The fort complex was built during 1943 on the eastern side of Magnetic Island between Horseshoe Bay and Arcadia Bay. It was anchored into granite boulders on a heavily timbered, mountainous point overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
The site contains derelict concrete structures with some timber and concrete remnants of the fabric such as the water pipeline, command post, searchlight tower, ammunition store, radar station, signal station, gun sites and direction finder. The remainder of the accommodation area can be seen in the form of concrete slabs on flat land near the pathway to the fort complex proper.
","history":"The fort complex was constructed in 1943 to protect the harbour and town from what was believed to be imminent attack as Japanese forces moved south through the Pacific islands. Townsville was the major supply depot for Allied troops in the southeast Pacific and a staging post for troops moving north into the war zone.
The fortifications were armed with French 155mm M3 guns on Panama carriage mounts which were commonly used on a number of Pacific islands as coastal defence weapons. The four guns on Magnetic Island had been enroute to Bhutan until it fell to the Japanese. They were redirected to Townsville to protect its vital port against the expected rapid advance of the Japanese. History shows that they were not needed and after the war the guns were returned to the American forces.
At this time the fort was stripped of its fittings and left to return to nature. With the establishment of the Magnetic Island National Park, Queensland National Parks and Wildlife Service assumed control of the complex, installed information signs and pathways and now administers the area.
","criteria":"This is a significant site which highlights the role of Townsville and the region in the Allied struggle to protect Australia from the advancing Japanese forces during the crucial war years of 1942-43.
|Its significance is further highlighted because this site, together with those at Kissing Point, Townsville and on Cape Marlow at Pallarenda, are rare wartime fortifications of unique value.
|Its construction on a rugged headland and the installation of the hugh guns were wartime engineering achievements of some magnitude.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion F","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15652,"place_ref":600877,"name":"Rosebank","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"21 Lawson Street","suburb":"MYSTERTON","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Rosebank is a substantial, single-storeyed, timber house resting on low brick piers, with a short-ridge roof of corrugated-iron, wide surrounding verandahs and a detached kitchen wing at the rear, accessed from the back verandah. The single-skinned external walls have deep chamferboards with exposed stud-framing. Decorative details include cast-iron cresting and finials on the roof, cross-braced timber balustrading and ornate timber brackets on the verandahs, and a finial and fretwork bargeboards to the small gabled entrance portico at the front. The interior has some fine pressed metal ceilings, which have been restored, and early 20th century light fittings. The kitchen and bathroom of the service wing have been modernised. A double brick garage and pool at the left of the house are late 20th century additions. While some of the c1885 mango trees remain, more recent cottage gardens have been established.
The house is fronted by Townsville City Council parkland which was part of the original property.
","history":"Rosebank, a substantial, single-storeyed timber residence, was erected c1885 for well-known Townsville identities Rose and Andrew Ball.
Andrew Ball was one of the first Europeans to explore the Cleveland Bay district, and is acknowledged as the founder of Townsville. In 1864 he was managing Woodstock Station [to the south of Ross River] for pastoralists Robert Towns and John Melton Black [who together owned Jarvisfield and Woodstock cattle runs and Fanning Downs and Victoria Downs sheep stations], when Black asked him to explore the country to the north, to find a suitable wharfage site at Cleveland Bay from which to handle station produce. Ball, accompanied by Mark Watt Reid and two Aboriginal stockmen, set out in April 1864 and eventually found the mouth of what later was called the Ross River. The site Ball selected for a wharf and port was on Ross Creek, a tributary of Ross River. Lying beneath the huge sandstone outcrop of Castle Hill, the location reminded Ball of Castletown, the capital of the Isle of Man, and that was what he called the place. When a government town site was surveyed here in 1865, the name was changed officially from Castletown to Townsville, in honour of Robert Towns.
Andrew Ball was occupied for the next few years with pastoral work before returning to Townsville in the late 1860s, and was a partner in Ball & Grimaldi, Townsville, in 1869. In 1877 he married Mrs Rose O'Neill, widow and licensee of the Exchange Hotel in Flinders Street since 1873. The Exchange had been erected in 1869 by Edward Head and was made the terminus for the Ravenswood coach service in 1870, but it was the popular Rose O'Neill who improved the hotel's reputation and nearly doubled its size in the mid-1870s. Rose O'Neill eventually purchased the hotel and following her marriage to Andrew Ball and his taking over of the licence in 1877, the Exchange became one of the most popular hotels in town. Ball was charming and widely known, with business interests both in Townsville and on the goldfields [Ravenswood and Charters Towers], and together, he and Rose developed a large and loyal cliental at the Exchange. In 1881 the two-storeyed timber hotel was destroyed by fire, but Townsville was booming and Ball immediately rebuilt in brick, the substantial new two-storeyed Exchange Hotel opening in 1882. That year Andrew Ball gave up the licence, he and Rose retiring from hotel work but retaining numerous Townsville business interests. They resided at West End for some years before moving to Rosebank in the mid-1880s.
In January 1885 Rose Ball acquired title to a 2 acre site about 3 miles out of town, southwest along the Charters Towers road, at a time when the western and southwestern suburbs of Townsville were emerging as fashionable addresses for successful Townsville businesspersons. On this property Rose and Andrew Ball erected Rosebank, a large timber residence picturesquely situated overlooking a small lagoon and creek [now filled in and part of Mindham Park]. The front entrance drive from the main road crossed a causeway and two bridges over the creek/lagoon, then became a circular drive lined by bunya pines and mango trees, surrounding a large rose garden in the front yard. The back approach to the house passed through banyan and Moreton Bay fig trees. Rosebank was developed as a self-sufficient semi-rural estate, with a dairy, cowyard, chicken run, vegetable garden, stables and various storage and fodder sheds, and an underground water supply. Rose Ball also developed a very fine flower garden and bushhouse at Rosebank, which were famous in the Townsville district.
Andrew Ball died at Rosebank in September 1894, aged 62, and his widow remained there until her death in February 1925, aged 83. In January 1912 their only daughter, Annie Alice May, married lawyer Robert Johnstone Douglas [later a Supreme Court Judge]. Mr & Mrs Douglas are understood to have resided at Rosebank from 1912, when they employed Townsville builder E Crowder to renovate the building. The renovations included the installation of a number of pressed metal ceilings, removal of a partition wall to form a library, enlargement of the dining room by opening up the sewing room and pantry, and extension of the kitchen. The verandah floorboards also were replaced at this time. In 1919, title to the property was transferred from Mrs Ball to her daughter.
The Douglas family, one of whom became a leading orthopaedic surgeon, owned the house until 1972, when it was purchased by the present owners. In 1903 and again in 1971 the house was damaged by cyclones and the owners carried out major alterations and refurbishment to parts of the structure in 1912 and 1972. Blocks of land on the left side of the house were sold off in the first part of this century and in 1940 the local Council resumed the watercourse in front of Rosebank to create public parkland, reducing the 8.094 hectare property to the house block of today.
","criteria":"Rosebank, erected c1885, survives as important evidence of the development of Townsville as the principal port of north Queensland in the 1880s, when businesses were consolidating, the principal commercial premises were being re-built in brick, and fine gentlemen's residences were being established in the western and southwestern suburbs. Its imposing style reflects the prosperity of its owners and of the region during the boom period of the 1880s.
Renovations in the 1910s and 1970s testify to its continued use as an elite residence for well over a century.
|Rosebank is an excellent example of a substantial, decorative, timber residence of the mid-1880s, complete with detached kitchen house, standing in the remnants of larger grounds and garden
|The house remains highly intact, and together with the surviving grounds, is important for its aesthetic qualities.
|Rosebank is considered one of Townsville's finest colonial homes, and has a strong association for the residents of Townsville with the early development of their city.
|It is important also for its close association with Andrew and Rose Ball, prominent and early Townsville residents, Andrew Ball being acknowledged as the founder of Townsville.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15653,"place_ref":600878,"name":"Yongala Lodge","alternate_name":"Nestle Private Hospital | Matthew Rooney's Residence | Lister Private Hospital","street_address":"11 Fryer Street","suburb":"NORTH WARD","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-08-21","description":"Yongala lodge is a two-storeyed, L-shaped timber building which is currently used as a restaurant and managers residence. The building is located at the base of Melton Hill and fronts Fryer Street to the northwest.
The building has a hipped corrugated iron roof and is surrounded by two-storeyed verandahs, with the southeast side being enclosed. The original central section of the building has decorative cross-braced cast iron balustrade and single-skin, exposed frame construction. The later side verandahs have cross-braced timber balustrade and more recent timber brackets. Most of the northeast wall has been enclosed with chamferboard and a pergola structure attached to the northwest front. A decorative cantilevered timber porch with a concave corrugated iron awning has been added to the front entry. The rear of the building has been clad with vinyl boarding.
The main entry features a panelled timber door with patterned glass fan and sidelights surrounded by timber pilasters supporting a large cornice. French doors with fanlights open onto verandahs on both levels.
Internally, the building has a central corridor opening into dining rooms, a bar and kitchen. The dining area has had fretwork arches added, and existing arched openings have had their balustrade removed. A central stair, with turned timber balustrade and twin flights from the landing, leads to the first floor dining and the managers residence at the rear. A steel framed stair has been recently inserted on the southwest to meet fire regulations.
A lower two-storeyed brick motel wing is attached to the rear of the building. A higher, two-storeyed, split level brick motel block has been built on the site's rear rocky slope. An inground concrete swimming pool is located to south of the building surrounded by bitumen driveway and carparking.
The southern section of the site consists of a steep rocky slope at the base of Melton Hill.
","history":"The earliest section of this two-storeyed, former residence was erected between 1883 and 1887, on land acquired by Townsville builders and timber merchants John and Matthew Rooney, in mid-1883.
In the late 1860s, Irish immigrants John and Jacob Rooney had established a building and timber-milling business at Maryborough, where later they were joined by their brother Matthew. In the late 1870s John and Matthew established a branch of J & J Rooney, builders, at Townsville, which was developing as the port for the Ravenswood and Charters Towers goldfields. In 1882 John and Matthew established their own business interests at Townsville, setting up the firms of Rooney Bros (architects, builders and contractors) and, in partnership with James Harvey, the timber-milling enterprise of Rooney & Co. By the mid-1880s they were operating their own fleet of small vessels to bring timber from Maryborough and other Queensland ports to their mill and factory on Ross Creek.
By controlling every stage of the building process - logging, milling, prefabrication, design, construction, hardware supply, and later furniture manufacture and paint sales -and by adopting highly mechanised production techniques and large volume turnovers, Rooneys' dominated the North Queensland building industry until the early years of the 20th century.
Matthew Rooney's house in Fryer Street exhibits decorative finishes typical of a Rooney building - including the distinctive cast-iron balustrading and the remnant timber moulding of the lower verandah frieze - and was one of few two-storeyed, timber residences erected in Townsville before the turn-of-the-century. Constructed entirely of oregon pine, initially it comprised two rooms on each floor, with a single-storeyed kitchen house at the rear, and verandahs front and back. By 1900 the kitchen house had been replaced with a two-storeyed rear extension, and verandahs had been added at the rear and along the northeast side. Part of the latter was enclosed.
Rooney and his family do not appear to have occupied the Fryer Street residence until the early 1890s. Matthew Rooney was a prominent Townsville citizen, first chairman of the Townsville Harbour Board, 1896-97, and a strong supporter of the Catholic Church. On 23 March 1911 he, his wife and his youngest daughter were drowned in the wreck of the SS Yongala, south of Townsville. The Rooney firms were already losing their pre-eminence in the North Queensland building industry, and after Matthew's death, declined rapidly. The heirs reconstructed as Rooneys Limited, concentrating on building prefabrication initially, then furniture manufacture and retail trading, until winding up the firm in 1946.
In 1916 the Fryer Street house was leased to matron Katherine Terry, who converted it into the Nestle Private Hospital (renamed Lister Private Hospital by 1919). In 1926 Rooneys Ltd sold the property, which coincides with its conversion to Lister Flats. Between c.1925 and c.1933 a two-storeyed enclosed verandah was added to the southwestern side, and a single-storeyed extension at the rear probably dates to the mid to late 1930s.
In the early 1980s the building was renovated as part of the Yongala Lodge motel.
","criteria":"The manager's residence/restaurant of Yongala Lodge has a strong historical connection with early Townsville builder and businessman Matthew Rooney, who, through the family building firms of Rooney Bros and Rooney & Co., made a substantial contribution to the development of North Queensland in the latter part of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Constructed for Matthew Rooney in the mid-1880s, and occupied by him and his family, the building is important in illustrating the work of these important North Queensland building industry firms, and was one of the few two-storeyed, timber residences erected in 19th century Townsville.
|It is now even more rare, being the only identified, 19th century, two-storyed residence to survive in Townsville, and retains sufficient original fabric to be illustrative of its type.
|In addition, the building contains some elements of individual architectural merit including the finely detailed staircase and entrance, the cantilevered porch and the construction technique of exposed framing.
|The building makes an aesthetic contribution to the streetscape of Fryer Street, particularly in the quality of some of its architectural elements, including the cast iron balustrade, main entry door and surround.
|The manager's residence/restaurant of Yongala Lodge has a strong historical connection with early Townsville builder and businessman Matthew Rooney, who, through the family building firms of Rooney Bros and Rooney & Co., made a substantial contribution to the development of North Queensland in the latter part of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Constructed for Matthew Rooney in the mid-1880s, and occupied by him and his family, the building is important in illustrating the work of these important North Queensland building industry firms, and was one of the few two-storeyed, timber residences erected in 19th century Townsville.
","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":15654,"place_ref":600879,"name":"St Mary's Church","alternate_name":"St Marys Church | St Marys Catholic Church | St Mary's Catholic Church","street_address":"34 Ingham Road","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1993-01-02","description":"St Mary's Catholic Church is a one-storey, timber-framed building clad with chamferboards. It stands on a level corner site and faces north onto Ingham Road, the main thoroughfare of West End, Townsville. The church is set on low square concrete stumps and the understorey is enclosed by perimeter timber battening.
The building has a T-shaped plan: entered from the north, a long nave with side aisles terminates in an altar at the southern end. Southern transepts accommodate a vestry on the west and confessionals with waiting area on the east. The corrugated metal-clad roof reflects this layout with three long gables sheltering the nave and aisles and transverse gables over the transepts. The largest gable, over the nave, has a ventilated ridge.
The front elevation is symmetrical, composed of three large gables and a central gabled entrance porch. The building features banks of timber-framed lancet windows containing awning sashes and have pointed arch heads and hood moulding. Gables have wide barge boards fixed onto and concealing the original decorative timber barge boards behind.
Internally, the building has exposed timber scissor trusses with a diagonally boarded ceiling. Timber columns support the central gable and divide the nave into three volumes. An organ and choir gallery is located over the north entrance and is partially cantilevered. The building has pointed arch doors, with the entrance doors having timber battened ventilation panels above. Interior walls are lined with plywood.
The building has an ornate grey marble altar and Calvary Arch, high quality plaster statues and carved timber pews, font, and Stations of the Cross.
Evidence of the original extent of the church can be seen underneath with a masonry supporting wall. A steel support structure has been installed under the altar.
The church stands in landscaped grounds of lawns and maturing trees and is prominently sited within the streetscape. Surrounding it are associated buildings including the Presbytery, School, and Parish Hall.
","history":"St Mary's Church was erected in 1888 as a church and school for the Catholic parish of Townsville. It is the second oldest Catholic church in North Queensland.
Early settlement in Townsville began in the mid-1860s at the mouth of Ross Creek, and along the beach front to the north, but later development was concentrated along the creek to the west. By the late 1880s, west Townsville was a well settled area, and Catholics in this area lived a considerable distance from St Joseph's Church and School on the Strand (established in the 1870s). Fr William Mason Walsh, second parish priest of Townsville, made the decision to establish a church and school in west Townsville, acquiring the St Mary's Church site in 1887.
The church was designed by Rooney Bros, who were the premier builders, and frequently also the designers, of vernacular architecture in Townsville and North Queensland during the latter part of the 19th century. Matthew and John Rooney and their families were strong supporters of the Catholic Church.
When St Mary's was erected by contractors Cowell & Holt in 1888, it was a simple rectangular structure with a nave and entrance porch. The present cedar pews in the nave date from this period. In 1888 the Sisters of Mercy opened St Mary's School at the church until a new school building was erected on an adjacent block at the rear of the church in 1917.
The Sisters of Mercy, an Irish teaching and nursing order of Catholic nuns, had arrived in Townsville in 1878, in response to a request from Fr Walsh. For ten years the Mercy nuns taught solely at St Joseph's on The Strand. From 1888 some of the nuns travelled by sulky to teach in the classrooms established at St Mary's Church and took up residence nearby when the parish of St Mary's was established in 1917, Townsville's second Catholic parish.
To accommodate the Sisters of Mercy within the new parish, the diocese purchased a timber residence in Castling Street, adjoining the church and school, early in 1917. The Castling Street residence is thought to have been constructed in the 1880s, but not on its present site.
The original location is unknown, although it is likely to have come from one of the goldfields - probably Ravenswood or Charters Towers - to the west of Townsville. It was moved onto the site, possibly in 1897, when a mortgage for £130 was taken out on the property by the owner, Gustave Anderson, who had purchased the site at a Crown land sale held on 23 December 1890. Anderson died at his Castling Street residence in January 1898, but his widow remained resident in Castling Street for some years. In May 1901, she married Lauritz Henriksen Hoyer, and a Lawrence Hoyar is listed in Castling Street in the 1904 Queensland Post Office Directory. Mrs Hoyer had sold the property to the Pritchard family by 1912, and they in turn sold to the Catholic Church.
The house, which was set on low stumps when acquired by the church, was raised on high wooden blocks, and the front southern room was extended into the front verandah to create a small chapel for the nuns. The front porch infill and rear extensions appear to date from this period also. Rooneys Ltd carried out the improvements, and St Mary's Convent was opened and blessed by Dr Shiel, Bishop of Rockhampton, on 12 August 1917. The sisters occupied this building until 1964, when it became the parish house for the priest. In 1975 the priest moved out and the house was leased to private tenants.
In December 2013, after being vacant and derelict for some time, the former convent was destroyed by fire. At the time of its destruction, the former convent was a high-set single-storeyed timber building with a corrugated galvanised iron roof, situated at 15 Castling Street, West End, Townsville. The building comprised a six-roomed core under a hipped roof, with a gabled entry porch to Castling Street and an encircling verandah of lesser pitch that met the walls below the eaves line.
Major alterations to the church were carried out in 1923 by Doig & Ritchie, under the supervision of Ardel Rooney of Rooneys Ltd. The building was widened to include transepts on either side of the main altar, side aisles and a sacristy. The marble altar, wooden side altars, baptismal font, altar rails, pulpit, pine pews in the aisles, and wood and plaster stations of the cross, date from this period. Also in 1923, cottage style gardens were constructed around the church.
The interiors of most Catholic churches in Australia were modified as a result of changes in church thinking following Vatican II in 1963, but no alterations were made to St Mary's Church.
In 2014, St Mary's Church, West End, Townsville continues to operate as an important place of worship for the local Catholic parish.
","criteria":"St Mary's Church, erected in 1888 with 1923 additions, is important in demonstrating the establishment and growth of the Catholic Church in North Queensland.
|St Mary's Church remains substantially intact and is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a timber church built in the late 19th/early 20th centuries in Queensland.
|Through its scale, form, and materials, St Mary's Church makes a significant contribution to the Ingham Road streetscape and Townsville townscape. The building is also significant for the quality and craftsmanship of the interior and fittings.
|St Mary's Church is the second oldest Catholic church in North Queensland and is significant for its strong and special association as a centre of Catholic worship, education, and community life in Townsville since 1888.
St Mary's Church is significant for its special association with the Rooney family and their important North Queensland building firms of Rooney Bros, Rooney & Co. and Rooneys Ltd.
","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":15655,"place_ref":600880,"name":"St John's Anglican Church Precinct","alternate_name":"St Johns Anglican Church Precinct","street_address":"30-34 Macrossan Street","suburb":"SOUTH TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"St John's Church, Church Hall and Rectory are located on the southeast side of Macrossan Street, South Townsville, between Allen and Cannan streets, opposite the South Townsville State School. The district is suburban residential in character.
St John's Church (1907)
St John's Church is located in the centre of the church property in Macrossan Street, flanked by the rectory to the northeast and the church hall to the southwest. It is a simple but aesthetically pleasing timber building which employs Gothic stylistic detailing along with accommodation for Townsville's warm sub-tropical climate.
The building is rectangular in plan with the central front bay projecting slightly. It is high set on concrete stumps, clad with chamferboards, and has a corrugated iron sheeted gabled roof that extends over verandahs along either side. A small timber belfry is located at the forward end of this roof and the front gable beneath the belfry has simple timber battening as a decorative in-fill. The side walls to the verandahs reveal exposed stud framing. The southern verandah is open for its full length and the northern verandah is enclosed at either end.
The side verandahs are supported on timber posts with decorative timber capitals and brackets and have a simple timber balustrade comprised of a top rail and two uprights in each bay.
There is a small, centrally positioned front entry porch, with a separate gabled roof. Surmounting the apex of the gable is a small timber Christian cross. The porch has side openings in the form of lancet arches, which once permitted access from both sides. There is now a set of later stairs at the northern side of the porch only. The southern entrance is partially enclosed with a simple metal balustrade and the stairs have been removed. The front of the entry porch is enclosed with chamferboards and has timber louvres within a lancet arch frame for ventilation purposes.
A separately-roofed extension in the rear elevation accommodates the sanctuary.
Most of the fenestration is restricted to the front and rear elevations and is in the form of lancet windows. These include pairs of windows in the front elevation that open from the side verandahs and in the gable above the entry porch. There are also single lancet windows either side of the entry porch, which light the nave and mirror those in the rear wall either side of the sanctuary.
Internally, the nave is separated from the sanctuary by a wide lancet arch. The walls along the side of the nave each have two rectangular openings enclosed by pairs of unequal timber framed and diagonally boarded sliding doors, which when opened provide cross ventilation. These openings are protected by the deep flanking side verandahs, which may be used as aisles.
The ceiling is lined in tongue and groove timber boards and the timber trusses supporting the roof are exposed. Flooring throughout is timber boarding. Significant church furniture includes early timber pews.
St John's Church Hall
St John's Church Hall
St John's Church Hall is a simple timber framed building, high set on concrete stumps and clad externally with fibrous cement sheeting and timber cover strips. It is rectangular in plan, with a gable roof of corrugated iron. Like the adjacent church, it has a small separately-roofed entrance porch, which is partially enclosed with a fibrous-cement sheeted balustrade. Entrance to this porch is via timber stairs on the northeast side of the porch. There is a small, centrally-positioned, skillion-roofed extension in the rear elevation. This also is clad in fibrous-cement sheeting, but is lower set. In each side elevation there are four pairs of tri-paned stained glass casement windows.
St John's Rectory
St John's Rectory (c1907)
St John's Rectory is a single-storeyed building, timber-framed and timber-clad, set on low mostly timber stumps. It has a gabled roof clad in corrugated galvanized iron. The building is L-shaped in plan, with a projecting asymmetrical front gable. It has skillion-roofed verandahs to front and back, both of which are enclosed with later fibrous cement sheeting and glass and timber louvres. The southern end wall of the residence is clad externally but the northern wall and the wall of the projecting transverse gable are mostly single-skin, with exposed stud framing and chamferboards and an external cladding to the upper front gable. The windows in these walls retain their early double-hung timber-framed sashes and have window hoods, which are timber framed and sheeted in corrugated galvanised iron.
Grounds
The grounds, which slope to the southwest, are grassed and there are concrete paths connecting the church and church hall. Plantings considered to be of cultural heritage significance include an indigenous Terminalia at the south/southwest corner of the site and mature Frangipani (Plumeria) trees. There is a tall metal flagpole in the front yard of the church and in the yard behind the church and hall is an area formerly levelled for a tennis court. A small, skillion-roofed, concrete block toilet block at the rear, between the hall and the church, is of later construction and is not considered to be of cultural heritage significance.
Along the street alignment, partly in front of the rectory and partly in front of the church, there is an early, low concrete retaining wall and entrance steps flagged by low, square concrete columns topped with cast iron capitals. This appears to indicate an earlier configuration of buildings on the site. The remainder of the frontage has a later low retaining wall, of concrete and concrete block.
The precinct has an aesthetic appeal based on the picturesque quality of the simple timber buildings in their garden setting and visually complements the school grounds across the street.
","history":"St John's Anglican Precinct at South Townsville comprises a small timber church constructed in 1907; a timber rectory constructed c1907; and a small timber and fibrous-cement sheeted church hall. St John's Church is the third church erected on this site, replacing an 1898 church destroyed in 1903 by cyclone Leonta, which in turn had replaced an 1884 church destroyed by cyclone Sigma in 1896. The rectory also is the third residence on the site, replacing vicarages destroyed in the 1896 and 1903 cyclones. These buildings remain amongst the earliest surviving Anglican church buildings in the Diocese of North Queensland.
Townsville was established in the mid-1860s as a port to service new pastoral runs being taken up in the Kennedy District. The town centre developed along the north west bank of Ross Creek, while suburban settlement spread to the north along the beach front, to the west along what later became known as Ingham Road and south across the creek to Ross Island. The discovery of gold at Cape River in 1867 and the boom in the pastoral industry consolidated Townsville's position as a port and administrative and commercial centre during the 1870s. The port expanded and rail facilities were established in 1881 with the construction of the Great Northern Railway from Townsville to Charters Towers and later to Hughenden further west.
The Church of England early established a presence in Townsville and opened St James' Church in 1871. At this time the district was part of the Diocese of Sydney. The Diocese of North Queensland was formed in 1878, when North Queensland's mineral fields and grazing industry were flourishing. The Rev. George Henry Stanton was consecrated the first Bishop of the new Diocese, arriving in Townsville in May 1879 and establishing his seat at St James' Church (which became the pro-Cathedral). Stanton proved very popular and was adept at attracting overseas funding for the new Diocese. As Townsville expanded during the early 1880s, he assisted his parishioners to establish new churches at West End in 1883 (opened as St James' Mission Church and renamed St Peter's in 1884) and at Ross Island (St John's) in 1884.
Ross Island was a focus for settlement as early as 1868 when the first Townsville hospital was constructed on the island. By the mid-1870s a thriving suburb had been established, with Palmer Street the commercial centre. In 1883 the island was officially surveyed, excised from Thuringowa Division and incorporated into the Municipality of Townsville as South Townsville. To serve the burgeoning population, the South Townsville State School was opened in February 1884.
Prior to the construction of St John's, occasional Anglican services had been conducted at the immigration depot on Ross Island. At the first sale of Ross Island subdivisions in May 1883 Bishop Stanton acquired two adjacent allotments in Macrossan Street for church purposes (allotments 6 & 7, section 161, comprising half an acre in total and directly opposite the school reserve). In June 1884 title to the land was transferred from Bishop Stanton to The Corporation of the Diocesan Synod of North Queensland, which had been established in June 1883 for the purpose of acquiring and managing church property for the Diocese.
In August 1884 the first St John's Church was dedicated on this site. At this period the new church was part of the parish of Townsville and was administered from St James' pro-Cathedral. The Townsville Herald of 24 December 1887 described the building as 'a pretty little church' and 'well patronised'.
Ross Creek boomed during the second half of the 1880s. In 1885-86 the Great Northern Railway was extended east into South Townsville and the Ross Island jetty was extended into deeper water to facilitate the shipment of station produce from the far west of Queensland. The Victoria Bridge (600928), opened in July 1889, was constructed across Ross Creek, linking the island to Townsville's central business district along Flinders Street. Wharves, railway yards, a meat works and foundries at Ross Island became major employers and the surrounding district developed as a working class residential suburb. By the late 1880s it was the fastest growing area in Townsville.
In 1889 Ross Island was declared a parochial district within the Diocese of North Queensland, with the Rev. L Ketchlee as the priest-in-charge. It is likely that the first St John's vicarage was erected at this time.
In January 1896 cyclone Sigma destroyed St John's Church and Vicarage at Ross Island. A contemporary report estimated the loss at about £600. A second St John's Church was opened in 1898, constructed at a cost of £450.
In May 1901 the Diocesan Synod acquired title to an adjacent allotment in Macrossan Street (allotment 5, section 161). This is the site of the later church hall. It may have contained an existing residence acquired for use as a vicarage.
On 9 March 1903 another cyclone, Leonta, destroyed the second St John's Church of England and Vicarage at Ross Island. Photographs of the site taken shortly afterwards show a pile of tangled timbers and iron roofing. The local press reported that the church furniture had been saved through the efforts of the incumbent priest, the Rev. Goodchild.
Cyclone Leonta had struck at a time when the Diocese of North Queensland was in severe financial difficulty, arising from the impact of the early 1890s economic depression and the closure of many Queensland banks, closures of many gold and tin mines and a fall in world copper prices in the 1890s, and a severe drought 1898-1902. Diocesan architects and civil engineers Tunbridge and Tunbridge of Townsville, engaged to report on the cyclone devastation, estimated that £2,600 worth of damage to Diocesan property had been sustained in Townsville alone and £6,250 throughout the Diocese. Bishop Frodsham, then Bishop of North Queensland, travelled overseas to raise funds to save his Diocese and by May 1905 over £6,000 had been subscribed from various diocese in Britain, New Zealand, Australia, Japan and Hong Kong; from British church societies; and from individuals.
Ross Island was a working class district and had suffered substantially during cyclone Leonta, with many homes reportedly destroyed or unroofed. It took the parish nearly four years to replace their church, with the third and present St John's Church of England dedicated on 17 February 1907.
The third St John's Church was designed by architect Charles Dalton Lynch, the Townsville partner in the architectural firm of Tunbridge, Tunbridge and Lynch from 1907 to 1910 and in partnership with Walter Hunt from 1911 to 1921. Lynch was a noted and influential architect, who designed many buildings in North Queensland, including several of Cairns' most prominent buildings: the School of Arts (600380) and Harbour Board Offices (1907), new Court House Hotel (1908) and Central Hotel (600379) (1909). Works by Lunch & Hunt include Agora House (600913), Townsville for Howard Smith & Co. Ltd (1910-11), Cairns Shire Council Offices (601913) (1912-13) and St Joseph's Church (602130), Townsville, (1920-21).
Lynch addressed the problem of cross ventilation in a tropical climate by providing St John's with large sliding doors along each side of the nave, which were sheltered by open verandahs and when opened allowed air to circulate freely through the building. The use of banks of side doors was a popular ventilation device of the period employed in large auditoria such as public halls and theatres, but was less commonly used in church buildings.
The third St John's vicarage may have been erected around this time, and evidently by 1911. St John's Church Hall may date to this period, but this has not been confirmed.
Ross Island (South Townsville) remained a vibrant working class community until port facilities began to move closer to the harbour mouth in the second half of the 20th century. By 1958 the population in the parish of South Townsville had reached 4,000.
St John's Church and Rectory were entered in the Register of the National Trust of Queensland in May 1980 for their historical and architectural interest. Regular Sunday services are still held at the church.
","criteria":"St John's Anglican Church Precinct is important in illustrating part of the pattern of Queensland's history, in particular the expansion of Townsville as a regional port and the growth of the working class suburb of South Townsville in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The church and rectory remain amongst the earliest surviving Anglican church buildings in the Diocese of North Queensland.
|St John's Anglican Church is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of its type, including the adaptation of traditional Gothic-styled timber church design to accommodate the warm North Queensland climate. The building remains highly intact and retains its original detailing (including lancet windows and arches, double sliding timber doors to the verandahs, decorative detailing to deep verandahs and early timber pews). It is an excellent example of the work of architect CD Lynch, who made a substantial contribution to North Queensland architecture in the early 20th century.St John's Anglican Church Precinct is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of its class of cultural places: an early 20th century religious precinct. These characteristics include the grouping of church, church hall and rectory within a restricted and defined area; the intactness of the three principal buildings on the site; the consistent use of materials (principally timber, galvanized iron and fibrous-cement sheeting); and the garden setting (including an early low concrete retaining wall and entrance with low concrete columns with cast-iron capitals, along the street frontage).
|St John's Anglican Church is of aesthetic significance for its use of Gothic stylistic influences within the Queensland vernacular idiom of high-set timber buildings, the result being a balanced, visually pleasing design incorporating traditional European church motifs and Queensland-style deep verandahs.St John's Anglican Church Precinct has a picturesque quality engendered from the consistency of scale, form and materials and the lineal arrangement of the group of simple timber buildings in a garden setting. The place makes an aesthetic contribution to the streetscape, visually complementing the state school across the road.
|The place has a special association with the work of the Anglican Church in North Queensland. The fact that it contains the third St John's Church and Rectory erected on the site between 1884 and 1907 is testimony to the strength of the Anglican Church in North Queensland in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, overcoming obstacles such as distance, remoteness, climate, s small population base and lack of Diocesan funds.
","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":15656,"place_ref":600881,"name":"St Brigid's Church","alternate_name":"St Brigids Church | St Brigid’s Catholic Church","street_address":"523 Stuart Drive","suburb":"STUART","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"St Brigid's Church (1904) stands in a semi-rural setting facing Flinders Highway (Stuart Drive) in the suburb of Stuart. It is a traditional timber and corrugated iron building with Gothic features of the Federation era. Chamferboards are attached to the exposed stud frame which is diagonally braced and strengthened additionally by timber buttresses. Plain bargeboards and a decorative fretwork panel highlights the frontal gable. Two sets of railed wooden stairs lead to a decorative open porch. A sacristy is attached to the north side and the whole structure is supported by modern steel stumps.
An elaborately carved wooden altar, flanked by a pair of marble angels, dominates the interior. Pointed windows, a timber vaulted ceiling and the original wooden pews complete the interior furnishing.
The 1946 presbytery is located within the churchyard, approximately 10 metres north-west of the church. It is an idiosyncratic structure, having single layer (4½in) brick external walls in stretcher bond set high on a substantial concrete column and beam frame. In plan it comprises a rectangular brick core of three non-connecting rooms, each of which has front and back French doors with Arctic glass and fanlight above, opening to a wide encircling verandah. This verandah was open initially but has been enclosed with fibrous cement sheeting and windows, and lined internally with fibreboard. The street elevation has a raised cross centrally mounted. The whole is surmounted by a hipped roof of corrugated metal sheeting. The upper level is accessed on the southern side via a set of steps with a metal balustrade.
The church grounds are grassed and contain a number of mature trees, including a grey bloodwood (Eucalyptus clarksoniana), white fig (Ficus virens), black bean (Castanospermum australe) and African mahogany (Khaya senegalensis). Toward the front of the churchyard, between the church and the presbytery, is a steel-framed bell tower and bell.
","history":"St Brigid's Church at Stewart's Creek (later Stuart) was constructed in 1904 by Townsville builders Doig & Ritchie, who also supplied 8 timber pews. Messrs Rooney and Co. of Townsville (builders, sawmillers and joiners) supplied the pine altar and other furnishings.
Title to the initially 50 acre [20.23ha] site was acquired by Fr William Mason Walsh, the parish priest at Townsville, in 1885, but it took nearly 20 years before a church was erected and furnished, at a cost of about £225 - illustrating the relative poverty of the local Catholic community. The building was opened on 2 October 1904 by the Right Rev. Dr Murray, Vicar Apostolic of Cooktown, who had journeyed from Cairns to Townsville especially for the purpose.
In 1904, Stewart's Creek was under the administration of St Joseph's on The Strand, which still lay within the Diocese of Rockhampton. Later it came under the jurisdiction of the parishes of West End and then Mundingburra, before Stewart's Creek was established as a separate parish in 1945. Father TA Kelly was appointed the first pastor of Stewart's Creek, and a presbytery was erected adjacent to the church in 1946, at a cost of £1,680.
The church has been painted many times since 1904 and the wooden stumps were replaced in 1974 with steel pipe stumps. The care with which this building has been maintained since 1904 has preserved its integrity.
","criteria":"St Brigid's Church at Stuart is important historically for its association with the expansion of the Catholic Church in the Townsville area in the late 19th/early 20th centuries, during the consolidation of Townsville as a major regional centre.
|Though similar to Catholic churches at Brandon and Torrens Creek, St Brigid's Church at Stuart remains highly intact and is a particularly fine example of a gabled, exposed-frame timber church with a timber vaulted ceiling and Gothic motifs, including lancet windows.
It retains most of the original furnishings, including the carved timber altar and timber pews.
|It remains an exceptional timber church, combining style and appeal with simplicity. It contributes pleasingly to the landscape along the Flinders Highway.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15658,"place_ref":600883,"name":"Bishop's Lodge","alternate_name":"Bishops Lodge","street_address":"13 St James Drive","suburb":"BELGIAN GARDENS","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Bishop's Lodge is a large timber building situated on an exposed northerly ridge of Castle Hill. The ground falls away from the house on three sides and the Lodge is visible from the surrounding suburb and from the sea. In turn the house has splendid views of Cleveland Bay towards Magnetic Island from its verandah.
The architect has used this position to advantage, creating a striking house which is a flamboyant blend of Victorian Gothic and vernacular architecture; perhaps appropriate for an English church transplanted to tropical Australia. It also responds well to the climate with wide verandahs right around the house to obtain the best of both breeze and view. A terrace at the front of the house has a lawn with trees and flowering shrubs.
Bishop's Lodge is symmetrical and roughly U-shaped in plan, enclosing a courtyard at the rear. It is set on low stumps and has steeply pitched gabled roofs clad in corrugated iron and topped with large decorative ventilators. In form it consists of two large wings parallel to each other and linked by a transverse section at the front. A wide passage through the centre of the building serves as a breezeway linking the front and rear verandahs, and effectively divides the house into two parts, with bedrooms on one side and living areas on the other.
The front elevation is dominated by the ends of the high twin gables. These extend across the verandah and are supported by decorative bracketed posts, creating two bays between which the central section runs. This has a lower roofline and a single ventilator in the centre of the ridge. At the centre of this section is a small gable forming an entrance porch. All three gables are decorated with timber bands placed to resemble half timbering. The central gable is surmounted by a cross.
The verandahs at the sides and centre front are also supported decorated timber posts and those at the front corners of the building have clusters of bracketed posts. The verandah balustrades are composed of wooden dowels. A modern metal security gate has been installed in the front porch.
The courtyard area has been developed as a covered greenhouse linked to the wide verandahs around the courtyard. Attached to the house by a covered way is a separate timber building, also with exterior studding. The building is raised on concrete stumps and has a gabled roof clad in corrugated iron.
A modern concrete garage has been constructed to the rear of the house.
","history":"The Bishop's Lodge was constructed in 1897 to the design of Tunbridge and Tunbridge, an important Townsville architectural firm, as the residence of the Anglican Bishops of North Queensland, it has continued as the official residence ever since.
Townsville was established in November, 1864 by partners John Melton Black and Robert Towns and was gazetted as a port of entry in 1865. It grew quickly as a supply centre and by 1873 the port was receiving international as well as coastal traffic. By 1880 Townsville was the port for several major goldfields and had opened the first stage of the railway line westwards through Charters Towers and beyond, consolidating its importance as a port and mercantile centre.
Townsville was at first part of the diocese of New South Wales. Although it is not known when the first Church of England services were held in the township, it is known that the first services were conducted in the Court House, which was built by March 1866. A Reverend Searle visited intermittently from Bowen and requested the appointment of an incumbent to the parish of Townsville. This was accepted by the Reverend James Adams.
On 24 December, 1872, land for a church was purchased at the foot of Melton Hill by trustees James Gordon, Frederick Walker and William Aplin and St James Church was constructed with a vicarage beside it. By 1877 a school, St James English Church School, was in operation and in 1878 the diocese of North Queensland was created, with the new Bishop, George Henry Stanton, based in Townsville. There were 2 other Anglican churches, St Peter's at West End and St John's at South Townsville. In 1883 Bishop Stanton selected land in the suburb of Belgian Gardens for a bishop's residence. About the same time a movement began to erect a cathedral and the first stage of this was constructed between 1887 and 1892.
Presumably because the building of the cathedral took precedence, the bishop's residence was not begun until the next bishop, C.G. Barlow, was installed, having arrived in 1891. The lodge was constructed in 1897 to the design of the well known Townsville architectural firm of Tunbridge and Tunbridge. Walter Howard Tunbridge was born and trained as an architect in England. In 1884 he migrated to Australia and worked for Rooney Bros in Townsville. He left to establish his own practice in 1886 and invited his younger brother, Oliver, to join him in 1887, founding the partnership of Tunbridge and Tunbridge, who were to become an important architectural and civil engineering firm in North Queensland.
Of the bishops who have resided at the Lodge, John Oliver Feetham is particularly well known, partly because of his 35 years in office. Feetham was an attractive and eccentric personality, born in England in 1873 as the son of a vicar. Intelligent and well-educated himself, he took an interest in the provision education which was to be a focus for much of his work in North Queensland. Before becoming ordained, he carried out a lay ministry for 18 months in the slums of London, an influence that remained with him for life. Feetham came to Australia in 1904 as a principal of the Brotherhood of the Good Shepherd. A strong belief in the value of the work being done by the Brotherhood to spread religion in the outback and a care for its people were distinctive marks of his episcopate. He was unanimously elected to the See in 1912.
Feetham died in his bed on the verandah of the Bishop's Lodge on 14 September 1947. In the 1960s he was designated by the Synod of the Diocese of North Queensland for liturgical commemoration and styled "Blessed John Oliver Feetham". In the 1970s a memorial chapel was established on the verandah where he died.
The Lodge, like many buildings in Townsville, has suffered damage from cyclones, notably in 1903 and 1971, followed by extensive repair work. In the 1970s a bathroom was added on the south west verandah and the Feetham chapel was created on the north east verandah by glassing in this area. This has preserved a view across the bay seen beyond the altar of the chapel.
During the 1970s, a considerable portion of the Lodge's land was subdivided. The house is still the official residence of the Bishops of North Queensland.
","criteria":"The Bishop's Lodge, as the first and subsequent, purpose-built, residence for the Anglican Bishop of North Queensland, is important in demonstrating the pattern of establishment and growth of the Anglican Church in North Queensland in the late 19th century.
|The Lodge has aesthetic value as a good example of a high quality, well detailed and fashionable residence of its era and was designed by one of North Queensland 's leading architectural firms.
|The Bishop's Lodge is closely associated with the life and work of the Blessed John Oliver Feetham, Anglican Bishop of North Queensland 1913-47. It is also associated with the important North Queensland architectural firm of Tunbridge and Tunbridge.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion E | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15659,"place_ref":600884,"name":"Currajong","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"5 Castling Street","suburb":"WEST END","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Currajong is now located at 5 Castling Street, West End as part of a museum complex which includes a miner's cottage and a 1920s farmhouse. Currajong backs onto the street, overlooking Council parkland. It is a large, single storeyed timber dwelling raised on low brick piers. It has a hipped roof clad in corrugated iron. The house is surrounded by wide verandahs supported by timber posts with decorative brackets and cross braced balustrading. There is a timber staircase with matching balustrading at the side of the house. The main stair to the front entrance is cement rendered and curves to widen at ground level.
The house contains seven rooms, two with verandah annexes. The core consists of four rooms paired on either side of a hall. An arched opening divides the rooms which originally were dining and drawing rooms.
It is interpreted as a conjectural Townsville interior furnished to demonstrate the lifestyle of an affluent family of the period.
","history":"Currajong is a large, single-storeyed timber residence which was built between 1887 and 1888 for Alfred MacKenzie who was a manager of the Australian Joint Stock Bank and had been a pioneer of the sugar industry in north Queensland. It was initially situated amongst other suburban villas in the then fashionable area along the road to Charters Towers.
\nIn 1885, subsection 4 of section 3 of portion 2A parish of Coonambelah was purchased from the estate of Robert Towns by Gilbert Francis Elliott. The following year he sold the land to his brother-in-law, Alfred Peter MacKenzie. In 1870, MacKenzie, together with his brother and sister, had pioneered sugar growing at Gairlock, near the present town of Ingham. It was not successful and MacKenzie worked for the AJS Bank at Charters Towers before being appointed to the branch in Townsville. At sometime during the period between September 1887, when MacKenzie was living in Stanton Hill, and during October 1888 he wrote to the Divisional Board from his new property on the Fullham Road, Currajong was built.
\nIn 1889, MacKenzie was transferred to Toowoomba and the property was sold in 1890 to Alfred Hunt. Hunt had major interests in mining and had been a member of the partnership which owned the Great Cumberland Mine at Georgetown. This had been sold in 1885 at a great profit and the proceeds financed investments in the pastoral industry, including Carpentaria Downs. Currajong is said to have been named after seedlings brought by Hunt from Carpentaria Downs to plant around the house. While in Townsville, Hunt was a director of the North Queensland Meat Export and Agency Company, the Townsville Newspaper Company and the Townsville Gas and Coke Company. He died in 1901 and his widow, Mary, continued to live at Currajong until she died in 1926.
\nThe house was then sold to John Joseph Fanning who was well known in business circles as the North Queensland manager of the National Mutual Life Assurance Company. He was also an identity in racing circles and rode as an amateur jockey and show rider. He owned horses and was a highly regarded judge of them. During his day, the stables at Currajong were well known. He was transferred to Brisbane in 1929 and died in 1931, whereon Currajong passed to James and Jessie Ferguson, whose background was in the pastoral industry. They occupied the house until the outbreak of World War Two, when it was requisitioned by the RAAF as a Medical Receiving Station.
\nIn order to convert the building to a medical facility, some changes were made to the layout of the rooms, although the form of the building was not changed. As the core consisted of two rooms on either side of a central hall, two of which were linked by an open arch, the wall between two bedrooms on the other side was removed to create two large wards. An operating theatre was added and toilets and showers were installed.
\nAlthough the building was initially intended to act as a training centre, it saw urgent use in 1942 when it received casualties from the fighting at Milne Bay. In December 1944, it was decided that the medical centre was no longer needed and the staff vacated the house by January of the following year.
\nMr and Mrs Ferguson did not return to the house after the war and it was rented out to a series of tenants until being purchased by the Redemptorist Fathers for use as a monastery in 1952. In 1955 the property passed to the Sisters of Mercy and the buildings of the new Mater Hospital were erected in the grounds over the next few years. Currajong, however, remained in use as a residence for the Sisters.
\nIn 1978, the land on which Currajong stood was needed for the expansion of the hospital and the house was scheduled for demolition. A major effort by the local branch of the National Trust of Queensland, Townsville City Council and the Sisters of Mercy enabled the house to be saved. A Federal grant was also secured to enable its transference to a new site at Castling Street, West End.
","criteria":"Currajong is significant for demonstrating the lifestyle of several families who were prominent in the development of north Queensland. Its conversion for use as a military medical facility in World War Two reflects the importance of Townsville in the conduct of the war in the Pacific.
|Although it has been relocated, Currajong is a good and early example of a large, late nineteenth century timber residence in Townsville.
|(Criterion under review)
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15660,"place_ref":600885,"name":"Drystone Wall, Melton Hill, Townsville","alternate_name":"Townsville Supreme Court | Townsville Library and School of Arts/Licence Testing Centre | Queensland Transport","street_address":"2-4 Cleveland Terrace","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2005-02-07","description":"The former Townsville Supreme Court was an imposing one and two-storeyed timber building with a corrugated iron roof. It was located on the north-eastern side of Melton Hill, part of the foothills of Castle Hill (601218), and faced north over the Strand and Cleveland Bay. The platforms of the site are part of a series of terraces formed in the rocky hillside.
The site is on the corner of Melton and Cleveland Terraces. It sits between a group of public and government buildings (which includes the Customs House 600937 and the State Government Building 601384) on the lower side of the hill, and a group of substantial early residences higher on the hill to the west.
The condition of the drystone wall varies from sound to areas of partial collapse or missing stones. The wall is situated on the boundary of Lot 3 on EP2361 and Lot 6 on T118300. The site is generally rocky and granite ridges run through the base of the wall continuing down the slope. The approximate 800 mm width of the stone wall is neither straight nor parallel with the title boundary.
The wall is approximately 1.5 metres high however, it is thought to have been substantially higher, possibly as high as 1.8 metres. Extensive fallen rock is visible on the ground within Lot 3 on EP2361. The rocks used to construct the wall are of random size, with some as large as 400 x 300 x 500 mm, and smaller fragments scattered among them.
There is a 100 mm (4 inch) Metters cast iron pipe line running up the hill, approximately north-south, within Lot 6 on T118300. This descends into Cleveland Terrace where it enters an underground drain near a manhole manufactured by Northern Iron and Brass Foundry.
Following the wet season the drystone wall is mostly covered with creeper vine, which restricts visual reference and additional research into the feature.
","history":"The Drystone Wall, Melton Hill, Townsville is the only remaining physical evidence on the site of the former Townsville Supreme Court, which was constructed as the Townsville Library and School of Arts building. The building opened in September, 1877 and was designed and constructed by Townsville architect and building contractor Charles Alexander Ward, who "won a premium" of ten pound for the design. In 1889 the Supreme Court Bill provided for the relocation of Queensland's Northern Supreme Court from Bowen to Townsville. By the end of that year plans were underway to convert the School of Arts to house the Northern Supreme Court. The alterations were carried out by Townsville building firm Rooney Brothers.
The School of Arts Reserve on Melton Hill was proclaimed in 1872, close to the site of the first court and customs houses which were constructed by 1872 and the first Town Hall. Also nearby were private residences, most notably that of FA Fryer and John Melton Black, founder of Townsville. The earliest survey plan for Melton Hill dated 26 June 1865 shows John Melton Black as the owner of three acres of the top of the hill. There is also a sketch plan made in around 1867-8 for the Queensland Department of Public Works records shows John Melton Black's property extending down the hill as far as the north-eastern boundary of the School of Arts site. The main house, known as "Bachelor's Hall", was a four roomed building surrounded by verandahs with a detached kitchen. The main house was surrounded by four other buildings, an observatory and several structures downhill towards the original School of Arts site. It has been suggested that the drystone wall is the remains of the boundary walls of the property of James Melton Black, which if correct, would make them the oldest surviving structure in Townsville.
Planning for the School of Arts building began in January 1877 when the Committee sought government funding for the project. The government offered a thousand pound if the local community raised five hundred pound. Difficulties arose over the location of the School of Arts on Melton Hill. Heated discussion took place within the Committee and in the community over whether the reserved land was too far from the business centre of the town, which, by 1877 was already moving westward along Flinders St. Argument revolved around a site in Sturt St, one in Flinders St near Denham St, and the Melton Hill site. Finally, at a meeting of the committee on 11 January, 1877, the motion to build the new School of Arts on Melton Hill was carried 14 votes to 12.
On 3 February, 1877 the School of Arts Committee resolved to call tenders for plans and specifications for the new building which was to have a large hall, reading room, a library and a room for a museum. The committee offered "a premium of ten pound" for the best plan. In March, 1877 the committee considered the five plans submitted and by an almost unanimous vote chose the design prepared by Charles Alexander Ward, of Townsville. Charles Ward worked in various capacities, as a contractor, joiner and cabinet maker. He operated a workshop which made furniture to order, as well as selling bedsteads and sewing machines. Besides the School of Arts he was architect and builder of a number of public and commercial buildings in Townsville including the Queensland Hotel (demolished)...
Ward's tender for the construction of the School of Arts was accepted with the building completed by September, 1877. The building was designed with a double storeyed section at the front and a hall behind. On the ground floor a central passageway led to the hall with a committee room and library on either side above the two front rooms was a reading room. The hall was 80'x35', with a deep stage and a gallery at the upper level. The building had a corrugated iron roof and was constructed of timber imported from Maryborough.
On the 18 September 1877 a concert was given by the Orpheus Glee Club, which is believed to have marked the opening of the new School of Arts.
The new building became the focus of social and cultural life in Townsville. The School of Arts, which had the largest hall in the town, became the entertainment centre for the community. Concerts both by local amateurs and visiting theatrical troupes were staged regularly. It housed the first presentations of both full operas and oratorios in the town. It was also used as the first skating rink; it housed the exhibits of the early Townsville Shows and provided a venue for lectures on a variety of topics. Balls, fancy dress balls and banquets such as the one staged to greet the Premier in 1885, were also held in the building. The first evening classes in the town were held there. French, popular physiology, natural history, botany, photography, German, bookkeeping, architectural drawing and freehand drawing were some of the subjects taught.
Once the building was officially opened and operating, the Committee carried out a series of modifications. It appears that the installation of ceilings was not part of the original contract because the Committee "... decided to invite estimates for ceiling the hall, library and committee rooms of the building" in July, 1875. Between 1877 and 1889, a skillion extension to the south was constructed and in 1878 a handsome proscenium was built especially for an amateur performance.
In 1874, as a result of the rapid development of North Queensland, the Queensland Government decided to appoint a Supreme Court judge to serve the northern part of the colony from Bowen. However, as Townsville's importance in the region grew there was a move to relocate the court.
In September 1887 the issue was debated in parliament and a decision was made to relocate Queensland's Northern Supreme Court to Townsville. However, no action was taken at the time. In May, 1888 there was a change of government and two members for Townsville were elected. In March, 1889 a delegation of nine northern members requested the Premier implement the 1887 resolution, with the result that in September, 1889 the Supreme Court Bill was introduced which provided for the appointment of a second northern judge and for the removal of the court to Townsville.
While it appeared that the government first planned to construct a new court building, by December, 1889 plans were underway to convert the School of Arts for use as the Northern Supreme Court. No information has been found on the purchase of the School of Arts, however, a new theatre and library on the corner of Stanley and Walker Streets, were opened 27 May, 1891 by the School of Arts Committee, using funds from the sale of the Melton Hill building.
The conversion of the building for use by the Supreme Court was dogged with difficulties. Well known North Queensland building and timber merchant firm Rooney Brothers, were selected by the Justice Department to do the work at a cost of between £950 and £1000 This quote covered the cost of the removal of skillion rooms and extension of the main building 20ft to the rear. The two storey portion of the building was to be extended 30ft over the hall and the stage was to be removed. Furniture for the Court Room was to be provided as well.
Rooney Brothers do not appear to have signed a contract nor were drawings prepared. Matthew Rooney was seen as a practical man who had particular expertise in solving problems using his skill with design and it is possible that he was chosen to carry out the alterations to the building because he was seen to have the required skills. During construction Rooney made design suggestions ie the extension of the western verandah and a flight of stairs to give the judge easy access to his rooms. Matthew Rooney also suggested that the windows be enlarged with circular heads and a lantern light be installed in the upper corridor to increase light in the building. The alterations cost £2703 and were the cause of some dispute with the Department of Works despite the fact that the extra work was authorised during construction.
Mr Justice Chubb, newly appointed Northern Judge is believed to have been involved in design changes to the building as well. The extent of his involvement is not known and , indeed, when the cost of alterations became an issue, he denied any substantial interference. It is known, however, that he did order the installation of venetian shutters.
During the subsequent one hundred years the building was altered in minor ways and severely damaged by cyclones on several occasions. In 1896 Cyclone Sigma caused damage to the roof, broke the lantern light to the upper hall, the roof of the strong room was blown off and the walls of the building damaged with water. In 1903 Cyclone Leonta damaged the roof, and destroyed the jury room. Roof damage occurred in 1940 and major damage to the whole building, including the roof, occurred in 1971 during Cyclone Althea. On New Years Eve, 1965 an explosion, at the entrance to the building, destroyed the front doors. In 1961, a cell block was moved to the site from Railway Estate Police Station after the old cell block was demolished.
In 1970 the Supreme Court moved to new premises and the Vehicle Licensing Division of Department of Transport occupied the front section of the building. The building became vacant after the Department of Transport moved to new premises in the mid 1980s. In 1972 the caretaker's residence was sold for removal. In 1994 the roof was reinstated using Federal "One Nation" funding. The building was also painted around this time. However, on 14 April 1998, before the conservations works could be finished the Former Townsville Supreme Court building was destroyed by fire. What little of the timber building that remained after the fire was later removed from the site due to safety concerns. The remains of the late nineteenth century drystone wall is the only remaining physical evidence on the site. At the time the building was destroyed it was described as:
The axis of the building is north-south, with the main entry at the northern end facing Cleveland Terrace. The north facade has a two-storeyed verandah with crossed timber balustrades and curved boarded valances to both levels, and a central projecting portico with paired timber posts topped with a pediment and a flagpole as finial. The double entry doors have an arched fanlight, and large single pane double-hung windows with arched heads to either side. Behind are two levels of offices and chambers each side of a central corridor.
This northern section of the building has hipped roofs in a U-shaped configuration. There is a glazed lantern with curved domed roof on one of the ridges. The double-hung windows, smaller than the those of the front, have two panes per sash and are shaded by continuous curved corrugated iron hoods. The walls are clad in weatherboards.
The interior of this section has walls lined with wide horizontal beaded boards, and high ceilings of double beaded boards. The entry has the remnant of a gold painted sign beside the arched opening. The room beside the entry retains its moulded timber counter. In the cupboard under the stair are small remnants of theatrical posters dating from 1879-1880. Doors here are typically low-waisted four panel, some with fanlights. The floors are timber boards.
In the upper level, the lantern provides a boarded rooflight to the central corridor. At the end of the corridor, an arched opening and timber balustrade form a balcony which overlooks the Courtroom. To the very upper portion of the walls is a panel of perforated zinc ventilation grilles. The former Judges chambers retain their cedar bookshelves. From this level, the northern verandah has views over Cleveland Bay.
Detached to the west of this section is the strongroom of painted brick. It has a curved corrugated iron roof, iron door and small barred window.
The central part of the building is the single-storeyed Courtroom. The gabled roof has dormer windows and ventilators along its ridge. On the east side is the Courtroom's gabled entry porch, which has a scalloped bargeboard, boarded valance and timber posts with capitals. A verandah with similar valance runs the length of the western side. From this verandah, an external timber stair leads to the Judges' chambers.
The Courtroom has exposed scissor trusses with stop-chamfered members, and raked ceilings lined in diagonal boarding above. There is a dormer window to each side of the ridge. The large double-hung windows, two to each side, have single pane sashes and arched heads, and are similar to those beside the main entry. Again, the walls are lined in horizontal beaded boards and the floors timber.
To the southern end of the Courtroom is an elevated timber stage, with stairs to either side. Court furniture retained in place includes the cedar judges' bench with screen behind, the stand for the witness box, the defendant's dock, the jury stand, and a timber rail and tiered benches for the public at the rear.
To the rear of the Courtroom are three small offices at the level of the stage. From here, a link of latticed walls and curved corrugated iron roof connects to the Jury Room to the east. The Jury Room is a single timber room, with toilets added to the north. Its subfloor construction includes brickwork of an earlier building in this position. It has a pyramid roof and ventilator at its apex, and timber hoods to its windows.
Behind this block is a small brick shower room, with lean-to roof and boarded shutter. Behind the shower and of similar height, is a stone pitched retaining wall marking the rear of the site.
Along the western side of the main building runs a graded brick retaining wall, forming the terrace of the remainder of the site. Further to the west, is a timber cell block and a timber toilet block.
","criteria":"The Drystone Wall, Melton Hill, Townsville is important in demonstrating the evolution of Queensland's history. The drystone wall is all that remains on the site of the Former Townsville Supreme Court building. Initially constructed as a Library and School of Arts in 1877, the building was one of the largest timber School of Arts buildings in Queensland. It played an important part in the social life of Townsville in the late 1870s and through the 1880s. When it was completed the hall was the premier entertainment venue in Townsville. For 86 years the building served as the only timber supreme court building in Queensland. It is also distinguished by the fact that it was a converted building, which differed from the usual practice of purpose built court houses.
|The Drystone Wall, Melton Hill, Townsville has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history. In particular, the drystone pitched wall on Lot 3 on EP2361 and Lot 6 on T118300, have the potential to yield information on the early government and residential area of Townsville. The wall is believed to have been constructed in the late 19th Century and has characteristic British origins, with its approximate 800 mm width consistent with English walls. There is the possibility that the drystone wall may be associated with John Melton Black's private residence on Melton Hill c.1867, it has the potential to extend the current body of knowledge about this early civic leader.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion C","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15661,"place_ref":600886,"name":"Warringa","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"26 Cleveland Terrace","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Warringa is a large, single-storeyed brick residence located on a prominent site on Melton Hill, overlooking Cleveland Bay. The house is situated in a suburban environment among dwellings of a similar or earlier period, most of which are set amid tropical gardens. The house has a traditional plan form: a square core with pyramid-shaped roof of corrugated galvanised iron, and wide encircling verandahs with roofs separate from the main roof and decorated with cast-iron balustrading, fretwork brackets and double timber posts. A highly decorated portico projects over front steps centrally positioned. Two wings at the back of the house create a u-shaped courtyard, in which a small garden has been established. One is the original kitchen wing, now modified as two guest rooms; the other wing is a recent addition, comprising kitchen and sitting-room above a 3-car garage. Internally the building has high ceilings [some with pressed metal], large rooms, walls of rendered brick, and substantial silky oak joinery, including a large archway between lounge and dining rooms.
","history":"Warringa was erected in 1912 for Swiss-born Jacob Leu, a partner in the prominent Townsville law firm of Roberts and Leu, and his wife Susan. The builder was Edward Crowder of Townsville. Leu's parents had emigrated to Queensland in 1871, when Jacob was a child. He completed his education in Brisbane and in 1876 commenced his articles with Brisbane solicitor Daniel Foley Roberts. In 1881, Roberts' son George Alexander Roberts established a practice in Townsville, and Leu went with him as an articled clerk. After qualifying as a solicitor in 1884, Leu joined GA Roberts as a partner, the firm of Roberts and Leu developing into North Queensland's most prominent law practice. In 1886, Leu married Susan Hansen Overland. Following Jacob Leu's death in 1921, Susan Leu left Warringa. George Vivian Roberts (jnr), grandson of George Alexander Roberts, purchased the house in 1981.
","criteria":"Warringa, erected in 1912, is of cultural heritage significance for its class, aesthetic character and historical associations. It is an exceptional example of a large and elegant house of the late Federation era which is quite rare in the Townsville region, and even rarer for its use of brick at this period. It makes a prominent aesthetic contribution to the Cleveland Terrace streetscape and to the Townsville townscape. The place is also significant for its close associations with Jacob Leu and GV Roberts [jnr], both of whom were/are principal partners in the longstanding and influential North Queensland legal firm of Roberts, Leu and North.
|It is an exceptional example of a large and elegant house of the late Federation era which is quite rare in the Townsville region, and even rarer for its use of brick at this period.
|Warringa, erected in 1912, is of cultural heritage significance for its class, aesthetic character and historical associations.
|It makes a prominent aesthetic contribution to the Cleveland Terrace streetscape and to the Townsville townscape.
|The place is also significant for its close associations with Jacob Leu and GV Roberts [jnr], both of whom were/are principal partners in the longstanding and influential North Queensland legal firm of Roberts, Leu and North.
","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":15662,"place_ref":600887,"name":"St James Cathedral","alternate_name":"St Jame's Cathedral | St James Anglican Cathedral","street_address":"36 Cleveland Terrace","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"St James Anglican Cathedral, constructed in English Bond red brick with dressed sandstone trim, is located on a terraced site on Melton Hill between the Townsville central business district and Cleveland bay.
The Gothic Revival building was built in two stages, both of which are quite obvious, both in materials and design. The main roof is clad with slate and has a small spire over the nave and transept junction. The lower roof to the side aisles and ambulatory has ribbed metal cladding.
The chancel is surrounded by an ambulatory which contains the vestry and a Seaman's Chapel. The north transept has a large organ loft inserted and the roof features exposed trusses with a diagonally boarded ceiling. Cast iron columns with clerestory above separate the side aisles from the nave. The clerestory of the original section of the building contains stained glass windows.
The 1959 addition appears to be a Modernist interpretation of what was originally intended. It has amber glass hopper windows with external concrete screens to the nave. The west entry consists of a large recessed pointed arch with undistinguished mosaic artwork to both the interior and exterior. The floors are of concrete and the building features carved timber pews, reredos screen and pulpit. A large statue of St James is attached to a bell tower on the northern side of the entrance.
A 1950s Deanery is located to the northern side of the building, above an excavated stone embankment and facing Cleveland Terrace. This building is outside the listing boundary.
A single-storeyed timber Synod Hall [600888], on a separate site, is located to the east of the building beyond a large bitumen carpark.
","history":"St James Cathedral was erected in two stages, 1887-1892 and 1959-60, for the Anglican Diocese of North Queensland. The first church on this site was a shingle-roofed, weatherboard building erected in 1871, and prior to its construction, Anglican services in Townsville were conducted at the court house.
When Townsville was established in the mid-1860s, its Anglican parishioners were part of the diocese of New South Wales. In 1878 the diocese of North Queensland was created, with the new bishop, George Henry Stanton, based at St James' Church in Townsville. Stanton initiated the cathedral project, and in 1885 architect Arthur Blacket of Blacket Brothers, Sydney - sons of Edmund Blacket, the New South Wales colonial architect - was commissioned to design a cathedral church, to be erected on the hill behind St James Church. The original design was for a church built in stone, with a low wide central tower which would act as a ventilation shaft, and a single tower at the northern door. It was to cost £24,000, but would be built in sections.
The first sod was turned on 27 June 1887, and the building was erected by Townsville contractors MacMahon & Cliffe. Subsequent financial constraints forced changes to the design, and the cathedral was constructed in brick, with concrete facings, a temporary roof and no towers.
Following protracted dispute between the Sydney architect and the church building committee, Arthur Blacket's services were dispensed with in 1890, prior to completion of the building. Complete supervision of the final stages of construction was entrusted to Townsville architect Walter Morris Eyre, who had been acting as supervising architect since the commencement of building. This first stage of the cathedral was consecrated on 27 October 1892.
The original cathedral organ was donated to the cathedral parish by SE Holland in 1884, and installed in St James Church in 1885. In 1892 it was moved to the cathedral. Between 1900 and 1902 a second organ was purchased from North Ward, and the two were coupled together until rebuilt as one instrument in 1958.
In 1903 cyclone Leonta demolished the 1871 St James Church, and the roof of the cathedral. The latter was rebuilt with higher walls and a permanent roof.
The second stage of the cathedral, the 1959-60 western extension and tower, was designed in 1955 by Melbourne architect Louis Williams, with Townsville architects Black and Paulsen responsible for its execution. The statue of St James was sculptured by German-born Brisbane sculptor, Erwin Guth.
The main western facade together with the statue of St James, part of the roof and a section of the eastern wall were severely damaged by cyclone Althea in 1972, and restored in the same year. The completed cathedral was consecrated in 1978. It also serves as a concert hall in the wider Townsville community.
The deanery adjacent to the cathedral was erected in 1959-60, replacing an earlier structure. It does not form part of this listing.
","criteria":"St James Cathedral, erected in two stages 1887-92 and 1959-60, is important in demonstrating the pattern of establishment and growth of the Anglican Church in North Queensland in the late 19th century.
|It is important in exhibiting a range of aesthetic characteristics valued by the Townsville community in general, and by the Townsville Anglican congregation in particular, namely the contribution of the building, in its scale, form and materials, to the Townsville landscape; its value as a major Townsville landmark; and the quality and craftsmanship of its interior and furnishings.
|It has had a strong and special association as a centre of Anglican worship and community life in Townsville for over a century, and as part of an historic church grouping which includes Synod Hall (1888) [600888].
|It has a special association with the work of 19th century Sydney architect Arthur Blacket and with 20th century Melbourne architect Louis Williams, and their contributions to ecclesiastical architecture in Australia.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion E | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15663,"place_ref":600888,"name":"Synod Hall","alternate_name":"Parish Room | Jubilee Hall","street_address":"36 Cleveland Terrace","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Synod Hall is nestled into the south-western side of Melton Hill, which separates Townsville's central business district from Cleveland Bay, and is part of the foothills to the east of Castle Hill [601218]. The hall is sited to the east of St James Cathedral [600887] on a small terrace, with thicket behind and the stony hillside falling away from the front of the building. The principle facade overlooks the city centre to the south, and is prominent from Denham Street, a major thoroughfare.
The hall is a rectangular timber building on a near north-south axis, with verandahs along both sides. The gabled roof is painted corrugated iron, with a gabled ridge vent running most of its length, and a lean-to roof to each verandah. At each end of the ridge is a finial-like timber cross.
The building is set close to ground level on a concrete slab, with the timber framing mounted on hobs. The walls are lined with chamferboards and the timber framing exposed externally. Above the windows and within the gables the walls are sheeted with chamferboards externally also.
The southern facade facing the city has three tall narrow openings, symmetrically arranged. The outer two are a pair of timber louvre shutters, with corrugated iron hoods over. The central opening has similar shutters and a fixed panel of louvres above, plus a more ornate gabled hood.
The building is approached from the elevated carpark to the west. The western verandah is open, apart from a small store to the rear also of exposed framing. The verandah is framed in stop-chamfered posts and rafters. Opening onto the verandah are two substantial sliding doors clad in beaded boards, with panels of open timber battening above. Other doors are also boarded.
The eastern verandah is enclosed as a kitchen, clad with external chamferboards and glass louvres, and lined with fibrous cement sheet. Towards the rear, the Green Room projects past the line of the verandah, and is clad in chamferboards with panels of fixed timber louvres.
The internal walls of the hall are the beaded face of the horizontal cladding boards. There is a timber floor to the hall, and a timber stage to the northern end.
The ceiling is divided into six bays by curved and moulded timber brackets, joined by tie rods across the room. A pressed metal ceiling rose is centred within each bay. The ceiling also is lined with beaded boards, running diagonally where the ceiling rakes up to the collar tie.
Behind the stage are two windows of adjustable timber louvres, trimmed with moulded architraves and with triangular pediments over.
","history":"Synod Hall was opened during the first week of January, 1898.
Townsville was founded in November, 1864. Although it is not known when the first Church of England services were held in the township it is known that the first services were conducted in the Court House, which was built by March 1866. These services were conducted by local lay preachers or itinerant ministers. In February, 1866 Rev Mr Searle, visiting minister from Bowen, requested the appointment of an incumbent to the parish of Townsville with Rev James Adams accepting the position by mid 1866.
On 24 December, 1872 land for a church was purchased on Melton Hill by trustees James Gordon, Frederick Walker and William Aplin. In February, 1884 control of the land passed to the Corporation of the Diocesan Synod of North Queensland.
On 18 November, 1887 tenders were called for the construction of a 'Parish Room', to be built to a design prepared by Townsville architectural firm Eyre and Munro. The building does not appear to have been constructed at that time because the Mayor and Alderman of the Townsville Town Council received a letter, dated Thursday, 30 December 1897, from St James Parochial Council inviting them to the official opening of the Jubilee Hall on the following Wednesday, 5 January 1898.
The new hall, constructed in 1897, the Diamond Jubilee Year of Queen Victoria, was given the name Jubilee Hall. It is intersting to note that 1887, the year tenders were first called for a "Parish Room", was the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria.
The 1897 hall may have been constructed to a design by Townsville architect Walter Morris Eyre, a member of the Cathedral Committee and supervising architect for the Sydney firm of Blacket and Sons, designers of St James Cathedral. Eyre took over the supervision of the construction of the Cathedral after the Diocese dispensed with the services of Arthur Blacket on 5 March 1890. By 1897, Eyre who was no longer in partnership with Munro, was practicing as an architect, civil engineer and building inspector. He was also still on the Cathedral Committee and it seems probable that he designed the Jubilee Hall.
After it was constructed the hall became a focus for parish and diocesan activities including the gathering of the Ninth Synod of the Anglican Diocese of North Queensland who met in 1898 soon after the building was opened. The name was later changed to Synod Hall, probably because the Synod of the Anglican Diocese of North Queensland continued to hold their meetings in the building.
In 1899 Miss Florence Buchanan of Thursday Island, was invited by Bishop Barlow to work among Chinese and Japanese children in Townsville. A Japanese school was opened in Synod Hall by Miss Buchanan and a school for Chinese children was opened in the Mission Hall, constructed below Synod Hall. The Japanese school continued at least until 1902 when Miss Buchanan returned to Thursday Island. The mission hall was destroyed in Cyclone Leonta in 1902 and does not appear to have been rebuilt.
At one time the Anglican High School for Girls (later St Ann's School) held classes in the hall and in 1903, while repairs were being carried out after St James Cathedral was damaged during cyclone Leonta, Synod Hall was used for church services.
Several early photographs show the Synod Hall from the early 1900s. The land between the hall and the cathedral was level, with access to the hall via a driveway rising up between the buildings. The north-western verandah has changed little, but there was a handrail between the posts with blinds behind. The south-eastern verandah was similar to the other, being open at the front with some infill panels of boarding between posts towards the rear. This confirms that the present Green Room was a later addition, perhaps between the wars. At the front is a decorative fretwork panel above the gable tie. On the flat land between the two buildings, photographs from the inter-war period show a structure which appears to be a tennis court.
The hall, used as a parish centre for one hundred years, lost this central roll after a new parish building was constructed on a nearby site in the 1980s. In keeping with it's past role as a social and administrative centre, the building is presently leased to the Townsville Little Theatre and is used as a rehearsal studio, performance venue and headquarters for the theatre company.
","criteria":"Synod Hall demonstrates the early development of Townsville and the growth of the Anglican Church in North Queensland. It housed the meetings of the Synod, church services during repairs to the Cathedral, school classes and social and community functions. It is one of a group of buildings, including St James Cathedral [600887], which still form the focus of the Anglican Church in Townsville.
|Built in 1897, it is one of few surviving examples of a timber public building constructed with an exposed timber frame, a technique important in the development of North Queensland. It is also one of few surviving timber public buildings in Townsville from that period.
|Its design demonstrates a response to the tropical climate with the use of a substantial roof vent, side verandahs and sliding doors, and timber shutters and window hoods. These hoods, shutters and other ornamentation of the primary facade combine to form a composition of architectural competence.
|The hall, whilst not imposing, is a landmark on the city side of Melton Hill. It overlooks the Central Business District of Townsville, and is readily appreciated from Denham Street, a major thoroughfare.
|The hall has had a long association with the Anglican community, functioning as a parish centre for almost a century.
","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":15664,"place_ref":600889,"name":"James Cook University Department of Public Health and Tropical Medicine Building","alternate_name":"Australian Institute of Tropical Medicine | Anton Breinl Centre | JCU","street_address":"Clifton Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Anton Breinl Centre is a two-storeyed rectangular building with encircling two-storey timber verandah. It is located within the grounds of the Townsville General Hospital, dwarfed behind Blocks 'A' and 'B', which now have the views of the bay. Facing north-east, it sits on the corner of an internal roadway, on a sloping site being partly cut into the hill, and partly mounted on a plinth. There is a garden of palms and tropical plants to the north-eastern and north-western sides.
The corrugated steel roof is half-hipped with gablets to the front and rear. The timber verandah has a dowelled balustrade to the upper level, and a boarded valance, ripple iron ceiling and concrete floor to the lower level. From the upper level are views to the north over adjoining buildings. The south-east and south-west verandahs are enclosed and clad with chamferboards.
The external walls are rendered masonry, with external engaged piers. There are french doors and casement windows to both levels, opening onto the verandahs. The internal walls are vertical beaded tongue-and-groove boards.
The Ground Floor has a central corridor with offices to either side accessed through four-panel doors with fanlights. Within the corridor are several display cases containing equipment and photographs of Anton Breinl's trips to Papua in 1912 and 1913. This equipment includes a microscope, rifle, camera and various medical equipment.
The First Floor contains the Library and laboratory spaces. The Library has a pressed metal ceiling and timber bookshelves and cabinets. One cabinet contains a collection of journals owned by Anton Breinl, including Bulletin of Hygiene from 1927, Journal of Hygiene from 1930, and Tropical Diseases Bulletin from 1925. One of the laboratories has been named the Angelo Gabrielli Research Laboratory.
","history":"The Anton Breinl Centre was opened on the 28th June 1913 by the Queensland Governor Sir William MacGregor.
During the early years of the twentieth century there was much debate in Europe and Australia about the need for research into tropical diseases. British debate was motivated by economic and commercial imperatives rather than a concern for the health and welfare of the Empire. According to late nineteenth century thinking and beliefs the tropics were seen as unsuitable for white people because of confused notions about race, place and causes of disease. Certain diseases were believed to be related to place and climate although research was to show that disease was related to social and economic environment as well. These long held European ideas reinforced the belief that there was a need for medical research in order to ensure the economic success of European colonies in tropical regions.
In response to the thinking and concerns of the day research schools were opened in 1899 in London and Liverpool. Following Britain's lead European colonial powers also opened research institutes. At first Australia sent funds to the British institutes to support their research program but, by 1902, Australian medical practitioners were suggesting that a similar research facility be established in Australia.
The establishment of an Australian research centre was seen imperative after malaria parasites were discovered in blood samples in Cairns. Anglican Bishop Frodsham of Townsville led the campaign after a member of his staff died from an unknown disease. He gained local support and in 1907 Gordon Ross, Medical Superintendent of the Townsville Hospital, recommended to the Department of Health that a pathologist be employed to research and treat patients suffering from a number of tropical diseases. Ross' plan was to discover the causes of disease in order to prevent further outbreaks.
In 1908, responding to the concerns of the medical profession and the community, the Government decided to establish an institute in North Queensland, although some concern was expressed about the distance of the research centre from southern medical schools. While generally the medical profession hoped that the inaugural doctor would be Australian, Dr Anton Breinl, an Austrian, was appointed. Breinl, who arrived in Townsville on 1 January, 1910, had been working in the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. He was an exceptional medical scientist who had received awards for his contribution to tropical medicine, particularly for his work with H. Wolferstan Thomas, on a cure for sleeping sickness. The treatment he helped develop, using an organic arsenical "atoxyl", later became a corner stone in the early development of chemotherapy.
Breinl and his laboratory assistant Fielding, were the only members of the New Australian Institute of Tropical Medicine. They were housed in a three room building which had been a wardsman's quarters in the grounds of Townsville Hospital. Part of the work included field work collecting native fauna for examination in the laboratory, examining data for medical practitioners and collection of data.
By 1911 Breinl was able to show the need for more staff and better premises when the Commonwealth Government gave approval for expanded research into physiological and anthropological problems associated with white people living in the tropics. To facilitate this growth in research a new laboratory and animal house was constructed. The new Institute was opened on the 28th of June 1913 by Queensland Governor, Sir William MacGregor.
In 1912 the staff was increased to six with the employment of a parasitologist, bacteriologist, biochemist and entomologist. The work of the Institute expanded as the scientists investigated diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, filariasis, typhoid, hookworm, many unidentified fevers, amoebic dysentery, tropical sprue, leprosy, yaws and gangosa. During this period Breinl identified Amoebic Dysentery during one of his research trip to New Guinea.
The outbreak of World War 1 and the loss of hospital staff seriously affected the work of the Institute. Breinl had to assume the role of Medical Superintendent of the Townsville Hospital and Quarantine Officer while at the same time continuing his research at the Institute. During the war years he also treated servicemen sent from New Guinea and from the Middle East who were suffering from malaria. In early January 1916 Breinl resigned from the position of Quarantine Officer after becoming embroiled in a bitter public controversy over his Sudeten ancestry. While many in the community supported Dr Breinl and valued his work others called for his deportation or suggested that he be confined behind "barbed wire".
Despite his resignation from the Quarantine position Breinl continued his research work in the Institute. Unfortunately, after the war, the Commonwealth tightened control over finances and the direction of research. Staff were not replaced and by 1920 Breinl was the only medical staff member. Research became impossible because of the lack of funds and staff for field trips. After the Institute was absorbed into the newly established Commonwealth Department of Health, Breinl lost control, completely, of the direction of research. He resigned in October 1921 and spent the rest of his life in private practice in Townsville.
A succession of directors followed Breinl's resignation, including Raphael Cilento, appointed in 1923. Cilento remained Director until 1928. In 1930 the Australian Institute of Tropical Medicine was moved to the School of Health at the University of Sydney.
Drawings dated 1957 show the Ground Floor including TB labs, Research Labs, and an Acoustics Test Room, and the north end of the First Floor converted to a Bachelor's Flat.
By 1971, survey drawings called the building the 'Commonwealth Health Laboratory, Townsville'.
Drawings dated 1984 show planning for the 'restoration' of the Tropical Institute was underway.
About 1990, the Angelo Gabrielli Research Laboratory was installed as a memorial, with assistance from Townsville Mt Stuart Lions Club. The work was done by the Gabrielli family building firm whose director, Angelo died of a rare tropical disease.
A plaque within the corridor says the Anton Breinl Centre for Tropical Medicine was officially opened by the Honourable Neal Blewett, Minister for Social Security on 2 July 1992.
","criteria":"The Public Health and Tropical Medicine building, constructed as the Australian Institute of Tropical Medicine in 1913, was the first tropical institute in Australia, and important in establishing tropical medical research in North Queensland.
The building was one of a group of international Institutes of Tropical Medicine, and its research was recognised internationally.
|Although not the first building they used, it was the first building purpose built for this use. Opened in 1913, it is the oldest surviving building in the Townsville General Hospital complex, and the last of that style surviving.
|Now part of the James Cook University, it is still in use as a research facility for tropical medicine. The Library, which is substantially intact, contains collections of journals which belonged to Anton Breinl.
|The building is significant for its association with the work of Anton Breinl, an exceptional medical scientist who, before his arrival in Australia in 1910, had received awards for his contribution to tropical medical research. During his time as director of the Australian Institute of Tropical Medicine, Breinl instigated research into many tropical diseases, identifying several and, along with other team members, developed treatment for many of the diseases which plagued early settlers in North Queensland.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place has 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":15665,"place_ref":600890,"name":"Australian Meat Industry Employees Union (Queensland Branch)","alternate_name":"Bank of New South Wales","street_address":"101-111 Flinders Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Australian Meat Industry Employees Union (AMIEU) building is a two-storeyed stuccoed masonry structure on the corner of Flinders Street East and Wickham Street, Townsville. With the Tattersalls Hotel (600916), the Queensland Insurance Building (600909) and the Burns Philp and Company Ltd building (600914), it forms a group of late-19th century commercial buildings on the four corners of this intersection. Flinders Street East also retains many other late-19th century commercial masonry buildings.
The principle facades of the AMIEU building are set on the street alignments of Flinders and Wickham Streets, and joined by a curved bay at the street corner. The facades are asymmetrical, and are divided by pilasters and by a horizontal moulded string course between the levels. In each bay are sets of windows, mostly double hung but some louvres and fixed lights to the curved bay at the corner, all with external moulded architraves,.
The simple squared parapet has a moulded and bracketed cornice above the windows, and a higher decorative parapet with 'Bank of NSW' in relief above the main Flinders Street entrance. This entrance is emphasised by moulded pilasters to either side, decorative plasterwork and a segmented arch over the doorway.
