dividing wall towards the southern end. A verandah extended along the eastern side of the building, and there were three dormer windows in the roof above the level of the verandah roof. On the north elevation underneath the gable (facing the street) the date 1861 was inscribed. Attached to the schoolroom on the western side was a residence for the teacher which included four rooms, (two bedrooms, a sitting room and dining room) and a kitchen, as prescribed by the regulations at the time.
The school building has been greatly modified, although it still displays significant aspects of its original design. The original school room is still in place with evidence of the removal of the dividing wall that sectioned off the infants' classroom. The decorative fascia boards on the northern elevation and two of the three original dormer windows on the eastern elevation are still intact. The dormer window towards the northern end has been enclosed to accommodate extensions on the eastern elevation, where the original verandah has also been altered. The teacher's residence has been demolished apart from a single room, originally a bedroom, which adjoins the school room at the northern end and is used as a store room. The building's external walls, originally face brickwork, have been painted white.
The original brick building was gradually developed around as the school grew over the ensuing century. The other buildings on site are mostly of timber construction, more typical of Queensland school development than the original brick construction which was always more unusual in Queensland. The original school building is still in use as a music room, resource centre and classroom and forms a working part of the Gayndah school complex.
","criteria":"The original masonry school building at the Gayndah State School is important in demonstrating the evolution of Queensland's history as it was one of the earliest National Schools to be established in the new Colony of Queensland in 1861. The National Schools reflect the instigation and development of secular education throughout Queensland, a system which was adopted from Ireland by the New South Wales government in 1848 and carried over by the Queensland Government after separation in 1859. The implementation of secular education throughout Queensland was a significant advancement in social thinking at the time, rapidly progressing the facility for schooling in Queensland and laying the ground for the subsequent system of state education in place today.
Subsequent buildings in the school grounds are also historically significant as they illustrate the evolution of school design demonstrating architectural styles from the Federation, Post-war and late 20th - century periods. The continuation of development at Gayndah State School also reflects the continued viability of the school since 1861. The school also demonstrates the establishment of Gayndah as an administrative centre for the surrounding pastoral region during the 1860s.
|The Gayndah State School is significant as a rare example of one of the earliest government schools in Queensland. The 1861 building at Gayndah State School is one of only a few government school buildings surviving from the 1860s and is the oldest government school building still in continuous use in Queensland. It is also a rare example of a masonry school building from this period.
|The 1861 building is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a National School from the 1860s as it reflects the recommendations for construction which the Board of General Education in Queensland had put in place in order to regulate the standard of school buildings being erected throughout the Colony. The school as a complex also demonstrates typical characteristics of a Queensland State School which has developed over a lengthy time period such as standard timber buildings and tree plantings.
|The Gayndah State School is aesthetically significant as a well established school site that contributes to the streetscape of Messon Street, the main street in Gayndah, with mature trees and plantings in substantial grounds, buildings of varying styles which complement eachother and a decorative commemorative entrance gate presenting a strong external visual presence. The original 1861 building is highly aesthetically significant as a picturesque masonry building displaying quality materials and workmanship in the Victorian Rustic Gothic style. In particular the scalloped valance on the front gable, the dormer windows, the steeply pitched roof and the compact nature of this building all contribute highly to its aesthetic significance.
|The Gayndah State School has a strong association with past, present and futures members of the school community and the local community of Gayndah as a place of education and as a community focal point since 1861.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15292,"place_ref":600517,"name":"Gayndah War Memorial","alternate_name":"Rawbelle Shire War Memorial","street_address":"32-34 Capper Street","suburb":"GAYNDAH","lga":"NORTH BURNETT REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Gayndah War Memorial is situated between the post office and the library in Capper Street, directly addressing the street. The memorial makes an important civic contribution to the streetscape of Gayndah’s main thoroughfare, Capper Street, and is notable for its attractive garden features. Along with the Gayndah Shire Hall [QHR 602124] and Gayndah Court House [QHR 601294], the Gayndah War Memorial is part of a collection of important civic structures in the town centre.
\nThe WWI memorial comprises a bronze honour board mounted on a freestanding, decorative concrete frame.
\nThe concrete structure sits on a wide stepped base, also of concrete apart from the central portion of the upper step which is marble veneered. The structure itself comprises a flat central section (where the honour board is mounted) capped with a pediment and flanked by two pillars decorated with a simple repetitive motif on their front faces. The pillars are surmounted by artillery shells encircled with bronze wreaths. At the foot of each pillar are bronze plaques commemorating later conflicts.
\nThe bronze honour board displays the names of the 270 local men who served in WWI, with those who died identified by a small crown after their name. The five columns of names are centrally located on the board.
\nThe upper section of the board is capped with scrollwork flanking a female figure of Britannia holding a shield of 'Liberty'. The figure stands above a laurel wreath encircling crossed flags and the words FOR KING AND COUNTRY. An oval plaque explaining the origins of the memorial sits below the wreaths and is flanked by AIF badges. The words ROLL OF HONOUR follow the line of the scrollwork. On each side of this central section are pilasters capped by figures of mounted Light Horsemen above the dates 1914 - 1919. Infantry men in relief work are displayed at the bottom of each pilaster.
\nThe lower section of the board displays oval plaques in each corner with an emu and a kangaroo in relief work. Additional relief work depicts a lion and a kangaroo in the centre and cannons at each side.
\nBehind the memorial is a garden comprising a trophy gun, paving and garden beds, and surrounding concrete slabs that commemorate service personnel of World War II (WWII) and subsequent conflicts up to Afghanistan. The WWII names were originally incised in white granite, but have been replaced with bronze plaques. All other plaques are in bronze.
","history":"The Gayndah War Memorial, located between the Gayndah post office and library on Capper Street, comprises a large bronze metal honour board honouring the 270 local men who served during World War 1 (WWI), including those who died, on a decorative concrete mount. The memorial, designed and produced by leading Brisbane metal worker Ernest Gunderson, was privately commissioned by Mr Harold Wilson and donated to the Rawbelle Shire and Gayndah Town Councils in 1919. The memorial is important in demonstrating Queensland’s involvement in a major world event and has a special association with the Gayndah community as the principal site for commemoration.[1]
\nGazetted in 1849, the town of Gayndah initially developed as the centre for a number of large sheep stations taken up in the Burnett region during the 1840s. Gayndah's early growth as a pastoral \"capital\" is largely attributed to the determination of the squatters, and for a short time, the town reputedly rivalled Brisbane as the capital for Queensland. Gayndah also developed as the administrative centre for the area: a court house and post office were established in the 1850s and a school [QHR 600516] was erected in 1861. A branch of the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney was opened in 1864, and a Town Council was established in 1867, comprising a mayor and three aldermen. In 1880 the Rawbelle Divisional Board was established and attended to all business outside the jurisdiction of the Town Council. In 1922, a new board known as the Rawbelle-Gayndah Joint Board was formed and comprised a delegation from Gayndah. By the late nineteenth century, cattle had replaced sheep as the dominant pastoral activity. Citrus orchards also flourished, and together with cattle and dairy farming, provided the basis for the development of Gayndah from the turn of the century.[2]
\nLike all Australian communities, Gayndah was affected by the impact of WWI. Of the 330,770 Australians who embarked for overseas service in WWI, 58,961 died and 170,909 were wounded, went missing or became prisoners of war. No previous or subsequent war has had a physical impact on the nation of that scale. 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.
\nAustralia's first permanent WWI memorial to honour the men from a particular community was unveiled at Balmain, New South Wales, on 23 April 1916.[3]
\nAustralian war memorials are distinctive in that they do not commemorate only the dead. Australians were proud that their first great national army, unlike other 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 a community’s 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.
\nWWI memorials took a variety of forms in Australia, including honour boards (from 1915), stone monuments (including obelisks, soldier statues, arches, crosses, columns, urns, or slabs), tree-lined memorial avenues, memorial parks, and utilitarian structures such as gates, halls and clocks. In Queensland, honour boards were displayed in Schools of Arts, churches and public halls from 1915. The soldier statue became the most popular choice of monument in Queensland, while the obelisk predominated in southern states. Many WWI monuments have been updated to record local involvement in later conflicts.[4]
\nA scheme to erect a memorial for those from the Gayndah district who enlisted in WWI was put forward by the Gayndah Town and Rawbelle councils in 1918. This scheme was for a local memorial hall to be shared by both local authorities as a public hall. However, it was not until 1935 that this hall, known as the Gayndah and District Soldiers’ Memorial Hall [QHR 602124], was opened.[5]
\nThe Gayndah War Memorial, comprising a large WWI honour board, was originally erected on the median strip at the junction of Capper, Meson and Warton streets. It was unveiled on 9 September 1919 by Mr Bernard Corser, MLA, in the presence of around 2000 people, including around 100 returned soldiers. The memorial, which cost around £300, was privately commissioned by Mr Harold H Wilson of nearby Cooranga station, and then donated to the Rawbelle Shire and Gayndah Town Councils. Mr Wilson, who was a prominent member of the local community and known to be ‘the foremost in helping the “Diggers”’, provided the funds for the memorial in late 1918. He was strongly associated with local sporting bodies and was president of the Gayndah Show Society for a number of years. Following his death in 1925, Mr Wilson was remembered as the ‘Burnett Diggers Friend’, his generosity embodied in the Gayndah War Memorial.[6]
\nThe WWI honour board was designed and manufactured by leading Brisbane metalworker Ernest Gunderson, of Ernest Gunderson Engraving and Manufacturing Company. The board’s frame was erected by the Rawbelle Shire and Gayndah Town councils. [7]
\nAt the time of its unveiling, the “magnificent” memorial received much praise from the Mayor of Gayndah, the local community and the returned soldiers. The memorial was named “one of the finest in the State” following Anzac Day commemorations in 1921.[8]
\nErnest Gunderson had established his metalworking company in Brisbane by 1908. The company manufactured cast bronze honour boards and tablets, which had a distinctive dark bronze background contrasted with polished brass lettering and ornamentation. Gunderson also individually moulded decorations for his honour boards, making them quite distinctive as a Queensland type. The company operated until the mid-1930s and supplied honour boards state-wide. By 1917, the company had completed honour rolls for the Jimboomba, Esk, Logan and Strathpine districts, the Cloncurry Shire Council, Toowoomba Grammar School (QHR 600850) and many others. The Gayndah War Memorial is Gunderson’s best-known and largest memorial and is regarded as one of the company's finest pieces of work. Indeed, Gunderson himself considered it to be his finest work.[9]
\nGunderson's honour boards are unique to Queensland and few remain as intact as the one at Gayndah, including the Strathpine Honour Board (QHR 600766), Pinkenba War Memorial (QHR 602453) and Dalby War Memorial and Gates (QHR 600441). The memorial at Gayndah has a design that combines British and Australian emblems.