Behind the parapet is a hipped roof with moulded chimneys and ventilators. The facades not facing the street have little decoration, apart from the two-storeyed verandah to the north-eastern end of the building. The upper level of the verandah, now enclosed with louvres and fibro, has segmental arched openings and cast iron balustrade, and the lower level has moulded semi-circular archways infilled with timber and masonry.
Through the Flinders Street entry doors is a decorative timber vestibule, with timber and glass panelled walls and doors, which leads to the former banking chamber. The former chamber features highly decorative pressed metal ceilings, moulded architraves and dados, and two central decorative cast iron columns. It also has a concrete safe which retains its safe door and some timber shelving, and a curious window opening to the stair landing reputedly for managers to supervise their staff from above.
From Wickham Street is a second entrance lobby, and vestibule with tessellated tiles. The timber stair features substantial newels, twisted balusters, and boarding to the underside. From the mid landing is the window opening to the former chamber, and a doorway to a small room and stair to the exterior.
The remainder of the Ground Floor includes several former offices between the chamber and the stair, and a series of small service rooms to the rear. Projecting from the north-western corner of the building is a single-storey wing, with three small former services rooms opening onto a common verandah. This wing has details consistent with the two-storey part of the building.
The First Floor has a central corridor with rooms opening to either side. The corridor is divided by a pedimented and panelled partition with a pair of glazed French doors, and by an adjacent fibro partition. The First Floor interior features moulded timber skirtings and architraves, some panelled doors with toplights, some double hung windows, and decorative metal ceilings and cornices.
At the top of the main stair is a hall, divided by a square arch with panelled architraves, and by a fibro partition with a small hatch. To the north-eastern end of this level is a verandah enclosed with louvres and fibro sheet, but with the cast iron balustrade still visible from the exterior.
At the north-western corner of the site is a rectangular concrete building, mostly covered with vines and other vegetation. It is a single room, with access from a covered entrance porch.
To the western end of the site is the garage, reputedly the former stables, which is constructed of brick with a corrugated iron skillion roof, double-hung windows and boarded doors. Access to the western yard is through a rendered masonry fence on the Flinders Street alignment. Along the north-eastern boundary is a face brick fence, with a curved coping, engaged piers and recessed panels.
","history":"The Australian Meat Employees Industry Union Building was built for the Bank of New South Wales in 1887. It was third building which the bank had constructed. Built by Townsville builder Denis Kelleher at a cost of £7,500, the building was probably designed by Sydney architect John Smedley, with construction supervised by architect WM Eyre of the Townsville firm of Eyre and Munro and Brisbane architect FDG Stanley.
\nThe Bank of New South Wales was the second banking company to be established in Townsville. The Australian Joint Stock Bank opened on 19 February 1866 and the Bank of New South Wales on 20 March 1866.
\nThe Bank of New South Wales was founded in 1817 in Sydney, New South Wales. In 1851 Robert Towns, a Sydney businessman, became a shareholder. During the early 1860s Towns formed a business partnership with John Melton Black in his North Queensland properties and investment speculations, including the establishment of a port on Cleveland Bay. Keen to protect his investment in the new settlement at the port and to encourage the expansion of the Bank of New South Wales into North Queensland, Towns facilitated the establishment of a branch of the bank in Townsville within a year of settlement.
\nThe first branch building, leased from Towns and Black, was located in Flinders Street East near the site of the present building, but the managers and staff soon complained that the building was hot and plagued by mosquitoes from Ross Creek. A decision was made to move after Queensland Bank Inspector, Alexander Archer, reported that the bank and its records were unsafe located amongst a group of wooden buildings.
\nThe second bank building and a manager's residence were constructed in 1869 on the corner of Wickham Street and The Strand on the present Customs House site (600937). While these premises were well placed for the sea breezes, the building was again deemed unsuitable because of the distance from the centre of town and the difficulty of access via Wickham Street.
\nBy August 1875 the Bank of New South Wales had purchased a new site closer to the centre of town while still taking advantage of the sea breezes. However, the block on the corner of Flinders and Wickham Streets remained undeveloped for a further twelve years, despite Brisbane architect James Cowlishaw calling tenders on 8 January 1883 for the erection of banking premises at Townsville for the Bank of New South Wales.
\nDuring the 1860s, Cowlishaw had supervised the construction of the Brisbane branch of the Bank of NSW for Sydney architect GA Mansfield, and was also involved in the construction of branches in Bowen and Rockhampton. It is not certain whether the 1883 tender for a new bank building in Townsville was for a building designed by Cowlishaw, or another design by Mansfield to be supervised by Cowlishaw. However, newspaper reports of 1887 suggest that, either way, the 1883 design for a Bank of New South Wales in Townsville was not constructed.
\nBy October 1887 however, the Townsville Herald noted that FDG Stanley, architect for three buildings being erected in Townsville including the Bank of NSW, inspected these with his local representative Mr WM Eyre who was supervising their construction. Three months later on 24 December 1887, the same newspaper congratulated the architect Mr Smedley of Sydney for his design of the newly completed Bank of New South Wales building. This suggests Smedley was Mansfield's successor as the bank's design architect in Sydney, and Eyre was the local supervising architect with Stanley his senior partner.
\nThe new premises included the banking chamber, manager and accountant's offices, strong rooms and ablution facilities. The manager's residence included nine private rooms, kitchen, bathroom linen press and pantry. Included in the complex were stables , a coach house and a messenger's room.
\nIn 1925 Townsville architect Walter Hunt supervised alterations to the building including the installation of the pressed metal ceiling in the banking chamber. The work was carried out by contractor J Hillman.
\nOn 17 November 1931 the Bank of Commerce amalgamated with the Bank of New South Wales. In Townsville the combined businesses operated from the Flinders St/Wickham Street offices until 12 January 1935 when the main office of the bank moved to new premises at the corner of Flinders and Stokes Streets.
\nThe former premises became known as the East Flinders Street Branch of the Bank of New South Wales, with the branch operating from the building until it was sold. Historical Services Section of the Westpac Banking Corporation provided information that the property was sold in 1940 for £2500 but titles information indicates that the building was not sold until 26 February 1941 when the Australian Meat Industry Employees Union (Queensland Branch) [AMIEU] purchased it.
\nWith the threat of invasion of Australia by Japan during the early years of WWII, Townsville was selected as the supply base for the allied forces in the south west Pacific. By 1941 many buildings in the city had been requisitioned including the former Bank of New South Wales from the AMIEU.
\nA detachment of Area Signals personnel established a telegraph, switchboard and dispatch rider service in the building prior to February 1942. For a short time after Pearl Harbour, Col Frank North, Commander of the Townsville area, established his headquarters in the building along with the Signals Corp. During this period PMG style switchboards were installed and the communication centre connected to service units being established throughout the region. Telegraph facilities in the building were linked to Charters Towers and to units further west as well as to Victoria Barracks, Brisbane. Part of the first floor was also used as living quarters for the Area Signals Officer and Operations Officer.
\nDuring this period, a concrete bunker was constructed at the rear of the property to house a cypher group who worked to decode Japanese messages. Pigeon lofts were also built in the yard to supply ships and aircraft with carrier pigeons.
\nTowards the end of 1942 or early 1943, the switch installation became a security monitor of all telephone calls, both civil and military, emanating from North Queensland. About twenty AWAs manned the switch which was connected to the Security Monitoring Centre at Stuart, south of Townsville. The monitoring unit remained in the building until the end of the war.
\nThe AMIEU, located in Denham Street during the war, did not move into this building until about 1948. For the next three decades the AMIEU building became a bastion of the Labor movement in Townsville and North Queensland, with the building and surrounding area becoming a focus for workers seeking permits to work at the Ross River Meatworks, seeking social security in the Queensland Building (600909) diagonally opposite, and visiting the Tattersalls Hotel (600916), across Wickham Street which was a favourite recreation venue for all those who lived and worked in the area.
\nFrom the late 1940s until the early 1970s, the building was a hive of activity and the centre of labour issues for North Queensland. During this period. apart from the AMIEU, the Trades and Labour Council and the Seaman's Union operated at various times from offices on the first floor, and later the Communist Party had an office on the Wickham Street verandah.
\nThe Seamen's Union, miners unions, the Trades and Labour Council and affiliated unions, and particularly the Communist Party were involved in the 1948 Railway Strike; a strike which highlighted the conflict between the unions and the Labor Party and a conflict which was to split the party a few years later. The Seamen's Union and various mining and craft unions played active roles in this conflict with the Queensland Government and the industrial court over wage fixing measures introduced by the court in 1939. This conflict was to raise questions of fundamental importance to a democratic society, such as the extent of civil liberties, the use of violence, and the distortion of truth.
\nThe labour organisations in this building were also involved in the Mount Isa Strike of 1964/65 when the Qld Trades and Labour Council, representing unionists at the mine, came into conflict with Mount Isa Mines management over bonus payments. The Communist Party was also involved to a lesser degree through union officials and members who were members of the Communist Party.
\nFrom 1 January 1954 Remington Rand Charters Pty Ltd leased most of the ground floor and part of the first floor of the building. They had a showroom of typewriters and business machines in the banking chamber, a workshop at the rear, and accounting branch offices upstairs connected by a stairs to the banking chamber. A partition in the corridor divided them from the other tenants. Remington Rand vacated the building early in the 1970s, then for several years ex-employees continued to work from the building. The ground floor has remained vacant since these workshops closed in the late 1970s.
\nAbout 1962-3, the toilets on the first floor were altered to divide the single male toilet into male and female toilets. This became necessary after the introduction of a Federal award which, after some 60 years, again allowed women to work at the meatworks, and so women would be coming to the union offices in the building for their work tickets.
\nThere were also apparently substantial wrought iron gates in the Flinders Street fence and at the Wickham Street entrance, which have all been removed.
\nDuring the VP50 Celebrations in 1995, a small ceremony was held in the building and a plaque presented recognising the service of the men and women of the Royal Australian Corps of Signals here during WWII.
","criteria":"Built and occupied by the Bank of New South Wales from 1887-1935, the building is associated with the establishment of the presence of the bank in Townsville and the growth of Townsville as a major port in North Queensland.
|It is typical of bank buildings of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, with a ground floor plan banking chamber and a second floor residence for the manager.
The interior of the building is substantially unaltered since WWII. It is of extremely high quality in its design, detailing and finishes. It is one of the few intact ground floor commercial interiors of all the historical buildings of Flinders Street East. The upper level retains its layout as a manager's residence, and includes a white marble fireplace and timber joinery.
The building was probably designed by Sydney architect John Smedley, and constructed by Townsville builder Denis Kelleher under the supervision of Townsville architect WM Eyre and his partner FDG Stanley of Brisbane. Eyre's firm, Eyre and Munro, were later responsible for other Bank of NSW branches including Georgetown, Winton, Cairns and Charters Towers.
|The exterior of the Former Bank of New South Wales remains remarkably intact. The street facades form a major contribution to the streetscape of the Flinders Street East area, which retains many historical commercial buildings. The facade of the building along Wickham Street also contributes to the linking of this area with the historical government precinct of lower Melton Hill. The intersection of Flinders and Wickham Street has a prominent historical building on each of its four corners.
|(Criterion under review)
|The building is associated with the Royal Australian Corps of Signals who occupied it between 1941-1948. The announcement of the end of WWII first reached North Queensland through this facility.
Purchased by the AMIEU in 1941, and occupied by them in 1948, the building is significant for its long association with the Union, over 50 years, and the substantial role that the Union played, in connection with other organisations such as the Ross River Meatworks, in the social and economic framework of Townsville.
The building is associated with a number of other Unions, with offices being occupied at various times by the Seamen's Union, the Communist Party and the Queensland Trades and Labour Council (Townsville Branch). Whilst in this building, these organisations were involved in several industrial disputes, including the Mount Isa Mines Strike of 1964-5, in which the Trades and Labour Council played a key role.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15667,"place_ref":600892,"name":"Magnetic House","alternate_name":"AMP Building","street_address":"143-149 Flinders Street East","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-08-21","description":"Magnetic House is a two-storeyed rendered masonry building, with a corrugated iron gable roof behind a parapeted facade, located on the north side of Flinders Street at the base of Melton Hill. The building houses three shops to the ground floor and offices to the first floor, with the symmetrical facade being composed of three sections.
The protruding central section has a triple arched sash window with arched doorways, with recessed double timber doors, to either side. The eastern door enters the centre shop, and the western door leads into a through corridor and stairs to the first floor. The first floor features a central double arch sash window framed by pilasters supporting a pediment, with a decorative relief and quoining to either side and a balustrade and laurelled plinth above on which the AMP statue originally stood. The street awning has paired cast iron columns, a central sign with the words MAGNETIC HOUSE, and an arched cast iron valance to either side.
The two end sections have a timber framed glass shop window bay with recessed door. The first floor has a double sash window surmounted by a decorative pediment and a cornice to the roofline. The street awning is supported by single cast iron columns and has a deep cast iron valance.
The rear of the building has an open first floor verandah, with a toilet enclosure to either end, with timber posts and cast iron balustrade. The ground floor verandah has been enclosed to form kitchens and has metal flues which extend to above the roofline.
Internally, the central shop features a ceiling rose, plaster cornices, a strong room at the rear and sash windows into the enclosed rear verandah. The two end shops have been recently fitted out as fast food outlets with drop ceilings and modern fixtures, with the eastern shop's strongroom being converted to a coldroom. The corridor leads to a timber stair with turned balustrade.
The first floor consists of a central corridor with offices either side, three of which have strongrooms. All joinery has been painted, doors have been rehung and amber bottle glass panels inserted in fanlights and some doors.
The rear of the site has a large concrete area with a brick retaining wall and a small toilet structure.
","history":"This two-storeyed masonry building was erected in 1886-88 at a cost of nearly £6,500, as the Townsville office of the Sydney-based Australian Mutual Provident Society. The site was acquired by the Society in 1885.
The AMP Society had been established in Sydney in 1848/49 under the NSW Friendly Society's Act of 1843, and was one of a number of benefit and friendly societies established in the Australian colonies in the mid and late 19th century. Founded by a group of prominent Sydney philanthropists, the AMP Society initially offered life assurance policies, endowments and annuities, aimed principally at ensuring that women and children were not left destitute on the death of the principal income earner.
Growth in the early 1850s was slow, but in 1857 the Society was incorporated by act of parliament, and by the 1890s it was the most prominent of the Australian benefit and insurance societies, with a world-wide reputation. The first Queensland office was opened in Brisbane in 1875, followed by Townsville in 1883, Maryborough in 1884, and Rockhampton in 1886.
The first Townsville office opened in a small timber building. It serviced North and Central Queensland centres as far afield as Cooktown, Mossman, Ravenswood, Winton, Mackay, Blackall and Tambo, and loans and mortgages from the Society could be raised against policy or property. By the mid-1880s the Townsville branch had proved so successful that substantial new accommodation for the Society was proposed, on a site fronting Flinders Street East, then Townsville's principal business address.
The new building was designed by prominent Sydney architects CHE Blackmann and John Sulman (later Sir John). It appears that the design was initiated by Blackmann in late 1885 or early 1886, prior to Sulman joining him in partnership sometime in 1886. Within a few months of the partnership being established, Blackmann fled the country, leaving Sulman to pay his debts, and Sulman probably supervised the final drawings and interior fittings for the Townsville building during 1886/87.
The contract was let to Townsville builder Dennis Kelleher in 1886, and the Society moved into their new premises in January 1888, occupying two rooms on the ground floor: a spacious, cedar-fitted public office at the front, and the district secretary's office, with strongroom, at the rear. The remainder of the ground floor contained two shops, which were let to tenants. The upper floor comprised office accommodation, with strongrooms, let to business and professional persons. At the time, the building was considered a handsome addition to Flinders Street.
Above the pediment was a marble tableau illustrating the Society's motto Amicus certus in re incerta [a certain friend in an uncertain event]. The tableau depicted an erect female figure, with a cornucopia by her right side, holding the palm of victory above a seated woman and child to her left. To her right was a seated male figure, alienated from the family grouping. Until the logo was changed in 1988, an Amicus tableau was erected on every AMP building, and usually was removed when the Society no longer occupied the premises. AMP occupied the Flinders Street East building until 1938, when their new premises, a three-storeyed building at the corner of Stanley and Flinders Streets, was completed. The Amicus tableau appears to have been removed to the new building.
The Flinders Street East building was sold in 1940, renamed Magnetic House prior to 1978, and has remained principally as shop and office accommodation. Between 1978 and 1982 the building was renovated, and the upper floor housed Tonnoirs Fine Arts Gallery from 1978 to 1990.
","criteria":"Magnetic House is important in demonstrating the evolution of Townsville as the principal town and port of North Queensland in the late 19th century.
|Magnetic House demonstrates two rare aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage, being one of the few known examples of the Queensland work of important Sydney architects CHE Blackmann and J Sulman. Magnetic House is one of the few substantially intact examples of its type surviving in Townsville.
|Magnetic House is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a compact, two-storeyed, masonry Queensland regional office building of the late 19th century.
|Magnetic House is important in exhibiting a range of aesthetic characteristics valued by the Townsville community, in particular its quality of design and composition of classical elements, its contribution to the Flinders Street streetscape and Townsville townscape and the quality of its cast iron work.
|Magnetic House has a special association with the important AMP Society and their contribution to the development of North Queensland in the late 19th/early 20th centuries.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15670,"place_ref":600895,"name":"Australian Joint Stock Bank (former)","alternate_name":"The Bank Nite Club | Australian Bank of Commerce","street_address":"173 Flinders Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Bank building, located on the northern side of Flinders Street at the base of Melton Hill, is a two-storeyed rendered masonry building with a hipped corrugated iron roof concealed behind a symmetrical classical facade. The building is set back from the site's side boundaries with a service lane on the eastern side and a walkway on the western.
The facade, consisting of loggias to both floors, is divided into five bays. The ground floor has Tuscan Order columns and pilasters supporting an entablature with a deep cornice, and the first floor has Corinthian columns and pilasters surmounted by arches with entablature, deep cornice and balustrade above, all of which return the depth of the loggia. The centre entrance bay projects on both floors, and is surmounted by a pediment. The words AUSTRALIAN BANK OF COMMERCE LTD can be seen in relief along the first floor frieze. The ground floor has double timber central entrance doors, with arched sash windows to either side which have been painted out and covered with steel grilles. The first floor has five sets of french doors with fanlights and both floors have rendered balustrades.
The first floor residence is accessed via the western side walkway to an internal staircase with turned timber balustrade. The first floor, consisting of rooms along the loggia with a passage behind, has sash windows to the rear with a bathroom at the western end. A kitchenette has been added above the staircase and is accessed from the loggia.
The ground floor is accessed via a central foyer with painted double timber doors, with etched glass panels and sidelights with a timber pedimented surround, which leads into the nightclub space. This space has a much higher coffered plaster ceiling, the central section of which is raised and blacked-out with a lighting grid below. Above this is a clerestory, possibly with a domed vault. A western side verandah has been enclosed for a seating area and the rear of the building has single-storeyed concrete block staff amenities.
The ground floor interior, with a lurid colour scheme, has a sunken centre dancefloor. A disc jockey booth has been added to the eastern side, toilets inserted to the west of the foyer and a bar to the east.
","history":"This two-storeyed rendered brick building was erected in 1887-88 as the Townsville branch of the Sydney-based Australian Joint Stock Bank (AJS), on land acquired by the bank in 1881.
The AJS Bank was the first financial institution to establish an office in Townsville, in March 1866, in a small timber building on the Strand. In 1875 the bank erected more substantial offices, but these were replaced with the present building in 1887-88. Its construction, at a cost of approximately £7,000, reflected the business and building boom which accompanied Townsville's growth as the port for the Ravenswood and Charters Towers goldfields, and for the North Queensland sugar and pastoral industries.
The new building was designed by former Queensland colonial architect Francis Drummond Greville Stanley of Brisbane. Stanley designed a substantial number of North Queensland buildings for the AJS, Union and Queensland National banks in the 1880s and 1890s, and as Colonial Architect from 1873 to 1881 was responsible for Townsville's more imposing public buildings, including the 1877 magistrates court [600929], the first hospital (1870s), the 1878 gaol, and the 1879 telegraph office.
Stanley called for tenders for the AJS Bank building in December 1886, and the contract was let to Townsville contractors MacMahon and Cliffe. Elements of both the design and the construction were considered innovative. The colonnaded front elevation was a new concept in Townsville architecture, accommodating to a tropical climate, and rolled wrought-iron beams were utilised in the construction, rather than the cast-iron girders used extensively in Townsville buildings at that period. The floor of the balcony was constructed of cork concrete, a lighter product than the more usual blue metal mix.
On the ground floor, the entrance doors opened into a large vestibule, from which a manager's room opened off to the right, and a stationary store to the left. Beyond the vestibule was the banking chamber, a large room 12.2 metres by 11.6 metres, with 6 metre high walls and a lantern light, or clerestory, with arched sashes and small engaged columns, reaching nearly 10 metres above the floor of the chamber. Cedar screens divided the main chamber from the bill department and the accountant's office on one side, and the ledger clerks on the other. At the rear of the banking chamber were an ante room for the clerks and a strong room, separated by a wide hall. The first floor comprised residential accommodation, consisting of sitting rooms, bedrooms and bathroom. It was accessed via a hall and stair off the ground floor vestibule. Alterations to the residential accommodation were made in 1898. They were designed by Townsville architect Walter Morris Eyre, who had been employed by Stanley in the early 1880s.
The building remained as banking premises for over forty years - from 1910 as a branch of the Australian Bank of Commerce Ltd (ABC), another Sydney-based bank, which took over AJS Bank in that year. In 1931 the ABC in turn was absorbed by the Bank of New South Wales Ltd, which first rented out and then sold the building in 1938. Since 1931 the former bank has functioned as general offices and, more recently, as a night club.
","criteria":"The Australian Joint Stock Bank (former), erected in 1887-88 as a branch of the Australian Joint Stock Bank, is important in demonstrating the pattern of development and evolution of Townsville as the principal town and port of North Queensland in the late 19th century, and is a reflection of the building boom which transformed the town's central business district in the 1880s and 1890s.
|It is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of: a regional masonry bank building of the Queensland boom era, and of the commercial work of former Queensland Colonial Architect FDG Stanley.
|It is important in exhibiting a range of aesthetic characteristics valued by the Townsville community, in particular its quality of design and composition of classical elements; its contribution to the streetscape of Flinders Street and to the Townsville townscape; and the quality of its surviving, original internal elements.
|It is important in demonstrating creative and technical achievement in an innovative use of design and materials, in particular illustrating important design adaptations to the tropical Townsville climate.
|It has a special association with the Australian Joint Stock Bank and its contribution to the development of Townsville and North Queensland in the latter half of the 19th century, and with former Colonial Architect FDG Stanley and his contribution to North Queensland architecture in the late 19th century.
","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":15671,"place_ref":600896,"name":"Queens Building","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"175 Flinders Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Queen's Building is located on the main commercial street of Townsville and is a two storey, brick building closely matching in style, though differing in decoration, the former Atkinson and Powell Building adjoining it.
The Queen's Building is rendered on the street elevation and has classically influenced moulded decoration. The upper floor has four round headed windows with prominent voussoirs, separated by pilasters. Above this is an entablature and balustraded parapet. The central section is raised and has a tablet decorated by swags and topped by a draped urn. This conceals a hipped roof clad with corrugated iron. There are glass louvres fitted into the lower section of the windows. Early signage is visible on the entablature.
Below a cornice, a bullnosed corrugated iron awning shades the shopfront. It is supported on cast iron columns, but the cast iron frieze to the awning does not survive. The shop fronts have been modernised and have aluminium framed windows and doors with panels of glass louvres above. There is a separate entrance to the upper level on the western side between the shopfronts of the Queen's building and the former Atkinson and Powell building which it abuts.
","history":"Queen's Building was designed in 1887 by Tunbridge and Tunbridge for the chemist Pio Armati, and named in honour of Queen Victoria's Jubilee year.
Townsville was established in 1864 by partners John Melton Black and Robert Towns and was gazetted as a port of entry in 1865. It grew quickly as a supply centre and by 1873 the port was receiving international as well as coastal traffic. Improvements were carried out to port facilities to allow larger ships to anchor. By 1880 Townsville was the port for several major goldfields and had opened the first stage of the railway line westwards through Charters Towers and beyond, consolidating its importance as a port and mercantile centre.
Pio Armati was one of the earliest Italian settlers in North Queensland. Born near Rome, he immigrated to Australia in 1874 as a young man and was naturalised in 1876. He entered into partnership with Chiafredo Venerando Fraire in the 1870s. Fraire had also immigrated in 1874 and both men, particularly Fraire, were to assume an important role in encouraging and promoting Italian Immigration to North Queensland. The firm of Armati Fraire and Coy were drapers, ironmongers, wine sellers and general merchants. In 1878 Armati acquired the land on which this building stands and appears to have had a shop at this address. The firm were successful and in 1881 Fraire bought the retail drapery section of Burns Philp. When the Queen's Building was constructed they ran a drapery business, but in 1889 the partnership was dissolved. Armati ran an insurance agency at this address and Fraire alone is listed as a draper by 1890. By 1892 Armati had a chemist shop at another Flinders Street address and continued in this trade for many years. He became the leading pharmacist in Townsville and was socially prominent. He died in 1923. Both Armati and Fraire have streets named after them in Townsville.
The building was constructed to the design of the newly established local architectural firm of Tunbridge and Tunbridge. Walter Howard Tunbridge was born and trained in England as an architect. In 1884 he migrated to Australia and worked for Rooney Bros in Townsville. He left to establish his own practice in 1886 and invited his younger brother, Oliver, to join him in 1887. This partnership subsequently became an important architectural and civil engineering firm in North Queensland. Their design complemented the adjacent Atkinson and Powell's building, constructed in 1886, having several design features in common.
The Queen's Building has been occupied as shops and offices. Tenants have included an accountant, architect and surveyor, watchmaker, jeweller and tailor. The North Queensland Mortgage and Investment Company held a lease from 1906 to 1931. In 1940 the property was sold to Peter Phillips and was subdivided in 1957. It was purchased by the current owner and has been used as a hairdresser's and gift store since 1973.
The building has been altered on the ground floor and has aluminium framed windows and doors. On the upper level the main change has been the partial replacement of window glazing with louvres.
","criteria":"The style and quality of the Queen's Building illustrates the boom period of Townsville in the 1880s when Flinders Street was being redeveloped with substantial buildings. This prosperity reflects the way in which North Queensland was developed by the establishment of key ports as commercial and administrative centres.
|The Queen's Building is important as an example of a small scale but good quality commercial century office building of its era in North Queensland.
|It is located on the major commercial street of Townsville where, by its design, form and materials, it is a substantial visual component of the built character of the city.
|The building is associated with the life and work of Pio Vico Armati, one of the earliest Italian settlers in North Queensland and a well-known figure in Townsville. It is also an example of the commercial work of the important North Queensland architectural firm of Tunbridge and Tunbridge.
","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":15672,"place_ref":600897,"name":"Atkinson & Powell Building (former)","alternate_name":"Atkinson and Powell Building | Matchbox Theatre","street_address":"181-183 Flinders Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The former Atkinson & Powell Building is located on the main commercial street of Townsville and is a two storey, brick building closely matching in style, though differing in decoration, the building adjoining it.
The building is rendered on the street elevation and has classically influenced moulded decoration. The upper floor has four rounded headed windows with prominent voussoirs, separated by pilasters. Above this is an entablature and a balustraded parapet with a triangular pediment. This conceals a hipped roof clad with corrugated iron.
A bullnosed corrugated iron awning shades the shopfront. It is supported on cast iron columns linked by a cast iron frieze. The central and eastern bays of the original timber framed glazed shopfront survive. There is a separate entrance to the upper level accessed through a timber door on the western side.
","history":"The former Atkinson & Powell Building was designed in 1886 by Willoughby Powell for chemists Atkinson & Powell, a firm in which in which the architect's brother was a partner.
Townsville was established in 1864 by partners John Melton Black and Robert Towns and was gazetted as a port of entry in 1865. It grew quickly as a supply centre and by 1873 the port was receiving international as well as coastal traffic. Improvements were carried out to port facilities to allow larger ships to anchor. By 1880 Townsville was the port for several major goldfields and had opened the first stage of the railway line westwards through Charters Towers and beyond, consolidating its importance as a port and mercantile centre.
By the mid 1880s Townsville was enjoying a building boom owing to the growth of the town and the destruction by fire of a number of buildings in Flinders Street in the early 1880s. It was subsequently declared a first class area, where only building in stone, masonry or metal was permitted. This meant that timber buildings from the first stage of settlement were replaced with substantial masonry ones, an encouragement to do likewise even for those whose property had escaped fire damage.
In 1887 a mortgage on the site was taken out by Joseph Atkinson and Francis Powell to allow the construction of a substantial pharmacy building. It was designed by Willoughby Powell, the brother of Frank Powell, who was a dentist. The new premises had a large shop at the front and two smaller rooms behind, one of which was used as a surgery by Powell. The upper floor was a warehouse, used purely for storage, and was accessed by an outside stair and a small lift for raising goods. The ground floor originally had a central entrance flanked by windows, but in the 1890s, a side door and internal staircase were inserted. The curved frames of the original windows can still be seen.
Willoughby Powell was born and trained as an architect in England. In 1872 he emigrated to Australia with his brother and worked for Richard Gailey in Brisbane before joining the Queensland Works Department in 1874. After winning a design competition for the Toowoomba Grammar School he set up a practice there between 1875 and 1877. After travelling to England in 1878 he worked again for Gailey before moving to Maryborough to supervise his own work between 1882 and 1885. He then returned to Gailey in Brisbane until 1893 when the financial crash saw the bottom drop out of the building trade. His own design work seems to have largely been for churches, public buildings and large houses. The Atkinson and Powell building is his only work in North Queensland one of very few shops known to have been designed by him. A drawing of the completed building was featured in the 1887 Christmas issue of the Townsville Herald.
Soon after the Atkinson and Powell building was constructed, a building was erected adjoining it for Pio Armati by the well known Townsville firm of Tunbridge and Tunbridge. Their design complemented Atkinson and Powell's building, having several design features in common.
In 1893 Atkinson was declared insolvent and the building was acquired by the North Queensland Mortgage and Investment Company Limited who held the mortgage. The building was leased to a number of different businesses including a dentist, a chemist, and a watchmaker. In 1920 the building housed offices for the Australian Oriental Line, the Townsville Chamber of Commerce and a restaurant. The Vacuum Oil Co leased the ground floor between 1922 and 1932. The building is believed to have been later occupied by a newsagent on the ground floor and the upper storey was the headquarters of the Townsville Book Club, a private lending library. In 1965 the building was converted for use as the 1965 Stage Door Theatre. In 1979 they moved and the Performing Arts Department of the Townsville College of TAFE occupied the building.
","criteria":"The style and quality of the former Atkinson & Powell Building demonstrates the prosperity of Townsville in the 1880s and reflects the way in which North Queensland was developed by the establishment of key ports as commercial and administrative centres.
|The building is important as a good example of a substantial nineteenth century office building in North Queensland.
|It is located on the major commercial street of Townsville where, by its design, form and materials, it is a substantial visual component of the built character of the city.
|The building is associated with the life and work of architect Willoughby Powell and is believed to be his only commission in North 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":15673,"place_ref":600898,"name":"T. Willmetts & Sons printery and stationery warehouse (former)","alternate_name":"Willmett Stationery Warehouse (former) | Capitol Seafood Restaurant","street_address":"193 Flinders Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Willmett's building is located on the northern side of Flinders Street in the centre of the block between Wickham and Denham Streets. The site rises steeply towards Melton Terrace at the rear.
The building is in two parts with the block on Flinders Street having a rectangular plan form and is of three storeys constructed in brick with a symmetrical rendered facade. The ground floor shopfront has been replaced in anodised aluminium but the original entrance to the upper levels, which has a single panelled timber door with side lights, survives to the right of this. A short hall leads to a later concrete block stairwell that rises to the top level. Above this is a later horizontal awning and above this three round headed windows with moulded hoods that run into a string mould that runs into piers at the corners of the facade. Similarly there are three rounded headed windows at the top level also with moulded hoods over. All the windows have been replaced in aluminium. Above this is banding with the words "Stationery Warehouse" in raised lettering with cornices above and below. This is surmounted by a parapet with a raised central section which has a segmental top supported on piers. The facade has been recently painted in a contemporary colour scheme. Behind the parapet is a simple corrugated iron roof with a central raised skylight.
Abutting and sitting higher than the front section of the building is a two and three storey wing constructed in brick with a cement rendered finish all around. This block also has a rectangular floor plan but is slightly wider on the eastern side. The roof is clad in corrugated iron and has a gambrel form. A series of high level timber windows are located on the sides of the building at the upper level. There is a small entrance lean to on the northern side with pathway access to Melton Terrace above.
No internal inspection was made as the property is not in use.
","history":"The former Willmett's stationery shop and printery is located in the main commercial street of Townsville. It is a three storey masonry building, constructed in 1883 and 1886 for Thankful Willmett, a well known stationer and printer who was also active in local and regional politics.
Townsville was established in 1864 by partners John Melton Black and Robert Towns and was gazetted as a port of entry in 1865. It grew quickly as a major supply centre and by 1880 was the port for several major goldfields. Because commerce was important to the development of the town, many businessmen were also involved in local politics and the majority of early mayors were also businessmen. Thankful Willmett was mayor several times and was also a prominent member of the North Queensland Separationist movement.
Thankful Willmett had been in business in Rockhampton and Nebo for several years before arriving in Townsville in 1868. He ran a store and acted as postmaster at the Cape Diggings and in 1870 settled in Townsville, working for Clifton and Aplin and operating a small stationery business. In 1873 he resigned to devote his time to his own business, though he was also involved in local politics as he became Mayor for the first time in 1880-1. In 1882 he imported a printing press and bookbinding equipment to expand his stationery business and opened the Excelsior Printery in one of three new brick shops next to the Exchange Hotel. This met an urgent and growing need in an era when all news, correspondence and business was carried on wholly on paper. In the following year a building was constructed for him by Waagepetersen and Bevan and it is interesting to note that the first trial telephone call in Townsville was made from the Exchange to Willmett's printery in March 1883. In 1884 a new printing office was constructed to the rear of the stationery shop and bookbinding and lithographic departments were added.
On 15 October 1885 he received a severe setback when the shop was destroyed by fire, though the printery at the rear survived and he still managed to get Willmett's North Queensland Almanac published by the end of the year. In 1886 the current three storey shop was built incorporating the printery behind. It contained warehouse space, offices and a retail shop. The business was extremely successful and in time had branches at Cooktown, Thornborough and Charters Towers. It was more than a printery as they imported and sold paper, produced account books, sheet music and all kinds of stationery and art materials.
Willmett's sons and other family members worked for the firm and expanded the business. Willmett's eldest son had originally prompted the movement into printing and Miss E. Willmett ran the book and music departments. Percy Willmett joined the firm in 1904 and took over when Thankful Willmett died in 1906.
In 1927, the machine room in the printery was extended to accommodate new machinery and an additional storey to this section was added as bulk storage space. This work was done by contractor George Lear for architect C.V. Rees. In 1932 the business continued to expand by opening a second premises at 287 Flinders Street. There Willmett's used the ground floor as a stationery shop and let the upper floor as Willmett's Chambers. It remained a branch store for almost 50 years. Hume Willmett, a grandson who joined the family firm in 1918, ran the business from 1943, following his uncle's retirement. He retired in his turn in 1970 and Grahame Willmett Weir, a great grandson of Thankful Willmett, then took over. Family members have also been active in local affairs and so both the business and the Willmett family are prominent in Townsville history.
Willmett's moved to South Townsville in 1975 and in October 1980 the firm was purchased by North Queensland Newspaper Company of which it became a wholly owned subsidiary. In 1981 the shop was purchased by Kern Corporation. It has since changed hands several times and has been leased out. The ground floor has been used by a restaurant for much of the time, during which openings were made in the party wall with the building next door which was also used by the restaurant. The upper section has been converted into a loft flat for the owner.
","criteria":"The style and quality of the former T.Willmett and Sons stationery store and printery demonstrates the prosperity of Townsville in the 1880s and reflects the way in which North Queensland was developed by the establishment of key ports as commercial and administrative centres. As an early printer and the publisher of an almanac as well as a stationer, Willmetts was closely associated with this development.
|The former Willmett's building is a good example of a retail business with works, warehouse and offices on the premises. As such it demonstrates a nineteenth century practice no longer usual in a city central business district.
|The design, form and materials of the former Willmett's building make a major aesthetic contribution to the streetscape of Flinders Street.
|The building is strongly associated with the life and work of Thankful Willmett, an important Townsville businessman and Mayor, and with other members of this prominent family.
","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":15674,"place_ref":600899,"name":"Stanton House","alternate_name":"Hof's Building","street_address":"197-203 Flinders Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Stanton House is one of a group of nineteenth century commercial buildings situated at the eastern end of Flinders Street, the major commercial street of Townsville.
The building backs on to Melton Hill and the top storey does not run for the full depth of the building. The two lower storeys are of brick rendered at the front and the later section to the top is of concrete and is much plainer in form. The street elevation is asymmetrical and has two pairs of windows on one side of the entrance and stairwell and three windows on the other, indicating the position and size of the original shop space. The fenestration on both upper floors demonstrates this arrangement of space. The ground floor has modern shop fronts with aluminium framed windows sheltered by a modern cantilevered awning. The front door is flanked by glass panels and has glass transoms. The timber staircase to the first floor remains, as do most internal walls. Timezone, an amusement centre, occupies most of the ground and first floors.
The first floor has rounded headed windows separated by decorated pilasters and a smaller central window at the head of the staircase. The top storey has similarly spaced rectangular windows and is very plain. The parapet is severely plain and conceals the metal clad roof.
","history":"Stanton House was constructed in 1885 for John Frederick Hof, who had owned the land since 1867, and replaced two timber shops on the same block.
Townsville was established in 1864 by partners John Melton Black and Robert Towns and was gazetted as a port of entry in 1865. It grew quickly as a supply centre and by 1873 the port was receiving international as well as coastal traffic. Improvements were carried out to improve port facilities and to allow larger ships to anchor. By 1880 Townsville was the port for several major goldfields and had opened the first stage of the railway line westwards through Charters Towers and beyond, consolidating its importance as a port and mercantile centre. Retail business was an important part of this development.
John Frederick Hof arrived in Victoria from Germany in 1856 and worked on a number of goldfields in that colony as a carrier. Moving to Queensland in 1861, he followed a variety of occupations before working again as a carrier at the Cape River diggings in North Queensland. He also took up speculative ventures in mining, acquiring a crushing plant at Georgetown in partnership with Willmett. In 1882 this was sold to the Papa Company and Hof moved to Townsville at the beginning of 1883 with a view to building a set of shops on his Flinders Street block.
Recent fires had destroyed a number of buildings in Flinders Street and it was declared a first class area, where only building in stone, masonry or metal was permitted. This meant that timber buildings from the first stage of settlement were being replaced with substantial masonry ones, an encouragement to do likewise even for those whose property had escaped fire damage. Because of the subsequent building boom, labour and materials were scarce and some buildings remained at the planning stage for extended periods. Presumably in response to this, Hof set up the Brunswick Brick and Tile Works and is said to have used bricks produced by himself for 'Hof's Buildings' completed in 1885. This and other buildings effected a redevelopment of the street which reflected the success of the town as a commercial centre. By 1900 there was a line of handsome and fashionable buildings down both sides of Flinders Street.
Hof's new premises were 2 storeys high and comprised 3 shops with an entrance hall and stairway leading to offices on the upper floor. Leases were immediately taken out by Otto Geburek and Michael Sandstein and Philip Harris. The Beale & Co. Ltd piano and musical instrument showroom, who occupied the largest of the premises, held a special event with demonstrations of piano playing in late May to mark their opening. Willmett's printery business next door responded to a perceived need by offering sheet music for sale.
A number of tenants leased space in the building for many years. The New Zealand Insurance Company's initial lease began in 1906 and they did not move out until 1935, the Mains Roads Commissioner had offices in the building throughout the 1930s and by 1944 were occupying space on the top floor extension added in the late 1930s. When this occurred the original decorated parapet was not reinstated.
In 1933 the building was purchased by the Corporation of the Diocesan Synod of North Queensland, although it was already used as the Diocesan Registry. The building was named 'Stanton House' in honour of George Henry Stanton who became the first Bishop of North Queensland in 1878.
The Diocese sold the building in 1978. It has changed hands several times since and continues to be leased for various commercial purposes. Although renovations have taken place, the layout and functioning of the 3 original shops and offices are still discernible.
","criteria":"The rapid growth of Townsville in the late 19th century occurred because of the way in which North Queensland was developed by the establishment of key ports as commercial and administrative centres. Stanton House, as a substantial masonry commercial building of the 1880s, demonstrates the prosperity of Townsville in that period when considerable redevelopment was taking place in the city centre.
|Stanton House, in spite of alterations, is a good example of a commercial building of its era, being a set of substantial masonry shops with offices above.
|In form, scale and detail, Stanton House makes a major visual contribution to the streetscape of Flinders Street. It forms part of an important group of nineteenth century commercial buildings at the eastern end of the street.
|As the Anglican Diocesan Registry for many years it has an association with the development of the church in North Queensland.
","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":15675,"place_ref":600900,"name":"Atinee Building","alternate_name":"Commercial Banking Company of Australia (former)","street_address":"205-207 Flinders Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"This symmetrical three-storeyed building of the Federation period has deep shady verandahs on the upper two levels. These verandahs, which extend over the footpath, are decorated with cast-iron balustrades and friezes, together with timber fretwork.
The ground floor shop front and interior have been modernised while the upper floors remain basically intact. The brick building, which is well designed for the tropics, is surmounted by a parapet and centrally placed pediment. While the structure is in need of maintenance, it is still in reasonable condition and its integrity is basically intact.
","history":"The building was erected in 1897c and was the second premises of the Commercial Banking Company of Australia Ltd. The Bank operated from this building for forty one years and the Relatino Restaurant for twenty three years from 1955. Recently the building has become well known as the Back Packers Hostel.
","criteria":"The impressive style of the structure emphasises the role the Commercial Bank of Australia played in the economic growth of the region during the early twentieth century.
|The Atinee Building is commercial structure of unusual design in the Townsville region and as such it is a feature of the streetscape in Flinders Street.
|It is a good example of a commercial building constructed with wide verandahs and decorated with timber and cast iron.
|The Atinee Building is commercial structure of unusual design in the Townsville region and as such it is a feature of the streetscape in Flinders Street.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion E","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15677,"place_ref":600902,"name":"223 Flinders Street, Townsville","alternate_name":"Pinocchio's Restaurant | Clayton's Apothecaries' Hall | Bamboo Inn","street_address":"221-223 Flinders Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"223 Flinders Street, Townsville is a two-storeyed rendered masonry building, with a corrugated iron gable roof concealed behind a parapet wall, located on the northern side of Flinders Street at the base of Melton Hill.
The ground floor facade has a recessed central entry with anodised aluminium framed windows on each side and glazing and glazed tiles to the walls. A metal awning is supported by the first floor facade, which consists of three arched windows with aluminium framed hoppers, framed by pilasters and cornice, surmounted by a central pediment with rendered balustrade.
The first floor is at ground level at the rear, with a concreted courtyard, containing air conditioning equipment, and separating it from a single-storeyed residence fronting Melton Terrace.
Internally, the restaurant has original stairs on the eastern side linking the ground and first floor, false ceilings, partition walls and recent fixtures and finishes.
There are dining rooms to both floors, and a kitchen is located on the ground floor at the rear with a concrete stair, built against excavated rock face, accessing the rear courtyard above. A third staircase has been inserted in the centre of the building to conform to fire regulations.
","history":"This two-storeyed masonry building was erected in 1885 for Townsville chemist William Clayton, who acquired the site early in 1885.
Clayton, an English pharmaceutical chemist, arrived in Townsville in the early 1870s, and purchased John E Rutherford's chemist business, the Apothecaries' Hall, established in Townsville in 1866 by AH Cooper. In less than 15 years he developed the business into a prominent enterprise, as evidenced in the 1880s construction of his new building.
William Clayton was an active community member: alderman on the Townsville Municipal Council for many years; Mayor of Townsville in 1890; member of the Thuringowa Divisional Board; member of the Hospital and School of Arts Committees; Master Freemason; and magistrate.
Clayton sold the Flinders Street East building in 1890, but then leased it until about 1909. The business then was then moved further west in the street to premises adjacent to Brodziak & Rodgers [600921], in what by the early 1900s had became a more central location. William Clayton died in 1920, but his business was carried on by his son, Victor Osborne Clayton.
Since 1909, the Flinders Street East building has housed general offices, small business, shops and at least two restaurants.
","criteria":"223 Flinders Street, Townsville, erected in 1885, is important in exhibiting a range of aesthetic characteristics valued by the Townsville community, in particular its contribution in scale, form and materials to the streetscape of Flinders Street and to the Townsville townscape. It has a special association with early and prominent Townsville resident William Clayton, and his contribution to the development of Townsville in the late 19th century.
|223 Flinders Street, Townsville, erected in 1885, is important in exhibiting a range of aesthetic characteristics valued by the Townsville community, in particular its contribution in scale, form and materials to the streetscape of Flinders Street and to the Townsville townscape.
|It has a special association with early and prominent Townsville resident William Clayton, and his contribution to the development of Townsville in the late 19th century.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion E | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15678,"place_ref":600903,"name":"Samuel Allen & Sons (former)","alternate_name":"Samuel Allen & Sons | Samuel Allan and Sons | Hogs Breath Cafe","street_address":"247 Flinders Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The building is constructed of brick with contrasting bands of stucco on the facade. It is surmounted by a parapet with heavy decorative accents, which conceals the corrugated iron roof.
The window frames have been replaced with aluminium and the ground floor facade has been painted cream.
The 1910 street awning, with timber supports, remains intact although a large sign has been added.
Most of the interior has been altered, but the original ceiling of the upper floor remains.
The building, although altered internally, survives among a group of colonial to federation period structures in a commercial streetscape.
","history":"This building was constructed in 1881 as a single-storeyed produce store for Samuel Allen & Company [later Samuel Allen & Sons]. The company had been established in Townsville since 1872 and became an Australia-wide mercantile firm.
With the expansion of the firm, a second floor was added in 1910 and the façade was altered with the addition of a heavily decorated parapet.
After the building was sold in 1979 the ground floor facade was renovated.
In 1991 the structure was converted to a cafe/nightclub.
","criteria":"Samuel Allan & Sons (former), constructed in two stages [1881 and 1910], is significant historically as the Townsville headquarters of the important trading firm of Samuel Allen & Sons, and is a surviving example of a late 19th century commercial building.
|Samuel Allen & Sons (former), constructed in two stages [1881 and 1910], is significant historically as the Townsville headquarters of the important trading firm of Samuel Allen & Sons, and is a surviving example of a late 19th century commercial building.
|It contributes to a distinctive historical commercial streetscape at the western end of Flinders Street East.
|Samuel Allen & Sons (former), constructed in two stages [1881 and 1910], is significant historically as the Townsville headquarters of the important trading firm of Samuel Allen & Sons, and is a surviving example of a late 19th century commercial building.
","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":15680,"place_ref":600905,"name":"Queensland National Bank (former)","alternate_name":"Queensland National Bank","street_address":"295-303 Flinders Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1994-01-28","description":"The former Queensland National Bank, located on the northern side of Flinders Street Mall, is a two-storeyed rendered masonry building with a hipped corrugated iron roof and classical revival facade. The building is built to the site's front and side boundaries, with the side verandahs being enclosed.
The facade, consisting of verandahs to both floors, is divided into three bays. The ground floor features Tuscan Order columns supporting an entablature with cornice, and the first floor features paired Egyptian inspired, Lotus Bud capital, cast iron columns supporting a corrugated iron awning. The arched centre entrance bay projects on both floors, and is surmounted by a gable and both floors have cast iron balustrade, but of a different design. The ground floor has a timber framed glass entrance door with an arched fanlight, with a large sash window on the west and a casement on the east. The first floor has french doors with timber louvred shutters.
Each of the side verandahs have been fitted out as a shop at ground level. The first floor has paired timber posts with the rear being enclosed with glass louvres. The rear of the building has a single-storeyed masonry wing, with a corrugated iron gable roof, which has had recent concrete block additions. The east verandah tenancy has a long single-storeyed concrete block addition with a skillion corrugated iron roof. The rear of the site is concreted and used for carparking.
Internally, the ground floor has a large front office, with a strongroom, some partitioning, false ceilings, floor vents and two steel columns. Windows onto side verandahs have been enclosed. At the rear, a timber stair with turned balustrade leads to the first floor from a rear foyer which has double timber doors with arched fanlight and sidelights. The rear wing has been refitted and extended to house staff amenities.
The first floor contains a kitchen at the rear, large offices opening onto the front and side verandahs, plaster ceilings, painted timber joinery and panelled doors with fanlights.
","history":"This two-storeyed rendered brick building was erected in 1878-79 as the Townsville branch of the Queensland National Bank, on a site acquired by the bank in December 1877. It was erected during the boom which accompanied Townsville's growth in the 1870s as the port for the goldfields centred around Ravenswood and Charters Towers.
The QNB, established in Brisbane in 1872 by a group of prominent Queensland businessmen, flourished during the last quarter of the 19th century. In the 1870s and 1880s it was patronised by Sir Thomas McIlwraith and Sir Arthur Hunter Palmer, and for 42 years, from 1879 until 1921, the QNB held the Queensland Government's banking account. Despite financial scandals and collapse in the early 1890s, the QNB contributed substantially to the development of North Queensland, lending generously to mining, pastoral and sugar interests. It was the third bank to establish a branch in Townsville, in a small timber cottage in 1873. In 1875 the QNB purchased a site in Wickham Street, on which larger premises were erected in 1876. This building was destroyed by fire in 1877, following which the bank operated from temporary rented premises until the present Flinders Street building was completed in 1879.
The new offices were designed by then colonial architect Francis Drummond Greville Stanley, who from the late 1870s to the late 1890s designed a substantial number of bank buildings in Queensland for the QNB, the Australian Joint Stock Bank, and the Union Bank. The contractor was Townsville builder CA Ward. Total cost of the new premises, including land, was just over £6,000. At the time, it was the most substantial building in Townsville. The ground floor offices comprised a large banking chamber, manager's room, strong room, and stationary store. The manager's accommodation on the first floor consisted of a large drawing room, bedrooms and a bathroom. The dining room was located on the ground floor at the rear, with easy access to the kitchen. Verandahs to both levels at the front and sides, demonstrating what appears to be the first use of elaborately decorative cast-iron balustrading in North Queensland, were an important adaptation to the climate.
The building functioned as banking premises for one hundred and three years, first as the QNB, and from 1948 as the National Bank of Australasia Limited, following the merger of the QNB with the NBA in that year. The NBA closed the branch in April 1982, and sold the property in 1983.
In 1984 the building was refurbished and re-opened as commercial offices. The principal lessee in the 1980s was the Queensland Tourist Travel Corporation.
","criteria":"Its location demonstrates the development of Townsville as a port for the Ravenswood and Charters Towers goldfields and as the principal town in North Queensland at that time.
|The former Queensland National Bank, erected in 1878-79, is a characteristic 1870s regional bank building adapted to a tropical climate, and is one of the few remaining 1870s buildings in Townsville.
|The former Queensland National Bank, erected in 1878-79, is a characteristic 1870s regional bank building adapted to a tropical climate, and is one of the few remaining 1870s buildings in Townsville.
|The quality of design and composition of classical elements are of considerable aesthetic value, and it is a fine example of the work of Queensland colonial architect FDG Stanley.
|The building is part of the Queensland National Bank's contribution to the development of North Queensland in the last quarter of the 19th century.
The quality of design and composition of classical elements are of considerable aesthetic value, and it is a fine example of the work of Queensland colonial architect FDG Stanley.
","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":15681,"place_ref":600906,"name":"Townsville Railway Station and North Yards Railway Workshops","alternate_name":"Northern/Townsville Railway | Great Northern Railway Station and Workshops","street_address":"502 and 792 Flinders Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Townsville Railway Station and North Yard Railway Workshops complex is located about 1km to the south-west of the Flinders Mall, at the western end of Flinders Street. It presently consists of the Railway Station buildings and some eight workshops, and a series of ancillary buildings, all arranged in rectilinear formation. The site, running between Flinders Street and Ross Creek, is largely flat.
Buildings and elements on the site include:
Townsville Railway Station
The Townsville Railway Station is an asymmetrical building of the Federation period. Two principal materials, brick and stucco, have been used to create contrasting colour and texture in the facade. The long rectangular building has a hip roof with two gables at the front marking the administrative and platform entrances. Balustraded verandahs span the front facade on the second and third levels.
The front and eastern side of the building on the ground floor is shaded by an awning supported by magnificent iron brackets. The ticket hall remains in its original state with tiles on the floor and walls, together with the roll of honour board commemorating the railway employees who died during the 1914-1918 war. Internally, very little of the original structure remains.
The women's toilet, although repainted, still has a pressed metal ceiling. The original colour can be seen in a small piece of ceiling hidden behind a partition in the foyer of the toilet. A square stairwell with stick balustrading is still intact, as are the french doors with glass fanlights which open onto the verandahs of the upper levels.
Machine Shop
The Machine Shop is a long rectangular building measuring approximately 14m x 77m, running parallel to Flinders Street. It is on the north-western side of the complex, with other workshop buildings adjacent at either end. It is still in use as a workshop, and contains a variety of engineering machines. The building has a gabled corrugated iron roof with a steeply pitched vented lantern running its length and a lower pitch to the remainder of the roof. Visible changes in the roof sheeting are the result of damage sustained during Cyclone Althea in 1971.
Most of the long side walls of the building are adjustable steel louvres with awnings and panels over of translucent fibreglass. Both ends of the building have walls clad with corrugated iron.
Blacksmith's Shop
The larger Blacksmiths' Shop measures about 12.2 x 99.0m. Immediately to south-west of the Machine Shop is the former Blacksmiths' Shop, which was built in the early 1920's and extended in 1937. It too is framed in timber with a corrugated iron gabled roof, penetrated by brick chimneys. Its walls are partly clad in timber and corrugated iron. It contains 8 brick forges, now disused, and several other pieces of machinery including steam hammers and a drill, on a gravel floor. Only the north-eastern end of the building is still in use. To the north and west of the Blacksmith's Shop are three small timber buildings. Two of which are clustered together inside the present gateway. These are clad in chamfer boards, with corrugated iron gabled roofs and metal window hoods.
Motor Shop (Building No 38)
The Motor Shop is a long rectangular building framed in timber, with both the gabled roof and walls clad with corrugated iron. The roof is framed with clear span Queen-post trusses at about 3.7m centres with knee braces and posts. The floor of the building is lined with concrete. The north west elevation addressing Flinders Street has a continuous bank of timber louvres to the upper part of the wall under the eaves. Below are horizontally pivoting timber windows with 6 pane sashes. The north eastern end elevation has two pairs of sliding corrugated iron doors.
Tender Shop
The two sheds are framed with curved Warren Girder steel trusseson timber posts. They have open ends, and side walls partially enclosed with corrugated iron. The floor is concrete. The gable-roofed link has walls of timber battens dividing it from the sheds. Each shed measures about 45.9 x 15.35m, and the overall width of the two sheds and the link is about 45.9 x 35.95m.
Carpenters' Shop
The Carpenters Workshop is a long rectangular building with timber framing and corrugated iron gabled roof. The walls are clad in corrugated iron with metal louvres. The north-western side has a timber gabled frame roof, with the south-western side roof by a lean-to extension. The building measures about 16.32 x 42.8m, with an addition of 6.55m to the length.
Boiler/Wheel Shop
A large rectangular building, and taller than the other pre-war workshop buildings. It is framed in steel with curved Warren girder roof trusses with flat bottom chords. It is a clear span single space. On the south-western side, it has buttress timber frames supporting the external wall. The building measures about 19.75 x 78.55m plus a small extension.
Garage and Motor Store
The Motor Store is a long narrow single storey building, with timber framing and a gabled roof. The roof and walls are clad in corrugated iron, with come areas of batten walls and mesh gates. The building measures about 24.8 x 8.3m.
Wagon Repair Shops 1 and 2
The Wagon Repair Depot Stage II is a very large building with a steel frame and walls clad in metal deck, with louvred windows. The brick cairn is some 13 courses high, at the western corner of the new building, with one plaque explaining the bricks and the old repair shed, and the other for the opening of the new shed.
Westinghouse Brake Shop
The building measures about 18.15 x 12.45m.
Breakdown Shed
The garage is located between the Canteen and the Machine Shop. It is constructed of timber framing and a concrete floor. The gabled roof and walls are clad in corrugated iron walls and gabled roof. There is a pair of wire mesh gate to south-western end. The building measures 6.1 x 12.3m.
Spring Shop
The Spring Shop measures about 9.15 x 24.8m.
Bosh/White Metal Shop
The Bosh is a building small in plan, but tall. It has a timber frame. It measures about 6.4 x 10.35m.
Running Shed
A long narrow building with steel framing, a lean-to corrugated iron roof, a concrete floor and open sides.
Signal Cabin 'A'
It is an elevated timber-framed cabin with a gabled roof. It is accessed by a timber stair. Clad in chamferboard. An elevated timber gangway was for communication with the drivers.
Gatehouses
The second of the two has an interesting construction of an airspace between the roof sheeting and the boarded ceiling.
Canteen, Store and Office
The Canteen, Store and Office are all rectangular single-storey timber framed buildings, with hipped corrugated fibro roofs, and low-set on concrete stumps. They are connected by timber landings, the between the Office and Canteen being enclosed.
Strong Room
The Strong Room is constructed of a concrete floor, walls and roof. It measures about 4.14m wide x 5.35m long. There is a setdown to the perimeter of the roof, with threaded bars projecting vertically, which may have been for connection to timber framing. The external walls suggest the formwork used was 185mm horizontal boards. Entry to the building is through a riveted steel door, about 2130 x 760mm. Internally, along both side walls are banks of riveted fixed steel shelves. The concrete slab surrounding the bunker is in several parts, and in total measures about 16.7 x 13.93m overall.
Bicycle Shed
The shed is constructed from steel-rail posts, and timber roof and wall framing. The skillion roof and wall facing the Flinders Street are clad in corrugated iron. The floor is concrete. The shed is divided into 11 bays. The posts are 85mm light gauge rails, apart from the centre post which is 110mm. The shed is about 26.85m long and 1.95m wide with an overhang of 900mm.
Compressors
Building 11 is located behind the Bosh. The building measures about 7.35 x 9.25m. Building 33 is located next to the Electrical Substation (No. 32). The building measures about 4.9 x 11.3m with an addition of 3.35 x 3.32m.
Electrical Substation
The Electrical Substation is a two-storey brick building with a corrugated fibro roof and a concrete floor. The building measures about 10.82 x 5.66m. A change in colour of the bricks at about the mid-height of the walls suggest it may have been a single storey, and a second level was added to hold larger equipment.
Schedules Office
The Schedules Office is a single storey concrete block structure with a flat metal deck roof. It measures about 11 x 11m. In the western corner is a WC framed in timber and clad in 125mm chamferboards, beaded internally. It contains two cubicles, a urinal with a pull-chain flush, a basin and a store room.
Refrigeration Shop
The Garage and Motor Store is a small timber-framed building with its gabled roof and walls clad in corrugated iron. It measures about 6.15 x 6.1m. It is located beside the Toilet Block. To the north-eastern end wall is a servery-type opening which occupies most of the wall. The south-western part of the interior is an office enclosed by fibro partitions.
Toilet Block
The Toilet Block is a rectangular building, framed in timber with a corrugated iron skillion roof, concrete floor and clad in 125mm chamferboards. It measures about 3.1 x 8.1m. It is located between the Loco Store and the Garage and Motor Store. The internal walls and partitions are lined with flat fibro sheet. There are 7 cubicles along the north-western wall, with a urinal and a basin at the end.
Amenities Block
The Amenities Block is a two storey brick building with concrete framing and a low pitched corrugated fibro roof. The building measures about 9.05 x 21.38m. It is located behind the eastern corner of the Boiler Shop.
","history":"The Townsville Railway Station and North Yards Workshops were established in about 1880 shortly after the commencement of the Northern Railway running west from Townsville, and the establishment of the Northern Rail Division, one of four separate railway divisions of Queensland. At this time, the Townsville Station was on the edge of the yards, making this site the operating centre of the Northern Division. The early growth and evolution of the Northern Railway was reflected in several upgrades of the North Yards Workshops by 1902. Construction of the North Yards railway workshops began in 1880 with the construction of the first railway station and the Machine Shop in 1881. The present railway station, the second station in the complex, was constructed between 1910 and 1913. The North Yards Workshops were permanently closed in 1990 and the major train services, the Sunlander and the Inlander ceased to run to the Station prior to 2004 when a new station was constructed to the west of the Workshops.
\nDuring the second half of the nineteenth century in Queensland there was a proliferation of separate rail systems spreading west from several coastal centres. Queensland's geography made for a decentralised railway system, with lines penetrating the interior from a number of points along the coast. Earlier rail systems had been constructed, mostly in response to the requirements of pastoralists in the main pastoral areas. This second phase of construction saw railways spread into the new, isolated mining districts. Reflecting the growth of Queensland and the difficulty of dealing with such a vast state the Government divided the railways into three divisions in 1878. The divisions were the Southern, Central and Northern Division which was centred on Townsville.
\nThe discovery of gold in 1869 at Ravenswood and in 1872 at Charters Towers was the main impetus for the construction of the Northern Railway from Townsville. With the development of each separate rail system came competing claims for the most suitable terminuses. In north Queensland there was competition between Bowen and Townsville. The first port in north Queensland had been established at Bowen in 1860, however, pastoralists and new mining settlements north and west of the Burdekin River were choosing to utilise the more convenient port at Townsville. Although Bowen had the better harbour, the Burdekin River proved too difficult a barrier. As well, Townsville's influential political connections convinced the government to make Townsville the railway terminus.
\nThe Government, on 7 August 1877, gave approval for the construction of the first stage of the line from Townsville to the top of Mingela Range. Before the completion of the track to Reid River on 20 December 1880, development of a Townsville Railway Station and maintenance workshops, as part of the support system for the Great Northern Railway, was commenced. By 1882 the line had reached Charters Towers and by 1884 the line had terminated at Hughenden, the heart of the pastoral region. Townsville's success in gaining the terminus of the Northern Railway ensured the towns economic survival. Within a short time Townsville merchant firms such as Samuel Allen and Sons, Clifton Aplin (later Aplin Brown and Co) and Burns Philp overshadowed their Bowen rivals.
\nAs the terminus of the Northern Line, the Townsville Railway Station and Workshops formed a complex group of support services. Buildings constructed during the first construction phase included a station, carriage shed, stores, goods sheds, weighbridges, turntables and lines into the workshops and the Machine Shop. By 1886 the importance of the maintenance section was illustrated by the number of support facilities established in the yards including wagon sheds, a bolt shed, tool shed, engine shed, carriage shed, coal store and smithy shop.
\nThe Northern Railway quickly became Queenslands most profitable line, with major upgrading taking place only five years after its inception. There was also periodic redevelopment of the workshop buildings during the 1880s and 1890s to meet the growing demand for maintenance of rolling stock on the busy line. The Northern Railway became known as the Great Northern Railway in 1905. Until 1910, with the passing of the North Coast Railway Act, and the Great Western Railway Act, the Queensland railways existed as separate identities or divisions. Coastal shipping was the preferred method of travel along the Queensland coast, with the railways acting as a transport corridor to inland districts. The first major linking of different divisions in Queensland occurred in 1903 with the opening of the Gladstone to Rockhampton railway line, which united the Southern and Central Divisions.
\nThe passing of the two railways Acts provided a major impetus for increased spending and construction works on the Queensland railways. New stations were built along the main lines in places such as Brisbane, Gympie and Townsville between 1910 and 1917. A corresponding development of improved locomotive technology, rollingstock, and railway infrastructure in general characterised this period, along with the construction of new rural branch lines throughout Queensland.
\nIn spite of improvements and extensions to the infrastructure in the North Yards during the early years of the twentieth century the problem of too little space was not overcome. Maintaining rolling stock in the cramped conditions of the yard was difficult, although improvements in 1921 overcame the worst inefficiencies.
\nThe completion of the North Coast line near Innisfail in December 1924 completed the projected main line between Brisbane and the Cairns railway system. However, even after completion and during subsequent upgrading of the Sunshine Route as it was known, track limitations on axle loads for locomotives, limited larger main line locomotives operating north of Townsville until the 1950s. As a result, Townsville remained the northern limit of the more modern engines.
\nDuring the early years of the Depression maintenance on the Northern Railway was reduced, however, deficiencies in the original construction of the line and the lack of maintenance were rectified during the late 1930s when the Queensland government established Relief Labour schemes to alleviate some of the problems of massive unemployment. Loan funding was channelled into deviations of the track, aimed at improving gradients on the line to enable locomotives to haul larger trains.
\nThe North Yard again became cramped and reclamation work was begun across Ross Creek in 1935. The work was completed in 1939 and carriage and wagon shops were transferred to the South Yards. The removal of some of the maintenance activity to South Townsville saw changes of use of many of the North Yard buildings.
\nUpgrading work on the Great Northern Line prior to the Second World War enhanced the importance of the northern railway. New rolling stock was introduced, maintenance workshops, including Townsville were improved and a passenger service, the Sunshine Express, from Brisbane to Cairns, was introduced.
\nThe significance of the Railway Station to the Townsville community has been demonstrated on a number of occasions. In 1910 the Mayor and community successfully partitioned the government to have the proposed new station located in Flinders Street rather than close to the mouth of Ross Creek. The role of the Railway Station and North Yards Workshops in World War 11 was recognised by the people of Townsville during the VP 50 Celebrations when thousands greeted a \"troop\" train at the station on 11 August 1995.
\nWithin ten years of establishment, Northern Railway staff became involved in union activity. Continuing involvement in union disputation during the next fifty years changed the face of industrial life in Australia. Charters Towers Miners' Union, established in July 1886, began a dispute with a mining company over reduction of wages. The dispute spread to the Croydon and Etheridge fields in 1889. As prices for gold fell miners became concerned about retaining their jobs. These concerns spread to the sugar industry and into various other industries. As unemployment grew trade unionism spread across North Queensland. The Australia wide, 1890 Maritime Strike saw unionism strengthened in North Queensland as the strike spread to other industries including the railways.
\nUnion activity in the North Yards was led by George Rymer after WW1. Rymer was employed on the Northern Railway and was a member of the Queensland Railway Union (QRU) and a member of the strike committee set up to assist unionists striking over a retrospective pay dispute in 1917. This strike was in serious breach of decisions made by the newly established Arbitration Court. The strikers, forced back to work under threat of dismissal were left with a feeling of discontent and resentment towards the Ryan Labor Government. A legacy which was to colour the northern railwaymen's attitude to Labor governments throughout the 1920s.
\nNorthern railwaymen continued to seek better pay and conditions from Labor governments throughout the next two decades and conflict between the left and right of Labor politics saw the emergence of the Communist Party in north Queensland. During key strikes such as the 1919 Meatworkers Strike, the 1925 Railway Strike and the 1928 sugar dispute Townsville suffered serious economic difficulties and turmoil, particularly during the 1919 riot outside the gates of Stewart Creek Jail in protest over the arrest of some railway unionists.
\nThe Northern Division, which had been established in 1878, was phased out in 1992 and management returned to Brisbane after 114 years.
\nTownsville Railway Station
\nThe first railway station, built in 1880, was located in Flinders Street near the corner of Jones Street, about three blocks west of the present station building. The original plan during the construction of the Townsville Railway was to locate the station near Magazine Island at the mouth of Ross Creek. The idea was revived when plans were being drawn up for a new station in 1910. Commercial interests backed the Mayor who argued that Ross Creek would cut off the railway terminus from the city centre. The community successfully partitioned the government to have the building located in Flinders Street between the town centre along Flinders Street and the busy business district at West End.
\nConstruction of the new terminus for the Great Northern Railway commenced in 1910 and the building opened on 24 December 1913. Vincent Price, an architectural draftsman in the Railway Department, prepared the drawings. The new terminus was an impressive and imposing building, built in the tradition of the grand railway stations of the 19th century in Britain, Europe and the United States. The building, which initially served as the headquarters of the Great Northern Railway with the letters GNR prominently displayed on the facade, contained the offices of the general manager and ancillary staff.
\nSubsequent changes to Townsville Railway Station have included the replacement of a large metal carriage shade which extended over three tracks with a smaller cantilever awning in 1969. The corrugated, galvanised iron roof and front awning was also replaced. A four storey, brick extension on the western end of the building was constructed in 1965. The main foyer retains original finishes on floor and ceiling. A World War 1 roll of honour board is located in the foyer. The interior of the upper floors has been modified including the partitioning of large rooms into smaller offices. While the General Managers office was moved into the new building in 1965 the upper floors of the station continue to be used as administrative offices.
\nIn 1997 some of the interior was refurbished, including the pressed metal ceilings in the toilets and other ground floor rooms.
\nMachine Shop
\nOn 3 June 1881 the tender was accepted for the construction of the Machine Shop from prominent North Queensland builders, Rooney Brothers, for the sum of £118.18.0, labour only, to be completed within a two month period. The design of the machine shop was similar to those built by the Railway in other parts of Queensland, notably Rockhampton. The construction consisted of a heavy timber frame of a row of strutted timber posts through the centre supporting a trussed roof with continuous lantern, and floors of asphalt and concrete. The building when completed in 1881 was 75' (23m) long. Wooden flooring was installed in 1884. An extension of 36' (11m) was added to the north-eastern end of the building in 1895, as part of the workshop additions of the 1890s.
\nThe expansion and reorganisation of the workshops in about 1901 included the extension of the Machine Shop at both ends. The construction matched the existing timber framing, wall cladding and fenestration. The two end walls of weatherboard and corrugated iron cladding were re-erected at the new ends of the building. A store building at the north-eastern end was relocated at the new ends of the building extended 44' (13.4m) to create more work space, with an extension to the wooden floor. At the south-western end another shed was removed, and an extension of 70' (21.4m) was constructed containing an engine and boiler room with a concrete floor, and a store for tyres with an ash floor.
\nBlacksmith's Shop
\nThe original Blacksmith's Shop, constructed before 1900, was perpendicular to and behind the Machine Shop. By the time of its demolition in 1937, it had become the Tinsmiths' and Coppersmiths' Shop. Its demolition for extensions to the boiler shop, reinforced the northeast-southwest axis of the setout of the buildings. This Blacksmiths' Shop was constructed before 1932. To the north-west is a smaller building also labelled as Blacksmiths' Shop, which was constructed between 1940 and 1960, which later became the Spring Shop.
\nMotor Shop (Building No 38)
\nThe Motor Shop was constructed between 1902 and 1932. By 1932 it was the Paint Shop, and it was proposed to become the Traffic Motor Shade in 1940. It had two roads (rail-lines) entering from the north-east. By 1960 it had become the Mechanics Shop.
\nTender Shop
\nThis building was constructed about 1902 as two separate Wagon Sheds, each measuring 150'x50'. A photograph of about 1916 shows people displaying splints and crutches presumably for WWI made in this building.
\nCarpenters Shop
\nBy 1902, the Wagon Shop, and Carriage and Paint Shop each measuring 100'x50' (305x15.25m) sat behind the Machine Shop, and lined up with the two wagon sheds. In 1902, a 60' (length 48.8m) extension was also proposed on the end of the Wagon Shop for a sawmill which connected to the Machine Shop.
\nBoiler/Wheel Shop
\nThe Boiler Shop was constructed before 1932. An extension of 90' to the north-east end in about 1940 forced the demolition of the original Blacksmiths' Shop. The building is now known as the Wheel Shop at the north-east end, and Metal Fabrication to the south-west end.
\nGarage and Motor Store
\nBy 1932, there was a small Loco Store and a Motor Shop to the north-eastern end of the Machine Shop. By 1960, the Loco Store had become a long narrow building, probably combining parts of the earlier two buildings. There was a Storeman operating in here until the 1970s, when the operation was moved.
\nWagon Repair Shops 1 and 2
\nThe original Wagon Repair Shop was a brick building constructed in February 1889. By 1932 it is noted as the fitting Shop with two roads running its length, and a long repair pit shown to each road. A 90' extension was proposed for the building about 1940, but this does not seem to have gone ahead. By 1960 the building was noted as the Wagon Repair Shop. This building was demolished in June 1984.
\nWestinghouse Brake Shop
\nThe Westinghouse Brakes Shop was constructed before 1932. For many years, Westinghouse was the only brand of braking system used for locomotives and rolling stock, hence the building's name. However in recent years, a second brand was also used, and it too was overhauled in this shop.
\nBreakdown Shed
\nThe Breakdown Shed was constructed between 1940 and 1960. It housed the 20 ton breakdown truck which was full of equipment for assistance to breakdowns and derailments until the 1990s. The breakdown gang would travel west to Pentland as well as north and south.
\nBosh/White Metal Shop
\nPossibly constructed in 1930. Originally used for Bosh, which was a bath of caustic soda with steam running through, which was used for cleaning parts before they were to be repaired. White metal was a low friction metal coating put onto a curved brass block which was the bearing system. This block sat in the axle box, which had oil-soaked wool in its base to oil the axel. If the bearing was not a good fit, the friction would ignite the wool.
\nRunning Shed
\nConstructed about 1944. Here, damage parts were cut off wagons and carriages to prepare them for entering the Workshops.
\nSignal Cabin 'A'
\nThis cabin was constructed prior to 1932. At this time, it was shown as having 12 levers. It controlled access to the North Yard Workshops. Also, at this time, to the south-west of the cabin are shown geometric garden plots running parallel to Flinders Street. To the south-west of the gardens was the overhead bridge also built before 1932, perhaps in 1899. This crossed the railway lines to connect to a bridge over the river. This bridge was destroyed in cyclone Althea in the 1970s.
\nGatehouses
\nBy 1932, there were 3 small buildings inside the main gates. The nearest and smallest was the Ambulance Cabin, and the other two noted as 'Checks'. By 1960 only the largest was shown, and labelled 'Office' or 'Ambulance Office'. There are presently two chamferboards buildings located in this position. The building closest to the entry was the Stores Distributor's Office. He would check stores arriving at the yards, and send them to the relevant shop. The second of the two small huts was the First Aid Attendant's Room.
\nCanteen, Store and Office
\nThe canteen was built in 1945 and opened a week before the end of World War II. It probably replaced Railway Institute Dining Room (probably the former Chief Engineer's Office 1886) which had been next to the Motor Shop. The Canteen, Store and Office could all have been built about the same time, and were all existing by 1960. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, the 'Railway Institute' as it was then known became on the well-known public dance halls of Townsville.
\nStrong Room
\nThe Strong Room was built prior to 1932. It may have been associated with the Chief Engineer'' Office built in 1886, which was a rectangular timber building with encircling verandah. A building of this form was shown as the Railway Institute Dining Room by 1932, adjacent but not connected to the Strong Room on its north-east side. This Dining Room was replaced by the Canteen constructed at the end of World War Two. In 1932, the Strong Room had a Fibre Store connected to the rear, and to the south-west, in front of the Machine Shop was a Bandstand. The Townsville Railway Band were Queensland Champions in 1918-20 and 1930. By 1960, the bandstand had been demolished.
\nBicycle Shed
\nBy 1932, there were two Bicycle Sheds of similar size on either side of the entrance gates. By the 1960s, the south-western shed had been removed. The present bicycle Shed was constructed after 1960. The earlier sheds had included timber slats to stand the bikes in. During the 1930s when the yards were at their peak, most of the 1000 workers at the yards travelled by bicycle. Traffic in Flinders Street would be stopped at finishing time to allow the wave of bicycles to leave the yards.
\nCompressors
\nPossibly constructed about 1930. Building No.33 Possibly constructed about 1936.
\nElectrical Substation
\nConstructed during the 1960s, possibly in 1967. There was previously a small office constructed in this location before 1932.
\nSchedules Office
\nThe Schedules Office was constructed after 1980. Here schedules were prepared for the carriages and wagons entering the workshops. It was the centre for the computer network of the yards, connected to terminals in each of the shops. It is now known as the Workshop Development Office. The WC was constructed before 1960. There was a similar sized WC shown next to the Strong Room in 1932.
\nRefrigeration Workshop
\nThe existing building is part of the former Refrigeration Workshops. The building once extended towards the east, where a concrete slab remains. In this workshop service and repairs were done on train air-conditioners, water coolers, building air-conditioners and refrigerated containers. The workmen here wore white overalls and this shop was commonly known as \"ice-cream factory\". The hole in the north-east side, which resembles a servery, once contained louvres.
\nToilet Block
\nA small WC is shown as being in this position by 1932. The present block was constructed before 1960.
\nAmenities Block
\nThe Amenities Block was constructed during the 1960s. It currently has a lunch room and training areas on the upper level, and lockers and change rooms on the lower level.
","criteria":"The establishment of the Townsville Railway Station and North Yards Workshop demonstrates the growth of a separate Northern Rail Division and, also, the economic development of Townsville in the late 19th century. The development of the Northern Railway was, in combination with the port, instrumental in the economic growth of Townsville in the late 19th century.
|The complex is a rare, surviving example of regional 19th century Queensland railway workshop and station complex, which operated for over a century.
|The site has the potential to yield further information about the history of the northern rail line and the 19th century railway in Queensland.
|The Townsville Railway Station Complex demonstrate the railway policy of maintenance and repair work completed on site with available skills and materials.
The complex, including the buildings, contents, configuration of the rail tracks, and the landscape elements, including the remnant cabin garden, the trees along Flinders Street and the mango trees, contribute to an understanding of the development and operation of the railway in Northern Queensland and are characteristic of a large regional railway complex.
|The Townsville Railway Station and North Yards Workshops have aesthetic significance as a prominent complex of buildings and structures, predominantly of timber and iron construction which express their industrial function and contribute to an interesting and complex site. The character of the yards, including the trees along Flinders Street, contribute to the character of the commercial district of Townsville, and have prominent townscape value.
|During the early years of the 20th century, improvements to the workshops and the construction of the new Townsville Station between 1910 and 1913 demonstrate a new government attitude to the Queensland railways, with the introduction of new Acts, increased spending and the first integration of the separate rail divisions.
|As the principal railway station and complex of a large Queensland city, the Townsville Railway Station Complex has social value as a landmark of significant public use over a long period.
|As the principal railway station and complex of a large Queensland city, the Townsville Railway Station Complex has social value as a landmark of significant public use over a long period.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion C | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion F | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15682,"place_ref":600907,"name":"Henlein & Co. Building (former)","alternate_name":"H F Henlein & Co. Building | Henlein & Co. Ltd Building | Henleins Building","street_address":"408-410 Flinders Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Henlein & Co. Building (former) (1902) is a two-storey, brick and timber-framed warehouse with basement, fronting Flinders Street in central Townsville. It stands on half of a long and narrow allotment, which extends to a rear service lane, Ogden Street. A four storey, concrete and concrete block building (built c1961) stands on the rear half of the allotment abutting the Henlein & Co. Building and is outside the cultural heritage boundary.
\nAlthough Henlein & Co. Building (former) has been altered for later non-significant uses, it retains fabric and features of its original warehouse use of state-level cultural heritage significance. It is rectangular in plan form, with loadbearing brick perimeter walls built to the allotment boundaries. It retains areas of original, timber floor structure of the ground and first floor, comprising heavy posts and beams, cross bracing between joists to support shifting loads, and timber floorboards. It has a timber-framed gable roof clad with corrugated metal sheets, although it has lost its original, metal-sheet ridge ventilators. It retains a section of its original, elaborately decorated, face brick and cement render facade, although it has been altered and partly demolished. The interior spaces have been altered to accommodate later, non-significant uses and its original brick rear wall has been entirely demolished, including the parapet above the roofline.
\nFeatures of Henlein & Co. Building (former) of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nFeatures of Henlein & Co. Building (former) not of state-level cultural heritage significance are all alterations made and fabric introduced after 1902, including:
\nHenlein & Co. Building (former), located at 408-410 Flinders Street, Townsville, is a two-storey, brick warehouse. It was purpose-built in 1902 for Townsville merchants, H F Henlein & Co. (established 1894) and occupied by the business for 28 years. H F Henlein & Co. and its subsequent companies conducted by Henry Frederick Henlein and his brother Sigismund, Jewish migrants from Germany, operated in North Queensland until c1930. The building is rare known surviving physical evidence of the commercial activities of Jewish immigrants in Queensland before the 1930s.
\nSited on the traditional lands of the Gurambilbarra Wulgurukaba People,[1] Townsville was established in 1864 as a service centre and port for pastoral settlers in the region. Located on the western shore of Cleveland Bay on the banks of Ross Creek, the settlement was ideally situated for trade to and from its hinterland. The port of Townsville was proclaimed a ‘Port of Entry and Clearance’ in 1865 and a small customs service established there. The first sale of Townsville allotments occurred in 1865 and the settlement was proclaimed a town in 1866. Flinders Street, near the early wharves, became the principal commercial street of the settlement.
\nTownsville continued to grow during the remainder of the 19th century, becoming ‘the major commercial, social, ecclesiastical, legal, medical and education centre for the entire region of North Queensland from Bowen to Cape York’,[2] and was declared a city in 1902. A series of factors during the 19th century stimulated Townsville’s continued development and population growth. These were: discovery of gold in Townsville’s hinterland at Cape River (1867), Ravenswood (1868) and later at Charters Towers (1871);[3] the establishment of a railway (commenced in 1879) from Townsville to Charters Towers (1882), Hughenden (1887), and ultimately to Mount Isa (1929); and the development of an artificial outer harbour to overcome the shallow depth of the port by 1900.[4] Around the turn of 20th century, these factors and the construction of the Victoria Bridge (between 1887 and 1889) linking both sides of Ross Creek, also led to the extension westward of the town’s commercial activity along Flinders Street towards the Townsville Railway Station [QHR 600906].[5]
\nEstablishment of H F Henlein & Co.