\nAlthough honour boards are a common type of war memorial, they are usually situated inside a publicly accessible place such as the local Shire Hall. The Gayndah War Memorial, located in a public square, is one of a small number of Queensland war memorials comprising outdoor honour boards. [10]
\nIn 1927, in an effort to maintain the memorial in the best condition, it was dismantled and moved to a local workshop where the lettering and ornaments were treated with gold leaf and the flags recoloured.[11]
\nIn 1935, strips of lawn were added to the front, back and sides of the memorial. During a visit in the same year, Queensland Governor, Sir Leslie Orme Wilson, acknowledged the ‘splendid work’ which had been done to the memorial.[12]
\nIn the 1960s, some unsuccessful renovation work was undertaken, resulting in the original brass lettering and backing (which still exists in storage) being replaced with the present nameplates. Other minor alterations were also made at this time.
\nIn 1988, the memorial was moved to its current location on Capper Street due to a planned road upgrade.[13]
\nIn anticipation of the 50th anniversary of the end of the Pacific War (August 1945-1995), some of the damaged and lost items of the intervening wars were reinstated. The lost figure of Liberty was remodelled in bronze by Brisbane sculptor Fred Waitehouse from photographs of the original, and the rather two-dimensional bronze horsemen were cast (and made slightly more three-dimensional) from the identical figures on Gunderson's honour board at Strathpine [QHR 600766].
\nThe Gayndah War Memorial was expanded to include a surrounding series of concrete slabs and plaques – erected by the Gayndah RSL – holding recent memorials commemorating personnel from the locality who served in World War II (WWII), and later conflicts up to Somalia. A small commemorative garden was also constructed behind the memorial and a 1903 Krupps trophy gun was repaired and fitted with replicated wheels and armour and mounted to address the street. [14]
\nCompleted in 1995, the new work and repairs to the WWII items were researched and organised by local RSL identity 'Sam' Weller and the costs were donated by Frank Robinson on behalf of his family.
\nThe expanded memorial was dedicated on the 50th anniversary of V-J Day on 15 August 1995 by Major Gordon Petersen Chaplain (Div. 2) Coord Chaplain 6 Bde to honour those from Gayndah Shire who served in WWII and later campaigns.
\nPre-1988, the Gayndah War Memorial featured a fence and a light which were removed, possibly to make way for the 1995 additions. The original flagstaff has also been replaced. A memorial plaque in honour of a local soldier who lost his life in the Afghanistan conflict was added in 2010.[15]
\nIn 2017, the Gayndah War Memorial is still the town’s focal point for community commemoration events and plays a pivotal role in annual Anzac Day processions. The memorial, and the nearby Soldiers’ Memorial Hall, also on Capper Street, have an important relationship as the principal commemorative structures in Gayndah.
","criteria":"Unveiled in 1919, the Gayndah War Memorial is important in demonstrating Queensland’s involvement in a major world event. World War 1 (WWI) memorials are representative of a recurrent theme that involved most communities throughout the state and are a tribute from a particular community to those who served and those who died. They are an important feature of Queensland's towns and cities and are also important in demonstrating a common pattern of commemoration across Queensland and Australia.
|The Gayndah War Memorial is a rare example of a war memorial that was privately commissioned, then donated as a public memorial, and later supplemented by another major private donation. The memorial is uncommon as a large WWI honour board as its centrepiece which is located outside.
|The Gayndah War Memorial is a good example of a well-designed and finely crafted WWI memorial. Designed and built by leading Brisbane metal manufacturers Gunderson & Co., the memorial at Gayndah demonstrates the principal characteristics of a commemorative structure erected as an enduring record of a major historical event. This involves the use of appropriate materials and displays the names of the enlisted and the dead.
|The Gayndah War Memorial and its setting are significant for their high degree of workmanship and design and contribution to the aesthetic qualities of the townscape.
|The Gayndah War Memorial has a strong and continuing association with the community as evidence of the impact of a major historic event and as the focal point for the remembrance of that event.
|The Gayndah War Memorial has a special association with well-known Queensland manufacturer and supplier of honour boards and memorials Ernest Gunderson and is recognised as the finest example of his work in Queensland.
","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":15293,"place_ref":600518,"name":"Rail Bridge (Humphery)","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Mungar to Monto line","suburb":"GAYNDAH","lga":"NORTH BURNETT REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The bridge is a concrete arch bridge carrying the Mungar to Monto railway over a dry gully some 2.8 km south west of Humphrey Station and 14 km west of Gayndah. It has five semicircular arch spans, with solid concrete spandrel walls. Although a simple bridge, it is well detailed with projecting cornices at the bases of the arches, attached pillars above the piers extending above the deck and recessed spandrel walls.
The bridge carries a single 1.07m gauge railway on a ballasted deck. Its spans are 7.9m, three at 10.7m and 7.9m totalling 42.9m. The solid arch ribs are semicircular, with projecting cornices separating them visually from the piers below. The smaller end spans spring from a higher level, again marked at the pier by a small cornice. The recessed spandrel walls are finished off with the form concrete slightly patterned to contrast with the smooth finish of the projecting faces of the arches. The railings are of tubular metal between concrete pillars at the piers.
","history":"The concrete arch bridge supporting the railway line 2.8 kilometres west of Humphery was constructed in 1913 as the last of several bridges on this line.
Maryborough requested a rail link to the long established town of Gayndah in the 1860s, although construction did not begin until the late 1880s. The line opened to Brooweena in July 1889, Boompa in March 1891 and Biggenden in April 1891. Although the rails ended at Degilbo, this section was not opened until 1893 when flood damage to the Mary River Bridge at Antigua cut off the lime supply for the sugar industry at Maryborough and Bundaberg and a new supply was opened up near Degilbo.
The line ended at Degilbo until the extension to Gayndah began with a 32 kilometre extension to Wetheron that opened in December 1905. Gayndah was finally reached in December 1907. In 1910 a further extension was proposed. Construction of the railway between Gayndah and Mundubbera began in April 1911, anticipating by a few months the officially turning of the first sod by Paget, Minister for Railways, on 7 July 1911. The line was opened for traffic between Gayndah and Boomerang in November 1913 and to Mundubbera in February 1914. The line was further extended in the 1920s and reached Monto in September 1928.
The use of concrete arches for railway bridges is a distinctive feature in Queensland and South Australia. The first concrete bridge in Queensland was constructed at Petrie Terrace in 1897. Between 1900 and 1913, six arch concrete railway bridges were constructed in Queensland approximating with the term in office of William Pagan as Chief Engineer of Railways and it is believed that he was responsible for their design. The first two, at Rangeview, near Toowoomba and at Deep Creek, Chowey, followed the form of a stone arch bridge. That constructed at Steep Rocky Creek, Gayndah in 1906 departs completely from stone forms and has wall type arches supporting vertical diaphragms with a deck slab carrying the track and ballast. This bridge was built to cross a ravine in rugged country and represents a similar design and technical developments to meet similar requirements to that at Humphery, which was completed a few years later.
","criteria":"This bridge, which allowed the railway to cross a deep gully, is on a branch line linking early inland towns with Maryborough and demonstrates the way in which Queensland was developed by linking important inland resources with ports. It demonstrates the skill with which the technology of the era was used to solve the problems of climatic conditions and terrain encountered by railway engineers in this process.
|This bridge was built to an innovative design with reinforced concrete discontinuous wall-type pinned arches, the second of its type in Australia and only the seventh concrete bridge in Queensland. It was the last of a series of concrete arch bridges built for the Queensland railways between 1900 and 1913 and the third on this line.
|The bridge is an important example of the work of William Pagan, Chief Engineer for Railways and an important figure in the early history of engineering in Queensland.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion F | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15294,"place_ref":600519,"name":"Ideraway Creek Railway Bridge (Ideraway)","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Mungar - Monto Line","suburb":"IDERAWAY","lga":"NORTH BURNETT REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Ideraway Creek bridge is one of the most unusual bridges in Australia. It demonstrates the economic re-use of part of the erection truss used to build the Burdekin River bridge at Macrossan between Townsville and Charters Towers opened in 1899. The complete truss was 250 foot long whereas the Ideraway Creek bridge uses only 150 foot of the span. The pinned construction and multiple members of the truss were originally designed for rapid assembley and disassembley.
Wetheron embankment.
1x3x18 foot (5.5m) timber longitudinals, timber trestle, common timber trestle.
1x3x20 foot (6.1m) timber longitudinals, common timber trestle, common concrete pier.
1x4x150 foot (45.4m) deck-type pin-jointed fishbelly truss (ex Burdekin River bridge, Macrossan) with transom tops, six sets of two steel longitudinals, common concrete piers.
1x3x20 foot (6.1m) timber longitudinals, common concrete pier, common timber trestle.
1x3x18 foot (5.5m) timber longitudinals, common timber trestle, Timber trestle.
Gayndah embankment.
","history":"Construction of the section from Wetheron to Gayndah began in March 1906 using day labour. Completion of the line was delayed building two bridges of special designs over gorges between Ideraway and Gayndah. The Ideraway Creek bridge was designed and drawings signed by Chief Engineer, William Pagan, on 10 December 1906. The extension was opened for traffic on 16 December 1907.
","criteria":"The deck-type pin-jointed fishbelly truss main span is unique in Australia. It is the only bridge of its type in Queensland and therefore the longest span of its type in Queensland. It innovatively re-uses the falsework of the Burdekin River Bridge at Macrossan of 1899 (This falsework had been re-used on two separate bridges prior to this one).
The bridge demonstrates the economies employed in the construction of Queensland's railways.
|The deck-type pin-jointed fishbelly truss main span is unique in Australia. It is the only bridge of its type in Queensland and therefore the longest span of its type in Queensland.
|It innovatively re-uses the falsework of the Burdekin River Bridge at Macrossan of 1899 (This falsework had been re-used on two separate bridges prior to this one).