H F Henlein & Co. commenced operations in North Queensland in 1894, with Henry, as its senior partner, in partnership with his brother Sigismund. In May that year, Henry Henlein relocated from Brisbane to Townsville to act as the agent for West End Brewery, which was based in Brisbane. H F Henlein & Co. was first registered as a wholesale spirit dealer in Townsville in September 1894 and by December that year, the business also operated from Messrs Newman’s auction building in Charters Towers. By February 1895, the business had received its first licences to sell tobacco ‒ in Charters Towers and Townsville. By January 1896, H F Henlein & Co. operated as wine, spirit, and general merchants, insurance and forwarding agents, had voting rights on the newly formed Townsville Harbour Board, which commenced operations on 1 January 1896.[6] By 1901, H F Henlein & Co. supplied alcohol to hotels from Ayr to Burketown to western Queensland and, at the end of the year, successfully tendered to supply the refreshment room at Reid River Railway Station for the Queensland Railways Department.[7]
Both Henlein brothers had migrated to New South Wales (NSW) in the early 1880s. Henry Frederick Henlein arrived in Australia as a saloon passenger on the SS Liguria from London to Sydney in September 1881.[8] In Sydney, he established H F Henlein & Co., importing general goods described as ‘cottonware’,[9] and ‘clay goods and hollow glass…from Hamburg’.[10] Henry’s brother, Sigismund, joined him in NSW in 1883, as a representative of a continental firm dealing in cloth or soft goods. Born circa 1857 and 1862 respectively, these Jewish brothers came from Frankfurt-am-Main or nearby Wiesbaden, Germany.[11]
\nHenry Henlein’s business venture in NSW failed in 1884. In April that year, he was charged with insolvency in the NSW Supreme Court by his creditors Sir Benjamin Samuel Phillips, Knight, Samuel Henry Phillips, and George Faudel Phillips of London, England, who operated the firm Faudel, Phillips & Sons, merchants of London. This action resulted in Henry Henlein being declared bankrupt in 1885.[12]
\nIn May 1884, Henry travelled from Sydney to Townsville[13] and at some time before May 1887, Henry had commenced another chapter in his life, initially travelling throughout Queensland as a representative of Quinlan Gray & Co., brewers, and later as the company’s ‘town representative’, based in Brisbane. This business formed in 1878 with Gray as managing partner, and established a brewery at Milton in Brisbane in conjunction with E and N Fitzgerald of Victoria. In 1887, the businesses amalgamated into the public company, Castlemaine Brewery and Quinlan Gray & Co. Brisbane Ltd. Sigismund Henlein also worked as a representative of this company by July 1888; travelling widely in Queensland, as well as acting as its representative in Toowoomba for some years.[14]
\nHenlein & Co. Building
From c1895, H F Henlein & Co.’s premises were located on the ‘left-hand side’ of Flinders Street between Stanley and Blackwood Streets, the last building before the Blackwood Street intersection. From May 1902 until its closure about 1930, H F Henlein & Co. and its subsequent companies occupied the purpose-built H F Henlein & Co. Building on the southern side of Flinders Street between Stokes and Stanley Streets (now 408-410 Flinders Street).[15]
The former Henlein & Co. Building, a commercial warehouse, was purpose-built for H F Henlein & Co, although owned by Townsville businessman, Henry Abbott. The building was designed by architecture firm, Eaton, Bates & Polin, established in Rockhampton c1894 and operating as Eaton and Bates until 1901. They conducted an extensive architecture practice in the early 20th century, with branches across Queensland producing a diverse range of building types. Tenders were received in October 1901 and the building was sufficiently completed for a seven-year lease between Abbott and H F Henlein & Co. to be signed on 1 May 1902, implying that the building was at least partially occupied from that time.[16]
\nNumerous commercial warehouse buildings were constructed in the Federation period across Queensland. These buildings shared common characteristics including: a central, commercial location near other retail and commercial premises and goods transport services/routes (train, wharf, road, etc); and solid, secure construction of typically loadbearing masonry walls and large timber, steel, or iron internal posts and beams, supporting timber-framed floors with herringbone bracing between joists to support heavy, shifting loads. They also typically had highly decorative front elevations, contrasting with plain other elevations, as well as security measures, such as barred windows. They were functional buildings, laid out with a small front section used for retailing or welcoming customers (typically wholesale buyers), accessed from the street. The largest portion of the buildings was for warehousing, comprising robust, large, and open goods storage spaces, secured and indirectly lit to protect goods, that would be goods-specific if necessary (such as cellaring for alcohol). They usually had a relatively small office space for administration, and a despatching section with rear or side access from a loading yard via loading doors, goods lift, chute, or winch.[17]
\nWhen completed, the building for H F Henlein & Co. shared these characteristics. Centrally located, it fronted Townsville’s main retail street, Flinders Street, and was near the wharves and railway station. It was a loadbearing brick structure[18] of two storeys with a basement, built up to the Flinders Street and side boundaries. It had an open area at the rear used as a service yard, accessed from Ogden Street (originally named Flinders Lane). Its timber-framed gable roof was clad with corrugated metal sheets, and had tall, conical ridge ventilators. The front facade was elaborately decorative, featuring face brick walls, cement render decorative treatments, raised cement render letters ‘H.F. HENLEIN & CO’ on the building’s first floor frieze, a tall central pediment above the parapet, and an arched, recessed ground floor main entrance reached by steps up from the footpath. It had timber sash windows in the ground and first floor levels, secured with iron bars. Through its large, arched front door with multi-paned side and fan lights, the ground floor was almost double-height. It had a timber board floor and through the middle of the space ran a line of large timber posts supporting the timber-framed floors with herringbone bracing above. The first floor was also a very tall space, and it is not known if it had a ceiling or its roof frames were exposed. The basement was a low space with a line of heavy timber posts supporting the braced floor above. The rear yard was at the same level as the basement floor.[19]
\nHenlein family
The Henlein brothers, like many Jewish migrants to Queensland from the 1860s up to the 1930s, adopted the Britishness[20] dominant in Australian society and became involved in the Townsville community. Henry Henlein was naturalised as a British subject on 22 August 1894 and his brother followed suit in 1902. In 1895, both Henry, age 38, and his brother Sigmund, age 33, became eligible to vote in Queensland based on the value of their residences on The Strand. Henry was involved in community activities in both Brisbane and Townsville from the 1890s. Between 1890 and 1892 he held the rank of acting lieutenant in the Kennedy Regiment of the Queensland Defence Force (Land). Henry also served as a Justice of the Peace from 1899. In 1901, Henry endowed a commencing scholarship at the Toowoomba Grammar School and served as a trustee at the school from 1909 to 1911. He was a member of the Townsville Central State School Committee from 1907 to 1911. Henry was a committee member of the Townsville Turf Club, based at Cluden Racecourse, in 1904 and 1905 and served as one of its totalisator stewards in 1906. Sigismund was less involved in community and philanthropic activities, but was a Vice-President of the Townsville Australian Natives’ Association Band in 1913, and like his brother took an avid interest in horse racing and was a Townsville Turf Club member.[21]
Nevertheless, the Henlein brothers also upheld non-British connections. In April 1893, Henry chaired the committee of German residents in Brisbane, organising a public reception for the Archduke of Austria who was touring Australasia. In 1910, Henry was appointed vice-consul of the Netherlands at Townsville, and Sigismund was appointed to this position in his brother’s place from December 1911.[22]
\nBoth brothers married and raised families in Townsville. Sigismund married Harriet Goldring, a member of Toowoomba’s Jewish community, in the Toowoomba Synagogue in 1897, and their marriage resulted in four children. Henry married Jeannie Long in 1899 and two sons were born to them, in 1900 and 1910.[23] The brothers were known to be Jewish.[24] The families both resided near Townsville’s city centre.[25] After Henry died in Brisbane in May 1911, The Telegraph newspaper described him as a ‘highly respected northern man’[26] and ‘a popular business man in the north…well known and highly respected by commercial houses in Brisbane’[27] A large group of well-connected mourners attended his funeral, which was conducted with Church of England rites.[28]
\nFollowing Henry’s death, Sigismund continued in business, converting H F Henlein & Co. into the limited liability company, Henlein & Co. Ltd, registered on 10 October 1911. This company was established with capital of 30,000 one-pound shares. The principal shareholders were Sigismund Henlein (merchant; 9999 shares), Hyman Goldring (accountant; 9999 shares), Jacob Leu (solicitor; 9999 shares) and Jeannie Henlein (Henry’s widow; 500 shares).[29]
\nDespite the loss of its senior partner, Henlein & Co. Ltd persisted and grew. The company continued to trade in wholesale wine spirits, as well as other merchandise, including wool in 1913.[30] By 1921, Henlein & Co. advertised as ‘Wine, Spirit, Produce and General Merchants, Commission and Forwarding Agents, Townsville, stocking all the leading brands in wines, spirits and groceries’.[31] In 1921, Henlein & Co. Ltd purchased the Henlein & Co. Building from its owner, Henry Abbott.[32]
\nHowever, in October 1924 the company went into voluntary liquidation resulting in a regrouping of the business rather than its end, and the sale of the Henlein & Co. Building to the English, Scottish & Australian Bank (ES&A Bank) in 1925. In March 1926, a new limited liability company, Henleins Ltd, was established with £50,000 capital. Through a five-year lease from 1 August 1926, Henleins Ltd continued to share the Henlein & Co. Building with the ES&A Bank and occupied 75 per cent of the 20-perch (1000m2) property.[33] Prior to this, in September 1925, Sigismund and several family members also established Innisfail Stores Ltd at Innisfail, in conjunction with the Moran family. This company traded as retail and wholesale merchants, grocers, fruiterers, amongst other things. By 1928, Henleins Ltd was also operating as a bonded warehouse in Townsville, one of 22 bonded warehouses in Queensland in that year; four of which were located in Townsville.[34]
\nFollowing Sigismund’s death in September 1928, Henleins Ltd was wound up by May 1931,[35] and most likely quit the building by May 1930. The Henlein name continued in the company name Frasers Henleins Ltd, registered on 3 May 1930 and most likely formed through buy-out of Henleins Ltd. Frasers Henleins Ltd (later Fraser Henleins Pty Ltd) based in Sturt Street, Townsville, traded as wholesale merchants in North Queensland until c1946.[36]
\nThe Henlein brothers operated as merchants for more than 30 years in the competitive North Queensland market. Between 1895 and 1918, there were between six and 17 wholesale spirit dealer licences held in Townsville each year, with more based in other towns in North Queensland (rising to 58 in 1914).[37] The company was named as one of the 17 leading mercantile houses in Townsville in 1921[38] and in 1928 the Daily Mercury newspaper in Mackay described the company as a ‘well-known mercantile firm’;[39] while more recently Townsville historian Dorothy Gibson-Wilde called H F Henlein & Co. a leading Townsville liquor wholesaler.[40]
\nJewish migration to Queensland
Jewish people were resident in the Colony of Queensland from the 1860s.[41] Their population rose from 49 in 1861 (0.16% of the total population) to a 19th century peak of 809 in 1891 (0.21% of Queensland population), before falling to 733 in 1901 (0.15% of Queensland’s population of 498,129), before rising again from the 1910s due to events in Europe.[42]
The Henlein brothers were members of a small Jewish community in Townsville, which comprised 11 males and 12 females in 1901. The Townsville community made up 3.14% of the total Jewish population in Queensland of 733, and 0.005% of the state’s total population, in 1901.[43] Oral history states that a room in the home of fellow Jewish man, Sama (original surname: Hillel), who resided nearby at 14 Kennedy Terrace, served as a meeting place for Jewish worship in Townsville.[44] Throughout the 19th century, the majority of Queensland’s Jewish population lived in Brisbane (422 of 733 or 57.3% in 1901), [45] forming the nucleus of the Brisbane Hebrew Congregation founded in Brisbane in 1865.[46] A smaller congregation resided in Toowoomba and established Queensland’s first synagogue in 1876, while Brisbane’s much larger synagogue was consecrated on 18 July 1886.[47] The remainder of the Jewish population was scattered across the colony.[48]
\nQueensland’s early Jewish community (1860s-1920s) assimilated into the wider community. They strongly supported the British Empire and its monarchy, and adopted Britishness.[49] In Brisbane, the presence of a Jewish congregation from 1864 assists identification of its members.[50] Jewish migrants living outside Brisbane usually worked as hawkers, pedlars, or storekeepers in small country towns.[51] Others were tradespeople and merchants, who were often self-employed.[52] According to Jennifer Creese, author of Jewish Life in Queensland: Celebrating 150 years since 1865, in regional Queensland, it is ‘hard to track colonial Jewish business owners because there is very little reliable way to identify them as Jewish because the communities were so small … and often the businessmen convert[ed], or marr[ied] Christians, or [didn’t] record their faith so they [could] fit in’.[53]
\nAs a result, there is little known physical evidence of Jewish people and Jewish-owned commercial buildings in regional and country towns of colonial Queensland during the second half of the 19th century and early 20th century. The Jewish Synagogue in Toowoomba was demolished c1929 after loss of its congregation.[54] The main evidence of the Jewish presence in regional and country Queensland is Jewish gravestones in cemeteries.[55]
\nExtant business/commercial properties purpose-built for Jewish business people from this period in Queensland are few. Regional and country places identified are: the former Henlein & Co. Building, Townsville; the Australian Hotel, Boonah (built by the Blumberg brothers and run by Adolphus and Levi Blumberg, and Levi’s wife Elizabeth from 1888 to 1903); and the Royal Hotel, Mt Usher Road, Bouldercombe, Central Queensland, which was built for Samuel Heiser in 1897 and operated by him.[56]
\nEven in Brisbane, known extant commercial buildings that accommodated Jewish businesses (but were not purpose-built for them) are limited to: The Alderley Arms Hotel, Samford Road, Brisbane (opened 1889), which in 1902 was owned and run by Solomon Lipstein, a well-known Jewish publican and long-time resident of Rockhampton and Pimpama; and the Allan & Stark Annex, Brisbane [QHR 600162 Myer Store (former)], which was built by Thomas Illidge as an investment property in 1881. The first tenant was Jonas M Myers, fancy goods merchant, and also lay leader of the Brisbane Hebrew Congregation.[57]
\nEnglish, Scottish & Australian Bank Changes
Established in Queensland in 1889, the English, Scottish & Australian (ES&A) Bank operated only a Brisbane branch until 1906, when it expanded into rural and regional Queensland. Following its purchase of the Henlein & Co. Building in 1925, the ES&A Bank shared occupancy of the Henlein & Co. Building until 1942.[58]
During the bank’s use of the Henlein & Co. Building, a number of changes were made to the building. The raised cement render letters ‘H.F. HENLEIN & CO’ were cut off the building’s first floor frieze, and four painted signs ‘English Scottish & Australian Bank Limited’ were added to the building’s front. It is possible a bank vault was added into the basement for this occupation or had pre-existed.
\nCarfoots Pty Ltd Changes
In July 1938, the ES&A Bank leased the Henlein & Co. Building to Carfoots Pty Ltd, furniture dealers, for ten years.[59] At the time, this business was described as having ‘built up a State-wide trade as wholesale suppliers of furniture to [Queensland] provincial stores’ and traded as far south as Lismore before entering the retail furniture market in Townsville in 1934. Their existing retail space nearby had become inadequate, so plans were prepared by March 1938 for the Henlein building to be refurbished to include a shop and warehouse for Carfoots, in addition to the bank branch. This would include ‘modern showrooms on two floors with basement accommodation, and a factory adjunct at the rear’, although the latter does not appear to have been accommodated at opening.[60] The showrooms were to have 5500 feet (1676m) of show space and were to be ‘elaborately fitted up, with an attractive frontage and cantilever awning’.[61] Tenders for the remodelling were called from February 1938 by Brisbane-based architects G H M Addison and Son & H S MacDonald in association with Townsville architects Walter and Maurice Hunt.[62]
At its opening day in December 1938, Carfoots’ new premises was described as comprising ‘the whole of the basement, the big part of the ground floor of the building, the large upstairs portion, a spacious mezzanine floor and considerable shed and ground accommodation for packing and handling of delivery’. [63]
\nThe building’s elaborate face brick and cement render street front was altered to facilitate the conversion of the building to a retail shop. This included adding a large footpath awning the full width of the frontage, top hung from the building, and demolishing the front wall below this for the occupants’ new entrances. Carfoots' new 5m (17’) wide frontage, approximately half the building’s total frontage, included a large show window and marble tiled vestibule entrance that extended 12m (40’) from the footpath into the ground floor space. This likely required the demolition of the original floor structure of the ground floor here, and rebuilding it a lower level closer to that of the footpath. Carfoots’ ground floor showroom was approximately 21m (72’) long, and on one side were staff offices. Above the entrance vestibule and show window was a new mezzanine level between ground and first floors, used for storage. A stair led to the first floor, which accommodated a 9m x 27m (30’ x 90’) showroom with ‘large windows and casements’. The basement and rear storage sections of the building were said to ‘extend right back to Ogden-street’, accommodating ‘general purposes such as temporary storage, packing, and arrangements of delivery’.[64]
\nThese descriptions of the size of the building do not correlate with the footprint of the brick building that survives in 2024, which is only approximately 20m long (Carfoots’ ground floor is described as 34m (112’) long with further rooms behind). This indicates that by this time the building included rear sections for further accommodation, which may have been original or additions.
\nOccupation of the building by Carfoots and the ES&A Bank was interrupted during World War II (WWII) when the building was requisitioned for use as a United States Armed Forces Post Office (APO 922), from April 1942 until July 1944. Due to the rapid advance of Japanese forces in the Pacific after December 1941, Townsville became a major staging point for the Allied war effort in the Pacific from 1942. The city’s population increased from about 30,000 to approximately 90,000-100,000. The lack of materials and labour available to the Allies, meant commercial buildings and private homes in Townsville were requisitioned for military purposes. Buildings located in the city centre were close to telecommunication facilities and essential services and many US and Australian military units were based there. During this time, it appears that the vault in the basement of the Henlein & Co. Building was used as a dark room.[65]
\nFollowing WWII, the Henlein & Co. Building was sold to Jack Nicolas Parpoutis in September 1947. In December 1948, he extended the lease to Carfoots for a further 10 years. However, in February 1954, the building was sold to Carfoots Pty Ltd for use by the company and Sunshine Taxis. At this time, the building was described as having a 50m (165’) depth ‘to Odgen Street’, which correlates to the entire length of the allotment.[66]
\nIn 1961, a four-storey concrete and concrete block extension was built over the rear half of the site, accommodating an expansion of Carfoots to occupy all areas of the premises. Designed by Brisbane-based architects Goodsir & Carlyle, the new building required the demolition of an earlier structure (called the ‘Linoleum Department’) attached to the rear of the original main building (age unknown). Other changes were made to the main building, including demolishing its brick rear wall on all levels to connect through to the new building, demolishing interior stairs and office partitions on the ground floor, and demolishing the basement toilets and adding a new concrete basement floor. By this time, the 1938 Flinders Street frontage had been replaced with a single, recessed entrance with large show windows, likely performed c1954.[67]
\nBest & Less changes and later
A new phase in the building’s life commenced in the 1970s. The property was sold to Carricks Limited in September 1976, and quickly resold in May 1977, to clothing retailer Best & Less (Fairfield) Pty Ltd, which operated from the building until c2006.[68]
To modernise the shop front for the Best & Less occupation, in c1977 the frontage was again demolished and replaced.[69] By this time, the front facade had been painted and its first floor timber double-hung windows had been replaced with metal-framed glass louvres. Most of the basement’s timber posts and beams had been demolished and replaced with large concrete posts and beams in new locations of longer spans. It is possible at this time that the basement floor was also concreted. A fire-rated ceiling was added to the ground floor, concealing the timber-framed floor structure of the first floor, and the non-original mezzanines were demolished. A new concrete stair and concrete block stairwell were added to one side of the ground floor, leading up to the first floor, and a suspended ceiling was added to the first floor.[70]
\nIn 2006 the interior was refurbished to accommodate a new fit out, with new partitions constructed throughout the ground floor.
\nAfter 2006, the shop front was again demolished and replaced with aluminium-framed hinged doors and fixed windows forming two entrances, one into the ground floor, and one to a stairwell to the first floor, which operated as separate tenancies to the ground floor. The first floor was partitioned into small offices and a suspended ceiling was installed throughout. This ceiling obscured an earlier, coved, timber beaded-board-lined ceiling with lattice vents and iron tie rods.
\nFrom September 2019, part of the ground floor and part of the basement was leased to an art studio and gallery.[71] Around 2023, further modern partitions were added to the first floor to accommodate a new multi-tenancy occupation.
\nIn 2024, the Henlein & Co. Building (former) is used for multiple tenancies, and an art gallery and studio. While the building has been used as a multi-tenancy commercial building for many years, it retains original features from its warehouse use. Purpose-built for H F Henlein & Co., the building is rare, known, surviving physical evidence of the commercial activities of Jewish people in Queensland before the 1930s.
","criteria":"Henlein & Co. Building (former), as rare surviving physical evidence of the commercial activities of Jewish immigrants, many of whom conducted businesses contributing to Queensland’s commercial development during the colonial period and early 20th century, is important in demonstrating the Jewish diaspora in Queensland. The building (constructed 1902) retains original and early interior fabric and surviving original features of the facade.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15683,"place_ref":600908,"name":"Great Northern Hotel","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"500 Flinders Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Great Northern Hotel is located on a prominent corner site at the intersection of Flinders and Blackwood Streets, within an historic precinct which includes the 1914 Townsville Railway Station and oval lawn, garden and mature trees [600906], the 1932 Newmarket Hotel on the opposite corner, and the vista towards Castle Hill.
The Great Northern Hotel is a substantial two-storeyed, L-shaped brick building with facades to Flinders and Blackwood Streets. It has a corrugated-iron roof, hidden behind a parapet decorated with classical motifs. Wide verandahs with bullnose roofing, cast-iron balustrading and friezes and a wooden valance on the lower level, adorn both street frontages. The timber verandah posts on the ground floor are decorated with fluted columns and capitals, and leadlight glass is a feature of the street level windows.
Internally the building remains largely intact, despite some refurbishment of the Flinders Street wing of the ground floor, which contains the public bars. At this eastern end part of the ground floor has been converted into two shops and one has been reconstructed to form part of a second bar area. The main entrance doors in the Flinders Street wing have been replaced with aluminium and the bars refurbished.
The main door of the hotel addresses Blackwood Street, closest to the railway station and leading to the reception, dining and accommodation areas of the hotel. This entrance retains its original timber joinery and sidelights and opens into a foyer with the original timber dado panelling. To the left of this foyer is the original office and office furniture. The former dining room to the right has been converted into a reception room and a new dining room opened in a room through the leadlight doors at the back of the foyer. The main internal staircase, rising from the Blackwood Street foyer, has well-crafted turned timber balusters and above the landing is a feature window with early leadlight central panes.
Upstairs, there has been little alteration to the fabric of the building. The ceilings and most of the bedroom partition walls are the original tongue and groove boarding [horizontally-jointed on the walls]. Many of the original fretwork panels above the internal doors survive, while others have been replaced with glass or timber. The upstairs rooms are accessed from a T-shaped hallway with decorative masonry archways at regular intervals, and each bedroom has french doors opening onto front or rear verandahs.
","history":"The Great Northern Hotel, a large, two-storeyed brick and timber hotel, was erected in 1900-01 for Townsville timber firm Wilson Hart & Company, owners of the site. It was designed by prominent Townsville architects Tunbridge and Tunbridge.
The application to build the Great Northern Hotel appears to have been initiated following the State government's announcement in 1900 of plans to erect a new Townsville railway terminus on land off Blackwood Street beside Ross Creek, which would bring the terminus closer to the eastern end of Flinders Street and to the retail and business heart of Townsville. Almost immediately [June 1900], applications were lodged to erect hotels on two corners of the nearby intersection of Flinders and Blackwood Streets - one being the Great Northern, the other replacing an existing hotel [the Newmarket?]. Both applicants intended to erect first-class hotels, both argued that Townsville suffered a lack of first-class accommodation - the hotels erected during the boom of the 1880s no longer offering the level of comfort and facilities required by turn-of-the-century travellers - and both applications were approved provided the buildings were erected within the time specified [9 months in each case]. Only the Great Northern came to fruition, and when opened early in 1901, was marketed as the hotel closest to the new Townsville terminus of the Great Northern Railway - hence the name of the hotel.
The architects, Tunbridge & Tunbridge, designed a first class brick and timber hotel of 36 bedrooms, estimated to cost between £8,000 and £9,000. The Tunbridge brothers [Walter Howard and Oliver Allan] had entered into partnership in Townsville in 1887, and soon developed a substantial North Queensland architectural practice with offices in Charters Towers and later Rockhampton. Tunbridge and Tunbridge designed many Townsville hotels, including the Metropole [1887], Victoria Park [1896], Lowth's [1897 - demolished], Victoria Bridge [1900 - demolished], Empire [1901], Sovereign [1904] and Carriers Arms [1906 - demolished].
Although work on preparing the Blackwood Street site for the new railway terminus was underway in 1900, the station building was not erected until 1914. Despite this delay, the Great Northern Hotel proved popular with travellers from its opening. Designed and run as a first-class hotel, the Great Northern offered a high standard of service, good food, comfortable airy bedrooms and spacious public rooms. It also played a major role in the social life of the growing town. As with most early hotels in Australia, the Great Northern was a place for the community to meet and socialise, and for nearly a century the hotel has remained a popular drinking venue and prominent and well-known element of the city townscape.
","criteria":"The Great Northern Hotel, erected 1900-01 in anticipation of the extension east to Blackwood Street of the Townsville railway terminus, illustrates the pattern of Queensland's history.
|It is a well preserved building valued by the local community and visitors alike as a symbol of tropical Townsville, and has the potential to contribute significantly to further study of Queensland hotel architecture.
|The Great Northern Hotel survives as a good example of its type, demonstrating the principal characteristics of a two-storeyed brick verandahed hotel with elaborate external cast-iron decorative detailing, most commonly found in tropical Australia. It exemplifies the gracious, slower early 20th century lifestyle of the western landowners and travellers for whom it was built, and survives as Townsville's finest example of this style of architecture.
|The aesthetically pleasing facade in particular survives remarkably intact, and its decorative detailing, combined with the substantial scale of the building and its prominent corner position, make a strong contribution to the streetscape of Flinders Street, and to the townscape of Townsville.
|The building has functioned as a hotel and performed a strong social role in the life of the Townsville community for close to a century, and as such has a strong association for Townsville residents with their social history.
It is a well preserved building valued by the local community and visitors alike as a symbol of tropical Townsville, and has the potential to contribute significantly to further study of Queensland hotel architecture.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion C | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15684,"place_ref":600909,"name":"Queensland Building","alternate_name":"North Queensland Insurance Building","street_address":"104-106 Flinders Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Queensland Building is located on the south east corner of Wickham and Flinders Streets, Townsville, and has been designed to make the best use of its position with frontages to both streets and a corner entrance. It is across the street from the former headquarters of Burns Philp and Company which has similarities of form and detail.
The Queensland Building is a 3 storey structure of rendered brick in a free classical style with arcades at each level. There are pronounced cornice mouldings marking each storey. The central entrance is approached by a flight of low steps and is surmounted by a triangular broken pediment. It is flanked by a 3 bay arcade on each side, the round headed arches being separated by pilasters with Doric capitals. The arches on the ground floor have been filled in with glass to create windows and have round canvas window hoods.
The arcade on the first floor is similar in form but has Ionic capitals and a balustrade linking the arches. Sash windows are visible in the wall to the rear of the loggia created. The top floor is similar in form, but the arches are separated by consoles. The area above these was originally profusely decorated with swags of moulded render, but is now plain. The roof is concealed by a simple parapet of rendered brick.
","history":"The Queensland Building was built in 1890-2 by the important North Queensland firm of Burns, Philp Co. Ltd. as the headquarters for its subsidiary insurance company, which role it retained for over eighty years.
Townsville was established in 1864 by partners John Melton Black and Robert Towns and was gazetted as a port of entry in 1865. It grew quickly as a supply centre and by 1873 the port was receiving international as well as coastal traffic. Improvements were carried out to improve facilities and to allow larger ships to anchor. By 1880 Townsville was the port for several major goldfields and had opened the first stage of the railway line westwards through Charters Towers and beyond, consolidating its importance as a port and mercantile centre. Townsville had many prosperous mercantile and shipping firms including the major partnership of Burns Philp.
James Burns arrived in Brisbane in 1862 with his brother John, who set up a store there while James worked on a pastoral run. In 1867, James established a store in Gympie, beginning a long commercial association with mining fields. In 1872 he moved to Townsville and set up his own business there, as improvements to the port and the wharves on Ross Creek were beginning. He was joined in 1874 by Robert Philp who had previously worked for shipping agents in Brisbane. Burns moved to Sydney in 1877 and established himself as an importer and shipping agent, while Philp continued business in the north. In 1883 they formed a company, Burns Philp and Company Limited, registered in Sydney. Philp was elected to Parliament in 1886 but continued to represent the northern interests of his company.
Burns Philp developed rapidly during the boom of the 1880s and Townsville owed much of its importance to the fact that it was the headquarters of this company. Within a decade of Burns arrival in Townsville, the company dominated trade in North Queensland, supplying a huge range of goods and establishing branches in such places as Charters Towers. They also became a major player in Pacific and New Guinea trading. By the time that the Queensland Building was constructed, Burns Philp had passed beyond being a North Queensland company only and had shed some of its local retail activities, selling its drapery interest to Hollis Hopkins, for instance. It's shipping business was so important that the North Queensland Insurance Company was initially formed in 1886 to cover its own maritime interests.
The land on which the Queensland Building stands was originally purchased by Robert Towns and John Melton Black in 1867. It was situated near the Burns Philp wharves on Ross River and at the opposite corner of Wickham Street from the Burns Philp Offices. In 1890, Burns Philp purchased the land for an office for its subsidiary insurance company. Sydney-based architect Mark Cooper Day, who had just completed a house for Sir James Burns at Parramatta, was engaged to design the building. Construction was carried out by the Brisbane builders John Petrie and Son and supervised by local architects Eyre and Munro. When completed, the quality of the workmanship in the building was highly praised. The position of the new offices in relationship to the existing Burns Philp and Company building on the other side of the intersection may have been taken into account in the design, so that two company buildings harmonious in scale and design formed a gateway to the Burns Philp wharves on Ross Creek beyond.
The North Queensland Insurance building originally provided space on the ground floor for the resident company secretary, the manager, public offices, a strong room and stationery room. The two upper floors had two suites of offices with strong rooms on each floor. North Queensland Insurance was highly successful and soon moved into other areas of insurance, absorbing North Australian Lloyds in 1887 and in 1896 took over the Sydney-based Lloyds Underwriters' Association. To reflect its wider business interest the word 'North' was dropped from the company name in 1907.
In 1946, part of the block surrounding the offices was subdivided and sold. In 1971 Cyclone Althea took the roof off the building and damaged the ornate parapet. The mansard roof was not replaced and new, lower ceilings were installed during repairs. The current plain parapet was probably installed at this time. In 1972, The offices were purchased by the Townsville Harbour Board, who leased out office space. During the 1970s and early 1980s, the building was tenanted by a doctor who used the two lower floors as consulting rooms and who filled in the arches of the arcade with windows. The top floor was used as offices and living accommodation by an architect.
In 1987 the building was bought by Barrier Reef Resources who used part of the building as a residence. It has been for some years the head office of a group of companies. The interior contains offices and residential accomodation of the top floor. The exterior of the building is little changed in form, although some of the surface decoration carried out in moulded render, which can be seen in early photographs, has been removed. The Museum of Tropical Queensland has been constructed on adjoining land.
","criteria":"The style and quality of the Queensland Building demonstrates the prosperity of Townsville in the 1880s and reflects the way in which North Queensland was developed by the establishment of key ports as commercial and administrative centres. As the premises of a maritime insurance company set up to serve the enterprises of Burns, Philp and Company Limited, the building is closely associated with this development.
|The Queensland Building is important as a good example of a substantial nineteenth century office building in North Queensland which has design elements to accommodate a tropical climate.
|It is located on the major intersection of Wickham and Flinders Streets, where, by its design, form and materials, it makes a substantial visual contribution to the character of the city.
|The Queensland Building is closely associated with the mercantile entity of Burns Philp and Company Limited, who were an important component in the development of Queensland, as a purpose built office for its subsidiary insurance company.
","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":15686,"place_ref":600911,"name":"Townsville Post Office (former)","alternate_name":"The Brewery","street_address":"252-270 Flinders Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2003-05-30","description":"The Post Office is a cement-rendered brick building, which displays Renaissance features. Its asymmetric facade has a loggia on the lower level, which shades the building along Flinders and Denham Streets and a verandah along the front and side facade of the upper level. The lowpitched hipped roof of corrugated iron extends into four gabled projections, while a slender clocktower and parapeted cupola dominates the corner.
\nOn the upper level, french doors open onto the verandah, with sashed windows in all other openings. The interior is not as intact as the facade because of years of alterations. The building stands in a commanding position in the streetscape at the eastern end of Flinders Mall. It can be seen from across Ross Creek and enhances the western end of historic Flinders Street East. Despite interior modifications, the basic structure is intact and in excellent condition.
","history":"The Post Office was constructed in 1886 at a cost of £17,235. Dennis Kellcher submitted a tender and carried out extensions in 1888, while a clock tower was built by Henry L Davis & Co. Chimes were imported from England in 1889 and installed by 1891. As a result of severe bomb damage done to buildings in Darwin, the clocktower was dismantled in 1942 and the mechanism was stored away. A greatly modified tower was built in 1963-64 by JE Allen & Co. of Townsville at a cost of £42,135. The interior was also modernisation at this time. Because of its prominent location, the Post Office often became the scene of political rallies around a speaker on a soap box.
","criteria":"The Post Office is a most significant building of its type and in its particular location. It is a fine example of a purpose-built colonial government building displaying Renaissance elements.
For over one hundred years it has been a landmark in the streetscape of the town.
|The Post Office is a most significant building of its type and in its particular location. It is a fine example of a purpose-built colonial government building displaying Renaissance elements.
|For over one hundred years it has been a landmark in the streetscape of the town.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15687,"place_ref":600912,"name":"Perc Tucker Regional Gallery","alternate_name":"Union Bank of Australia | Australian & New Zealand Bank","street_address":"253-259 Flinders Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Perc Tucker Regional Gallery is prominently situated on an important corner allotment of the city. It is a classically designed building which is constructed of cement rendered brick. It has colonnaded verandahs on both floors of the Flinders Street Denham Street facades.
The facades consist of Roman arches with pilasters enhanced by Corinthian capitals. The whole is surmounted by a simple but effective Italianate parapet which conceals the roof.
The ground floor, which originally housed the banking chamber, has been refurbished as an art gallery display area. A side entrance in Denham Street leads to an entrance vestibule and a staircase to the upper level. This was once the domestic quarters of the bank manager, but has been converted to storage, toilets and additional display space.
The modernised interior contains an acoustic ceiling, fluorescent lights, air conditioning vents and an elevator.
A brick extension with a corrugated iron roof has been added at the rear, together with an external fire escape, and a skillion over the back entrance.
","history":"This building was erected 1884-86 as single-storeyed premises, designed by former Queensland colonial architect FDG Stanley for the Union Bank of Australia. The second storey, possibly designed by Cairns architects Hill and Taylor, was added c1933.
Townsville was established in the mid-1860s to service the pastoral lands of the interior, and with the opening of the Charters Towers goldfields in the 1870s, developed rapidly. By the early 1880s Townsville businesses were consolidating, timber commercial premises, particularly those along Flinders Street, were being replaced by brick, and it was clear that Townsville had a strong future. A branch of the Australian Joint Stock Bank had opened at Townsville in February 1866, of the Bank of New South Wales in March 1866, of the Queensland National Bank in 1873, and of the Bank of Australasia in January 1881.
On 21 February 1881 a branch of the Union Bank opened in Townsville in rented premises. About 1882 the bank acquired the site at the corner of Flinders and Denham Streets, then occupied by a c1866 hotel, which was demolished in 1884 to make way for the new Union Bank building.
The new offices were designed by Francis Drummond Greville Stanley, who as colonial architect from 1873 to 1881 was responsible for Townsville's more imposing public buildings, including the 1877 magistrates court [600929], the first hospital (1870s), the 1878 gaol, and the 1879 telegraph office. From the late 1870s to the late 1890s Stanley designed a substantial number of bank buildings in Queensland for the Queensland National Bank, the Australian Joint Stock Bank, and the Union Bank. In Townsville he designed 3 large masonry bank premises: the Queensland National Bank [1878-79 - 600905], the Union Bank [1884-86 - 600912] and the Australian Joint Stock Bank [1886-87 - 600895]. Each of these survives, and as a group they offer important evidence of Stanley's adaptation of classical design to a tropical climate.
During the latter part of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century Townsville, with its port and railhead, grew to be an important commercial centre. This economic growth necessitated the addition of an upper floor to the Union Bank building in the 1930s. The extensions are thought to be the work of Cairns architects Richard Hill and AJH Taylor. In detail and form they mimicked Stanley's design and were skilfully executed.
In 1951 the Union Bank of Australia amalgamated with the Bank of Australasia to form the Australian & New Zealand Banking Corporation. For several years both Townsville branch buildings, on opposite corners at the intersection of Flinders and Denham streets, traded as the ANZ bank. In 1955 the former Bank of Australasia branch was closed, but ANZ continued trading from the former Union Bank premises. At this time some alterations were made to the interior.
In 1981 new premises in Sturt Street were opened for the ANZ Bank and their building at the corner of Flinders and Denham streets was sold to the Townsville City Council. The council converted the building into the Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, named in honour of a former mayor of Townsville who was a long time campaigner for an art gallery in the city. The gallery displays the city's art collections and visiting exhibitions.
","criteria":"Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, erected c1885 as a single-storeyed building with a c1933 second storey, survives as a good illustration of the effect of the 1880s 'gold' boom in transforming Townsville from a shanty town into the most important port in North Queensland.
|In the elegant facade, the building demonstrates the principal features of a regional bank whose classical design, by prominent architect FDG Stanley, is adapted to tropical conditions by the use of verandahs.
|The Perc Tucker Regional Gallery is an imposing and aesthetically pleasing building which makes a strong contribution to the streetscape both by its prominence and its corner position, its landmark qualities linking the Flinders Street East heritage streetscape with that of Denham Street.
|The building is significant for its strong association with the work of the Union and ANZ banks in Townsville, and more recently with the Townsville City Council and its establishment of the Perc Tucker Gallery. As one of a group of three late 20th century masonry bank buildings in Townsville designed by Stanley, it provides important evidence of Stanley's work in adapting classical design to suit the climatic conditions of the tropical North. The 1930s additions, which echoed the Stanley design, evidence the success of the original work.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15688,"place_ref":600913,"name":"Agora House","alternate_name":"Reid & Bruce Ltd Building | Patterson | Howard Smith Company Building","street_address":"224 Flinders Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Agora House is a two-storeyed concrete building fronting Flinders Street to the northwest, with Denham Lane to the rear.
The ground floor has a central recessed entry, with double doors and fanlights into a shop either side and a central foyer. Each shop has a large display window, and a recessed entrance door, leading to a staircase to the first floor, is situated on the western side. A metal awning is slung from the first floor, which has a recessed loggia and a parapet concealing the roof form, which is possibly shallow, hipped corrugated iron with ridge ventilation.
The first floor loggia consists of three arched bays with rendered balustrade, separated by pilasters supporting deep cornices on either side of a raised central rounded pediment surmounted by a shield. Sash windows open onto the loggia, with a door at the eastern end.
The rear of the building has metal framed hopper windows with a two-storeyed, skillion roofed amenities addition on the western side, and a single-storeyed carport/loading area with roller doors beside.
Internally, the central foyer splays open off a short hall and has a shop at the rear. The foyer space has a row of original cast iron columns along the eastern side and a recessed lighting grid to the ceiling. The eastern shop has a section of pressed metal ceiling at the front, and enclosed window openings can be seen along the eastern wall. The rear shop has a strongroom and a large sliding door to the rear carport/loading area.
The first floor possibly has rooms at the front, a large open space behind with a kitchenette and bathroom along the rear wall, and sections of raised timber floor.
","history":"This two-storeyed commercial building was erected in 1910-11 as new offices for the Townsville branch of the Howard Smith Company Ltd, a substantial Australian coastal shipping company.
The firm was established in Melbourne in the early 1850s by Captain William Howard Smith. Its operations were extended to Central Queensland in 1870, and to Townsville in 1882, in the form of an agency. The firm, by then known as Howard Smith & Sons Ltd, made an important economic contribution to the development of North Queensland through its trading ventures and shipping network.
By the 1890s a Townsville branch had been established at Queen's Wharf. About 1900 the firm leased a single-storeyed brick building in Flinders Street [600918], erected for them by shipping and commercial agents Aplin, Brown & Crawshay, who occupied the adjacent building at the corner of Flinders and Denham Streets. Shortly after this, in 1901, the business was reconstructed as the Howard Smith Company Ltd. In 1909 Harry Bellingham Howard Smith (managing director of the company and son of the founder of the firm) purchased two allotments on the other side of the leased premises in Flinders Street. On these, Howard Smith Company's own building was erected in 1910-11, and occupied in March 1911.
The new building was designed by Townsville architects Charles Dalton Lynch and Walter Hunt, and was erected by contractors Hanson & Sons. It was considered to be of progressive construction at the time. The front section of the building was two-storeyed, and contained offices for lease. The rear was single-storeyed, and contained a single large chamber which accommodated the company's own offices. Part of this space was enclosed by a counter, which was flanked by offices of the manager, accountant, correspondence clerks and engineer. These were divided by low partitions in silky oak and oriental glass. Above was a flat roof of reinforced concrete and a large skylight, with windows operated by continuous rod-gearing. The architects invented their own formula for waterproofing the concrete roof. A second storey, with a clerestory, had been added to this rear section in 1920.
Howard Smith sold the building in 1969 to Paterson Reid & Bruce Ltd, and in 1979 the present owners acquired the building. The ground floor interior was altered to accommodate three shops, and it is understood the name was changed to Agora House at this time. In 1991 the first floor was converted to residential accommodation.
","criteria":"Agora House, erected in 1910-11, is important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history, being surviving evidence in Townsville of the important Queensland economic recovery of the early 20th century; an early use of concrete construction in a Townsville commercial building; and evidence of the continued development of Townsville as the principal port of North Queensland in the early 20th century.
|It is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of an early 20th century, two-storeyed commercial building in Townsville.
|It is important in exhibiting a range of aesthetic characteristics valued by the Townsville community, in particular the contribution of the building, through its composition of classical elements, to the streetscape of Flinders Street and to the Townsville townscape; and the quality of design of the building and surviving original interior elements.
|It has a special association with the important Australian coastal shipping firm Howard Smith Company Ltd, and its contribution to the economic development of Townsville and North 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":15689,"place_ref":600914,"name":"Burns, Philp & Company Ltd Building (former)","alternate_name":"Burns, Philp & Co.","street_address":"108-124 Flinders Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1993-08-27","description":"The former Burns, Philp and Company Ltd building, located on the southern corner of Flinders and Wickham Streets with Ross Creek at the rear, is a rendered masonry building consisting of a two-storeyed corner section with an adjoining three-storeyed section along Flinders Street.
The two-storeyed corner section consists of five arched bays along Wickham Street, a corner bay and two bays along Flinders Street. Each bay is separated by a pilaster, with a deep cornice between floors and at the roofline concealing a hipped corrugated iron roof. Originally an open arcade, the arched bays have been enclosed with metal framed glazing with an open corner entrance at the ground level. The corner is surmounted by a pavilion, consisting of paired arches, rendered balustrade and a rebuilt ogee shaped roof with diamond pattern metal tiles. The corner nightclub entrance below has a mosaic style tiled floor and steel gates.
The facade of the three-storeyed Flinders Street section, consists of four bays separated by paired pilasters with a deep cornice at the roofline concealing a curved corrugated iron roof, which is evident on the southwest end elevation. Each bay, except the second last bay, houses a pair of aluminium framed windows per floor. The other has four windows per floor, with the ground floor having been remodelled with an unbalanced single entry with two windows, and cantilevered awning. The rear of this section has aluminium framed windows.
Internally, the corner section has been refitted as a nightclub on both floors. The ground floor extends into the adjoining section through openings framed by paired columns supporting an entablature, part of which is missing, with a deep cornice and surmounted by false arched fanlights. Cast iron columns, located centrally, bear plaques with the date 1895. Most fixtures, fittings and finishes are recent, including the staircase, ceilings, air conditioning, rear kitchen and toilets.
The Flinders Street section has a central entry and staircase with office space to either side. Only the exterior walls remain from this section of the original building.
A plant room, constructed in 1978, is attached to the rear of the building, and contains a sub-station and switchboard on the ground floor, air-conditioning plant on the first floor and a cooling tower room on the second floor.
","history":"This large masonry building was erected in 1895 as the principal offices and warehouse for Burns, Philp & Company Ltd, one of North Queensland's most successful trading enterprises.
\nThe firm was founded in Townsville in 1873, when James Burns established a general retail business in Flinders Street. Robert Philp (later Sir Robert, KCMG and twice Queensland premier) acquired a share in the business in 1876. Due to ill health, Burns returned to Sydney in 1877, leaving Philp to manage the Townsville store.
\nIn the late 1870s and early 1880s, Burns and Philp individually established trading networks in North Queensland, which were amalgamated as Burns, Philp & Company Ltd in 1883. By 1887 the company had disposed of their retail concerns, concentrating on the importation and wholesaling of general merchandise, and general shipping and insurance, with branches in London, Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns, Thursday Island, Normanton, Charters Towers, Cooktown and New Guinea. The firm was employing 300 persons, owned their own fleet of small trading vessels, and was pioneering trade, communications and exploration throughout North Queensland, New Guinea and the South Pacific. The company also had interests in North Queensland sugar, gold and pastoralism. Although Robert Philp was bankrupted in the 1890s and resigned his interests in the firm in 1893, the name of Burns, Philp & Company Ltd was retained.
\nIn Townsville, Burns, Philp & Company Ltd had acquired approximately 200 metres of Ross Creek frontage, on which they erected wharves and warehouses, with their offices in an old building which had been erected in the 1860s for Robert Towns and John Melton Black, the founders of Townsville. By 1895, Burns, Philp & Company Ltd dominated trade in Townsville, and their importance to this town and to North Queensland in general was illustrated in the erection of substantial new premises.
\nThe new building was erected in nine months by contractor GS Gordon, and was opened on 12 November 1895. It was designed by Sydney architects the McCredie Brothers. Claude Chambers, in partnership with the McCredies from 1889-1893, supervised the construction of this building to the design of George McCredie. Arthur McCredie designed Burns, Philp & Company Ltd's principal Sydney offices, completed in 1901 and extended in 1909. [1]
\nThe two-storeyed section with frontages to Wickham and Flinders Streets housed the main offices: the shipping department on the ground floor and the manager's office and cashiers' and correspondence department on the upper floor. There was also a strong room and lavatory at each level. The three-storeyed section fronting Flinders Street was mainly warehousing, although the merchandise department, and behind this, the spirit room, were located on the ground floor adjacent to the shipping office, and accessed from this office via a door beneath the front staircase.
\nThe building was designed for expansion. The walls, including the north-western end wall of the warehouse, were constructed with bricked-in arches to facilitate later extensions. In 1903 the company planned a three-storeyed brick extension to the warehouse along Flinders Street; this scheme was not carried out, but in 1913-14 a long, single-storeyed, concrete warehouse extension was erected (no longer extant).
\nIn 1922, the company's architect in Townsville, Walter Hunt, designed alterations to the offices and ground floor of the warehouse, extending the office area. These were carried out in three stages during 1922 and 1923. At this period, the arches separating the shipping and merchandising departments were exposed, and the large arched doorway from Flinders Street into the warehouse was bricked in, and three windows were placed in the bay.
\nOn 22 January 1949, fire gutted two floors of the hardware section of the building, causing substantial damage to the interior of the warehouse, including the collapse of the first floor.[2] The roof and floors were replaced.
\nBurns, Philp & Company Ltd retained the building until 1977. At this stage the two-storeyed section was converted into a night club, a doorway was cut in the second end bay of the former warehouse, and the latter was converted to office accommodation. The building (including the former office accommodation) has largely been used as an entertainment venue since its initial conversion, with the property transferred to new owners in 2021.
","criteria":"The former Burns Philp & Company Ltd Building, Townsville, erected in 1895, is important in demonstrating the evolution and pattern of Queensland's history, being evidence of the close association between Burns, Philp & Company Ltd and the development of Townsville as the principal town and port of North Queensland in the late 19th century.
|It demonstrates several rare aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage, being the only surviving 19th century warehouse/office complex along Ross Creek, and a surviving remnant of Burns, Philp & Company Ltd's former substantial Townsville complex which, in the 1890s, extended along 200 metres of Ross Creek, back to Flinders Street, and across Wickham Street, and included shipping and insurance offices, a passenger depot, wharves, warehouses and workshops.
|It is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a substantial commercial building in which the combined functions of offices and warehouse are reflected in the hierarchy of its classically derived architecture; and of the commercial work of Sydney architects McCredie Bros.
|It is important in exhibiting a range of aesthetic characteristics valued by the Townsville community, in particular the strong streetscape and townscape contribution it makes as it addresses the intersection of Flinders and Wickham Streets; the quality of design of the building; and surviving interior elements.
|It has a strong and special association with the Townsville community as a local landmark and as a focus for community pride in Townsville's historical development as the principal port of North Queensland.
|It has a special association with the important and successful Burns, Philp & Company Ltd, its origins in Townsville, and its substantial contribution to the development of North Queensland in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15691,"place_ref":600916,"name":"Tattersalls Hotel","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"87 Flinders Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"1899 Tattersall's Hotel with incorporated 1868 remnant.
Tattersall's Hotel is part of the Flinders Street East Precinct. Tattersall's Hotel is a two-storeyed rendered brick building with frontages to Flinders and Wickham Streets. A timber verandah supported on timber posts extends along the two street frontages. The verandah has a cast iron balustrade separated by double timber posts. The iron lace is of a rare design.
Tattersall's Hotel is located on a prominent corner site at the intersection of Flinders and Wickham Streets, within an historic precinct which includes the Queensland Building (QHR 600909) the former Australian Meat Industry Employees Union (QHR 600890) and the former Burns, Philp & Company Ltd building (QHR 600914).
It has a single pitched corrugated iron roof, hidden behind a parapet. Bull nosed awnings, wide verandah's and a wooden valance adorn both street frontages.
The exterior of the hotel has changed little with the exception of the original curved valance which was replaced with a horizontal profile during the 1960s. A remnant section of the original valance design still exists at the angled corner of the hotel.
Up to four former doorways on the footpath of the Wickham Street section have been bricked in and rendered. This is the 1868 balconied section that was incorporated into the 1899 extension.
Ground floor
There are two bars on the Flinders and Wickham Street frontages. Almost no original fabric is visible, the walls being rendered and the ceiling covered in fibro. Over the bar area air conditioning ducting has been enclosed in a lowered ceiling.
A cellar exists under the bar area. It was filled with cracker dust approximately ten years ago as it had become unusable due to water penetration.
A timber internal staircase rises from the Flinders Street foyer. It has a well-crafted turned timber baluster on one side and handrail height panelling against the wall.
First floor
Several guest rooms from the 1899 extension remain with enamel room numbers located on doors. Many original fanlight panels and ceiling roses are extant.
Courtyard
An open area exists to the rear of the building which originally contained a section of the 1868 extension. What appeared to have been a U -shaped courtyard has since been covered over with a1960s singe storey masonry extension.
","history":"The City of Townsville was established in 1864 as a port for rapidly developing pastoral districts in the hinterland. John Melton Black, who had pastoral runs in the Cleveland Bay area, formed a partnership with Robert Towns to secure financial backing for plans to establish a port at the mouth of Ross Creek. The port was proclaimed in October 1865 and by the end of the year the population was between 100-200 people. Townsville was proclaimed a municipality in 1866 and became the centre of substantial and continuous growth, particularly with the discovery of five major goldfields in the vicinity within six years.
Wharves, stores, shops, hotels and housing were rapidly established at the new port. The land now at the corner of Wickham and Flinders Streets proved an ideal location for a hotel. Opposite the wharves, the site was first developed by Hermann de Zoet & Company as the 'Townsville Boarding House, Cleveland Bay' in 1865. In December 1865 de Zoet applied for a licence for the Townsville on the same site at the corner of Flinders and Wickham Street.
The original hotel was a single storey timber building of simple design incorporating two sitting rooms and four bed rooms with an awning facing both streets. In 1866 Joseph Fletcher and Bernard O'Neill purchased the property, retaining the hotel for six months before selling in December to Alexander Mollison.
In March 1867 the township experienced its first cyclone which destroyed the hotel and much of the town. Mollison rebuilt the hotel in a matter of weeks and reopened with 'a Grand Ball'. However by the time he reopened the hotel he had exhausted his funds and he died the following year. The place was purchased by James Evans who renamed the hotel Tattersall's. This name evoked the model of sporting clubs established in Britain and their connection with horse racing, a sport which Evans was actively involved in. At this time Townsville's Tattersall's Hotel was only the second Tattersall's in Queensland, a club having been established in Adelaide Street, Brisbane in 1856.
On 11 April 1868 the Cleveland Bay Express featured a tender notice for a two storey extension to the hotel. The decision to expand was probably due to both economic and environmental factors. Recent gold discoveries had brought more mining prospectors to the town, and a better class of hotel was required to compete with the likes of the popular Criterion and Exchange hotels. A decision to construct out of brick may also have been a direct response to the cyclone the previous year.
The new section in Wickham Street consisted of two, two-storeyed buildings. Both were constructed of imported brick, as brickworks were not yet established in Townsville. When travelling down Wickham Street from The Strand, the first of the two new buildings was a plain building with access from the street. The next building adjoining the 1865 timber hotel featured a balcony with a timber balustrade which incorporated simple cross braced panels and a facia with an unusual corrugated decoration.
Evans incorporated an "American Bowling Saloon" to attract clients, provide entertainment and fill the void of bowling activity left after the destruction of the saloon at Hamilton's Hotel in Denham Street by the 1867 cyclone.
Although Flinders Street may have been the commercial centre of the township, Wickham Street was the administrative core. By the end of the 1860s it contained the Court and Customs House, Telegraph House, Post Office and a Bank. In July 1869 Evans advertised that the hotel had received 'extensive improvements and additions' and could accommodate 'a much larger circle of patrons in 'first-class style'; [it] had 'cool' ale, spirits, porter and wines always on hand as well as 'first class stabling'.
The Townsville economy continued to boom in the 1870s and 1880s as the gold fields created new markets for the flagging pastoral industry. New industries were developed such as sugar crops and manufacturing. Infrastructure and administration also developed as the population expanded to total 1500 in 1875. Civic and commercial works underlined Townsville's growing importance as the regional centre and port of an extensive pastoral and mineral district.
Evans left Tattersall's in 1872 to supervise the building of his new 'Queens Hotel' on the Strand. James McGrath became the licensee of Tattersall's in 1874 beginning a long association of the extended McGrath family with the hotel. Following his death in 1878, his son Daniel McGrath became the licensee. In that year, Thomas Enright, who became a leading community figure associated with Tattersall's hotel, became the licensee of the Post Office Hotel, Townsville. Enright had come to Townsville in 1878 working with his father, Thomas Enright senior on a variety of civil infrastructure projects. He had spent the previous years from 1876 exploring the Hodgkinson region inland from Cairns (a potential goldfield) and before that had been licensee of the Commercial hotel at 'Sadlier's Waterholes' [Morven] from 1873-75 and the Drover's Arms, Hoganthulla 1875-77.
In 1881, the original 1865 hotel was demolished. In its place, a two-storeyed timber and corrugated galvanised iron structure was added to the brick 1868 section. It featured exposed framing and lace brackets on the supporting posts of the verandah and roof. The new Tattersall's was reported to be 'a handsome new structure'.
In April 1884 Enright transferred the license of the Post Office Hotel to JR Riley while Daniel McGrath continued to hold the license to Tattersall's. In 1885 Enright's wife tragically died and in the following year he took over the license and running of Tattersall's Hotel. Townsville continued to boom with the population growing from 1500 in 1875 to 3032 in the 1881 census. Tattersall's was centrally located in the growing township with the town's first buses operating from the hotel and continued to be the terminus of Townsville bus routes for nearly a century.
During the 1880s the growth of the sugar and mineral industries encouraged the construction of rail lines from Townsville to Ayr, Charters Towers and Hughenden. There was also considerable expenditure on harbour improvements with the construction of jetties at Ross Island and improvements to the eastern breakwater.
Enright remarried in 1888 to Miss Parker, the daughter of a leading Ipswich butcher and he continued to run the new Tattersall's. By 1895, Townsville had grown to the extent that Tattersall's was considered to be 'one of the few connecting links between old and new Townsville'. The new hotel was considered to be one of the most comfortable in the municipality accommodating fifty. The hotel had a bottle department selling directly imported liquor and made up and dispatched country orders. Enright was also the sole promoter of Nimrod's Consultations which conducted horse racing sweeps that were 'becoming more and more popular'.
In June 1895 a right of way added to the rear of the property, presumably to enable better service access. It is unclear whether the partial demolition of the non-balconied 1868 extension occurred at this time or whether it was severely damaged during Cyclone Sigma in 1897. The remaining section was rendered from the street frontage, presenting a blank wall and the roofline totally altered. Images taken soon after Cyclone Leonta in 1903 reveal this remnant section, detached from the main hotel. It remains the oldest identified building in Townsville.
In 1899 shortly after being elected mayor, Enright replaced the 1881 two-storey timber section with a new two-storeyed brick building. W. G Smith and sons Architects produced plans for the new hotel. Smith and Hansen were contracted as the builders.
The 1881 section was moved on rollers along Flinders Street to the Western corner of Blackwood Street where it became 'Fritz Grosskoff's Boarding House'. With this structure removed, the 1868 balconied section of Tattersall's had its balcony and roof demolished. The new hotel incorporated this section into its length down Wickham Street with a uniform verandah, parapet and roof. On completion in 1899, it presented as a unified whole.
The interior, finished in silky oak and cedar, was lighted by gas. The courtyard formed by the wings of the building was paved and was described as being like a conservatory. Wide verandahs and fretwork panels above the doors were designed to channel the Strand's breezes through the hotel. The iron lace pattern used on Tattersall's was also used on two other Townsville buildings, Matthew Rooney's House and 'Kardinia'. The North Queensland Herald regard the new Tattersall's as 'an architectural acquisition to Flinders Street'.
Enright remained as landlord for three years transferring the licence to his brother-in-law George Sullivan in 1902. During the 1930s the hotel was renamed 'Ramages' while Sid Ramage was proprietor however its name reverted to Tattersall's after his departure. The exterior of the hotel has changed little with the exception of the original curved valance which was replaced with a horizontal profile during the 1960s. The hotel was renamed 'Molly Malone's' in the late 1990s and themed as an Irish bar and grill.
","criteria":"Tattersall's Hotel, erected in 1899 and incorporating an earlier 1868 brick section demonstrates the pattern of Queensland's regional history associated with the development of Townsville as a key northern port and service centre for the surrounding mining and pastoral districts.
Tattersall's Hotel is associated with the Tattersall's hotel empire which had connections to numerous Queensland towns.
The hotel complex, including the 1868 and 1899 buildings, demonstrates the utilitarian pattern of approach adopted in the late 19th Century towards reconstructing business premises by incorporating earlier sections as the place developed.
|Tattersall's Hotel has considerable aesthetic appeal and is located at a prominent junction of Flinders and Wickham Streets, Townsville. It is opposite the Queensland Building (QHR 600909) the former Australian Meat Industry Employees Union (QHR 600890) and the former Burns, Philp & Company Ltd building (QHR 600914) and contributes to the visual and historical significance of the Flinders Street East, Wickham Street precinct.
|Tattersall's Hotel features a rare pattern of cast iron balustrade particular to North Queensland. The incorporation of this design of balustrade is an important link to the other two buildings it survives upon in Townsville; the private residences of the former Rooney's House/Yongala Lodge [QHR 600878] and 'Kardinia' [QHR600938].
The place demonstrates the incorporation of older brick structures into newer buildings during the Nineteenth Century. The 1868 sections are the oldest structures identified in Townsville.
|Tattersall's Hotel demonstrates the principal characteristics of a two-storied 19th Century hotel through its prominent location at an intersection, its incorporation of accommodation on the first floor, public facilities on the ground floor and wide sweeping verandahs.
|The 1868-69 additions use of brick prior to local manufacture has the potential to reveal further information about materials and construction techniques that were adopted during the foundation years of the settlement.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion E | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion C","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15692,"place_ref":600917,"name":"Rooney Building","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"241 - 245 Flinders Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Rooney Building, constructed in 1883, has a plain symmetrical facade with some classical features such as arched windows and a decorative parapet which conceals the corrugated iron roof. The ground floor facade of this cement-rendered brick building has been altered and the original awning replaced with one of a modern cantilever design. This floor is now divided into three shops. Aluminium windows have replaced the timber framed windows on the upper level while the interior of the first floor has been renovated to house offices.
","history":"The building was constructed for Edmund Harris Thornburgh Plant, mill owner, company director of a number of mines in the Charters Towers-Ravenswood area and a member of parliament from 1905-1923. After construction in 1883 it was occupied by Pollard's Music Store and by the Royal Bank of Queensland from 1890.
In 1892 Rooney & Co., the leading builders of the region, took out a lease and traded from there for the next forty-nine years. In 1917 Rooney Ltd purchased the building and in 1928 modernised the ground floor as a large furniture showroom. The produce firm of Samuel Allen & Sons Ltd, established in the city in 1872, purchased the site in 1953. In 1979 the windows on the first floor were replaced with aluminium and the ground floor facade altered to accommodate three shops or restaurants.
","criteria":"Its importance is enhanced because of the contribution these commercial firms made to the development and consolidation of Townsville in the 1880s.
|While this building is representative of commercial structures of the it is also important as a unifying part of the Flinders Street East area.
|While this building is representative of commercial structures of the it is also important as a unifying part of the Flinders Street East area.
|The long association of a leading building firm with the structure, together with its construction for a prominent commercial and political figure and its later purchase by a longstanding produce firm makes this building significant.
","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":15694,"place_ref":600919,"name":"Aplin Brown & Company Building (former)","alternate_name":"Aplin Brown & Co. | Toula's Taverna | Family Services | Buckaroo's Restaurant","street_address":"232-234 Flinders Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The former Aplin Brown and Company building is a masonry building situated on a wedge shaped block of land at the corner of Flinders and Denham Streets, opposite the post office and Perc Tucker Art Gallery, formerly the Union Bank.
The main part of the building at the corner is two storeys in height and the section to the rear along Denham Street is single storey. The corrugated iron roof is concealed by a severely plain parapet.
The elevations to Flinders and Denham Streets are rendered and divided into bays by pilasters, with horizontal architraves and a projecting cornice above. Between are single-pane vertical sash windows with rounded heads and render mouldings. Formerly an arcade, the archways of the lower level of the northern elevation have been infilled with windows similar to those of the remainder of the building, although the mouldings to these former archways are a higher level than those of the adjoining windows.
The entry is presently at the eastern end of the Flinders Street elevation, rising up several steps to the glazed entry. Once inside, a timber staircase gives access to the upper level. A lantern was built above the staircase - is it still there?
There is a rear entry to the building from the laneway to the south. The interior of the building has been altered substantially for office accomodation with the installation of air-conditioning, false ceilings, partitions and toilets to the rear of the single-storey wing and the upper level.
","history":"This building was constructed in 1887 by Rooney Bros. as offices for the trading endeavours of Aplin Brown & Company, one of the leading mercantile companies in North Queensland.
Townsville was established in 1864 by partners John Melton Black and Robert Towns and was gazetted as a port of entry in 1865. It grew quickly as a supply centre and by 1873 the port was receiving international as well as coastal traffic. Improvements were carried out to port facilities to allow larger ships to anchor. By 1880 Townsville was the port for several major goldfields and had opened the first stage of the railway line westwards through Charters Towers and beyond, consolidating its importance as a port and mercantile centre. Townsville had many prosperous mercantile and shipping firms including that of Aplin Brown and Co. Both Aplin and Brown were mayors of Townsville, Aplin in 1869 and Brown in 1883, demonstrating the importance of commerce in the growth of the city.
William Aplin commenced business with William Clifton as merchants in Townsville in 1864, at that time catering for the pastoral industry. They purchased a block of land at the corner of Flinders and Denham Streets, conveniently close to the Ross Creek wharves, but their building was destroyed in a cyclone in 1866. They rebuilt and Henry Aplin joined the firm. In 1879 William Villiers Brown, formerly manager of the Bank of New South Wales in Townsville, became a partner, and in 1880 when Mr Clifton left Townsville, the firm became Aplin Brown & Company. By 1880 Aplin Brown one of the leading merchants firms in Townsville, servicing both the pastoral industry and the extensive gold mining centres of the inland. Amongst other activities, they imported mining and industrial machinery
In 1881, the Queenslander noted that 'the Hon. W. Aplin is about to embark upon pastoral pursuits, having retired from the firm of which he was the popular chief.' The firm then became a limited company and continued to expand. The first steel ship built in Townsville was built for them in 1884 and in 1885 the firm acquired a wharf in Brisbane and set up a branch which specialised in importing goods from the USA. They established branches at Burketown and Port Darwin and in 1887 Aplin and Brown commissioned Rooney Bros. to design a new head office for the company, taking out a mortgage on the land for £6000.
Rooney Bros. was a partnership of Irish brothers John and Matthew Rooney. John Rooney had initially been in partnership with another brother, Jacob, in Maryborough where they worked as builders and contractors from 1868. In 1875 John became the Townsville partner in the firm and in 1882 formed a new partnership with Matthew as architects, builders and contractors. They formed a second company, Rooney & Co. in partnership with James Harvey and this firm were timber merchants, sawmillers and joiners. Amongst other business, they supplied mining settlements with timber, prefabricated buildings and such items as ironmongery and furniture.
The new building reflected the prosperity and prestige of the company, being a handsome masonry structure of neo-classical design. It was also designed to amply fulfil the business needs of the company. The ground floor had rooms branching from a central hall that housed insurance, shipping and sales departments, a private office, bookkeepers and cashiers offices and a strong room. The upper level contained a large correspondence room and office, but did not extend over the sales and shipping department which occupied the rear of the ground floor.
In 1891 the building was leased to the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney for three years, but the connection with Aplin Brown did not cease and in 1899 a new title for the property was issued under the name of Aplin Brown and Crawshay Limited. In 1913 the building was purchased by another important northern trading company, Bartlam's Limited. They were general merchants who supplied stations in western Queensland and who, by the mid 1920s had also taken over the premises of Wright Heaton in Charters Towers, thus having offices at both port and western centre.
The ground floor of the building on the northern elevation to Flinders Street was originally built as an arcaded loggia with the window line recessed one bay. This was enclosed, probably during the 1930s, and the former front wall removed. This may also have been when the balustraded parapet was removed. In 1944 the property was transferred to Alfred and Arthur Howard Emery, but by 1950 was owned by the Mutual Life & Citizens Assurance Company Limited.
The former Aplin & Company building was acquired in 1974 by the Queensland government and the land designated Reserve 740. The building was used by the Department of Family Services and during this occupancy the interior was modified to meet office requirements. The Government sold the building in 1995 to the current owner who initially converted the ground floor for use as a dress shop. Since 1997 this floor has functioned as a restaurant.
","criteria":"The design and quality of the former Aplin Brown & Company building demonstrates the prosperity of Townsville in the 1880s and the way in which North Queensland was developed by the establishment of key ports as commercial and administrative centres. Located on a major intersection of Townsville's central business district and conveniently close to the wharves, the Aplin and Company building is a reminder of the importance of trade to this development.
|The former Aplin Brown & Company building is important as a good example of a substantial nineteenth century office building in North Queensland.
|The former Aplin Brown & Company building is located on the major intersection of Denham and Flinders Streets, where, by its design, form and materials, it makes a substantial visual contribution to the built character of the city.
|The building was constructed for Aplin Brown & Company, a mercantile and shipping firm who made a major contribution to the prosperity of Townsville in the 19th century. It is also connected with Bartlam's Limited, another important North Queensland merchant and with the firm of Rooney Bros. who were influential in North Queensland as architects, builders and contractors.
","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":15697,"place_ref":602520,"name":"Dalgety Offices and former Warehouse frontage","alternate_name":"Sunskill House","street_address":"1-13 Sturt Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2005-08-26","description":"The Dalgety Offices and former Warehouse frontage is located at the corner of Denham and Sturt streets within the central business district of Townsville. It is situated within the same city block as the former Magistrate Court (600929) and Osler House (600931). The building comprises two sections; a two-storeyed building along Sturt Street and a single-storeyed building facing Denham Street. Both are of reinforced concrete construction.
The Office building is a substantial structure situated on a corner block facing both Denham and Sturt streets. The exterior of the building retains original features such as pilasters and arched windows. A decorative plinth, finished with painted stucco runs across the width and breadth of the building interrupted by doorways. At its highest point on the Sturt Street side, the plinth stands at a height of 6 ft or approximately 1.8 metres and originally set an impressive entrance to the main office building. This entrance area is flanked by four partly fluted decorative pilasters, which incorporate neo-classical details and small ionic capitals and is capped by a modest concrete cornice. The pattern of decorative pilasters extends upwards to the cornice and capped by ionic capitals. It does not extend to the top of the parapet.
On either side of the main Sturt Street entrance more modest pilasters extend from the plinth level through to the parapet giving a uniform visual effect. These are spaced at regular intervals. A second less ornate entrance is situated on Denham Street. On both Denham and Sturt streets above the base plinth are white painted top hung aluminum windows situated at regular intervals. Original timber four-segmented lights cap them. The aluminum windows are sympathetic to the original double hung timber windows.
Above each ground floor window are formed plastered arches and a decorative keystone. On the upper floor level of the building the timber windows have been replaced with aluminum and glass but again are sympathetic to the original.
The high parapet of the office portion of the building conceals an unusual five vaulted roof of steel construction and built in separate sections. It had two roof vents per roof which have since been removed. There is also a smaller skillion roof at the back of four of the vaults.
The interior of the former Dalgety office building has been modified from two to three floors with the original bottom floor level raised up and the basement made into two business areas, one large and one small. The smaller business area is located predominantly along the Denham Street side. It has two original small timber and glass windows protected by metal grills located along Denham Street and one window facing Sturt Street. This has been enlarged and the grilling removed. Access to both businesses in the basement is via a foyer which was the original main entrance situated on Sturt Street. Modifications include the removal of the large timber doors and large timber staircase leading to the first floor and the area blocked off. Out the front on Sturt Street there is an introduced metal and canvas awning.
The first floor has been internally modified with the removal of entrance stairs and the raising of a portion of the floor to give the basement area enough head clearance. This is the first structural bay in from the street frontage of the building. Half of the internal floor is the original height and is constructed of ex 5 inch hardwood boards and extends to the back of the building. Access to the modified floor is achieved by a small set of stairs at regular intervals around the room. The strongroom remains in operation at the back of the building and includes its original Protex fire resisting door. The brand name clearly in view. Original boxing around the timber columns has been removed exposing the sawn timber columns on the first floor, which are now incorporated as design features. Exposed air conditioning ducting has been added below the second floor ceiling with the main plant room possibly located in the old strong room area. The original louvre vents are retained on the exterior wall of which some have been covered up internally.
The second floor has not been raised or lowered and retains many original features. The space provided for the two main businesses is very likely to be similar to the original division of space although modern glazed aluminum screens, doors, and partitions have been added as entry to the businesses. The kitchen, storage and toilets remain located along the back wall under the skillion roof area. Original features on the second level include 6-inch hoop pine floorboards, fibrolite ceiling with timber strapping, simple cornice and floor mouldings and no internal architraves around the windows. Boxed facings to the timber columns have been removed exposing the sawn timber columns which are now incorporated as design features. Between the columns some original pine floorboards have been removed and replaced with 3-inch hardwood boards. Substantial air conditioning ducting has been added below the ceiling and is painted in the same colour as the ceiling. Partitions erected in one business, as small consulting rooms do not extend up to the ceiling and are reversible. Aluminum and glass windows have replaced the timber windows and have been made in a style sympathetic to the original. Access to upstairs is gained by a flight of stairs or lift from Denham Street as well as from other service stairs from Sturt Street. These smaller service stairs retain some original features such as art nouveau vents, but alteration to the configuration of the stairs is evident.
Dalgety's warehouse section has been converted into a shopping arcade which is accessed through a concrete tiled ramp and has a painted aluminum roller door. The warehouse has been fitted out with a series of individual shops incorporating aluminum and glass shop fronts and access to the shops within the warehouse is either from a central arcade which runs perpendicular to the main arcade entrance or from Denham Street. One business accessed from Denham Street has an aluminum and glass door fitted in the space originally occupied by a window. The original timber framed segmented window above each window remains. Modest canvas awnings are located over the windows and doorways along Denham Street.
Due to the retention of many internal features, the overall size, aesthetic street elevations and position on a corner block, the integrity of the building remains high. It is a building displaying uniform visual features and retains aspects of neo-classical design popular for commercial buildings in Queensland during the 1920s.
","history":"The two-storeyed office section of this large reinforced concrete building was erected for Dalgety & Co. Ltd in 1923-24 and the single-storeyed warehouse, which fronts Denham Street, was constructed in 1924-25. The designer of both sections was prominent local architect Walter Hunt and the contractor was WH Turner. The complex was constructed during a period of economic boom in Queensland and overall rising rural prosperity, despite the collapse of the north Queensland beef export trade in 1921.
In 1846 one of Australia's largest and most successful 19th century pastoral companies was established in Melbourne as Dalgety, Borrodale and Gore. The company flourished during the 1850s gold rushes and in the middle of the decade opened an office in London. In 1859 this became the head office from which the company's various Victorian and, by then, New Zealand interests were controlled. The firm expanded to New South Wales in 1878, to Western Australia in 1889 and South Australia in 1897. The first Queensland office was established at Rockhampton in 1891 in response to the company's heavy involvement in the Central Queensland grazing industry. A branch was established in Brisbane in 1894 and a Townsville branch in 1896. Subsequent Queensland sub-branches were opened in Hughenden, Longreach, Blackall, Charleville and Toowoomba. Dalgety and Co. Ltd. played a significant role in the development of the pastoral industry (particularly through wool brokerage and property investment) in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was the single largest supplier to Queensland's first wool sale, conducted in Brisbane in 1898, which contributed to the establishment of Teneriffe in Brisbane as Queensland's principal wool-stores precinct. By the late 1920s, the company was promoting itself as the largest wool-selling house in Australasia.
Dalgety & Co.'s Townsville office and warehouse were housed initially in leased premises in Denham Street, just south of Sturt Street. By 1920, the need for additional accommodation was becoming critical. Dalgety had emerged as a major provisioner to North Queensland pastoralists and farmers and purpose built Townsville premises would consolidate their position. In 1920 Dalgety & Co. acquired title to a site at the northern corner of Denham and Sturt Streets, which had remained vacant since the destruction by fire of the Day Dawn Hotel some twenty years before. The company commissioned Walter Hunt, arguably Townsville's most experienced architect, to prepare plans for new offices and warehouse facilities. Hunt commenced practice in Townsville in 1909 and taught architecture at the Townsville Technical College, maintaining his Townsville practice until retiring to Sydney in 1932. He designed the reinforced concrete St Joseph's Church, Fryer Street, erected in 1920-21 (602130) and was in the process of designing the Dalgety & Company building in Sturt Street while he supervised the construction of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (QHR 602471).
Although tenders for the Dalgety building were called in May 1920, they were difficult to obtain as local contractors feared labour stoppages combined with an increase in the price of building materials. Nothing further was done toward erecting new premises until December 1922 when the board approved that tenders be called for a concrete building. This was delayed until July 1923, anticipating that by then several leading building contractors would be less busy and the competition might be keener. The suggestion of a reinforced concrete rather than brick building was endorsed by the General Manager who remarked that concrete was preferable to brick with an additional advantage that it would be less costly. A long established Townsville builder, W H Turner, submitted the lowest tender with a price of £15,938. Building commenced on 1 August 1923. The whole was to be constructed within 12 months, with the offices erected first.
The Dalgety & Co. building was one of the largest reinforced-concrete projects undertaken during Townsville's building boom of the early 1920s. Townsville's two leading architects, Walter Hunt and CV Rees, designed a substantial number of reinforced-concrete buildings for Townsville and other areas of northern Queensland in the early 1920s. Some of the larger projects included an engineering works, showrooms, factories and offices. A number of single storeyed shops and offices in reinforced concrete were commissioned including a large residence in Flinders Street for Dr Brienl, Walter Hunt being the architect. As well, many businesses were incorporating reinforced-concrete in remodeled premises. Hunt and Rees encouraged the use of reinforced-concrete as a cheaper and more readily available alternative to brick. At the time building materials in Townsville were significantly higher in price than in the south owing to high transport costs. While it was expected that this would be relieved by the completion of the railway line to Townsville, face bricks from Brisbane still cost £20 per 1000, thus giving prominence to alternative building materials.
Poor weather and labour materials hindered construction. However, by July 1924 rapid progress was being made with the office block and by October 1924 it was nearing completion. Dalgety's Townsville staff finally moved into their new offices on 1 December 1924, and into the warehouse just prior to 30 June 1925. This was despite the fact that the warehouse was not quite finished.
The new office and warehouse offered a frontage of 93 feet to Sturt Street and 165 feet to Denham Street. Although the office section was only two-storeys, it gave the appearance of a three- storeyed building, with the ground floor 7 feet above the Sturt Street pavement at the main entrance. This entrance to the offices had a carved handrail leading up to the first floor. The new building made an imposing contribution to Denham and Sturt Streets and was described in the Architectural and Building Journal of Queensland in October 1924 as being one of the most modern and imposing concrete structures in North Queensland
The design and choice of material was noted for its cyclone resistance with ample provision made for light, ventilation and modern sanitary arrangements. In particular the ventilators were regarded as a suitable addition to a tropical climate and were a notable feature.
Dalgety & Co Ltd. occupied the ground floor offices and the first floor was leased to two legal firms. The fittings and fixtures in the offices were of paneled silky oak and arctic glass, with the ceilings fitted with fibrolite, a popular new product made of asbestos sheeting. The window fittings were constructed of oak.
The ventilation of the building consisted of special ventilators positioned in both the interior and exterior of the building. The interior walls had vents made out of fibrous plaster and situated between the picture rail and the ceiling whereas the exterior ones were made of louvred galvanized iron. Cornice and base mouldings were kept to a minimal in an endeavour to avoid dust being carried through the ventilation system.
A Montgomerie Neilsen oxidising non-septic toilet system was installed with a large brick tank under the building. This basement was accessed from the rear of the building. Inside the building the toilets were located at the rear of the office on both levels. There were two strong rooms on the first floor for the use of the tenants, and a third strong room on the ground floor for Dalgety & Co. The downstairs strong room was fitted with a protex door. The warehouse when complete had a truck loading dock and vehicle access ramp.
Dalgety & Co.'s Townsville branch offered a range of financial and merchandising services which helped sustain the North Queensland pastoral sector. In 1925-26 the firm advertised as financial, insurance, stock and station and shipping agents; wool, grain and produce brokers; and general merchants, with Queensland branches at Brisbane, Rockhampton, Townsville and Toowoomba and sub-branches at Charleville, Longreach, Hughenden and Blackall. The firm bought and sold stock and stations throughout Australia and were agents for a raft of insurances to suit rural property owners, including marine, livestock, fire and accident insurance, as well as being the agents for firms handling worker compensation claims. In addition the company was the agent for many specialist companies supplying oil engines, irrigation plants, gas plants, pumps and boilers, portable steam engines, traction engines, road rollers, centrifugal pumps, farm machinery and separators. The firm also merchandised a range of practical products for farmers and graziers, such as fencing wire, gates and steel droppers and was an agent for motor cars such as Daimler, Austin and Rover and Halley and Lacre commercial lorries. In the mid 1920s Dalgety & Co. were agents for two shipping lines - the Aberdeen and White Star - and at Townsville was the booking agent with these lines for domestic passages south to Brisbane and Sydney and overseas to England.
After World War Two Dalgety & Co.'s commercial focus shifted to more general lines such as groceries, hardware, wine and spirits. Through their role as shipping and insurance agents they continued to provide important services to the regional community and were the principal domestic and overseas airline booking agent in the region.
Dalgety & Co. sold the site in 1978. In 1979 the two-storeyed section was converted into three storeys of shops and offices including two restaurants and a bar in the old basement area. The single-storeyed warehouse was converted into a shopping arcade. In the early 1980s, canvas awnings were erected over the several doorways.
","criteria":"The Dalgety Offices and former Warehouse frontage, constructed in 1923-25 for important Australian pastoral firm Dalgety & Co Ltd., is important in demonstrating the evolution of Queensland's history. It provides evidence of the 1920s building boom during which a number of substantial warehouse and offices in Townsville were constructed and reflects an important period of north Queensland rural prosperity. It is one of the largest reinforced-concrete buildings to survive from this era, when reinforced concrete dominated in commercial building construction in northern Queensland.
|The Dalgety Offices and former Warehouse frontage remains substantially intact and is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of its class. It is a substantial structure in reinforced concrete, combining clearly differentiated office and warehouse areas. This demarcation is articulated in the exterior façades, with the office section located prominently at the intersection of two streets and designed to present an aesthetic façade to both streets and the warehouse presenting a more functional, less decorative street elevation. The building illustrates adaptation to the tropical climate, including a substantial ventilation system and steel-framed roof constructed in vaulted sections to withstand cyclones in the office section. The use of a multi-vaulted roof on the office section is unusual. The place is a good example of the work of influential Townsville architect Walter Hunt, who designed a number of reinforced concrete commercial buildings in the 1920s and 1930s.
|The Dalgety Offices and former Warehouse frontage, through its scale, design, materials and decorative detailing presents an aesthetic exterior and makes an important contribution to Townsville's inner city townscape. Its location within the same city block as the Former Magistrates Court (600929) and Osler House (600931) enhances the heritage significance of the Sturt Street streetscape and inner city precinct.
|As the Townsville offices and warehouse of Dalgety & Co Ltd for over half a century, the place has a special association with one of the largest and most successful pastoral firms in Australia. It provided a Townsville focus for the north Queensland pastoral community through much of the 20th century.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15699,"place_ref":600924,"name":"Grandstand, former totalisator building and main entrance gates, Cluden Racecourse","alternate_name":"Cluden Racecourse","street_address":"1 Racecourse Road","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The three buildings which form components of Tunbridge's suite of buildings for the site have generally retained their character and much of their original form.
In spite of upgrades to facilities made over the years and repairs following at least two cyclones, the grandstand has retained its character and has a continuity of usage. Its appearance has not changed greatly since opening, although a large section at the back has been glassed in, diminishing its original airy, pavilion-like appearance. It still has flagpoles at ridge and roof corners. It has a hipped roof with a concave profile clad in corrugated iron and supported on timber posts with cast iron brackets between the posts. Brackets to the interior are formed from wrought iron into tendril-like spirals. The seating is tiered and the original slatted timber seats remain. Beneath the grandstand are refreshment and bar facilities. These are now modern, but reflect the original type of facilities, if not their form.
The totalisator is a timber framed building clad with weatherboard and fibro set behind and to one side of the grandstand and can be clearly recognised from early photographs. It is a narrow T shape in plan, with a two storey hip roofed section set at right angles to a single storey gable roofed section. The roofs of both are clad with corrugated iron of the same profile as the grandstand and the hipped roof retains finials at each end of its ridge pole, though the flagpole at the end of the single storey gable has gone.