The bridge demonstrates the economies employed in the construction of Queensland's railways.
|(Criterion under review)
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion F | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15295,"place_ref":600520,"name":"Steep Rocky Creek Railway Bridge (Ideraway)","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Mungar - Monto Line","suburb":"STEEP ROCKY CREEK","lga":"NORTH BURNETT REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Steep Rocky Creek bridge includes one 26 foot RSJ span of three joists, five 28 foot concrete arches and a final 26 foot RSJ span of three joists, supported on six concrete piers and two abutments.
","history":"Construction of the section from Wetheron to Gayndah began in March 1906 using day labour. Completion of the line was delayed building two bridges of special designs over gorges between Ideraway and Gayndah including Steep Rocky Creek. Drawings for the bridge were signed by Chief Engineer, William Pagan. Construction of the bridge was completed in 1907 and the extension was opened for traffic on 16 December 1907.
","criteria":"An innovative design with reinforced discontinuous wall-type arches, the first of its type in Australia and the fifth concrete arch rail bridge in Australia. The bridge is associated with Chief Engineer William Pagan.
|(Criterion under review)
|An innovative design with reinforced discontinuous wall-type arches, the first of its type in Australia and the fifth concrete arch rail bridge in Australia.
|The bridge is associated with Chief Engineer William Pagan.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion E | Criterion F | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15502,"place_ref":600727,"name":"Ventnor State School (former)","alternate_name":"Yarrol State School | Ventnor State School","street_address":"Yarrol Road","suburb":"MONTO","lga":"NORTH BURNETT REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The former Ventnor State School is located on Yarrol Rd, Ventnor. The school site consists of a one-room school building with verandah, a play shed, a girls' and boys' toilet, remnants of an old swing post and a flagpole. The block of land is a flat piece in a bush setting surrounded by a fence with steel cyclone mesh gates. New plantings along the front fence are memorials to donors and life members of the Progress Association.
The school building is a simple structure of timber with a corrugated iron hipped roof truncated where a skillion-roofed verandah has been added on its western side. The building sits on low timber stumps and a small set of stairs on the eastern side gains entrance to the classroom. The walls are timber tongue and groove vertical joints and the schoolroom has sliding 6 pane windows on three walls. The room has a coved timber ceiling with a central lattice vent and a large timber support beam across the width of the room. The room contains some of its original desks and chairs dating from 1946 as well as other original pieces such as framed embroidery by former students.
A doorway gains access to the verandah at the front of the room on the western side. The verandah contains evidence of hooks used for hanging school bags on its rear walls. There is a small storeroom located at the front of the verandah.
The play shed is adjacent to the school building on the verandah side. It is a pole frame structure with a corrugated iron roof, two walls and dirt floor. The play shed contains the original timber bar which was used for holding the school children's saddles during the school day.
The two toilets are located at opposite corners of the western side of the site and are timber framed structures with corrugated iron roofs and comprises a cubicle and entry.
","history":"The former Ventnor State School located just south of Monto was originally constructed as an open-air school in 1914 in Maryborough. The school was located at Teddington Rd, Tinana and opened on 11 November 1914.
As an open-air structure, the school was an example of one of the experimental designs for state primary schools instigated by the Department of Works in 1914. The schools were a response to the advocacy that suggested maximum ventilation was necessary for a school building. Open-air schools were constructed for only a short period and were not to become a permanent feature of Queensland's State School architecture. The problems associated with these schools outweighed the advantages and by 1922 the open-air school was phased out and more traditional designs reappeared.
By 1917 a new school building was constructed for the school at Tinana, now Parke State School, and the old open-air school was used as a play shed. In 1929 an application was made for a school at Wongalee and the old open-air school at Tinana was transported to Wongalee. School commenced at Wongalee on 21 September 1929 and in 1932 permission was granted for the construction of a play shed. It is likely that the open-air school was enclosed at this time along with the addition of a skillion-roofed verandah.
In April 1945 Mr R.M. Marshall delivered an application to the Department of Public Instruction in the Yarrol Road area. The application was approved and Tim Maloney, then owner of portion 111, donated three acres to the Secretary of Public Instruction on 25 September 1945 as the site for the new school. The school which had been moved to Wongalee was once again removed and transported to its present site at Yarrol Rd, Ventnor, just south of Monto.
The Ventnor State School commenced classes on 3 June 1946 with Doreen Turner as teacher. The school continued operate until 22 April 1960 when it was closed due to low enrolment numbers.
In 1963, local residents made an offer of 150 pounds to purchase the school from the Department of Education and the property was transferred to the Ventnor Progress Association on 15 March 1963. Since that time the school complex has been used as headquarters for the progress association, for religious group services, farming and pastoral bodies and fire control groups and was regularly used as a polling booth. The Ventnor Progress Association continues to own and maintain the premises.The former Ventnor State School located just south of Monto was originally constructed as an open-air school in 1914 in Maryborough. The school was located at Teddington Rd, Tinana and opened on 11 November 1914.
As an open-air structure, the school was an example of one of the experimental designs for state primary schools instigated by the Department of Works in 1914. The schools were a response to the advocacy that suggested maximum ventilation was necessary for a school building. Open-air schools were constructed for only a short period and were not to become a permanent feature of Queensland's State School architecture. The problems associated with these schools outweighed the advantages and by 1922 the open-air school was phased out and more traditional designs reappeared.
By 1917 a new school building was constructed for the school at Tinana, now Parke State School, and the old open-air school was used as a play shed. In 1929 an application was made for a school at Wongalee and the old open-air school at Tinana was transported to Wongalee. School commenced at Wongalee on 21 September 1929 and in 1932 permission was granted for the construction of a play shed. It is likely that the open-air school was enclosed at this time along with the addition of a skillion-roofed verandah.
In April 1945 Mr R.M. Marshall delivered an application to the Department of Public Instruction in the Yarrol Road area. The application was approved and Tim Maloney, then owner of portion 111, donated three acres to the Secretary of Public Instruction on 25 September 1945 as the site for the new school. The school which had been moved to Wongalee was once again removed and transported to its present site at Yarrol Rd, Ventnor, just south of Monto.
The Ventnor State School commenced classes on 3 June 1946 with Doreen Turner as teacher. The school continued operate until 22 April 1960 when it was closed due to low enrolment numbers.
In 1963, local residents made an offer of 150 pounds to purchase the school from the Department of Education and the property was transferred to the Ventnor Progress Association on 15 March 1963. Since that time the school complex has been used as headquarters for the progress association, for religious group services, farming and pastoral bodies and fire control groups and was regularly used as a polling booth. The Ventnor Progress Association continues to own and maintain the premises.
","criteria":"The former Ventnor State School is important in demonstrating the development of Queensland's state education system, in particular its response to the needs of small rural communities in the first half of the twentieth century.
|The former Ventnor State School demonstrates the principal characteristics of an early 20th century school complex including the play shed, toilets and single room school building. Although the school building has been enclosed, the building is important as a remaining example of an original open-air school which were a feature of schooling in Queensland from about 1914 to 1922. The open-air school was a standard design implemented by the Department of Works in 1914 in response to climate and the need for ventilation. The open-air school was a testament to the experimentation undertaken by the Department of Works in relation to developing suitable school environments for Queensland children.
|The school has aesthetic significance as a well-kept, small-scale complex in a bush setting with structures that complement each other in size and form.
|The former Ventnor State School has a special association with the local community as a place of education and community gathering since 1946. It also has special association with past generations of school communities from Tinana and Wongalee, having operated as a state primary school at both these locations.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15539,"place_ref":600764,"name":"St Patricks Church","alternate_name":"St Patrick's Catholic Church","street_address":"18 Pearson Street","suburb":"MOUNT PERRY","lga":"NORTH BURNETT REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"St Patrick's Church is an elevated timber framed building situated on a prominent ridge overlooking the town of Mount Perry and is a dominant feature of its townscape.
The church is rectangular in plan, comprising a nave and side aisles and is clad in weatherboards. At the western end is a projecting gabled section housing a stairwell that accesses the choir loft. It is flanked by twin porches and stairs. The twin entrance doors are arched and this motif is echoed in decorative open timber work to the porches and to the gables of the portico and main roof. At the eastern end of the church is the sanctuary and adjoining vestry with a separate entrance on the northern side. The roof is clad with corrugated iron and is steeply pitched over the nave with aisle roofs springing from below clerestory windows. Crosses are located at the ends of the main roof and the gabled roof of the entrance portico.
The church is lit with timber-framed lancet windows placed alternately singly and in pairs. The triple lancet windows in the sanctuary are set with stained glass.
The interior of the church is very intact and the clear finish to internal lining boards and painted decorative trim appears to be that applied when the building was first constructed. Light fittings, hardware and furniture including altar, pews, statuary and a small harmonium are also original.
","history":"St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church was constructed in 1904 in the then important copper mining town of Mount Perry.
The township of Mount Perry, about 100 kilometres west of Bundaberg, was established following the discovery of copper in the vicinity in 1869. The first Roman Catholic priest to visit Mount Perry was Father James Horan who was based in Gayndah in 1870. He is thought to have made arrangements for the construction of a church, although work did not begin until after he had left for Peak Downs in November 1872. The church was completed under the direction of the succeeding priest at Gayndah, Father C Rossolini, though its form is not known.
The population of the township quickly grew and 20 hotels sprang up in Mount Perry in the early 1870s, reflecting the high proportion of men without families on the field. However, the copper mine ceased operations in October 1877 and was sold by liquidators in January 1878 on the expectation that it would not be re-opened until the railway was completed. This occurred in 1884, linking Mount Perry with Bundaberg. Mount Perry became the railhead for the Upper Burnett and a major centre; now having nine hotels including 6 newly built ones, a courthouse, hospital and a School of Arts. However, after a period of growth the town declined, until the mine closed in 1891 due to a fall in the price of copper. In 1893, Father Rossolini, by then based in Bundaberg, died. Father Mimnagh, who had assisted him, took over as parish priest in Bundaberg and continued to minister to Mount Perry. He served as Parish Priest of Bundaberg until 1917.
Matters in Mount Perry soon improved as the London-based Queensland Copper Company bought the mine in 1898, sparking a revival in the town, and by 1904 the population in the field was 2000. In 1903 an Anglican church was built at Mount Perry reflecting the growth of the town and by this time, the early Catholic church had presumably become inadequate for the congregation. In August 1904 tenders were called for a new church to be built to the plans of Bundaberg architect F H Faircloth at an estimated cost of £500.