A wide verandah with a concave corrugated iron roof supported on timber posts surrounds the building and has been partially built in on two sides. This verandah is not shown on early pictures, though its date is unknown. Skylights have been added to the single storey roof on one side. The building has been used as offices for some time and the interior was not inspected.
One of the 1896 entrance gates remains as the main entrance to the course. It is timber and consists of a pair of ticket offices on either side of an entry and turnstiles. The whole is spanned by a corrugated iron roof matching that of the other Tunbridge buildings on site. This has retained its flagpoles and traces of a red and white striped paint scheme. The outer side has the words 'Townsville Turf Club' over the entrance and each ticket office has two grilled windows to the street and a door to the rear. The entrance when closed is protected by a modern security screen of vertical metal rods.
","history":"Townsville was founded in 1864 by partners John Melton Black and Robert Towns as a port and commercial centre for the pastoral industry north of the Burdekin. It was gazetted as a port of entry in 1865 and grew quickly. The first sporting institution formed was the Burdekin and Flinders Turf Club in May 1866. The patron was the Governor of Queensland, Sir George Ferguson Bowen, who supported horse racing as a means of improving breeding and with an eye to the development of a Queensland cavalry. The inaugural president was Robert Towns. The first race meeting was a three day event held in mid-August 1866 with substantial prizes being offered. Early meetings were held in several locations, including Cleveland Park in the Garbutt area and Hermit Park. In 1874 the government granted the club a reserve for a racecourse and the name was changed about this time to the Townsville Turf Club, which name it has retained. Work soon began on a proper track on a reserve of 64 acres on the Dalrymple Road.
The discovery of gold gave great impetus to the development of Townsville and by 1880 it was serving several major goldfields in the north. A railway was proposed to link Townsville with the important goldfield at Charters Towers in the late 1870s. The line from Townsville opened to Mingela in late 1881 and to Charters Towers in December 1882. Dr Frost and Mr A.H. Rourke of the Townsville Turf Club proposed a change of site for the course so that advantage could be taken of this rail service. Cluden Park had been established on the south side of Ross River in the early years of settlement and was about three miles from Townsville by rail. The site selected for the new course was only a few minutes walk from the Cluden station. A race track was cleared and marked out and a temporary stand erected for the first meeting. In spite of reservations about the move from members and patrons, the vastly improved accessibility of the new course made it successful from the start. Improvements consisting of a grandstand, stewards and press stand, booths and totalisator were constructed in 1883 at a cost of £2500.
On January 26, 1896 Cyclone 'Sigma' swept through Townsville, causing considerable damage. At Cluden railway station, the rails were six feet under water and the racecourse buildings were devastated. The grandstand had collapsed and the stables, training sheds and a number of local houses had been swept away. The Annual Townsville Turf Club Race Meeting was scheduled for 14 July and the committee decided that it would attempt to rebuild the course in time for this. Although Tunbridge & Tunbridge, as a major architectural firm in the city, was inundated with work at this time, W. Howard Tunbridge designed a new set of buildings for the course. They consisted of a grandstand to seat 700 with a lunchroom beneath at a cost of £1600, plus a totalisator building, judge's box, gates and stables. The existing damaged grandstand was recycled with more comfortable seating as a St Leger stand, which has since been removed. The whole project was estimated to cost over £2000. Thanks to strenuous efforts on the part of the architect, the Club Secretary, Mr James S. Love, and the contractor, Mr Reid, the new amenities were ready for use on time, although the final details, like painting, had to wait until after the meeting.
This was an immense success with 923 people arriving by rail alone. £370 was taken at the gate and £8107 at the totalisator over the two days, setting a new record. Prize money totalled £840. The new facilities, especially the grandstand and the well-ventilated and commodious lunch room and bar underneath it were much appreciated by the public and highly praised in the press. Even 'Feminine' who provided social notes for the North Queensland Herald, commented approvingly on the wide aisles and more spacious seating, because 'in this age of large sleeves and full skirts, we require rather more than elbow room'; an interesting comment in the light of the opinion of the racing press that levels of female attendance had a strong effect on the success or otherwise of a race meeting.
A totalisator was constructed to the rear of the grandstand and the building is still present, though now used as offices. The totalisator system has been in use since the 1860s, though the earliest system, the Pari-Mutuel, was cumbersome and expensive, needing a large number of clerks to make the necessary calculations. The system works on the principle of totalling the bets made on a particular race and then dividing this sum, less a percentage for the operator, amongst those selecting the winning horse in proportion to the amount of their wager. Bets are registered and dividends displayed on a special board. In 1887 a partially automated system was in use in Australia and may have been in use at Cluden, there having been a totalisator on the course before the 1896 rebuild. A Totalisator Tax Act was introduced in 1892 in which the government deducted sixpence in the pound of stake receipts. In 1913 an Australian, George (later Sir) Julius, invented a fully automated system which was introduced at Randwick in September 1917 and was soon widely in use in Australia and overseas.
By the next meeting of the Townsville Turf Club, work had been completed on the new buildings and the grandstand roof was painted in broad stripes and topped with flagpoles at each end of the ridge and roof corners, giving the building a distinctly carnival air. Similar stripes were also applied to the shallow concave roof lines of the totalisator building and two sets of entrance gates. A lower tier of seating, which was not undercover, was originally at the front of the grandstand, but seems to have been removed at an early stage in favour of a sloping lawn.
Major repairs were needed to the grandstand following Cyclone Leonta which struck Townsville with devastating effect in 1903 and a new members bar was added in 1923 by C.V. Rees. He also added a new stewards' stand and such improvements as new lavatories to the grandstand in 1927.
During the Second World War, the racecourse was used as a military camp by the Australian Army. However, the CO understood the value of the races to the morale of the troops and public and so the whole troop concentration moved out every Saturday so that the races could be held.
After Cyclone Althea in 1972 repairs were again needed and a toilet block and car park were added at this time. In 1983, a substantial upgrade of facilities was carried out by architects Martin Dillon and Associates. New toilets and drink serving areas were provided to the ground floor of the grandstand and new totalisator facilities, a glassed-in viewing area and catering facilities on the first floor. The roof sheeting was replaced, but the original seating was retained and materials were chosen to be sympathetic to the structure. Additional covered areas and a kiosk replaced sheds adjacent to the grandstand at this time. The refurbished facilities were opened in 1984 by the Minister for Racing.
","criteria":"The 1896 structures at Cluden racecourse in Townsville illustrate the importance of horse racing in Queensland, which was the earliest organised sport in the colony and was the first sporting institution in Townsville. In the nineteenth century, horses were the main form of transport and were used in warfare, police work and many industries. Racing them was thought to improve the general quality of the breed as well as being an entertainment and was officially encouraged. The breeding, training and racing of horses has been important in Queensland as an industry in its own right and the quality of facilities on an early racecourse such as Cluden demonstrates this.
|The grandstand is a good example of its type and its visual appeal and amenity were much praised when it was constructed. This, together with the totalisator building and entrance gates form a suite of original public racecourse buildings at one of the most important courses in the state
|These buildings were designed by Walter Howard Tunbridge, one of North Queensland's most notable architects, and the aesthetic qualities of the grandstand in particular have been generally admired by the public. It has a light, airy quality less evident in grandstands in the Southern states.
|The structures are important for their association with the Townsville Turf Club, the first sporting institution in Townsville and one of the oldest in the state. The buildings, in spite of assaults by the cyclones which are part of the region's weather patterns, have survived in regular use on this important course for over a hundred years.
|The grandstand, totalisator building and gates are major works of the important North Queensland architectural firm of Tunbridge and Tunbridge, especially Walter Howard Tunbridge, who did the actual design.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15700,"place_ref":600925,"name":"Townsville School of Arts","alternate_name":"Townsville Arts Centre | Dance North","street_address":"Stanley Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Townsville School of Arts building, or Dance North, is located on the corner of Stanley and Walker Streets and comprises a two storey structure with an adjoining theatre building running parallel to its rear and accessed from Walker Street and from within the School of Arts building.
Both buildings are constructed of exposed face brick and are roofed in corrugated iron. The former School of Arts building is two storeys high and is fronted on the Stanley Street elevation by brick columns, square in plan, rising from rendered plinths through both storeys to create deep verandahs. The verandah at street level is reached by low steps and has decorative iron railings and matching gates. The front entrance is through double doors flanked by sash windows. The upper floor has cross-braced timber balustrading to the verandah above a deep timber valance. The verandah is accessed by french doors with transom lights above. The ground floor houses offices, toilet facilities, lobbies and the main foyer. A timber staircase gives access from the foyer to the first floor which is divided into two sections by an arch and which it is intended to use as dance space.
The single storey extension at the corner of Stanley and Walker Streets is also brick and is similar in style and finish to the main building. The opposite side of the Stanley Street elevation has a brick arch which leads onto a passageway.
The theatre is a large rectangular building divided into bays externally by shallow brick piers. There is an entrance onto Walker Street and the rear has large doors which were designed to allow for the movement of scenery and large props. Inside, the building has a large auditorium with a timber floor and a stage area which has a basement beneath. On the northern side of the building, the dressing room bay has been extended by the construction of a 1960s brick amenities block. This has been modified as dressing rooms and a performers area. On the southern side an extension runs the length of the building and houses the studios and offices of the 4TTT radio station.
","history":"The School of Arts building was designed by Townsville architects Eyre and Munro. It was constructed by local builder James Smith and opened in May 1891.
The first Mechanic's Institutes or Schools of Arts were established in Britain in the early 1800s and were intended to assist self improvement and to promote moral, social and intellectual growth, by providing lectures, discussions and lending libraries to a rising middle class. At the time there were no free public libraries and books were expensive, so that access to books by borrowing as subscribers provided an important service. The first School of Arts committee in Queensland was established in Brisbane in 1849 with the aim of 'the advancement of the community in literary, philosophic and scientific subjects'. As towns and districts became established, local committees were formed to set up schools of arts, which became one of the principal sources of adult education. The government recognised this by making land available, subsidising books and assisting with building costs. Most Schools of Arts also had a hall with a stage which could be hired, thus encouraging the arts as well as providing a source of revenue.
The first School of Arts committee met in Townsville in 1866 and comprised a number of leading citizens including the town's founders, Captain Robert Towns and Mr J M Black. Townsville had been established only two years previously as a port and commercial centre for the pastoral industry north of the Burdekin. It was gazetted as a port of entry in 1865 and grew quickly. The School of Arts began modestly in a small rented cottage with a foundation library of 30 books. It soon moved to larger premises, but did not acquire a permanent home until 1877 when a substantial building was constructed on a reserve granted for the purpose on Melton Hill. Gradually the business heart of the city moved westward so that by 1889 it was believed that the School of Arts on Melton Hill was too far from the centre of town.
The Melton Hill property was sold to the Government for conversion to a court building and a new site was purchased on the corner of Stanley and Walker Streets. A design competition was held for the new building and was won by Townsville architects Eyre and Munro. Walter Eyre was an architect, engineer and surveyor. He trained in England and arriving in Brisbane in 1880, worked in the office of his cousin, FDG Stanley, from 1881 until he was appointed City Engineer of Townsville in 1885. In 1887 he left to set up in practice as an architect and soon gained enough work to take on WHA Munro as a junior partner. The firm supervised the work of southern architects as well as designing buildings and were responsible for a number of major works in north Queensland before the firm ceased operations in 1892. Their design for the School of Arts was constructed by local builder James Smith and was opened in May 1891 with a debutante ball on opening night and a concert on the 27 May.
The new building had meeting rooms and class rooms on the ground floor with a large library above. Classes were held in such subjects as drawing, singing and woodwork. The first gas cooking classes in Townsville were held here in 1895 utilising a specially installed Darren gas cooker. Connected to this building was a theatre building, originally called 'Her Majesty's', which could seat 600 persons. This was a large rectangular space rising to 2 storey height with a stage flanked by extensions housing dressing rooms. It was used by many visiting theatrical groups and performers, including a Chinese Opera company in 1894. It was the town's leading theatrical venue until the second Theatre Royal opened in 1900, although it continued to be popular after this, Nellie Melba appearing at the theatre in 1909. 'His Majesty's' was also the venue for the first Aboriginal stage performance in Townsville when a variety company, formed by local Aborigines performed there in 1907.
The building suffered cyclone damage from Sigma in 1896 and again by Leonta in 1903 when the offices were unroofed and the theatre was partially demolished. This damage was repaired in 1904 by the architects Tunbridge and Tunbridge. By this time it had become obvious that the theatre was too small and in 1913 the size of the auditorium was increased by an extension at the Walker Street end.
During the Depression the cessation of government subsidies to Schools of Arts spelt the end for many of them. The Townsville School of Arts remained in use until the 1930s, although the verandahs were enclosed and a single storey office building was attached on the Walker Street side between 1929 and 1934. Alternatives for education and leisure activities and the Libraries Act of 1943, which provided for free lending libraries, all contributed to the gradual closure of Schools of Arts around the state.
This change was slightly anticipated Townsville in 1938 when the Trustees resigned and vested the assets of the School of Arts in the Townsville City Council as Trustee, creating the first free public lending library in Australia. In 1941 the building was requisitioned by the Defence authorities and became the main RAAF postal office for the Pacific region. After the war it became the offices of the newly formed Townsville Regional Electricity Board. They vacated the building in 1963 and the Northern Electricity Authority occupied the building, moving out in 1968. The building then remained vacant for some time.
In the late 1960s the Townsville Arts Centre Association formed and in 1976 the building underwent extensive renovation. It became an arts centre, used as the office of the Pacific Festival and a base for the Townsville Little Theatre and a community radio station, 4TTT. It is home to the North Queensland Ballet and Dance Co Ltd better known as Dance North. Further work to the building was carried out in the 1990s during which the upper verandah was reinstated.
","criteria":"The School of Arts building is important as part of the network of Schools of Arts which sprang up in any town of consequence in Queensland during the 19th and early 20th centuries and were a measure of prosperity and progress. The scale, material and form of the building amply demonstrate the wealth and importance of Townsville as a regional centre at this period. Schools of Arts were community based and played a valuable educational and social role in the dissemination of information and the provision of facilities for lectures and meetings and the staging of events such as balls, plays and concerts. They were an important stage in the development of adult education in Queensland.
|It is a good example of a School of Arts building in a major regional centre, originally comprising a library, meeting rooms and a theatre designed to provide the facilities for a wide range of community cultural events and needs.
|As a prominent and well designed building, the Townsville School of Arts makes an important contribution to the built character of Townsville in form, scale, material and because of its location close to the town centre.
|The School of Arts building is important for its connection with the community of Townsville and the surrounding district as an integral part of the social and community life of the town.
|The Townsville School of Arts building is a major work of the North Queensland architectural firm of Eyre and Munro.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15701,"place_ref":600926,"name":"Townsville Astronomical Trigonometrical Station","alternate_name":"Townsville Observatory","street_address":"Stanton Hill","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Townsville Astronomical Trigonometrical Station is situated on the northern boundary of a home units complex which occupies the summit of Stanton Hill.
It is constructed of concrete and is cone shaped. The pillar stands 1.5 metres high by 0.3 metres in diameter with three holes in the top, which supported the theodolite.
A paved area and gardens surround the trig station.
","history":"In 1891 an astronomical observatory and trigonometrical [trig] station were constructed at the top of Stanton Hill in Townsville, to the design of government surveyor and astronomer Robert Hoggan. The observatory no longer survives, but the concrete trig station remains.
In the late 19th century, trig stations were erected in most of the principal towns of Queensland, as part of the first attempt to map Queensland on a large scale using common data. Despite the passage of years this data remains important because of its comparative value for modern surveyors. Most of the Queensland trig stations were timber posts, only remnants of which survive, erected to support a theodolite which measured vertical and horizontal lines. At Townsville and Thursday Island, concrete pillars rather than timber posts were erected, and these have survived largely because of their more substantial construction.
While surveyors no longer need to use the Townsville trig station it is still in a serviceable condition.
","criteria":"The Townsville Astronomical Trigonometrical Station, erected in 1891, is significant for its historical role in land surveying in Queensland, and typologically, as one of only two concrete astronomical trig stations constructed in Queensland in the 19th century.
|The Townsville Astronomical Trigonometrical Station, erected in 1891, is significant for its historical role in land surveying in Queensland, and typologically, as one of only two concrete astronomical trig stations constructed in Queensland in the 19th century. As one of only two surviving Queensland 19th century trig stations, the other being at Thursday Island, the place has rarity value.
|The Townsville Astronomical Trigonometrical Station, erected in 1891, is significant for its historical role in land surveying in Queensland, and typologically, as one of only two concrete astronomical trig stations constructed in Queensland in the 19th century.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15702,"place_ref":600927,"name":"Wolverton","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"95 Stagpole Street","suburb":"WEST END","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Wolverton is a modest, single-storeyed timber residence, high set on concrete stumps, surrounded by a modern tropical garden of ferns, palms, shade trees and lawn. A semi-circular driveway is a feature of the front yard together with the original concrete fence foundation and posts.
The building has a complex hipped and gabled roof. There are two small symmetrically placed gables at the front of the house and a gabled frontispiece which extends through the front verandah. A large square ventilator is centrally placed on the ridge of the corrugated iron roof. The verandah, with dowel balustrading and lattice screening, extends around three sides of the building. The front porch is decorated with simple fretwork and a wooden arch over the front steps. The single-skin timber external walls have exposed framing. Boards have also been used throughout the house on the internal walls and ceilings.
","history":"Wolverton, a single-storeyed, decorative timber residence, was constructed c1903 for Thomas Turton, a well known Townsville painter and decorator. The architect and builder are unknown.
Turton, Savage & Co., painters and glaziers, and glass, oil and colour merchants, had established a business in Flinders Street, Townsville, by c1889. The business proved successful, and for over 30 years Thomas Turton was Townsville's principal painter and decorator.
It appears that Turton's private residence, Wolverton, was erected c1903. Title to the West End property was transferred to Emily Helen Elizabeth Turton, Thomas' wife, in mid-1903, and Thomas Turton is listed as resident in Stagpole Street in the 1904 Queensland Post Office Directory.
The original structure is thought to have comprised two large rooms divided by a central hallway, surrounded by verandahs, with a detached kitchen at the rear. Later the rear verandah was enclosed and an additional wing added. Wolverton was one of only five Federation era timber houses with a distinctive multi-gabled roofline, built in Townsville. One of these has been demolished, another shifted to a rural site; the three (including Wolverton) remaining in Townsville have been refurbished.
Thomas and Emily Turton resided at Wolverton until c1916, after which the house appears to have been rented out. Title was transferred from Mrs Turton in 1925, and the property passed through a variety of owners and lessees in subsequent years. It is understood the house was moved sideways in the 1930s to create a vacant adjacent block and in the 1950s it was divided into two flats. In the 1980s Wolverton was restored to its pre-1950 appearance.
","criteria":"Wolverton, a prestigious timber residence erected c1903 during the expansion of Townsville as a port for the mineral rich rural hinterland, illustrates the pattern of Queensland's history.
|It is significant in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a Federation-era timber residence with distinctive multi-gabled roof and timber decorative detailing, unusual in Townsville, and is one of a group of only three such residences surviving in the city.
|It is significant in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a Federation-era timber residence with distinctive multi-gabled roof and timber decorative detailing, unusual in Townsville, and is one of a group of only three such residences surviving in the city.
|Wolverton is a highly decorative building, and makes a distinctive aesthetic contribution to the suburban townscape of Townsville's West End.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion E","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15703,"place_ref":600928,"name":"Victoria Bridge","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Stokes Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Victoria Bridge was originally one of only two metal girder, swing bridges in Australia. It was an all steel structure except for wooden decking. A central drum, from which the central span swung open, housed the gas, free piston Otto engine. A row of modern shops has been built along its length, with a restaurant under the eastern end of the structure. An office is located beneath the western end.
Although the swing span no longer moves, the bridge is structurally sound. The gas engine was removed and in 1991 was mounted at the city end. The addition of a modern superstructure of shops and the removal of the approaches has substantially altered the visual aspect.
","history":"Apart from Victoria Bridge, built in 1888-89, the only other metal girder swing bridge constructed in Australia was the smaller one at Leith in Tasmania, built in 1884. Tenders were called by the Department of Works, Bridges Branch, on 25 September 1885 for the Townsville structure. A tender submitted by G.H. Royce & Co. of Sydney was accepted at a cost of £18,868. The approaches were constructed by Robertson & Stein and cost £1,780.
It was opened to traffic on 2 July 1889 and saw active service until 1975. The innovative design of a swing bridge pivoting on a central drum was an unusual method of allowing river traffic to pass up shallow Ross Creek. The central swing allowed large ships to pass through in the deeper, left hand channel, while smaller craft could take the shallower right lane. During the years after the bridge was opened the commercial centre of Townsville expanded and the warehouse district was gradually confined closer to the mouth of Ross Creek. Ships were no longer required to move up the creek to unload. By 1924 the swing section had ceased to function because of movement of the central drum.
However, vehicular traffic continued to cross for another fifty years. The bridge had seriously deteriorated by the 1980s and was threatened with demolition, until 1988 when it was leased by the Townsville City Council to a developer. Conservation work was undertaken as part of the re-development. A new superstructure of shops was built onto and around the existing fabric and the approaches to the bridge and the banks were landscaped. The kiosks installed along the northern bank are now a favourite meeting place for the community.
","criteria":"The design of this central pivoting, swing bridge was a innovative solution to the problem of a bridge over a shallow waterway.
Only one other bridge of a similar design was constructed in Australia.
Victoria Bridge is also held in high regard because it has been a feature of the townscape and played a major part in the development of the city for over one hundred years.
|Only one other bridge of a similar design was constructed in Australia.
|The design of this central pivoting, swing bridge was a innovative solution to the problem of a bridge over a shallow waterway.
|Victoria Bridge is also held in high regard because it has been a feature of the townscape and played a major part in the development of the city for over one hundred years.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion F | 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 a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15704,"place_ref":600929,"name":"Townsville Magistrates Court (former)","alternate_name":"Townsville Museum | Townsville Court House","street_address":"81 Sturt Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"This single-storeyed building was constructed in two distinct parts. The front section was made of rendered brick and the rear of timber.
The Sturt Street frontage, which originally housed the magistrate's office, is a symmetrically designed structure. The classical portico, which is reached by a short flight of stairs, features a gabled pediment, columns and round arched door and windows. The restrained nature of this section gives the impression of strength and permanence.
The timber rear of the building, with its wide verandahs and timber valance, is more in keeping with the tropical environment.
A section across the back of the structure has been enclosed with glass louvres, while the 1901 strong room remains intact.
The building has a hipped roof of corrugated iron and a skillion roof covers the original strongroom at the rear.
A modern garden of lawn and shade trees enhances the building.
This structure retains its early façade despite interior alterations.
","history":"This single-storeyed brick building was constructed in 1874-76 as the second Townsville Magistrates Court. It was designed by colonial architect FDG Stanley, and was constructed by Townsville builders J & J Rooney, at a cost £4,463.
The Magistrates Court was the second brick building erected in Townsville, and took two years to complete due to of a shortage of suitable brick clay.
The Townsville Magistrates Court held circuit sittings of the Northern Division of the Supreme Court [twice a year], as well as sittings of the Northern District Court [twice a year], the Police Court [daily], and the Petty Debts Court [twice a week] - the latter two presided over by the Police Magistrate. A lockup and quarters for the lockup keeper were associated with the Court House.
The court house was repaired and painted in April 1895 and a verandah on the western side was added in 1897. In 1901 James Brady constructed a strong room on the rear western side.
The building functioned as a court house for almost 100 years. With the construction of new court facilities in Walker Street, the old structure was threatened with demolition. Community agitation saved the building and it was purchased by the Townsville City Council in the early 1970s.
After restoration it was used as a day care facility, then as a tourist information centre and in 1985 it became the Townsville Museum. The building was vacated in November 2003.
","criteria":"Magistrates Court (Former), completed in 1876, is significant historically as evidence of the early consolidation of Townsville as a government administrative centre in northern Queensland, and in illustrating the early use of brick in Townsville.
|It illustrates some of the principal characteristics of its type, with the imposing classical design exemplifying the building's important judicial and authoritative role.
|The Magistrates Court (Former) is an aesthetically pleasing 19th century building which sits well in a modern townscape, as well as contributing significantly to Townsville's surviving historical townscape.
|The place is valued by the local community as an important part of their cultural heritage, as evidenced by the 1970s purchase of the property by the Townsville City Council.
|It is significant as an example of the work of colonial architect FDG Stanley, and of the early work of the Townsville-based North Queensland building firm, J & J Rooney.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15706,"place_ref":600931,"name":"Osler House","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"35 Sturt Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Osler House is a two-storeyed house of rendered brick in an Italianate style reminiscent of terraced housing of its period. It has a corrugated iron roof and lantern concealed by a balustraded parapet and has a projecting bay on the northern side. Adjoining this is a verandah to the upper level with cast iron balustrading, It is supported on cast iron pillars with decorative cast iron brackets in-filling the upper corners to create an arched effect.
Each level of the house on the front elevation has two entrances with a sash windows between. Both doors and windows have round headed transom lights. There is a balcony to the rear and this has been enclosed, having casement windows to the upper level, although a lattice section remains at the side. A single-storey service wing projects at the rear. This is of brick and has apparently been re-roofed. In the 1950s the building was joined to the next door structure by an enclosed timber bridging section at the upper level, to allow ingress of vehicles to the rear yard.
The interior of the building, though now used as offices, retains the original layout of the earliest section and joinery details including doors, windows and elaborate fretwork transoms over ground floor doors.
","history":"Osler House was designed in 1888, by WG Smith and Sons, for prominent North Queensland businessman and Parliamentarian, John Deane. It is believed to have been designed specifically for rental as a doctor's surgery and residence and was ready for occupation in April 1889.
The building was constructed as an investment property for John Deane, a prominent northern parliamentarian, businessman and mining magnate, who had owned the land since 1869. The building, as described in the North Queensland Telegraph of 29 April 1889, did not have a projecting gable on the northern side. As such it would have resembled a single bay of a terrace of the kind built in the southern colonies and to a far lesser extent in Brisbane. As the house was built to one side of Deane's block, it is possible that it was originally intended to add adjoining bays.
Osler House is the only known example of the domestic work of the important North Queensland architectural firm of W.G. Smith and Sons. William George Smith was born in London and arrived in Brisbane in 1861, initially working as a carpenter and joiner. By 1869 he was a building contractor in Maryborough. In 1875 he became a foreman for the Queensland Department of Public Works and was transferred to Townsville in this capacity in 1879. In 1886 he left the department to join his son, W.G. Smith Junior, who was already in practice as an architect in Townsville. In time they were joined by Smith's other sons; Charles, Frederick and George. The firm had branch offices in Charters Towers, Mackay and Cairns and are best known for the Town Hall and Market Reserve Buildings in Townsville and also designed a number of large hotels. The firm continued in business until 1910.
At the time the house was built, its style was considered most unusual in Townsville, representing 'a departure in residential street architecture', according to the local newspaper. When built, it had a surgery and dining room on the ground floor and a drawing room, two bedrooms and a pantry on the upper floor. A separate brick building to the rear contained the kitchen, bathroom and servant's room. That it was intended as a doctor's surgery and residence is indicated by the fact that the largest room, which would normally be used as the drawing room, was located upstairs and a rather smaller room downstairs was designated as the surgery. It was common practice in the 19th century for doctors to set up a surgery in their home, but this was normally an adaptation of an ordinary house. This is the earliest surviving building identified in Queensland which appears to have been purpose designed for a medical practitioner's use. The building was also well ventilated being praised as 'about the coolest in town'.
Dr Sidney Spark was the first tenant and occupied the house until he moved to the South in 1891. Dr Walter Nisbet, another well-known medical practitioner, was the next tenant until 1899 when he left to join the Australian medical contingent during the Boer War. Nesbit served at one of the largest military hospitals in South Africa for 2 years, rising to the rank of Major.
In 1901, the property was leased by the Commercial Travellers Association who established a club in the building. This may have been the period when the two storey verandah extension was added, as in the 1890s a small shop occupied that section of the block, but in a view of the area taken in 1906, the shop has gone and the verandah can clearly be seen. It had arches and a cast iron valance matching the front of the building and may well have also been designed by Smith and Sons. If there had been any intention of constructing a small terrace, it had been abandoned at this point. The club only lasted in the building for a few years and in 1906 the building was again occupied by a medical man, Dr Stuart Burnie. In 1910 it was purchased by Jane McWilliam. The medical association continued as she rented the property to Dr DEA Buchanan, later well known as the Superintendent of the hospital at Rockhampton.
In 1918, the property was purchased by Dr Gordon Ross, who had rented it since 1914. Dr Ross was prominent in northern medical circles. He was founder of the Lister Hospital, the forerunner of the present Mater Misericordia Hospital, and had been superintendent of the Townsville General Hospital. Ross sold Osler House in 1928 to yet another well-known northern medical practitioner, Dr H.J. Taylor. It is thought that the building may have been named Osler House in the 1930s in honour of Sir William Osler, a distinguished Canadian physician who developed modern methods of clinical training and was the author of the influential Principles and Practice of Medicine.
In 1937, Dr Taylor sold the building and the practice to Dr Leslie Halberstater. Dr Halberstater was well known throughout the north, both in medical and racing circles, and was prominently associated with the development of the Mater Hospital. In 1957, the land was subdivided into 2 blocks and in 1875 a building was constructed on Lot 1 and was sold in 1981. After Dr Halberstater's retirement, the building was rented by other well-known medical practitioners, the last being Dr Michael Rooney who purchased the property in 1983, but sold it soon afterwards. The building fell into disrepair for a few years, but was renovated as offices.
Osler House was originally free standing but is now flanked by modern buildings. The verandah to the side has been enclosed and a further timber extension has been made at the first floor level over the driveway. The original cast iron frieze, columns and balustrade were replaced with a full height screen of louvres and the curved profile verandah roof was replaced by a straight profile sheeting, possibly in the Interwar period. This alteration has recently been reversed. Changes have also been made to the interior to accommodate change of use over the years.
","criteria":"Osler House, as an early purpose designed surgery and residence for medical practitioners, demonstrates an aspect of the growth of medical services in Queensland. Buildings designed for private medical practice are known in Brisbane at this date, but not in North Queensland and foreshadow the move towards such specialised buildings in the early 20th century.
|It is a rare surviving example of a 19th century combined doctor's residence and surgery which appears to have been specifically designed for this usage. It is also a rare example of a building of this style and material in North Queensland.
|Osler House has a long history of usage as the home and workplace of a number of noted North Queensland medical practitioners.
|Osler House is the only identified example of the domestic architecture of W G Smith and Sons, an architectural firm that had considerable influence on the architecture of north Queensland.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place has 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":15707,"place_ref":600932,"name":"Commonwealth Offices","alternate_name":"Scott, Dawson & Stewart Building | Rooneys Ltd Building | D & W Murray Ltd Building","street_address":"42 Sturt Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1994-06-15","description":"The Commonwealth Offices, a three-storeyed building with subfloor, is a rendered masonry structure with a triple corrugated iron hipped roof concealed behind a parapet wall.
The building, located on the south side of Sturt Street, shows classical influences in its facade which consists of four bays separated by pilasters supporting a deep cornice between each floor, with a rendered parapet with open circle motifs. Each bay has two arched sash windows, except the second bay which is narrower and forms the entrance, with single arched sash windows above and is surmounted by a pediment with a plaster sculpture of the Townsville City seal. The entrance has an arched door, with a cantilevered metal awning, located midway between the ground floor and subfloor. The western bay has a large arch with iron gates which accesses a driveway to the rear of the building.
The side and rear elevations have been altered, with some windows enclosed, window openings added at the southern corner, metal louvre sunshading attached and a rear steel fire stair.
Internally, the building has been refitted several times. The split level foyer has an hydraulic lift with a staircase either side, a sloping ceiling, timber veneer wall panelling and vinyl tiles. A staircase is located in the northern corner and false ceilings with air conditioning have been installed. Each floor has cast iron columns, some concealed by partition walls creating offices and corridors.
","history":"This three-storeyed masonry building with subfloor was erected in two stages, 1884 and c1889, as warehouse and offices for the established British drapery firm of Scott, Dawson & Stewart, who were the first to conduct a large wholesale drapery business in Townsville.
\nScott, Dawson & Stewart had offices in London, Glasgow and Brisbane before establishing the Townsville branch in 1884, when the subfloor and first level of the present building were erected. At the time, it was the most substantial wholesale drapery warehouse in Townsville. The firm's closest rival, Hollis Hopkins & Co Ltd, had established a wholesale drapery business in Townsville in 1881, but their substantial brick premises, also in Sturt Street and almost opposite those of Scott, Dawson & Stewart, were not erected until 1886-87. These have since been demolished.
\nThe establishment in Townsville of wholesale drapery firms, from which local drapers were able to buy goods in wholesale quantities at wholesale prices, revolutionised the drapery business in that town, with price reductions being passed on to consumers. Scott, Dawson & Stewart also received regular shipments direct from London, avoiding additional freight costs from Brisbane.
\nIn 1887, the subfloor of their building consisted of display and storage space on two levels, with a large packing room at the rear of the lower flat, and a bulk store housing surplus stock. The first level contained the manager's office and a counting house, and white cedars had been planted as shade trees at the front of the building.
\nIn August 1889, Townsville architects WG Smith & Sons called tenders for additions to the premises, and it appears that this was when the further two storeys and the dray entrance were added. The approximation of the Townsville city seal, above the pediment, appears in a photograph dated 1897. According to council records, the design was drawn between 1897 and 1899 for the Townsville Municipal Council.
\nD&W Murray Ltd, a wholesale importing firm based in London, leased the premises from 1899, and purchased them in 1913. In 1928, Townsville builders, timber merchants and furniture manufacturers, Rooneys Ltd, occupied the building as a store and furniture showroom, purchasing the property in 1933. Rooneys Ltd, whose business was being wound down, moved out of the building c.1938, and it remained vacant until acquired in mid-1941 by the Commonwealth of Australia for defence purposes, serving as Australian Defence Headquarters, North Eastern Area, during the Second World War.
\nAfter the war the building remained Commonwealth Offices, housing the RAAF's Recruiting Offices and Air Training Corps Headquarters. More recently, it was occupied by the Department of Social Security, until sold by the Commonwealth in 1987.
","criteria":"It is important in demonstrating the evolution and pattern of Queensland's history, illustrating the growth of mercantilism in Townsville in the 1880s, and of the town's development as the principal commercial centre of North Queensland in the late 19th century. The Commonwealth Offices also illustrated the role played by Townsville in the defence of Australia during the Second World War.
|The Commonwealth Offices demonstrate a rare aspect of Queensland's cultural heritage, being one of the few substantial, masonry warehouses erected in Townsville in the late 19th century.
|The Commonwealth Offices are important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a large and substantially intact, masonry warehouse of the 1880s, in Townsville.
|The Commonwealth Offices are important in exhibiting a range of aesthetic characteristics valued by the Townsville community, in particular their scale, form and materials, their composition of classical elements and their contribution to the Sturt Street streetscape and Townsville townscape.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion E","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15708,"place_ref":600933,"name":"Masonic Hall, Townsville (former)","alternate_name":"Townsville Choral and Orchestral Society Building | Townsville Choral Society Inc. Building | Townsville Choral & Orchestral Society Building | Calvary Temple | Assembly of God Hall","street_address":"485-493 Sturt Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The former Masonic Hall in Townsville is a single-storeyed structure overlooking Sturt Street to the south-east.
The building has a rendered classical front facade consisting of a tetrastyle portico, in the Ionic order which, within Freemasonry, symbolises strength. In 2009 the entablature was painted with the words TOWNSVILLE CHORAL SOCIETY. The facade, with pilasters supporting the entablature with a square parapet above, sits on a raised concrete platform.
The hall has a gabled roof clad with metal sheeting with lean-to structures to either side and the rear. These additions are constructed in concrete block and have louvred windows to the north-west and south-west, and a covered driveway along the eastern boundary.
Internally, the building has undergone major refurbishment with new wiring, floors, ceilings, kitchen and fittings. A large, tiled baptismal font is located under the current stage and survives from the building's use by the Assembly of God.
A two-storeyed chamferboard residence is located at the rear of the allotment, with a concrete block toilet building adjacent. Both are outside the heritage register boundary.
The front of the site is concreted with a low masonry wall and metal fence.
","history":"This single-storeyed masonry building was erected in 1889 as Townsville's first masonic hall, on a site acquired in 1888 by the Townsville Masonic Hall Company Ltd, all the shareholders of which were freemasons.
Freemasonry was established in Townsville in 1866, with the creation of the Hibernia and Albion Star Lodge, no.289 under the Irish constitution. Townsville Lodge, no.1596 under the English constitution, was established in 1875. Both lodges met at a variety of venues until the purpose-built masonic hall was constructed in 1889. Its location in Sturt Street West reflected the 1880s spread of population to the West End, where the need for a building suitable for lodge meetings was growing evident by the late 1880s. The project was a combined effort of both lodges in Townsville, but was initiated by members of the Hibernia and Albion Star Lodge.
The hall was designed by North Queensland architects WG Smith & Sons, and erected by contractors Sparre & Hansen, with a contract price of £1,175. Smith (it is not clear whether this was William George Smith senior or junior) and Sparre were freemasons. The foundation stone was laid in May 1889, and an elaborate opening ceremony was conducted the following August. The building was described at the time as simple and severe, but beautifully finished and delightfully cool.
The hall served masonic purposes until 1934, when it was sold to the Townsville Assembly of God, who occupied the building until 1980. The Assemblies of God (Queensland) was formed in 1929, with the amalgamation of ten pentecostal groups from around the state, including that established in Townsville c1924.
In 1970-71, several old structures at the rear of the building were demolished, the sides and back of the hall were extended, and the building was re-opened by the Assembly of God in 1971 as the Calvary Temple. The building was used principally as a meeting place, but for a brief time in the late 1970s it housed an Assembly of God school for grades 1 to 10.
In 1980 the building was transferred to trustees of the Townsville Choral and Orchestral Society; providing office and rehearsal space. The Society formed in 1906 as the Townsville Musical Union. In 2013 the former Masonic Hall continues to be used by the Townsville Choral Society Incorporated.
","criteria":"The former Masonic Hall, erected in 1889 as Townsville's first masonic hall, is important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history, in particular the development of the West End of Townsville in the 1880s and 1890s.
|It is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a small masonic hall establishing a strong street presence/identity.
|It is important in exhibiting a range of aesthetic characteristics valued by the Townsville community, in particular its strong contribution, through its architectural form, scale and materials, to the streetscape of Sturt Street and to the Townsville townscape; and its classical facade, seen as a landmark which reflects masonic identity.
|The building has had a special association with Freemasonry in Townsville for over 45 years, and with North Queensland architects WG Smith & Sons, as an example of their work.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15709,"place_ref":600934,"name":"Anzac Memorial Park and adjacent Banyan trees","alternate_name":"Townsville War Memorial | The Strand Park | Anzac Park","street_address":"The Strand","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Anzac Park, Townsville, extends along the foreshore overlooking Cleveland Bay, with views to Magnetic Island. It is bordered to the west by Tobruk Memorial Baths, to the south by The Strand, to the east by the Townsville Bowls Club, and to the north by reclaimed land forming part of a recent marina development. The park is surrounded by a low concrete edging with obelisk-like pillars at regular intervals. Steel chains stretch between the pillars along the sea front (to the north) only.
\nThere are mature Banyan trees along The Strand boundary, just outside the park reserve, and early garden beds along the street and throughout the park. More recently-planted palm trees are scattered throughout the park.
\nAnzac Memorial Park forms a garden setting for a number of adjacent buildings of cultural heritage significance, including the former Queen's Hotel [600936] and former Customs House [600937] along The Strand, further up on Wickham Street, the State Government Offices [601384], and at the corner of Cleveland Terrace and Melton Terrace, the former Supreme Court Building [600885].
\nAnzac Memorial Park contains a number of memorial structures. The memorial Bandstand is centrally placed at the eastern end of the park. [West of this are newly established gardens and a recent children's playground.] In the centre of the park, opposite the main entrance gates to The Strand and Wickham Street, is the 1959 Queensland Centenary Fountain. To the north of the Fountain is a 1992 memorial to the Battle of the Coral Sea. The entrance gates, Fountain and Coral Sea Memorial form a north-south axis which bisects the park. West of the fountain is the First World War Memorial, also centrally located. At the western end of the park is the WJ Castling Memorial, again, centrally positioned. The WJ Castling Memorial, First World War Memorial, Queensland Centenary Fountain, and the Bandstand, form an axis east-west, and each is set in a paved surround within the grassed area of the park's centre.
\nW J Castling Memorial, 1908
\nThe W J Castling memorial drinking fountain is an exercise in the use of classical elements, based on a simple square form plan with an attic storey raised on Ionic columns.
\nThe structure derives from the Roman triumphal arch, with its four columns standing on pedestals and rising to an entablature, above which is the attic storey with a semicircular decorative motif. The arches have been displaced by the capitals, and occur within the structure as a shallow dome above the central urn on its octagonal base.
\nThe curves of a basilica roof are reduced to a convex pyramidal form, topped with a decorative carved finial.
\nCarved of yellow sandstone, the columns, roof and urn are supported on a plinth and attached column bases of white marble. A basin has been formed in marble on each side of the drinking fountain.
\nBandstand, 1913
\nThe bandstand is also an exercise in the language of classical architecture, using a simple square form plan with a pyramidal roof raised on composite order columns. The Mannerist composition of the screen derives from the Renaissance illustrations of the classical orders, in which the elements of the entablature surmounting the capital are interpreted as panels of open space between flat pilasters.
\nThe frieze band of the entablature is infilled with decorative cast iron panels, framed between chamfered square section timber posts and visually supported on corner brackets to the underside of the taenia, or plate that separates the frieze from the architrave below.
\nPanels of decorative cast iron are fixed between columns to form a continuous balustrade, broken only at the top of the steps where it meets round iron posts with ball finials. Paired columns at each corner are infilled with frieze panels above and balustrading below, with curved corner brackets at each junction to form an egg-shaped opening in the screen.
\nColumns are set on a base of rendered brickwork, set one metre above the surrounding garden beds with rendered steps and curved strings.
\nWithin the bandstand is a recent hardwood boarded floor, and a flat VJ lined ceiling extending beyond the screen of the walls to form boxed eaves stopped at a deep timber fascia.
\nThe roof is sheeted in corrugated galvanised iron, and has a turned timber finial. The structure is finished in a green plastic paint except for the floorboards which are unpainted and the ceiling and finial which are painted off-white. There is no guttering nor rainwater goods, and the original interior light fitting is missing.
\nFirst World War Memorial, 1923-24
\nThis memorial is a column of rough cut, rusticated grey granite supported on a red-white marble plinth and bracketed by three white marble fins each supported by triple columns on attached bases. The column is finished with a projecting abacus of granite, and is supported on a concrete stylobate of two steps, surfaced in red granite chips.
\nWhite marble tablets are fixed to the column between the fins, and high on the column's four faces are inset circular bronze plaques, each sheltered by a narrow bracketed shelf of white marble. The four plaques depict an eagle, crossed swords, anchor, and the seal of the City of Townsville, and replace four clock faces.
\nQueensland Centenary Fountain, 1959
\nThis is a circular fountain approximately 1 metre high with central sprays. It sits in a shallow pool fed by perimeter sprays set in a low masonry ring.
\nBattle of the Coral Sea Memorial, 1992
\nEarth is banked in a glacis against two low, outward-sloping walls that form two facing quadrants around a circular paved area.
\nThe walls rise in an arc to a height of about one metre in their centre, and are finished in red granite. The lettering and illustrations that tell the story of the Battle of the Coral Sea are picked out in contrasting rough and smooth finishes on the surfaces of the walls.
\nWithin the paved area are two truncated columns, bearing bronze information plaques.
","history":"Anzac Memorial Park was established as The Strand Park in the 1910s, but the foreshore along The Strand, Townsville's main frontage to Cleveland Bay, had developed as a recreation area from the 1860s, the earliest days of settlement. The whole of the foreshore between King and Howitt Streets was gazetted a temporary reserve for public purposes in February 1901, and a section of this, between the Customs House and King Street, was proclaimed a permanent reserve for park purposes in June 1912.
As early as 1866, Townsville's more affluent residents were constructing homes along the beachfront, and by 1872, three hotels had been erected opposite the present Anzac Memorial Park. The Strand was unformed at this time, being little more than a track along the foreshore, and there were no shade trees, but the beach was popular with bathers (mainly male) from at least the late 1870s. In 1881 the town council planted 30 cedar trees along the foreshore, and added cocoa and betel nut trees in early 1882. In 1883, following strong public demand, a road was made along the beach front to Kissing Point. By 1889, The Strand, between King Street and Kissing Point, made a glorious promenade on a moonlight night when the breeze blows straight and cool from Magnetic Island. Photographs of The Strand in 1888 show banyan trees several years old, as well as more recent plantings, and a reserve for public baths (opposite the then quarry site on The Strand) was gazetted in 1889.
One of the earliest structures erected along the foreshore was an ornamental fountain/bird-bath, extant by 1905, which remained in the park reserve to the 1950s at least. In 1908 a drinking fountain was constructed opposite Queen's Hotel, near the corner of Wickham Street and The Strand. It was located outside the park proper, on the road verge, and was erected as a memorial to WJ Castling, a butcher and former Mayor of Townsville. This drinking fountain was moved to the western end of the park, probably during road works after 1924.
One of the principal instigators of the establishment of a formal park along The Strand was John Henry Tyack, owner of Queen's Hotel 1899-1913, alderman in the Townsville City Council 1906-1913, and mayor of Townsville in 1912. He had commissioned the elaborate re-building of Queen's Hotel, one of the few grand hotels of Northern Queensland, starting in 1902-04, and took an interest in beautifying the foreshore opposite. In April 1912, during Tyack's term as mayor, Townsville City Council applied to have the foreshore along The Strand, from the sea baths to King Street, gazetted as The Strand Park. The Council had already spent a considerable amount of money on foreshore improvements, and intended to spend more. In June 1912, about 4.5 acres were proclaimed a permanent reserve for park purposes, extending from King Street to Cleveland Street.
As early as 1901, Council had considered erecting a new bandstand on the beach, but this project did not eventuate until 1913. Through Henry Tyack's efforts, a public subscription was raised for the construction of a small, ornate bandstand in the park. The structure was designed by Sydney architect AB Polin, who had designed the new Queen's Hotel for Tyack c1902, when resident in Townsville as the North Queensland representative of the architectural firm of Eaton, Bates and Polin. J Crase & Co., ironworkers and brass founders of Brisbane, supplied the cast iron scroll work and pillars for the bandstand, in the same design as that used on the Queen's Hotel, and construction was carried out by municipal employees. The bandstand was nearing completion when Tyack died on 28 July 1913, and it was dedicated in Tyack's memory on 27 September 1913, by Alderman RW McClelland, Mayor of Townsville. The stand was intended to cater for both band and vocal concerts, mainly during the summer months.
Initially, the bandstand was located opposite the main entrance gates to the park. It was relocated to the eastern end of the park when the Queensland Centenary Fountain was constructed on the same site in 1959.
In 1914-15, a bowling green and clubhouse were constructed on land at the southern end of The Strand Park, the land being leased by the newly established Townsville Bowls Club from the City Council. The first clubhouse was destroyed during cyclone Althea in December 1971, the grass was replaced with an artificial green in 1992, and in 1994 the land occupied by the bowls club was excised from the park. It no longer forms part of the Entry in the Heritage Register for Anzac Memorial Park.
From at least the 1920s, The Strand Park was a focus for Anzac Day activities. In 1923-24 a memorial clocktower was erected in the park, to the west of the bandstand. The memorial was financed by public subscription, and was designed and constructed by monumental masons Melrose and Fenwick of Townsville. The design had been finalised by September 1923, and the monument was completed by Anzac Day 1924, when it was unveiled and dedicated by the Governor of Queensland, Sir Matthew Nathan.
When first established, a picket fence divided the park from the roadway. By 1924, that section of the timber fence opposite Queen's Hotel, near the intersection of Wickham Street and The Strand, had been replaced with park entrance gates and fencing of wrought-iron panels set between masonry pillars. Also by 1924, several canon, probably trophies from the 1914-18 war, were located east and west of the bandstand; the park was lit by gas? lamps; and a children's playground had been constructed at the western end of the park, near the sea baths. No evidence of this early playground survives.
In October 1925, the park was described as being tastefully laid out and planted with ornamental trees, shrubs with foliage of variegated colours, and lawns of couch grass, and attracted hundreds of people to the Sunday evening band and orchestral concerts. In the 1920s, the park was considered a tourist attraction, and was extended to over 6 acres in July 1926, by including the land up to the sea baths reserve.
Early in 1934, the name was changed to Anzac Memorial Park, and a metal arch bearing the new name was erected above the entrance gates, in time for the April 25 Anzac Day commemorations.
In April 1953, Anzac Memorial Park was extended to 9 acres, and in 1959 the bandstand was relocated within the park to permit construction in its place of a fountain to commemorate the centenary of Queensland's separation from New South Wales.
In December 1971, cyclone Althea caused substantial damage to the park. Many of the 1880s trees were destroyed and others stripped of their leaves. Subsequently, the Townsville City Council erected a plaque in the park, to commemorate the role of the Australian Army in the restoration of Townsville after the cyclone.
Prior to the Battle of the Coral Sea Commemorations in 1992, the gardens in Anzac memorial Park were replanted and most of the memorial structures were cleaned and/or repainted. A large Coral Sea Battle Memorial was built to the north of the Centenary Fountain. The memorial commemorates the role of Australian and American servicemen in the Battle of the Coral Sea in 1942. About the same period, a new children's play area was created between the bandstand and the Centenary Fountain.
","criteria":"Since the early 20th century, the park has provided a community focus for commemorative activities, and contains a number of memorials to events or persons of significance in Townsville's history, including the WJ Castling Memorial (1908), the Bandstand (1913), the First World War Memorial (1923-24), the Queensland Centenary Fountain (1959) and the Battle of the Coral Sea Memorial (1992).
The First World War Memorial is a member of a class of commemorative structures erected as a record of the local impact of a major historical event and intended to endure, and along with the re-naming of the park as Anzac Memorial Park, survives as evidence of a widespread social movement expressing Australian patriotism and nationalism in the interwar period.
The Queensland Centenary Fountain is significant as Townsville City Council's major contribution to the celebration of the centenary of Queensland's separation from New South Wales in 1859.
The adjacent mature Banyan trees are significant as some of the earliest surviving street plantings in Townsville.
|The WJ Castling Memorial and the Bandstand are finely detailed, classically-derived structures that reflect the Mannerism of the Victorian and Edwardian Periods and the tradition of constructing public buildings in a classical style.
|The bandstand in particular is an aesthetically pleasing and skilfully executed composition based on the language of classical architecture. Furthermore, the principal original elements of the composition are intact. The WJ Castling Memorial is significant for its craftsmanship and intactness.
The First World War Memorial is a dominant structure in Anzac Park, and in its aesthetic quality and craftsmanship, makes a significant contribution to the townscape quality of the park.
|The establishment of the park was closely connected with civic leader and publican John Henry Tyack and the re-development of the Queens Hotel opposite, and for the first half of the 20th century, remained one of Townsville's principal tourist attractions.
|Anzac Memorial Park and adjacent Banyan trees are important for their association with The Strand and Cleveland Bay foreshore as one of the earliest recreation venues in Townsville.
Since the early 20th century, the park has provided a community focus for commemorative activities, and contains a number of memorials to events or persons of significance in Townsville's history, including the WJ Castling Memorial (1908), the Bandstand (1913), the First World War Memorial (1923-24), the Queensland Centenary Fountain (1959) and the Battle of the Coral Sea Memorial (1992).
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15711,"place_ref":600936,"name":"Telecasters North Queensland Ltd Building","alternate_name":"Queen's Hotel","street_address":"The Strand","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Telecasters North Queensland Pty Ltd building, located on the southern side of The Strand and returning into Wickham Street, is a two-storeyed structure containing television studios and offices built of English Bond brickwork with rendered detailing. The brickwork has been sandblasted to remove a coat of paint, and the building has a hipped ribbed metal roof, similar in form to the original roof.
The Strand elevation shows Art Nouveau and Indian/Colonial influences in its design, including turrets crowned by cupolas framing low tower forms along the northern frontage, decorative render panels, wide eaves and arcaded loggias to the ground floor with verandahs above. The two large and two small tower forms differ slightly in their design and proportions, with the two larger having a broad, recessed arched entry with a recessed loggia above and surmounted by a steep pitch ribbed metal roof. The smaller forms are surmounted by a rounded pediment. Sections of the ground floor arcaded loggias are enclosed with timber framed glazing, and the open sections have cast iron balustrade and french doors with fanlights. The verandah, off which french doors with fanlights also open, has paired timber posts with cast iron balustrade and valance. Metal stanchions have been added to the face of the brickwork for the purpose of tying the roof down, and sections of floor have been replaced with concrete. Four bays of the eastern end of the building have been demolished and the verandah now returns along this face to the rear.
The Wickham Street elevation has a rendered corner parapet and a timber verandah with paired posts, timber brackets to the ground floor and cast iron balustrade and valance to the first floor. The southern end of the building has been demolished, and the facade altered, with window and door openings having been enclosed or moved.
The rear of the building has been substantially altered, with only one of the original masonry two-storeyed toilet blocks remaining, and a large television studio and communication equipment have been added. Sections of the rear verandah remain as internal corridor, off which french doors with fanlights open. The rear of the site contains carparking.
Internally, the building has been substantially altered. The entrance hall contains a carved cedar staircase with a twin return, two figurine lamps on the bottom balusters and leadlight sash windows at the landing. This space has a raised ceiling with plaster mouldings including a deep cornice with recessed lighting, laurel relief, ornamental ventilation panels and a centre glazed skylight, which no longer admits natural light. There are sections of original joinery throughout the building, including doors with etched glass panels into the former dining room, internal doors, architraves and skirtings.
The building has false ceilings and air conditioning throughout. There are sections of marble tiled floor in the foyer and former Palm Lounge, now the Telecine room, but they do not match early photographs of these areas. The first floor is mostly office space, with the former bedrooms being enlarged by the removal of partition walls.
","history":"The former Queen's Hotel, a large, two-storeyed masonry building, was erected in several stages between 1902 and the mid-192Os. It was considered the finest hotel in North Queensland.
Townsville's first Queen's Hotel, a two-storeyed timber structure, was erected at the corner of Wickham Street and the Strand in 1872, and was extended along Wickham Street in the 1880s. It early acquired a reputation as one of the best kept hotels in Queensland, patronised by visiting dignitaries.
In 1899 the property and license were purchased by John Henry Tyack. He raised a £14,000 mortgage on the property, and called for competitive designs to replace the timber building with a substantial brick structure. The winning entry was submitted by architects Eaton, Bates & Polin, who had opened an office in Townsville c.1901. Eaton & Bates had trained in Sydney, but by the turn of the century their principal offices were in Brisbane, with branch offices in Rockhampton, Townsville and Toowoomba. Arthur Polin was managing partner of the Townsville office.
The original design was more modest in size than the final structure, extending along the Strand only as far as the eastern tower, and around the corner of Wickham Street for eight bays. It was erected in stages, with trade continuing from the original hotel on the corner of Wickham Street and the Strand until 1925. In 1901, Tyack purchased an adjoining block (site of the former North Australian Hotel) along the Strand, which permitted construction of the first section of the new Queen's Hotel, comprising the eastern tower and four bays to its west, c.1902. This section was extant by March 1903. In May 1904, Tyack replaced the first mortgage with one for £20,000, which probably financed construction of the second section, completed by 1905. This involved demolition of part of the timber building along the Strand, and the extension of the brick building a further six bays toward the corner of Wickham Street. The contractor was a Mr Boyle, and work was underway in January 1904. For the next twenty years, Queen's Hotel consisted of a brick wing along the Strand, and a corner timber section which continued back along Wickham Street.
Publican John Tyack continued the tradition of fine service and hospitality at the Queen's. He was active also in civic affairs, and, as Mayor of Townsville in 1912, encouraged council improvements along the Strand and foreshore in front of the Queen's Hotel. This included the 1913 construction of a cast-iron bandstand, with balustrading to match that on the hotel. Tyack died in 1913, prior to construction of the final stages of his grand hotel.
Following Tyack's death, the hotel was placed in the hands of Queensland Trustees Ltd, who transferred the various properties to Queen's Hotel Townsville Ltd in 1924-25. At the same time, Queen's Hotel Townsville Ltd acquired three adjoining allotments along the Strand, which permitted the construction of a further 10 bays of the hotel toward the east. The remaining timber section of the hotel was demolished, and the western tower and Wickham Street wing were completed.
The 1920s additions and alterations, costing approximately £40,000, were designed by respected Townsville architect Walter Hunt, and constructed by established Townsville contractor WH Turner. Work was underway by the end of 1924, and the eastern extension, comprising 48 rooms, was completed in mid-1925. The timber building was demolished in late 1925, in preparation for the next stage of the new building. The section at the corner of the Strand and Wickham Street was erected in 1925-26, and occupied in August 1926. This ground floor of this section comprised the main entrance hall, extensions to dining room and lounge, offices, and bars; bedrooms and balconies occupied the first floor. A detached block at the rear, comprising kitchen and scullery on the ground floor and bathrooms and toilets on the first, was erected at the same time. The final stage along Wickham Street was erected in 1926-28. Work was commenced in mid-1926, but a 1927 strike in the building industry delayed its completion. Included in this wing were parlours, a commercial room, nursery, servants' dining room, two shops and some bedrooms on the ground floor, and bedrooms on the first floor.
Through the 1920s and 1930s, when the license was held by Bridget Mary Guinane, Queen's Hotel retained its reputation as North Queensland's premier hotel. During the Second World War, when Townsville was the principal Australian base from which the Pacific war was fought, the Queen's Hotel was occupied as an American army officers' mess. After the war, the hotel fell into gradual decline. In 1966, Far Northern Theatres Ltd acquired the property, and demolished several bays at the end of each wing. The building was sold to Townsville firm Samuel Allen & Sons Ltd in 1973, and in 1977 was acquired by Telecasters North Queensland Ltd, who restored the exterior and converted the interior into television and radio studios and offices.
","criteria":"The former Queen's Hotel, erected in several stages between 1902 and the mid-1920s, was once the premier hotel of North Queensland, and survives as important evidence of the evolution of Townsville as the principal city of North Queensland by the early 20th century.
|Sufficient of the fabric remains to understand the building as a large, ostentatious, two-storeyed masonry hotel, and to illustrate the work of Queensland architects Eaton, Bates and Polin.
|The place has a strong association with the Townsville community as a local landmark, and is significant aesthetically for the composition and massing of the building's architectural elements, the quality of the building's surviving interior elements, and its contribution to The Strand streetscape and Townsville townscape.
|The place has a strong association with the Townsville community as a local landmark, and is significant aesthetically for the composition and massing of the building's architectural elements, the quality of the building's surviving interior elements, and its contribution to The Strand streetscape and Townsville townscape.
|Sufficient of the fabric remains to understand the building as a large, ostentatious, two-storeyed masonry hotel, and to illustrate the work of Queensland architects Eaton, Bates and Polin.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15712,"place_ref":600937,"name":"Townsville Customs House","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Wickham Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2005-02-07","description":"The Townsville Customs House is located on the corner of The Strand and Wickham Street, at the base of Melton Hill overlooking Cleveland Bay. It is one of a number of buildings at the eastern end of the city which are of cultural heritage significance.
The building is a two-storeyed, L shaped, red brick building with an elaborate semi-circular corner entrance. Verandahs exist on both levels on both street elevations, with iron balustrading on the ground floor. There is a tower on the Strand side, which has a lookout for the observation of shipping. The roof is roll and cap iron.
The ground floor interior includes the Long Room which contains the public counter and work area; a communications room; several general offices; two store rooms; an entrance hall, main stairs and lobby; colonnades; a safe; clearing office; strong room; amenities room; field store; and a flat containing a bedroom, bathroom, balcony and portion of the colonnade.
The first floor contains the Sub-Collector of Customs living area. Within this area are three bedrooms created using modern partitioning, a living room, lounge, kitchen, and colonnades on both the north and south facades, which contain laundry and bathroom facilities. There is also a lobby into the living area (former Titles Office), a staircase lobby, a gallery over the Long Room, a pantry and store.
The surviving internal timber work and timber fittings are of cedar. There are a number of tiled fireplaces throughout the main offices.
There are leadlight windows in the original dome. The cedar and plaster mouldings of the dome are also intact.
","history":"The former Townsville Customs House, the fourth customs building in Townsville, was constructed in 1901/02 to a design prepared in 1899/1900 by architect George Payne of the Government Architect's Office in the Queensland Department of Public Works.
Townsville had been established in the mid-1860s by pastoralist John Melton Black and his Sydney business partner, Robert Towns, as a port to service Woodstock Station. There were already ports at Bowen and Cardwell but during the wet season Woodstock and other stations to the west were often cut off from these centres by floodwaters.
In November 1864 Black's employees Andrew Ball and Mark Reid set up camp close to the mouth of Ross Creek on Cleveland Bay and in the next few months Black and Towns invested in the construction of a warehouse and wharf. A residence was constructed for Melton Black on Melton Hill overlooking the fledgling port.
At this period Robert Towns, with interests in banking, pastoral, shipping and commercial industries, was one of Australian's most influential businessmen. Having invested heavily in the early establishment of this new Queensland port facility, Black and Towns lobbied the colonial government to declare the new township a port of entry. They received support from the Queensland Collector of Customs and on 17 June 1865 Cleveland Bay was proclaimed a "Port of Entry and Clearance". At that time a small Customs service was established in the township. Staff included the Sub-Collector of Customs who, for an annual fee of ¦300, served as the Police Magistrate, Clerk of Petty Sessions, and Harbour and Port Master. Two staff were employed as customs and harbour workers, boatmen and constables. The construction of a bond store and customs warehouse was also authorised at that time.
On 29 July 1865 the Surveyor-General's Department decided that the new Customs House should be located next to the harbour entrance on Ross Creek. A town survey had been completed and the first land sales took place on 31 July 1865. On 6 September 1865 the Queensland Executive Council, referring for the first time to the township as "Townsville", approved a block of land bounded by the Strand and Flinders Street as an appropriate site for the Customs Reserve and new Customs House. It was in an elevated position and commanded an excellent view of the harbour.
Early in 1866 the Municipality of Townsville was declared with Black elected as Mayor. In October 1866 the Province of Townsville was declared, covering a large area centred round Townsville.
The discovery of gold at Cape River in 1867 and Ravenswood in 1869 stimulated the development of Townsville as a port and administration centre. By 1870 a new building had been constructed to house customs and court functions and a wharf built on the Customs Reserve on Ross Creek. The new building was a cramped, three-roomed wooden structure. Early in 1871 an additional two offices were added at the rear of the building. To create more space the Sub-Collector of Customs suggested that a bond store be built, which was constructed in July 1872 on the Customs Reserve close to the wharf facing Flinders Street.
In March 1874 the Sub-Collector of Customs further suggested that the Court House facilities be removed from the Customs building and in February 1875 approval was given for a new court house, which was constructed in 1876 in Sturt Street.
The Customs Service grew rapidly as road and rail networks in the Townsville hinterland expanded to meet the needs of the pastoral industry and gold fields. By the late 1870s the early timber framed government buildings in Townsville were beginning to be replaced by ore substantial structures. The new, more imposing buildings reflected the growing prosperity of the region. In 1884 the Customs Bond Store on the bank of Ross Creek was extended.
In 1889 the importance of the Customs Service was demonstrated with the opening of the new Brisbane Customs House. By September 1891 the inadequacy of the Townsville office was obvious and the decision was made to convert the former Post and Telegraph Office into a customs house. This work was completed by June 1892. At this stage the quarters of the Sub-Collector of Customs comprised a timber structure at the rear of the Supreme Court.
By 1898 the Customs Service had again outgrown its building. At the same time the Queensland government embarked on an ambitious building program to make a generous contribution to the planned Commonwealth of Australia by constructing new customs houses or upgrading existing ones prior to Federation. Included in the building program were new customs houses at Rockhampton (1898-1901), Townsville (1898-1902), Bundaberg (completed c1902) and Mackay (completed in 1902) and an upgrading of the 1870 Maryborough Customs House in 1900.
Townsville Customs and Estate Agent JN Parkes, commissioned to find a suitable site for a new Townsville customs house, recommended two blocks bounded by The Strand, Wickham and Cunningham Streets. The site, owned by the Bank of New South Wales, was purchased by the Queensland government in November 1898 for £1600. Plans were prepared in 1899 by architect George Payne employed temporarily in the Government Architect's Office. The plans were approved by the government in January 1900, just prior to Federation and the creation of the new Australian Customs Services.
George Payne was a London born and trained architect who arrived in New South Wales c1887. In the late 1880s he achieved success in a number of design competitions and in the early 1890s established his own architectural practice in Sydney. He was a foundation member of the Sydney Architectural Association and in 1891-93 its inaugural vice-president. Due to the effects of the economic depression of the 1890s on the architectural profession, Payne gained a temporary position as a draftsman in the Queensland Public Works Department, taking up the appointment in March 1898. It has been suggested that Payne may have been the catalyst for the sophistication of the subsequent work of the Department's Professional Branch. He prepared working drawings for the Rockhampton Customs House, in which he likely contributed to the design detailing and in 1899 designed and documented the Townsville Customs House. With the tropical climate and the government's desire to impress in mind, he designed a colonnaded Romanesque building with an imposing presence to the Strand and shaded, well ventilated interiors. In late 1902 Payne resigned from the Public Works Department to oversee construction of his winning design for St Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Brisbane, for which he acquired a national reputation.
Payne's Townsville Customs House was a brick and stone building of generous design, with high ceilings to allow for maximum air circulation and broad, colonnaded verandahs to provide shade for the internal rooms. While no plans of previous Townsville Customs buildings have been located it is probable that this building provided, for the first time, the traditional arrangement of Customs Service rooms, based on the British tradition of a lofty and impressive 'long room' for the reception of the public. It appears to have included residential accommodation for the Sub-Collector of Customs on the upper floor and a basement. As with other Queensland customs buildings designed at this period, the Townsville Customs House, through its architectural distinction, was designed to impress and to present the Customs Service as a crucial arm of government.
Tenders were called in February 1900 and the tender of £26,642, submitted by Messrs Crawford and Cameron of Kangaroo Point, Brisbane was accepted on 7 March 1900. The works supervisor was ES Hunt. The building was constructed of brick and stone with concrete foundations and a plinth of granite from Cockle Bay on Magnetic Island. The use of local labour and materials was intended to stimulate local industry. However, it is thought that the stone dressings (sandstone colonnade, balustrade rails and bases) came from Stanwell near Rockhampton. Construction was completed in late 1902.
Following the federation of the Australian colonies as the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901, the new federal government assumed responsibility for the fixing and collection of customs duties on goods entering Australia. Customs duties imposed on inter-colonial trade were abolished. The operation of existing coastal customs houses and the establishment of new ones became a Commonwealth function. Under the new arrangements, the Commonwealth assumed control of Queensland's existing customs houses. By December 1908 the Townsville Customs House, valued at £32,201 (£27,261 for the structure and £4,940 for the site), had been transferred to the Commonwealth.
The building was severely damaged by cyclone Leonta in March 1903 when two chimneys fell and crashed through the roof into an office below. Despite repairs the roof began to leak and in 1910 the tiles were replaced with galvanised iron pan tiles. The tiles on the portico turret roof were left in situ until 1938 when leaks developed and the whole roof was replaced with galvanised steel.
Besides the Commonwealth Customs Service, the building also accommodated a number of Queensland government agencies, including the Stamps and Titles Office (c1938), Department of Works, the Bankruptcy Branch and the Electoral Office. During the second world war the Commonwealth Department of Works and Buildings expanded and in 1943 constructed a temporary, two storeyed building in the southwest corner of the grounds. The balcony above the Long Room became office space and a temporary wooden mezzanine floor was erected in the Long Room. Part of the first floor residence became office space for the Department of Works and Buildings and the basement was converted into an air raid shelter with an exit door to Wickham Street. During the war years Works and Buildings was responsible for the construction of war facilities across north Queensland. The department constructed military facilities as well as converting private property to military use and continued to operate from the Customs House until the 1980s.
The roof was damaged again in 1971 by cyclone Althea, following which the domed roof was reclad with galvanised steel and the turret roof with zinc in 1973.
By 1973 other government departments were again occupying the building including the Department of Works, the Department of Primary Industry and the Department of the Navy.
In 1978 the building was entered on the Register of the National Estate. Restoration work in 1983 won a John Herbert Award for Meritorious Conservation Action. This work included a new roof of specially formed painted steel to the original 1910 profile and gutters replaced to match the original ogee profile. The flat at the west end was vacated and verandah enclosures removed, with restoration of the stone and brick work on the balcony. The building was painted and exterior masonry was dressed and re-pointed.
In 1992 $620,000 was allocated by the Federal government for the restoration and conservation of the building, including the repair of the sandstone, masonry and roof sheeting.
The place is no longer owned by the Commonwealth.
","criteria":"The former Townsville Customs House, completed in 1902, was commissioned by the Queensland government prior to Federation during the period of planning for the hand over of government departments and their facilities to the new federal government. Purpose-built as a customs house, the building was used by the Australian Customs Service for close to a century. It is significant historically as an expression of the importance of the customs service to Queensland and to Australia.
|The former Townsville Customs House is an elegant, imposing brick building with sandstone detailing. It remains substantially intact and is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of its class of place, being one of a group of imposing, two-storeyed brick and stone customs houses designed by the Queensland Public Works department and constructed around the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. It is important in illustrating the best work of the office of the Queensland Government Architect and in particular the work of respected architect George Payne. The former Townsville Customs House provides important evidence of adaptation to the climatic requirements of north Queensland particularly in its high ceilings and wide colonnades along the length of both street elevations. It possesses a strong, visual unity in its use of scale, materials and texture and has architectural significance on a national scale.
|With its distinctive entrance portico and domed roof the former Townsville Customs House makes an outstanding contribution to an historic and aesthetic streetscape that includes Anzac Park (601462), the former Queen's Hotel (600936), the State Government Offices (601384), Tattersall's Hotel (600916), and the former Bank of New South Wales (600890).
|The place has a special association with the work in Townsville and north Queensland of the Queensland and Australian customs services for close to a century.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15713,"place_ref":600938,"name":"Kardinia","alternate_name":"Japanese Consulate","street_address":"11 Victoria Street","suburb":"NORTH WARD","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Kardinia is a substantial, high-set timber residence occupying a commanding position on top of Stanton Hill overlooking the central business district of Townsville. Some external walls have an exposed stud frame while others are lined on the outside. It has a corrugated iron gabled roof. The house is raised on brick piers with some more modern concrete piers.
The house has an unusual asymmetrical façade and a U-shaped plan form, reflecting five periods of extension. A central hallway, with large rooms opening off it, extends the length of the main body of the building. To the left of this hallway there are two rooms which are divided by a large cedar arch. To the right, all the rooms open onto the verandah through french doors which have fanlights decorated with etched glass and fretwork. The verandah balustrading is made of cast-iron in a design found in only a few houses in North Queensland. An elaborate wooden frieze extends the full length of the verandah and early timber venetian blinds provide shade and privacy. The rear section, once open verandah, was enclosed to create extra rooms and a bathroom. The service wing which originally contained a maid's room or pantry, kitchen and scullery was converted into a kitchen, possible in 1912. A large dining room was added in 1912 across the rear verandah from the service wing, together with a room built under the house where the land falls away. The windows in this area are of unusual painted glass.
","history":"Kardinia, a decorative, single-storeyed timber residence, was erected during the boom years of the 1880s.
The site was alienated in April 1883 by Arthur Walters, and sold by November that year to Edward Bevan, a surveyor then in partnership with Christian Waagepetersen as Waagepetersen and Bevan, architects, surveyors and agents, Townsville. By 1883 Bevan was also editor of the Daily Northern Standard, a Townsville publication, and became well known as an artist and writer. It is not known whether Walters or Bevan erected a house on the site, but physical evidence suggests that the original building comprised just 2 rooms with a surrounding verandah, and was enlarged subsequently to create the present form. Bevan was resident on Stanton Hill by 16 June 1884, when his son Guy Felix was born, and in September 1886 took out a £400 mortgage on the property, which may have financed the renovations. Title to the property was transferred in August 1888 to John Graham Macdonald, explorer, pastoralist, and police magistrate of Townsville from May 1888 to April 1899. In August 1889, Macdonald also took out a mortgage [£1,400] on the property, but whether it was he, or Bevan, who commissioned the renovations, has not been established. Photographic evidence suggests that the house was enlarged, and had acquired its unusual asymmetrical façade, by c1889.
Macdonald was one of the first Europeans to explore the area between Bowen and the Gulf of Carpentaria, and later invested in northern pastoral properties such as Carpentaria Downs, in partnership with Robert Towns and Sir John Robertson. After the pastoral slump of the mid-1880s, Macdonald took up the important position of police magistrate in Townsville, and played a significant role in the life of the town.
Macdonald resided at Kardinia from c1888 until c1895, and from 1896 to 1908 leased the house to the Japanese Government as Australia's first Japanese consulate, servicing the needs of the growing number of Japanese living in North Queensland, and promoting improved trade relations between Australia and Japan. After the consulate moved to Sydney in 1908 the house was occupied by prominent Townsville businessman, alderman and civic worker John Newport Parkes, at which time the name Kardinia is first listed in the Queensland Post Office Directory. In 1911 title to the property transferred from Macdonald to Alberta Green, wife of prominent North Queensland newspaper proprietor and editor, [Humphrey] David Green. The Green family played a prominent role in the newspaper industry of North Queensland for more than half a century. During their occupancy the house was visited often by the noted North Queensland journalist and author Edmund James Banfield ["Beachcomber"] who was a lifelong friend of the family. Kardinia remained the property of the Green family until acquired by the present owners in 1984.
","criteria":"Kardinia, erected in the 1880s, is significant historically, architecturally, aesthetically and socially. As the first Japanese consulate in Australia, it was connected with important events in Australian-Japanese trade and diplomatic relations, and illustrates the important connection between Japanese migration and North Queensland in the late 19th/early 20th centuries.
|As a colonial house, Kardinia is unusual because of its asymmetric façade which was a rare design feature until after the depression of the 1890s.
|The building also is important in illustrating the principal characteristics of the prestigious type of timber house built in Townsville in the latter part of the 19th century.
|Kardinia, erected in the 1880s, is significant historically, architecturally, aesthetically and socially.
|The place is significant for its strong associations with several prominent people in Townsville, including police magistrate John Graham Macdonald and newspaper editor and proprietor David Green, and for its associations with the work of the Japanese government in establishing consular services for its nationals resident in North Queensland.
","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":15714,"place_ref":600939,"name":"Sacred Heart Cathedral","alternate_name":"Church of the Sacred Heart | Sacred Heart Catholic Cathedral","street_address":"266 Stanley Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Sacred Heart Cathedral is rectangular in plan and is modelled on a roman basilica design, with a high ceiling above the nave, aisles on either side and an apse which is framed by a timber arch lined with tongue and groove timber. The tunnel-vault with truss design ceiling is of tongue and groove board. The gable roof is of corrugated iron, and the facade has two turrets and large Gothic windows on either side of the central statue niche. The external walls of red face brick have tuck pointed mortar joints and contrasting cement rendered mouldings. An unusual feature of the structure is that it faces north-south rather than the traditional east-west direction of most cathedrals. The restricted hillside site was probably the reason for the placement of the building. The site is accessed from the northeast street frontage, and the altar faces southwest.
The cathedral is built on a rocky spur of Castle Hill, across from the equally commanding St James Cathedral, overlooking the central business district of the city. The lower slopes of the hill are covered with grass and small shrubs which cling to the rough terrain. A rock faced retaining wall edges the cathedral block and creates a roadway from Stanley Street. Grassed areas surround the building together with small shrubs at the base of the main stairs. Close to the cathedral is a 1938, two-storeyed brick building which houses the bishop of the Sacred Heart Cathedral and the priest of the cathedral parish. This building of red brick and stucco echoes some of the decorative features of the cathedral.
","history":"The Church of the Sacred Heart at Townsville was erected in at least two stages between 1896 and 1902, to plans prepared by Melbourne architects Reed, Smart & Tappin in 1894. Queensland architects Eaton, Bates and Polin of Brisbane, Townsville and Rockhampton supervised the work, and the contractor for the superstructure was Denis Kelleher.
The first Roman Catholic church in Townsville, St Joseph's, was erected on the Strand in the 1870s. Townsville itself had been established in the mid-1860s as a port to service the pastoral lands of the interior. Following the discovery of gold at Ravenswood and Charters Towers in the 1870s, the town boomed, and by the 1890s was the principal port of North Queensland. As the population of the town expanded and settlement moved west along Ross Creek, a more prominent, substantial and centrally-located Catholic church became a priority for the parish. In January 1884 Father William Mason Walsh, Townsville's second parish priest, acquired title to a half acre block in Stanley Street on the slopes of Castle Hill, above the main business district of Townsville, in anticipation of erecting a fine new church. However at this period the parish of Townsville was part of the Diocese of Rockhampton, and was neither large nor wealthy, so did not commence a building programme for the church on Stanley Street until the 1890s.
An 1894 design competition for the new church was won by prominent Melbourne architects Reed, Smart & Tappin. Their design was for a substantial brick building of Gothic style, comprising a large basement space, a superstructure consisting of naive, aisles, transept, sacristy, chapters and sanctuary, and an imposing front tower and spire rising 162ft. There is some suggestion that the design for the Townsville church was a smaller version of the Sacred Heart Cathedral at Bendigo, Victoria, designed by the same architectural firm.
Excavation of the Stanley Street site, foundations and basement were carried out in 1896, at a cost of £1,160 for the basements alone. No further progress was made until 7 October 1900, when the Right Rev. Dr Higgins, Bishop of Rockhampton, laid the foundation stone. However, not until early 1902 did work commence on the first stage of the superstructure - nave and aisles. Denis Kelleher, who had erected the Catholic cathedral in Rockhampton, won the contract, which was completed within 10 months at a cost of £8,330, and the building blessed and opened by Bishop Higgins on 16 November 1902. The interior was considered to be remarkably well finished and the ceilings of varnished pine, cut into panels and with fretwork borders, very fine.
Little more than 3 months after the November opening, the Church of the Sacred Heart was severely damaged by cyclone Leonta, which struck Townsville on 3 March 1903. The building was unroofed [over 2 tons of iron sheeting] and substantial water damage to the interior resulted. The damage was repaired, but the original plan to build a belltower and extend the transept back towards Castle Hill in order to create a chapel behind the altar, was never carried out. Later a steel bell tower was erected.
Following the creation of the Diocese of Townsville c1931, the Church of the Sacred Heart, as the church of the Bishop of Townsville, acquired cathedral status.
The roof was damaged again in 1972 during cyclone Althea, causing water damage to the interior northern wall. The steel belltower was removed and donated to the non-denominational chapel at Lavarack Barracks in the 1970s. Part of the side fence of decorative iron and brick posts was removed at the same time.
","criteria":"Townsville's Sacred Heart Cathedral, erected 1896-1902, is important in illustrating the pattern of Queensland's history, reflecting the struggle of the Catholic Church to secure its position - spiritually, politically and economically - in the frontier towns of 19th century Queensland. That the whole of the original design was never carried out illustrates the fluctuating fortunes of the Catholic Church in North Queensland, as well as the principal turn-of-the-century economic determinants, including the 1890s depression, drought 1900-02, and cyclone Leonta of 1903.
|Designed to impress, the Sacred Heart Cathedral remains important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a large brick church incorporating traditional Gothic stylistic elements, yet located in a tropical environment.
|The cathedral occupies a commanding position on Castle Hill overlooking the city, and has strong aesthetic value, contributing significantly to the townscape of Townsville.
|As a landmark, it has a strong association for the local community, and the place remains a focus of Catholicism in North Queensland. Sacred Heart Cathedral is important also for its association with Catholic worship in Townsville since 1902.
","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":15803,"place_ref":601028,"name":"West End Hotel","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"89 Ingham Road","suburb":"WEST END","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1999-06-24","description":"The building lies on the corner of Ingham Road and Jane Street. It comprises a 2 storey rectangular building with a splayed corner, constructed in brick with timber floors and a corrugated iron hipped roof. There is a detached single storey rectangular building to the rear [kitchen]constructed in brick with a corrugated iron hipped roof. There are extensive modern mono-pitch extensions to the rear of the building which link to the detached kitchen block. The main building has a 2 storey timber verandah and awning to Ingham Road and Jane Street frontages, partly enclosed at first floor level with recent glazing and lattice work. It has a decorative timber balustrade of a 'union jack' design. The awning has timber posts with a simple timber slat curved valance between each post which is a recent addition to the awning. The roofs of the verandah and awning are of corrugated iron. The brick work is laid in English bond. The original red bricks have been painted over
The ground floor front elevation has an asymmetrical design with four original double timber and glazed casement doors with fanlights over to the west of the principal access door, and two modern solid timber doors with fanlights to the east. The splayed corner of the building has a modern timber door, while the side elevation to Jane Street has two modern solid timber doors with fanlights over. The west end elevation is of solid brick, while the rear elevation has three door openings and a window.
The first floor front elevation is also asymmetrical with four original timber and glazed casement doors with fanlights over to the west of the main public access door onto the verandah, and two original timber and glazed casement doors with fanlights over to the east. The enclosed side elevation was not inspected. [Early photographs indicate a casement door in the splayed corner and two casement doors to the side]. The west slide elevation has a single window, while the rear elevation has a door blocked door opening and six windows opening with modern louvre glazing.
The detached kitchen building has three door openings and a window to the south front elevation, and a substantial chimney to the west side elevation.
Internally the ground floor comprises a main access hall providing access to the staircase and rooms either side. To the west are two full depth rooms, linked by a large opening in the dividing wall, now used as pool rooms. To the east is a bar, with a comparatively modern u-shaped bar fitting. To the rear of the main building are a number of single storey mono-pitched rooms, comprising bar and kitchen accommodation, and toilets.
The timber staircase is of a simple design with a single run to a middle landing and a return run to the first floor landing. It has simple timber slat balusters. The first floor comprises the main access hall giving public access to the verandah, and until recently to a first floor rear extension [toilets] which has been demolished. To the west is a central corridor giving access to three bedrooms on either side. The doors are of timber with four panels. To the east is the residential quarters of the manager. This appears to have been formed by adapting the original four bedrooms off a central corridor. Two of the bedrooms and the corridor have been opened up to form a kitchen/lounge and while the others remain in use as bedrooms. The enclosed verandah was not inspected. The walls and ceilings have been covered over at a later date with sheeting and battens.
While there have clearly been changes, the overall form, design and interior layout of the building survives. It retains a majority of original timber and glazed casement doors to the ground and first floor, and other joinery details.
","history":"West End Hotel was constructed in 1885 by Townsville builder Peter Dean , who was also the first licensee.
Early settlement in Townsville spread along the beach in the present North Ward area, with the commercial centre located along the bank of Ross Creek (Flinders Street). As the town developed, settlement spread further along Flinders Street to the area which became known as West End. By 1868 a cemetery had been established in the area and by 1878 the Carriers Arms Hotel, a soap works, a foundry, commercial buildings and a large estate held by Frederick Ashton, were located at West End.
By the time West End Hotel was constructed in 1885, Townsville had grown to a thriving supply town for the pastoralists and miners in North Queensland. It had a port and was connected to Charters Towers and Hughenden by rail.
The West End Hotel was constructed in 1885 by Townsville builder and first licensee, Peter Dean. The hotel was built on Ingham Road opposite the Pastoral and Agricultural Society Showgrounds and close to the Racecourse. Located on the edge of the township, the hotel was on the road which led over Hervey's Range to the stations in the interior, a location which made it the first point of call for travellers arriving from the bush.
The two storeyed building was constructed of brick with a concrete floor throughout the ground level. On the ground floor there was a bar, three sitting rooms, a large dining room and a billiard room with a large, new table. Upstairs there was a large parlour, eight bedrooms and a bathroom. The timber balustraded balcony overlooked the showgrounds and the mountains to the south and west.
Special accommodation was provided at the rear for race horses. There were ten secure and well ventilated loose boxes as well as ordinary stabling for travellers' horses. The proximity of the hotel to the race track ensured that the accommodation was full during the racing season. By 1886 the showgrounds were in regular use for sports meetings and the hotel was the venue for the presentation of prizes in 1886. It was also the terminus for the West End Omnibus Line which travelled between Tattersalls Hotel, Flinders Street East and West End Hotel.
Townsville continued to expand with settlement spreading along the new, south western road to the goldfields at Ravenswood and Charters Towers. Commercial development along Charters Towers Road meant that West End was no longer a centre of business. Suburban development did not spread beyond West End until after World War II although the hotel continued to provide a service for travellers reaching town from the west and north west.
The hotel would have been very busy during WW11 because of its location close to an Australian Construction Corp camp at West End Cemetery. Although there are still rooms for rent, the hotel does not cater for the travelling public any more. However, it has continued to be a well patronised hotel, particularly during Townsville Show Week.
The building has been damaged by three cyclones since it was constructed and, while it has been restored, some components have been changed or lost including recent changes to the profile of the street awning.
","criteria":"Built in 1885, it demonstrates the town limits at that time, and its location has a strong association with the Showground and railway line. The building is important as a premises which has operated as an hotel since 1885 and as such has a strong association with the growth and expansion of Townsville.
|The building is important as a rare surviving example of an intact balconied hotel in North Queensland, very few hotels survive with their balconies intact and of these fewer survive with an intact 1880s balustrade.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15804,"place_ref":601029,"name":"School House","alternate_name":"Townsville Grammar School","street_address":"Paxton Street","suburb":"NORTH WARD","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2002-12-31","description":"The T-shaped building is a two storeyed brick and timber structure with the majority of the brickwork painted dark brown except for a small section of the front verandah of the upper storey. The front of the School House faces NNE towards the Strand with a wing projecting at right angles towards Castle Hill from behind the centre front. A dominant feature of the internal architecture of the building is an archway in the centre of the back wing on both levels. The archway on the upper level is smaller and the supporting walls extend into the room further than the one on the lower level. There is also evidence in a filled in wall in the boarding masters' room on the lower level of another small archway. The rooms on both levels have tongue and groove ceilings with the ceiling on the lower level much higher than the upper one.
The building features partly enclosed verandahs on both levels. The WNW end of the verandah at the front of the upper storey of the building has been enclosed with tongue and groove boards to create a bathroom. Also on the upper level the WNW/SSW corner section of the verandah has been enclosed to form a room. Glass louvres feature prominently in this section. The balustrading of the remaining verandah on the SSW and WNW sides of the upper level have been enclosed using fibrolite. Verandah ceilings on the upper storey are lined with wide tongue and groove boards and the floors are of hardwood. The verandah posts have been stop chamfered on the edges with two mouldings, a smaller neck mould and a larger capping mould, placed around the post above the stop chamfering, so that the finished verandah post reflected classical influence. A frieze of timber battens defines the lower verandahs on the NNE, SSW and WNW sides of the building extending from under the upper storey. The WNW verandah on the lower level has been partly enclosed using cement breeze blocks which adjoin a two storey rendered block building that abuts the School House and houses bathrooms for the boarders. The upper level bathroom is at the level oft e staircase landing. The balustrading on the upper storey of the front of the building is vertical dowel elaborated by the addition of a second horizontal rail just below the top handrail with dowels finishing at either top or lower rail to create a regular pattern.
The corrugated iron roof appears reasonably new. The roof of the front wing is a hipped roof with a small gable introduced into the centre edge of each end and on the centre front edge. A finial projects through each of these. This gable and finial also exists in the centre edge of the roof on the SSW side of the building. The verandah roofs are stepped down from the main roof structure.
The steps on the NNE and WNW sides of the building appear to be cement rendered. The School House building features solid timber french doors however the ones on the upper level opening onto the verandah are glass and timber. Most french doors have fanlight windows above them. There are also a couple of heavy timber panelled doors. The original front entrance door has been replaced by a glass sliding door, however a panel of the original etched glass that would have surrounded the front door is still visible. Glass and metal louvres have replaced the original windows in the building however an original sash window still exists at the front of the building on the upper storey. Two window openings on the WNW side of the building have been bricked up however the flat arches of these window openings are still visible in the brickwork. The building and an older metal ladder at the ESE end of the front verandah. For comfort some modern features have been added to the building.
","history":"The present School House building at Townsville Grammar School was built in 1903- 4 to a design by Townsville architects Tunbridge and Tunbridge. It replaced an 1888 FDG Stanley-designed building which was severely damaged by cyclone Leonta on 9 March 1903. While sympathetic to the Stanley design, the Tunbridge and Tunbridge building was strengthened to resist future cyclones.
The Townsville Grammar School had opened in 1888, founded on the subscriptions of a number of influential members of North Queensland society including Robert Philp, Isaac Tyson, and Thankful Willmett. It was the last and most northerly of Queensland's grammar schools and gathered students from the vast area of North Queensland and overseas, providing the closest access to secondary education for children gaining grammar school scholarships in North Queensland.
The Queensland Grammar Schools Act 1860, under which the Townsville Grammar School was established, was modelled on the Sydney Grammar Schools Act 1854, and provided government support for the establishment of grammar schools in the colony of Queensland. Schools established under this Act provided the only government-subsidised secondary education available in Queensland until the introduction of free high school education in 1912. The 1860 Act provided that where local communities raised £1,000 the government would contribute another £2,000 toward the establishment of a grammar school, with a further £250 endowment annually when school fees of £250 per annum were guaranteed for 3 years. An amendment to this Act in 1864 increased the amount to be raised to £2,000, the guaranteed fees to £500 and the endowment to £1,000. Their curriculum and philosophy was based on the English tradition of liberal education and included sport, as well as classical and modern studies. In contrast to the southern colonies, Queensland's grammar schools were established along secular lines, providing secondary education for all classes and denomination...without any distinction. In support of this principal, grammar school scholarships were awarded on academic merit to eligible students in their final year of primary education.
Townsville Grammar School opened in 1888 as a boys' school, but the school has accepted female students since 1893 when Mary Foley applied for admission. There was much debate over the admission of girls, some parents considering them to be a disruptive influence on the boys' academic studies and that their admission would require expenditure on building modifications. However others saw the financial benefit of their admission in a time of economic depression, when declining student numbers threatened the loss of their annual Government endowment.
As the establishment of co-education was not specifically covered by the 1860 Act or 1864 Amendment there was no legal basis for refusing the admission of girls and the Under Secretary for Public Instruction advised that it was a matter for the Trustees to consider. Mr. Hodges, the Headmaster, stated he was willing to admit girls to the School citing the success of such schools in America as evidence for his decision. After consultation with parents, it was resolved that girls holding Grammar Scholarships would be admitted to the school as day students until such time as a Girls' Grammar School was established. However by 1905 the idea of establishing a Girls' Grammar School had been abandoned due to financial constraints and co-education at Townsville Grammar School was adopted as a matter of principle.
Townsville Grammar School's adoption of co-education from 1893, distinguished it from other grammar schools in Queensland where separate boys' and girls' schools were established. Over the years a number of girls who have attended Townsville Grammar have achieved distinction: Agnes McWhinney who attended the school in 1906 became the first female solicitor in Queensland in 1915, and in 1944 Shirley Richards won the Byrnes medal for the best Junior pass in Queensland.
When the 1888 Townsville Grammar School building was damaged in 1903, the Trustees borrowed £3,000 from the government to rebuild. Lieut.-Colonel WH Tunbridge, a leading North Queensland architect and civil engineer, was responsible for the rebuilding of the School House building, as well as the reconstruction of other Townsville buildings. In the restoration and rebuilding of these buildings the effects of cyclonic winds were taken into account. Evidence suggests that the School House building was completely dismantled and rebuilt using some of the same bricks. To strengthen the building Tunbridge, who was a pioneer of the use of concrete in Australia, used cement based mortar, instead of the more common lime, to lay the bricks in the new building. He also increased the thickness of the main walls to 18 inches below the surface and the 14 inches above. The roof appeared less steeply pitched and is said to have been braced with steel which created greater strength against future cyclones. His design was sympathetic to the original Stanley design and copied the T-shaped layout, however the new building was more tropical in appearance. It was considered a cooler better planned school building and featured wide verandahs on both levels which were used for sleeping in hot weather. This potential was advertised in the 1922 Illustrated Prospectus. Until 1940 all lessons, except for science, were conducted on the lower level of the School House building while the upper level provided dormitories for some of the boarders.
Like other schools in Townsville, Townsville Grammar was commandeered during the Second World War. The RAAF took over the buildings and grounds in February 1942 and its No.3 Fighter Sector HQ, which monitored and identified aircraft in the region and initiated air-raid warnings, were stationed at the school. Aerials and wires were visible on the roofs of the buildings, and huts were set up on the ovals to house members of the WAAAF. Meanwhile, the School moved into premises at Rosslea until January 1945, and did not regain full use of the whole grounds until later that year.
Since the 1950s the School has expanded dramatically both in student numbers and physically, with the School House building now virtually surrounded by other buildings. Classes are no longer taught in School House, which currently comprises two floors of accommodation for boarders and boarding masters. Modern bathrooms were added in 1955.
Over the years Townsville Grammar School has achieved academic distinction, with two past students awarded Rhodes Scholarships: GFE Hall in 1910 and Chester Parker in 1938.
","criteria":"The School House, erected 1903-4 as the Townsville Grammar School and as a replacement for the cyclone-damaged 1888 grammar school building on the same site, is important in demonstrating the history of education and the development of grammar schools in Queensland. Townsville Grammar School, opened in 1888, was the only grammar school established in North Queensland, and played an important role in the provision of subsidised secondary education to the North Queensland community, prior to the establishment of state secondary schools. It is also the longest surviving co-educational grammar school in Queensland. The place is also important to the history of Queensland because of its role as an aircraft monitoring and air raid warning centre during the Second World War.
|School House is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of an early 20th century grammar school building, including provision for boarders.
|The building is important also in demonstrating the aesthetic achievements of early 20th century tropical architecture.
|The building is important also in demonstrating the technical achievements of early 20th century tropical architecture.
|School House has a special association with the Townsville community and the community of the Townsville Grammar School for social and cultural reasons.
|The place also has a special association with the work of WH Tunbridge, one of North Queensland's leading architects and engineers in the late19th and early 20th centuries.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion F | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15902,"place_ref":601129,"name":"Kissing Point Fortification & Jezzine Barracks (part)","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"38-40 Howitt Street","suburb":"NORTH WARD","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2010-02-05","description":"The military site at North Ward in Townsville - as bounded by Cook, Isley, Mitchell and Howitt Streets and the threshold of littoral land and cliffs facing the ocean - consists of two main precincts: the Kissing Point fortification and Jezzine Barracks. These occupy seven recently configured allotments. The fortification sits on a rocky outcrop in the north-east corner of the site (5/SP211556), while the Barracks spreads out at its feet to the west and south and is arranged around a series of roads. The heritage boundary of this place in the Queensland heritage register encompasses the whole of the Kissing Point fortification and part of the Barracks complex (5 & 7/SP211556; see below).
The views from the site, particularly those gained from the vantage point of the fortification, are panoramic and take in Pallarenda Beach and the Cape to the north-west, the Strand beach and Townsville harbour in the fore to middle grounds, and then Magnetic Island to the north and Mount Elliot to the south-east, both in the distance across Cleveland Bay. These views and the wider view shed of which they form a part are highly valued by the community and are bound up in the siting of the fortification for coastal defence purposes and the sense of security it has afforded Townsville since 1891.
Around the landward side of the outcrop where the fortification is sited are a number of stone retaining walls, the date of which is unknown.
1.0 Kissing Point Fortifications
Sited on the easternmost of two rocky outcrops that occupy the headland separating Rowes Bay and Cleveland Bay about two and a half kilometres north of Townsville city centre, the Kissing Point fortification comprises: two gun emplacements, an underground magazine and a casemate store, one machine gun position, a lookout and two Depression Range Finder (DRF) positions organised along a broad sunken pathway formed by a embanked parapet on one side and a long, low sandstone block retaining wall on the other, which opens out to form a small manning parade ground. Formal access to the fortification is via a roadway adjoining the northern end of the structure, while a track at the opposite end leads from the end of the Strand. The cliffs of the headland, the foreshore below and the ocean form the eastern perimeter of the fortification, while to the west a partially grassed and treed band of ground gives way after a steep, short slope to the eastern side of the Jezzine Barracks site.
The sunken pathway runs from the north-west to the south-east following the general contours and shape of the outcrop. Off its seaward edge are arranged, from north to south, the casemate with its tall red brick façade and three rooms recessed into the earth, the 1905 DRF and Battery Commander's Post, the lookout, the first gun emplacement, the magazine structure, and then the second gun emplacement. Forming the landward edge of the pathway is a low retaining wall of rough stone blocks. Into this are inserted one machine gun position opposite the casemate and the manning parade in the southern corner. Set off from the southernmost gun emplacement by approximately 18 metres is another DRF position.
1.1 Casemate or Underground Store Rooms
This structure is recessed into the earth and features concrete outer retaining walls, a concrete roof fitted with six steel vents and a commanding red brick façade addressing the sunken pathway, the west and a small machine gun emplacement. Done in Old English bond, this wall face is about five metres along its highest section connected to sloping side wings also constructed of brick. Three arched openings in this façade, about four metres wide, have been variously in-filled; two with concrete and a central strip of steel containing single steel doors and the last with steel partitioning and a central steel door . Above the archways are small circular openings that have been in-filled. Inside are three barrel-vaulted underground rooms or bays, the thick separating walls of which are brick and feature a number of doorways. The larger two rooms were for storage and measured about 8.5 x 5.5 metres (28 x 18 feet) in plan and 3 metres high (10 feet). The telephone room measures about 3.65 x 3 metres (12 x 10 feet) and almost 2.8 metres (9 feet) at the highest line of the vault. New quarry tile flooring has been installed throughout and all other interior surfaces have been painted sometime after 1997.
1.2 Lookout
This feature comprises a narrow passageway and stairs sunk into the earth and opening into the eastern side of the pathway, at the end of which is a sheltered lookout point. Its sides are retained with concrete walling that project a few centimetres above the ground.
1.3 Magazine
This brick and concrete structure comprises a series of rooms, corridors and trenches largely recessed into the earth that were used for the safe storage of ammunition and its protected delivery to the gun emplacements on either side. Opposing steep flights of stairs give access to a central bay of small, partly underground rooms, over which further side stairs give access to a long platform forming part of the roof to these spaces. A narrow passageway or trench led from this platform to a small DRF trench, square in plan with rounded corners, sitting near the sea cliffs. A slight depression corresponding to its general dimensions is all the remains above ground of this feature. The façade of the magazine is face brick done in Old English bond with two openings, an arched steel doorway and an arched window. Steel grilles fill the arches. Inside the magazine itself are a number of small rooms opening off a lobby and enclosed by a narrow corridor called a lamp passage. The rear room was the shell store. To the rear of these is another space from which lead two opposing passageways or tunnels connect to the gun emplacements via a gently sloping floor. The interior walls are recently painted brick, while the vaulted ceilings are off-form concrete as are the floors. There were once cartridge lifting devices at the ends of these tunnels used to raise the ammunition to the gun pit level. The associated openings were seeled during restoration in 1979-1980. The walls feature various recesses. A number of brick-lined ventilation shafts project from three of the rooms in the magazine, however only one has an early steel vent attached. This structure has been much restored as it was partly demolished during the 1960s. Painted steel tubular handrails are fitted to the stairs and open ledges. A large gravel bed has been laid over the general footprint of the northern tunnel, while two BBQs have been installed to the south, as well as a smaller gravel bed and a memorial wall.
1.4 Gun Emplacements
The two gun emplacements comprise a generally circular platform retained by semi-circles of concrete parapet walling to the east and accessed by stairs from the sunken pathway. Each parapet wall connects to the cartridge lift locations where the magazine tunnels end and feature a number of recesses known as expense magazines where various shell and cartridge components were stored before loading of the guns. In the centre of the circular platform is a concrete upstand or dwarf platform where two guns are currently mounted. The easternmost gun is a 6 inch Armstrong Mark V Coastal Defence Gun (Serial No. 7469) which investigation has shown was one of those installed at Kissing Point in 1892 and later salvaged from a crevice in the nearby cliff face . The westernmost gun is a 6 inch Armstrong breech loading gun (Serial No. 3777) that was part of the arsenal of Magazine Island Fort and acquired by the North Queensland Army Museum in 1983-4 when it was finally demolished.
1.5 Depression Range Finder Positions
These are mounting positions for DRFs and comprise a small trench about a metre and a half square and half a metre deep. In the centre on a base is a concrete pedestal where the DRF was mounted. At Kissing Point the northernmost of these (installed 1905) is accessed via a set of narrow concrete stairs and sits between the casemate and lookout, it and its access way sunk into the battered earth and natural rock. This position retains part of the steel fixing at the top of the pillar to which the DRF was attached. Another sat above the magazine (described above); while the other sits off about 18 meters to the south-east of the southernmost gun emplacement near the cliff edge. It is formed with concrete walls in five facets and a slab. It is about half a metre deep with a central pedestal and a short flight of stairs leading into its south-east side. The narrow trench that connected this position to the sunken pathway is no longer evident.
1.6 Manning Parade Ground
The manning parade ground consists of an area of flat ground enclosed on three sides by the low stone retaining wall that forms the landward defence of the fortification. There are simple garden beds ranged against its three sides.
1.7 Machine Gun Position
This is a small semicircle of ground sheltered by the low retaining wall sited opposite the casemate store. There is no longer evidence of the machine gun position located in the south-east corner of the parade ground.
1.8 Memorials
The American War Cemetery flagstaff sits between the sea cliffs and the magazine and features eight memorial bronze plaques at its base. Nearby is another memorial comprising a low wall with an undulating cap. A further memorial is set off from the low retaining wall about halfway along its length and comprises of a standing stone with a plaque commemorating the centenary of 31st Battalion, the Kennedy Regiment.
2.0 Jezzine Barracks
The Jezzine Barracks complex consisted of five main areas of development aside from the fortification (above) and the parade ground (see below). The first, to the south-west of the fortification outcrop, was characterised by a range of small single-storey, steel-framed sheds and timber-framed and -clad huts with either gabled or skillion roofs of corrugated steel arranged around a series of secondary roadways and open drainage lines. The second area, to the south of the fortification and strung along the easterly end of Howitt Street, featured six timber-framed and -clad married quarters houses on tall stumps (mid-1960s). The third and fourth areas, adjacent to the west of the fortification outcrop, are dominated by the structures of Jezzine House (1993) and the 31 RQR headquarters building (1962-64). The former comprises a double-storey, rendered masonry structure with decorative timber detailing set amongst mature gardens and on higher ground accessed via a sweeping drive. The latter concrete and masonry building is planned around an internal courtyard. It comprises offices and a porticoed entrance that addresses the parade ground; and a drill hall and mess rooms at the rear. The fifth area, to the far west along Cook Street, has most recently been the headquarters of the 11 Brigade and features: the Bellman Hangar (early 1950s) and a large open space between it and the intersection with Howitt Street enclosed by trees along Cook Street.
2.1 P1 Type Huts
To the immediate south-west of the remains of the entrance gates to the fortification are situated five P1 type huts, which appear to remain in the positions they had obtained early in World War II. Rectangular in plan, these timber-framed huts have gable roofs, the ridges of which run north-west to south-east. Roof cladding is profiled steel, while the eaves are unlined. They are all raised to varying heights off the sloping ground on prefabricated, concrete stumps. External walls are single skin with the frame exposed on the interior, while internal partitions are similarly framed with silky oak infill panels. The original cladding of vertically-jointed timber remains extant on each hut. All feature aluminium-framed louvers and sliders. A single board door opens from the short end of each hut onto a short flight of timber stairs. Surrounding the huts is a series of concrete paths and open drains lined with sandstone blocks. These are oriented with the huts. Within the north-facing courtyard formed by these huts is a large, half-buried sandstone boulder inscribed with the date 1901.
2.2 Parade Ground
The parade ground addresses Howitt Street and has been enclosed by north-westerly extensions of Mitchell and Eyre Streets onto the Barracks site (formation complete by 1952) and another sealed road running between these and in front of the 31 RQR headquarters building. It is necessarily flat and grassed with some trees lining its perimeter, most notably those to the north and north-east.
","history":"The fortification at Kissing Point occupies part of a rocky headland separating Cleveland Bay and Rowes Bay at the northern end of The Strand in Townsville; while the Jezzine Barracks complex extends approximately ten hectares to its south-west. The former was built in 1891 as a two-gun battery and part of the coastal defence scheme being established to protect the colony of Queensland and its ports from naval bombardment, installations of which started at Fort Lytton (QHR 600248; 1880-82) in Brisbane and extended to Green Hill Fort on Thursday Island (1891-92). Both during and after the war the adjacent Barracks complex grew up over the large site where the battery's garrison buildings were located and where regular training and annual encampments of northern military forces had been conducted since 1889, most particularly those of the Kennedy Regiment formed in Townsville in 1886. The entire former military site, encompassing the Barracks and the fortification, is delimited by Cook, Isley, Mitchell and Howitt Streets to the west and south, and enclosed by a semi-circle of sea cliffs and littoral land to the north and east; however the heritage boundary encompasses only those parts of state heritage significance, namely the fortification structures and earthworks, five P1 huts put in place during WWII, and the parade ground at the site's formal entrance (refer to site diagram and boundary drawing). The military presence on this headland has persisted over a period of just more than 125 years to 2007 when it was officially closed as an active army site; although the 31st Royal Queensland Regiment precinct, established as the North Queensland Military Museum, and Jezzine House, are still owned by the Commonwealth. The remainder of the site has been gifted to the Townsville City Council as Trustees.
Prior to the 1860s, defence of the Australian colonies had been solely the responsibility of the Imperial government, Britain considering that its navy would provide the first line of defence in any threat to her colonial empire. An investigation into colonial military expenditure in 1862 resulted in Britain demanding that the Australian colonies, by then self-governing, contribute toward the costs of maintaining Imperial garrisons on colonial soil, and encouraged them to provide for their own military infrastructure. Queensland, which had separated from New South Wales in December 1859, could not afford to contribute to this scheme immediately so Imperial troops were gradually withdrawn, the last leaving in 1870.
By the 1870s the Australian colonies were developing rapidly and concerns were renewed about potential threats from colonial powers such as Russia and France - the latter having annexed New Caledonia in 1873 - as well as about American privateers seeking gold. A series of incidents involving Russia and Britain added to the fears aroused during the Crimean War of 1853-56. One such 'scare' in 1876 motivated the colonial governments of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to jointly invite British Royal Engineers Colonel Sir William Francis Drummond Jervois and Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Scratchley, to inspect existing defence installations and make recommendations as to how they might be improved. Jervois had been Inspector General of Fortifications and Secretary to the United Kingdom Defence Committee and had superintended the construction of its defences during the 1860s. Scratchley's particular expertise was in the design and construction of deterrent coastal fortresses and he would have a profound influence on colonial Australian defence matters; his advice causing a number of fortified installations to be constructed along the coastline of Australia, including Fort Lytton at the mouth of the Brisbane River (1880-81; QHR 600248), Fort Scratchley in Newcastle (1882), Bare Island Fort on Botany Bay (1885), Fort Queenscliff and the system of defences for Port Phillip Bay in Victoria (1860-1891), and Fort Glanville in South Australia (1882).
Jervois and Scratchley arrived in Queensland in early August 1877 and had presented their report to the government by the end of the month. In it they identified the most likely threats to the new colony to be maritime bombardment, raids or extortion. They recommended that the mainland colonies develop their sea power in concert with a series of coastal defences. These defences were the standard means of defending ports and harbours following Britain's rise as a naval power, relieving the navy of its defensive functions and affording it greater scope for offensive attacks. Despite being physically closer to the source of most threats, Queensland, with its sparse population and limited resources, was not considered to be greatly at risk and Townsville of little strategic importance. The report did recommend that Brisbane, as the capital and principal port of Queensland, be defended with the construction of a fort at Lytton (QHR 600248).
Cleveland Bay and its nascent settlement were first declared a Port of Entry in September 1865, having been privately surveyed the previous year by agents of John Melton Black - the general manager of Robert Towns & Co, one of the largest pastoral interests in the Kennedy District. Towns entered a partnership with Black to provide financial assistance for this venture and early in 1866 the new municipality was named Townsville in honour of his contribution, although he visited only once. Forming the north-western limit of the township, the rocky headland of Kissing Point had been given its name by 1864 . In the five years following the establishment of Townsville a series of nearby gold discoveries were made, most notably those at Ravenswood and Charters Towers; the latter becoming the richest goldfield in North Queensland. The rail connections made in the early 1880s to service these fields - a network that spread out to connect other inland centres to the busy port - was to fuel Townsville's growth in size and importance, allowing it to evolve into the northern centre of not only the mining industry but also those of pastoralism and sugar.
Following completion of the 1877 assessment, Scratchley was retained as a consultant by several colonial governments including Queensland. Another war 'scare' erupted in 1878 when Russian forces advanced on the capital of Turkey, a British ally, and again galvanised colonial governments in Australia regarding their strategic forward defence. No. 4 Battery, a small detachment of 40 men from the Queensland Volunteer Artillery Brigade was formed in Townsville in June. It was not until January 1881 that Lieutenant-Colonel Blaxland, the Commandant of the Queensland defence forces, was able to make his first inspection of this group. He also selected the site for a battery at Kissing Point. As the year progressed a number of Volunteer Independent Rifle Companies were raised at Charters Towers, Townsville and Ravenswood. Scratchley continued to provide progress reports to the Queensland Government, submitting his final memorandum in 1882, which was the first to recommend specific measures for the protection of Townsville, which he had visited. These entailed mounting two available 64-pounder rifled guns on travelling carriages in positions so as to fire seaward, building a small associated magazine and enclosing a site to be selected. It was suggested that a sandbag battery could be constructed upon the outbreak of war.
The defence systems in Queensland were deemed to be lacking in cohesion and discipline, and a necessary reorganisation was soon established under the Queensland Defence Act 1884. It created a small permanent force as well as a partially paid militia force and voluntary infantry units, and set out new orders of battle and establishment. It also divided the colony into two Military Districts - Southern and Northern. On 24 February 1885 No 4 Battery was redesignated as the Townsville Garrison Battery in the Kennedy Division (KD) of the Northern Military Division (NMD). A number of volunteer companies, A through F, were formed in Townsville, Charters Towers and Ravenswood throughout the year. By June, when Queensland Premier Sir Samuel Walker Griffith toured the north and visited Townsville, the 64-pounder guns recommended by Scratchley in 1882 had been mounted at Kissing Point and Magazine Island and were fired. This entailed construction of a timber platform over which the gun carriage could move. The 10 acre site [about 4 hectares] where the battery was constructed was formally gazetted for Defence Purposes in 1886. Following reorganisation of the colony's regimental divisions, in October of the same year, the 3rd Queensland (Kennedy) Regiment was raised and headquartered in Townsville, subsuming the various Volunteer Independent Rifle Companies listed above. It received its colours in 1887 when its headquarters were shifted to Charters Towers.
The first annual encampment for the north Queensland component of the colony's Defence Force had taken place at Townsville in 1885 at Cluden Park, on the south-eastern outskirts of the settlement. In 1887 drill practice was being conducted at Kissing Point and Magazine Island. As more volunteer units formed these encampments grew larger, necessitating their removal to a larger open space. In 1889 they were moved to the newly gazetted public recreation reserve of 25 acres [10.117 hectares] known as Norman Park, adjacent to the west of the Kissing Point reserve and leased to the Queensland and later the Commonwealth governments by the Townsville Council. Regular encampments were held at Norman Park until the start of World War II. In preparation for these events the salt pan land adjacent to the south of the Kissing Point outcrop and subject to intermittent tidal flooding was drained with a dam and sluice valve. Similar earthwork, including a dam across a creek that flowed into Rowes Bay, was carried out to make the salt pan and mangrove areas along the western half of Norman Park into a suitable training and parade field. It was not until 1909 that the Deed of Grant for Norman Park was purchased for Defence Purposes by the Commonwealth.
By the late 1880s attitudes towards colonial defence were changing, as was technology both for weaponry and shipping. Techniques for defence against maritime attack were under constant review. Despite the ongoing debate the colonial government finally agreed to commit to building defences at Kissing Point and Magazine Island that would operate in concert to protect all approaches to the busy harbour.
Major Edward Druitt, who trained at the Royal Engineers submarine miners depot at Gosport near Portsmouth in England, was appointed to design and supervise the works at Townsville, arriving there in early 1890 and soon after preparing a plan for the Kissing Point battery . The fortifications comprised an embanked parapet facing seaward; two gun emplacements, an underground magazine linked by tunnels to these emplacements , a lookout, a partially buried casemate structure containing store and telephone rooms , and two Depression Range Finder locations , one combined with a Battery Commander's Post set off to the east of the guns near the cliff edge and accessed via a narrow trench. Behind these, facing the salt pans ran a sunken pathway and small manning parade ground protected by a low retaining wall and two machine gun emplacements. An iron palisade was to further protect this battery, with gates toward the northern end of the rear wall. Druitt used day labour under the control of the Government Foreman of Works, Mr A McMillan, to complete this work.
The Kissing Point battery was revised only slightly during construction, a process essentially complete by June 1891 at a cost of 3500 pounds, before Druitt moved on to Thursday Island to begin work on the Green Hill Fort (CHL 105419). He also supervised the fortification work at Magazine Island but this was delayed by renovations and extensions to the harbour. The battery guns at Kissing Point - two 6 inch breech loading guns had been mounted by October 1892, when officials were awaiting delivery of the range instruments. In total the Kissing Point battery was estimated to cost 7000 pounds, this sum comprising 3000 pounds for the guns, 3000 for artillery and submarine mining stores, and 1000 for contingencies. In 1892 another 700 pounds was loaned for the completion of these works, bringing the actual cost without ordinance to just over 4000 pounds.
Various buildings - raised off the ground on timber stumps, framed and clad in timber and roofed with corrugated iron - were erected near to the fortification, on the relatively flat land to its south to provide accommodation for the battery garrison; however the precise location of these buildings is not certain . They included officer's and sergeant's quarters, a recreation room, barracks, a kitchen and stables. The officer's quarters building was likely an earlier residence constructed between two rocky outcrops on the headland for the Inspector of Police soon after 1883 . It was associated with two portions of land adjacent to the south-western corner of the Kissing Point reserve. About 2 acres [about 0.81 hectares] in area, the larger portion was first gazetted for Police Purposes in 1883 before being re-gazetted for Defence Force Purposes in 1892, possibly when the other buildings associated with the Fort were constructed. A 1900 plan contained in the Fort Record Book indicates they were grouped together and other evidence suggests they were located on the larger of the portions along the northern end of Mitchell Street. They had all been removed from the site by the late 1960s.
In 1900 yet another comprehensive report on the state of the colony's defence was prepared and the fortification at Kissing Point was discussed in terms of its purpose in repelling attack from the north and the proposed use of the open ground behind the battery for a depot with seven days of reserves. It was at this time that the first adjustments to the battery occurred when air funnels and windsails for ventilation were installed in the roof of the casemate store. In 1905 a new Battery Commander's Post and Depression Range Finder, located between the lookout and the casemate, was installed. In 1936 the original 6 inch guns were replaced by two 4.7 inch guns. One of the original 6 inch guns was thrown over the cliffs at Kissing Point only to be salvaged in 1970 and installed at one of the gun emplacements in recent years.
Despite the fact that by Federation Charters Towers had become the second largest town in Queensland, and Townsville - the State's second port in terms of tonnage handled and passenger numbers - its link to the outside world; a Colonial Defence Committee remarked in 1906 that it was 'not suitable as a harbour of refuge for ocean-going shipping on account of the shallowness of its entrance channel' and that the town had no resources of strategic importance. A final blow was struck when Field Marshall Lord Kitchener completed his defence survey in 1909, and disparagingly remarked that the 'nice little fort' at Kissing Point was constituted of a prettily situated barracks and a few out-of-date guns. He declared that the fixed defences at Townsville were obsolete in his report of 1911 and not worth maintaining.
The Kennedy Regiment remained part of the Queensland Defence Force until 1903 when it came under the control of the Commonwealth following Federation and the centralisation of defence matters it heralded. It was then reorganised as the 1st Battalion, Kennedy Regiment with an establishment of four rifle companies. As a colonial regiment it had been involved in the 1891 breaking of the Shearer's Strike at Barcaldine. This event and the Great Maritime Strike of the previous year were both seminal influences on the terms of the Commonwealth Defence Act 1903, which explicitly prevented the raising of a regular infantry and prohibited the citizen army from being used in industrial disputes. More than ten percent of the membership of the Kennedy Regiment served in the Boer War in 1899 during which it earned its first battle honour. During the First World War many Kennedy Regiment men volunteered for the Australian Imperial Force and served with the 31st Battalion in France. Here its members again earned battle honours, including Private Joseph Bugden, an original member of the Regiment, who earned the Victoria Cross for his actions during the Battle of Passchendaele in September 1917.
The 31st Battalion was disbanded in March 1919, but in 1921 the militia reformed to perpetuate the designations and battle honours of the Australian Imperial Force. It became the 31st Battalion (Kennedy Regiment). From this time until the commencement of World War II it, along with other members of the Northern defence forces, used the area around the Kissing Point fortification for training, drills and annual encampments. In the years following WWI defence spending was reduced and public and political interest in military matters declined. All the land, including Norman Park, and the three parcels associated with the Kissing Point fort, was surveyed in 1938. Despite the constant use of the area, the buildings and fortification constructed in the early 1890s remained the only permanent structures on the site. From the late 1930s topsoil was gradually introduced to establish lawns and gardens, stabilize the site's sandy base and prevent the movement of unconsolidated sands.
When war was declared in September 1939 the north Queensland infantry battalions were mobilised and marched into encampments at Townsville Showgrounds and Kissing Point Barracks for training and guard duty; the existing facilities and grounds at Kissing Point being occupied by the 26th Infantry Battalion, 11th Brigade of the Citizen Militia Force. In 1940 the Queensland Main Roads Commission built permanent foundations and engine rooms for two searchlights at the Kissing Point battery (marked on a 1948 site place as being in the immediate vicinity of the gun emplacements) and two new 4.7 inch guns were installed. Few changes were made at the site until after the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbour and the Malay Peninsula in 1941 and Singapore had fallen the following year. Townsville would become a major supply and deployment centre for Australasian and US troops and the RAAF aerodrome in the suburb of Garbutt became one of the largest air bases in the Pacific.
In 1941 the area to the south-west of the fortification had been renamed Jezzine Barracks after a town in Palestine where members of the 31st Battalion had been involved in a battle, part of the Australian 7th Division's advance on Beirut during the Allied Syria-Lebanon campaign, that had defeated French Vichy forces. Members of the Kennedy Regiment had volunteered for the Second Australian Imperial Force and would receive 43 decorations during the conflict. At this time the extent of development over the site included: a group of 19 huts, many of which were P1 type huts; three buildings along Mitchell Street dating from the 19th century; tents on the parade ground; and some long sheds on Cook Street where the Bellman Hangar stands today (1/SP211556). The P1 hut was a type of modular building designed by the Australian army in the late 1920s and employed to answer the urgent need for accommodation engendered by the radically different nature of World War II in relation to the experience of it on Australian soil. This 'total war' situation required the accommodation of greatly increased numbers of both the traditional arms of the military and also the plethora of people and operations required by the new technologies of air power and armour. The basic module of the series was the P1 Sleeping or Stores hut, which could be modified to produce such things as guard huts, messes, medical aid posts, classrooms and offices. It was rectangular in plan, raised on stumps, made with a timber frame, various wall cladding and a gable roof. They were designed to be made of readily available local materials and constructed by local contractors using common building techniques. Tens of thousands of P1 huts were built across Australia between 1939 and 1945; but despite being conceived of as temporary their adaptability and inherent strength meant they survived on many military sites long after WWII ended. However, more recently, changes in the standards of accommodation demanded by the standing armed forces, which were formed in the wake of that conflict, have meant these huts have disappeared from sites where they were once plentiful. This has occurred Australia-wide. Five of those still on the Jezzine Barracks site are insitu.
By 1943 the immediate threat of Japanese seaborne attack had passed and the war had begun to move north, so the need for a coastal anti-aircraft defence battery at Kissing Point was eliminated. During 1943 the 4.7 inch guns were removed to the Cape Pallarenda installation. A photograph from this period shows that the iron palisade constructed with the fortification in 1891 was still in place. Another shows parts of the site around the parade ground were used as a fuel dump and building materials store. The emphasis of war efforts shifted to long range anti-aircraft defence and Townsville became a major garrison town and logistics base.
Following WWII Jezzine Barracks was used as a base for various units including the 31st Battalion or Kennedy Regiment. In 1947 the Australian Regular Army had formed and was to be supported by a reorganised Citizen Military Force. This force became the basis of the national service scheme instituted by the Federal Government in 1951 and Jezzine Barracks from 1955 was used as a training depot for these groups. A flagstaff and base was removed from the American War Cemetery at Belgian Gardens, after the bodies were exhumed for repatriation in 1946, and installed at the fortification site.
From the late 1940s the Army erected a number of other P1 type huts on the Barracks site, in addition to those erected during the course of the war. Roads were gradually formalised, generally being extensions of the town street grid. By 1952 a Bellman Hangar, a prefabricated metal-framed and -clad structure designed to be re-located with ease, was brought from an unknown location and had been erected on Cook Street to serve as a warehouse. In 1957 the original Kissing Point defence reserve was subdivided and a lot on its eastern end was transferred to the Townsville City Council where they built a rock-enclosed, ocean bathing pool. Between 1962 and 1964 the 31 Royal Queensland Regiment headquarters administration building and training depot was constructed of brick and concrete over one level (3/SP211556) . Other facilities for a modern professional army populated the site, including six married-quarters houses along the north-eastern end of Howitt Street. During this time many of the earlier, nineteenth century buildings on site were demolished. In the late 1960s the WWII searchlight emplacements in the Kissing Point fortification were demolished, the 1891 gun emplacements and magazine partially destroyed and filled in, and the casemate retained in use as a store, a process which represented substantial changes to the fortification site. It was after the mid-1960s that Lavarack Barracks, also in Townsville to the south-west of the CBD and Castle Hill, was developed and the Shoalwater Bay Training Area north-east of Rockhampton established, Jezzine Barracks being too constrained by urban development by this time to accommodate such expansion. Jezzine House (4/SP211556) was built in 1993, on a site very near to where the police inspector's residence was erected in c1883.
In 1979 a team headed by the North Queensland Army Museum Committee of Management and assisted by many Army and local volunteers began the work of remaking what had been destroyed at the Kissing Point fortification just over a decade before, uncovering what had been buried and generally returning it to what was deemed to be its original state. With the permission of the Townsville Harbour Board, several steel door frames and lintels were taken from the Magazine Island Battery and installed at Kissing Point. The Museum opened in the Casemate Store Rooms in 1980. A memorial to the centenary of the 31st Battalion, Kennedy Regiment, was installed against the fortification's landward stone retaining wall in 1986.
The fortification completed at Magazine Island not long after that at Kissing Point and intended to work in concert with it, was identified as being of no further value for military purposes and free for disposal by the Commonwealth in 1919. The Townsville Harbour Board was leased the site before being offered the freehold on the property in 1927. It leased the land to two oil companies and proceeded to demolish all but the original battery complex by 1929. These were demolished in 1983-4, in the final stage of the harbour's expansion.
In 1997 Jezzine Barracks, including the outcrop where the Kissing Point fortifications stand, was identified by the Commonwealth as a potentially disposable land holding, a decision that instigated a round of studies and community consultation to establish what this would entail and how the site's heritage values would be retained. The public, through community activism illustrated in numerous newspaper articles, formation of a lobbying alliance and representations to local members of both State and Federal parliaments, demonstrated its strong concern regarding these issues. Members of the local Council also voiced concern about the future of the site, its importance to the community and the need for it to be used for public purposes. The fortifications were added to the Commonwealth Heritage List in 2004. In 2006 a public announcement was made by the Federal Government that certain parts of the site would be gifted to the Townsville City Council as Trustees, while the Commonwealth would retain ownership of the headquarters building and Jezzine House, which remains the residence of the highest ranking officer in the region despite all troops having been shifted to Lavarack Barracks in 2007. To enable this partial transfer of land the entire site was configured into seven lots and the internal roads were formalised. Prior to the transfer of land to the Townsville City Council, as a part of its remediation of the site, the Department of Defence removed most of the structures on 1 and 6/SP211556.
","criteria":"Constructed in 1891 on a headland affording panoramic views of the northern and eastern approaches to Townsville harbour, the small fortification at Kissing Point evocatively demonstrates theories and practices regarding fixed points of coastal defence working in concert with naval power, which had considerable currency in the late nineteenth century after all Imperial garrisons had been withdrawn from the Australian colonies. These types of fortifications were built at various points of strategic importance - such as Lytton and Green Hill on Thursday Island, also in Queensland; Fort Scratchley and Bare Island Fort in New South Wales; Fort Queenscliff and others on Port Phillip Bay in Victoria; and Fort Glanville in South Australia - and provide important evidence of how the colonies devised and operated their own schemes of defence. The Kissing Point fortification highlights the role Townsville played as an early, important Queensland port serving a vibrant regional economy.
The low-lying land to the south and west of the fort, where Jezzine Barracks developed during World War II, was used from 1887 for regular training and from 1889 for annual encampments by north Queensland military forces, including militia, national service and cadet units, battalions mobilised during both world wars, and the 31st Battalion North Queensland Regiment, formed in 1947 as a continuation of the Kennedy Regiment. Evidence of this long pattern of military use remains extant in the parade ground occupying 7/SP211556. The five P1 huts associated with the Barracks, installed in their current location during World War II in the south-western quadrant of 5/SP211556, are important and increasingly rare icons of Australia's participation in this conflict, the outbreak of which precipitated an unparalleled and urgent defence build up on home soil that relied heavily on prefabricated structures.
|Kissing Point belongs to a coastal landscape of granite outcrops, headlands and hills around Townsville, which forms a dramatic backdrop to the Great Barrier Reef Natural World Heritage Area, a vast territory of spectacular scenery esteemed internationally for its unique biological, zoological and geological qualities. The wide ranging views the fortification affords north-west to Cape Pallarenda, west to Magnetic Island and south-east over Cleveland Bay and the harbour to Mount Elliot, have been valued by generations of visitors to the site. It has also displayed striking landmark qualities for the numerous people who have appreciated the Point from other vantage points around Townsville and Cleveland Bay since early in the settlement's history.
|The Kissing Point fortification is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a nineteenth century coastal battery, of which there were only four built in Queensland (three extant, one demolished), and remain a significant demonstration of the State's pre-aviation military strategy and technology. The surviving fabric provides a snapshot of this period of international conflict and the approach to coastal defence of the newly self-governing colonies of Australia. The battery at Kissing Point retains its relevant, original parts - two gun emplacements, an underground magazine, depression range finder locations, a lookout, casemate store rooms, a machine gun position, and a manning parade ground. Also remaining uncompromised is the relationship between these elements enclosed within an embanked, seaward parapet and a landward retaining wall, and the panoramic views of the wider littoral and marine landscape, which was an essential component of its defensive purpose.
The Kissing Point fortification is an important example of the work of the designer and construction supervisor, Major Edward Druitt RE, who made a significant contribution to the defence of Queensland in the late nineteenth century as a military engineer engaged on this installation, and others on Magazine and Thursday Islands. In addition the place is an important example of the strategic defence planning work of Lieutenant-Colonel PH Scratchley who implemented the ideas central to the 1877 scheme of defence for Queensland devised by Sir WFD Jervois and himself, and later extended them when he advised specific measures for the defence of Townsville including fortification of Kissing Point. These recommendations were made to the Queensland government at a time when all the Australian colonies had to defend themselves without the aid of Imperial garrisons against a number of potential threats in the Pacific region. Scratchley played a key role in this national system of coastal defence.
|Kissing Point fortification and Jezzine Barracks (part) has strong associations for both the military and civilian communities of Townsville as a source of security and pride, evident since the earliest annual encampments held at the site in the late 1880s. These associations also are bound up in the aesthetic appeal of its location and the 45 kilometre range of views afforded across the city to Castle Hill, and over Cleveland Bay and Rowes Bay. This community attachment to the place was evidenced by widespread concern after the site was identified for disposal in 1997 and the widely-supported public campaign that resulted in the transfer of the place to the Townsville City Council in trust in 2009, specifically for public use and benefit.
|The Kissing Point fortification, the Jezzine Barracks P1 huts and its parade ground taken together are significant for their almost continuous association with the Kennedy Regiment, one of Queensland's oldest military units. First formed in 1886 in Townsville; it continued with one designation or another within the Federation-era Queensland militia forces; then contributed members to the two Imperial Forces that served in World Wars I and II and who garnered battle honours during both conflicts, later operated as a battalion and briefly as a company of the Australian Army, and was headquartered at the Barracks from 1947 until 2007.
|The Kissing Point fortification and the site immediately surrounding it has experienced a significant amount of disturbance during two key phases of demolition and restoration; first in the late 1960s and then in 1979-80; however it may still provide valuable archaeological evidence of the design and construction responses made to adapt these kinds of standard battery designs to local conditions. As it belongs to a colonial system of defence that stretches along the entire east coast of Australia, the Kissing Point fortifications would benefit from and add detail to the body of evidence gleaned from these other locations.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion E | Criterion D | Criterion G | Criterion H | Criterion C","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 the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history | The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15929,"place_ref":601162,"name":"Townsville Central State School","alternate_name":"Former Townsville Gaol & Residence Police Inspector","street_address":"4-6 Warburton Street","suburb":"NORTH WARD","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2003-10-01","description":"The school is located on Warburton Street at North Ward on a 3.405 ha flat site facing east at the foot of Castle Hill. The brick fence with iron balustrade to Warburton street is covered by a hedge and lined with mature shade trees. The gardens contain a variety of equipment, mature and ornamental trees, garden beds and seating areas. The site is bound to the south by a residential unit development on Gregory Street. A car park with entrance from Gregory Street, to the Dental Clinic adjacent to the west side of the quadrangle wall is fenced off from the school and sit adjacent to the hospital reserve. The Botanical Gardens form the western boundary and a day care centre and a preschool are located along the northern boundary to Kennedy Street.
'C' Block is located on the site of the former men's cell block, 'B' Block is positioned parallel to 'C' block but on the opposite side of 'A' Block. Both buildings are connected at first floor level to 'A' block by means of a covered suspended concrete walkway. 'D' Block has been designed to follow the curve of the old prison wall and the library, whilst rectangular in plan is located similarly adjacent to the wall. A large proportion of the quadrangle is retained between these buildings and is used for assembly and other activities.
'A' Block is the former Gaoler's and Turnkey's quarters that was later adapted for the Police Superintendent's use before becoming the administration building for the school. It houses administrative functions on the ground floor and the staff room and some teaching facilities on the first floor.
It is a two storey rendered masonry building with a hipped corrugated iron roof. The building, of modest scale, has a symmetrical plan form with large entrance foyer which was once the check gate. Heavy masonry brackets provide support to the floor structure above. French doors, sidelights and fanlights have been fitted to the recessed basket arch openings at each end of this foyer. A projecting bay centred at the north houses a secondary exit and the stairwell. The exterior is articulated with horizontal brick bands at sill height, window head height to the ground floor and floor height to the first floor. Windows to the ground floor are round arched heads with double hung six light sashes and timber shutters, windows to the first floor are have square heads and six light sashes. Ceilings are lined with fibrous cement sheeting and timber battens.
'B' Block and 'C' Block are highset school buildings, not dissimiliar in general design and planning to the prefabricated Boulton and Paul timber school building. Both buildings are constructed of brick with expressed horizontal mortar joints, gabled roofs of corrugated asbestos cement sheeting with concrete fin walls to support the verandahs.
Both buildings have classrooms with timber hopper windows from sill to ceiling to the long elevation facing west and with louvres fitted to the inside verandah wall to the east. 'B' block contains one floor of classrooms and 'C' block, a much larger scale building, has two floors of classrooms. The ground floor of each building houses toilet facilities with the remainder used for undercover play and lunch areas.
'D' block, constructed post 1976, is a single storey building of brick construction with a corrugated iron skillion roof. This classroom building has been constructed adjacent to the former gaol wall and its plan curves to match the radius of the wall.
The library, completed in 1980, is a single storey brick building with a skillion roof and rectangular plan form is located at the rear of the quadrangle adjacent to the former gaol wall.
The height of the curved former gaol varies around the site but has an average height of approximately 1200mm. East of 'C' Block, a long portion of the concrete bases survives about 600mm high. Part of the wall was removed to accommodate 'C' Block. The wall has been retained for the length of 'D' block and is continuous to its southern end with the exception of two small openings for access to the dental clinic and play grounds The slab for the sentry tower is located at the opening adjacent to 'D' block.
The concrete slab of the female cell block survives in the quadrangle with the outline of each of the cells clearly visible in the slab. White lines have been painted on the slab which is used as the handball court. Basketball courts and a pond are also located within the quadrangle. Outside the quadrangle are a rainforest, beach volleyball court, an adventure playground, preschool, tennis court, oval, cricket wicket, tractor shed and bush tucker garden.
","history":"The Townsville Central State School, first established as the National School in 1869, was relocated to its present site in Warburton Street in 1955 and incorporates the remains of the first Townsville gaol which was established in 1878 and relocated to Stuart Creek in 1891.
The Gaol
Townsville was proclaimed a municipality in 1865 with a population of approximately 100. By 1870, Townsville had become a major port in North Queensland with permanent infrastructure to support the needs of increasing population. The discovery of gold in surrounding districts contributed to the steady growth of Townsville, and with increased activity in the goldfields, criminal activity such as drunkenness, violence and vagrancy also escalated exceeding the capacity of the small timber police lock-up.
Plans for a new gaol were prepared by the renowned colonial architect, FDG Stanley who designed several other buildings in Townsville, including the Queensland National Bank in Flinders Street, the first Post Office, the Magistrates Court, the 1879 Telegraph Office and the Hospital.
According to a report written by Stanley for the Under Secretary of Public Works on 8 May 1875:
The object in view has been to provide a complete establishment which would be sufficient for the Gaol requirements of the North, for say the next ten or twelve years without material alteration.
And on its design and planning:
The general arrangement of the Plan adopted is that of the radiating principle as this great facility is afforded under this system for the economical working of the whole establishment. The accommodation of the Gaol when completed and as shown on plan consists of:
·\tOne prison ward for 140 male prisoners, forty in single cells per entire block
·\tPrison ward for 60 female prisoners. Twenty per block.
These buildings are designed in blocks, two storeys in height, as being in the first place more economical in cost than one storey buildings and secondly as occupying less ground area within the boundary wall, so leaving more yard space for exercise, work sheds etc.
·\tPrisoners' Kitchen with store attached.
·\tQuarters for Gaoler with Offices
·\tQuarters for Turnkeys placed on each side of entrance court and having check gate at the inner side.
·\tUnderground water tanks with sufficient supply for full complement of prisoners.
The whole of the prison portion of the Gaol is surrounded by brick boundary wall 16ft in height; and the yards in which the prison wards stand are divided from each other by brick walls 10ft in height; and from the outer boundary wall by a strong open stockade fence. Between this fence and the wall, a roadway 20ft wide is carried which will serve to give additional security and provide a space which can be used as a means of inspection over yards for drays and cleaning earth closets etc.
Tenders were called for the erection of a new gaol at Townsville in 1875 and the successful tenderer was contractor, J Rooney who was a major timber miller, builder and furniture maker in Queensland from the late 1860s-1938.
In May 1877, Stanley laid out the site for one of North Queensland's first gaols on part of the Botanical Gardens site occupied by the cricket club at the foot of Castle Hill. The walls and cells were completed for occupation by October 1878 and fully completed to include the gate house and gaoler's house in 1880.
The gaol became overcrowded almost as soon as it was completed. In 1891, a new gaol at Stuart's Creek was erected and all male prisoners transferred. Females were transferred in 1896. In 1896 the old gaol was reallocated to the Police Department and underwent many alterations until 1955 when the Central State School was relocated to the site.
The Townsville Central State School
In March 1869, 4 years after the settlement of Townsville, the first recognized school, the National School was opened in a building that had been used as the Burdekin and Flinders Hospital on the Strand. The school commenced with 48 students with an average attendance for the year of 53. The school expanded in 1873 to include a Girls School for which a new building was erected in 1874 and an infant school was established in 1876 with its new building erected in 1879. In 1878 over 200 girls were attending the school.
A new boys' school was erected in 1889 and the two schools became known as the Townsville Central Schools. The school buildings suffered cyclone damage in 1896 and 1903 and a long history of the school not being adequately maintained is recorded in school records.
In 1930 amalgamation of the two Central schools was investigated and was considered to be straight forward due to their close proximity. At the time the enrolments stood at 214 boys and 316 girls. The Education Department refused the request then, but granted it in 1936. The two schools were closed and reopened four days later as the amalgamated State School, Townsville Central on 30 June. A request for a new brick boys school was made in 1938 after the original boys school was condemned by the Works Department and approval was granted in 1940 for the construction of a new school to replace the existing Boys and Girls Schools.
The works were delayed, but following the second world war, the Works Department was confronted with a need to accommodate an expanding student population caused by the post-war baby-boom. Unlike the more formal and symmetrical plans of previous periods, plans were developed which tended to be asymmetrical and more open with interest developing in schemes which related to natural contours and existing vegetation. At Townsville Central State School, existing buildings and a strong planning arrangement were also taken into account.
Work on the new school commenced in 1954 and the school was occupied from 1955. The buildings were considered to be very attractive with ideal lighting and ventilation and the school was to become the 'show' school for the region. Of the former gaol buildings, only the old gaoler's and turnkey's quarters remained intact. An extensive program of grounds improvements was commenced the following year.
In 1957 the remaining gaol boundary wall was shortened with walkways cut into it for easier access. The women's cells were demolished at this time leaving only the ground floor slab.
The administrative office, formerly the old gaoler's and turnkey's quarters and then the office of the Superintendent of the Townsville Police District was renovated. A head teacher's office, deputy head teacher's office, male staff room and typists office were accommodated on the ground floor with a female staff room, toilets and library accommodated on the first floor. A room upstairs was also allocated for when the speech teacher visited the school to conducted lessons. Works to the exterior included the removal of the roof vents, replacing of double hung sashes, the addition of a balcony to the eastern elevation and brick flower boxes, to either side of the entrance.
The school population continued to increase and additional classrooms were constructed in 1960. Lawns were developed along the entire frontage of the school and numerous trees were planted in accordance with a plan prepared by the curator of the Botanical Gardens adjacent.
The new library was opened in 1978 and the school residence was removed in 1981 from the site adjacent facing Gregory Street where residential units are now located. The adventure playground was established in 1993 with funds raised by the P&C.
","criteria":"As the location of Townsville's first gaol constructed in 1878, Townsville Central State School provides important early evidence of the consolidation of Townsville as a government administrative centre in northern Queensland, and with the former Gaoler's and Turnkey's quarters and boundary wall, provides evidence of the early use of brick in Townsville. It is significant as an example of the work of colonial architect FDG Stanley and of the early work of the Townsville based, north Queensland building firm, J & J Rooney.
|It is also important for the evidence that survives of the gaol and the principles of its radiating design, and as an archaeological site, has the potential reveal information about the earlier functioning of the place as a gaol.
|It is also important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a new form of tropical school architecture and planning.
|Through the use of creative planning concepts including the incorporation of the surviving features of the former gaol into the school design, Townsville Central State School, together with its picturesque setting and mature shade trees at the foot of Castle Hill, demonstrates aesthetic attributes that contribute to the amenity of the school and to the townscape.
|Through the use of creative planning concepts including the incorporation of the surviving features of the former gaol into the school design, Townsville Central State School, together with its picturesque setting and mature shade trees at the foot of Castle Hill, demonstrates aesthetic attributes that contribute to the amenity of the school and to the townscape.
|The Townsville Central State School is a 'show' school valued by the community as an important part of their cultural heritage.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion C | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion F | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15982,"place_ref":601218,"name":"Castle Hill","alternate_name":"Cutheringa/Cudtheringa/Cootharinga/Mt Cutheringa","street_address":"Castle Hill Road","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1993-05-28","description":"Castle Hill is an isolated granite outcrop which rises almost 300 metres above the central business district of Townsville. On the seaward side the foothills meet with pink granite bluffs which overlook the Strand foreshore. It is one of the most distinctive natural features on the Queensland coast, and remains an imposing backdrop to the heart of Townsville, despite encirclement by urban development.
The hill is an inselberg of Carboniferous-Permian origins, rising abruptly from the younger Quarternary coastal plain. The surface is primarily bare rock or shallow lithosols with small areas of duplex soils. There are three peaks to the summit.
The vegetation, largely regenerative, is dominated by indigenous plant species, with some minor areas of weed infestations. Floristic diversity is high, with approximately 300 plant species identified. Of particular importance are: Sarcochilus ceciliae [Orchidaceae], for which Castle Hill is the type locality, described by Ferdinand von Mueller in 1865; Aristida sp. nov. [Poaceae] and Arthrogrostis sp. nov. [Poaceae], both endemic to Castle Hill and currently being examined for description as new species; and Triodia stenostachya [Poaceae], a hummock grass community which represents an unusual coastal occurrence of this more typically inland spinifex.
The plant communities are predominantly mixed Eucalyptus spp. [E. drepanophylla, E. dolichocarpa, E. tessellaris, E. platyphylla, E. papuana] with a variable woody understorey. Small areas of semi-evergreen notophyll vine thickets, not native to the site, occur in mesic areas such as gullies. On the gentler slopes kangaroo grass [Themeda triandra] is the dominant herbaceous species, while giant spear grass [Heteropogon triticeus] dominates on the steeper slopes. Specialised flora also occur on the cliffs and rocky outcrops, in particular the Triodia hummock grass community, Ficus spp. [5 species] and orchids [2 species]. Introduced flora comprises almost 50 species, including banyans [Ficus benghalensis].
The fauna, which has not been surveyed comprehensively, includes the Unadorned Rock Wallaby. The avifauna has been censused, with over 50 bird species either visiting or residing on the hill. Peregrine Falcons and Brahminy Kites nest here.
The bitumen covered surface of Castle Hill Road winds for about 3 kilometres from the northeast slopes to the summit of the second peak, on which a concrete lookout platform, resting on a stone base, has been erected. Near the lookout is the stone monument from the Sydney grave of Robert Towns, founder of Townsville. There are several walking tracks around the summit, and a goat track leading from the lower northern slopes to the top of the cliffs.
There are several buildings and installations on the hill. On the southern face is a two-storeyed octagonal building of concrete block work, which formerly housed the Panorama Restaurant, but which now is vacant. A carpark associated with the former restaurant is located nearby to the north. Other structures on the site include several water reservoirs and three radio communications installations. On the northern-most peak of the summit is a 1942 observation post, a low, square, concrete bunker with observation apertures.
There is a former quarry site on the southern slopes, accessed via Stagpole Street, and on the northern cliff face a large graffiti of 'The Saint' is painted.
","history":"The natural formation known as Castle Hill [Cutheringa] has been synonymous with European images of Townsville since the 1860s. Aboriginal history and mythology associated with Cutheringa have not been recorded, but its name survives as one of only two known indigenous place names in the Townsville region, the other being Pallarenda.
Castle Hill was one of the earliest sites named by Andrew Ball who, together with MW Reid, were the first Europeans to explore the Ross River area in April 1864. The settlement established here was known initially as Castletown, until the name was replaced by Townsville in 1865. The hill became a much admired local landmark, evoking aesthetic delight and a unique sense of identity. This prominent link between urban life and nature largely determined the disordered layout of Townsville's streets, and in the late 19th century was frequented for recreational pursuits such as botanising and nature study.
Townsville residents also illegally plundered timber and firewood from the hill. Wild goats further ravaged the native vegetation, and by the late 1880s considerable public outrage, led by Edmund J Banfield, author, journalist and editor of the Townsville Herald 1882-1897, was being expressed in the local press at the continued denudation of Castle Hill. These concerns were being voiced at the same time as Queensland-wide debates on forest resource use, conservation, and human interaction with the environment. In an innovative approach to conservation, the Townsville Municipal Council applied to the crown to establish the hill as a reserve under their protective trusteeship, and on 30 June 1888 Castle Hill was gazetted a recreation reserve of about 228 hectares.
Despite the appointment of Crown Land Rangers and later a Conservator of Trees for Castle Hill, the Council was able to do little to revegetate the reserve during the depression years of the 1890s. Alderman Edward Downs and EJ Banfield privately planted various trees through the 1890s, including the surviving banyans [Ficus benghalensis], but by the 20th century, popular interest in preserving the natural vegetation of Castle Hill had waned. Small areas of the reserve were excised in the 1890's for water reserves and quarrying, but by 1900 it remained an unimproved recreational reserve of close to 215 hectares.
Not until the 1930s did the Council appear to address the Castle Hill environment. The goats were removed, permitting natural revegetation, and in 1935-6 a road to the summit was constructed as an employment generating scheme, partly funded by the Main Roads Commission. Hynes Road (now Castle Hill Road) and Lookout were named after the then Minister for Labour and Industry, Hon. MP Hynes.
The provision of a road to the summit facilitated the use of Castle Hill as a communications and observation post during the Second World War. Infantry and field regiments of the 5th Australian Division were deployed on the hill, and the observation post they constructed remains. In 1942 a radar station was established on the summit, and searchlights extended halfway up the hill. Also in 1942, the memorial stone from the Sydney grave of Robert Towns, founder of Townsville, was acquired by the Townsville City Council and erected at the summit, near the Hynes Lookout.
Since the 1950s, areas from within the recreation reserve, including the summit, were excised for a variety of purposes: further water reserves and quarrying, a restaurant, carparking, communications installations, and residential subdivision. Most of this development was undertaken in the 1960s. In 1963 about 52 hectares on the lower northern slopes were converted to residential subdivision, and in 1967 a large reservoir was constructed on the lower northern slopes of Castle Hill to service this suburb. In 1967-68, the Panorama Restaurant and kiosk, with a seating capacity of 600, was constructed near the summit, on the southern side of the hill, under special lease. This land has since been converted to freehold. By 1972 the recreation reserve had been reduced to about 143 hectares. In 1983 a further 33 hectares on the north-eastern slopes of the reserve were granted under special lease as a development site.
Since 1974, radio communications installations erected at the summit have serviced the Civil Aviation Authority, ambulance, fire brigade, police, state emergency services and customs.
Castle Hill remains a popular tourist and instructional venue in Townsville, with education groups regularly using the reserve to study natural environments, community history and urban geography. The North Queensland Conservation Council is undertaking a voluntary bush rejuvenation programme of the site, and the hill remains an important icon in community and tourist advertising and promotional activities.
","criteria":"It is important in demonstrating the evolution of Queensland's history as an early example of rapid environmental degradation and consequent conservation measures initiated by the local community.
|The site exhibits a landmark quality and natural aesthetic appeal valued by the Townsville community.
|The site exhibits a landmark quality and natural aesthetic appeal valued by the Townsville community.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion E | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16011,"place_ref":601247,"name":"Selhurst","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"24 Cleveland Terrace","suburb":"MELTON HILL","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2003-05-30","description":"Situated almost atop Melton Hill, Selhurst faces east towards the Pacific Ocean and is placed close to the front of the block of land, on Cleveland Terrace.
Selhurst is a low set single storey residence with verandahs on three sides. The corrugated iron roof has a ventilated raised ridge capping with louvred screens at each end to assist internal cooling.
The house has a timber balustrade and a timber 'skirt' down to the foundation. There are panelled doors at the front of Selhurst. The house has a central hall with rooms opening to either side and a small ballroom at the rear of the house which has been converted to a family room.
The house is constructed on a platform cut into the hillside. At the rear of the block, in the southeast corner, the land rises to a second level. The house is surrounded by gardens and includes a large rock wall and ivy hedge along the front of the yard. This wall is believed to be a remnant of an 1865 rock wall constructed by South Sea Island labourers as part of an enclosure which surrounded John Melton Black's property on Melton Hill.
Palm trees are scattered around the house giving it a tropical look. A white paling fence encloses the swimming pool and several ferns are intermingled with the palms and lawns in this area. Plans are in place to restore the rear garden.
Selhurst is one of only three houses of a similar design remaining in Townsville. It is the only one of this specific design to have survived.
","history":"Selhurst, built in 1919 was probably designed by Townsville architect Walter Hunt. The house was commissioned by John Alexander Carpenter, Townsville manager for the Burns Philp Company, as his private residence.
James Burns established his general business in Townsville in 1872 after several years working on stations in southern Queensland and as an assistant and later partner in his brother John's grocery business, branches of which were located in Brisbane and Gympie. The Townsville store, opened in 1871, was established as a wholesale business to supply goods to the recently established gold field of Charters Towers and to Cape River, Ravenswood and later the Etheridge, Palmer and Hodgkinson River gold fields. Burns also provided a wholesale and retail service for the isolated stations in the interior.
Robert Philp, hired by Burns in 1874, became a partner in the business in 1876, prior to Burns moving to Sydney to open a branch of the company.
The company, incorporated in April 1883 as Burns, Philp and Company Limited, came to dominate trade in North Queensland and the Pacific through its land and sea interests. Its success was bound up in the booms in the mining, pastoral and sugar industries in North Queensland.
During the early to mid 1880s the Burns Philp Company was involved in the Pacific Islander labour trade. Pacific islanders were imported as cheap indentured labour to work mainly on sugar plantations. In 1882 Philp, together with Burdekin plantation owner Colin Munro and other investors, formed the Townsville Shipping Co.Ltd. as a cover for recruiting South Sea Islander labourers. After the establishment of the company Burns Philp ships were openly dispatched on recruiting voyages. During 1883-84 the company had five ships working in the trade, however, they dropped out of the trade after two crew from a company ship Hopeful were found guilty of murder and the Captain and crew were found guilty of kidnapping in 1884.
Despite the loss of the Pacific labour trade, by the 1890s there were branches of the business at Cairns, Charters Towers, Cooktown, Normanton, Burketown, Brisbane, Sydney and in the Pacific. At the same time Burns became a shipping agent for companies such as the Queensland Steam Shipping Company which had the mail contract from London via Singapore, Batavia, Thursday Island, Townsville to Sydney.
During his years in Townsville, Robert Philp developed an interest in politics through his involvement in the campaign to expand the railway to the west and through his participation in the movement to create a separate north Queensland state. He entered politics in 1886 as the member for Musgrave, a constituency north of Townsville. Philp became member for Townsville in 1888, Premier in December 1899 and Premier again in 1907-8. He remained in politics until 1915.
Management of the Townsville Branch of the firm passed to several managers after Philp entered politics. John Alexander Carpenter, who later transferred to Townsville, was a very successful manager of the Cairns Branch from 1907 to 1914. The Cairns Branch, during Carpenter's time, became the biggest net earner of any branch in Australia. However, due to poor management and aggressive competition from firms such as Samuel Allen and Cummins & Campbell, the Townsville Branch slumped and John Alexander Carpenter was transferred to the Townsville office in June 1914.
Carpenter purchased land on Melton Hill on 22 October 1914. The property was transferred to his wife on 18 December 1916 and a year later the original house was destroyed by fire. The second house, Selhurst, was built in 1919 after the fire. While it is not known who designed and constructed the building it is possible that Townsville architect Walter Hunt was the architect. The house was sold to the Burns Philp Company, as a manager's residence, after Alexander Carpenter was transferred to New Zealand as General Manager in 1919.
The house continued as the manager's residence until 1976 when Burns Philp sold its Townsville office.
It is important to note that from early settlement Melton Hill has been the location for residences for managerial staff, lawyers and doctors. The first house was built by John Melton Black, manager for Robert Towns c 1865. The Commonwealth Bank and Bank of New South Wales also built managers houses on the hill, as did several insurance companies and the Shell Oil Company. Jacob Leu of the law firm Roberts & Leu also constructed Warringa as his residence (600886) next door to Selhurst.
Apart from Selhurst, a number of significant villa residences from the nineteenth and early to mid twentieth century survive along Cleveland Terrace. These places include The Rocks - 1888, former McMahon House - c1896, Mandalay - c1898, Illawarra - 1911, Warringa - 1912 (600886), Duncragan - 1917, the former Shell Company manager's house - c1930, and Former North house - 1940.
","criteria":"Selhurst, constructed in 1919 as the manager's residence for Queensland shipping firm Burns Philp, is an important component of early North Queensland commercial history and is indicative of the significant contribution made by the company to the economic development of Queensland.
|As an early North Queensland vernacular style residence, Selhurst is one of a number of significant villa residences along Cleveland Terrace. Together with Warringa (600886) and St James Cathedral (6000887), Selhurst makes a significant aesthetic contribution, through form, scale and materials to the Melton Hill streetscape.
|The house, which served as the managers' residence for the Burns Philp Company for fifty-seven years, is thought to be an example of the work of Townsville architect Walter Hunt.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion E | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16015,"place_ref":601252,"name":"Magnetic Island Craft Shop","alternate_name":"Picnic Bay State School | Magnetic Island State School No. 1567","street_address":"Granite Street","suburb":"PICNIC BAY","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1996-06-04","description":"The building consists of one room with a front verandah and an enclosed rear verandah. Timber and iron decorative window hoods protect all the windows. The roof has been replaced with corrugated iron although original gutters are intact.
The exterior of the building is clad with 14cm chamferboard. It is high set on concrete stumps with centrally placed front steps leading to a partially open front verandah. The exposed framing is a feature of the front verandah with the right end wall and part of the front enclosed with weatherboard. The remainder of the verandah has simple broomstick balustrading. The original front door remains in situ. It is a heavy timber panelled door which retains its original latch.
The size of the central room is 6.8 metres x 6.7 metres. The timber floor boards throughout the building are 8.5 cms wide as are the walls and ceiling boards. The ceiling in the original room is flat and slopes away to the front and rear to meet the walls. Ventilation is provided in the ceiling by a centrally placed latticed vent and by means of moveable floor vents situated at the base of the front wall. Cross ventilation is provided by casement windows on the north and south walls. Each pair of casements has a three paned hopper above, which can be opened. Fittings on the windows on the southern wall are original.
Access to the enclosed rear verandah is through a wide archway cut in the rear wall of the central room. The interior walls of the back verandah have been lined with fibro and hopper windows installed in the north and south walls. The tongue and groove ceilings on both verandahs slope down in line with the fall of the main ceiling. The original back door, constructed of tongue and groove boards retains some of its early fittings. The rear steps appear original and lead to a small landing.
The remains of two tank stands are located outside the building on the southern wall and the original drinking trough and hand basin are in their original position under the building. A more modern toilet block has been constructed under the rear of the building. The grounds contain plantings of introduced trees such as tamarind and frangipanni. The reserve is dotted with gum trees, a Norfolk Island pine and some Burdekin plums. The grounds are enclosed with cyclone wire fencing.
","history":"The Magnetic Island State School was constructed in 1921, probably by local builder Mr Shrock, and replaced an earlier provisional school building erected in 1913.
The island was first settled by the Butler family in 1877. Harry Butler and his family established a small dairy, orchard and a mixed farm in Picnic Bay. The family experimented with the planting of pineapples and after building small huts adjacent to their house the island became a favourite weekend and holiday destination for mainland people. They also established a ferry service which operated well into the 20th century. Other settlers had established farms in accessible bays round the island by the early 1900s. Vegetables, pineapples and fruit were grown for sale on the mainland.
Tourist development of the island began in earnest when Robert Hayles built an hotel at Picnic Bay in 1901. The island's reputation as a holiday resort brought many settlers to the various bays where guest houses and holiday huts were established. Tourism has continued to be the chief source of livelihood for many people residing on Magnetic Island.
With the early 20th century expansion of settlement on Magnetic Island came the need for the provision of local education. Although free, secular, compulsory education had been introduced to Queensland with the Education Act of 1875, school fees and contributions to school building funds still had to be met by parents, and compulsory attendance was rarely enforced prior to 1900. Magnetic Island children who did receive an education during this period generally boarded on the mainland and attended the Townsville schools.
Educational reform was slow in coming to Queensland as a result of the financial constraints placed on the Government by depression and subsequent drought during the latter part of the 19th century. Change began after the Education Act Amendment Act of 1912 abolished the need for local people to contribute to their children's education, raised the minimum leaving age from 12 to 14 years and reinforced compulsory primary school attendance. These regulations imposed considerable hardship on Magnetic Island families because the children were obliged to go to school on the mainland. They were forced to board with friends because schools in the town did not provide boarding facilities. The lack of education facilities on the island had became a serious problem which was exacerbated as the population grew.
In November 1912 a group of Magnetic Island residents, including Dodd S Clarke, editor of the Townsville Daily Bulletin, formed a committee to pursue the establishment of a provisional school on the island. The District Inspector of Schools visited Picnic Bay and recommended that a half-time school be established, with a teacher from the mainland appointed to operate the school from 3.30pm to 5pm on Thursdays and all day Friday and Saturday. In April 1913 the Department of Public Instruction agreed that if the parents could arrange accommodation for the school and the visiting teacher, approval would be given for the establishment of a half-time school at Picnic Bay. Mary McLennan, the first teacher appointed to the island, commenced work on 12 June 1913, in an open-sided shed with a concrete floor. The half-time school became a provisional school in 1915 and on 1 June 1920 was formally taken over by the Department of Public Instruction as a state school.
In 1921 the Magnetic Island community campaigned for a new school building. Pressure was also placed on the Department of Public Instruction by the Townsville City Council, who stressed the need for new accommodation for the 27 students at the school. In response, a new, one-roomed school house was built in 1921. Constructed to a Department of Works design, the new school, with open verandahs front and back, cost £785. The earlier school building became the play shed.
In November 1924 the Department of Public Instruction suggested a name change from Magnetic Island State School to Picnic Bay State School because there was now another school on the Island. The school committee accepted the name change in January 1925. In October 1927 the Picnic Bay Progress Association applied to rent half the school grounds for a sports field. The Department refused but agreed that the school grounds outside the fenced school building could be used for recreation purposes.
The school committee led an active campaign in the 1930s to have a well sunk and a windmill erected on the school reserve. They succeeded and the well and windmill were constructed in 1937. The south end of the front verandah was enclosed in September 1939 to create a hat room and the play shed was demolished in July-August 1940. Electricity was connected at the end of 1955 and the rear verandah was enclosed during September and October of 1958 to create more classroom space.
By the 1960s there were three schools on Magnetic Island. In rationalising its assets at this period, the Education Department decided to phase out the schools at Picnic and Horseshoe Bays, and to develop the school at Nelly Bay because of its central location on the island. The Picnic Bay State School functioned until May 1970. The building remained vacant until occupied in 1980 by the newly established Magnetic Island Craft Co-Operative, which has conducted a shop from the building since that time.
","criteria":"The Magnetic Island Craft Shop, formerly the Picnic Bay State School, is significant for its relationship to a period of early tourism and settlement on Magnetic Island and to a growth in public concern for education, in the first few decades of the 20th century.
|The building is significant also as a regional example of a one-roomed school structure, typical of the period (1920s), in remote areas of Queensland.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16147,"place_ref":601384,"name":"Townsville State Government Offices","alternate_name":"Townsville Public Offices | Lands Department","street_address":"12-14 Wickham Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1995-01-13","description":"The Townsville State Government Offices is a two-storeyed brick building with basement and a hipped corrugated-iron roof. The facade of the building features two projecting end bays with round arched window and door openings. Between the bays is a two storey colonnade with open verandahs. A centrally located bi-furcated staircase emphasises the entrance. The building is decorated with classical design features including the round arched openings and prominent keystones and eaves.
The balconies and verandahs are designed as a response to the Townsville climate and allow for cross-ventilation of all rooms and offices. The balcony floors are of concrete and the ground floor verandahs, entrance hall and main staircase are finished in terrazzo.
","history":"The Townsville Government Offices were constructed in 1935-7 as part of a State employment scheme. The Queensland State Works Department was responsible for the design of the buildings, the Chief Architect of the time being Andrew Baxter Leven.
Townsville experienced its first phase of major growth when gold was discovered in the nearby town of Ravenswood, in 1868 soon after Townsville was proclaimed a town in 1866. The construction of the north-west rail line and the development of the beef industry in the north, created modest growth in Townsville in the early twentieth century.
During the 1930s Depression, Labor Premier, William Forgan Smith established a government initiatedworks scheme under the Income (Unemployment Relief) Act (1930) to create employment. This involved the employment of architects, foremen, construction workers and the use of local materials for the construction of government buildings such as court houses, government offices, schools and council halls. The Townsville State Government Offices is a fine example of work undertaken through this scheme.
The building was designed by the office of the Queensland Government Architect. The Chief Architect at this time was Andrew Baxter Leven. From 1910 to 1951 Leven was employed by the Queensland Government Works Department and was Chief Architect and Quantity Surveyor from 1933 to 1951. Other members of the office involved in the design DFW Roberts and HJ Parr.
The ground floor of the offices was to accommodate the Labour Agent and officers of the Lands Department, and the first floor was to provided offices for staff of the Department of Agriculture and Stock, Department of Public Works and Workers' Dwellings, and the Machinery Inspector, Health Inspector, Land court room and visiting Ministers' room.
The State Government Offices is typical of the tradition of high standards in design and construction of the Public Works Department, and one of a group of government buildings constructed by the Department influenced by a classical revival style, including the Innisfail and Mackay Court Houses and the Cairns Government Office. The State Government Offices were designed to harmonise with the adjacent Customs House. The area around Flinders Street (East) and The Strand including Wickham Street where the State Government Offices are situated, was the site of the first settlement in Townsville.
","criteria":"The Townsville State Government Offices is an example of construction work undertaken under the unemployment relief scheme instigated by the State Government in the 1930s.
|Townsville State Government Offices, erected in 1935-37, is significant as a good example of the work of the Queensland Works Department, influenced by a classical revival style.
|The building complements the adjacent Townsville Customs House, and is harmonious in scale and form, making a significant contribution to the townscape.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16148,"place_ref":601385,"name":"State Government Offices (former)","alternate_name":"Former Public Curator's Office | 419 Flinders Street","street_address":"419 Flinders Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1995-01-13","description":"The State Government Offices in Townsville is a two storeyed masonry building with a basement. Externally, the building features a rock-faced granite plinth and cement rendered facade. The main entrance, on Flinders Street, is surmounted by a broken pediment with a crest supported on pairs of engaged square fluted columns, and is centrally located within a two storey colonnade. The ground floor storey has an ornate concrete balustrade whilst the upper storey a simple wrought iron balustrade. The corner bays of the building feature colossal order stylised ionic columns. The facade of the building is surmounted by a deep entablature, crowned by a parapet. Internally, the main entrance doors open into a vestibule from which a flight of marble steps, flanked by a pair of ionic columns, leads into the main corridor.
","history":"The State Government Offices were built in 1928 by the Queensland Department of Public Works to accommodate various departmental offices in Townsville in one central location.
\nTownsville experienced its first phase of major growth when gold was discovered in the nearby town of Ravenswood, in 1868 soon after Townsville was proclaimed a town in 1866. Townsville became the leading regional centre in north Queensland reflected by the construction of the State Government Offices, one of the earliest examples of purpose built offices for state government departments.
\nThe State Government Offices was constructed under the supervision of the Queensland Department of Public Works in 1928. The chief architect at the time was Andrew Baxter Leven who was employed by the Department from 1910 to 1951, also associated with the design of the building was another Works Department employee, FL Jones. The building is typical of many other government buildings of the time including the Cairns Court House, City Council building and Post Office, Cairns Post, Maryborough Government Offices and Maryborough Town Hall.
\nThe offices were designed to accommodate a further storey above the entablature. Various State Departments were accommodated within the building including State Insurance, Public Curator, State Children and Health Departments, Titles, Stamp Duties, Lands and Marine, Machinery and Mines. Provisions were also made for the installation of a lift in the event of the third storey being built. The building was designed to ensure adequate lighting and natural ventilation.
","criteria":"The State Government Offices [Former Public Curator's Office] in Townsville is one of the earliest examples of state government offices built outside Brisbane which reflects the prominence of Townsville as a major regional centre in Queensland in the 1920s.
|Townsville State Government Offices [Former Public Curator's Office], erected in 1928, is significant as a good example of a building designed by the Department of Public Works in the 1920s influenced by classical revival styles.
|The building forms a prominent landmark on the corner of Flinders and Stanley Streets and contributes to the streetscape value of Flinders Street which is characterised by buildings of similar scale and form.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16151,"place_ref":601388,"name":"Townsville General Hospital (former)","alternate_name":"Townsville General Hospital I North Ward Hospital | Fulton Gardens","street_address":"24 Eyre Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1996-04-26","description":"Townsville General Hospital (former) is a six-storied concrete and brick building with a flat roof concealed behind parapet walls. It is situated near the northern corner of the hospital reserve and overlooks Cleveland Bay and Magnetic Island. The external walls, which are rendered and painted white, sit on a base of exposed brickwork. The building has a narrow plan with the long north eastern elevation forming the dominant front facade.