Frederic Herbert (Herb) Faircloth was born in Maryborough in 1870 and was a pupil of German-trained Bundaberg architect Anton Hettrich. Faircloth set up his own practice in Bundaberg in 1893 and was very successful, eventually being responsible for the design of almost every important building in Bundaberg, including extensions to the Church of the Holy Rosary. He was also responsible for much of the rebuilding of the town centre of Childers following a major fire in 1902.
The first Mount Perry church was sold for removal in 1904 prior to the construction of the new church, which was completed by builder John Guthrie in 1905 for a cost, including furnishings, of £667. St Patrick's was consecrated on 12 February 1905 with over 400 people from the surrounding area in attendance. Soon after the building of the new church, Mount Perry was created a separate parish. Father Sullivan at first occupied the back of the church, using the choir loft as a bedroom and eating with a neighbouring family. A Presbytery was built by the Maynard Brothers in 1914, but has not survived.
Soon after this, the peak demand for copper passed and many mines closed. The mining venture at Mount Perry collapsed and the smelters in 1915 closed with a consequent dwindling of population. Many buildings were demolished or removed and Mount Perry was placed in the parish of Gayndah.
The parish was reopened with the arrival of Father Frawley in 1939 and in September that year Archbishop Duhig visited Mount Perry and the surrounding area. In later years Mount Perry became at various times part of Gin Gin, Gayndah and Childers Parishes. It is now part of the Gin Gin parish and has a visiting priest from that town.
The church building has changed little. Early photographs show a timber bell tower to the north of the church, but this did not survive and the bell is now mounted on a simple frame.
","criteria":"St Patrick's Church is important for its close association with the development of Mount Perry as a noted copper centre in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and with the development of Catholicism within the Diocese of Brisbane, both of which illustrate the pattern of Queensland history.
|St Patrick's is a good example of the Carpenter Gothic architectural style used in church construction.
|The building has considerable aesthetic and architectural merit, and through its form, scale, materials, detailing and plantings and makes an important aesthetic contribution to the Mount Perry townscape. St Patrick's Church survives reasonably intact, with much of the original furnishings and finishes being retained.
|The place has a special association for local Catholics as a centre of Catholic worship and social gatherings throughout the 20th century.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15540,"place_ref":600765,"name":"Masonic Lodge","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Isabella Street","suburb":"MOUNT PERRY","lga":"NORTH BURNETT REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Masonic Hall at Mt Perry is a single-storey, rectangular-plan timber building of exposed stud construction now clad with fibrous cement sheeting on the sides and rear. The building is at street level at the front and is raised on posts at the back as the ground falls away to the rear of the block. The gabled roof is concealed at the front by a parapet and the street elevation is classically inspired although carried out in timber. It has a full width pediment supported by corner Tuscan pilasters. Framed beneath are two double hung windows flanking a central entry porch with a pedimented roof and supported by freestanding Tuscan columns.
In a striking contrast, the side and rear walls are completely plain and clad in fibrous cement sheeting. There are three plain rectangular windows placed high on both sides of the building towards the rear.
","history":"The Masonic Hall at Mt Perry is a simple vernacular structure with an ornate classically inspired façade and was constructed around 1904 when Mt Perry was important as a copper mining town.
Freemasonry spread from New South Wales into Queensland in individual lodges. The first Freemason's lodge in Queensland was established in 1859, shortly before Separation from New South Wales. New lodges were formed as settlement spread.
The township of Mount Perry, about 100 kilometres west of Bundaberg, was established following the discovery of copper in the vicinity in 1869. The population of the township quickly grew and 20 hotels sprang up in Mount Perry in the early 1870s, reflecting the high proportion of men without families on the field. However, the copper mine ceased operations in October 1877 and was sold by liquidators in January 1878 on the expectation that it would not be re-opened until the railway was completed. This occurred in 1884, linking Mount Perry with Bundaberg. Mount Perry became the railhead for the Upper Burnett and a major centre; now having nine hotels including 6 newly built ones, a courthouse, hospital and a School of Arts. However, after a period of growth the town declined, until the mine closed in 1891 due to a fall in the price of copper. Matters in Mount Perry soon improved as the London-based Queensland Copper Company bought the mine in 1898, sparking a revival in the town, and by 1904 the population in the field was 2000.
In 1902 the Lee Bryce Lodge was consecrated and in 1904, Henry Yeoman, Robert McRae, George Hardlaw, Thomas Province and Robert Scott acquired the land on which the Masonic Hall was to be constructed on 17 June 1904. Yeoman was a cordial manufacturer; McRae a storekeeper, Hardlaw and Province were graziers and Scott the postmaster.
The fellowship associated with Freemasonry was particularly important to men living in areas of isolated or scattered settlement or in jobs that were itinerant or seasonal. Lodges hosted social events, contributed to local charities and provided opportunities for local businessmen to meet socially, all of which made an important contribution to the life the town.
By 1912 the peak demand for copper had passed and many mines closed. The mining venture at Mount Perry collapsed and the smelters closed in 1915 with a consequent dwindling of population. In the succeeding years many buildings were demolished or removed.
The Bryce Lodge No.142 of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Queensland and the United Grand Lodge of Queensland is still based on this hall.
","criteria":"The Masonic Hall is important in demonstrating the development of Mt Perry and the spread of Freemasonry through Queensland in the wake of European settlement.
|The Mt Perry hall is important as a characteristic and intact example of a regional timber Masonic Hall, a category of building prominent in the streetscape and important in the social life of many country towns.
|The building exhibits aesthetic qualities valued by the community, in particular, it contributes to the streetscape and is an illustration of the prosperity of Mt Perry in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
|The Masonic Hall, Mt Perry, has a special association with those Freemasons living in and around Mt Perry and with the Freemasonry movement in Queensland.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16057,"place_ref":601294,"name":"Court House, Gayndah","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"20 Capper Street","suburb":"GAYNDAH","lga":"NORTH BURNETT REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1995-01-13","description":"Situated in Capper Street, the main street of Gayndah, the Court House is a single-storeyed timber building with a hipped corrugated-iron roof and two projecting gables. A verandah runs along the front of the building between the gables. The gables have bell-cast timber-boarded sun hoods over the windows. The large central ventilator on the roof is the dominant decorative element of the building. The exterior of the court house is reasonably intact, except for metal louvres enclosing the verandahs. The Court House is set back from the footpath, and punctuates the streetscape which is composed of shops with verandahs supported on posts over the footpath
Gayndah Court House is a typical example of the work of the Public Works Department and is a continuation of the tradition of timber court houses in Queensland country towns, adapting to civic function vernacular elements and materials common to domestic buildings. The building has a T-shaped plan, with offices along the front and the court room at the rear.
The grounds of the court house contain a number of bottle-trees, Brachychiton spp.
Other important buildings in the town precinct include the two timber banks, the two hotels and the Shire Offices.
","history":"Located in the business centre of Gayndah, the Court House was erected in 1928, and replaced an earlier brick court house building located approximately half a mile from the present court house. The court house was designed in the office of the Department of Public Works; AB Leven was Government Architect at the time.
Gazetted in 1849, the town of Gayndah initially developed as the centre for a number of large sheep stations taken up in the Burnett region during the 1840s. Gayndah's early growth as a pastoral "capital" is largely attributed to the determination of the squatters, and for a short time, the town reputedly rivalled Brisbane as the capital for Queensland. Gayndah also developed as the administrative centre for the area, as a school [600516] was established in 1861, and post office and court house were erected. A branch of the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney was opened in 1864, and a local government authority was established in 1867. By the late nineteenth century, cattle had replaced sheep as the dominant pastoral activity. Citrus orchards also flourished, and together with cattle and dairy farming, provided the basis for the development of Gayndah from the turn of the century.
The earliest official building records for the former court house refer to the addition of a verandah in 1861. The former court house, erected probably during the 1850s, and police buildings were located on a site adjoining the former hospital grounds east of the town centre.
By the mid 1910s, the court house facilities were insufficient, and inconveniently situated away from the central business area., and the erection of a new building was proposed. Although an allotment fronting Capper Street, in the centre of town, was reserved by the Government in 1922 as a suitable site for a court house, and preliminary plans were drawn the following year, it was not until 1927 that the final plans for the new building were prepared.
The new building was occupied early in 1929, and provided accommodation for Court business, the Police Magistrates, the Land Commissioner and Land Rangers, the Clerk of Petty Sessions and public offices, the Dairy Inspector, the Agricultural Bank and storeroom facilities. The plan of the building with the offices located at the front, closest to the street, and the court room at the rear, is a variation of the more usual arrangement found in timber court houses, where the court room is at the front and the offices are at the rear of the building.
A laboratory was added to the northern end of the office (front) section of the building in 1944, for the newly appointed Research Officer from the Department of Agriculture and Stock. Buildings at the rear of the court house included an Agriculture and Stock storage shed, a Citrus Budwood shed (as part of the Citrus Budwood and Seed Distribution Scheme), a Garage and Earth Closets.
Despite proposals during the mid 1960s, to remove the court house to a site in Pineapple Street adjacent to the police station (erected in 1935), in order to construct a swimming pool on the court house site, the court house remains in its central location.
","criteria":"Erected in 1928, to replace a court house dating probably from the 1850s, the Gayndah Court House survives as an important illustration of the pattern of Gayndah's development as an official and commercial centre for the Burnett district of Queensland. The prominent central location of the court house in Gayndah, also demonstrates the importance of the court house and its associated offices within the town.
|Gayndah Court House is a good example of a timber court house in a provincial centre. It reflects the high standard of Government buildings in Queensland, designed by the Department of Public Works during the early-mid 20th century.
|Through form, scale and materials, the Gayndah Court House contributes to the Capper Street streetscape and Gayndah townscape.
|The prominent central location of the court house in Gayndah, also demonstrates the importance of the court house and its associated offices within the town.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16233,"place_ref":601470,"name":"Mellors Drapery and Haberdashery","alternate_name":"Overells","street_address":"28 Capper Street","suburb":"GAYNDAH","lga":"NORTH BURNETT REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1994-08-08","description":"Prominently located on the main street in Gayndah, Mellors Drapery is a single storeyed rectangular structure of concrete and timber with a corrugated iron roof.
The street facade, which faces approximately north northeast, is symmetrically arranged. It consists of a skillion roofed footpath awning supported by five timber posts, a glazed shopfront below the awning and a decorative parapet wall above. A flat ceiling lines the underside of the awning.
The decorative parapet, shaped to conceal the roof behind, consists of two peripheral bays and a central bay. The junctions between each of these bays is marked by an implied pilaster which protrudes above the remainder of the parapet. The lower peripheral bays slope up to a raised central bay; a rectangular panel which carries the name of the store. Mouldings are used to emphasise the composition.
With the exception of the shopfront the external walls of the building are massive reinforced concrete, cast insitu. The timber framed roof which terminates as a gable behind the parapet wall is hipped at the southerly end. A hipped roofed lantern is located on the ridge of the roof.
The shop front is comprised of three large display windows separated by two recessed entries. A strip of obscure fixed glass above the display windows lets light into the interior of the store. Each entry is fitted with a set of double timber doors and opens directly onto the interior of the shop.
The interior, a single large space, is divided along its central axis by a row of large timber posts supporting a timber beam which run from the front to the rear of the store. Male oriented departments are located to the east and female to the west of the axis. High level windows run along the upper part of the side wall which faces east southeast; the opposite wall has no window openings. Connecting the service areas on the easterly and westerly sides of the store with an elevated cash desk is a suspended wire system. The cash desk is located on the central axis near the rear of the store. An ornate metal and timber flying fox transports change between the service areas and the cash desk via this system of taut wires.
The entire space has a flat panelled fibrous cement ceiling with timber cover strips. Some panels feature lattice vents and pressed metal ceiling roses. A large skylight positioned on the axis between two posts illuminates the centre of the space. The sides of the skylight, lined similarly to the ceiling, slope inwards towards the top and terminate in the windows of the roof lantern. The timber framed pine floor is covered in carpet squares. The store retains many original timber shop fittings, including shelving units, timber counters and display cabinets. A skillion roofed extension, timber framed and clad in fibrous cement, has been built onto the back of the store near the south west corner.
A set of timber double doors, centrally located in the rear wall behind the cash desk, open onto an external flight of concrete steps leading to the back yard. Structures in this area include a timber and fibro shed with shallow pitched skillion roof and a small brick toilet block. Access to the yard is via an easement leading to Pineapple Street.
","history":"This single-storeyed building was completed by 1922 for Overells Pty Ltd, and replaced a previous building which had been destroyed by fire in May 1921.
Gazetted in 1849, the town of Gayndah initially developed as the centre for a number of large sheep stations taken up in the Burnett region during the 1840s. Gayndah's early growth as a pastoral "capital" is largely attributed to the determination of the squatters, and for a short time, the town reputedly rivalled Brisbane as the capital for Queensland. Gayndah also developed as the administrative centre for the area, as a school [600516] was established in 1861, and post office and court house were erected. A branch of the Commerical Banking Company of Sydney was opened in 1864, and a local government authority was established in 1867. By the late nineteenth century, cattle had replaced sheep as the dominant pastoral activity. Citrus orchards also flourished, and together with cattle and dairy farming, provided the basis for the development of Gayndah from the turn of the century.
The land on which the shop stands was acquired by Andrew Brown of Gayndah in 1858, then by Francis Brown in 1864. The titles documents describe Francis Brown as a storekeeper of Gayndah, and include mention of houses and buildings, possibly referring to a shop on this site. Following Francis' death in 1910, the land was acquired by Martin Conrad Stephenson of Gayndah in 1911. Stephenson is listed in directories as a Store Manager.
The land was acquired by William Henry Williams, a Maryborough merchant in 1911. It is likely that Overells leased the shop from Williams at around this time, as they are recorded as having a premises in Gayndah from c1912. Photographic evidence indicates that the building was divided into two; one half occupied by Overells and the other half by Ford's Cash Store.
Between May and July 1921, three separate fires in the main street of Gayndah destroyed a total of nine shops, including the Overells and Fords building. Overells suffered a loss of approximately £3000. Shortly after the fire, Overells purchased the site of the former shop, and had commenced rebuilding their shop by August 1921, when it was noted that the new premises "will be an imposing structure when completed."
Overells established in Brisbane in the early 1880s, when WJ Overell moved to Brisbane from Tasmania. Overell opened a store in Fortitude Valley in 1883, and a store in Queen Street in 1891. The floods of 1893 destroyed the entire stock in the Queen Street store. The store in Fortitude Valley was removed to the corner of Brunswick and Wickham Streets c1901, and was completely destroyed by fire in 1904. The store was rebuilt the following year. By 1910, Overells had established a number of country branches, which included Charleville, Laidley and Pittsworth.
Overells new Gayndah premises was completed in early 1922. The recollection of a former employee of Overells, describes the re-opening of the shop as a gala day for old Gayndah.
Ownership of the site was transferred to Rothberg & Co Pty Ltd in 1937, then Ronald and Edna Beaton in 1943. Ronald Beaton is listed in directories as a Gayndah storekeeper.
In 1954, Cedric Mellor, of the firm Reddan and Mellor, took out a ten year lease on the shop. Reddan and Mellor, General Drapers and Boot and Shoe Warehousemen, had been established in 1886 at Bundaberg, by Michael Reddan and William Mellor (Cedric's father). Although Cedric Mellor moved to Gayndah in 1954, Reddan and Mellor of Bundaberg continued to trade under both names, finally closing in 1985.
Mellors Pty Ltd purchased the Gayndah shop in 1963, and John Mellor, grandson of William Mellor, has been Managing Director of the business since 1973. The rear of the building was extended during the 1960s.
","criteria":"Mellors Drapery and Haberdashery, erected by 1922, is situated on land which has been the site of a store in Gayndah from the late 19th century, and as such, demonstrates the development of the town as a commercial centre for the Burnett district.
|The intact interior space complete with many fittings such as shelves, display cabinets and counters housing a traditional range of merchandise organised into departments is a rare survivor of the pressures of commerce. In particular the flying fox cash dispenser provides rare evidence of money handling technology of the early 20th century.
|Mellors, an excellent and comprehensive example of a medium sized provincial store, is outstanding in its preservation of not only the physical fabric - the mass concrete construction, characteristic shop front, elegant interior and skylight; but also of the social fabric - a relatively unchanged style of management and service.
|(Criterion under review)
|Built in the early 1920s as a country branch of Overells Pty Ltd, the store has an association with Overells, previously one of the major department stores in Queensland. Mellors continues its association with the Mellor family, who have been connected with retailing in central Queensland from 1886.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16860,"place_ref":602124,"name":"Gayndah Shire Hall","alternate_name":"Gayndah and District Soldiers Memorial Hall and Council Chambers | Gayndah Town Hall | Gayndah Soldiers' Memorial Hall","street_address":"32-34 Capper Street","suburb":"GAYNDAH","lga":"NORTH BURNETT REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2001-09-28","description":"The Gayndah Shire Hall is a single storeyed rendered concrete building with corrugated iron roof situated on the southern corner of Capper and Pineapple streets. The building makes an important civic contribution to the streetscape of Gayndah’s main thoroughfare. Along with the Gayndah War Memorial [QHR 600517] and Gayndah Court House [QHR 601294], the Shire Hall is part of a prominent collection of civic structures in the town centre.
\nL-shaped in plan, the building has a façade composed of three symmetrical bays, the central one projecting beyond the others. The entrances to the Council Chambers and Town Hall Theatre are located in the end bays. Raised signage panels on the parapet denote these functions. The central bay signage panel bears the name, ‘Gayndah Soldiers' Memorial Hall’.
\nThe fenestration comprises pairs of three-light casements and fanlight, which are separated by pilasters with simple vertical detailing and articulated by raised vertical and horizontal rendered concrete bands. The pilasters finish to the underside of a wide string course that projects forward to form a hood at each entrance and at the centre of the building. The parapet is decorated on its upper edge with a string course and another below this, both being decorated with a vertical lined pattern.
\nThe skillion roof to the Council Chambers has sloping parapets at each end that conceal it to the east and separates it from the gable roof over the hall and skillion roof over the bio box behind the façade. The hall roof is hipped at its southern end and has a ventilated gablet at each end.
\nThe hall is entered via stairs to a vestibule with ticket office. The ladies' and men's cloak rooms are located on either side of the vestibule and have cement rendered walls, fibrous cement sheeted ceilings with timber cover battens and timber floors. Inside the Hall is framed with arched timber trusses between which the curved ceiling is lined with fibrous cement panels and timber cover strips. Timber lattice ventilation panels are located in the centre of the ceiling between the trusses. The floor is timber-framed on concrete stumps and is lined with Crow's Ash. The stage has a simply detailed battened proscenium and dressing rooms open off the eastern side. The supper room and kitchen, which have been altered and extended including with floor coverings and banks of louvres, is also located on the eastern side. A structure above the entrance to the hall to access the sound and lighting equipment is a later visually intrusive addition.
\nThe council offices are entered via stairs to a public space that retains its original counter. The offices are divided by timber and glass partitions and the council chambers are lined with timber panelling. The ceilings are lined throughout with fibrous cement sheeting and timber cover battens and the furniture in the chambers dates from the original fit-out.
\nThe 1970 brick toilet block on the north-western corner of the lot has been redesigned to provide disability access. The building has been rendered to match the façade of the hall. A small section of the original fenced lawn is retained south of the toilet block along Pineapple Street.
\nFree-standing signs fronting Capper Street and an interpretative sign located east of the Council Chambers entrance are not considered to be of cultural heritage significance.
\nWith the exception of the later additions to the rear of the council offices and the supper room, the Gayndah Shire Hall is highly intact.
\n
The Gayndah Shire Hall was constructed in 1935 on the corner of Capper and Pineapple streets by the Gayndah Shire Council. The building was designed by prominent Brisbane architects, Hall and Phillips, and is one of a number of civic buildings designed by the partnership during the interwar period.