\nThis symmetrical facade is divided into five distinct bays where the building steps back from the centre to the edges. The central bay is a tower-like structure which provides the main entrance on the ground level. The entrance is further emphasised through the use of exposed brickwork and a cantilevered awning. Steel framed windows form a vertical strip in the centre of the entrance tower above the awning.
\nOn the flanking bays each level is expressed through projecting balconies which run along the north eastern elevation. The balconies have light weight metal balustrades. At the edge of the balconies, underneath the balustrades, are deep horizontal bands or valances which provide sunshading for the windows below.
\nBuilt in a modernist style the surfaces of the building are undecorated. The composition of the building contrasts horizontal with vertical elements, and sheer surfaces with carefully controlled openings and deep shadowed recesses. The vertically proportioned elements are the central entrance tower and stepped corners. The former wards, with long open balconies curved and cantilevered at the ends, form the horizontals.
","history":"The first hospital in Townsville was opened in a cottage on the Strand in 1866 and was known as the Burdekin and Flinders Districts Hospital. In 1881 it was relocated to the present site on Stanton Hill. A two storied building was completed in 1882 and numerous buildings were subsequently built on the site.
\nThe new Townsville General Hospital was designed by Donoghue and Fulton between 1935 and 1939 but construction was delayed due to the outbreak of war. The foundation stone was laid in 1945 by EM Hanlon and the completed building was opened by him on April 21, 1951. The new hospital was to be the largest facility of its type in Australia outside a capital city and had been built at a cost of approximately £500 000 for building and equipment. It opened with approximately 270 beds. Dr Kiernan Dorney was the medical superintendent and the hospital claimed to have the largest staff of specialists outside Brisbane.
\nBetween 1932 and 1945 was a period of rapid development in hospitals in Queensland. This was partly due to the passing of the Hospital Act in 1923 which laid the foundations for the State Government to resume responsibility for financing and administrating public hospitals which had previously been run by voluntary committees. Under the Act the state was divided into regions and regions into districts. Each region was controlled from a base hospital which coordinated other hospitals in the region. Hospital boards, dominated by government representatives and excluding members of the medical profession, were created to oversee the administration of the hospitals. The State was to provide 60% of the running costs while the remainder was to be met by local government. The boards had the power under the act to appoint their own architects. EM Hanlon, who was minister for Health and Home Affairs from 1935 until 1944 and premier from 1946 until 1952, was responsible for many of the projects undertaken at this time. The Free Hospital Scheme was introduced to Queensland in 1946.
\nTenders were called in 1947 for new nurses quarters at Townsville designed by JP Donoghue, Cusick and Edwards. By 1964 the hospital complex also included a maternity hospital, a thoracic block, isolation and psychiatric annexes, a dental clinic, an Institute of Tropical Medicine (established in 1910 and the first medical research organisation in Australia) and a Commonwealth Serum Laboratory.
\nOther hospital works designed by Donoghue and Fulton include general hospitals at Kingaroy (1936-38), Ayr (1941) and Roma, the Nurses' Quarters at Nambour Hospital (1937-38, demolished) and maternity hospitals at Goondiwindi, Rockhampton, Warwick and Nambour. Later works include the Barcaldine General Hospital by Fulton and Collins built in 1957 and the Thoracic Block at the Toowoomba Hospital by Donoghue, Cusick and Edwards in 1958.
\nTownsville General Hospital demonstrates the emergence of the Australia wide trend for a progressive image, inspired by European modernist architecture, for highrise hospital design. The high rise plan, in which various functions could be concentrated in vertically stacked spaces, replaced the earlier pavilion planning principles, in which detached buildings containing single wards were widely separated. Developments in medical theory meant that ventilation and isolation were no longer considered as important to the health of the patient. New priorities based on more efficient use of space, staff, circulation between different parts of the hospital and reduced heating costs led to the popularity of the much more compact highrise type of hospital. Block 3 at the Brisbane General Hospital, designed in 1930, was the first hospital building in Queensland to fully incorporate the principles of the highrise plan. It was designed in the Spanish Mission style to coordinate with the earlier Blocks 1 and 2. The design for Townsville General Hospital was probably the first in Queensland to combine highrise planning principles with a progressive modern image.
\nFirst introduced into Australia in the 1930s the highrise plan soon dominated new hospital construction. Melbourne architects Stephensen and Meldrum, later Stephensen and Turner, and Leighton Irwin were noted specialists in this increasingly complex field of architectural design. The development of modernist architecture in Australia is often associated with hospitals designed by these firms in the 1930s and 1940s.
\nCharles Fulton is recognised as a key practitioner to have designed in the modern style in Queensland before the Second World War. Fulton was born in Sydney in 1906 and undertook his architectural training there. He worked in London for B George, Architects in 1931 and 1932. In 1933 he was employed by Hall and Cook in Brisbane and he established his practice with Donoghue in 1937. Fulton received acknowledgment for his skilled execution of this style for the Masel residence at Stanthorpe through a meritorious architecture award in the first Queensland awards programme in 1938 and again in 1940 for his own residence at Indooroopilly. In 1937 Fulton was appointed Lecturer in Charge of Architecture at the Central Technical College.
\nIn October 2001, Townsville General Hospital (former) was vacated when the hospital was relocated to a new complex in Douglas. In 2020, the adaptive reuse of the place for residential apartments is partially complete.
","criteria":"The hospital is one of the most prominent examples of the extensive hospital building program undertaken by Labour Governments in the 1930s and 1940s throughout Queensland as part of its commitment to government sponsored public health.
The first hospital in Townsville was opened in a cottage on the Strand in 1866 and was known as the Burdekin and Flinders Districts Hospital. In 1881 it was relocated to the present site on Stanton Hill. A two storied building was completed in 1882 and numerous buildings were subsequently built on the site.
|Townsville General Hospital, designed in the late 1930s, is significant as an early example in Queensland of a highrise hospital influenced by European modernist architecture. This style of architecture developed in the 1930s and 1940s in Australia, with new hospitals providing many of the most prominent examples. Through its simple geometry of horizontal and vertical elements, wide cantilevered balconies with rounded corners, flat roof concealed behind parapets and its plain surfaces, Townsville General Hospital is a good example of a hospital built in this idiom.
|Townsville General Hospital is significant as an institutional building designed by the important architectural firm Donoghue and Fulton which combined the latest ideas in hospital planning with recent developments in architectural design. Charles Fulton, who designed the building, was a key practitioner and teacher of the modern trends in architectural design in Queensland. Fulton was acknowledged for his work in this style. Both the Masel residence at Stanthorpe (1938) and his own residence in Indooroopilly (1940), received a meritorious architecture award in the early Queensland Awards Programmes
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16238,"place_ref":601475,"name":"West End Cemetery","alternate_name":"Townsville General Cemetery","street_address":"33 Church Street","suburb":"WEST END","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1996-06-04","description":"West End Cemetery, Townsville is located on the southern slope of Castle Hill and is bounded to the north by unmade road reserve (Francis Street), on the west by Church Street, on the south by a recreation reserve fronting Flinders Street West and residential allotments fronting Norman and Musgrave Streets, and on the east by a school reserve.
The site is dissected east-west by two unmade paths, dividing the cemetery into Blocks A and C to the south, Block B between the paths, and Block D to the north. These paths meet a creek running through the eastern side of the cemetery. Between the creek and the school reserve on the eastern boundary is Block E, which was reserved for unsanctified burials. The graves of Chinese, Jewish and Aboriginal people as well as members of lodges and those who committed suicide are buried in this section. Only a small number of headstones remain in Block E and it is possible some graves have been washed away during floods because cast iron and headstone fragments can be found in the creek. Unlike many cemeteries, West End, with the exception of the unsanctified section across the creek, is not divided into denominational sections. However, all graves are oriented to the east in usual fashion.
Large banyan, fig and mango trees are the main plantings. An avenue of mahogany trees, running north-south from the adjacent recreation reserve, marks the original entrance off the end of Pridmore Street. There is an early perimeter fence of rendered masonry with cast iron panels along the Church Street boundary, with the roots of mature banyans grown over the fence and nearby graves. The main entrance, off Church Street, appears to have been constructed at the same time as the fence.
West End Cemetery contains many substantial headstones of quality design and craftsmanship, which illustrate trends in Queensland monumental architectural from the 1860s to the early 20th century. The oldest headstone in the cemetery dates from 4 March 1868. Materials used include marble, sandstone, granite and a concrete and pebble mix. The first marble headstones were imported from Carrara in Italy. After the beginning of the Second World War in 1939, marble from Ulam near Rockhampton was used. Sandstone, which was not available locally, was brought from Helidon Quarry near Toowoomba, Coffs Harbour in New South Wales and from around Sydney. The only local material identified is granite from Magnetic Island and pink granite from Herveys Range and Castle Hill. More recent headstones and graves are made from cast concrete and are less ornate. Of the graves established between 1896 and 1919, 52 percent are surrounded by ironwork.
Many early inhabitants of Townsville and North Queensland are buried in West End Cemetery. Andrew Ball, founder of Townsville and a prominent businessman in the infant town, was buried in 1894. William Hann, an early settler in the Kennedy District was buried in 1889 and Charles Rowe, a partner with JM Black in the establishment of Black's pastoral empire in North Queensland was interred in 1900. Thankful Willmett, printer and businessman, George Burns, MLA and Captain Sinclair, founder of Bowen, also are buried in the cemetery. A large mound in Block A is said to be a communal grave for child victims of an 1890s epidemic.
","history":"West End Cemetery, surveyed in 1865, was Townsville's first official cemetery and second burial ground. The first burial ground was located north of the main settlement along the beach in North Ward, but this was abandoned within a couple of years as settlement spread rapidly north around Castle Hill. It was not an officially gazetted cemetery, and was not included in the first town plan of Townsville, completed early in 1865.
The official Townsville General Cemetery [West End Cemetery] was surveyed along with Townsville's first suburban allotments, west of the main settlement on Ross Creek, in November 1865. It comprised 19 acres of Suburban Section 1 at the base of Castle Hill, and was bounded by unmade road reserves to the west, north and east, and separated from the main track into Townsville (later Flinders Street West) by private allotments. Although not officially gazetted as a cemetery reserve until 1872, the burial ground was used from at least March 1868 when Captain Henry Sinclair, founder of Bowen, was buried there.
Prior to 1872 there was no official administration of the West End Cemetery. In 1868 a committee was established to raise funds to fence the cemetery, and this was completed by July 1869, but there were no trustees and no burial register was being kept. Finally, in August 1872, the Townsville Cemetery Reserve at West End was gazetted and trustees were appointed, following which cemetery rules were gazetted in July 1873 and a burial register established later that year.
Prior to 1880, access to the cemetery was over privately owned land between Flinders Street West and the reserve. In June 1880 the trustees succeeded in having the cemetery reserve extended to include Lot 1 of Suburban Section 1, a 4 acre allotment adjoining the cemetery and fronting Flinders Street West, in order to create official access to the cemetery from the main road into Townsville. However, this extension was cancelled in 1884 and the land reserved for school purposes. In 1886 the southeast corner of the original cemetery reserve was excised for school reserve as well, and new access to the main road was established with the addition to the cemetery of Lot 4 of Suburban Section 1 (5 acres at the corner of Church Street and Flinders Street West).
When surveyed in 1865, the cemetery was well outside the town boundaries. However, within a decade settlement was developing around the Carriers Arms Hotel at what had become known as Townsville's West End. By 1878 a soap works, foundry and commercial buildings, together with Frederick Ashton's estate, were located close to the burial site, now situated within the town boundaries. By the 1890s West End was a thriving suburb as well as a commercial and business centre, and a state school had been established on the reserve at the corner of Wilson and Flinders Street West, adjacent to the cemetery.
As the suburb grew concern was expressed that the cemetery was badly located at the base of Castle Hill. The community was worried that rainwater leaching from the hill was likely to contaminate a nearby creek, and in the 1890s the trustees searched for an alternative location for Townsville's general cemetery. On 10 November 1900 a new cemetery reserve of 100 acres at Belgian Gardens, on the Townsville Town Common, was proclaimed. The sale of burial plots at West End Cemetery ceased in 1902, but the cemetery was not closed at this time.
With the establishment of the new cemetery at Belgian Gardens, lack of revenue for maintenance at the West End Cemetery became a major issue. In 1901 the trustees relinquished the unfenced part of the cemetery, about 3 acres at the corner of Flinders Street West and Church Street, reducing the size of the cemetery reserve to 16 acres. The excised land was gazetted a recreation reserve, administered by the Townsville Municipal Council. However, in 1910 the recreation reserve (minus a road reserve - now Pridmore Street) was returned to the cemetery reserve, the Council having failed to carry out improvements. It remained a constant source of annoyance to the cemetery trustees that their resources were being spent on maintaining ground which did not contain graves. However, the new road reserve created formal access from Flinders Street West to the main entrance gate and tree lined road through the cemetery.
West End Cemetery was closed officially in 1930, with only previously purchased plots used for burials after that time. Since 1930 up to 288 people have been buried in family graves at West End. Further changes to the cemetery boundary were made in 1935 when 3 acres, excised from the north east corner, was added to the adjacent school reserve.
During the Second World War a Civil Construction Corp camp was established on the unfenced section of the cemetery reserve at the corner of Church Street and Flinders Street West. It is believed that the cemetery entrance gates and turnstile at the end of Pridmore Street were removed at this time and a new entrance created off Church Street. This unfenced area was again excised from the cemetery reserve in 1958 to create the present recreation reserve. Since that time the cemetery reserve has comprised just under 15 acres.
Two important firms of monumental masons working in Townsville made significant contributions to the monumental architecture in the West End Cemetery. From the late 19th century until 1984, Melrose and Fenwick produced both headstones and wrought iron grave surrounds; Whebells, operating from the late 19th century to the 1950s, made headstones.
On 24 December 1971 cyclone Althea caused considerable damage to headstones and trees at West End Cemetery, and vandalism and neglect have added to the damage. However, in recent years the local community has campaigned for the cemetery to be preserved, and in 1996 the Townsville City Council commissioned the preparation of a conservation policy to give direction and guidelines for the future care and maintenance of West End Cemetery.
","criteria":"West End Cemetery is important because it provides evidence of the history and demography of Townsville and district. It also demonstrates architectural trends in monumental design during the latter half of the 19th and early 20th century.
West End Cemetery served as Townsville's General Cemetery from c1868 to 1902, and contains the graves of people important in the history of Townsville, the region and Queensland generally.
|In consequence, the cemetery provides a unique source of historical information about the development of Townsville and of North Queensland.
|The place remains a substantially intact example of a 19th Queensland cemetery, containing early headstones, plantings and perimeter fencing. In illustrating its type, the cemetery is an important source of information about the work of monumental masons and the history of cemetery design and aesthetics in Queensland.
|The diverse collection of memorials, the location at the base of Castle Hill, the plantings and perimeter fencing, also exhibit significant and evocative aesthetic characteristics.
|The Townsville community values the cemetery because of its association with the city and region's early founders, and because many local people have family buried there.
|West End Cemetery has special association with people of importance in Townsville, regional and Queensland history, including Andrew Ball, founder of Townsville, William Hann, early settler in the Kennedy Region, George Burns, an early Townsville MLA, Captain Sinclair, founder of Bowen, as well as a number of Townsville mayors and prominent citizens.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16336,"place_ref":601575,"name":"Tobruk Memorial Baths","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"The Strand","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1995-01-13","description":"Tobruk Memorial Baths has a rendered masonry pavilion containing an entrance and changing rooms, with an open air Olympic size pool behind. A toddlers pool is between the entrance and the Olympic pool. There is a pitched corrugated iron roof hidden behind a parapet and the central entrance section is two-storeyed. The pavilion has three entrance doors containing etched glass panels with fish and sea horse motifs.
The Tobruk Memorial Baths have an attractive landscape setting, comprising grassed surrounds, linear perimeter plantings of Royal Palms (Roystonia regia) and other tropical vegetation including frangipani (Plumeria rubra).
","history":"Tobruk Memorial Baths were commenced in 1941 and completed in 1950. An initiative of the Townsville City Council, the baths were intended initially simply as a civic amenity, to replace older city baths. In December 1941, however, the Council decided to name the baths in honour of the Australian servicemen who had taken part in the Siege of Tobruk [Tubruq].
Tobruk Memorial Baths were erected on a site associated with sea bathing since at least the 1870s. The first European settlement at Townsville was concentrated in the area of Flinders Street East and The Strand, and The Strand and Cleveland Bay foreshore developed as one of the earliest recreation venues in Townsville. As early as 1866, Townsville's more affluent residents were constructing homes along the beachfront, and by 1872, three hotels had been erected opposite the present Anzac Memorial Park. The Strand was unformed at this time, being little more than a track along the foreshore, and there were no shade trees, but the beach was popular with bathers (mainly male) from at least the late 1870s.
In 1881 the town council planted 30 cedar trees along the foreshore, and added cocoa and betel nut trees in early 1882. In 1883, following strong public demand, a road was made along the beach front to Kissing Point. By 1889, The Strand, between King Street and Kissing Point, made a glorious promenade on a moonlight night when the breeze blows straight and cool from Magnetic Island, and a temporary reserve for public baths [R.182 ] (adjacent to the present Anzac Memorial Park and opposite a quarry) was gazetted in February that year. This reserve comprised an area of nearly 7 acres, extending from low water mark to a little above high water mark, on which the Townsville Municipal Council spent approximately £1,000 in erecting sea baths. Part of this reserve was occupied later by the Tobruk Memorial Baths.
The whole of the foreshore between King and Howitt Streets was gazetted a temporary reserve for public purposes in February 1901. A section of this, between the Cleveland and King Streets, was proclaimed a permanent reserve for park purposes in June 1912, and extended as far as the sea baths in 1926. From at least the 1920s, The Strand Park was a focus for Anzac Day activities. A memorial clocktower was erected in the park in 1923-24, and in 1934 the name of the park was changed to Anzac Memorial Park. When the Tobruk Memorial Baths were constructed 1941-50, their location along The Strand reflected not only the long association of the area with public swimming, but also with commemorative activity, iconography and place.
Work on the baths commenced in late 1941, as a City Council initiative to provide Townsville with an Olympic standard pool. At the time there was considerable public opposition to the use of Council finance for such an amenity during a war, and a petition was raised to the State Government to have the project stopped. Cabinet found that the Townsville City Council had complied with the necessary formalities in relation to war-time building restrictions, the petition was rejected, and work went ahead until headquarters for the allied offensive in the Pacific War shifted to Townsville in the first half of 1942.
In December 1941, at the height of the controversy, the Townsville City Council decided to name the baths as a memorial to the Australians who had fought and died during the Seige of Tobruk [Tubruq], in the Libyan desert campaign against Germany's 'invincible' General Rommel. In one of the most famous sieges in Australian military history, Australia's Ninth Division joined British forces in holding Tobruk against the German advance for 8 months. The Australian infantry, raiding and patrolling by day and night, dominated the no-man's land surrounding the Tobruk perimeter and took many prisoners.
After the war, work on the baths re-commenced, but was hampered by labour and materials shortages. Tobruk Memorial Baths finally opened to the public on 14 October 1950, and were opened officially on 26 November 1951 by Major-General WJ Windeyer, who was a senior officer at Tobruk. At the time, it was the only public memorial in Australia dedicated specifically to those who had participated in the Tobruk campaign. Inside the main entrance, the Townsville Sub-Branch of the Rats of Tobruk Association erected a marble plaque with the inscription:
This memorial stone is dedicated to the sacred memory of fallen comrades who served with the Navy, Army, and Air Force during the memorial siege of Tobruk, Western Desert, Great War II, from April 9, 1941 to December 13, 1941. We shall remember them.
Tobruk Memorial Baths were designed and constructed by the Townsville City Council's engineering and works departments, at a cost of approximately £60,000. When completed, the baths comprised a standard 8 lane, 50 metres long Olympic pool, graduating in depth from 3 feet 6 inches to 10 feet, with the depths marked on the side, and a diving platform at the deep end; a toddlers' pool with depths ranging from a few inches to 2 feet 6 inches; dressing sheds with central courtyards to permit natural light and ventilation; a café; manager's accommodation; tubular metal grandstands with seating for 250 spectators, along the ocean side of the pool and above the service rooms at the northwestern end of the pool; concrete paving to three sides of the enclosure - the fourth, facing The Strand, was grassed; fencing; and gardens in front of the entrance pavilion, facing Anzac Memorial Park. Particular attention had been paid to lighting, with underwater lamps along the side of the pool, floodlights at either end of the pool which illuminated the length, and enclosure lighting. The main pool was tiled in blue and white, with the lanes demarked by black tiling, at a cost of £6,000. Externally, the entrance pavilion was painted 'mist green', and internal walls were in 'harvest buff'.
The opening of the Tobruk Memorial Baths in 1950 re-introduced competitive swimming to Townsville, swimming carnivals having been discouraged during the war with the closure of the old city pool.
In 1953, the Reserve for Public Baths was amended as a 3 roods 17 perches site between the high water mark and the road reserve, containing the Tobruk Memorial Baths only. The sea baths, although no longer part of the Reserve, were maintained by the Townsville City Council until collapsing in 1981, at which time the Council decided not to replace them.
In the second half of the 1950s, the baths were associated with Dawn Fraser, John and Ilsa Konrads, and other members of the 1956 and 1960 Australian Olympic Teams. With the absence of indoor Olympic pools in Australia at that time, the Tobruk Memorial Baths in Townsville was chosen as the best warm climate pool in Australia for Olympic standard winter training. The 1956 and 1960 teams were the most successful at world level of any Australian swimming teams. The manager of the Tobruk Memorial Baths at that time was Allan "Stumpy" Lawrence. His son, Laurie Lawrence is also well known as one of Australia's leading swimming coaches.
Since 1987 the Townsville City Council, which previously operated the pool under a manager, now leases the complex to private enterprise. It remains a popular recreational venue in Townsville.
","criteria":"Tobruk Memorial Baths, constructed over the period 1941-50, are significant as Australia's most substantial public memorial to the Australians who fought and died during the Siege of Tobruk [Tubruq], a coastal town on the edge of the Libyan desert, from 9 April to 13 December 1941.
|Tobruk Memorial Baths is an example of a number of swimming pool complexes built in Queensland in the late 1940s and 1950s to commemorate the sacrifices made by those who served in the Second World War.
|Tobruk Memorial Baths are a fine example of civic design, and incorporate motifs relating to swimming and the sea in the etched glass of the entrance doors.
Tobruk Memorial Baths are situated adjacent to Anzac Memorial Park and The Strand. The baths and grounds contribute strongly to the aesthetic quality of the area through the distinctive architectural style of the entrance pavilion and the attractive landscaped setting.
|(Criterion under review)
|Tobruk Memorial Baths are significant for their close association with Australia's preparation for the 1956 and 1960 Olympic Games, being the winter training venue for some of our most successful gold medallists, including Dawn Fraser and John and Ilsa Konrads, who raised the status and popularity of swimming as a competitive sport in Australia.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16396,"place_ref":601635,"name":"Saints Theodores Greek Orthodox Church","alternate_name":"Saints Theodores' Greek Orthodox Church","street_address":"799 Flinders Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2000-08-25","description":"Saints Theodores Greek Orthodox Church fronts onto 654 Sturt Street, Townsville.
This Church is a red brick building with a centrally located tower above the main entrance to Sturt Street.
The roof of the tower and the dome above the altar are painted white, as are the window frames on the upper section of the tower.
The Church's interior comprises the congregation's section, with a choir gallery above.
The altar and side walls comprise a series of Greek Orthodox religious paintings and icons. Above the altar is a dome which depicts Christ with outstretched hands, as well as containing representations of the Apostles.
","history":"The foundation stone of Townsville's Saints Theodores Greek Orthodox Church was laid on 16 March 1947. In June 1950 this Church was officially opened and dedicated, though religious practice had commenced from 1948 while the building was still being completed.
Some of the earliest Greek migrants to Australia arrived in the 1850s. Many of these were sailors or deckhands who jumped ship after arriving aboard sailing vessels at the various Australian port cities. In the Australian Colonies these early Greeks found employment generally in mining, seamen aboard coastal shipping, or as wharf labourers.
In Queensland little evidence exists to a Greek presence during the greater part of the 19th century, but the first Greek to this Colony to be naturalised was Christopher Arsenios in 1868. Arsenios was a Greek Orthodox Priest who heralded from Corfu, who settled in Clermont.
The first real wave of Greek migration to Australia did not take place until the early part of the 20th century, in the years leading up to the commencement of World War One. By the turn of the 20th century the numbers of Greeks in Australia was insignificant. Even in the major cities such as Sydney and Melbourne, Greeks only composed a very small group. By 1915 though, some 1000 Greeks were estimated as residing in Sydney alone, and in Queensland 400, with fifty in Brisbane. "Altogether there were about four thousand Greeks... living throughout Australia, in 1915, in contrast to the scattered remnants who were here in 1900". And in Queensland evidence suggests that the major place of origin of these Greek migrants by 1915 was from Kythera.
One of the main reasons for these Greek arrivals in Australia was the political unrest at home in the period prior to World War One, as it was to occur again in the 1920s. The Balkan Wars took place during 1912 and 1913, involving Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Turkey. In order to escape the effects of this conflict many Greeks left Macedonia and other northern regions and came to places such as Australia:
The first decade of [20th century]... was a turbulent period in Greek politics, Greece being constantly in conflict with Bulgaria and Turkey over Macedonia and Crete. This factor gave a spur to Greek migration overseas. Most of the migrants went to North America but some came to Australia. The small number who had come to these shores in the nineteenth century had no doubt sent word back of possibilities in this country and their compatriots were now following them.
After the end of World War One, another spur to Greek migration was a subsequent war between Greece and Turkey over Smyrna that broke out during 1921-22. As a destination for Greek migrants, Australia was to became an even more obvious choice from 1924, due to the United States of America instituted a severe quota limit on migration into that country. The subsequent Greek arrivals in places such as Queensland "accelerated the proliferation of Greek cafes and other eating places in Brisbane and the country. The new arrivals found that the path to success had already been carved out by the pioneers of the first two decades."
One history of Greek migration to Queensland surmised:
\tThe period from 1915 to the Second World War marks the expansion of the Greek Community throughout [Queensland] ... and its growing organisation. Not only does the Greek population in Brisbane undergo a sharp increase but there is a building up of significant Greek settlements in all the provincial cities and the appearance of al least one Greek family in almost every small town in the State.
\tThis is the period when the Greek cafe, with its aproned proprietor and culinary aromas, became one of the focal points of town life. If the town could not support a Greek cafe, it was still in its infancy! Everywhere, there sprang up Busy Bee Cafes, and Blue Bird Cafes, and Paragon Cafes, and Majestic Cafes and Bellevue Cafes!
In Queensland prior to World War One, one of the few significant regional Greek communities that came into existence was at Innisfail. This community commenced in about 1910, with its Greek residents becoming either shopkeepers or labourers. Other canefield communities with a Greek presence at this time were also Gordonvale and Ingham.
In Townsville, Greeks began to arrive and settle in this locale in approximately 1916. Amongst the first arrivals recorded were "Spyros and Vasilios Makris, Raftopoulos, Maltepes, John and Dimitrios Hondros and Nicholas and George Voyatzis." Though these early Townsville Greeks did not establish a formal Greek Community until the 1940s, they nonetheless periodically organised social, cultural and religious activities in celebration of their Greek origins. To meet the interim religious needs of this developing Townsville Greek community, a visiting priest from Innisfail conducted services in St James'Cathedral, as did Archbishop Timothios of Australia when visiting this community. Archbishop Timothios was also to be instrumental in establishing the Greek Community in Townsville.
In Brisbane the growing Greek community in the years prior to World War One made the first attempt to organise a community organisation with the formation of the "Greek Association of Queensland" in 1913. This Association had its headquarters in Adelaide Street, where members ran a coffee shop and discussion group, though little other information is known about it. As the Greek population grew further, so did the need for a Greek community centre to be instituted to cater for the community's social, religious and cultural needs. At a general meeting of the Association of Greeks in Queensland in 1921, the creation of a community centre was realised and the Greek Community of Queensland was formed. This meeting resolved that a proprietary company be established so that the purchase and management of a suitable property could be undertaken. Shortly after this company was able to purchase a building in Charlotte Street, Brisbane, which was to served as the Greek Community Centre until the 1970s. "Before long, Hellenic House, as the building was named, became a household word throughout the Greek Community of Queensland, a Greek oasis, a place where a Greek could freely speak his language and not offend anyone."
The newly established Greek Community of Queensland in 1922 soon had their own permanent priest, Father Maravelis, and a Greek School was also instituted. Regular Greek Orthodox services were held in the Church of England Churches of St Thomas' in South Brisbane, and St Luke's in Charlotte Street, Brisbane. The first Greek priest ordained in Brisbane was Elias Kotiathis in 1927, who succeeded Father Maravelis. The Brisbane Greek community was to truly come of age in 1929 with the opening of the first Greek Orthodox Church in Queensland - St Georges in Charlotte Street. "The building set the seal on the work of the early pioneers and for a generation remained a centre of religious life for Queensland's Greeks."
By the 1930s the Greek community in Brisbane developed further with the formation of the Kytherian Association in 1935, and a Greek newspaper, The Queensland Messenger, albeit short-lived, was launched in 1931. Outside of Brisbane in Biloela, where a large settlement of Rhodian cotton workers had established themselves, a Rhodian Fellowship was set up in 1931. While the second Greek Orthodox Church in Queensland was erected in Innisfail in 1935. This Church came as a result of the efforts of the local community who had already formed a Greek Brotherhood, which was renamed The Greek Orthodox Community of Innisfail and North Queensland in 1934. The Greek community of Queensland was also fortunate to have the services of a very active honorary consul residing in Brisbane, Christy Freeleagus. Freeleagus was appointed in 1919 and was to exert a major influence in the affairs of the Greek community of Queensland until his death in 1957.
During one of the visits of Archbishop Timothios to Townsville in April 1944, one Greek resident, Thedoros Calagatis, "offered His Grace £1000 for the purpose of building a Greek Church in Townsville". As a result Archbishop Timothios called a general meeting of all Townsville Greeks on Sunday 4 May 1944 to be held at the Cafe Beautiful. Approximately 65 people attended this meeting in which Archbishop Timothios was president, the chairman was Mr S. Nennas, and Mr George Keyatta, M.L.A., also presided:
\tThe meeting ended at 1.30 a.m. and nearly £3,000 was collected. The object of the collection was to establish and maintain faithfully and irrevocably the Dogma, the Holy Canons and conform to the immemorial usage of the Greek Orthodox church; to build and maintain a sacred church for public worship in the name of Saint Theodores; to establish a Greek school for the teaching of the Greek language and promote religious and moral education; to promote good-will and co-operation between members of the community and to ensure loyalty to the laws of this country and to promote good fellowship between our Australian citizens.
\tThe trustees of this fund being His Grace Archbishop Timothios of Australia and New Zealand, The Consul General for Greece, Mr. Freelexgas [sic.] . George Keyatta, M.L.A. The money collected was deposited in the Bank of Australasia on account of the Greek Orthodox Church and School Building Fund.
In approximately March 1945, a committee was elected at a general meeting with the power to acquire property and maintain the objects of the Greek Community of Townsville. This also included the commitment to build a church, priest's residence, and a community hall.
Shortly afterwards a start was made to build a Greek Orthodox Church in Townsville when the granite foundation stone was laid in a ceremony performed by Archbishop Timothios, and attended by the Honorary Greek Consul Mr C. Freeleagus, on 16 March 1947:
Also present was Mr A Stratigos, special envoy from Greece and Vice-President for the Greek-Australian Soldiers' League who six months earlier brought to Australia an urn containing earth from Australian Soldiers' graves in Greece. By doing this, a 2600-year tradition was broken by which it was forbidden to send Greek Soil to another country. This tradition was broken as a mark of admiration and esteem which the Greek Government holds towards Australia in sending men to help in the defence of Greek territory. The soil was presented to the then Prime Minister of Australia Mr Ben Chifley.
The foundation Committee members responsible for the commencement of this church and the laying of the foundation stone were: "Mr Theodoros Kalafatis, Great Benefactor and Honorary Chairman; Mr Michael Leondarakis, President; Mr Emmanuel Atherinos, Vice President; Mr John Manikaros, Secretary; Mr Spyridon Theo Nennas, Treasurer; Mr Charlie Marendy; Mr George Kyriakakis; Mr Emmanuel Barboutis; Mr Michael N. Bogiatzis, Members."
Townsville's Saints Theodores Church, the third Greek Orthodox Church built in Queensland, was designed by M. Vogiatzoglou. The Architect for the project was J.G. Rooney, and the builders were Vause and Hayne. The local Townsville firm of Gelling & Haig, a business which operated in Flinders Street (1931-1974), made the steelwork used in the construction of this Church.
One history of Townsville produced several years after the official opening and dedication of Saints Theodores, describes the internal religious decoration and splendour that is visible within this Church:
The interior of the church follows the Byzantine style of architecture; in the congregation's section, graceful rounded columns merge into picturesque arches to support a choir gallery; from this again rise columns and arches which combine to produce a quintessence of reverend and artistic atmosphere.
\tThe portion of the church allotted to the altar rises straight to the domed roof in most effective fashion.
\tThe stranger, walking towards the altar, automatically sweeps the eyes upwards to the dome, and the effect there is startling and a trifle awe-inspiring-on the ceiling looms a painting of the Christ, hands raised in benediction and gazing straight downwards.
The religious icons painted on the plaster of the dome were undertaken by artist Angelo Manolios, who was specially brought from Greece (from the Island of Lesvos) for the purpose. Manolios carried out this task over twelve months, lying on his back on scaffolding specially raised for the purpose. "His outstanding work all across and around the altar depicts the teachings of the Orthodox Church."
The first services held in Saints Theodores Church took place eleven months after the foundation stone ceremony (February 1948) while the Church was still under construction. The first parish priest was Father George Kateris who served Townsville's Greek community during 1946 to 1953. The first wedding to take place in this Church occurred on 19 September 1948 between Luke and Despo Lucas.
Saints Theodores Church was officially opened and dedicated by Archbishop Theophylactos in June 1950. Four decades later, on Sunday 17 June 1990, Townsville's Greek Community celebrated the 40th anniversary of the official opening and dedication of their Church.
On Sunday 30 March 1997, parishioners and guests of the Greek Orthodox Parish and Community of Saints Theodores Townsville celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Laying of the Foundation Stone of the Church. A service, followed by a Anniversary Dinner Dance was celebrated by parishioners in the presence of His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos, Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in Australia, the Consul General of Greece, the Consul General of Cyprus, as well as local, state and federal government representatives. One of the numerous congratulatory messages received at this time was from Mary Kalantzis, Professor of Education at the James Cook University, who summed up the importance of this Church to the local Greek Community:
The Church is a testimony to the important role the Greek Community has played in this region. It has now stood for half a century, an impressive reminder to all that the Greek Community is a part of the history of economic and social development in Northern Australia. It is also living evidence that loyal, contributing Australians can express faith in many different ways and can hold dear different cultural traditions.
Throughout its existence, Townsville's Saints Theodores Church has also been (and still continues to be) the central focus of activities contributing to the social and cultural aspects and well-being of Townsville's Greek Community. This includes the provision and fostering of a Ethnic Greek School, Greek Dancing School, Hellenic Youth Association, Greek Ladies' Auxiliary, Hellenic Senior Citizens, a Greek Orthodox Church Playgroup, and Debutante Balls through the Saints Theodores Parish of Townsville.
The local Greek Community, as do many visitors, maintain that Townsville's Saints Theodores Church is the most beautiful Greek Orthodox Church in Australia.
","criteria":"Saints Theodores Greek Orthodox Church is important in demonstrating the pattern of Greek migration and settlement in Queensland, and the role of the Townsville Greek Community in meeting the needs of their Orthodox parishioners.
|Saints Theodores Church demonstrates rare external and internal architecture and decoration associated with Greek Orthodox religious practice and traditions in a Queensland (or Australian) context.
|This Church also exhibits particular aesthetic characteristics contributing to the streetscape of Sturt Street, Townsville, valued not only by the local Greek Orthodox parishioners, but also the Townsville and broader Queensland community.
|This place has a special association with the important Greek migrant community to Queensland that developed during the 19th and 20th centuries, and now continues into the present 21st century.
|In particular this Church stands testament to the strong sense of identity and cooperation exhibited by the Greek Community of Townsville from its formation in the 1940s to the present.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion E | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16461,"place_ref":601708,"name":"Operations and Signals Bunker (former)","alternate_name":"Temporary Halls of Residence, James Cook University | Stuart Immigration Hostel | RAAF No.3 Fighter Sector Headquarters (3FSHQ)","street_address":"Off Stuart Drive","suburb":"WULGURU","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1998-08-28","description":"The Former Operations and Signals Bunker is a rectangular two-storeyed concrete bunker set into the hillside at the base of Mt Stuart. The site is set back from Stuart Drive, which becomes the highway west to Charters Towers, and is about ten kilometres south-west of Townsville's city centre.
The bunker, measuring about 18 x 13 metres, has a flat concrete roof, engaged piers to the side walls and a boarded formwork finish. Remnants of its external camouflage colour scheme, chosen to blend with the pink granite of the hill, are still evident.
The bunker consists of a main room which is two-stories in height, with smaller separate rooms attached to the front. The main room retains evidence of the mezzanine floor, air-conditioning ducts and wc's.
The front section contains some six separate smaller rooms of two levels. Access to the four rooms at the centre is from the exterior and access to the two rooms at the western end is from the main room. The lower of the two western rooms contains the large metal frame of the fuse and telephone cable board with some fuses still visible, which is the only surviving piece of equipment in the structure. Part of the floor of this room appears to be rubble, filling a small tunnel for cables.
To either side of the bunker are two circular structures, possibly bases for communication aerials or anchors for the camouflage net for the bunker. They are some four metre wide and constructed of low stone walls with a conical concrete cap.
Between the bunker, the creek to the north-west and the road to the north-east are several concrete slabs, concrete steps and scatters of building material and other artefacts. These are remnants of other structures of the complex, possibly ablutions blocks and hot water boiler stands.
","history":"The Former Operations and Signals Bunker(3FSHQ) was constructed between 1942 and 1944 for No 3 Fighter Sector Headquarters. Soon after moving to the site in late 1944 the operations of No 3 Fighter Sector Headquarters was subsumed into Air Defence Headquarters operations.
The increase in Japanese military activity in Asia in the late 1930s led the Australian Government to establish air bases in the north of Australia. The Department of Defence began negotiations with the Townsville City Council to transfer the Garbutt aerodrome to the Commonwealth in early 1939. The acquisition was completed on 12 December 1940 and construction of three, 5000 ft, sealed runways began in 1941.
Japanese military activity in the Pacific region increased after the bombing of Pearl Harbour on 7 December, 1941. Faced with the threat of invasion the Australian and American Governments began to develop a major military base in the Townsville Region.
The Garbutt runways, designed for B17 bombers, were completed in February 1942, just prior to the arrival of units of the 5th Air Force, United States Army Air Force. Additional bomber bases were established at Charters Towers and Cloncurry and a number of airstrips for fighter aircraft were constructed between Townsville and Charters Towers.
3FSHQ was first established in temporary accommodation at Townsville Grammar School on 25 February 1942. 3FSHQ Townsville was formed to support airborne units located in the North Queensland area. As the war extended to the islands north of New Guinea, its operational area enlarged to cover the area stretching from Rockhampton in the south to Mount Isa in the west and New Guinea in the north. 3FSHQ controlled fighter squadron operations and coordinated anti-aircraft defences. Radio watches for bomber and reconnaissance aircraft were also maintained from the Operations Centre.
3FSHQ was also connected by telephone and radio to anti-aircraft guns and searchlights, and with RDF stations and high frequency direction finding (HF/DF) stations in the Townsville and Charters Towers area. The role of high frequency directional radio stations was to assist fighter pilots to get their bearings during airborne patrols. The station was linked by telephone to RAAF Headquarters in Melbourne and was responsible for keeping the RAAF Command informed of all developments. The Operations Centre was also responsible for activating air raid warnings. It also provided position plots for courier and civil aircraft operating between Brisbane and New Guinea.
While 3FSHQ was located at the Grammar School from 1942 to 1944 the location was not ideal because it was vulnerable to air attack. Planning for the construction of a new Fighter Sector Headquarters began in 1942. The new complex was constructed on the lower, eastern slopes of Mt Stuart on 68 acres of land requisitioned by the Commonwealth in August 1942. The site was regarded as ideal as it was some distance from the main airfields and the public eye, but still close enough to the various other installations it liaised with. In the event of an enemy raid, its position was such that it would have been difficult to attack, and the area's natural camouflage would have made it difficult to locate.
Construction of the complex began in late 1942 with the Operations and Signals Bunker ready by early 1943. However, by November 1943 the bunker, identified as a semi-underground building because all cabling was laid underground, was not yet occupied because associated accommodation facilities had not been completed. The delay related to the fact that the complex was located some distance from the airfield and there was some question as to whether the facility could provide briefing to air crews in an adequate time frame. Eventually the site become operational in late 1944.
The bunker itself was fully airconditioned and housed its own power plant. The interior had a steel mezzanine floor splitting it into two levels and was divided into 32 rooms and passage ways by caneite partitions. Located within the building was the Operations Room, Engine Room, RDF Filter Room, Voluntary Air Observer Corp (VAOC) Liaison Room, Main Operations Room Dais, Aircraft Movements Section, RDF Supervisors Room, Signal Officers Room, W/T Workshop and PMG Switch Room.
The Administration Section was also moved to the Stuart site and commenced functioning on 29 December 1944. On 25 January 1945 the Royal Australian Airforce established their Air Defence Headquarters in the Stuart complex; from where they operated until 1947.
The complex, except for the bunker, was utilised after the war as an immigration depot and migrant hostel. Additional huts were placed on the site to provide more accommodation for migrants who arrived in large numbers after the war. Many of these migrants have made their homes in North Queensland.
In 1961 James Cook University of North Queensland purchased the site for student accommodation while the residential halls at Douglas were under construction. The bunker was still partially furnished at the time the property was purchased by the university. There was a large mapping table in the main room complete with maps and maps on the wall still had marker pins in them. The switchboards and other communication equipment were still largely intact. Photographs, taken at the time, were deposited with the university.
Soon after, in 1962 or 1963, the interior of the bunker was destroyed by fire. In the early 1970s the site was vacated and the barracks either demolished or removed. By 2003 the university had transferred ownership of the site back to the Queensland Government. The bunker is the only remaining structure on the site.
","criteria":"The Former Operations and Signals Bunker at Stuart, constructed in 1942-3, is significant as the former Headquarters of the Operations Section of No 3 Fighter Sector Headquarters (3FSHQ), who controlled fighter operations and anti-aircraft defences through North Queensland and New Guinea. Occupied by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in January 1945, the Former Operations and Signals Bunker played a pivotal role as the key communications centre for Allied Air Forces, operating out of Townsville during the final months of the Pacific War.
The Former Operations and Signals Bunker is one of a number of WWII structures and complexes which survive in the Townsville area, demonstrating the substantial role the region, and particularly Townsville, played in the war in the Pacific.
|Surrounding the bunker are remnants and material scatter from other structures of the complex, which have the potential to yield further information which will contribute to the understanding of the site.
|The exterior of the concrete bunker is a substantially intact example of its type and retains evidence of the camouflage paint scheme. Part of the fuse and telephone cable board is the only internal equipment to survive.
|The Former Operations and Signals Bunker has special association for the numbers of European migrants who were accommodated in the complex after WWII, many of whom have remained in North Queensland. The Former Operations and Signals Bunker is also associated with James Cook University, when, during the 1960s, in the foundation years of University, the complex was used as temporary halls of residence for students.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion C | Criterion D | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16502,"place_ref":601765,"name":"Queens Gardens","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Paxton Street","suburb":"NORTH WARD","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2008-08-14","description":"Townsville's Queens Gardens has a formal mid-twentieth century design in which early Victorian elements have been retained. These include open lawns, a small zoological section and formal garden beds. Castle Hill forms a dramatic backdrop to the Gardens, complementing the placement of trees, shrubs, and decorative bedding plants.
The Queens Gardens planting is organised on both an ecological and generic system. On the perimeter are straight avenues of tropical rainforest trees planted in 1887. Dominating the eastern boundary is an avenue of black bean (Castanospernum australe), some of which are original plantings. Along the southern boundary in the precinct known as the rainforest walk are a variety of botanical, historical and visually significant trees such as the mahogany tree from the West Indies (Swietenia mahogoni), the large banyan (Ficus retusa); the rain tree (Samanea saman); and the native carbeen (Eucalyptus tessellaris). The rainforest walk contains about 166 species of trees, shrubs and groundcovers, representative of the dry rainforest environments of North Queensland.
The main entrance to the Gardens is via the north-west entry gate on Paxton Street. The gate and fence consist of red brick gateposts and black-painted metal fence and gates. The second entrance is via the south-west entry gate on Gregory Street. A pedestrian path system comprises two tertiary paths, being the southeast-northwest and northeast-southwest paths in a classic 'T' layout. The secondary path system circumnavigates and connects the 'T' axis.
The formal entrance draws pedestrians down the southeast-northwest axis, which is flanked on either side by mirrored golden cane palms, formal annual beds and mazes. The granite rock face of Castle Hill dominates the vista of the southeast-northwest pedestrian path. The southeast-northwest and northeast-southwest paths intersect the central axis fountain, which is enclosed by a vine arbour and seating. Adjacent to the central fountain feature is a significant mango (Mangifera indica) and governors plum trees (Flacourtia jangomas).
The northern quadrant of the site contains a number of significant structures, artefacts and plantings. Aviaries and an adjacent vine arbour are a popular feature of the gardens, housing a variety of native parrots and farm birds. Behind the aviaries is the relocated and altered curators cottage (c.1878 and 1934). North of the aviaries past a herb garden is the secluded rose garden, which is enclosed on one side by columns transferred from the original Townsville Town Hall. This layout is a copy of the early twentieth century formal garden and includes the moulded terrazzo urn (1957) as the central focus.
The south-eastern half of the garden comprises open lawns and shady trees. Many of the trees in this area have historic and botanic significance, for example the hoop pine (Araucaria cunninghamii), oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) and tamarind (Tamarindus indicus). A small playground with a few simple swings is located in the far northern corner, with easy access via Kennedy Lane. The playground is not considered to be of cultural heritage significance.
","history":"Queens Gardens is the surviving 10 acre (4ha) remnant of Townsville's former 100 acre (40.5ha) Botanical Gardens Reserve (Queens Park) proclaimed on 14 June 1870.
Nineteenth century gazetted botanic gardens were more commonly known as Queens Parks, named in commemoration of Queen Victoria who reigned as Monarch of the British Empire from 1836 to1901. These places attracted strong public patronage and each was considered the premium park of a town. The first Queens Park was a section of the Brisbane Botanic Gardens. A subsequent botanic garden at Ipswich was called Queens Park.
From its beginning the gardens at Townsville have evolved in area, planning and design, as well as through their plant collection and community use. Initially the reserve was established to serve and support the role specific to Botanic Gardens across the country, which focused on botany as science, economic botany, education of the public about plants and horticulture and ornamental botany. The first of these functions for botanic gardens was a response to increasing nineteenth century interest in a scientific understanding of the natural world, where widespread enthusiasm for plant identification and cultivation had developed after the industrial revolution. Economic botany refers to the cultivation of plants within the botanic garden's exotic environment with a view to contributing to the economy of the local region and the colony as a whole, and involved acclimatising, cultivating and testing plants of commercial value. Ornamental botany recognised that human perspectives on nature were not totally focused on use, but also on the more aesthetic qualities of horticulture.
By the end of the nineteenth century, an international network of regional botanic gardens was established, extending throughout the British Empire, and with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew as the key centre for botanical information and collections. Gardens were established in most major towns in Queensland, with Townsville's Botanic Gardens being included on an 1868 survey plan.
However, the size of the original reserve in Townsville and its proximity to the city centre resulted in town planning leases and excising of reserve land to accommodate public recreation and institutions. The first successful incursion into the reserve was made by the Townsville Cricket Club, which applied for space in the northeast corner of the Gardens to build a pitch. A major division of the Garden Reserve took place in 1886 when the Trustees of the Grammar School were granted 10 acres on Paxton Street. In exchange, the Minister of Lands accepted the 25 acre Norman Reserve, a Reserve for Grammar School Purposes, in the name of the Botanical Gardens Trustees. The Norman Reserve, which was located nearby on Kissing Point, was never utilised as a Botanical Reserve and was included in the Reserve for Defence Purposes established on Kissing Point in 1889.
In the same year that the Botanic Gardens was gazetted as a park (1887), Burke Street was extended through the Reserve to Paxton Street. Significant incursions into the reserve included a Gaol Reserve and Reserve for a Lunatic Reception House in the southeast corner (1885) and a reserve for sport and recreation (12 acres in 1899). By 1915 the Reserve was reduced to 35 acres, with leases being issued to the Croquet Club (1924). The final carving up of the Botanical Gardens took place in 1948 when part of the reserve was leased to the Townsville Bowling Club and part excised as a recreation reserve. The Botanical Gardens was thus reduced to 10 acres (4ha), its present size.
The Townsville Municipal Council initially received no government funding for the gardens and did little towards getting them established. Funding continued to be a problem even after 1878 when William Anderson was appointed as the first 'curator and practical gardener'. Anderson resided on site in a cottage constructed for his appointment until he retired in 1934. At this time, a new cottage was built and the original cottage was reused as a nursery.
Anderson was given no power to purchase plants nor was he given funds to establish the gardens. By 1880, because of the Municipal Council's inaction, the gardens had been removed from its control and trustees appointed by the Queensland government. Among these trustees was Thomas Allen Gulliver jnr, who had previously collected botanical material in Tasmania and North Queensland for Baron Von Mueller, Curator of the Melbourne Botanical Gardens and later Victorian Government Botanist. Thomas Gulliver and his brother, Benjamin Thomas Gulliver, had several plants collected from the Gulf of Carpentaria and Arnhem Land named in their honour. Baron von Mueller devoted his life to the study of systematic biology, and was the finest botanist in the southern hemisphere, describing and naming over 2000 Australian species and distributing Australian plants across the world.
Improvements in funding for the Townsville Botanic Gardens followed the appointment of trustees and, as planting and landscaping gradually proceeded, the gardens became a popular place for picnics and concerts. The Queensland Acclimatisation Society, which was formed in 1862, supplied initial plantings. Trees were also supplied from Anthelme le Thozet's garden of exotic trees and shrubs in Rockhampton. le Thozet was internationally renowned as a collector of plant specimens, and is most remembered for Muellerville, the experimental garden where he cultivated many trees and plants in order to determine their economic value and suitability for Queensland's tropical climate. Other trees were sent from Brisbane to Townsville by Walter Hill, the Curator of the Brisbane Botanical Gardens, who had visited Townsville in 1873. Walter Hill made a major contribution to the development of commercial crops in Queensland, supported the work of the Queensland Acclimatisation Society and was instrumental in establishing the Queensland network of botanic gardens.
However, funding for the Townsville Botanic Gardens continued to be scarce and the curator was forced to introduce charges for the use of the gardens for public functions, picnics and musical entertainments. Nevertheless, William Anderson was able to supply young trees to various bodies around North Queensland. Under a government subsidy scheme plants were supplied to the Ravenswood Park Committee, state schools at Croydon, Irvinebank and Black Jack and to many groups around Townsville. Plants were also exchanged with Botanical Gardens in Melbourne, Brisbane, Rockhampton and Port Darwin.
Anderson managed Queens Gardens within the parameters for which it was established as a trial garden for tropical economic plants. Some of the earliest recorded exotic fruit plantings included an acre of grape vines, along with cocoa nut trees (1896), coffee (1889), breadfruit (1899) and mangoes. Timber species included mahogany (1887), hoop pines and red cedar (1892). The majority of tropical tree species were planted around the perimeter of the gardens and included various figs, rain trees and an avenue of black bean.
The Agricultural and Pastoral exhibits of the first Townsville exhibition were held in August 1880 at the Botanical Gardens Reserve.
In 1893 the Council again took over responsibility for the gardens. Planting and landscaping gradually improved during the gardens' formative years and by 1894, the place was involved in propagation, experimentation and exchange thus contributing to the network of botanical gardens. Initially the gardens focussed on the traditional functions for botanic gardens, however the late nineteenth century saw the introduction of the popular Paradise style, which gave the gardens a pleasure ground image. In 1898, after various conflicts over the management of the Gardens, the Townsville Municipal Council successfully requested the resignation of the trustees. From that time on the Gardens were maintained as a park, rather than botanical gardens.
The gardens became extremely popular with local residents during the 1880s and 1890s. Council records indicate that in 1890 the Rose Bud Club held a Gypsy Tea in Queens Gardens. Further photographic evidence of a garden party given by Baron Northcote, the Governor General circa 1905 and another event circa 1916 support the view that the gardens were utilised early as a place for special events. The proximity to the General Hospital also resulted in heavy visitor use.
A Bush-house designed by local architects and civil engineers Tunbridge and Tunbridge was constructed in 1889. This structure and a Kiosk were destroyed by Cyclone Leonta in March 1903 and the 1878 curator's cottage badly damaged.
Photographs reveal that the central avenue with line of sight to Castle Hill was a feature by 1890. Former structures include an orchid house, a hipped roof aviary (c.1938) and the 1878 curator's cottage. Evidence of ornament artefacts includes a moulded terrazzo urn (1957) as the central focus of the formal gardens and a large arched trellis as a feature of the rose garden. The urn originally featured a statue in its centre and four stylised birds surrounding its rim.
Queens Park was utilised as a military base for both Australian and American units during World War II. No. 6 Transportation and Movements Office, 800 Brigade Military Police Company D and a Stockade were based in Queens Park during 1942-1945. Initially accommodation was in tents until demountable buildings were constructed. During this period the large trees were preserved.
In 1959 the Council employed Alan Wilson, former Assistant Landscape Architect with the Brisbane City Parks Department, to redesign the Gardens as Superintendent of Parks and Reserves for Townsville. Photographic evidence indicates that Queens Park continued in a limited capacity as an experimental botanic garden until the 1959 redesign. It was renamed Queens Gardens at this time to honour Queen Elizabeth II.
Jim Thomas, former superintendent of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney and trained in the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, succeeded Alan Wilson as Superintendent in 1968. Thomas continued to maintain the Wilson designed Queens Gardens and was instrumental in saving many nineteenth century trees after cyclone Althea severely damaged the gardens in 1971.
In the latter half of the twentieth century, the gardens gained further popularity as a venue for ceremonies such as weddings and major events, including VP50 celebrations and the annual Eco Fiesta. Except for a few minor modifications, the 1959 layout of the gardens has been maintained.
","criteria":"The combination of mature vegetation, open lawns and well-kept gardens provides an oasis close to the city centre. The gardens offer sensory aesthetic experiences engendered by the visual, auditory and olfactory qualities of the place that have been appreciated by the community over a long period of time. The gardens are enhanced by the landmark quality of Castle Hill's [QHR 601218] granite rock face, an important feature of the southeast-northwest vista.
|The place is an important example of a Queensland botanic garden and demonstrates the principal characteristics of a substantial tropical public botanic garden that has evolved over time. Founded on consistent ideological principles, Townsville Queens Gardens, as part of the Queensland botanic gardens network, is a clear and identifiable type of place, with congruous hard and soft landscape features being a consistent part of the design.
|The place, established as both a scientific and a pleasure garden, has continued this association and has evolved as a focus for community events. It has social significance as a long-used and popular reserve for public recreation.
|Townsville's Queens Gardens demonstrates the development and continued management of a botanic garden in a regional city as a significant theme in the evolution and pattern of Queensland's history. The place has fulfilled the traditional functions of a botanic garden, including increasing horticultural knowledge about local plants with a view to developing their economic potential, sharing of this knowledge and seed stock nationally with like-minded institutions, and providing an attractive and educative venue for public recreation. As a regional botanic garden and part of the Queensland botanic gardens network, Queens Gardens has maintained a position within a national and international network of botanic gardens of which the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in London, was the originating hub.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion E | Criterion D | Criterion G | Criterion A","criteria_definitions":"The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16531,"place_ref":601794,"name":"Cape Cleveland Lightstation","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Cape Cleveland","suburb":"CAPE CLEVELAND","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1998-11-09","description":"The Cape Cleveland Lightstation is located on the northern point of Cape Cleveland, c20 kilometres east of Townsville. The eastern half of the Cape contains the Cape Cleveland National Park, an area of 7810 hectares. The lighthouse was established to mark the northern point of the Cape, and the entrance to Cleveland Bay.
The lighthouse precinct stands at the summit of a steep rocky hill, the plan of the site and the residence fitting in with the undulations of the site. To the north, west and east of the site is the water, with an accessible beach approached by road in a bay to the east of the lightstation. The Cape has a sandy beach, rocky cliffs and areas of lush vegetation in high parts.
The 10.7 metre high lighthouse is circular in plan, with riveted iron plates cladding an internal timber frame. The lantern room is constructed of iron. The domed copper cupola is painted red. The balcony is of cantilevered iron construction supported on brackets with a simple iron railing; several solar panels and antennae have been installed on the balcony.
The two keepers' quarters are timber framed, clad with timber weatherboards, corners and openings are trimmed with timber battens, external timberwork is painted pale green (walls), white and dark green. The door and window frames are timber with paired sash windows, mostly with metal flyscreens. The hipped roof is clad with corrugated fibro cement sheeting with stainless steel gutters and downpipes adjacent to tanks.
The old power house is a reinforced concrete bunker-like building with a rectangular opening and an asphalt-covered roof. A small extension to the east has a shallowly pitched galvanised-iron gable roof, and contains a second entry point. The extension has recently been used as a fowl-house. The new power house with a large metal door to the north-western well.
The garage/workshop is a timber framed building, lined with painted fibro cement sheet It has a gable corrugated fibro cement roof with metal gutters and downpipes. The building has timber-framed louvre windows, timber door frames and doors and timber floors. The workshop/store is of the same type of construction as the garage.
The lightstation also contains several tanks, an observation deck, a helipad, and a tram track, a flag pole, a solar hot water system, concrete foundations of other buildings, a roadway and weather recording equipment.
","history":"Up until 10 December 1859, the colony of New South Wales extended as far north as Cape York Peninsula. In 1859, the new colony of Queensland acquired over 5000 kilometres of coastline which had few safety features in place, and became responsible for all navigation lights and harbours along this coastline. At the time the only lighthouse which existed had been built at Cape Moreton [600257] by the New South Wales Government in 1857.
By 1862, the Queensland government had appointed a Portmaster, Commander George Poynter Heath and had passed the Marine Board Act 1862. In the two years following, due to a lack of funds to spend on marine safety, activity concentrated on dealing with pilots and harbour lights, The issue of coastal lights was not taken up until 25 May 1864, when Members of the Legislative Assembly moved that a Select Committee be appointed to enquiry into and report upon the state of the harbours and rivers in the colony. The Committee consisted of Messrs Macalister, Douglas, Sandeman, Cribb, Challinor and Bell and convened for the first time on 27 May 1864. The Committee widened the terms of reference to include..the question of the necessity of additional lighthouses on the coast of Australia, within the colony of Queensland.
A Select Committee was also appointed by the Legislative Council with the more specific field of reference to enquire into and report upon the requirements of this Colony, under its increasing trade and commerce, as to the provision of additional lighthouses for its coasts and harbors.
The reports of both Select Committees were in agreement regarding the necessity of a light at Sandy Cape. Other points where it was considered that lighthouses were required were at Cape Capricorn on Curtis Island, Point Danger or Cape Byron and Bustard Head [601260]. Lady Elliot Island [601580] and Double Island Point were also among the sites which the Committee indicated as possible suitable sites.
Formal approval for a lighthouse on Cape Cleveland was granted in April 1878 and the Departmet of Public Works called for tenders for the construction of lighthouses on Cape Cleveland and Dent Island in May 1878. By the closing date, 14 June 1878, three tenders for each of the proposed lighthouses with two lightkeeper's cottages had been received.
The prefabricated lighthouse was designed by the office of the Queensland's Colonial Architect Construction was initialy undertaken by WP Clark and completed by John Clark and James Wiseman. Clark agreed to complete the lighthouses and cottages on Cape Cleveland and Dent Island within seven and eight months respectively, however, his contract was eventually transferred to John Clark and James Wiseman, who were to carry on the work under the title of Clark and Wiseman. Following a series of delays, the construction of the tower and cottages on Cape Cleveland and Dent Island were eventually completed in December 1879. A report to the Marine Department's Treasure dated 30th June, 1895, states the initial cost of constructing the Cape Cleveland Lighthouse was £3000, with annual maintenance costs of £279
The original cottages at Cape Cleveland have been replaced in 1953 with timber framed and weatherboard clad buildings. The original lens was replaced in 1956.
Cape Cleveland Lightstation was destaffed in 1987.
","criteria":"Constructed in 1879, the 13th lighthouse constructed by the Queensland government, Cape Cleveland Lightstation occupies an integral part in understanding the establishment of maritime navigational aids along the Queensland coast and reflects the growth and development of Queensland after its separation from New South Wales.
Cape Cleveland Lightstation is associated with Commander George Poynter Heath, the first Portmaster of Queensland (1862-1890), a significant figure in the development of the Queensland lighthouse service. During Heath's time twelve major lighthouses were built along the Queensland coast.
Other buildings and structures at Cape Cleveland are historically important because of their associations with World War Two activity on the site. Cape Cleveland was an important observation post, linked to Townsville. Warning of at least one Japanese air raid was provided by the Cape Cleveland post in 1942. The foundations of the radar hut, the ruins of the reinforced concrete powerhouse and the observation platform survive as reminders of this activity.
|The lighthouse is substantially intact, and survives as a good example of a type of lighthouse construction, a round timber-framed tower clad with galvanised iron sheets, unique to Queensland and incorporating Queensland resources. The use of a timber framed building clad in iron was continued throughout the Colonial Period, following the construction of the timber-framed lighthouse on Lady Elliott Island in 1873.
|Cape Cleveland lighthouse has strong aesthetic value. With its white tower capped by a red dome, it makes a dramatic visual statement in the natural landscape.
|Cape Cleveland Lightstation has strong association with lighthouse keepers' and their families who constituted an early maritime community. The area also has the potential to reveal further information about infrastructure associated with the lightstation.
","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":16785,"place_ref":602049,"name":"Townsville and District Education Centre and Memorial Gates","alternate_name":"Townsville West State School","street_address":"29 Ingham Road","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE WEST","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1998-10-05","description":"The former Townsville West State School is a rectangular brick building of three stories, located at the intersection of Ingham Road and Sturt Street, Townsville, about two kilometres from the city centre. The building faces south addressing Ingham Road which becomes the highway north of the city. Opposite the building running parallel to the road is the northern railway line.
\nSet into a recess in the Ingham Road fence are the Memorial Gates. The gateway is a free-standing rendered masonry archway with a pair of wrought iron gates below. The archway has an elliptical arch with scored voussoirs, a coved cornice and scored pilasters to either side. 'Their name liveth for ever' stands in relief on the cornice, with the dates '1914' and '1919' on each pilaster. The ironwork of the gates includes the words 'Soldiers Memorial Gate of Honour'. Mounted within the returns of the archway are two white marble tablets entitled 'Honour Roll, Townsville West State School'. Each tablet is inscribed with about 100 names, some marked with the letters 'D', 'K', 'P' and 'W'. Behind the gateway on either side are a pair of large trees, possibly blackbeans.
\nThe former Townsville West State School is a symmetrical building, with a linear plan on an east-west access. At the centre of the southern facade is the projecting bay of the main entry and near either end are two smaller breakfronts with secondary entries. The roof is hipped and clad in painted corrugated fibrous cement sheet, with a timber fleche at its centre. The rear or northern elevation also has two breakfronts near either end which mark the linear plan, three-storey height, and Georgian-style symmetry, proportion and massing make the building prominent within its largely domestic context.
\nThe external walls of the two upper levels of the building are face brick, punctuated by pilasters with rendered capitals and bases and a rendered cornice. Between the pilasters are paned casement windows with awning lights above. The two upper levels sit on the rendered base of the Ground Floor which has arcades and smaller window openings.
\nThe central bay of the southern facade is emphasised as the main entry to the building by the triangular pedimented gable, the rendered entry door surround, the double stairway and projecting further than the end bays. Also mounted over the main entry door is the school bell.
\nIn the entry foyer on the First Floor are brass plaques commemorating the opening of the building in 1939 and the centenary of the school in 1987. In the corridor near the entry hang two large timber honour boards entitled \"Roll of Honour, Teachers and Pupils who fought for the Empire in the Great War\". Each board has some 100 names, some marked with 'K' and 'W'. Also in this corridor hang several historical photographs relating to the school, including a gathering of past students for the 50 year Jubilee of the school in 1937.
\nThe First and Second Floors contain a series of classrooms opening onto a corridor running the length of the building on the southern side. There are panelled doors with toplights and double-hung windows between the classrooms and the corridor. The high ceilings, regular external windows and internal windows and doors provide substantial natural light and cross ventilation. The floors to the classrooms are timber, whilst the floors to the corridors, stairs and utilities are concrete. The two stairways, near either end of the building, have steel balustrades, cast newels and timber handrails.
\nMany of the classrooms of the two upper levels are divided by panelled folding timber partitions. The four classrooms at the centre of the first floor level may all be opened to form a small auditorium with a stage at its eastern end. At the far eastern end of that level is the home science room. The ground floor level includes covered play areas, ablutions, storage areas and a workshop.
\nThe foreground of the former Townsville West State School building is lawn, pathways and carpark, with vehicular access from Wilson Street to the east. To the west of the building fronting Ingham Road is a small vegetated lot which includes a number of native plants. The building is separated from the present school to the north by a level grassed area which has low retaining walls and remnants of the tennis courts. The present school is a number of timber and transportable buildings beneath several large banyan trees, sited near the base of Castle Hill. To the west of the school playground is the West End Cemetery (601475).
","history":"The former Townsville West State School, designed by the Queensland Government Architects Office was opened on the 10 June 1939. Costing £28,200, the school was built during the Depression by local workers employed under the Unemployment Relief Scheme. The school building of 1937-9 is the second of three Townsville West State Schools constructed within the same school grounds. The first, constructed in 1886-7, was one of the earliest public schools of Townsville.
\nEarly settlement in Townsville spread along the beach in the present North Ward area, with the commercial centre located along the bank of Ross Creek in the present Flinders Street East area. As the town developed settlement spread south-west along the track to the hinterland which was an extension of Flinders Street. By 1868 a cemetery had been established along the track in the area known as West End. By 1878 the Carrier Arms Hotel, a soap and candle factory in Morris St, the Townsville Gas and Coke Co and the Townsville Brewery Co had sprang up in the new suburb. The North Queensland Pastoral and Agricultural Association was formed on 19 December 1879 and the stockyards and ring were constructed soon after in their present location on Ingham Road.
\nWest End, along with neighbouring suburbs, saw a second wave of population growth after the completion of railway facilities in the North Yards in the early 1880s. Along Ingham Road the West End Hotel (1885) and St Mary's Catholic Church (1888 - 600879) both survive from this period.
\nThe rising population triggered the need for a school in West End. On 22 April, 1884 the Mayor, H Hubert, made an application for a school reserve to be set aside in the West End area. A reserve of four acres was established with some of the land being excised from the nearby cemetery reserve (West End Cemetery - 601475). Because of the growth of the suburb it was estimated that the school would need to accommodate 400 students.
\nBy 11 January 1886 tenders had been called for the construction of a timber school building, out-buildings and a head teacher's residence. Townsville West State School was built with government funding and a one-fifth subscription from the local community as required under the State Education Act of 1875. The school was opened on 21 March 1887.
\nBy 1919 Townsville West was the third largest school in Queensland with an enrolment of 1150 students and a staff of thirty three.
\nGladys Moncrieff, one of Australia's most famous singers, attended the school during the first years of the twentieth century. The school has a perpetual trophy in her name for singing at the Townsville Juvenile Eisteddfod.
\nThe school has also honoured students and teachers who served, and in some cases died, during WWI, by erecting both honour boards in the entrance foyer, and memorial gates. Because both memorials contain the same number of names it is thought that the honour boards were installed soon after the war. However, in 1921 the school community apparently decided to remember their past students in a more tangible way by erecting War Memorial Gates at the entrance to the school. A fete was held and £542 was raised, of which £430 was used to construct the gates which stand at the main school entrance on Ingham Rd. 200 names inscribed on marble tablets are attached to the arched gateway. Close to Anzac Day each year the school still holds a ceremony to honour past students who have served in the armed services in both world wars and other military conflicts.
\nBy the 1930s the area had grown to the extent that the original school building was seen as inadequate. The old building was thought to be poorly ventilated and lacking light, so it was decided to construct the present building. Some of the old school buildings were pulled down and the timber was used to construct hospitals on Palm and Fantome Islands. The Head Teacher's House was sold and re-located at 17 Truscott Street, Garbutt and the Kindergarten building was given to the Townsville Grammar School.
\nOn 18 September 1937, the Jubilee Year of Townsville West State School, the foundation stone of the new school was laid by the Hon MP Hynes, MLA, Secretary for Labour and Industry. Plans were prepared in the Queensland Government Architect's Office of the Department of Public Works. The new building, which cost £28,200, was opened by the Hon H Bruce, MLA, Minister for Public Works and Public Instruction, on 10 June 1939. The Chief Architect at the time was Andrew Baxter Leven (1885-1966). Leven was born, educated and worked as an Inspector of Works in Scotland before migrating to Australia. From 1910 to 1951 he was employed by the Queensland Government Works Department and was Chief Architect and Quantity Surveyor from 1933 to 1951. Other members of the office involved in design were FJ Jellett and HJ Parr.
\nThirty brick schools of similar design to Townsville West were constructed in Queensland during the Depression. They were built as part of a Queensland Government initiative to provide impetus to the flagging economy through an active capital works program.
\nThe school was constructed of brick and concrete. The whole of the ground floor, all corridors, hat and cloak rooms, and staircases were built in concrete, all other floors were made of hardwood. The building contained twenty-one classrooms situated on the first and second floors. 832 students could be accommodated in the new classrooms. There was also a woodwork room and a dressmaking classroom on the first floor, accommodating twenty students each. A head teacher's room, two staff teacher's rooms and hat and cloak rooms were also provided. Some of the classrooms on each of the first and second floors had folding partitions. Storerooms and toilets for male and female teachers, boys and girls and infants were located on the ground floor. The remainder of the ground floor space was utilised as play space. A complete drainage system was installed and the school grounds were graded and leveled.
\nFirst floor facilities in the new school building allowed for the commencement of domestic science and manual training. It was the only school in Townsville with such facilities and students from other areas visited the school once a week to receive tuition.
\nAt the beginning of 1942 Townsville became a restricted military zone with up to 90,000 military personnel stationed in the city and surrounding district. Townsville West State School, like many other schools, was commandeered by the military and a first aid post and convalescence ward were established on the first floor. Classes for Volunteer Aid Detachments (VADs) were held, dressmaking classes for the Women's Australian Auxiliary Air Force (WAAAF), first aid classes, various classes for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) as well as community meetings. In September 1942, the 5th Australian Transport Unit under the command of Major Douglas, camped in the grounds under the fig trees at the rear of the school. These units used the school water supply and shared the ablutions with hospital patients.
\nDuring 1943 the medical facilities were moved out of the school. Some school classes reopened from August 3rd and all classes were operating again by October 1943. However, the site was not completely vacated by the Australian Army until 31st March, 1946.
\nStudent enrolments peaked at about 1000 after the war and then began to decline. The decline was exacerbated by an Education Department policy decision to move Grade Eight from primary to secondary school in 1963. To boost numbers the school began accepted both physically and intellectual disabled students after 1957. The school was seen as specially suited to the needs of these students because of the Domestic Science and Manual Arts facilities. However, the location of these facilities on the first floor and the toilets on the ground floor created difficulties for disabled students. Eventually, all students and most school activities were moved to new school buildings on Wilson Street, behind the 1939 building.
\nWhen the Townsville Teachers College opened in 1969, West End State School was utilised as a Demonstration School for student teachers.
\nThe building withstood the devastation of Cyclone Althea which hit Townsville on the 24th December, 1971. In the aftermath of the cyclone the Home Science room was opened to the community so that people could cook their meals. The Salvation Army also used the school as a relief centre, where they made bread, milk and blocks of ice available for several weeks after the cyclone.
\nIn 1975 the Townsville and District Education Centre (TADEC) was established in one room of the school and by 1981 had expanded into half the building. TADEC, which is still operating from the building, is one of seven such centres in Queensland. It was established as a community education resource for teachers, parents and community groups and for the past twenty-three years has made a significant contribution to community education in North Queensland.
\nIn 1977 an environmental study area was established in the school grounds at the initiative of students and teachers. The area received many honours including a Greening of Australia Project award in 1987. The school grounds also contain a number of trees including large banyans, figs and blackbeans, some of which bear small plaques. The fig trees have been in the grounds since before the 1920s and mark the site of WWII military camp. Two large trees situated on either side of the Memorial Gates may be related to the First Arbour Day.
\nThe first floor corridor contains several photographs, including a depiction of the memorial gates, a gathering of past students for the 50 year Jubilee in 1937, and an award winning choral group.
\nThe original school bell, which is over one hundred years old, hangs in its original position above the main entrance gates.
\nFrom 1991-2009 the building was utilised by the Townsville and District Education Centre, a library, conference rooms, a creche and kindergarten, manual arts and home science facilities and a venue for a community group. In 2018 the building is vacant.
","criteria":"Opened in 1939, the former Townsville West State School, is demonstrative of a government scheme, the Unemployment Relief Scheme, implemented to assist the unemployed throughout Queensland, by means of generating work projects, during the Depression of the 1930s. The school, constructed during a era of substantial building activity, is one of four surviving, intact schools of the period in North Queensland, including Ayr High School (601574).
The former Townsville West State School Memorial Gates, constructed in 1921, are an example of a relatively small number of this type of memorial. War Memorials are important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history as they are representative of a recurrent theme that involved most communities throughout the state. They provide evidence of an era of widespread Australian patriotism and nationalism, particularly during and following the First World War. Two timber honour boards located in the a corridor of the building also list names of former students and teachers who served in WWI.
|The former Townsville West State School Memorial Gates, constructed in 1921, are an example of a relatively small number of this type of memorial.
|The building is a fine example of a two-storeyed Inter-war brick school.
|Due to its massing and scale, the building is a landmark in the suburban streetscape, in keeping with the Queensland Government's 1930s policy to raise the educational status of primary education through the construction of well designed, imposing buildings.
|The building has a strong association with the local community. The grounds on which the former Townsville West State School is built has been the site for over a century of public education for the West End and Townsville community. The building has also been the centre of a variety of community activity in the past, including the use, during WWII, of the building and grounds for a military encampment and convalescent ward and for community meetings and classes. During the emergency period following Cyclone Althea in 1971, the building was utilised as a community relief centre.
","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":16820,"place_ref":602084,"name":"Y Station, 16 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery","alternate_name":"Mount St John Anti-Aircraft Battery | No. 2 Station, Gun Station 393","street_address":"695 Ingham Road","suburb":"MOUNT ST JOHN","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1999-11-26","description":"Y Station, 16 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery occupies the summit of Mount St John, located 2.3km directly west of the main north-south airfield runway at Garbutt, Townsville. The former gun station stands in the landscaped grounds of a private residence (2016, not of state-level cultural heritage significance) that in 2020 is bounded by the Mount St John Wastewater Treatment Plant to the north, undeveloped airfield land to the east, undeveloped land to the south, and industrial and commercial development to the west. The property is accessed via a private road that winds east from Toll Street.
\nFeatures of Y Station, 16 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery of state-level cultural heritage significance are:
\nThe HAA gun emplacements are in an arc configuration, radiating from the southwest to the north of the central command post, and the LAA gun emplacement is to the east. The surrounding magazines are to the northwest, southwest, east, and southeast.
\nCommand Post
\nThe command post is a reinforced concrete structure, formerly used as a central control point that identified and calculated aircraft trajectories, and distributed signals to the gun emplacements.
\nThe command post comprises a semi-underground concrete-roofed plotting room, which is roughly square in plan. It is accessed via steps down to a doorway in the south corner and an escape hatch in the east corner of the roof.
\nThe area southeast of the plotting room was the location of the former open pits (either three separate pits or one compartmentalised pit) – for an identification telescope, rangefinder, and predictor. Remnants include an exposed open-topped concrete box (assumed predictor cable terminus).
\nPartially exposed sections of metal conduits (assumed housing for signal cabling) are located to the southwest of the plotting room, and align with another open-topped concrete box (assumed junction box) embedded in a remnant earth revetment to the west.
\nFeatures of the Command Post also of state-level cultural heritage significance are:
\nHAA Gun Emplacements
\nThe four HAA gun emplacements are octagonal-shaped, concrete slabs of a standard layout, built to house and operate 3.7 inch (94mm) static anti-aircraft guns. They are located north, northwest, west, and southwest of the command post.
\nEach gun emplacement originally comprised a central unroofed gun pit, with a single entry point through an open side that faced the command post. The other seven sides likely had walls that retained the formed earth revetments. These features have been removed with the exception of a remnant earth revetment on the northern side of the southwest gun emplacement.
\nWhile no guns remain in place, their locations in the centre of the slab floors (excluding the north emplacement) are discernible through holdfasts (which would have attached to the hexagonal base plates of the guns’ static mounts).
\nFeatures of the HAA Gun Emplacements also of state-level cultural heritage significance are:
\nMagazines
\nThe four magazines are reinforced concrete structures built to house ammunition for the gun station. They are rectangular in plan and located at a detached but accessible distance from the gun emplacements – to the northwest, southwest, east and southeast.
\nAll magazines are of identical size, single-roomed and originally located underground with semi-concealed stairways, single metal doors and two metal ventilators on the roof. The southwest magazine is the most intact. The other magazines have had the soil around them removed and are in various degrees of exposure.
\nFeatures of the Magazines also of state-level cultural heritage significance are:
\nLAA Gun Emplacement
\nThe LAA gun emplacement is an octagonal-shaped platform built to accommodate a Bofors 40mm mobile anti-aircraft gun. It comprises a concrete slab atop low, off-form, concrete walls, and is located on the downward slope east of the command post.
\nFeatures of the LAA Gun Emplacement also of state-level cultural heritage significance are:
\nAreas of archaeological potential
\nAreas where the brief but intensive occupation of the site has resulted in potential archaeological evidence that could contribute knowledge that will lead to a greater understanding of the design, operation and site-specific modifications of HAA gun stations in Queensland include:
\nFeatures not of state-level cultural heritage significance
\nFeatures of the place not of state-level cultural heritage significance are:
\nY Station (initially called No.2 Station, and later Gun Station 393) 16 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery, on Mount St John in Townsville, was constructed in early 1942 as part of the World War II (WWII) air defences of Townsville. Built to defend Garbutt airfield to the east/northeast, it retains: five anti-aircraft gun emplacements, a semi-underground command post, and four magazines. It is a representative example of the anti-aircraft defences of Queensland during WWII, and demonstrates Townsville’s strategic importance and role during the war in the South West Pacific. Since 2016 the place has been incorporated into the landscaped grounds of a private residence.
\nWhen WWII started in September 1939, Townsville, part of the traditional land of the Wulgurukaba and Bindal peoples, was an important Queensland port. Established in the mid-1860s, its subsequent growth was based on pastoralism, the sugar industry, and mining.[1]
\nAustralia was under little threat of air attack until late 1941. On 8 December 1941, the United States of America (US) entered the war, following the previous day’s bombing of the American fleet at Pearl Harbour by Japanese carrier-borne aircraft. Simultaneously, Japanese forces launched assaults on Thailand, the Philippines and the British colony of Malaya. The sudden fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942 and the rapid Japanese advance through the islands of the Netherlands East Indies (NEI) raised fears of air attacks on Australia. The first Japanese air raid on Australia (Darwin) occurred on 19 February 1942; and Broome, in Western Australia, was attacked on 3 March 1942. Japanese air raids on other targets in Australia seemed likely, and an invasion of Australia was also feared.[2] America's General Douglas MacArthur arrived in Australia on 17 March, after being ordered to leave the Philippines.[3]
\nDue to its position in the north of Australia, Queensland was at risk of land-based air attack (launched from airfields in the NEI or New Guinea), as well as attacks launched from aircraft carriers. As a result of the growing fear of Japanese air raids, the Queensland Government issued the Protection of Persons and Property Order No.1, gazetted 23 December 1941, which ordered local authorities near the coast to build air raid shelters. All Queensland coastal state schools were closed in late January 1942, and although most reopened on 2 March 1942, student attendance was optional until the war ended. A policy of voluntary evacuation of women and children from Queensland coastal areas was also implemented on 27 January 1942.[4]
\nAfter the raid on Darwin, many felt Townsville, the largest city in the north of Queensland, ‘would be the next to experience a large-scale raid…. However, due to its distance from the front line, it could not be raided by land-based bombers, which had added to the devastation in Darwin. Thus any [bombing] attack would come from aircraft carriers or long range Kawanishi flying boats’.[5]
\nTwo key naval battles prevented carrier-borne Japanese aircraft being used to attack Townsville. The battle of the Coral Sea, fought 4-8 May 1942, resulted in the sinking of one Japanese light carrier, damage to a Japanese heavy carrier, and prevented a Japanese invasion force from reaching Port Moresby, New Guinea (now known as Papua New Guinea). The Battle of Midway, fought in early June 1942, resulted in the sinking of four Japanese heavy aircraft carriers.
\nAustralia then became the springboard for the Allied attempt to push back Japanese forces. General MacArthur moved his General Headquarters, South West Pacific Area (GHQ, SWPA) from Melbourne to Brisbane on 20 July 1942, a day before the Japanese landed on the north coast of New Guinea in the Buna-Goa area and attempted to advance overland to Port Moresby, via the Kokoda Track. In September 1942, another Japanese landing force was defeated at Milne Bay, Japanese troops were halted at Imita Ridge on the Kokoda track, and a joint Australian-US effort to retake New Guinea began.[6]
\nQueensland played a major role in the build-up of troops and supplies for the counter-offensive. In late 1942 Townsville was the principal port for those Allied troops serving in the New Guinea campaign, and Cleveland Bay, between Magnetic Island and Townsville, was an important assembly point for shipping. The Australian forces chose Townsville as the Area Combined Headquarters for the North East Area, while the American forces used Townsville as the headquarters of the United States Army Base Section Two and the 4th Air Depot of the United States Army Air Force (USAAF).[7] Between 1942 and 1945 the Townsville and Charters Towers region became one of the largest concentrations of airfields, stores, ammunition depots and port operations in the South West Pacific Theatre.