\nGazetted in 1849, the town of Gayndah initially developed as the centre for a number of large sheep stations taken up in the Burnett region during the 1840s. Gayndah's early growth as a pastoral ‘capital’ is largely attributed to the determination of the squatters, and for a short time, the town reputedly rivalled Brisbane as the capital for Queensland. Gayndah also developed as the administrative centre for the area: a court house and post office were established in the 1850s and a school [QHR 600516] was erected in 1861. A branch of the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney was opened in 1864, and a Town Council was established in 1867, comprising a mayor and three aldermen. In 1880 the Rawbelle Divisional Board was established and attended to all business outside the jurisdiction of the Town Council. Gayndah’s tropical climate and alluvial soils provided excellent conditions for fruit growing. Citrus orchards flourished, and together with cattle and dairy farming, provided both the basis for the development of Gayndah from the turn of the century and sustained growth for the shire in the 1920s and 1930s, with citrus growing developing into a primary industry in the 1930s. In 1922, a new board known as the Rawbelle-Gayndah Joint Board was formed and comprised a delegation from Gayndah. The Town Council and Joint Board merged in 1925 to form the Gayndah Shire Council, which consisted of a Chairman and six councillors.[1]
\nIn 2008, the Shire was amalgamated with those of Biggenden, Eidsvold, Gayndah, Monto, Mount Perry and Munduburra to form the North Burnett Regional Council.[2]
\nLike all Australian communities, Gayndah was impacted by WWI (1914-1918). Of the 330,770 Australians who embarked for overseas service in WWI, 58,961 died and 170,909 were wounded, went missing or became prisoners of war. Even before the end of hostilities, memorials were being erected by Australian communities to honour local people who had served and died. A scheme was put forward by the Gayndah Town and Rawbelle councils in 1918 to erect a public hall in Gayndah in honour of the local soldiers who enlisted in World War I (WWI). WWI memorials were erected by Australian communities even before the end of the war and took a variety of forms, including honour boards (from 1915), stone monuments (including obelisks, soldier statues, arches, crosses, columns or urns), tree-lined memorial avenues, memorial parks, and utilitarian structures such as gates, halls and clocks. The proposed memorial hall at Gayndah was of the latter type and once finished, was to be shared by both local authorities whilst also providing a hall for public purposes.[3]
\nA war memorial [QHR 600517], in the form of a large outdoor honour board designed by leading Brisbane metal artisan Ernest Gunderson, was erected in 1919 at the junction of Capper, Meson and Warton streets. It was moved to its current location on Capper Street in 1988.[4]
\nThe need to replace Gayndah’s existing town hall – built in 1881 – and the community’s continuing desire to build a local memorial hall, prompted the Gayndah Town Council to apply in 1922 for a Treasury loan of £5000 for the erection of a new town hall. A poll was held in May the following year and residents supported the loan application. In December that year, the Treasury stated it was unable to offer the loan until the following financial year. Fundraising for the erection of the new hall became a community effort. The Gayndah sub-branch of the Returned Sailors and Soldiers Imperial League of Australia (RSSILA) and the Gayndah Branch of the Country Women’s Association lead local fundraising efforts throughout the 1920s.[5]
\nThe site for the proposed Town Hall had been acquired by the Gayndah Town Council in 1924 possibly through arrears in rates payments. The block (1376m²) was subdivided in October 1929 and the southern section (652m²) was transferred to the Queensland Country Women's Association.[6]
\nAt a meeting of the local progress association on 29 September 1933, it was resolved to proceed with the Town Hall project, which was supported by the Gayndah branch of the RSSILA and the Gayndah Chamber of Commerce.[7]
\nIn the 1930s, loans and subsidies were being offered to local councils for construction projects with the aim of reducing mass unemployment brought on by the Depression. Across Queensland, town and shire councils took advantage of the economic assistance to construct new civic buildings. An application was made by the Gayndah Shire Council to the Treasury for a subsidy of £3000 and a loan of £3000. The loan was approved and tenders were called in March 1934 for a new concrete Town Hall at Gayndah. HE McDonnell was the engineer for the project and Tom Cullen was the foreman. Construction of the building commenced in September 1934.[8]
\nThe Town Council engaged the Brisbane architectural firm of Hall and Phillips to design the council chambers. Hall and Phillips had formed a partnership in 1929, when Lionel Blythewood Phillips was admitted into partnership with Thomas Ramsay Hall, formerly of Hall and Prentice, who designed the Brisbane City Hall [QHR 600065]. Hall and Phillips continued in practice until 1948 and their projects included the Empire Theatre in Toowoomba [QHR 600978], Southport Town Hall [QHR 601649], and shire offices at Gatton, Murweh, Boonah, Dalby [QHR 601018], and Monto.
\nThe Council Offices were designed to include the council chambers, a general office, a spare office and offices for the Town Clerk, the Health Officer and the Engineer. The hall included ladies and gentlemen's cloak rooms, a ticket office, the hall and stage, dressing rooms and a supper verandah with kitchen. Separate public toilets with a septic system were constructed at the rear of the hall.[9]
\nThe council offices were complete by May 1935 and the hall completed in July. The building, which was named the Gayndah and District Soldiers Memorial Hall and Council Chambers, was officially opened on the 19 July 1935 by the Hon E Hanlon, in commemoration of the employment relief loan the Gayndah Town Council had received from the State Government in order to construct the building. Problems associated with the availability of materials and the quality of the day labour sent to work on the project are recorded in the Council minutes.[10]
\nThe project, which cost £7012 received an additional £500 subsidy and £500 loan from the State Government and excluded the furnishings and fitting out of the toilets. The building, described as ‘a nice example of modern architecture’ in the 12 October 1934 edition of the Building Journal, added a new style of architecture to the town.
\nThe Town Hall Pictures and supper rooms opened on 7 August 1935 and were operated by lessees continually until 1997 when the regular showing of films in the hall was discontinued.[11]
\nThursday nights were reserved for functions other than films and various committees held balls and concerts in the hall. The balls were well attended until the mid-1960s and with three different picture programs a week, the Town Hall offered a wide cross section of the community an opportunity for entertainment.
\nA memorial plaque was installed on the front of the building on Armistice Day in 1938 as a tribute to the district’s fallen soldiers.[12]
\nIn 1974 alterations were made to enlarge the supper room and upgrade the kitchen with funds provided by the Regional Employment Development (RED) scheme. An office and a kitchenette were added to the rear of the council offices at this time. The original lighting was removed in the 1980s but was subsequently reinstated when new lighting was installed. Other changes include the removal of the gates to the vestibules (these are stored on the site) and the construction of a brick toilet block on the corner of Capper and Pineapple Streets in 1970.[13]
\nIn 2017, the Gayndah Shire Hall continues to be used for its intended municipal purpose as the seat for the North Burnett Regional Council. Occasionally, the hall theatre is still used for movie screenings. The hall and the Gayndah War Memorial [QHR 600517], also located on Capper Street, play a focal role in Gayndah’s Anzac Day Services.[14]
","criteria":"The Gayndah Shire Hall (1935), is important in demonstrating the pattern of constructing civic buildings by local governments during the 1930s assisted by funding from unemployment relief projects.
\nOpened in 1935, the hall and council chambers are a tangible expression of a sustained period of prosperity in Gayndah, resulting from the continuing growth of the horticultural – particularly citrus fruit growing - agricultural and dairying industries in the Shire in the 1920s and 1930s.
|The Gayndah Shire Hall (1935), is an important example of an interwar regional civic building. It was designed by the prominent Brisbane architectural partnership Hall and Phillips and combines council offices and chambers, and a large public hall and theatre with stage, supper room, and dressing rooms. The building, prominently positioned on the main thoroughfare of the township, remains substantially intact and is still in use for its original purpose as the seat of the local government.
|The Gayndah Shire Hall has aesthetic significance as a well composed building designed to reflect the progressive nature of the Town Council and makes an important contribution to the streetscape of Gayndah’s main thoroughfare, Capper Street.
|The Gayndah Shire Hall has a strong and special association with the Gayndah community and has been the focus of social, municipal and commemorative activities since 1935.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":17004,"place_ref":602185,"name":"Brick Cottage","alternate_name":"Gayndah Museum","street_address":"8 Simon Street","suburb":"GAYNDAH","lga":"NORTH BURNETT REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2001-12-14","description":"The Brick Cottage Gayndah is located on the southern end of Simon Street, Gayndah, between Capper Street and Burnett Terrace.
The cottage is a simple, symmetrical single storey building constructed of locally manufactured bricks laid in Flemish bond with a corrugated iron roof. A timber framed addition is attached at the rear and has corrugated iron skillion roof.
The masonry portion of the house displays a Georgian influence through its simple rectangular form and symmetrical façade which has two large six-pane sash windows and two front doors to Simon Street. A rear door provides access to the enclosed verandah and lean to on the western elevation and there are two sash windows on the southern elevation and one on the northern elevation. The eaves are not lined and the rafters have a curved end profile.
Internally the main cottage has a recent concrete slab floor, rendered walls and ceilings lined with beaded tongue and groove boards. The cottage is divided into two by a load bearing masonry wall that houses two fireplaces - one to each side. The northern portion of the cottage was once two rooms and evidence survives of the location of the dividing wall.
To the rear of the cottage is an enclosed verandah and semi-detached lean-to. The enclosed verandah has been extended and divided into two rooms. Both rooms are clad with weatherboards and some sections lined with fibro sheeting. The semi-detached lean-to is constructed of wooden battens with a corrugated iron roof.
","history":"The Brick Cottage Gayndah was built in 1864 by Mr Henry Fenwick for a Mr Alexander Walker, early resident and licensee of the Gayndah Hotel. The Cottage is located in the centre of town and is the oldest surviving brick residence in Gayndah.
Gayndah was first settled as a town in 1849, shortly after squatters selected land in the Central Burnett. The site of what was to become the Gayndah Township was selected and named in 1849 by Maurice Charles O'Connell, Land Commissioner for the Burnett. In 1850 the name of Gayndah was recognised when the Post Office and Courthouse were gazetted, but it wasn't until 1852 that Gayndah was gazetted as a town.
Once the road to the Port of Maryborough was surveyed and cleared in circa 1850 an influx of settlers followed and over the next ten years Gayndah's sheep, cattle, diary and agricultural industries began to flourish. Early freehold land sales were held in Gayndah in 1854. Joseph Hadley was one of the first people to buy land in the town and purchased the land that the brick cottage now resides on in 1854 for £3/12/-.
In 1864, Alexander Walker purchased the land from Mr Hadley and employed local builder, Henry Fenwick, to build a brick cottage, where it is believed he resided for the next six years. Alexander Walker was an early resident of Gayndah. He was the licensee of the Gayndah Hotel and owner of the property, Mt Cyrus, located just outside Gayndah. He was also foster father to the Barnard boys, who he had taken into his care when their father died in 1858.