\nGarbutt airfield, just west of Townsville, was defended by the Australian 16 Heavy Anti-Aircraft (16 HAA) Battery, stationed in Townsville early in the war in the South West Pacific. 16 HAA had two separate units defending Garbutt and its approaches: No.1 Station and No.2 Station. No.1 Station, at Jimmy’s Lookout, northeast of the airfield, was operational by 9 March 1942.[8]
\nConstruction of No.2 Station (later called Y Station) at Mount St John, located directly west of Garbutt’s main north-south runway, commenced in February 1942 and was completed towards the end of April 1942; however, construction of its semi-underground command post did not commence until late 1942.[9] No.2 Station ‘was Townsville's largest and most modern anti-aircraft battery when completed… the site included ‘four concrete ammunition bunkers... four 3.7” [94mm] guns of the latest design, and an underground command post and plotting room’.[10] Four other 3.7 inch gun positions were built in Townsville: at Aitkenvale; The Strand; Pallarenda (3 Mile Creek), and south of the mouth of the Ross River. There was also a 3.7 inch gun station at Nelly Bay, Magnetic Island.[11]
\nQueensland’s static HAA gun stations typically consisted of a semi-underground command post, set to one side of a 180 degree arc of four octagonal gun emplacements, with about 100ft (30m) between the centres of the emplacements. Gun emplacements could either be built above-ground or set in-ground, and a gun crew usually consisted of 10-12 men. There were also two to four earth-covered reserve magazines (or shell stores), set outside the arc of gun emplacements. A typical command post included: an underground plotting room, entered from an external open pit which had separate compartments for a rangefinder, an aircraft spotter’s identification telescope, and a predictor. The predictor (a mechanical analog computer) was used to calculate where the aircraft would be when the shells arrived. It was manually programmed to follow a target, taking into account its course and speed, as well as the shells’ direction and velocity. This information was relayed automatically to the gun layers in each emplacement, so that all guns were trained on the same target area. The target’s height was deduced by the rangefinder, so that the fuses of each shell could be set to explode at the correct height. This targeting information, which was transmitted to dials on each gun, appears to have been relayed via underground cables, protected by metal conduits when above ground.[12]
\nAt Mount St John, the 3.7 inch gun positions, which appear in wartime aerial photographs to have been originally surrounded by protective earth walls, consisted of an octagonal surface concrete platform, with a smaller hexagonal concrete mount and eight metal bolts fixing for the gun’s hexagonal metal base plate. There was also a concrete platform for a Bofors 40mm light anti-aircraft gun, just east of the command post. The command post appears in wartime aerials to have had an open pit with three connected compartments (or three separate pits) –likely for an identification telescope, rangefinder, and predictor – along its southeast side. Camp buildings and tents for the unit were located to the south, west and north of the arc of gun emplacements. The main access track to Mount St John during WWII came from Ingham Road to the south, branched both west and east around the hill, headed up to the gun emplacements, and down the other side of the hill, to the north. There were also secondary tracks heading east from the hill.[13]
\nNo.2 Station's function was to observe all aircraft movements around Garbutt airfield and make sure that all aircraft followed the correct lane of entry. Any aircraft following an incorrect lane was to be fired on as an enemy aircraft. The Mount St John gun station was connected by phone to No. 3 Fighter Sector Headquarters (3FSHQ) at Townsville Grammar School [QHR 601029], as well as various other installations, and was staffed 24 hours a day. All four guns were in place by 11 March, and open sights were fitted on 22 March.[14]
\nAt 1206 hours on 21 March 1942 the first Japanese aircraft was sighted over the city by observers at Kissing Point Battery. It was described in one report as ‘silvery underneath, wings like a Douglas, with the leading edge being tapered back’.[15]
\nThe Kissing Point (coastal) Battery rang through to both No.1 and No.2 stations of 16 HAA; but discovered the phone lines were down. Even if either unit had spotted the aircraft, they would not have been able to fire accurately, as open sights were not fitted until the following day. Another unidentified aircraft was spotted on 22 March, also near midday.[16]
\nThe names of the batteries were changed in April 1942, with No.1 Station changed to X Station at Rowe's Bay and No.2 Station to Y Station at Mount St John.[17] The first time both these stations fired on an enemy aircraft was on 1 May 1942. Intelligence recorded that: ‘At approximately 0945 hrs 16 A.A. Bty opened fire on enemy Recce aircraft flying at a great height. At approximately 1220 hrs U.S.A.A. Bty. opened fire on hostile aircraft, which made out to sea’.[18]
\nA more detailed description of what occurred on 1 May emerged from unit diaries: ‘Planes were sighted by X Station at Palleranda [sic] at a height of approximately 24,000 feet, heading directly towards the aerodrome at Garbutt. X Station immediately went into action and with the first salvo caused the planes to change direction and climb steeply to 29,000 feet and out of range of the guns. Y Station at Mt St John also went into action at this stage. In all, 33 rounds were fired; 25 from the station at Pallarenda and 8 from the station at Mount St John’.[19]
\n‘According to the unit diary, these two aircraft returned at 1140 hrs, releasing a balloon over Garbutt aerodrome at 25-30,000 feet. The balloon descended and blew out to sea, the diary remarking that \"tactics proved that they were enemy aircraft\"’.[20] The balloon was a radiosonde, or a dropsonde, which was an instrument platform with radio transmitting capabilities. It contained instruments capable of taking air temperature, humidity and pressure measurements at different heights. Its descent provided an indirect measure of wind speed and direction at various atmospheric heights. The data was then transmitted back to the aircraft. This information was vital for bombing accurately during a raid. ‘This was either a test run, or the preliminaries to a raid being planned… It is most likely that these flying boats were from the 14th Kokutai [Air Group] based in Rabaul harbour’.[21]
\nMount St John's Y Station was involved in more action. Prior to Townsville's first air raid on the night of 25-26 July 1942, the city received a warning that a raid would soon occur. ‘This clue was unfortunately unheeded by military authorities. For three days prior to the first air raid on the city, AA [Anti-Aircraft] units were on high alert, with yellow alerts and unidentified aircraft reports occurring more frequently than usual. At 0920 hrs on 22 July 1942, unidentified aircraft were seen flying at 25,000 feet over Townsville. At 1000 hrs, Y Station at Mount St John reported \"white balloon at 25,000 feet slowly descending\". Once again the Japanese used dropsondes to record wind speed and direction at certain heights for a planned raid on Townsville’.[22]
\nTownsville was attacked three times during late July 1942, by the 2nd Group of 14 Kokutai Japanese Naval Air Force, using Kawanishi H8K (Emily) four-engine flying boats based at Rabaul. On the night of 25-26th July, two Emilys dropped bombs in the sea off Townsville's wharves. However, Y Station did not fire until a second raid early in the morning of 28 July. At 0220 hrs that day searchlights at Rowe's Bay picked up a lone Emily at 10,000 feet (3048m). After 20 rounds were fired from Y Station an explosion close to the nose of the aircraft occurred, causing it to drop its bomb load in an uninhabited area of nearby Many Peaks Range. During the third raid on the morning of 29 July 1942 an Emily dropped seven bombs in Cleveland Bay and one on a paddock at Oonoonba, and was intercepted and damaged by two US fighter aircraft.
\nBy late 1942, Y Station was known as Gun Station 393.[23] During the war, at least 22 concrete 3.7 inch gun stations are known to have been constructed in Queensland for the Australian Army. As well as the six in Townsville, and one on Magnetic Island, six were constructed in Brisbane, and three in Cairns, as well as two at each military airfield at Mareeba, Iron Range (now Lockhart River Airport), and Horn Island. Two gun stations were also built at Jacky Jacky (now Northern Peninsula Airport), construction type unknown.[24]
\nBy early 1944, when the fear of Japanese air attack had diminished, Townsville had 24 x 3.7 inch guns (in six gun stations); Brisbane was also defended by 24 such guns; and Cairns 12. In March 1944, a report to the Commonwealth’s Defence Committee recommended reducing the number of anti-aircraft guns in Cairns and Townsville, as they were now out of range of Japanese land-based bombers.[25] In early 1944, Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC) personnel formed complete ‘shadow units’, which could fully crew the guns. From mid-1944 onwards, the AA groups in Darwin, Cairns, Townsville, Brisbane, Newcastle, Port Kembla and Melbourne were disbanded.[26]
\nOn 31 July 1944 the 16th HAA Battery was disbanded, and the guns were removed. Since the end of WWII, industrial development of the surrounding area has occurred, and parts of Mount St John were quarried, with soil being removed from near Y Station’s features, including most of the earth walls around the gun emplacements. Three of the concrete magazines were exposed, by earth removal during quarrying, to varying degrees by 1976. Sections of one gun platform and the stairs of two of the exposed magazines were also removed at some point. A wastewater treatment plant was built to the north of Mount St John, by 1976.[27] Y Station’s surviving concrete features remained on Mount St John in a ruinous, overgrown state. From 2016, these features were incorporated into the gardens of a large private residence, with landscaping including lawns, retaining walls, and new roads and footpaths. A section of the route of the wartime access track to the summit from the south has been reinstated for interpretation purposes.
","criteria":"Y Station, 16 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery (1942) is a representative example of Queensland’s anti-aircraft defences during World War II (WWII). In its location, layout and fabric, the Heavy Anti-Aircraft (HAA) position is important in demonstrating Townsville’s strategic importance and role during the war in the South West Pacific, when Queensland was the main staging area for the Allied defence effort.
|Y Station, 16 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery, has the potential to contribute knowledge that will lead to a greater understanding of the design, operation and site-specific modifications of HAA gun stations in Queensland. Areas around and between the built features may contain archaeological evidence, including communications infrastructure, command post pit features, and glass, metal and ceramic artefacts, deposited during the construction and brief but intensive occupation of the site.
|Y Station, 16 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery is an intact example of a HAA gun station built in Queensland during WWII. In its location, layout and fabric, it is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of its type, retaining: a central semi-underground concrete command post with plotting room; a radiating arc of four concrete gun emplacements for 3.7 inch (94mm) anti-aircraft guns (with a visual relationship between the command post and the gun emplacements); four associated concrete magazines (one remains completely buried); and its siting in a strategic location to protect a facility from enemy air attack – at this place, on high ground overlooking Garbutt airfield to the east/northeast. A concrete platform for a Bofors light anti-aircraft (LAA) gun also remains.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion C | Criterion D","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16866,"place_ref":602130,"name":"St Josephs Church","alternate_name":"St Joseph's Catholic Church","street_address":"Fryer Street","suburb":"NORTH WARD","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1999-11-26","description":"St Joseph's Church, a reinforced concrete structure with a corrugated iron gable roof to the nave and lower skillion roofs to the side aisles, is located on a level site fronting Fryer Street to the southeast. The church consists of the original central section which has had arcades added to both sides with vestries at the rear.
\nThe southeast elevation is a symmetrical composition with a central pointed arch entrance with timber doors flanked by lancet shaped niches. The central entrance is surmounted by a large plate tracery window which comprises five lancets surmounted by two quatrefoils and a central foil with eight sections, and framed by an expressed moulding. A crucifix window is located above this window, and a small crucifix surmounts the gable parapet. The central section of this elevation is flanked by paired buttresses which separate the lower side aisles. The side aisles each have a pointed arch entrance with timber doors surmounted by a crucifix window. The side aisles are framed by paired buttresses (originally a single buttress, with the second buttress added as part of the side arcade). The church is accessed via concrete steps fronting Fryer Street. A marble foundation stone is located adjacent to the main entrance.
\nBoth side elevations are similar, and each consists of a pointed arch arcade with parapet concealing a skillion roof to the side aisle. The pointed arches are separated by pilasters which extend above the parapet giving a castellated effect. Each arcade has a concrete floor, and a vestry is located at the rear. The windows to the side aisles are separated by buttresses, and consist of triple leadlight lancets with lower casements sections set in a pointed arch composition. Paired timber doors housed in a pointed arch open from the side aisle to the arcade. Each vestry projects from the arcade, and the side wall has six narrow pointed lancet windows, and a pointed arch timber door opens to the rear. The clerestory to the nave has paired leadlight lancets set in a pointed arch recess. The southwestern side has a concrete ramp with metal handrail accessing the arcade.
\nThe rear of the building has less decorative mouldings with buttresses separating two leadlight windows, each of which consists of tall paired lancets either side of the central altar. A circular leadlight window with central quatrefoil is located at the top of the gable. The location of original doors is evidenced by pointed arch recesses at the rear of the side aisles.
\nInternally, the building has a timber gallery above the entrance accessed by a corner timber stair with turned balusters. The side aisles are separated from the nave by concrete columns surmounted by pointed arches with expressed mouldings. The building has a concrete floor, and the nave has a scissor braced King-post roof with curved side braces and lined with diagonal boarding.
\nThe church has a highly decorative carved timber altar, set against the rear wall on a raised platform, comprising a tiered arrangement of pointed arch niches housing statues and surmounted by a crucifix. The rear wall has timber panelling to the height of the column capital, and the northeastern side aisle has a carved timber altar and timber altar rail. A memorial plaque to Monsignor Bourke is located on the wall of the northeastern side aisle. Church furniture includes timber pews and decorative Stations of the Cross.
\nThe Fryer Street boundary is fenced with concrete pillars with pointed arch recesses and metal palisade panels.
","history":"St Joseph's Church was designed by Townsville architectural firm CD Lynch and Walter Hunt, and was constructed by Townsville building firm Rooney Ltd in 1920-21.
\nThe new settlement of Cleveland Bay, established in 1864 at the mouth of Ross Creek, was part of the Catholic Diocese of Brisbane. The first priest in the northern section of the new diocese was Fr William McGinty who established a parish centred on Bowen. Fr McGinty first visited Townsville (Cleveland Bay) in 1866 where he performed baptisms on 16 February and said Mass on the following Sunday in the Court and Customs House on Melton Hill.
\nIt was not until 1872 that the parish of Townsville was established with Fr Connolly as parish priest. The first church in the new parish, St Joseph's, was opened by Fr Connolly in 1872. The new timber building was located on The Strand close to the site of the present church. This church, which was the first constructed in the town, was destroyed by flood waters which swept the building out to sea during torrential rain in 1892.
\nIn 1878, because of the vastness of the Queensland Vicariate, Bishop Quinn, Bishop of Queensland, proposed that three new dioceses be established with one centred on Townsville. However, in 1882 only one new Queensland diocese was established, with Rockhampton as its centre. Townsville waited a further fifty-two years before a diocese was established in the north.
\nDespite the disappointment, Catholics in Townsville continued planning for the establishment of a Townsville Diocese. A great deal of work was done to establish Catholic institutions, religious orders and new parishes in the north Queensland portion of the Rockhampton Diocese. Part of this expansion included the construction of new schools and churches, including the Sacred Heart Church [600939], which was to be the cathedral church of the new diocese.
\nBecause of the focus on the expansion of the Catholic Church across north Queensland during the later part of the nineteenth century, planning for a new St Joseph's Church did not begin until 1918. The new building was designed by Townsville architectural firm CD Lynch and Walter Hunt. The foundation stone was laid by Bishop Shiel of Rockhampton in January 1919. The building was constructed by Joseph Rooney of the well known north Queensland building firm of Rooneys Ltd and opened in July 1921.
\nThe new church, which faced Fryer Street, was located close to the site of the original church which had faced the Strand. The altar, which was designed by parish priest Monsignor Bourke, was crafted by Joseph Rooney in memory of Matthew Rooney and his wife and daughter, who lost their lives when the ship Yongala sank off Cape Cleveland in 1911.
\nSince the construction of the first church on the site in 1872, St Joseph's Church and parish has been a focus for Catholic community worship and activity. Key church organisations have been located close by, including the parish presbytery, a Catholic orphanage, St Joseph's Primary School (established in 1875), St Patrick's Convent and St Patrick's Secondary Day/Boarding School (established in 1905).
\nSmall extensions, which were added to the church in the 1950s, increased the size of the rooms on either side of the altar. Some changes were made to the interior layout in the 1980s. The creation of a raised platform with a modern altar was in keeping with the changes recommended by Vatican II. These changes saw the removal of some pews and most of the statues, however the Rooney Commemorative Altar was not removed.
","criteria":"St Joseph's Church, erected in 1920-21 with additions carried out in the 1950s, is important in demonstrating the establishment and growth of the Catholic Church in North Queensland.
|St Joseph's Church exhibits the principle characteristics of a Roman basilica, is of aesthetic significance and makes an important contribution to the Fryer Street streetscape.
|The church has a particularly fine interior, including a finely crafted altar, scissor truss roof, choir gallery and leadlight windows. The Church, constructed of reinforced concrete, is an early example of the adoption of this building material for the cyclone enforced renewal of churches in North Queensland.
|St Joseph's Church is significant for its special association with the Townsville parish, the first Catholic parish established in North Queensland after settlement. St Joseph's Church is the second church erected at the site and is significant for its strong and special association as a centre of Catholic worship and community life since the 1920s.
\nThe altar has a special association with Joseph Rooney. The altar, which was designed by parish priest Monsignor Bourke, was crafted by Joseph Rooney in memory of Matthew Rooney and his wife and daughter, who lost their lives when the ship Yongala sank off Cape Cleveland in 1911.
|The church is an important example of the work of Townsville architectural firm of CD Lynch and Walter Hunt, and north Queensland building firm Rooney Ltd.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16869,"place_ref":602133,"name":"Cape Pallarenda Quarantine Station (former)","alternate_name":"Cape Pallarenda Coastal Battery | Northern Regional Office, Environmental Protection Agency | Northern Regional Office, Department of Environment and Resource Management","street_address":"1 The Esplanade","suburb":"PALLARENDA","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1999-04-23","description":"The former quarantine station is located at Cape Pallarenda on a rise behind coastal sand dunes. Mount Marlow rises from a small flood plain at the rear of the complex.
There are sixteen timber buildings within the heritage register boundary, some of which were constructed at West Point and later moved and re-assembled at Cape Pallarenda. The buildings are set within a green rainforest setting which contributes to the tropical ambience of the site. The buildings are timber framed and clad with vertical chamfered timber boards. The buildings are supported on concrete stumps.
The buildings that form part of the quarantine station include a central group namely the Marine Parks/Coastal Management (former Administration/Doctors Building); Conference Room/Planning Section (former First Class Quarters); Reception/Library/Records/RDs office (former Second Class Quarters); QNPWS/Conservation Strategy/Resources (former Dining Room); Graphics Lab (former Kitchen); Wetlands/GIS Mapping (former Married Quarters); and Administration/Accounts (former Engine Drivers Accommodation). To the south of this group is the Cultural Heritage/Engineering (former Manager's Residence). To the northern of the central group are the Habitat Hut (former Storage Shed); Workshop (former Laundry); Museum (former Disinfectant Block); and Storage Shed (former Shower Block).
The roofs of the buildings are generally half hipped with ventilation panels in the small gable ends formed by the half hip. The roofs are clad with a mixture of corrugated iron sheeting and aluminium decking. The roofs in many cases extend over generous verandahs and are supported on stop chamfered columns. Between the timber columns are simple timber battened balustrades. The stairs which provide access to the buildings are generally open tread timber stairs with simple timber rail balustrade.
The buildings feature double French doors opening onto the verandah spaces with operable transom windows above. Lining the original faces of the buildings are vertical sash timber framed windows. The former Manager's Residence features remnant interiors which are earlier than the other buildings of the complex.
The former First Class Quarters and Second Class Quarters were originally two halves of the nineteenth century West Point Hospital Building, a large timber building with surrounding verandahs built on the pavilion planning principles. The former Married Quarters was originally the Hospital Kitchen, also moved from West Point. Another building from the West Point Quarantine Station site is the former Dining Room which was built as the single women's quarters. The central original dining room has been divided into several offices internally.
The former administration block dates from 1915, and has a long east west axis comprising a core of offices arranged around a central hall with verandahs surrounding the building, measuring 2.7 metres in width. The building is elevated on concrete stumps and has a low half hipped roof.
A number of associated structures are found throughout the site defined by the heritage register boundary. These include World War II fortifications and various water structures.
The World War II fortifications are located on the lower slopes of Mount Marlow, to the north west of the former quarantine station buildings at Pallarenda. The facilities are built on the rocky slopes with the command post on the highest point. There are five structures still surviving as well as concrete slabs in the accommodation area, drainage systems along the paths and a substantial piece of curbing and guttering along the track to the gun emplacements. Other visible evidence includes a large hole in rock with a remnant camouflage frame over it, a levelled area below the command post which is surrounded by a stone pitched wall and steps.
The command post is a concrete building which comprises two rooms, one above the other, with observation slits cut at head hight round three sides of the structure. Access to the building is from the northern side into the lower room and from the rear into the higher room. The gun emplacements are also built of concrete. The guns were protected by a cantilevered extension, with a shell store and cartridge store of reinforced concrete at the rear. Searchlight facilities are of similar construction without the rear store rooms. The road drainage system and curbing and guttering are of rock lined channels held in place with concrete. The level area below the command post is surrounded by a stone-pitched wall with concrete and stone steps. There is some evidence that the buildings were covered in camouflage paint. Some sections of the buildings have been painted in recent years in an attempt to cover graffiti.
On the bank of a creek which runs beside the quarantine station is a concrete weir which was apparently built to supply water. The remnants of a stone jetty is sited near where this creek flows to the sea. An early timber footbridge provides carriage across the creek.
","history":"The former Quarantine Station at Cape Pallarenda was established between 1915-1916, using building materials previously used in the construction of an earlier quarantine station constructed in 1884-1885 at West Point, Magnetic Island.
The concept of isolating those parts of the community suffering from disease dates to 14th century Italy, when Venice, trying to protect the city from ship-born disease, established a segregated area away from the centre of population. These isolation areas became known as quarantine stations, from the Latin words for forty days after which time patients, if they were not dead were considered clear of disease.
Quarantine in the northern part of Australia began when the Moreton Bay District of New South Wales (later part of Queensland), established a quarantine station at Dunwich on Stradbroke Island in July 1849 after deaths were recorded on a ship arriving at Moreton Bay in January 1849. The introduction of disease into Northern Australia became an issue as the population of Australia increased after the discovery of gold in 1851, and in Queensland after the opening of a gold field at Crocodile Creek in Central Queensland in 1866. In 1867 the population expanded as a result of a rush of 15,000 diggers to new gold fields at Gympie, Central Queensland and Cape River, North Queensland.
This growth of population and the development of Australia as a sea trading nation made it obvious that there was a need to control the introduction and spread of infectious diseases. The first Queensland Health Act was drafted in 1884; the other Australian colonies had drawn up laws by the late 1890s. In general, legislation established Central Boards of Health to enforce notification of infectious diseases and to provide guidelines for quarantining suspected cases.
Townsville, the first or second port of call for shipping on the Asia/Pacific route, was identified as a place where suspected cases of ship-born disease could be detained. In 1875 Magnetic Island, just off Townsville, was set aside as a place of quarantine. Tents were set up at Picnic Bay, with passengers cared for by the Butler family, who had recently established pineapple plantations on the Island. The Butlers later built primitive huts at either end of the beach for male and female emigrants. A number of people died at Picnic Bay and are buried at the eastern end of the Bay.
In 1884 a permanent quarantine station was established at West Point, Magnetic Island, in response to the provisions of the Queensland Health Act and as a result of community concern about the standard of accommodation for people quarantined on the island. Colonial Architect John James Clarke prepared drawings for five buildings in 1883. Tenders were called on 9 October 1884 and the West Point site was gazetted as an area for quarantine in March 1885.
Townsville builders, Lesser and Soarre, won the contract and work commenced in November 1884. By mid-1885 the hospital, single women's quarters, married quarters, single men's quarters, and a store had been constructed at a cost of £3,765. In early 1886 Townsville firm Cavell & Holt won the tender to construct a caretaker's cottage at a cost of £305. Between December 1885 and 1887 a jetty, Surgeon's Quarters, wash houses, and fencing were constructed by C & A Sparre at a cost of £11,005. In 1887, EJ Cavell built a luggage shed at a cost of £116.
By 1909, when responsibility for the Quarantine Service had passed to the Commonwealth, the Port of Townsville had developed into the second busiest port in Queensland with special ferry facilities needed to transport quarantine cases to West Point.
The West Point location had not proved to be an ideal one for a quarantine station. Lack of water, distance from the port, and distance from medical authorities caused difficulties. An increased interest in the study of tropical diseases after the establishment by the Commonwealth Health Department of the Tropical Institute Research Project in the General Hospital grounds in 1911, also led to a re-evaluation of the location of the quarantine station.
A site was set aside at Cape Marlow (later Cape Pallarenda), for a mainland quarantine station in 1910, but it was not until 1914, with the threat of increased disease after the outbreak of World War 1, that planning began in earnest to move the West Point buildings to the mainland.
Tenders, which were called in July 1914, were rejected as too high. Reviewing the proposal, the Director General of Works under the direction of the Minister for Home Affairs, decided the project should be carried out as an Employment Enhancement Scheme. The cost of the project, built by day labour, was set at £12,400 and reassessed in 1917 at £15,538.
The Cape Pallarenda site was cleared and a road cut across the town common to German Gardens (now known as Belgian Gardens). The Director of Quarantine approved the transfer of "buildings from Magnetic Island to the Cape Pallarenda site, some new buildings to be erected", in April 1913.
Removal took 7 months from November 1915 to June 1916. The large buildings were unroofed, dismantled into wall and ceiling panels and the floors separated into scantlings. The materials were loaded onto a barge for transfer to the jetty at Cape Pallarenda. The buildings were re-erected according to drawings supplied by the Government architect for the Department of Home Affairs.
On the new site the buildings received new roofs, had verandah handrails added, and the window details were changed. New buildings were constructed for the Administration Block (present Marine Parks Building), the Bath Block, The Asiatic Shelter Shed, the Laundry (Wet Tropics Volunteers Building), Incinerator Shed, and Disinfecting Block ( present Museum Building). The layout of the complex was detailed in a site drawing by CMU Todd, Works Director for Queensland, in 1916.
Living facilities at the quarantine station were divided by the same class system that existed in ships. There were separate dining and living facilities for first and second class passengers and a segregated area near the fumigation shed for Asiatic seamen and passengers. The Asiatic area was a covered concrete slab where hammocks were suspended under a canopy.
The complex was linked by a series of footpaths and a service road system. A well was sunk in the sand dunes above high water mark and a series of water mains were connected throughout. The beach front well was never entirely satisfactory and a small earthen weir was constructed in the creek behind the jetty. This weir never held water and in 1925 a second, small concrete dam was constructed on the slope of Many Peaks Range at the rear of the Station. This weir was constructed by A Jensen and cost £1284.
The quarantine station continued to accept quarantined passengers from ships travelling the Asian shipping routes well into the twentieth century. There was a good deal of activity, particularly during the flu epidemic of 1919 and the bubonic plague pandemic of the early part of the twentieth century. In August 1920, 13 Vietnamese sailors died of meningitis and were buried behind the hospital.
By 1942 Townsville had become the supply base for the war in the South-west Pacific. Australian Area Combined Headquarters for the North-east Area was established in Townsville as well as the United States Army Base Section Two, the Fourth Air Depot of the United States Army/Airforce, a naval replenishment port and a major transhipment centre for troops and supplies. Townsville was heavily defended with radar, searchlights and anti-aircraft installations. Fixed coastal defence installations were constructed on Mount Marlow at Pallarenda and on Magnetic Island.
The facility at Pallarenda was designed to protect the northern entrance to Townsville Harbour and to protect the shipping passage between the mainland and Magnetic Island. The construction at Pallarenda included two gun emplacements, two searchlight installations, a command post and a sizeable camp. The complex was probably constructed by the Main Roads Department under direction from the Allied Works Council, which was the principal construction authority in Queensland for wartime installations such as roads, airstrips and coastal defence fortifications.
The Station continued to function throughout World War II and up until the Malayan War when, between 1966 and 1974, the Hospital and Observance Block were taken over by the 9th Field Ambulance Corp Field Hospital.
A new hospital building was constructed in 1973, mainly to treat contagious patients returning from the Vietnam War. The Hospital and Observation Block, built of material from the West Point site, were damaged during Cyclone Althea in December 1971 and demolished to make way for the new building. Although completed, the hospital was never used as a medical facility because of the construction of a contagious diseases hospital in Melbourne which accepted cases from all over Australia.
The construction of the Melbourne Contagious Disease Hospital marked the end of the Pallarenda facility as a place of quarantine. Planning to locate the recently established Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) into the complex began early in 1974. By November 1974 AIMS personnel had moved into six transportable laboratories and the former Quarantine Station buildings. AIMS remained until 1977 when the organisation moved to a permanent location at Cape Ferguson, south of Townsville.
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GRBRMPA) was located in the present Marine Parks building for a short time, soon after it was established in 1975. However, after AIMS and GRBRMPA moved out, the complex remained empty until 1 February 1986 when the area was gazetted as an Environmental Park.
The grounds of the former quarantine station were planted with native vegetation and the former Administration building occupied by the Marine Parks Section of the Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage. The rest of the buildings were restored in 1991-1992 and occupied by the Northern Regional Office of the then Environmental Protection Agency.
","criteria":"The site demonstrates government and community attempts to eradicate and treat tropical disease and effect racial segregation at the turn of the century.
The complex has historic links with seaborn immigration and early settlement of Townsville and North Queensland and with the development of Townsville as a port. These links extend to the various wars with which Australia has been involved and to the foundation of the Australian Institute of Marine Science, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and to the establishment of the Department of Environment and Heritage.
|The former Cape Pallarenda Quarantine Station was constructed in 1915/16, under an Employment Enhancement Scheme and is one of few surviving early quarantine stations in Australia and the only, substantially intact example in North Queensland.
|The site comprises a coherent group of early 20th century timber buildings constructed for the Federal government and includes building elements from the 19th century quarantine station at West Point, Magnetic Island.
|These links extend to the various wars with which Australia has been involved and to the foundation of the Australian Institute of Marine Science, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and to the establishment of the Department of Environment and Heritage.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16883,"place_ref":602147,"name":"Former North Ward Defence Complex, Townsville","alternate_name":"Oxley Street Defence site | 11 Brigade Administration Support Battalion Headquarters Company","street_address":"46 Oxley Street","suburb":"NORTH WARD","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2004-12-03","description":"The former North Ward Defence Complex, Townsville, is located on a town block bounded by Oxley, Leichhardt and Mitchell Streets and the Strand. The entrance to the complex is off Mitchell Street. Most of the buildings face into the complex, but the office section of the 1905-06 Drill Hall faces Leichhardt Street. Vacant land at the front of the block faces the Strand.
At one stage there were 28 buildings and structures on the site. Three buildings are identified as being of cultural heritage significance:
Building 1:\tFormer Offices and Stores Building [1890]
This building is constructed in English bond red brick. There is a gable in the roof over the gantry which is located over the large central opening at the first floor level. The opening has a modern glazed door in it. The building has timber double hung windows and a pair of original V-jointed board doors at ground floor level. One door on the ground floor has been covered over with sheet metal. Its rubbed brick arches - flat arches, distinguish the building over the window and single door openings, segmented arches over the large ground and first floor level openings. The building has a hipped corrugated iron roof with slatted boxed eaves to all elevations. The interior of the building, while possibly retaining some of its original form, has been converted into office space and extensively remodelled.
Building 5: \tAdministration Offices and Storeroom
\t\t[former Drill Hall and Offices, 1905-06]
The offices and hall building is a timber framed structure consisting of sections of both exposed timber studs to the exterior with vertical V-jointed board to the inside, and conventional weatherboard clad section. The exposed stud detail is located under the verandah only. The wing of the building, with its long elevation to Mitchell Street has a corrugated iron gabled roof with a semi-circular gabled vent while the longitudinal wing has a hipped corrugated galvanised iron roof with a vent to the south-east gabled end. The roof has areas of both open and slatted vented eaves. The structure sits on concrete stumps.
Doors are generally four panelled timber with pairs of doors with a highlight over to doors opening to the verandah. The windows are pivoted timber framed sashes, some of which appear to have been converted from double hung. The interior of the Mitchell Street wing has been relined but the other wing retains much of its original V-jointed lining boards.
Building 27:\tOffices [former Staff Quarters, c1890]
The administration building is a timber; six room former residential building with a pyramidal corrugated iron roof. The building is constructed on brick piers. Chamfer boards clad the external walls and verandah roof. The structure is exposed wooden stud framing to the verandah side with beaded lining boards facing the rooms. The building has an encircling verandah, which has been sheeted in with fibre cement sheet, timber trellis work and windows, and doors, which have been added at a relatively recent date. The verandah has a curved corrugated iron roof. The former service block at the rear of the building, which adjoins the south-west portion of the verandah, is a timber framed fibre cement sheet slatted timber structure with a corrugated iron skillion roof.
Internally, the rooms are generally uniform in detail with French doors with highlights over to the verandah to most rooms and four panel doors with highlights over to the passage. The doorways at either end of the passage have four panel doors with sidelights and highlights.
","history":"The North Ward Defence Complex, development of which began in 1885, was constructed as a Volunteer Defence Training facility. The majority of the present buildings on the site date from c1890 to c1942.
In the 1840s Britain gave its colonies a limited amount of self rule. One of the reasons for the decision was the cost of maintaining government responsibilities in the far flung empire. While Westminster retained control of foreign relations and international trade and some aspects of defence, the colonies were given more responsibility for their own defence. Military property was transferred from the Imperial Board of Ordnance in London to local colonial control. England supplied and paid the troops and the colonies were responsible for other military needs.
It was not until the discovery of gold in the 1850s that the need for a strong military presence in Australia was seen to be necessary. Gold shipments required protection within the country and shipments at sea needed protection from privateers. Compounding these problems was the perceived threat of invasion during the build up to the war in the Crimea. Because the Imperial British forces were likely to be directly engaged in the Crimea the Australian colonies began to develop volunteer forces for their own defence purposes. These volunteers supplied all their own needs except weapons and instruction.
During the second half of the 19th century international instability gave rise to concerns about military preparedness in the Australian colonies. Until 1878 Queensland's defences ended at Rockhampton. The rest of the coast was undefended until the formation of Townsville No.4 Battery and Garrison Artillery. The Townsville Battery was raised as a tactical response to the threat of seaborn attack, especially from privateers who might be interested in shipments of gold from the port of Townsville. Despite the establishment of No.4 Battery and Garrison Artillery there was still some concern in the Townsville community about the preparedness of the city for attack during the 1880s and early 1890s.
Efforts were made to improve Queensland's defence force, however these were unsatisfactory and volunteers continued to attend parades at their own expense. In a move to improve the situation the Queensland Government introduced the Defence Act of 1884, which provided for permanent artillery and a partially paid militia.
The North Ward Defence Complex appears to have been developed as a response to the 1884 legislation. It appears that the first building, contracted for in 1885 and constructed c1887, was a drill hall. About 1890 a two-storeyed brick office and stores building was erected at the corner of Oxley and Mitchell Streets, and in a separate contract, Staff Officers' Quarters, Stables and Fencing were erected c1890. These early buildings were designed in the Queensland Colonial Architect's office.
In 1904 the Queensland Government Architect Alfred Brady approved drawings prepared by District Architect Thomas Pye for a new drill hall and administrative offices. The drawings indicate that the existing Staff Quarters, Stores and Offices Building, Stables and small shed were to be retained, but that the original drill hall was to be removed. The new hall was completed in 1905-06.
In 1889 James Bevan Edwards, a senior regular British officer, visited Australia to advise the colonies on how to improve their military defences. His visit reflected both local and imperial concerns including moves towards Federation and hostile incursions into the Pacific Region. Edwards, basing his ideas on what was happening in Europe and England, advised the Australian colonies to amalgamate their permanent forces and to form a federal voluntary militia from their paid citizen soldiers.
Edwards' suggestions were considered at conferences attended by the colonial commanders in 1894 and 1896 but nothing was resolved. On 1 March 1901 the volunteer militia of the six colonies passed into the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth under the administration of the Department of Defence without being formally amalgamated into one Australian army. The Commonwealth government had to decide whether to amalgamate the six colonial volunteer militia forces or to raise a new force. With the passing of the Defence Act of 1903 the Commonwealth Government amalgamated the six colonial militia forces into a paid voluntary force which would defend Australian sovereignty both overseas and in Australia. Unpaid volunteers were confined to the defence of Australia.
The threat of war in Europe in 1914 saw members of the militia and the volunteer forces clamouring to join the Australian expeditionary force. In all, over 50,000 militia joined the Australian Infantry Force (AIF) during the First World War, signalling the demise of the volunteer force as the main military organisation in Australia.
The North Ward Defence Complex became a focus for cadet training after the First World War. Compulsory military training was instigated after the war for young men between the ages of eighteen and nineteen, who lived in cities and large towns. Responsibility for junior cadet training reverted to the states while senior cadet training no longer really existed beyond physical training and rifle practice.
The Cadet's Orderly Room had deteriorated by 1908 and in August the Commonwealth Inspector for Public Works, RN Quinn recommend that it be demolished and that the Sergeant's Room be partitioned to create space for the cadets. These works were carried out and the building has remained largely unchanged since.
In 1937 the Commonwealth Defence Department began negotiations to acquire the remainder of the town block bordered by Leichhardt and Oxley Streets on which the Defence buildings were located. Negotiations with the State government were protracted and it was not until 19 October 1939 that the purchase was finalised.
A plan of the site indicates that the galvanised iron clad, saw-tooth roofed Quartermaster's Store (Building No. 8), located on what was the newly purchased land, was constructed by 1942.
Other corrugated iron buildings on the site are likely to have been 19th century structures. Two timber framed, corrugated iron store buildings along Mitchell Street were demolished in August 2000, one of which appears to have been the c1890 stables.
Some minor alterations were made to the Drill Hall in the 1970s and some alterations were made to the 1890 Offices and Stores Building when it was converted to the 11 Brigade dentist's surgery.
Concrete block toilets were constructed to the rear of the Drill Hall at the time women were allowed to join the armed forces in the late 20th century.
The complex is no longer owned by the Department of Defence.
","criteria":"The former North Ward Defence Complex, elements of which date from c1890 through to 1942, is important in illustrating the pattern of Queensland's history, being evidence of the Colonial response to changes in British military defence policy, the training of Queensland militia under both colonial and Federal administrations, and the continued occupation as a defence complex for over a century.
|The 1890 Former Offices and Stores Building and the 1905-06 former timber Drill Hall and Administrative Offices are rare surviving examples of their type and period of construction in Queensland. The drill hall in particular is one of only two Federation-era drill halls surviving in Queensland, the other being at Rockhampton. These buildings also are important in illustrating the principal characteristics of the work of the Queensland Government Architect's Office in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
|As a mainly pre-1945 military complex, the North Ward Defence Complex is important in illustrating the principal characteristics of its type, including the composition and arrangement of buildings and structures, and is significant for its contribution to an understanding of the infrastructure required for the training of volunteer militia in Queensland prior to the Second World War.
|The c1890 buildings and the 1905-06 Former Drill Hall and Administrative Offices have aesthetic value engendered by their form, fabric, detailing and scale. The two-storeyed, c1890 Former Brick Offices and Store has landmark value in the Mitchell Street streetscape.
|The North Ward Defence Complex is significant for its long association with the Queensland Volunteer Defence Forces, and their important contribution to the defence of Queensland.
","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":16895,"place_ref":601250,"name":"Stewart's Creek Gaol (former)","alternate_name":"Townsville Correctional Centre | Stewarts Creek Gaol","street_address":"Centenary Drive, off Dwyer Street","suburb":"STUART","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2008-07-31","description":"The Townsville Correctional Centre is a walled facility situated on a much larger prison reserve of 677 hectares on Centenary Drive, off Dwyer Street, Stuart. The structures associated with the former Stewart's Creek Gaol, which include the former Gatehouse and the Central Observation Tower, are located within the Townsville Correctional Centre, adjacent to more recently erected gaol buildings.
The former Gatehouse is a two-storeyed, symmetrically designed, red brick structure in the classical tradition comprising a central gate with wings (now used for offices) on either side. It is built in red brick with rendered pilasters at the corners of each wing. The wings are divided by cream coloured brick string courses above the lower windows and below the first floor windows. The steel-barred windows are surmounted by corrugated iron and timber window hoods. Arched vents in cream coloured brick are set into the eaves of the gabled roof above each wing. Verandahs at both storeys extend from the sides. Short lengths of the original prison wall extend from each wing.
The main gate is located in the centre of a recessed bay between the two outer wings of the building. The steel gate is surmounted by large fanlight with wrought iron infill. The gate and fanlight are surrounded by cream brick moulding. The whole bay is surmounted by an ornate concrete pediment decorated with scrolls and the date of construction of the building. The gate opens into a concourse, the full two storeys in height, which runs through to the rear of the building. The concourse ends at a large rear gate. This opening is very similar to the one at the front except that a barred steel gate is used instead of solid steel.
Much of the interior of the Gatehouse has been altered to accommodate offices, however a number of original features remain. These include fireplaces, internal security doors and vent covers.
\t
The Central Observation Tower is located some distance behind the Gate House. It is a tall cylindrical structure surmounted by an octagonal cabin. The cabin is surrounded by a covered walkway and three covered walkways project from it at right angles to each other. Wrought iron balustrades enclose all of the walkways. They are roofed with corrugated iron. The walkway that surrounds the cabin is supported by wrought iron brackets. Those that extend from the cabin are supported by one pillar each. These are square in cross-section and taper slightly towards the top.
\t
Access is gained into the tower via a narrow door at the base. A spiral staircase ascends the interior of the tower to the cabin. The cabin is clad with weatherboard. Doors open onto each of the three projecting walkways. A set of three windows open from each of the other five sides. The interior is furnished with a lavatory and wash basin.
The tower extends upwards out of the roof of the cabin. This section of tower is square in cross-section. A projecting molding surrounds it at about two-thirds of its height. Tall narrow vents open into each side below this molding. A molded circle reminiscent of a clock decorates each side of the tower near the top. A small pyramid roof of corrugated iron covers the top of the tower.
\t
","history":"The original Stewart's Creek Gaol, of which the Gatehouse and Central Observation Tower are now the principal surviving elements, was constructed in 1890-1893, to plans prepared c1889 in the office of the Colonial Architect, George St Paul Connolly. Charles McLay was the principal designer in the office at this time. The gaol was erected by contractor Thomas Matthews at a cost of £31,600.
\nThe gaol was intended to function as the principal prison in north Queensland. It was the only maximum-security prison established in north Queensland in the nineteenth century, ranking alongside St Helena Gaol (opened in 1866), the Rockhampton Gaol at North Street (1876-1878), and the South Brisbane Men's Prison at Boggo Road (opened 1883). As well as providing a maximum-security gaol in the north, the Stewart's Creek Gaol helped relieve overcrowding at Boggo Road and St Helena and also reduced the expensive and dangerous necessity of escorting convicted north Queensland felons to these southern establishments.
\nThe decision to erect a major gaol facility at Stewart's Creek (later Stuart Creek) on the outskirts of Townsville reflected the rapid rise of Townsville as a regional administrative and commercial centre and port. The town was founded in 1864 at the beginning of a period of rapid expansion in north Queensland, fuelled largely by pastoral activity, gold mining and sugar industry. Between 1867 and 1910, Townsville grew rapidly to become the north's main commercial centre and port.
\nThe Stewart's Creek Gaol replaced an earlier Townsville Gaol, completed in 1878 at North Ward. By the second half of the 1880s the North Ward gaol was proving unsuitable in terms of its location and design. With the expansion of suburban Townsville, local residents began to complain that the prison was located too close to the centre of town. The gaol was also chronically overcrowded, making it difficult to maintain adequate separation and classification of prisoners. In 1889 the Prisons Department took up 150 acres of ground near Stewart's Creek and the Colonial Architect's office was requested to prepare plans for a new prison.
\nThe site chosen for the construction of the new gaol was a former sheep quarantine ground, located approximately eight kilometres from town. The new gaol buildings were sited conveniently near the Great Northern Railway, which made possible the rapid and easy transit of prisoners and supplies to and from Townsville.
\nThe contract for construction of the gaol was let on 8 April 1890 to Thomas Matthews, and the buildings were occupied in 1893. The gatehouse (extant) comprised Governor's quarters and Chief Turnkey's quarters flanking a main front gate. This gave access to a central circulation space and muster ground bounded on the north and south sides by two administration buildings (no longer extant). Beyond these buildings were the three main cell blocks (no longer extant). These were configured in a semi-radial pattern, to allow for the construction of additional wings if required. Earlier Queensland prison designs, such as Boggo Road (completed 1883), had utilized a more restrictive cruciform arrangement of cell blocks. An underground tank of 66,000 gallons (300kl) capacity was constructed for rainwater, which was pumped to high level tanks for the supply of the various buildings. The buildings were constructed of brick on concrete foundations, and the whole of the complex was enclosed by a six metre high concrete wall (no longer extant).
\nStewart's Creek Gaol was occupied in 1893 by male prisoners previously confined at the Townsville Gaol at North Ward. The majority of prisoners confined at Mackay Gaol were also transferred to Stewart's Creek, and the Mackay Gaol was then closed. Female prisoners at the North Ward were transferred a few years later, when associated infrastructure was in place.
\nThe prominent Central Observation Tower was designed in 1897 by JS Murdoch, employed in the Queensland Government Architect's Office. Murdoch later had a prominent career in the Commonwealth Works Department, where he was appointed Chief Architect by 1919 and was involved with the planning of Canberra and the design of the provisional Parliament House. The structure is known locally as the 'Trig Tower' because trigonometrical survey readings are taken from it.
\nIn the late 1960s a new medium security block, the first of its type in north Queensland, was constructed south of the existing prison on the site of the former prison piggery. When completed in 1967 the new prison provided accommodation for up to 192 prisoners.
\nThe original maximum-security prison was redeveloped in the 1990s. When works were completed in 1996 much of the original prison was demolished, including the cell blocks and the perimeter wall, the latter replaced by a state-of-the-art razor wire fence. The original Administration Buildings were also demolished.
\n\n
The early 1890s Gatehouse and the 1897 Observation Tower were refurbished in 1995-1996. The interior of the Gatehouse was renovated with the provision of office space and administrative areas. The exterior was reconstructed to its original design with open verandahs and latticework, and non-original fixtures and accretions were removed.
\n","criteria":"
The place remains important in illustrating some of the principal characteristics of late nineteenth century prison design, including construction of a forbidding entrance (gatehouse) and central observation tower.
The Central Observation Tower is a fine example of the design skills of architect John Smith Murdoch, who later had a distinguished career in the Commonwealth Department of Works.
|The Gatehouse is a well composed design in the classical tradition displaying a pleasing symmetry and a high degree of legibility. The imposing, steel main gate is highly evocative of the penal function of the building.
|The former Stewart's Creek Gaol Gatehouse (1890-1893) and the Central Observation Tower (or Trig Tower) (1897), are the oldest surviving intact prison buildings in Queensland. The Gatehouse pre-dates the former Women's Prison at Boggo Road in Brisbane (c1903) (QHR 601033), by about a decade. They provide rare surviving physical evidence of late nineteenth century approaches to prison design and administration in Queensland.
Queensland's other main surviving nineteenth century prison, St Helena in Moreton Bay, survives in a ruinous condition and illustrates earlier attitudes to prison design and administration.
|The early surviving structures associated with the former Stewart's Creek Gaol (including Gatehouse and Central Observation Tower), erected during the 1890s, are important in demonstrating the evolution of nineteenth century prison design and operation in Queensland. They also demonstrate the pattern of settlement in Queensland, in particular, the important role Townsville played as a regional administration centre at the time.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion B | Criterion A","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16978,"place_ref":602157,"name":"Westpac Bank","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"337-343 Flinders Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2004-05-13","description":"Located on the corner of Flinders Street Mall and Stokes Street, in the centre of Townsville, the Westpac Bank is a two storeyed masonry building with a smaller attic storey. Built up to the property alignment on the street sides, the building is roughly L-shaped in plan with a single storey service zone occupying the rear of the site. The south east frontage to Flinders Street is 62 feet long (18.9m) and the north east frontage to Stokes Street is 135 feet (41.1m). Constructed of reinforced concrete with an outer brick veneer, the walls are generally finished with cement render, now painted.
The street facades are designed in an imposing classical style. Giant Tuscan order colonnades are terminated in solid corners with banded rustication. The columns sit on a raised base, about a metre above the Flinders Street level, and carry a simple entablature surmounted by a more ornamental parapet with a central cartouche and panels of classical balusters. The name of the bank, flanked by circular motifs, is written in the frieze. The base of the building, which has been refinished with a pebble aggregate, diminishes on the Stokes Street side due to a gentle rise towards the north. The northern most part of the Stokes Street elevation, originally two shops, is face brickwork with a rendered entablature matching the main part of the building. An awning projects over the footpath in front of the brick section. Most of the windows are generously proportioned steel framed casements with simple classical architraves.
The banking chamber, which occupies the corner position on the ground floor, has entrances from both Flinders Street and Stokes Street. The Flinders Street entrance is raised about five steps above the footpath level. The entrance doors are located centrally in the walls behind the colonnades. These walls are decorated with pilasters, positioned directly behind the columns. Simple ironwork panels and gates are positioned between the bases of the columns. Automatic aluminium doors have replaced the original bronze doors. The banking chamber, although much altered, is in the original location and retains some original structural walls and columns. The remainder of the ground floor is occupied by the bank and used for offices, storage and staff facilities. Due to the slope in Stokes Street the northern end of the ground floor has been built at a higher level. An additional ground floor entrance on Stokes Street opens directly into the higher level.
Entrances to the upper floors are located on both Flinders and Stokes Streets. The Flinders street entrance, located in the banded section of wall on the southern end of the colonnade, leads to an entry vestibule and dogleg staircase. The stair, which extends to the third level, has terrazzo treads and risers, a timber handrail and a decorative iron balustrade.
The Stokes Street entrance to the second level is less prominent, being positioned in a gap between the rendered and the brick sections of the building. The stair at this entrance is a single straight flight terminating in a landing located closer to the upper level. At the landing, the stair splits into two flights, which run at 90 degrees to the main flight of stairs. The second level consists of a central corridor with offices along the street side of the building and services on the opposite side. Although somewhat altered the second level retains many original details including signage, stair handrails, timber paneled doors, timber and glass partitioning and terrazzo dividers in the toilet cubicles.
The third storey, originally a residence, is a tenanted office and training rooms for the bank. It is positioned close to the Flinders Street façade occupying about a third of the area of the floor below. The remainder consists of a large flat roof deck surrounded by the building parapet. The third storey is located behind the parapet and is not very visible from the street. A water tank sits above the roof of the third storey.
","history":"An imposing two-storeyed masonry building, the Westpac Bank was erected in 1935 as the Bank of New South Wales. This building was the third premises built by the bank in Townsville.
The Bank of New South Wales, founded in 1817, was intimately associated with the early development of Townsville. Robert Towns, the co-founder of Townsville, was a director of the Bank of New South Wales. Not surprisingly, he was instrumental in encouraging the bank to establish a branch at Cleveland Bay. After some delays, the Bank of New South Wales opened a branch in rented premises on 20 March 1866. The Bank of NSW was the second in the settlement, after the Australian Joint Stock Bank which had opened a month earlier.
The Bank purchased an allotment on the corner of the Strand and Wickham Street in 1867 and premises and a manager's residence were erected two years later. Anticipating the future growth of Townsville in Flinders Street East, the Bank purchased two allotments on the corner of Flinders and Wickham Streets in 1875. Two-storeyed premises were erected in 1887.
As the centre of the business district shifted westwards along Flinders Street, the bank again decided to relocate its Townsville branch. In 1915, the Bank of NSW purchased an allotment, 66¢ x 165¢, on the corner of Flinders and Stokes Streets. As with the previous relocation, the bank did not erect new premises immediately. The shops on the allotment were rented and some sold in 1922. More than fifteen years after the initial purchase of the land, Brisbane architect, FR Hall, senior partner of Hall and Cook, was commissioned to prepare plans for a new building containing offices and shops as well as facilities for the bank.
The building costing £32,345 was constructed by Stuart Brothers of Sydney and completed in 1935. It was occupied by the Bank of NSW which had amalgamated in 1931 with the Australian Bank of Commerce, formerly the Australian Joint Stock Bank. The building was considered one of Townsville's most "imposing edifices" at the time of construction. It was designed to ameliorate the hot climate through the use of cross ventilation and cavity construction. Elaborate bronze entrance doors were a feature of the elevations and cost over £1,000. The banking chamber had paneled wainscots and counters in north Queensland maple.
Renovations were carried out in 1961, 1966, 1968 and 1971. The exterior has been subject to minor alterations while the interior on the ground floor has been refurbished.
","criteria":"The Westpac Bank, the third location of the Bank of New South Wales in Townsville and one of the largest banking buildings in north Queensland at the time of its construction, demonstrates the evolution of commerce in north Queensland and its contribution to the development of Townsville as a regional centre.
|In the choice of a classical style of architecture, central location and arrangement of spaces - a spacious banking chamber combined with shops, tenantable offices and residential accommodation on the roof level - the Westpac Bank is important in illustrating the principal characteristics of an interwar bank in a regional centre.
|A fine example of the commercial architecture of Francis Richard Hall, the Westpac Bank, with its well-ordered and classically proportioned facades, contributes to the Flinders Street streetscape.
|The place has a strong association with the work of the Bank of New South Wales in fostering the development of Townsville in the 19th and early 20th centuries as North Queensland's principal regional commercial centre.
","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":16979,"place_ref":602158,"name":"Townsville Technical College (former)(Block A, City Campus, Barrier Reef Institute of TAFE)","alternate_name":"Townsville State High School","street_address":"212-260 Stanley Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2004-05-13","description":"Situated on the corner of Stanley and Walker Streets, against the dramatic backdrop of Castle Hill, Block A is the most prominent building at the City Campus of the Barrier Reef Institute of TAFE. A two-storeyed masonry building with a metal roof, it forms part of a group of buildings on the southern side of Stanley Street, including the former School of Arts building (600925) and the Sacred Heart Cathedral (600939), that contributes to the aesthetic qualities of views to Castle Hill.
Built to the street alignment, the building is composed of three main parts, a truncated corner structure and two flanking wings arranged in an L-shaped plan. The classical design of the façade is evident in the regular arrangement of windows, varied roofline of pediments and domes and classical detailing in balustrades and mouldings. The symmetrical composition emphasises the corner location. The external walls of the building are brickwork, rendered and painted where visible from the street.
The main entry is located at the truncated corner facing the Stanley and Walker Street intersection. In contrast to the rest of the façade, the entrance vestibule and the conference room, immediately above, are recessed behind narrow verandahs and surmounted by an octagonal dome. Each face of the octagonal base of the dome has a round window. A vented fleche surmounts the dome and three other similar fleches are mounted on the ridge of the roof. Panels of classical balusters form the parapet around the dome and the balustrade to the upper level verandah. The ground floor verandah has wrought iron balustrades.
On each of the street facades; adjacent to the corner structure, at the ends of each wing and in the centre of the Stanley Street wing, are projecting bays surmounted by open bed pediments and stepped parapets. Banded rustication emphasises the corners of the bays. Windows in the bays are arranged in groups of three, with two single sashes flanking a pair of casement windows. On the upper level of each bay the central window is arched. The elaborate moulding and keystone over the arched window protrude into the tympanum above. Windows are generally pairs of timber casements with pivoting highlights over.
The ground floor is raised above the street and a half flight of stairs at the street corner leads to glazed timber doors opening onto the entry vestibule. The entry vestibule is octagonal in plan with timber panelling up to door head height and a tiled floor. French doors open from the vestibule onto the narrow verandahs overlooking the street. The main stair, opposite the entrance door, consists of a single flight splitting midway up into two curved flights, positioned at 90 degrees to the lower flight. The stair, which is framed by an ornamental arch, has a decorative wrought iron balustrade and timber handrail. The flat-sheeted ceiling of the vestibule has timber cover battens laid out in a pattern reflecting the geometry of the room. A reception office is located adjacent to the entry vestibule. The entry vestibule opens onto verandahs on the back of the building that enclose two sides of a courtyard.
Each level of the building is similar in plan with offices and classrooms accessed from the rear verandahs. Lattice screens and timber doors secure the entry vestibule from the verandahs on the lower level. The verandahs have painted brick columns, timber floors and vertical slatted balustrades and are partly enclosed by brick walls and toilet facilities. The lower level verandah has a flat ripple iron ceiling and lattice valence while the upper level has a raked timber boarded ceiling. Half glazed timber doors to classrooms and offices open directly from the verandah. The walls facing onto the verandahs are unpainted brickwork. Window heads and sills are concrete. A flight of stairs, enclosed with lattice panels and doors, is located along the external edge of the verandah on the Stanley Street wing. A connection has been built between the western end of the Stanley Street wing and the adjoining Block E. A raised concrete walkway joins the end of the verandah on the upper level of the Walker Street wing.
On the first floor level above the main stair, a pair of silky oak doors with matching side lights open into the octagonal conference room. The conference room is a double height space encircled by a mezzanine gallery and lit from above by circular windows. A set of French doors opposite the entrance doors opens onto the verandah which overlooks the street. The ceiling of the space is domed and has timber cover battens relating to the geometry of the dome. The gallery, reached by a set of narrow stairs in a niche off the main space, has an iron balustrade incorporating a circular motif in the design.
The offices and classrooms have flat sheeted ceilings with timber cover battens laid out in a variety of orthogonal patterns. Timber framed vertical sliding black boards remain in some of the rooms. Exposed air conditioning ducts have been installed in some classrooms and offices.
The courtyard at the rear of the building contains a lush tropical garden.
","history":"The Barrier Reef Institute was erected in 1920/21 as the Townsville Technical College. Designed for a prominent corner site by the Architectural Branch of the Queensland Department of Works, it is a substantial two-storeyed masonry edifice. The building also became the Townsville State High School in 1924, reverting to sole use as a technical college in 1964.
In Queensland, local committees were responsible for conducting early courses of technical instruction. Classes in Townsville were initially run by the School of Arts Committee. By 1900 there were five Technical Colleges in Brisbane with classes being taught at eighteen other locations in Queensland. At this time the state government began to take a more active interest, establishing the Board of Technical Education in 1902 with the aim of improving and expanding technical education throughout the State. A Technical Education Branch of the Department of Public Instruction, under the direction of RM Riddell, replaced the Board in 1905 and legislation, introduced in 1908 and 1918, progressively empowered the government to take over existing technical colleges.
At a conference in 1904, RM Riddell defined the role of technical as opposed to secondary studies. The prime duty of technical colleges, he maintained, was to meet trade requirements. In mining, agricultural and industrial districts, technical education received a boost when employers, such as the Mount Morgan Mining Company and the State railway workshops accepted the idea of technical training for employees and apprentices. Enrolments jumped from 3000 to 4000 in 1905. By 1910, Queensland had a comprehensive system of technical education.
In 1908, the Technical College committee in Townsville erected a new building on the School of Arts site, on the corner of Stanley and Walker Streets. The building proved to be unsuitable for technical classes and a report by the Director of Technical Education suggested the construction of a new building. The government was slow to respond and only after concerted lobbying by committee members was the construction of a Technical College in Townsville approved.
An allotment on the opposite corner of Stanley and Walker Streets was resumed in 1917 under the Public Works Land Resumption Act of 1906. The Architectural Branch of the Department of Works prepared plans for a new building with an estimated cost of £15,922. The local committee was required to fund one-fifth of the total amount. Construction was delayed for several years but the building was eventually ready for occupation on 19 April 1921. The building was of two storeys: the ground floor comprised vestibule, office, classrooms for applied mechanics, drawing, science, book keeping, shorthand and typing and the first floor comprised library, teachers room, classrooms for mathematics, art, millinery and dressmaking and cookery.
The new building enabled an expansion of technical courses in Townsville but the Department of Public Instruction decided that some students also needed access to general subjects. At the time no public secondary school existed in Townsville and the Department decided to open a High School in conjunction with the Technical College.
Due to the emphasis placed on vocational and technical training by the Department of Public Instruction, a formal high school system was not introduced in Queensland until February 1912. In 1911 the Legislative Assembly had granted funds for the establishment of high schools in towns were there was no grammar school and by 1912 six state high schools had been established. While the state government was reluctant to compete directly with the grammar schools by setting up high schools in opposition, it had no hesitation in annexing technical colleges in grammar school towns. The high schools could be accommodated in the existing technical colleges, minimising expenditure. The buildings were used as high schools by day and as technical colleges at night.
The Townsville High School was opened on 1 July 1924, with 63 students. Additional accommodation was necessary by the mid 1930s and in 1939 the Stanley Street wing was extended, in the same architectural style, to provide extra classrooms.
In 1964 Townsville State High School was relocated to a new complex at Boundary Street, South Townsville and the site reverted to use for technical education as the Townsville TAFE College. After the construction of a new TAFE campus on Fulham Road, Pimlico, the Walker Street complex became known as the City Campus of the Barrier Reef Institute of TAFE.
The 1920/21 building now functions as an administration and classroom block.
","criteria":"Designed and erected in 1920/21 as a technical college and utilized soon after construction as Townsville's first high school, the former Townsville Technical College demonstrates the evolution of the Queensland Government's post-primary educational strategies. This building together with the former School of Arts on the opposite corner, show the pattern of development of technical education in Queensland, from establishment by local committees to subsequent government control in the early 20th century. Used since 1921 as a technical college and from 1924 to 1964 as a high school and technical college, the place demonstrates the development of technical and secondary education in important regional centres like Townsville.
|Designed for its prominent corner location, the former Townsville Technical College is a fine example of an interwar public building in a classical style and is an excellent intact example of an early 20th century educational building designed by the Architectural Branch of the Queensland Department of Works. It is important in illustrating the principal characteristics of an early 20th century purpose-built technical college, including joint use for many years as a high school. The imposing classical facades and simple rational planning utilising open verandahs reflect Queensland government policy of the time, to raise community awareness about the value of technical training through the construction of a well designed building with a strong presence in the townscape. The former Townsville Technical College incorporates natural lighting and ventilation, and appropriate classroom arrangements and facilities for hygiene, which were common themes in the design of educational buildings in the first half of the 20th century.
|The former Townsville Technical College is part of a small group of historic buildings including the former School of Arts building (600925) and the Sacred Heart Cathedral (600939), that create the foreground to picturesque views of Stanley Street dominated by the looming presence of Castle Hill.
|In continuing use as a technical college over a period of more than eighty years and as Townsville's first high school, the former Townsville Technical College has a special association for the Townsville community with the provision of State secondary and technical education.
","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":16980,"place_ref":602159,"name":"Australian Mutual Provident Society Building (former)","alternate_name":"AMP Building (former) | Connolly Suthers Lawyers","street_address":"416-418 Flinders Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2005-08-01","description":"The former AMP Society building is situated on the corner of Flinders and Stanley Streets, at the western end of Flinders Street Mall. A five storeyed steel framed structure with concrete floors and cement rendered brick infill walls, it is comprised of three main floors, a basement and a smaller upper level which contains a former caretakers flat and roof deck. Prominently located in Townsville's main street, the building has a simple rectangular form distinguished by elegant proportions and street facades that are decorated in a stripped classical manner.
The building has a frontage of 33 feet (10.05m) to Flinders Street and 114 feet 9 inches (34.97m) to Stanley Street. Built to the property alignments, the street facades are treated with banded rustication. The base of the building and decorative elements around the main entrance are faced with red granite. A frieze with medallions delineates the first floor level. A further frieze at the top of the building is inscribed with the AMP name. Above the cornice, a parapet wall with alternating panels of blank wall and classical balusters forms the balustrade around the roof deck level. The uppermost level, a few rooms in a simplified classical style, is visible behind the parapet.
Along Stanley Street the ground slopes down from the Flinders Street corner revealing the basement level. A timber panelled door, situated at the southeastern end of the Stanley Street elevation, opens directly into the basement. Windows to the basement level are fitted with wrought iron grilles. The simple repetitive Stanley Street façade has rows of generously proportioned timber double hung windows.
The tall narrow Flinders Street façade, being the front of the building, is the most embellished. The main entrance is in the center of this symmetrical façade with a window on either side. The entrance has a decorative surround in red granite. A cornice over the entrance supports a cartouche. The window immediately above the entrance is surmounted by a broken bed pediment. Other windows on this level have a projecting cornice where as the windows on the levels above and below have only simple architraves. The AMP Society emblematic statuary complete with flagpole is located above the entrance at the roof deck level, further emphasizing the center of the Flinders Street façade.
The ground floor level is raised slightly above the Flinders Street pavement. Three granite steps lead to paneled entrance doors with a metal transom grille over, in a pattern reminiscent of fish scales. The richly finished entrance vestibule is lined with a reddish marble. A pair of glazed timber doors with brass handles and kickplate and an elaborate fanlight over opens onto the main business chamber. A dogleg terrazzo stair, which extends to the roof level, has a timber handrail and decorative wrought iron balustrade. The walls in the stairwell are lined with black and yellow ochre coloured tiles.
The loftily proportioned business chamber retains many original fittings and finishes including timber paneling, timber counters with marble tops and timber and glass screens. A coffered plaster ceiling with large cornices is supported by pilasters with Corinthian capitals.
","history":"The Australian Mutual Provident Society building (AMP Society), located on the corner of Flinders and Stanley Streets, Townsville, was completed in 1938. It was the second building in Townsville to be purpose-designed for the AMP as its North Queensland regional office.
The Australian Mutual Provident Society was formed in 1849 to provide facilities for life assurance on the mutual principle for people in New South Wales. Within fifty years of its inception it was well known for its application of bonuses, and also for the "practice of sustaining policies in force by advancing premiums from the surrender value".
On 31 August 1848 Rev WJ Walsh, Thos. Holt, T S Mort, Chas Lowe and William Perry met in Sydney to discuss the formation and prospectus of a company to provide life assurance. The company was formed under the then Friendly Society's Act.
Only 321 policies had been issued by the Society during the five years from its inception but by 1856 it was felt necessary to obtain an Act of Incorporation. The Friendly Societies' Act, under which the Society was registered, did not afford sufficient opportunity for the expansion and extension of its business. The Act was assented to by Parliament on 18 March 1857. The Act provided for the first time in any country for the protection within certain limits of the proceeds of life policies and annuities against the claims of creditors, and this Society was the first office in the world to issue policies subject to this protection.
As the business of the Society progressed, agencies were extended throughout the Australasian colonies, with branches in New Zealand and England. A district agency was established in Townsville in April 1883 in rented premises consisting of a galvanized iron-roofed wooden building about 16' by 12'. It serviced North Queensland centres as far a field as Cooktown, Mossman, Ravenswood, Winton, Mackay, Blackall and Tambo, and loans and mortgages from the Society could be raised against policy or property.
By the mid-1880s the Townsville branch had proved so successful that substantial new accommodation for the Society was proposed, on a site fronting Flinders Street East, then Townsville's principal business address. The land was purchased in1885 at a cost of £1400. An impressive two-storeyed brick building, designed by Sydney architects CHE Blackmann and John (later Sir John) Sulman, was erected in 1886/87 and occupied in January 1888.
Townsville members of the Society (policy holders) requested the establishment of a Local Board in October 1887. Problems raised in relation to the establishment of a Local Board included the estimated considerable cost involved and, if the request was granted, an expected demand for Local Boards at Maryborough and Rockhampton. The whole question appeared to depend on "separation". It was decided that Townsville was not sufficiently advanced for the establishment of a Branch, but the progress of the "separation movement" should be watched and, should a decision for separation be made that a Local Branch would be established at whichever of the northern towns to be selected as the capital of the new colony.
By 1937 it was decided by the Society that, with the industrial growth and development of North Queensland, larger premises must be constructed. This building, designed by Brisbane architects Francis Hall and Harold Cook, and built by Stuart Bros Pty Ltd, was again located in Flinders Street, but further west, to where the focus of commercial activity had shifted. Local labour and materials were used where possible on the construction of the building with the pink granite facing from the Hervey Range area being mined and installed by Melrose and Fenwick, prominent local stonemasons.
The three storey brick building, with a frontage of 33 ft to Flinders Street and 114 ft 9 inches along Sturt Street, was officially opened on the 21 February 1938 by the Deputy Chairman of the AMP's Queensland Board, Brigadier-General L C Wilson. The ground floor was occupied by the Society, with two offices let to tenants, and the first and second floors set aside for letting purposes. Provision was made for caretaker's quarters. The building is described in 1938 as having lighting, power, sanitation and air-conditioning designed on the most modern lines.
The AMP Society was active in assisting the economic development of the Townsville community during a period of worldwide financial unrest. A 650 ft extension of the Townsville wharf was completed in June 1929 with a loan of £25,000 from the Society to the Harbour Board.
The Townsville AMP Building with its conservative expression through the use of classical motifs, symmetry and pediments is a typical example of an Insurance building of the inter-war period. A restrained classical style was popular for public buildings during the 1920s and 30s throughout the country and provided a solid image for insurance companies, banks and government buildings.
Above the pediment was a marble tableau illustrating the Society's motto Amicus certus in re incerta [a certain friend in an uncertain event]. Until the Society's logo was changed in 1988, an Amicus tableau was erected on every AMP building, and usually was removed when the Society no longer occupied the premises. At Townsville, the Amicus was moved from the 1886/87 building at Flinders Street East to the new building at the corner of Stanley and Flinders Streets when the AMP shifted in 1938. The tableau depicts an erect female figure, with a cornucopia by her right side, holding the palm of victory above a seated woman and child to her left. To her right is a seated male figure, alienated from the family grouping.
The origin of the Amicus statues dates to the establishment of the Society in 1857. From its inception, AMP Society policies featured a steel engraving of the port of Sydney, and underneath, a representation of the Society's seal, designed by artist OR Campbell. The seal comprised a central figure with plume and cornucopia, two subordinate figures, a castle and a rising sun. [The Australian Imperial Forces in the Great War later adopted the Sun badge.] At the foot of the statuary appeared the Society's motto: "Amicus Certus in Re Incerta". During a period of rapid growth in the 1860s a Victorian sculptor, J Summers, was commissioned to execute the Society's seal as a statuary tableaux for its headquarters building in Pitt Street, Sydney. The Amicus statue soon became a familiar icon on all AMP buildings.
The 1938 building underwent a restoration process in 1978 at a cost of $600,000. The wood panelling and the ceiling in the main chamber were restored, the granite plinth was partially sandblasted and the exterior of the building painted.
The building was purchased in the mid 1990s by Connolly & Suthers, a prominent Townsville law firm.
","criteria":"The former AMP Building, the third premises of the Society in Townsville, demonstrates the evolution of commerce in north Queensland and its contribution to the development of Townsville as a regional centre. The new location shows the shift to the west, of the focus of business activity on Flinders Street since the 1880s.
|The Townsville AMP Building is an intact example of a commercial building of the interwar period and retains many of its original fittings and finishes. Designed in a restrained classical style with an ordered arrangement of internal spaces, it is an excellent example of an insurance building of the period.
|The AMP building, a landmark at the intersection of Flinders and Stanley Streets, contributes to the streetscape of Flinders Street through its prominent location and carefully designed facades. Along with other two-storey buildings in Flinders Street, it enhances the visual impact of the street. It is an important part of the historic streetscape of Flinders street, which has long been the main street of Townsville.
|The building, with its emblematic statuary and name emblazoned on the façade of the building, has clear associations with the AMP society, a company that was, and still is, well known and important in Queensland's history. The building's prominent street address and strong architectural design reflects the company's powerful presence in the main streets of many of Queensland's towns and cities. The building was designed by prominent architects Hall and Cook, who also designed the AMP's Queensland headquarters erected in Brisbane in 1931-34, and who had a notable presence in North Queensland in the 1930s.
","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":16981,"place_ref":602160,"name":"Lion Brewery (former)","alternate_name":"Townsville Brewery | Playpen | Eagers Showroom","street_address":"719-741 Flinders Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2004-07-30","description":"Located at the western end of Flinders Street near the corner of Knapp Street, the former Lion Brewery is in a semi-industrial area of Townsville, opposite the former railway yards and a two storey hotel on the corner with Knapp Street. Set back from the corner, but built to the Flinders Street alignment, it is an imposing multi-storeyed brick building consisting of two main storeys and a tower on the south western end of the site. Originally red brick with contrasting white window surrounds, the building is now painted.
\nThe main entrance is located on the western side under a metal hip-roofed porch, a recent addition. Adjacent to the entrance is a walled courtyard which occupies the street corner and has a number of trees growing in it. An entrance centred on the southern Flinders Street facade is not original.
\nThe building has two principal storeys. The lower storey windows, round arched with keystones, have been blanked out. On the second storey, windows with a shallow brick-arched top have been either blanked out or replaced with stained glass of recent origin. Painting has obscured some of the original detail. On the Flinders Street side, parapet walls decorated by simple pilasters and surmounted by ornamental domes supporting spheres conceal a double gable roof over the two storeyed section. A simple frieze extends around the building at the top of the second level.
\nTwo additional storeys project above the frieze at the south western end of the building forming a tower. The third storey is approximately one third of the area of the building and has a triangular pediment in the centre of its Flinders Street elevation. This level has pairs of pointed-arch windows framed by a larger recessed arch. The fourth storey is slightly smaller, set back from the front and rear of the third level. Openings in the fourth level are round arches. A flat roof over the tower is concealed by a parapet with similar ornament to the lower parapet. An elaborate corbelled cornice embellishes the lower part of the parapet. A neon sign surmounts the tower which originally featured a decorative wrought iron crown and flagpole.
\nAlthough the interior of the building has been altered, the arrangement of spaces is essentially intact. The spaces in the tower comprise a series of small rooms with brick walls and arched brick openings. The spaces adjoining the tower on the lower two storeys are open plan with posts of various design. Parts of the second level floor have been removed to create new staircases and a void looking towards the new stage area. Much of the internal timber structure remains. This exposed timber structure consists of massive hardwood posts and beams with crude rounded capitals and trussed double gable roofs over the two storey section. Much of the internal linings are likely to be covered by later linings and joinery elements.
\nSubstantial additions have been made to the rear of the brewery. Constructed largely of rendered concrete block with a gabled corrugated steel roof similar to the two original roofs, the additions include basement spaces, two fire escape stairs, toilets and a large stage area. A courtyard with perimeter wall and entry porch have been added to the Knapp Street corner. These additions to the rear and side are not considered to be of cultural heritage significance.
\nWhen viewed from Flinders Street opposite the intersection with Knapp Street, Castle Hill (QHR 601218) makes a powerful setting for the former brewery; its presence behind all the blocks along the north-western side of Flinders Street being perceived most strikingly at the other intersections with perpendicular streets that occur along its course into the centre of the city.
","history":"The former Lion Brewery, a substantial two storey brick building with a four storey tower, was erected in 1894 for Samuel Allen, a Townsville businessman and Albert Lanfear, a brewer from Brisbane. On opening in late 1894, it became the third brewery then operating in Townsville. It was designed by Brisbane-based architects, JB Nicholson and his former partner ARL Wright, who had previously worked for Lanfear in Brisbane. Of a number of substantial 19th century breweries built in Queensland it is the only known example still in existence.
\nSamuel Allen, the managing director of Samuel Allen and Sons, an established North Queensland company and the agents for the West End Brewery, formed a partnership in 1893 with Albert Lanfear, a founding partner and manager of the West End Brewery and the West End Ice Works. Two breweries were already operating in Townsville: Martin's and Sons New City Brewery and the North Queensland Brewing Company. Allen and Lanfear planned to build a larger scale operation that would provide beer for North Queensland. Although economic recession was affecting most Australian colonies in the 1890s Townsville's economy was expanding and Allen and Lanfear purchased three allotments on the western end of Flinders Street opposite the railway goods yard.
\nJohn Beauchamp Nicholson was engaged to design the brewery. He had been the architect for additions to the West End Brewery in 1888-89. In 1890 Nicholson formed a partnership with Alfred Robert Linus Wright. They were the architects of some of Brisbane's most distinctive hotels, such as the Normanby Hotel 1889-1890 and Chardon's Hotel 1891-92. In 1890 they designed the Wine and Spirit Store at the West End Ice Works, for Albert Lanfear, and between 1890 and 1893 they carried out further additions to the West End Brewery. The partnership officially ended in 1891 but in a special supplement of The Queenslander, March 16, 1895 both Nicholson and Wright are credited with the design and Nicholson with supervision of the project.
\nNicholson and Wright went to considerable effort to design a building for the Townsville site that was not only efficient as a brewery but had aesthetic merit and was more than just a large industrial structure. The appearance of the building was praised in contemporary publications. Described as the \"most elegant building in Townsville\", the playful use of ornament and variation of window openings contributed to its \"picturesqueness of design and gracefulness of outline\". The fenestration on each level was addressed differently, varying from simple arches on the ground level to gothic forms on the third level. Other features included a truncated pyramid roof on the tower surmounted by an elaborate wrought iron structure with flagpole, Boyle's patent ventilators, an octagonal chimney and ornamental cornices and mouldings, especially on the tower.
\nBrisbane contractors Madsen and Watson were engaged to construct the building for a sum of £6500. The building was constructed of red brick with white brick around the openings and measured 110 ft (33.5 m) along the Flinders Street frontage by 66 ft (20 m) deep. The main part of the building, comprising two storeys and a cellar, adjoined a tower 95 ft (29 m) in height. A boiler house at the rear of the brewery was also built. The brewery began production in the latter part of 1894 and was called the 'Lion Brewery'.
\nIn addition to its equipment the brewery contained machinery for manufacturing aerated water and ice. The brewing system was based on the gravitational principle and was extensively described in the Australian Brewers' Journal, July 20, 1895. Water was raised by a pump to an iron tank at the top of the tower and passed into water-coolers and then insulated tanks on the floors below. Also housed in the tower were the hot-liquor vat, grist cases, mash tuns and the copper-room containing two open steam copper boilers. On the second floor were ammonia-condensing coils, refrigerators and a fermenting room; a large, lofty space with cavity walls to ensure a cool stable temperature. In the basement of the tower were the engine and mill rooms and the refrigerating and ice-making machinery. The remainder of the cellar and the main floor above were used for storage.
\nDespite the optimism of Allen and Lanfear, the brewery was not an immediate success. Problems with water and the competition with other breweries hindered development. After only four years of operation, the Lion Brewery amalgamated with the Charters Towers company, Towers Brewery, to form Northern Breweries (Queensland) Ltd. The Lion Brewery was renamed Townsville Brewery. Brewing continued but output and sales steadily declined. Brewing eventually ceased and for a period the complex was used for storage and warehousing. In 1929 the North Queensland Cool Storage Company acquired the site and used the property and facilities for the manufacture of ice and for cold storage.
\nThe building was requisitioned and used as a warehouse by the United States Army during the Second World War. Like other tall structures in Townsville the upper part of the chimney was demolished during the war and possibly, the roof and crown of the main tower were also removed at this time. The property was vacant for several years after the war until it was occupied by EG Eagers and Sons, car dealers, and used as their north Queensland headquarters and Townsville showroom.
\nIn 1988 the building was sold and converted into a nightclub. Changes to the building fabric included the addition of a lift to the tower; additions to the northern side of the building housing basement store and car park, escape stairs, toilets and a stage; and additions to the western side against Knapp Street including an entry court, beer garden and perimeter wall. Most of these additions were constructed of rendered concrete block. Shutters shown in early drawings have been replaced with fixed glass. Many changes have been made to the interior of the building including installation of air conditioning, fixtures associated with the nightclub, new stairs and openings in floors and masonry walls. In 2010 the building operated as a live music and entertainment venue.
","criteria":"The Lion Brewery (former) is important in demonstrating the development of Townsville as north Queensland's principal regional centre in the late 19th century. It is surviving evidence of the growth of manufacturing in Townsville during this period, and is important historically in illustrating the development and expansion of the brewing industry in Queensland in the 19th century.
|The Lion Brewery (former) is significant as the only surviving substantial 19th century brewery in Queensland.
|Although the interior has been altered, the Lion Brewery (former), in its arrangement of spaces and in its largely intact exterior, is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a substantial, rendered-brick, late 19th century brewery.
|Designed by architects with expertise in breweries, the Lion Brewery (former) is a prominent landmark in Flinders Street, the main street of Townsville. It dominates a corner at the intersection with Knapp Street, important in the comparative view provided of Castle Hill, a key Townsville landmark since the 1860s (QHR 601218). The variety of ornament, free use of historical reference, pleasing composition and imposing mass of the building demonstrate aesthetic qualities that are valued in late 19th century architecture.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion E","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":17043,"place_ref":602231,"name":"Picnic Bay Jetty","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Esplanade","suburb":"MAGNETIC ISLAND","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2004-04-05","description":"The jetty is located within Picnic Bay. It extends into the Bay from the Esplanade where Yule Street meets the beach.
The jetty was initially 800 feet long; however, the 1977 extensions increased the length by about twenty feet.
160 square concrete piers, installed by a cantilever pile driver, are evenly spaced along the length of the jetty. Round piers encased in concrete were used in the construction of the assembly area at the end of the jetty.
The jetty structure is made up of round timber beams topped with wide timber decking. A raised walkway, which runs along one side of the jetty, has timber handrails along both sides. The remainder of the jetty is used as a driveway for luggage and emergency vehicles meeting the ferry. There is no safety rail along the outer side of the jetty.
The walkway is lit with six evenly spaced fluorescent lights. Lighting is also located in the shelter sheds at the end of the Jetty.
The sheltered area at the end of the Jetty is made up of three structures. One shed, which appears to be older, is a southeast facing skillion structure of corrugated iron. The north west wall is enclosed to provide shelter from the weather. A second shed is centrally located at the end of the Jetty. This square structure has a hipped roofline of aluminum. The covered area is spilt into four by central walls which have been painted with murals by children from Magnetic Island State School. Seats are located along each of these walls. A third sheltered area, which may have been part of an earlier shelter, is attached to the central structure. This area is the walkway to the main access stairway to the ferry.
","history":"The Picnic Bay Jetty appears to be the third jetty constructed on the site. A permit to construct the facility was issued in 1957 and the structure was completed about mid October 1959. The present jetty was constructed under a permit issued by the Department of Harbours and Marine. It was built using Federal funds and leased to Magnetic Island company Hayles Magnetic Pty Ltd. The company was associated with tourist ventures on Magnetic Island from 1898 and leased the present jetty from 1960 until 1981.
Tourism on Magnetic Island began with the Butler family who first settled on the Island in 1877. Harry Butler and his family established a small dairy, orchard and mixed farm in Picnic Bay. The family experimented with the planting of pineapples and after building small huts adjacent to their house the island became a favourite weekend and holiday destination for mainland people. The Butler family established an intermittent ferry service at the time they began their small tourist venture.