In 1870 William Barnard took over ownership of the brick cottage on Simon Street. William Barnard, a local blacksmith, and his wife Elizabeth McDonald, remained as residents of the cottage until the death of their daughter, Ellen, in 1958. The cottage then passed through a number of hands until the Gayndah Shire Council purchased the cottage in 1969 in order to save it from demolition.
The allotment the Brick Cottage resides on once ran from Capper Street through to Burnett Terrace and had several other buildings on the lot including a Blacksmith. Constructed of locally manufactured brick laid in the Flemish bond, the Georgian style cottage originally consisted of 3 rooms with a central fireplace. In circa 1900, an open verandah with a small room to one side that served as a semi-detached kitchen was added to the back of the cottage. The presence of two front doors also indicates that the cottage may have been built for use as a residence and shop but there is no evidence to support to suggest that any of the owners used it for this purpose.
During the Barnard's occupation the interior of the original cottage remained relatively unchanged. When the Barnard's sold the property in 1958 it passed through a number of hands and underwent some alterations. The back verandah was enclosed sometime during the late 1950s and the original timber flooring was removed, leaving the main bedroom with a rough concrete floor and the living area with a dirt floor. The mantels over the central fireplace were also removed at some point and the wall separating the two bedrooms demolished, effectively changing the cottage from 3 rooms to 2.
A number of conservation works have taken place since the Gayndah Shire Council purchased the Brick Cottage in 1969. In 1988 the original shingled roof was removed and replaced with a corrugated iron hip roof. At this time, work was also carried out on the ceiling, which needed to be repaired again in 1994, as it was beginning to sag due to incorrect installation of the roof timbers. The dirt floor in the main room was laid with concrete to match the exposed floor in the bedrooms, the front doors of the cottage were replaced and the interior walls replastered. The mantels over the central fireplace were also replaced, on one side with what is believed to be a replica of the original and the other with the mantel from the fireplace at Ban Ban homestead.
The Brick Cottage now operates as a Museum under the direction of the Gayndah Historical Society. Once the only building on the lot, the cottage is now borded on both sides by other buildings from the town of Gayndah to form part of an historical village. It houses a collection of memorabilia, which covers many aspects of early life in and around Gayndah.
","criteria":"The Brick Cottage Gayndah was erected in the town of Gayndah in 1864. It holds a special association for the community of Gayndah as the only surviving residence from the town's settlement period. The Brick Cottage demonstrates the pattern of development of some of Queensland's more remote towns.
|Built in the very early stages of the town's development, the cottage is a good example of a mid 19th century workers dwelling and constructed of the now rare use of locally produced hand made bricks.
|Built in the very early stages of the town's development, the cottage is a good example of a mid 19th century workers dwelling and constructed of the now rare use of locally produced hand made bricks.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":19635,"place_ref":602514,"name":"Gayndah Racecourse","alternate_name":"Gayndah Race Track","street_address":"Fisher Avenue","suburb":"GAYNDAH","lga":"NORTH BURNETT REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2005-09-12","description":"The Gayndah Racecourse occupies a large level area on the southeast side of the town. It is bounded on three sides by roads and a large block of open land adjoins it to the south.
Two gates access the racecourse grounds. One comprises timber posts supporting a tubular metal structure framing the letters G.J.C. for Gayndah Jockey Club, the other is a timber gate constructed to commemorate the Centenary of Federation and also the founding in Gayndah of Queensland's first Jockey Club in 1861 and the first Queensland Derby in 1868.
The track itself occupies most of the space and is enclosed on either side by a fence of metal posts with a white painted top rail. It is grassed and roughly oval in shape, being 17097 metres in circumference with a training track on the inside. Crops are currently grown in the centre of the course.
A mechanical starting stall is used to start each race and the straight with the winning post is set at the northwest corner of the track overlooked by a metal tower. Bougainvilleas are planted along the edge of the track in this area and to the north of the tower is a set of parallel rails coloured red, yellow and blue for the winning horses. To the rear of the paddock area and extending southwest are two parallel sets of modern buildings. The facilities closest to the track include a clubhouse and betting ring, bars, a ladies' room and a tearoom and kitchen. A second set of buildings to the northwest comprises jockeys' rooms, offices and the Totalisator office with a toilet block at the northern end. There are also 60 day stalls for horses and a swabbing stall with a washing down bay at the end of the stalls. The saddling enclosure is between the jockeys' room and the track.
All these buildings currently serving the course were constructed towards the end of the 20th century and have no heritage significance.
","history":"The Gayndah Racecourse was established in the mid 1850s to replace a track established nearby in 1852. Queensland's first Derby race was held there in 1868 and the course is still in regular use for horse racing.
Europeans in search of grazing land for sheep first explored the Burnett in the early 1840s and the town of Gayndah was founded in 1849 to serve pastoral stations in the district. The site of the town was chosen and named by Maurice O'Connell, then Land Commissioner for the area. Gayndah developed as an administrative centre, having a courthouse and police station in the 1850s, soon followed a school, post office and bank. It was at one time considered to be a contender for the capital of Queensland when Separation from New South Wales was contemplated. By the late 19th century, cattle had replaced sheep on the surrounding pastoral properties and citrus orchards had been successfully established. From the turn of the century, dairying also played a part in the providing an economic basis for the development of the area.
In 1852, the year that Gayndah was officially gazetted as a town, a public meeting was held at the Burnett Arms in Gayndah to organise the setting up of a track for horse racing. £100 was collected and a suitable area at the edge of town selected. The winning post was set up midway between two hotels, the Burnett Arms and the Corinth Arms, which were about two and a half miles apart. The first race was held on 30 June 1852. It was a three-day event with racing on the first and third days for prizes in excess of £100. This track was used for a few years before the current and more level site nearby replaced it, probably in 1855 or 1856.
A meeting was held at the Royal Hotel, Gayndah in July 1858 to mount a petition to Sir William Denison, Governor General of New South Wales (of which Gayndah was still then a part), to grant the Crown Land on which the track was situated for use as a racecourse on the grounds that the town had not been granted a recreation reserve and there was no other course closer than Ipswich, 230 miles away. There were 65 signatories to the petition, but it did not have an easy passage.
As the land on which the track was located was in an area intended to serve as future suburban allotments, the government was at first inclined to refuse the request and on 6 May 1859 asked for guidance from the Surveyor General's office. A report of 25 August 1859 recommended that as town development was in fact taking place away from this area, a reserve of between 100 and 120 acres should be granted for a racecourse. The request was approved on 11 June 1859, but Queensland was separated from New South Wales on 10 December 1859 as a self-governing colony. The racecourse reserve, of 180 acres, was surveyed in March 1862 and the land grant signed by Sir George Bowen, Queensland's first Governor, on 26 March 1863 at a quit rent of one farthing 'as a racecourse and for no other purpose'. Trustees were Berkely Basil Moreton, Alpin Grant Cameron, Robert Wilkin Smith, Gilbert William Eliott and Francis Glynn Connolly.
Horses had arrived in Australia with the First Fleet in 1788 and the first organised horse race was run at Hyde Park in 1810. In 1842 the first racing club, the Australian Jockey Club, was formed. In Queensland, horse racing was one of the earliest organised sports following the opening of the Moreton Bay District for free settlement. The first race meeting was held at Coopers Plains on 17 July 1843 and there was a racecourse at New Farm in Brisbane by May 1846. In 1848 the towns of Warwick, Ipswich and Drayton organised race meetings. Government authorities took racing seriously as more than a sport as horses were then the main means of transport for economic, military and recreational purposes and racing was thought to help improve breeding.
In 1861, the Gayndah Race Club decided to change its name to the Queensland Jockey Club; at the time, racing at Brisbane was under the auspices of the Brisbane Race Club and at Ipswich as the North Australia Race Club. Eagle Farm Racecourse opened in Brisbane in 1863, replacing the 1846 New Farm track, and the Queensland Turf Club was formed. The Gayndah racecourse by this time had booths for hire where publicans and confectioners supplied refreshments.
Gayndah hosted the first Derby held in Queensland. This is a classic race for three-year-olds run over one and a half miles and was first held in 1780 at Epsom in England, being named for the 12th Earl of Derby. In Australia the first Derby was run in 1861 at Randwick in Sydney and in 1868 one was held at Gayndah. Bookmakers came up from Melbourne for the event, which was won by a horse named Hermit. The Derby was held at Gayndah for two more years until falling into abeyance and being revived in 1872 in Brisbane.
The race meetings were gala events attended by people from the surrounding district and from as far afield as Port Curtis, Ipswich and Nanango. Horses came from as far away as Sydney to compete and Gayndah considered itself the racing centre of Queensland, even after the Derby had moved to Brisbane. A Brisbane Cup was held in 1866 and a Gayndah Cup in 1867 quickly followed by Cup events at Gympie, Maryborough, Rockhampton, Townsville, Charters Towers, Toowoomba, Warwick and Dalby.
In spite of the early establishment of the Queensland Turf Club and the development of horse racing in regional centres during the 1860s and 1870s, it did not become popular in Queensland on a large scale until the 1880s, when there was a boom in racing and many new clubs were formed and race meetings held. A new code of rules was adopted in 1885 based on those of the English Jockey Club and a system of registration of all clubs under the Queensland Turf Club rules was instituted. The Queensland Racing Calendar was first published in 1886 and in 1890 all clubs agreed to empower the Queensland Turf Club to allot dates for meetings to prevent clashes.
In 1914 the racecourse land was gazetted as a reserve under Trustees led by the Mayor of Gayndah and on 29 October 1937 a special meeting was held by the Council to formulate by-laws. These were gazetted on 3 March 1938 under the provisions of the Local Government Land Act 1936. The Gayndah Shire Council are still trustees for the racecourse.
New service buildings were constructed at the racecourse in the 1980s. The track itself has been in use as a racecourse since its inception and the Gayndah Jockey Club still hosts regular racing meetings there.
","criteria":"As a horseracing track, established in the 1850s during the first phase of free European settlement in Queensland, the Gayndah Racecourse is evidence for the importance and early development of the sport. Horse races were amongst the first organised sporting events in Australia and served as both a recreation and for the furtherance of horse breeding. This was important in an era when horses were used for transport, industry and warfare as well as for recreation. The first Derby held in Queensland was held on this track in 1868.
The establishment of a racecourse is part of the pattern of Gayndah's development as an early town, established in 1849 as a centre for the Burnett District.
|The Gayndah Racecourse is uncommon as a mid nineteenth century horse racing track in Queensland and may have been in longer continuous regular use as a race track than any other in Queensland.
|The Gayndah Racecourse is important for its social value to Jockey Club members, trainers, owners and jockeys and with generations of racegoers from all walks of life, both in the surrounding area and from further afield.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":31913,"place_ref":602782,"name":"Mount Perry Powder Magazine","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Sandy Camp Road (north of Magazine Road)","suburb":"MOUNT PERRY","lga":"NORTH BURNETT REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2011-06-10","description":"Located to the east of Sandy Camp Road, between Magazine Road in the south and Drummers Creek in the north, the powder magazine stands alone in a paddock. In late 2008, two trees were growing inside the roofless structure.
The magazine is 6.9m long (south-western and north-eastern elevations) and 5.4m wide, its walls being 50cm thick. It is constructed of random rubble brought to courses, with rendered quoining to the corners of the building and around the exterior of the windows and the door. There are brick arches above some of the windows with timber lintels. There is a door and two windows in the south-western elevation, plus two windows in north-eastern elevation.
The interior walls on the south-western and north-eastern elevations have recesses for floor joists, but the timber floor no longer exists. Wall vents are set below the floor level, about level with the joist holes; with two vents in each of the long elevations, and one in each of the short elevations. There are some small holes in the wall set with copper plates, and some copper piping juts out of a wall. Some timber framing survives in one of the window interiors.
","history":"The stone gunpowder magazine located in a paddock to the east of Sandy Camp Road, about 3.5 km north of the town of Mount Perry, was constructed in 1874 to safely store the explosives used in copper mining at Mount Perry and is the oldest known surviving government powder magazine in Queensland.
The Mount Perry area was explored from 1846, and early runs in the district included Yenda and Tenningering (1849) and Mt Perry (1851). Copper was discovered at Mount Perry in mid 1869. On 2 June 1871 the Queensland Surveyor-General directed John C Thompson to complete plans for a township to be known as Perry, later changed to Tenningering. The government town site was ignored by those who wished to live closer to the Mount Perry copper mine, and a town called Fife-Barnett was surveyed on private land half a mile from Tenningering. The government's post and telegraph office had to be moved to Fife-Barnett, which later became known as the township of Mount Perry.
Mount Perry prospered for most of the 1870s, a period when the price of copper was high and mining in general was experiencing rapid growth in Queensland. In 1872 the first churches were built, there were 25 hotels, and mail services commenced. By May 1872 furnaces were operational, producing a regulus (impure metal) consisting of 80% copper, smelted from the poorer ores. Richer ores were dispatched in their crude state. By 1873 the population of Mount Perry was estimated to be 3000, and a refining furnace was opened that year so that pure copper could be shipped.
The process of construction of the magazine at Mount Perry began in September 1873, when tenders were called by the Department of Public Works. By Christmas 1873 the material for the magazine was being assembled, with erection to begin in a fortnight. Expenditure on erecting the magazine during 1874 amounted to £432 2s 10d. Jason Walsh was appointed as the Powder Magazine Keeper at Mount Perry on 13 January 1875, at a salary of £100 and on 22 February 1875 notice was given in the Queensland Government Gazette that the powder magazine at Mount Perry was approved as a place where gunpowder could be stored. The rate for storing 50lbs or more for six weeks was 1 shilling, plus 2 pence for every week thereafter.
The magazine was located on the road to Fortunatus (now Sandy Camp Road) on a 60 acre reserve for a Gunpowder Magazine declared in the Queensland Government Gazette of 18 December 1875. The western boundary of the reserve was the road, the northern boundary was Drummers Creek, and the southern boundary ran along the northern boundary of portion 65 (Magazine Road). The eastern boundary was an extension of the line of the eastern boundary of portion 65.
For over a century, control of all explosives and gunpowder imported into Queensland was the province of the Harbour Master's Department (1860-62), the Department of Ports & Harbours (1862-93), the Marine Department (1894-1928), and the Department of Harbours and Marine (1929-63). In 1964, responsibility was shifted to the Queensland Department of Health. Under The Navigation Act of 1876 the master of any ship entering a Queensland port with gunpowder to be unloaded had to ensure that it was placed in a government magazine. The various incarnations of the Harbours Department were responsible for the provision of magazines and for the safe storage of explosives at Queensland ports of entry. The Act further regulated the conveyance and storage of gunpowder in any place in Queensland, not just in the ports. On the goldfields, magazines were initially administered by the Mines Department, as control of magazines outside ports was not vested in the Marine Department until 1907.
Some common magazine design features include sturdy construction, small windows and solid doors, ventilation and overhanging eaves, timber floors with copper nails or timber pegs instead of iron nails, and the provision of lightning conductors and copper earthing straps. Magazines were generally located away from other buildings, and were sometimes surrounded by earthworks to deflect any blast. Magazine complexes were often surrounded by walls or fences to keep people out.
The Queensland Department of Public Works built powder magazines during the 1860s at Brisbane, Maryborough and Gympie; and during the 1870s at Townsville, Ravenswood, Mount Perry, Millchester, Cooktown [QHR 600425], Eagle Farm, Thornborough and Maytown. The first magazines at Cairns (on a barge), Charters Towers, Croydon, Georgetown, Herberton, Normanton, Port Douglas and Rockhampton were all built in the 1880s. The magazine at Mount Perry is the earliest government-built magazine known to be surviving in Queensland.
The powder magazine's use was closely tied to the success of mining in the town. Low copper prices meant that the Mount Perry copper mine closed in the second half of 1877. The town stagnated, and the population was only 500 by 1883. At this time the copper mine was being worked on a small scale on tribute (miners working a mine themselves, while sharing profits with the owners), with limited smelting. The owners of the mine eagerly awaited the arrival of the railway from Bundaberg, which would lower the cost of bringing in firewood for the smelters, and taking out copper.
In August 1877 the Queensland government approved three railways to connect mining towns to their principal ports: Townsville to Charters Towers; Bundaberg to Mt Perry; and Maryborough to Gympie. However, when the railway reached Mount Perry in 1884, the anticipated mining boom did not occur and copper prices remained low. The mine closed by April 1885, but it reopened in 1888 as prices rose. Mount Perry enjoyed a short revival and by October 1888 the smelting furnaces had been rebuilt and the shafts re-opened by the Mount Perry Copper and Reid's Creek Gold Mining and Smelting Company. After copper prices slumped in April 1889, the mine closed once more. The Mining Warden's Report for 1891 stated 'the cessation of the copper works has virtually killed the place [Mount Perry]. All, or all who can obtain employment elsewhere, have left, or are leaving it'.
The magazine reserve was cancelled in 1891 (during the mining slump in Mount Perry and a period of economic depression in Queensland in general) along with a 44 acre timber reserve to the north of Drummers Creek, and in 1892 both reserves became part of the 500 acre Agricultural Farm 848 (Portion 5v, later Lot 194).
Within a decade of the closure of the magazine, things had changed. In 1901 the Queensland Copper Company commenced large scale operations at Mount Perry, which boomed in the early 1900s, and the population on the field was about 2000 in 1904, including 25 Chinese. During this period copper was a major source of mining income for Queensland, and the largest producers included Herberton, Mount Perry, Mount Morgan and Cloncurry.
Between 1900 and 1914, 15,272 tons of copper were produced in the Mount Perry area, along with 25,472 ounces of gold and 767,285 ounces of silver. However, the final crash came before World War I; the mine was closed for the holidays at the end of 1913, and in January 1914 the Queensland Copper Company announced that it would not re-open. Although some mining activity continued under the tribute system, Mount Perry's glory days were over.
After mining at Mount Perry collapsed, there was another dwindling of the town's population and many buildings were demolished or removed. The copper smelter site is now a ruin, with the main surviving feature being the large slag heap. In contrast, the powder magazine north of the township is a rare surviving element of built mining infrastructure from the 1870s boom period at Mount Perry. In 1940 the Deed of Grant for Portion 5v was issued to Edith FE Walsh, the wife of John P Walsh, as Executrix of and sole Legatee under the will of Joseph William Mooney. The farm passed to MW Mooney in 1964 and to its current owner in 1982.
Like the Cooktown powder magazine, which was constructed in 1875-76 for the Department of Ports & Harbours to designs prepared in the office of the Queensland Colonial Architect (FDG Stanley from 1873 to 1881), the Mount Perry powder magazine is a rectangular building with a single doorway and narrow window openings with brick arches. The magazines were also similar in size, Mount Perry being 6.9m long by 5.4m wide, and Cooktown being 7.9m by 4.6m. However, the Cooktown magazine is built of brick, on a stone plinth.
Both magazines also had timber floors, although only the joist-holes in the lower walls remain at Mount Perry; and both have wall vents to the sub-floor area. Although Mount Perry no longer has a roof, it is likely that it had overhanging eaves, as was the case at Cooktown. It is also possible that, like Cooktown, its timber door and window shutters (no longer extant) were faced in copper. The Cooktown magazine received a new roof in 1996, and in 2009 it qualified for a Q150 grant of $150,000 for restoration work.
","criteria":"The Mount Perry Powder Magazine, built by the Queensland Government in 1874, is a rare surviving relic of the Mount Perry copper mining boom period of the 1870s. This decade was a period of rapid expansion of mining in Queensland, and Mount Perry was an important mining centre during most of the 1870s, and then again between 1901 and 1913.
The economic importance to Queensland of mining at Mount Perry was illustrated by its selection in 1877 as the destination of one of three mining-related railway lines approved by the Queensland Government.
|The Mount Perry Powder Magazine is rare as one of three known surviving 19th century government powder magazines in Queensland; and it is also the oldest known example. In addition it is a rare surviving example of built mining infrastructure from the heyday of Mount Perry.
|Despite its incomplete state, lacking floors and roof, the solidly constructed walls of the 1874 Mount Perry Powder Magazine, its narrow windows and remnant copper fittings, are all standard features of Queensland government powder magazines of the 19th century; and its isolated location demonstrates the practice of locating gunpowder at a safe distance from population centres.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places"} ]}