Tourist development on the island began in earnest when Robert Hayles built an hotel at Picnic Bay in 1899. Hayles arrived on the Island in 1898 after working in the pastoral and mining industries in western Queensland. Later he owned a store and a hotel in Charters Towers. In 1898 Robert Hayles purchased the holiday facilities erected by the Butler family and constructed a two storey hotel, dance hall and his own jetty west of that constructed by Harry Butler and close to the site of the present day jetty.
In March 1900 Robert Hayles applied for permission to construct a wooden jetty which would be six feet wide and 100 feet long. Construction was approved by the Marine Department late in March 1900. The new jetty was damaged during Cyclone Leonta in 1903 and by 1910 was in poor condition. Correspondence indicates that Robert Hayles carried out extensive repairs to the structure.
Initially, on the mainland, the company operated from existing wharves and temporary landings in Ross Creek. In 1909 Robert Hayles was granted creek frontage on which to build a landing depot. A new twenty year lease agreement, granting the Hayles Company a 30 foot Flinders Street frontage to Ross Creek for the construction of another depot, was signed in 1925.
To facilitate his tourism venture Robert Hayles began a program of purchase or construction of small ferries. His first purchase, from Sydney, was a small steam ferry called the Bee. After the Bee was destroyed in a storm in 1901 Robert Hayles commissioned the construction of the 22 passenger Phoenix and later the Magnet. These boats were to be the foundation of a much larger Hayles fleet that eventually operated in places such as Cairns, Darwin, Townsville, Sydney and Canberra.
The introduction of a ferry service to Magnetic Island had a significant impact on the Island community. This was particularly so after the 1900 enforcement of compulsory education (first introduced in the Education Act 1875). The establishment of a regular Magnetic Island ferry service early in the twentieth century ensured that students could live on the island and travel to school each day. From this point the permanent population on the Island began to grow and more commercial businesses were established.
The Hayles family tourism business continued to prosper and on 20 June 1910 Eustace Robert (Bob) Hayles was granted a permit to construct a jetty at Picnic Bay. While it is possible that this permit was for a second jetty it is unlikely that the Hayles Company waited six years to replace the jetty damaged in the 1903 cyclone.
A letter dated 1 February 1917 from the Townsville Harbour Board to the Marine Department indicated that there were two jetties at Picnic Bay and one at Nelly Bay. These privately owned jetties were in poor condition and the Harbour Board suggested that no further private construction of landing stages should be allowed on the Island.
The Hayles' tourism business prospered and expanded. A new hotel was constructed at Picnic Bay after the first was destroyed by fire in 1911; a guesthouse and jetty were constructed at Arcadia, Magnetic Island together with tourism ventures at Nelly and Horseshoe Bays, Magnetic Island. On 13 March 1922 the Hayles Company, Hayles Magnetic Island Pty Ltd, was formed with Bob Hayles appointed as Chairperson. The company expanded to Cairns in 1924 where they provided a regular mail and cargo service between Cairns and Cooktown. The same year the company opened an office in Darwin. From there they provided a cargo service to outlying mission stations, lighthouses and to settlements along the Victoria and Daly Rivers.
In August 1920 control of the Magnetic Island foreshore was vested in the Townsville Harbour Board. While this move gave control of jetties to the Harbour Board, the Board, in June 1925, adopted a policy not to erect jetties on Magnetic Island but rather to approve the erection of shipping facilities by private developers.
While the Hayles family company continued to expand with a fortnightly Cairns to Green Island Service opened in 1928 and the introduction of Brisbane River Cruises in 1936 the outbreak of World War II in 1939 saw shipping operations cease when the Australian military requisitioned the company fleet. The facilities at Picnic Bay were also taken over as a rest and recreation camp for service personnel.
There was a period of expansion and upgrading of facilities after the company property was returned to the Hayles family in 1945. Roads, buildings and jetties were upgrades and access to jetties dredged both on Magnetic Island and in other locations. In 1957 the Townsville Harbour Board approved the construction a new jetty at Picnic Bay. Tenders were called on 15 January 1959 and the jetty, constructed by John Holland (Constructions) Pty Ltd, was completed about mid October 1959.
The Commonwealth Aid Marine Works Trust Fund, at a cost of £43,000, financed construction. It was leased to Hayles Magnetic for 20 years during which time the company was responsible for the maintenance of the structure. The shelter shed at the end of the jetty was constructed under a Community Employment Program through the Townsville City Council in 1977.
The jetty was damaged during Cyclone Althea on Christmas Eve 1971 but remained structurally sound. At the end of the lease in 1981 the Picnic Bay Jetty Maintenance Fund was established with Hayles Magnetic the major user of the facility. The Fund, which generated resources through the collection of berthing fees, provided income for jetty maintenance.
By 1984, although the company no longer had a lease on the jetty, it was berthing up to 3,640 times compared to 1,150 other berthings with a total of 250,000 to 300,000 people using the jetty annually.
In November 1985 the Townsville Harbour Board sought approval from the Department of Harbours and Marine to construct a shelter shed on the Jetty. Plans, prepared by the Townsville City Council, indicated that the original location of the structure was slightly altered to allow better access for passengers.
Apart from being a point of arrival and departure from the Island, the Jetty has always been a significant place for the Magnetic Island community. They have utilised it for fishing and as a place to walk for recreation or exercise and to sit looking across Cleveland Bay to the vista of Castle Hill and the Townsville skyline. The jetty is also frequently used as a mooring place for small yachts and fishing vessels.
In 2001 it was announced that when new harbour facilities at Nelly Bay, Magnetic Island were completed the Picnic Bay Jetty would be removed as soon as the structure became obsolete to requirements. The Magnetic Island Historical Association, the North Queensland Conservation Council and Magnetic Island community members became concerned about the proposed demolition of the jetty.
On Sunday 8 July 2001 1500 people from Townsville and Magnetic Island rallied on the Picnic Bay Jetty asking that the jetty be saved. This initial rally was followed by a series of news articles, letters to the Bulletin, letters to the Minister for Transport and a nomination to the Queensland Heritage Register.
Members of the Island community advised Townsville Cultural Heritage staff that they had already established an "Interim Management Committee" to oversee the ongoing care of the jetty if the State Government was no longer prepared to maintain the structure.
","criteria":"Picnic Bay Jetty, constructed by October 1959, is at least the third jetty constructed on this site. Leased by the Hayles Company in 1960 this jetty, and earlier jetties, has been linked with the Hayles family company on Magnetic Island since 1898.
|The community values the Picnic Bay Jetty both for its contribution to the economic development of Magnetic Island as a significant tourist destination and for the jetty's role in the commercial, family and recreational life of the Island community. The importance of the jetty to the island community was recently demonstrated through the proposal to set up a management committee to assume responsibility for the structure once it becomes obsolete to requirements.
|The present jetty is evidence of the significant contribution made by the Hayles Company, through the company's development of Magnetic Island as a major tourist location, to the Queensland tourism industry.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":17058,"place_ref":602253,"name":"Potters House","alternate_name":"Townsville Baptist Church (former)","street_address":"513 Sturt Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2004-02-27","description":"The Potter's House is prominently located on the corner of Sturt and Fletcher Streets, Townsville. The site is 521m2 in area and is located on a side road on the northern side of Sturt Street overlooking Ross Creek. Plantings on the site include palms and frangipani with recent garden beds.
The church is a single storey rendered brick building with buttressed walls built directly onto the exposed granite surface of the site. The natural contours of the granite are readily visible within the grounds and along the length of the building. The church has a timber floor, corrugated iron roof and a simple rectangular form with a small front entrance porch facing Sturt Street. The porch and church proper have gable ends lined with boards and decorated with timber battens and finial. The northern end of the church roof is hipped.
Stairs leading from the entrance porch meet the footpath. There are five pointed arch windows along each side wall of the church, with one either side of the front entrance in the southern wall. The windows have pairs of 3 light sashes and comprise an irregular mix of coloured and plain glass panes. The entrance porch houses a pointed arch double door to the southern elevation and single pointed arch window with 2-light sashes to its side walls.
The hall is attached at right angles to the rear of the church and is a single storey timber framed and lined and clad building raised on stumps with a gabled corrugated iron roof and boarded ceiling. Timber battens are located around the understorey. The exterior weatherboard cladding has been lined with plastic moulded weatherboard sheeting. There are two pointed arch windows with single 6 light sashes to the western wall and 7 pointed arch windows in the northern wall which also contain a mix of coloured and plain glass panes. At the eastern end, toilets have been constructed of concrete block with a corrugated iron skillion roof. The hall and toilets are not considered to be of cultural heritage significance.
The interior of the church is a simple open space with decorative embellishment. A platform is located across the northern end of the church from which a pair of doors lead into the hall. A pointed arch in the southern end provides access to the entrance porch. The walls are rendered and the coffered ceiling is lined with beaded boards. The ceiling houses 5 fretwork ceiling roses positioned between the tie rods which brace the building.
","history":"The Potter's House, the former Townsville Baptist Church, is a rendered masonry church with attached timber hall, built in 1922 using secondhand bricks from another building and salvaged timber from a previous church on the site that was damaged by a cyclone in 1903. The church was sold by the Baptist Church in 1981, but its use as a place of worship and meeting has continued.
\nServices of worship for members of the Baptist Church commenced in Townsville in January 1888 in rented premises. In 1891 the Townsville Baptist Church bought the land and two cottages (at the rear of the allotment) from the original landholder, Duncan McVean, for £500. At the time the allotment took up one half of the length of Fletcher Street between Sturt and Walker streets. This block has been subdivided, re-subdivided and amalgamated but the front portion facing Sturt Street was in continuous use by the Baptist Church from its purchase until its sale in 1981 when the Church moved to Kirwan.
\nIn 1893, a vacant Congregationalist church building and contents were purchased and re-erected on the Sturt Street site. The first service was held in November 1893. In January 1903 the building was damaged by cyclone Leonta. What could be salvaged was used to erect a church hall. Church records from 1912 reveal that this structure was intended to be temporary. A building fund was set up for a new church and hall, but it was not until 1922 that a replacement church was built. Lack of funds precluded a completely new building. Therefore a second hand one was found in the form of a disused powder magazine, eight miles from Townsville at Brookhill and purchased. The congregation dismantled and cleaned around 30,000 bricks. The building contract was signed for £832/6/- and the foundation stone was laid on 8 July 1922. It is highly likely that at this time the old timber church hall was attached to the rear of the new church.
\nChurch records reveal that work to the hall was carried out in 1949. In 1957-58 steps were constructed to the rear and the guttering and downpipes were replaced. In 1959-60, the Townsville City Council resumed eight feet of the property at the front of the church for road purposes, which brought the front steps to the edge of the footpath. The front stone retaining wall was built by the council in 1962. The concrete toilet block was added to the church hall in 1969-70 and the Church was repaired in 1971-2 following damage sustained during cyclone Althea.
\nIn 1981, the land and buildings were sold because the Townsville City Church and the Currajong Baptist Church were both too small. The congregations decided to combine and bought a new property at Kirwan. The Sturt Street property has changed ownership a number of times since 1981. It has been occupied and used as a place of worship by the Potter's House Christian Fellowship since approximately 1985, a use which continues in 2017.
","criteria":"The Potter's House site demonstrates part of the pattern of Queensland's history through its continued use as a place of Christian worship since 1893, and particularly in its association with the Baptist Church from 1893 until 1981.
|The principal structure on the site comprises a substantially intact early 20th Century Baptist church (1922) which is important in illustrating the principal characteristics of its type, reflecting in the lack of ornate decorative detailing and plain interiors, the essence of Protestant worship.
|Located on a rise on the northern side of Sturt Street, the Potter's House makes a contribution to the streetscape at the intersection of the residential and commercial areas.
|The church, valued by the community as a meeting place for the Baptist Church community, demonstrates the commitment and resourcefulness of that community, which, with limited funds, was able to erect the present building, by the salvaging and recycling of other buildings and materials, both on and off site.
","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":17121,"place_ref":602260,"name":"RAAF Operations Building Site (former)","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Green Street","suburb":"WEST END","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2005-02-07","description":"The former operations building is the major building on the site. It comprises two sections. The lower section is constructed of reinforced concrete with a flat concrete roof, floor and walls and the second story, a building resembling a house constructed on top of the concrete building. Internally, the lower section of the main building has a central corridor running roughly east-west lengthways, with rooms opening off the corridor. These rooms housed the former receiving room and signals office. At the eastern end of the building some walls have been removed to create a larger space now used as a lecture room. The room has a tiered floor and rendered walls. The section remains largely in its original form with only minor alterations, including the removal of the original mechanical ventilation system.
The upper section is a typical tropical building with a pitched roof, larger overhangs, louvred and casement fenestrations and exposed stud timber wall framing. The interior of the building is lined with plywood. Internally, the upper section has a number of room opening from two corridors. A strong room is located in the north-east section of the house. The upper section has had the verandah enclosed and bathroom and kitchen facilities modified. The roof sheeting has been replaced with colorbond. Some of the louvred panels have been removed or sheeted over. The area beside the house, covering the lower section, has been sheeted with bitumen. This area was formerly camouflaged with garnished netting.
The former Orderly Room, later used as a recreation room by the SES, is a low set single building with a rectangular plan form with a combination of a gabled roof and skillion roof disguising externally the size of the single internal space. The building has been extended with two small lean-tos. The main building has a corrugated fibro roof with weatherboard cladding. The additions are clad in fibro sheeting with a corrugated iron roof. A kitchen and bar have been added to the building by the SES. A suspended grid ceiling has been installed throughout the building.
A number of ancillary structures are also located on the site. The rappel tower (post 1969) is a timber pole structure with elevated platforms on two levels. It was constructed for SES training.
","history":"The former RAAF Operations building was constructed in 1942 as an operation and signals building for the Royal Australian Airforce. The building was operated in association with the Royal Australian Airforce Base established at Garbutt some kilometres to the west, and the United States Army Air Force Base. The lower section was constructed of reinforced concrete with a flat concrete roof, while a timber 'residence' was built on top of the operations building to conceal it from the air.
Townsville was established as a port in 1864, in association with pastoral expansion of the time. Pastoralists had pushed the frontier of non-Indigenous settlement north as far as Rockhampton by the late 1850s. In search of additional productive runs, pastoralists continued moving north along the Queensland coast and inland. The Townsville site was recommended to the Queensland government as a suitable port by two pastoralists, Robert Towns and John Melton Black, being part of Black's pastoral holdings. Land was sold from 1865 when the town was proclaimed a port of entry and a small settlement developed. By 1866, Townsville supported banks and hotels, wharves and stores and a local newspaper.
By the late nineteenth century, Townsville had established the necessary infrastructure to be the dominant city of the north. Apart from the port, the railway head and the location of the Supreme Court in the north, there were other things in its favour, and the town was proclaimed a city in 1902. In the early 1920s, the rail line from Brisbane to Townsville was completed, prompting further development within the town fuelled by these transport links. By 1940, when the Second World War was being fought predominantly in Europe and North Africa, Townsville had a population of about 30,000. With the entry of the Japanese and Americans into the war in late 1941, the population of Townsville swelled with a huge influx of both Australian and American troops. Military personnel outnumbered civilians by more than three to one as the population headed towards 100,000.
The Australian Airforce was established on 31 March 1921, becoming the Royal Australian Airforce [RAAF] on 31 August of the same year. Prior to that, the Australian Flying Corps [AFC] had begun in 1914 and was based at Point Cook, in Victoria, where aviation training was carried out. Administratively, however, the AFC was part of the existing armed forces, and it was not until the formation of the RAAF that an independent air force was established as part of the Australian armed services.
An airfield for civil aviation was established at Townsville by the city council in the late 1920s. The site of this field was quite poor, however, and an alternative site at Garbutt, west of the city centre, was chosen for a new airfield. This site was part of the large reserve of low-lying land known as the Town Common, used primarily for grazing. Land was cleared and the airfield prepared, opening in January 1939 and operated by the Townsville City Council. Facilities were almost non-existent, with a single runway consisting of a gravelled path.
The increase in Japanese military activity in the Pacific in the late 1930s led the Australian Government to establish air bases in the north of Australia. The Department of Defence began negotiations with the Townsville City Council to transfer the Garbutt aerodrome to the Commonwealth in early 1939. The acquisition was completed on 12 December 1940 and construction of a series of buildings began for the RAAF on site, including hangars, workshops, accommodation buildings and mess rooms. The existing lightly gravelled runway, originally 100 feet wide, was upgraded to RAAF status to 150 feet and lengthened. By mid-1941, 24 Squadron of the RAAF were based at Garbutt. Civil aviation also continued at the site during this period.
The base was further developed by the Americans in late 1941. War was looming in the Pacific in the early 1940s, as it had in Europe in the late 1930s. The Americans required bases in the region to maintain supplies to their forces in the Philippines, and by late 1941 the United States Army Air Force [USAAF] was in Townsville to develop its own facilities at the RAAF base. The American base, United States of America 4th Air Depot, Garbutt, was planned for aircraft repair and assembly. A large camp was constructed with 35 'igloo' type buildings used as repair shops, stores and office accommodation.
With the bombing of Pearl Harbour on 7 December, 1941 the Americans had been brought into the war. The Japanese advance south was swift and successful, taking the Philippines, Hong Kong, Malaya and Rabaul in January and Singapore in February 1942. In the same month Darwin was bombed. Faced with the threat of invasion, [Townsville was put on invasion alert on 1 May 1942], the Australian and American Governments began to develop a major military base in the Townsville region. As a result, the air base at Townsville was further expanded as thousands of troops descended upon the city. Further air fields were developed west of Garbutt, and further west again at Charters Towers and Macrossan. The sphere of influence of the Townsville base was much wider than before. Townsville became the base for North East Area Command, with its major responsibility the protecting of sea lanes to the north to Port Moresby.
During the war, particularly in the early part of the Pacific campaign, the Townsville air base was crucial to fighting. Along with Darwin, the base was one of the principal air transport centres in Australia, an important air base of strategic value. It was also one of the few air bases in Australia from which fighter aircraft engaged enemy aircraft.
The operations building at Green Street was constructed in 1942 as part of the rapid development of the Garbutt air base, after the commencement of the war in the Pacific. The site chosen for the building was some kilometres from the air force base, in an undeveloped portion of land that contained one or two sheds and fowl houses. This area may have been part of the Town Common, providing a common area for grazing and tending to animals. The operations building did not need to be located on the air base, and in some respects, it was more appropriately sited off base. The activities carried out within the building were not strictly related to the daily operations at the air base, but were however, quite sensitive and extremely important to the Allied war effort.
Drawings for the building were prepared in April 1942 by engineers in the Department of the Interior. The drawings indicate the sensitive nature of the building. The building's function was not referred to in any construction drawings. It was usually referred to as 'RAAF Project No 81' or 'Reinforced concrete building No 81', and the drawings for the preparation of the site were stamped 'SECRET'.
It is likely that the building was constructed by the Allied Works Council [AWC], the organisation established to coordinate the construction of wartime buildings in Australia. The AWC was established in February 1942, and undertook most of the construction of the necessary wartime infrastructure such as buildings like the one at Green Street. AWC records indicate that a reinforced concrete operational control building in Townsville had been completed by June 1942. Its construction had been designated an 'A1' priority, and its total cost was £30,000. The building described is quite probably the one in Green Street.
Designed as a rectangular building of reinforced concrete construction, a 'traverse' or protective wall, three metres high, was shown on drawings, constructed around the perimeter of the building to protect it from attack. The external walls and all the internal walls of the operations building were constructed of reinforced concrete. To disguise the building from the air, a separate building was constructed at one end of the flat roof of the building. Of timber construction with a corrugated iron dwelling, this additional dwelling was designed to resemble a typical domestic dwelling, so that when viewed from the air, the complex would be inconspicuous.
Internally, the reinforced concrete building contained a crew room, operations room, a signals office, receiving room, rooms for intelligence, navigations, signals and meteorological offices, an emergency power plant and a telephone exchange. A cypher room and strong room were also provided. The building had its own air conditioning system; a small fan room separate from the main part of the building was constructed to the west of the main building and provided air conditioning plant and servicing to the operations room. Air conditioning ducts were run through the main corridor of the building.
A separate orderly hut, lavatory block and miscellaneous hut were also constructed. The two hut buildings had 'dummy' stove recesses to further disguise the nature of the site. The construction drawings indicate that the iron to be used on the roofs of the buildings was to be painted to look older than it actually was. The drawings of these buildings were prepared in August 1942 by ET Doig, the Superintending Engineer of the Department of the Interior.
The building functioned as an overall communications centre for the base of the North East Area command, an area on the north-eastern coast of Australia to the Gulf of Carpentaria and up to Port Moresby. The movements of Australian aircraft within this strategic area were controlled from this building. Flight operations were planned and monitored from here, briefing and debriefing sessions with pilots were carried out. In May 1942 the Battle of the Coral Sea was fought, a naval and aerial assault against the Japanese off the north-east coast of Australia. A significant Allied victory, the Battle of the Coral Sea was the first major repulse of the Japanese in the Pacific after their series of successful conquests south since December 1941.
While designed to resemble a residence, the timber building constructed on top of the operations building was a major part of the facility as well. An L-shaped structure, it contained rooms for an adjutant, an orderly's room, and warrant officer and an engineer officer, as well as another strong room. There were no internal links between the buildings, the timber building being accessed by timber staircases to the ground. A flower box, shrubs and an artificial tree were placed around the building to emphasise its domestic appearance. The drawings prepared for the building indicate that 'timber' battening and supporting posts were to be painted on the traverse, again, to hide the presence of the operations building. Further camouflage work was undertaken on the remaining section of the concrete roof in the form of garnished netting.
Camouflage is an important component of the art of warfare. The term came into use during the First World War and was derived from the French term 'camoufler', meaning to 'make up for the stage'. A general definition of camouflage is the 'art of concealing that you are concealing'. All manner of war material and personnel can and have been camouflaged.
The manner of camouflage employed at the Green Street site, with the construction of a house on top of the concrete ground floor was that of concealment. From the air, the operations building would have looked like a typical Queensland house. Further, the other buildings on site, with their dummy stove recesses, skillion roofs and other disguising elements, would not have been conspicuous. Techniques like this were popular ways to disguise structures from the air. In many instances large factories were disguised by draping equally large camouflage nets across them that were painted in such a way that from the air the scene resembled a typical residence or rural landscape. In America during the Second World War, aircraft factories in California were concealed in this way.
The Green Street site was not the only intelligence unit in the area, nor was it the only camouflaged building. The Royal Australian Air Force operated the No 1 Wireless Unit at Stuart. This was a highly secret post intercepting aircraft transmission signals. A RAAF officer, serving in Townsville described a visit to a telegraphists' bunker at Stuart:
'My first impression was that it was an old farm house. It had been camouflaged with verandah rails and doors etc. and it wasn't until you got right up to it that you realized that you were looking at a solid concrete building. Inside there were about thirty operators sitting in front of receivers and a real live Japanese who was an interpreter and ...was not allowed to leave the station. The only external evidence that there was something unusual going on was the aerial array... '1
The use of camouflage in Australia was not uncommon. The East Sale RAAF base in Victoria was constructed in such a way that from the air it looked like a country town. Other examples include the roofs of buildings being painted to make them appear like tennis courts.
The form of the former RAAF Operations building, a reinforced concrete bunker below, and a timber residential building above, to disguise the lower building, is a now rare example of a camouflaged building from the Second World War surviving in its partially camouflaged form. Other elements of camouflage indicated on drawings at the time, such as the artificial tree and the painting of stumps and balustrading on the traverse no longer survive. The traverse is also no longer extant, demolished at an unknown date. The major aspect of the camouflage however, the timber 'residential' upper floor still survives and allows the building to be understood.
Other examples of a camouflage site in the Townsville area include the No 1 Wireless Unit which still exists, located a few hundred metres from the main highway, however, it is not in as good condition as the Green Street site. Also the Signals Bunker, Stuart [601708] has remnants of its external camouflage colour scheme, chosen to blend with the pink granite of Mt Stuart, still evident.
Thousands of Allied forces were concentrated in Queensland and a vast expanse of military infrastructure was constructed to accommodate this influx of personnel and equipment. Much of the work was of a temporary nature and relatively little evidence remains to demonstrate the extent and nature of military activity. Most buildings and infrastructure were dismantled and removed soon after the cessation of hostilities in August 1945.
Until 1943, the air base in Townsville was a joint operation between the Australians and the Americans. In June of that year, control was handed over to the Americans alone, and remained that way until early 1945. The threat of Japanese invasion, however, had receded by late 1942, after the Battles of the Coral Sea and Midway. The air force base at Townsville, and the operations building at Green Street, lessened in importance as wartime operations moved north and Townsville's air bases became large workshop areas in the later years of the war.
There are few records regarding the Green Street site and the operations building at the time of the war's end. A request however, was made to the Department of the Interior in June 1947 to officially acquire the Green Street site. The Commonwealth acquired title to the site in 1951. The RAAF base in Townsville was always considered a permanent base, and after the war the base was reduced in size to that originally planned before the war.
The RAAF was located at the Green Street site until the late 1960s, when with the changes in the organisation of the air force, the building was no longer required. While the site has remained in the ownership of the Department of Defence, the State Emergency Services [SES] in Townsville has been based at Green Street since the late 1960s when RAAF operations was relocated to another site. Some buildings on the site from the wartime period have been removed with the SES occupancy of the site, while others have been added. While no technical equipment remains inside the building, or on the rest of the site, the building is still available as a 'remote operations headquarters' for the nearby RAAF base if required in times of war or national emergency.
A review was undertaken by the Department of Defence in 1996, identifying properties that could be rationalised. The Green Street site was earmarked for disposal as part of that review. The building is no longer owned by the Department of Defence.
","criteria":"The former RAAF Operations Building site is significant as part of the infrastructure developed in Townsville during the Second World War, a time when the population of the town trebled with the influx of Australian and American troops. Functioning as an overall communications centre for the base of the North East Area command, an area on the north-eastern coast of Australia to the Gulf of Carpentaria and up to Port Moresby, the former RAAF Operations building site is significant as one of a number of Second World War structures and complexes which survive in the Townsville area, demonstrating the substantial role the region, and particularly Townsville, played in the war in the Pacific.
|The former RAAF Operations Building is significant as a rare and substantially intact example providing evidence of the use of sophisticated camouflage techniques developed during the Second World War. While there are similar buildings of this type and of the same period that survive, the former RAAF Operations Building is particularly significant as it has been only slightly modified since 1942.
|With its reinforced concrete construction and timber 'residence' placed over for camouflage purposes, the building is a good, intact example of this type of wartime construction with the evidence of concealment still in place. Other examples of a camouflage site in the Townsville area include the No 1 Wireless Unit which still exists, located a few hundred metres from the main highway, however, it is not in as good condition as the Green Street site. Also the Signals Bunker, Stuart [601708] has remnants of its external camouflage colour scheme, chosen to blend with the pink granite of Mt Stuart, still evident.
|The former RAAF Operations Building site has a special association with the Australian and American military personnel in north Queensland during the Second World War, and with the work of the Allied Works Council in coordinating wartime construction activity at a national level.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":19462,"place_ref":602343,"name":"Tobacco Kiln","alternate_name":"Flue Curing Barn","street_address":"12 Chisholm Trail","suburb":"OAK VALLEY","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2002-09-27","description":"The tobacco kiln or flue curing barn is an almost-square building of brick construction now situated on a small 10m x 15m block of land at 12 Chisholm Trail, Oak Valley, via Townsville. This block is not fenced, but has been enclosed within the fence line of the adjoining property on the corner of Chisholm Trail and Glenrowan Road. The tobacco kiln is sited 10 degrees off a direct north/south orientation, with the door aperture situated in the western wall. This former entrance is at present closed off by timber and corrugated sheeting, presumably for safety reasons.
The western and eastern walls are 4.12m long and the northern and southern walls are 4.1m long, with the wall height averaging 4.25m above the present ground level. The single brick walls are constructed of moulded clay bricks approximately 220mm x 110mm x 70mm, which is slightly smaller than a standard imperial brick of 9 x 4.5 x 3 inches. The bricks are laid in a stretcher bond design with rather coarse mortar that finishes roughly flush to the outside of the brick. These brick walls are finished at the top with a timber frame and are then tied together internally by steel bolts 1.5cm (5/8 inch) thick and approximately 1m apart.
The roof is a pyramidal shape with a truncated apex to allow a square ventilator on top. The timber-framed roof is sheeted externally with corrugated iron, and has iron capping covering the four ridges. It is lined internally with an insulating material, possibly fibro cement sheeting. The eastern and western sides of the top ventilator are still attached to the apex of the roof. They are made of flat galvanized sheet and are also lined with the same insulating material as the roof. The sheeting on the western side of the ventilator clearly shows an imprint of the queen's head and the number 33 underneath. A shaped piece of iron lying inside the building indicates that the damper over this ventilator was also pyramidal in shape.
Although the external furnace area of the kiln has at some stage been dismantled and filled in, it can be located on the eastern side where ground subsidence reveals a round flue outlet. This is 1.5m from the northern edge of the building with 4.18m between the top of the brick wall and the top of the outlet. The diameter of the outlet is approximately 30cm. The corrugated roof sheeting at the centre of the eastern wall has been cut back in two places and the metal in between bent down, indicating the former position of the chimney. A flat piece of iron attached to the left of this is probably the remains of a holding bracket for the chimney. Looking inside through the broken bricks on the western wall, it is possible to see a second matching flue outlet at a corresponding distance from the southern edge of the building. At a lower level, between these round outlets and the northern and southern walls, are two square holes indicating the flue inlets. Although no longer attached to the inlets and outlets, the remains of two iron flues still lie on the dirt floor, running across the barn and back again. They appear to be made out of iron sheeting fashioned into round pipes with telescopic sleeves joined together to form the returns. Some remnants of timber tiers are also evident, mainly along the northern wall. These tiers are made of bush saplings.
The door to the kiln on the western wall is missing. The left hand jamb of a timber door frame is still in place, 1.7m from the northern wall. It is impossible to say exactly how big the door was because the rest of the frame and some bricks above and to the right of the door have become dislodged, thereby enlarging the opening.
","history":"The four metre square brick tobacco kiln or flue curing barn at 12 Chisholm Trail, Oak Valley stands on a small 150m² block currently owned by the Townsville City Council. When constructed c1933, the block on which the tobacco kiln is situated comprised 157 acres of farming land owned by Greek immigrant, Elias Emmanuel. There is some indication that Dick Moyes may have built the kiln.
In the early 1930s the tobacco industry expanded in North Queensland following government initiatives to combat growing unemployment created by world wide economic depression, and thereby boosting local economies.
The Commonwealth and State governments, together with the British-Australian Tobacco Company, jointly funded the Australian Tobacco Investigation Committee to find areas suitable for good quality tobacco growth. As a result, the Department of Agriculture and Stock tested twenty-five experimental tobacco plots during the 1927-28 season. This occurred in an area from Bowen to Mareeba and west to Pentland and Chillago, with one plot tried at Hervey's Range, about 25 miles (40 km) west of Townsville. All of these areas proved successful, producing a bright tobacco with good colour, aroma, texture and aging qualities. Mareeba became the site for a government experimental farm, since its surrounding district contained large areas with the most suitable sandy soils and climactic conditions. During the following two seasons, the Department conducted further trials at this farm, while several areas including Pentland, Charters Towers, Hervey's Range and Chillago tried crops on a commercial scale. Despite adverse weather conditions that affected the yield per acre, the leaf obtained good prices, and many people hailed North Queensland as the premier tobacco growing area of Australia.
The demand for tobacco land spread suddenly. In mid-1930 the government released at least 25 portions of land as agricultural homesteads in the Mareeba district. These attracted special purchase conditions. A local unemployment relief scheme to clear the land, and the availability of trained instructors from the Department also initially assisted Mareeba farmers. This enabled them to meet the 1930-31 season. Some crown land and some private subdivisions appeared at Hervey's Range in 1931, and tobacco fever also spread to the Major's Creek-Woodstock area south of Townsville, which then included Oak Valley. Tobacco growing in this area peaked with 31 farms in 1932 and had disappeared by 1940.
Several factors contributed to the failure of the Townsville tobacco industry. It was generally considered that the Experimental Farm at Mareeba contributed greatly to the success of the industry in that area. Although the Townsville and District Development Association agitated for a government Experimental Farm in this area to provide support for local inexperienced growers, this never eventuated. Water was always a problem as tobacco growers relied on the northern wet season. Failure of the season had drastic consequences, as did a heavy season. The tobacco plant was particularly prone to diseases and pests. Inexperienced farmers lacked the expertise to deal with these diseases, as well as cope with the complicated curing process. Government fiscal policy did not always favour the local grower: increased excise on home-grown tobacco and reduced duties on imports were blamed for the unsatisfactory position of the industry in 1934. This variety of causes often meant farmers could not sell a large enough portion of their crop at prices high enough to cover their capital outlay. Capital required to establish a tobacco farm was estimated at around £950, a considerable sum in the 1930s. This included the cultivation of 15 acres, deposit on land, a small hut, clearing, curing barns, bulk shed, horses, farm equipment and some labour costs.
One of the major costs was the construction of a curing barn, or barns, depending on the size of the farm. Local tobacco kilns were essential as it was imperative that tobacco leaf be cured immediately after harvesting, and a number of kilns appeared in the Hervey's Range and Woodstock areas. Kiln walls had to be insulated and farmers used different materials, according to their means and the availability of local resources. Different constructions in the Townsville area included brick, two layers of corrugated iron filled with sand, bush timber coated with cement plaster, home-made concrete brick, reinforced concrete, and sun-dried bricks of clay and chopped grass.
The curing process was crucial, and flue curing was the most modern, scientific method available in the 1930s. The kiln at 12 Chisholm Trail used this new technology, closely resembling drawings of a model flue curing barn in the Queensland Agricultural Journal of August 1931. The flues carried heat at ground level from the outside furnace, across the barn and back to the chimney outlets, raising the temperature inside the kiln and thereby curing the tobacco. This process overcame earlier curing problems such as leaf contamination by smoke from open fires, and also allowed greater control over heat and humidity in the curing barn.
The object of curing was to obtain leaf with a bright yellow colour similar to that of a fresh ripe lemon. After cutting, several tobacco leaves were strung together, tied to a stick at regular spaces, and then hung on tier poles in the curing barn. The leaf was then cured in an extremely complicated process involving three distinct stages: yellowing the leaf, fixing the colour and killing the leaf, and completely drying the leaf. The first stage needed a warm humid atmosphere to complete the ripening process; the second increased the heat and lowered the humidity through controlled ventilation until leaf veins were substantially dry; and the third further increased heat and decreased ventilation until the entire leaf and stem was completely dried. This process necessitated specialized knowledge to control heat, humidity and ventilation, and could differ slightly depending on the type and condition of the crop. This challenged inexperienced farmers entering the tobacco industry.
A report in 1984 stated that some old kilns in the Majors Creek area were then being used as storage sheds on farms. However, it is probable that the brick tobacco kiln at 12 Chisholm Trail is the only kiln in the area still containing remnants of flues and some tier poles, which indicates that it was never reused for other purposes. It was probably built sometime in 1933. A piece of iron visible in the top vent clearly shows an imprint of the queen's head with the number 33 underneath. This is a well known Lysaght insignia for its flat sheeting, and the number indicates that it was produced in 1933. With the tobacco industry in decline after 1932, it is unlikely that the kiln was built much later than this.
The bricks used in the construction appear to be commercially made, however there is some variation in the stretcher length between 220mm and 225mm which could contradict this. There was a local brickworks located nearby at Stuart, but there was also a contemporary report about some farmers with brick-working skills and ample supplies of local clay. Investigation into this is continuing. The brick and iron construction would have involved considerable expense. A similar brick construction in the same area was quoted as costing £65. The willingness to invest considerable capital in the industry shows either a solid faith in its potential or a desperation to survive in harsh economic times.
The Townsville tobacco industry did have some positive impact on the district. It was one of the major reasons for the formation of the Townsville and District Development Association. Lobbying by the growers on Hervey's Range prompted the construction of a new access road and this provided employment to a large number of men through an Unemployment Relief Scheme. The establishment of a local tobacco grading company also provided some employment during the worst years of the Great Depression. The kiln at 12 Chisholm Trail stands as a reminder of the tobacco industry of the 1930s. Though short-lived, it was an important phase in the evolution of the Townsville district.
","criteria":"The tobacco kiln, constructed c1933, is important physical evidence of an agricultural industry developed in response to community needs during the Great Depression. Both State and Federal governments initiated trials to find suitable land for growing tobacco with the hope of easing high unemployment and boosting local economies. The Queensland government undertook many agricultural schemes of this nature during the Depression of the 1930s, many of which were short lived. It also reflects the recurring pattern in Queensland's history of developing agriculture as an important part of land settlement.
|The tobacco kiln is a rare remnant of Townsville's history given that this area is no longer a tobacco growing district. This kiln is particularly so because it does not appear to have been reused for other purposes. It still contains the remains of the original flues and tier poles.
|The tobacco kiln demonstrates the principal characteristics of flue curing techniques which were the most modern and scientific method available in the 1930s. Its design closely followed that recommended by the Senior Instructor in Agriculture through a contemporary state-wide agricultural journal. The considerable capital investment it represented indicates either a faith in the potential of modern agricultural techniques or a desperate bid to survive in harsh economic times.
","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":19505,"place_ref":602384,"name":"The Rocks Guesthouse","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"20 Cleveland Terrace","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2006-04-10","description":"The Rocks Guesthouse is situated high on Melton Hill at 20 Cleveland Terrace, with panoramic views of the Coral Sea, Magnetic Island and Cleveland Bay. It is accessed from Cleveland Terrace. There is an unnamed laneway on the eastern side of the property and Herbert Street flanks the southern boundary. The place is an asymmetrical timber structure with readily discernable stages of metamorphous from private residence to hospital and later to guesthouse.
The Rocks Guesthouse consists of a combination of gabled and hipped roof structures, each timber framed and timber clad, with roofs of corrugated iron.
The original portion of the house (c1897) has a hipped roof with a projecting front gable and a half front verandah with a curved iron roof. A verandah has been added at an early date in front of the projecting gable and continuing around the eastern side of the house overlooking the adjacent laneway. A further skillion-roofed addition to the original front verandah extends over early brick and rendered stucco stairs, which remain in situ under the boards. The verandahs have a recent dowelling balustrade between timber columns, which have decorative timber brackets. The handrail is an angular shape. Flooring to the verandahs is of 4in wide hardwood.
Modern replica work includes the fretwork under the gable, the gable finial and the property name sign. The large front entrance door is early as are the door fittings.
The exterior walls of the original house are exposed stud frame lined internally with 8in deep chamfer boards. The piers for the original house are of brick (commons) similar to the ones used to construct the side wall. The piers (13½in x 13½in) are supporting bearers and in turn are supported by a layer of small rocks in a mud mixture. The brick piers extend partway to the middle of the house; beyond this, concrete piers are continued to the end of the operating theatre.
Internally the rooms of the original house have 13ft 6in high ceilings, picture rails, timber fretwork ceiling roses and timber partitioning in 5in wide tongue-and-groove boards. The main drawing room has a large bay window framed by an arch. The windows are large double-hung timber sashes with two panes per sash. While the side windows have long been removed and replaced by French windows and fanlights, evidence of their existence remains behind the door-jambs on the verandah, above the fan light and from the part removal of diagonal bracing. Original timber ceiling roses have been uncovered throughout the house and replicas have replaced those that were missing. Electric fans have been installed in some of the rooms and wired up through the ceiling roses. Above the internal doors are decorative timber fretwork panels. The pattern is very similar to the fretwork in Osler House (QHR 600931) and similar to fretwork attributed to Benjamin Toll that is found also in Charters Towers. Floors throughout are 6in wide hoop pine.
The principal additions associated with the conversion of the residence into a hospital in 1909, including a former operating theatre, staff quarters and kitchen, are largely confined to the rear of the residence. Of particular note is an attached hipped roof structure, which formerly contained an operating room and sterilizing room. The former operating room (now a guestroom) is still accessible from outside. This room has three lights in the roof, covered with corrugated iron. Fixed timber vents are located on the lower third of the room on two sides and closable timber vents are located on the upper level. There is an ornate ceiling rose of pressed metal.
The remainder of the rear rooms have been converted into guest rooms and some doors have been in-filled. Some of the smaller rooms have been converted into en-suites to service adjoining rooms. In the roof space above the hall in the rear section, is a large early water tank.
Four rooms constructed on the western side of the house in the 1930s have been converted into two rooms, en-suite and porch area. These rooms are under a skillion roof and the entrance porch is concealed behind timber lattice.
An above ground air-raid shelter constructed during World War Two is located at the back of the house and is currently used as a guest room. It has a modern en-suite added to the room.
There is a concrete pit or bunker under the western side of the house, accessible via a small timber hatch in the floor of one of the 1930s rooms. It measures 2.7m long by 1.2m wide and is 1.5m high. It has two large vent pipes inserted in the concrete ceiling, which emerge in the space between the top of the concrete structure and the floorboards of the house.
There is a timber and iron garage in the back yard, next to the former operating theatre, which is a later addition.
Gardens
The Rocks Guesthouse occupies most of the 811m² allotment with two small landscaped garden areas at the front of the house and along the eastern side, dominated by a meandering brick pavement. At the rear of the house the garden is less defined and there is a paved car parking area. Two of the three flora identified in the 1997 Melton Hill Workshop Report as significant, remain. The Frangipani (Plumeria acuminata) in particular, located on the eastern side of the house, has grown into a sizable and noteworthy tree as has the Coconut Palm (Cocos nucifera) that is located on the front western side to the building.
Stone and Brick Wall
The front of the property has a very impressive entrance stairway and rock wall, which was built in either the first or second stage of construction (c1897 or 1909). The return section of the stairs leading up to the house survives under the present verandah. The front stone wall joins onto the side brick wall which curves around the corner of the property and is situated over the boundary line on an unnamed laneway which runs between Herbert Street and Cleveland Terrace The brick wall and the stone wall are noted in the 1926 and later surveys .The bright red bricks are laid in a variation of Flemish bond and indicate signs of early brick making techniques with characteristic folding of the pug, lack of consistency in sizing and imperfections. The rendered capping course is painted white.
","history":"The Rocks Guesthouse was constructed c1897-1900 as a private residence, on land held by Elizabeth Hamilton, wife of pastoralist and prominent publican Frederic Hamilton. Built as an investment, the house was leased to middle class tenants. In 1909 Dr Ernest Humphrey converted it into a private hospital, which it remained until a further conversion in the mid-1930s into a guesthouse. The Rocks continued as 'gents only' accommodation throughout World War Two, during which it was made safe with the addition of an above-ground air raid shelter. While it has changed hands several times since, it has remained a guesthouse.
The Rocks Guesthouse, is situated in the former grounds of John Melton Black's c1864 residence (since demolished), one of the first houses built in Townsville. JM Black arrived in Cleveland Bay in 1864 , where he established at Ross Creek a small port to service the inland pastoral run he had taken up in partnership with Robert Towns. Townsville, as it became known, rapidly became one of the most successful ports in north Queensland. By late 1866 it was described as a thriving seaport with considerable trade and commerce facilities such as banks, hotels, stores, businesses and a post office, servicing the burgeoning pastoral properties in the Burdekin and North Kennedy districts. In the 1870s mining to the west provided a major impetus for the rapid growth of Townsville. As sugar growers moved into the coastal plains, a large fleet of vessels, providing export facilities for the sugar industry, was established at Townsville.
In 1882 the rail link to Charters Towers was opened, with an extension to Ravenswood in 1884. The telegraph line from Townsville to Charters Towers was completed in July 1883 and the first telephone exchange was opened at Townsville during November 1883. By 1900, the economy of the city was soundly based on the mining, pastoral, sugar and transport industries.
About 1864 JM Black had erected his private residence on a prominent hill overlooking the emerging port. In these establishment years Black controlled the affairs of Townsville and when the town became a municipality in early 1866 he was elected as the first Mayor. A year later he resigned and left for Scotland to take up business affairs associated with an inheritance.
Title to his Melton Hill property (allotment 5 of section 3A, containing 6 acres), was held jointly by Towns and Black, but was transferred to Robert Towns in 1867 following Black's departure. In 1870 title was transferred to Shepherd Smith of Sydney, Manager of the Bank of New South Wales. Three years later Smith sub-divided the land into 24 lots. The site containing Black's former house and remaining grounds was situated on subdivisions 5-7 of allotment 5 of section 3a.
The Melton Hill subdivisions attracted the business elite of Townsville. On 25 August 1877, well known squatter, wool provedore, businessman and Separationist, Enoch Price Walter Hays, purchased Black's former house and remaining grounds. He leased the house to bank manager H Echlin, until the end of 1884. One year later Hays and his wife moved into Black's former house and they continued to reside there until Hays' death in 1893. Mrs Hays remained here until the property was transferred in 1895 to Elizabeth Hamilton, wife of Frederick Hamilton, pastoralist and publican.
The Hamiltons resided nearly diagonally opposite Mrs Hays, and acquired at least two other properties on Melton Hill in Elizabeth Hamilton's name, and on which they erected investment houses. During the time that the Hamilton family owned the former JM Black residence, it was leased to middle-class tenants.
A second house (later "The Rocks Guesthouse") was constructed in the grounds of JM Black's former residence between c1897 and 1900., It was a combined gabled and hipped roof structure consisting of four to five rooms with a central hallway, front verandah covered by a curved corrugated iron awning and a skillion verandah at the rear. The rooms were large and airy with 13ft 6in high ceilings, picture rails, timber fretwork ceiling roses and interior partitions of tongue-in-groove boards. The main drawing room had a large bay window framed by an arch. The windows were large double-hung timber sashes with two panes per sash. A brick wall along the laneway was also constructed at this time and consists of bricks of similar make and type to the piers of the house. The new house was leased first to George Frazer, manager of the shipping firm Howard Smith and Sons, for two years and then to William Montgomerie.
In 1903 Townsville was hit by cyclone Leonta, which caused damage to most of the houses on Melton Hill, including the complete destruction of the residence of long term Townsville medical practitioner, Dr Ernest Humphrey .
In 1905 Elizabeth Hamilton died and the property containing Black's former house and the 1897-1900 residence was transferred to Frederic Hamilton. A year later Hamilton sold the whole of the property (both houses) to Dr Ernest Humphrey and his wife, who moved into the c1864 residence and continued to let the new house to Montgomerie, who remained there until 1909.
In late 1909 Dr Humphrey converted the c1897-1900 residence into a private hospital. Alterations included substantial additions. A corridor led to new rooms at the rear of the building, which included a kitchen, common bathroom and laundry, sterilizing room, operating room and servants' quarters. The operating room and sterilizing room were adjoining and were accessed from the house but the operating room was also accessible externally. This room had three ceiling window lights to allow natural light for operations, Inside, fixed timber vents were situated on the lower third of the room on two sides and closable timber vents were located on the upper level. The lower vents were needed to dissipate the heavy Ether used in operations. The front entrance to the hospital was accessed from imposing rendered brick stairs.
The plans for the hospital conversion were approved in August and work was complete by November 1909. Miss I Campbell, Matron of the Townsville General Hospital, was employed to manage the hospital, which was called "The Rocks Private Hospital." It was a modern and well-equipped hospital with a staff of one matron and seven nurses and aides. The nurses were housed in a building constructed at the rear of the block along Herbert Street. This burnt down in the 1970s.
After 15 years operating his hospital and 30 years practicing medicine in Townsville, Dr Humphrey unexpectedly died on 16 September 1925 during a sea voyage south. Mrs Humphrey continued to reside in the family home (the former Black house) until at least 1938, but title to the whole of the Melton Hill property passed to their son Jack on Dr Humphrey's death. In 1926 Jack had subdivisions 5, 6 and 7 re-surveyed to clarify the unusual angle of the allotments resulting from JM Black's former house being built prior to the 1873 subdivisional survey. Notings on the 1926 survey plan indicate a "wood building" and "brick wall" on the hospital site.
It appears that The Rocks continued to operate as a private hospital, managed by Matron M Williams, into the mid-1930s, despite title to the hospital site being transferred in 1929 from Jack Humphrey to Walter Bartlett Chapman.
In 1934 the property was transferred to Frank Edward Payne, who converted it into a boarding house. The conversion may have reflected the impact of the Hospitals Act of 1923, which introduced a system of partly government-funded district hospitals, transforming public hospitals from charitable institutions for the poor to essential community services and a government responsibility. This system was enhanced under the Hospitals Act of 1936 and from 1 January 1946 access to public hospital treatment was made free for all Queenslanders. Between 1920 and 1940 the number of beds in Queensland's public hospitals rose from 3,700 to 7,606, increasing at a greater rate than population growth . In addition, the government-run hospitals tended to be better equipped than the small local private hospitals.
In the 1930s the rooms in The Rocks Private Hospital were converted into guestrooms and are still used as such. The previously spacious recovery rooms were divided by 8ft high timber partitions while in other areas internal walls were removed. The western side of the house was extended with four new bedrooms under a skillion roof. As a large, airy and ornate building with panoramic views of Cleveland Bay and Townsville, it quickly became popular with affluent holiday-makers and visiting professionals. Utilising the former name, Payne advertised the place under the name "The Rocks Guest House". By 1939 a male clientele was targeted, offering services such as free lunch and a taxi service.
The Rocks Guest House continued to advertise throughout World War Two and while little information regarding the use of the building at this period survives, anecdotal evidence suggests that it may have been used as a convalescent home for returning servicemen. An above ground air-raid shelter was constructed at the rear of the house during the war.
In 1962 George and Sophie Gray purchased The Rocks Guest House. A world champion billiardist, George Gray had been a master cue-man during the 1920s. In 1936 Gray retired with his family to Townsville, running a billiard hall in Flinders Street. A large billiard table was the focal point of The Rocks during the 1960s, which continued to operate as a boarding house for young men. After this period the property deteriorated and functioned as budget lodging.
An August 1966 plan detailing proposed alterations to the boarding house indicated that by that date a separate wooden structure had been erected toward the rear of the allotment. It consisted of four rooms plus a verandah built against the drystone wall of Herbert Street. This building was largely destroyed by fire in June 1977 and what remained was demolished in August that year.
The Rocks Guesthouse changed hands in 1995 and extensive renovations were made. Partitions to the front rooms introduced as in the 1930s were removed and the large decorative arch, which announced the bay window, was reinstated as a key element to the main drawing room. Electrical re-wiring was undertaken and repairs were carried out to walls, floors and ceilings damaged by water and termite infestation. During the renovations one of the walls introduced in the 1909 additions was removed. Other elements were either revealed or rediscovered by the removal of introduced cladding, including original timber ceiling roses and stairs of brick rendered in stucco, left in situ under the extended front verandah.
The ornate fretwork under the gable was restored as well as the gable finial and painted property sign. A new verandah balustrade was installed and the curved brick wall at the front of the property was reconstructed.
In 1996 The Rocks was reopened as up-market Bed & Breakfast accommodation.
During the course of renovations made in 1997, a concrete pit or bunker was discovered beneath the floorboards. It was concealed in one of the bedrooms, accessible by a small timber hatch in the bedroom floor. Its original use or date of construction is unknown.
","criteria":"The Rocks Guesthouse, constructed c1897-1900 as a private residence and converted in 1909 into a private hospital, is important in demonstrating part of the pattern of Queensland's history, in particular the construction of middle-class urban housing in areas with desirable amenity values; and the establishment of private hospitals in urban centres in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.A concrete air-raid shelter in the back yard remains as evidence of the impact of World War Two on the civilian population of Townsville.
|The Rocks Guesthouse demonstrates rare surviving evidence of early 20th century private hospitals in Queensland, which are no longer common. The former operating room in particular is now rare in Queensland.
|The Rocks Guesthouse is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a late 19th century middle-class North Queensland timber residence converted into a private hospital in the early 20th century: The core includes spacious, high-ceilinged rooms; a large bay window to the principal public room; and decorative elements such as fretwork ceiling vents. Its grounds retain an early brick and stone retaining wall and front garden stairs. At the rear of the original house the former operating room remains substantially intact and is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of its type, including the need for adequate light and ventilation, demonstrated in the low fixed louvre vents, upper level movable louvres, overhead skylights and both internal and external entry.
|The Rocks Guesthouse makes an important aesthetic contribution to the Melton Hill historical precinct. Situated in Cleveland Terrace between St James Cathedral (QHR 600887) and Synod Hall (QHR 600888) at one end and the remnants of JM Black's Drystone Wall (QHR 600885) on the other, it forms part of a notable group of elite residences, including Selhurst (QHR 601247) and Warringa (QHR 600886).
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion E","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":19593,"place_ref":602471,"name":"Commonwealth Bank of Australia (former)","alternate_name":"Townsville City Council Library | Commonwealth Savings Bank","street_address":"272-278 Flinders Street","suburb":"TOWNSVILLE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2004-10-29","description":"The former Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Townsville is a two-storey reinforced concrete structure with reinforced concrete floors and flat roof with frontage to Flinders Street and also runs through to Ogden Street at the rear. The frontage was designed with five bays, the middle three projected slightly forward with four columns of a singular banded design flanking the three emphasised bays. These four columns have design similarity to columns of the bank's Sydney head office building though in render rather than stone. The columns have ovolo-moulded edges and the banding appears as strongly expressed recessed joints. A suggestion of art deco appears in the circular motif decoration below the top of the columns.
Windows to the building are steel framed, rectangular with the larger sashes casement and the upper sashes pivot hung. A plinth, originally plastered but now veneered in grey granite, to window sill height runs across the width of the building interrupted by two doorways. The main doorway into the former banking chamber is centrally located with a second doorway in the northern bay leading to the stairs for first floor access. The main doorway was originally flanked by two plain pilasters with entablature over that have been removed and the adjoining columns completed. The window frames either side of the main doorway incorporate an arched transom between the casements and smaller upper panes and sashes.
The two side bays of the frontage were finished as face brickwork panels initially but later were rendered over and painted. A classical cornice across the building at roof level projects forward over the three central bays and has pairs of dentils above the columns. Below the central cornice section there remains indications of the lettering of the bank signage incompletely chiselled off. Over the cornice is a panelled parapet forming a low simple pediment centrally with a tapered flagpole fixed behind.
Behind the street frontages the first floor of the building is set back from the northern boundary to gain natural light. The two-storeyed rear elevation to Ogden Street is plain and utilitarian without the decorative expression and composition of the front elevation. The rear and visible side walls are of painted render. Steel windows sizes vary according to use and plumbing is externally mounted. A single door, with roller shutter, allows access to the street.
","history":"The former Commonwealth Bank of Australia building, the third premises but first purpose build Townsville Commonwealth Bank building, was constructed in 1923 at a cost of approximately £30,000. The building was designed by Sydney architect and consultant engineering firm John and Herwald Kirkpatrick and constructed by Townsville builders Charles Hanson and Sons under the supervision of Townsville architect Walter Hunt.
The federal government's Commonwealth Bank Act 1911 established Australia's first bank empowered to conduct both savings and general [trading] bank business with the security of a federal government guarantee. On 16 September 1912 the Commonwealth Government established the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. By 20 January 1913 the general business of the Bank had commenced in Canberra, in the six state capitals, in London and in Townsville. The Townsville office was the first country branch established in Australia.
Initially the Bank operated from leased premises opposite the future site of the new building. However, following the amalgamation the Commonwealth Bank with the Queensland Government Savings Bank (QGSB) on 7 December 1920 the Bank moved its operations into the leased premises of the former QGSB near the corner of Stanley and Flinders Street. The Commonwealth Bank then purchased this property. In 1922 the site was sold to the Queensland State Government Insurance Office (now the site of the 1928 Queensland State Government Building (601385)). It is not know how long the Bank stayed in this location but it is possible it remained until 1924 when the new building was completed.
In the meantime the Commonwealth Bank purchased an allotment for £5000 in Flinders Street adjacent to the Post Office (600911). This land was first issued as a Deed of Grant in November 1922 to the State Advances Corporation. Three months later, in February 1923, the land was sold to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
Sydney architect and consultant engineering firm John and Herwald Kirkpatrick, designers of a number of early Commonwealth Bank buildings including the head office in Sydney, the Melbourne, Canberra and London offices, were commissioned to draw up plans for a new building in Townsville. John Kirkpatrick, appointed architect for the Commonwealth Bank in 1912, was a friend of and cousin to the Governor of the Bank, Denison Samuel King Miller. The Kirkpatrick architectural firm remained architects for the Commonwealth Bank for at least ten years. During that time bank buildings were constructed throughout Australia, the Pacific and England.
This first purpose built Commonwealth Bank building in Townsville was constructed of reinforced concrete and brick. It is one of the earliest, if not the earliest surviving reinforced concrete multi storey building in Townsville. The supervising architect for the construction of the building, Walter Hunt, was an innovator in the use of reinforced concrete. At that time he was also designing the Dalgety & Company Building completed in Sturt Street, Townsville in December 1924.
Townsville building firm Charles Hanson and Sons secured the tender to erect the new two storied brick and reinforced concrete Commonwealth Bank building. By August 1923 the first floor walls were almost completed and the floor beams were being filled in with concrete. The builders had installed an electric dynamo to facilitate the easier handling and hauling of mixed concrete to the first floor level.
In September 1923 the Queensland Architects and Builders Journal (A&B Journal) reported that the "first floor is laid and the columns to carry the flat roof are being filled. The framings of the beams of the first floor are now being removed and it is the contractors intention to commence plastering shortly". The flat roof was made of concrete with a parapet wall.
Sub contractors Harvey & Clarke, who specialized in joinery and shopfitting, carried out the joinery work.
By February 1924 the A&B Journal reported that "... the Commonwealth Bank was housed in recently completed premises". The building occupied a quarter acre block and accommodated the banking institution on the ground floor with the offices of the Deputy Public Curator on the first floor.
The ground floor entrance led to a vestibule, to the left of which was the manager's room. The building was comprised of a two storey high banking chamber, complete with tellers and a strong room. At the rear of the building were the resident officer's room, gentlemen's lavatory and cloakroom and a ladies lavatory. A flight of stairs in the vestibule led to an upstairs landing which accommodated a cleaner's room and additional male and female lavatories at the rear. The building was said to be well lit.
On 2 February 1924 the Townsville Evening Star reported on the "... near completion of the most attractive and up to date premises in the city ... the building ... is the architecture of Messers. John and Herwald G Kirkpatrick, architects and consultant engineers, Sydney". The report said that the building was constructed on "... most modern lines, reinforced concrete being principally used, while many new features to the building trade of the North have been introduced". These new features included ventilation and lighting, and ornate plaster work on the ceilings and substantial pillars in the banking chamber. A strong room was built behind the banking chamber. It was thought to be the largest in the north and was reinforced with steel railway rails. A Montgomerie Neilsen Oxidising nonseptic toilet system was installed with a large brick tank under the building. The special windows, which appear to be similar to those installed in the Sydney Head Office building, were special Simplex patented steel framed windows which adjusted to any angle. The building was electrically wired and had fans throughout and was constructed to allow the addition of two further floors. Thirty five massive concrete foundation pillars set up to 35 feet into the soil supported the structure. There was a clearance of six feet at the rear to about three feet on Flinders Street. The rear entrance was made secure with the installation of a "Chubb" door.
Although, in the February 1924 issue of the Architects and Builders Journal, it was reported that "... the Commonwealth Bank was housed in recently completed premises" the Commonwealth Bank Archives has written a brief history of the Townsville Branch saying the new building was opened on 14 July 1924. No reference has been supplied for the 14 July 1924 opening date. The February opening date makes this the first country branch to occupy its own, purpose built office. However, if the Townsville branch opened in July then the Newcastle Branch was the first branch to open on 5 May 1924.
During World War II the Commonwealth Bank, including the Townsville Branch, became heavily involved with Commonwealth War Bonds and other forms of government fund raising activities, as well as acting as local agents for the meat and clothes rationing authorities.
Despite the financial constraints of wartime the banking chamber was refurbished in 1944. However, in the mid 1950s the thirty year old premises needed further maintenance work. Dilapidated counters and fittings required replacement, lighting needed upgrading, painting of the interior was necessary and new coverings for the floors. Consideration was also given to constructing a third floor on the building to serve as bachelor quarters. However, the whole project was deferred until 1954 when tenders were called but deferred again because of cost. In 1957 new plans were drawn up for extensive alterations and additions, including a new Teller line, installation of fluorescent lighting, painting, linoleum tiles to walls and floor, new staff amenities and storage area, new entrance doors and removal of the portico over the front door.
The work was carried out by Brisbane builders N Kratzmann Pty Ltd at a cost of £54,283.15.2 and was completed in May 1959.
During the late 1940s and 1950s the Commonwealth Bank expanded its activities Australia wide, opening hundreds of branches and agencies to cater for the increase and spread of population accompanying Australia's great post war migration influx, and reflecting the buoyant national economy of the 1950s. In December 1959 the Commonwealth Bank of Australia was restructured and renamed the Commonwealth Banking Corporation.
To meet the needs of the expanding commercial centre and to overcome crowding in the branch building a sub-branch was opened at 471-473 Flinders Street in a twenty year old brick and concrete building. This sub branch became a full branch on 27 November 1967.
By 1967 staff numbers in the main bank in Flinders Street had reached 64. Existing facilities were inadequate with no storage space and no space for interview rooms. By 1969 plans for a new building were in place. A property 800 metres west along Flinders Street was purchased for £269,000. The new four storied building with a tower block of a further 14 floors was designed by Townsville architects Martin Dillon and Associates and constructed by Townsville builders JM Kelly (Builders) Pty Ltd in 1975. At the time of construction the Branch had reached 111 staff, making it "... the largest branch, apart from the capital cities ... in Australia". Operations transferred to the new premises on 10 October 1977.
The 1923 Commonwealth Bank property was subsequently exchanged for three blocks of vacant land owned by the Townsville City Council in Alfred Street, Aitkenvale where a branch of the bank was later built.
In 1978 the Townsville City Council established the Council Library in the former Commonwealth Bank building. The library continued to operate from the building until 2003 when it was moved next door into the Northtown Building.
The Townsville City Council sold the building to Aranda Park Pty Ltd in 1990 but continued to lease the property until the Library moved in 2003.
","criteria":"The former Commonwealth Bank is important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history as the first purpose built Commonwealth Bank building in Townsville. The construction of this major 1923 building reflects the significant role Townsville, as the leading Australian country branch for over sixty years, played in the establishment and regional development of the Commonwealth Bank.
|It is thought to be a rare surviving example in North Queensland of the commercial work of the Sydney architect and engineering consultant firm John & Herwald Kirkpatrick who were the first architects to work for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Apart from the Townsville office the Kirkpatrick firm designed the head office building in Sydney, the London and Melbourne buildings as well as a number of banks in other state capitals thus establishing a consistent architectural image for the Commonwealth Bank throughout Australia.
|The Bank building is important because of its contribution to the overall historical townscape of the city but particularly to the east Flinders Street area where it is located within a group of buildings including the former Post Office (600911), Perc Tucker Gallery (600912) and the former Aplin Brown & Company building (600919).
|The former Commonwealth Bank, built in 1923 using reinforced concrete, is one of the first multi storey buildings constructed in Townsville utilising this early twentieth century innovative technique. It is now a rare surviving example from the early period of use of this technology in Townsville
|The former Commonwealth Bank, Townsville has a special association with the work of Sydney architect and consultant engineering firm John & Herwald Kirkpatrick and with Townsville architect Walter Hunt who was known for his innovative work in designing reinforced concrete buildings.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion E | Criterion F | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important 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":29022,"place_ref":602650,"name":"Townsville Showground","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"72-104 Ingham Road","suburb":"WEST END","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2008-10-16","description":"The Townsville Showground is located on the southern side of Castle Hill and adjacent to Ingham Road approximately 5kms from the city centre: it is bounded by Ingham Road, Kings Road, Woolcock Street and Parkes Street with the main entrance accessed from Parkes Street off an access easement which runs alongside the railway line. Two purpose built sub surface stormwater drains traverse the grounds: one in a north-south direction and the other east-west.
Encompassing a total area of over 14.38 hectares, the Townsville showground comprises a collection of purpose-built buildings, yards, ticket booths, gates, turnstiles, additional seating and open space. These are eclectic and utilitarian in form with many examples of additions, re-location or building materials recycled within the precinct. Elements of particular significance include the stud cattle pavilions (circa 1890s), central show ring arena (est.1882), Grandstand (1901), Heatley Hall ( circa.1940), Poultry Exhibition pavilion (circa 1920 ), Exhibition pavilion, (circa 1920) ticket boxes, main entrance and side entrance (c 1946), as well as mature Banyon Trees within the grounds. For the purpose of description, the showground has been divided into two sections. Individual building numbers mirror those identified in the Draft Townsville Showground Management Plan prepared by the Department of Natural Resources and Mines 2005.
Section 1. The showground is divided into two main areas with the first area including the main show ring arena, surrounding grandstands and exhibition pavilions located at the northern side of the showground running along Ingham Road. Principal elements of cultural heritage significance include:
20. Tunbridge & Tunbridge Grandstand: (1901):
The roof is hipped with eaves overhang of corrugated steel sheeting on timber framing and timber trusses. The rear wall of the upper level retains the original timber louvres designed for ventilation. Two aisles provide access to the three banks of bench seating with the rear six rows including timber lumbar support. The grandstand has a timber floor in the grandstand seating area. Tall hardwood columns with mouldings and a decorative timber bressumer to the front and sides create nine separate bays. Most of the original decorative brackets are missing. Access to the Grandstand is achieved via two pairs of introduced steel stairs constructed in the 1970s when the building was relocated to its current location. Underneath the grandstand is exhibition/storage space with a concrete floor which is accessed from the sides and rear wall. An additional open shaded area has been added to the rear with a gabled roof.
21. Interwar Toilets: (c. 1920-1940): Located next to the Grandstand the toilets are timber framed with chamferboard external cladding and high level timber louvred ventilation. The roof is hipped with corrugated steel sheeting and unusual semi-circular steel ridge and hip flashing.
Un numbered: Central Show Ring: (est. 1882):
The central ring consists of a grassed centred arena encircled by an elliptically-shaped track with the two long straights covering a distance of approximately 600 metres with a perimeter gravel track and inner track of sand loam. The inner fence is fabricated from welded piping with small steel sections and a top rail. This incorporates a mechanical 'lure' facility used for greyhound racing. The outer fence is constructed of concrete block with a decorative triangular motif at regular intervals. The outer ring follows the fall of the land and is strengthened via concrete buttresses. Posts constructed of steel pipes are spaced at regular intervals and filled by a steel cyclone mesh infill with a metal handrail on top. The whole outer fence is painted white. Access to the ring is achieved though regular access points, some which are concrete ramps. The Show ring and arena provide a central focal point by which the Exhibition buildings, liquor stands, amenities are constructed around. The ring along with the grandstands, poultry shed, Heatley Hall and a former Army Hall are located on the northern end of the precinct, with the main showground entrance and office area located on the north eastern corner.
23. Exhibition building/ Poultry and Bird Fancier Pavilion: (c. 1920)
The Poultry and Bird fancier pavilion is a long rectangular building measuring approximately 30 X 9 metres and running parallel to Heatley Hall and the Townsville Greyhound Racing Club. The building has a hipped corrugated steel roof incorporating King post trusses with 10 skylights at regular intervals. The interior floor has timber deck flooring supported on timber stumps. The building is clad with painted corrugated steel sheeting which is not full height and chicken wire infill provides ventilation. The place has two rows of purpose built poultry coops constructed in the mid 1940s that run full length of the building. Another two rows of coops are located along the perimeter interior walls. Three aisles, one central aisle and two side isles provide viewing access to the displays. Access to the building is gained through entrances on each end as well as through two side entrances on the western side. Each entrance has a decorative steel gate with cyclone mesh infill.
25. Heatley Hall: (1939):
This is the largest Exhibition pavilion on the site approximately 58 X 20 metres and 5.5 metres high with twin gabled roofs, each with three hipped roof lantern lights at a length of approx. 5 metres which run along the two ridges. The lantern lights incorporate two fixed windows one at each end and six hopper windows which push out to provide additional ventilation. Timber buttresses provide additional strengthening to the high external walls which are clad in galvanised corrugated iron sheeting painted green. The corrugated iron cladding does not extend the full height of the wall instead infill to the rafters is provided via timber lattice panels which also provide additional ventilation. Horizontal timber slat panels conceal the underfloor area.
Access is achieved through three large sliding doors on each side with an additional door on the interior Showground end. The original decorative facade with parapet end, providing street access [Ingham Road] has been modified to a flat sheeted wall. Internally there is a central row of columns supporting timber trusses and a box gutter. Hardwood tongue and groove flooring is laid throughout and supported on timber framing on top of concrete piers.
34. Kiery Hall/No 4 Bulk Store: (c. 1942):
Keiry Hall has a single low pitched roof of corrugated galvanised steel sheeting over hardwood purlins on open web steel girders spanning the building width. The building measures approximately 56 X 12 metres. The eastern wall of the hall is original comprising a row of concrete columns with walling of timber stud framing and painted corrugated galvanised sheet cladding infill. The rebuilt western, northern and southern walls (post cyclone Althea) are constructed with steel columns, recycled timber purlins and painted corrugated galvanised sheet cladding. A lower height skillion roofed external addition has been built onto the western wall between pairs of roller doors. The addition is sheeted with painted corrugated galvanised steel to roof and walls.
Two pairs of large timber framed and vertically boarded roller doors are positioned in both eastern and western walls of the hall whilst a pair of smaller hinged doors is located off-centre in both the northern and southern end walls. The building is unlined with a paint finish generally remaining on most of the internal walls. The internal floor is of concrete pavers laid to a fall.
64, 65, 66. Entrance gates and Ticket box and turnstiles: (c. 1940s):
Located on the corner of Ingham Road and Parkes Street, the main entrance gates are constructed of welded steel bars in decorative geometric design incorporating the Townsville Pastoral Association logo. A pair of identical constructed entrance gates are located at the Ingham Road 'Besser' entrance.
The ticket booth has a hipped corrugated steel sheeted roof supported on a timbered framed building and clad with chamber board wall. Steel mesh secures the ticket box opening counter. Most of the turnstiles have been removed with only three remaining turnstiles located adjoining the ticket booth.
3. Security building: (c 1940s)
The timber framed building clad with weatherboards has a gabled roof, sheeted with corrugated steel and supported on concrete piers topped with termite caps. Entrance to the building is achieved up three moulded concrete steps through a single wooden door located on the southern side of the building. Two pairs of casement windows are located on each side of the building.
13. Police Building: (c 1940s)
This is a small rectangular building approximately 8X 5 metres clad in small panels of fibre cement sheeting at the front and larger panels on the sides. The building is accessed via a single door located on the right hand side and a small fixed window with security grill on the left. The small front panels extend up to form a small parapet and the front incorporates a small awning over the window and door. The building has a skillion roof, clad with corrugated steel and the building is based on a concrete slab which extends out the front of the building to form a small patio. This has been extended at some point to run across the front of buildings 13 & 14.
Unnumbered Landscape and grounds: The showground precinct has a number of substantial shade trees including Banyan Trees (Ficus benghalensis) (c. 1900), Weeping Figs (Ficus benjamina), and Albizia ( Albizia julibrissin ). (c. 1970s). The trees are predominantly located at the livestock area at the south western side of the Showground with the exception of two. One is located at the entrance adjoining the caravan park and other behind the Keiry Hall exhibition hall.
Unnumbered: Curley Bells (1920s-1930s): These spectator stands named after their designer/builder are the original pre-fabricated seats constructed from welded piping and small steel sections. Seating is provided by 8 levels of hardwood board seats bolted to the framing and used as both steps and seats.
Unnumbered: stone pitched and concrete stormwater drains: (c 1910-mid 1920)
Two identified systems of stormwater drains measuring approximately 1.6 high and up to 2.5 metres wide in some areas are located within the showgrounds. These drains are constructed of a variety of methods including predominately large stone pitched and mortar walls with a ceiling of concrete with imprint of timber large planked formwork for square ceiling and small narrow boards for the barrel vault ceiling. More recent sections are concrete block with steel planked formwork imprint. One drain begins at the base of Castle Hill and runs on a north-south axis to traverse a portion of the Show ring from behind the poultry pavilion and exiting into the large stormwater canal near the cattle yards. The second stormwater drain runs on an east-west axis from Kings Road near Keiry Hall and runs between the Stud Cattle pavilion and caretakers cottage to exit into the large stormwater canal from the bottom of Payne street.
Additional structures in Section 1. These are not considered to be of cultural heritage significance and include:
22. Exhibition Hall/ Boxing facility (c1970s):
The building has a gabled roof, clad with corrugated steel supported on a simple prefabricated sectional lattice girders of welded angle iron bolted together. The eastern side has a skillion extension and a concrete floor is laid throughout. Access is gained from the southern Show ring side up a concrete ramp.
24. Exhibition building/greyhound pavilion (est. 1920)
Substantially altered in the 1970s the Townsville Greyhound Racing Club Building is an elongated pavilion measuring approx 49 X 8 metres and running parallel in-between Heatley Hall and the exhibition / Poultry and Bird Fancier Pavilion. The walls are constructed of concrete blocks and the place has a dominant concrete block front façade entrance wall. The front entrance wall has a decorative triangular motif which is also used as a decorative feature in the outer Show ring wall. Evidence of the earlier pavilion is apparent by the original single gable roof and rafters.
17. Main Complex Grandstand (c. 1980s)
Large contemporary concrete block building consisting of two levels with exhibition space on the ground level accessed through six steel roller door shutters located on the northern side and grandstand on part of the upper level accessed from the southern show ring side. Spectator seating of coloured moulded plastic seats is located on the north western side of the stand with wooden plank seating incorporating timber lumbar support on the north-eastern end. Enclosed function rooms are located behind the spectator seats with separate access stairs located into the upper level on the eastern end of the building. A large cantilevered corrugated steel roof on tapered steel beams provides cover over the seats.
18. Town & Country Club Function area and bar (c. 1980s)
Large contemporary three storied concrete block building incorporating ventilated exhibition space on the ground level, and enclosed first floor function area and second floor bar.
Unnumbered Spectator Stands: Numerous spectator stand of varying determinate age are positioned around the showground site. Noted for their movability, the stands are constructed primarily with steel frames with hardwood boards for seats. Seating is provided by usually 4-6 levels of hardwood boards bolted to the framing and used as both steps and seats.
Other buildings in this section include:
1. Administration - Concrete block building incorporating decorative concrete blocks in circular pattern along 1/3 of the front façade which is complete by aluminium framed glass window and entrance door. The building incorporates a low gabled roof sheeted in steel.
2. First Aid Building - Concrete block building with skillion roof and concrete planter boxes at the front. The building has a central access patio to two doors which can be secured via a single double iron gate.
4. Ross River Apex Club Building - Small rectangular concrete block building with low skillion roof and overhanging eave on one end. It has a roller shutter at the front and the building is situated on a concrete slab.
5. Rotary Club Townsville Central Building - Small rectangular concrete block building with low skillion roof and overhanging eave on one end.
6. Building known as "The Feed Lot" - Medium sized concrete block building with prefabricated sectional lattice girders of welded angle iron bolted together. Two full height roller doors are located on the right hand side of the building with a small access door to the kitchen located on the southern side. The public food service area is stepped back under a skillion roof and three roller shutters provide access to the servery counters.
7. Building known as "Sea FM Rock Shop" - Concrete block building with flat roof and roller door at the front as well as fixed pane window. Access is via a door on the western side.
8. Building known as "Benson Show Bag Arena" - Large concrete block building with skillion roof sheeted in profiled steel. Three full length roller shutters provide access to the building.
9. Building known as "Pauls for Life" - Small concrete block with curved concrete corners at front with a central servery window incorporating roller shutters. The building has a flat roof and curved feature signage above the shutters and two cut out tin icecreams fixed to the curved side corners.
10. Vacant building - Small concrete block building with gable roof and windows along the front..
11. Rotary Club building - Double storeyed concrete block building with roller door at the front on ground level. The upper level has a smaller room with access to the small verandah via a sliding glass door. The building has a flat steel roof.
12. Vacant building - Concrete block building with skillion roof and shutters at the front. Three glass louvre windows are set into the western wall which also includes a shutter roller door.
14. Vacant building - Concrete block building with skillion roof and shutters at the front.
16. Toilet block - Concrete structure with a skillion roof.
26. Shed-Large industrial shed with gable roof clad in corrugated steel and incorporating two vents.
27. Shed- Large open steel framed shed with skillion roof.
28. Toilet block - Small concrete structure with a skillion roof.
30. Port of Townsville Rotary Club Building¿ Concrete structure with flat roof.
31. Open shed - Bush pole open structure with gable roof.
32. Bar Facilities - Concrete block structure with a gable roof sheeted in profiled steel with awning overhang.
33. Rotary Club Building - Two small adjoining buildings; 1 x concrete block with flat roof ; 1 x rectangular small building clad in panels of fibre cement roof sheeted in profiled steel.
63. Toilet block - Concrete block structure with a gable roof.
Unnumbered: Arts and Craft Pavilion - Large open exhibition pavilion constructed of concrete block with a low gable roof sheeted in profiled steel. Entrance to the building is via a door in the eastern wall which can be secured via pair of steel gates.
Un numbered: Two memorials, 1 x large rock with brass plate set on a red painted concrete pad; 1 x steel drinking fountain, set on a red painted concrete pad.
Section 2. The second area is largely associated with agricultural and stud stock breeding programmes with display areas and exhibition pavilions located at the southern side of the showground adjacent to Woolcock Street. Principal elements of cultural heritage significance include:
50 & 53. Stud Cattle Pavilion (c. 1890s): The Stud Cattle Pavilion (70 x 9 metres) comprises of a long building (45.7 metres) and a shorter building (18.3 metres) separated by an open area (6 metres) with a small parade ground outside the northern entrance which is shaded by a mature Albizia ( Albizia julibrissin ). Both buildings are of similar rural vernacular construction with inner and outer bush timber pole columns supporting a gable roof of corrugated galvanised steel sheeting on sawn hardwood rafters and beams and are painted white internally. The side walls are clad in painted corrugated galvanised steel on timber rails fixed to the outer bush timber poles with openings, for light and ventilation, covered in an open steel mesh spaced along their length. Bolted along the rails are various styles of forged iron and steel rings for tethering cattle. A skillion roofed storage area has been added to the southern side of the longer building.
The main public access to the longer building is via a central entry through the northern wall to a central aisle and through the eastern end. This end has a high opening of about 4 metres. The gable end is horizontally boarded with spaced vertical boards up to about 2.5 metres completing the end wall. The pavilion has two enclosed tack rooms in a central location on either side of the pedestrian corridor. These small rooms are sheeted in painted corrugated galvanised steel of one sheet length height. Extending above the corrugated iron and up to the rafters are timber slats. Both small rooms have double timber doors. One set of doors is painted with barnyard motifs in a naïve style.
The open area between the buildings accommodates two wash down stalls, and a drinking trough. This open area provides the main access into the shorter building and minor access into the long building. The shorter building has an overhead deck constructed at approx 2 metre height on hardwood joists and pine flooring on both sides of a central way. The pavilion has two enclosed tack rooms at the eastern end of the pavilion on either side of the pedestrian corridor at the point of entry. A concrete floor runs through the full length of the Stud Cattle Pavilion.
44. The Dairy Pavilion (c. 1939): A gable roofed building with skillion additions to both sides roofed with corrugated galvanised steel on simple bolted hardwood trusses to the gable and hardwood rafter construction to the skillions all supported on steel pipe columns. The gable end, southern sidewall and rear wall are clad in corrugated galvanised steel whilst the northern side of the building is open. The front wall has vertical hardwood slabs to either side of two central vehicle access openings and a central placed sign indicating the pavilion.
Internal dividing partitions are of vertical corrugated steel sheeting with livestock pens framed in steel piping to either side of the building. The smaller (poddy calf) pens are along the northern side. The building is unpainted and has a concrete floor.
On the right hand side of the dairy pavilion are a series of open air blue painted steel pipe livestock stalls which run the full length of dairy and long the northern side of the cattle yards and end at the cattle ramps located at the Cattle Sales Arena.
39. Cattle yards (c. 1970) Extensive cattle yards are contained in 8 sections which include over 100 cattle stall partitions. Fence post are former rail track sections with a top plate and middle rails of steel piping, with welded infill of galvanised reinforcing mesh. Each stall is serviced by a water trough with water reticulated from a raised central water system with intermittent taps. Six aisles allow pedestrian inspection of the yards and each aisle has a concrete pavement with a square paved pattern and laid to a fall. Several shade trees are present in the cattle yard area. All trees are introduced species.
39. Cattle Sales Arena (c.1970): Adjoining the cattle yards is a part open purpose designed stand for the auction of cattle and horses. The arena has U shaped plan of tiered seating around the sales pen and a raised auctioneers platform over the gate entry to the sales pen. The construction is steel pipe framing with an aluminium roof sheeting on hardwood rafters. The tiered seating is of hardwood boards fixed on angle iron supports in a slat style. Adjoining the sales arena are two loading ramps constructed of concrete and steel pipe rails. Two timber carved cattle heads adorn two posts to indicate the cattle area.
51. Horse Stalls (c. 1970): Located on the left hand side of the dairy pavilion the horse stalls are constructed from former rail track sections used as fence posts with stalls created by steel pipe horizontals in-between the columns. The skillion roof has steel pipe rafters and is sheeted with corrugated steel roof sheeting. The horse stalls provide an ambulatory link between the former dairy pavilion and the Stud cattle pavilion. Ample shade is afforded to the horse stalls by least two Weeping Figs (Ficus benjamina).
52. Caretakers House (c. 1920): Located near the Woolcock Street boundary fence, the house has a hipped roof, sheeted in corrugated short sheet steel with skillion awnings to the enclosed verandahs. The house is raised above ground level with access stairs from within the Showgrounds.
38. Toilet & shower amenities (post 1950): Timber framed separate male and female toilet and shower facilities sheeted with painted corrugated galvanised steel to skillion roof and walls. Facilities are located at the south eastern end of the Show ring near the cattle sales arena.
Additional large structures in Section 2: These are not considered to be of cultural heritage significance and include:
41. Shearing Shed pavilion (post 1970) Nestled between mature Banyan trees (Ficus benghalensis), the Shearing Shed pavilion is a part open building measuring approx 10 x 6 metres. The pavilion has a gable roof constructed of corrugated galvanised steel on timber trusses supported on hardwood beams. The columns are painted timber poles and the building has hardwood flooring. The walls are clad with of corrugated galvanised steel on the south and western walls as well as part of the rear eastern wall. The remainder of eastern elevation and the north elevation is open for practical shearing demonstrations to be easily viewed. The building is raised approx 1.5 m from the ground with a mesh fenced area below. Underneath and at the front of the building is as series of low constructed sheep pens with dividers to separate the animals. A timber ramp with timber slats is located on the eastern end giving access for livestock to ascend into the building through an animal access door. The shearing deck has steel framed sheep pens and access gates with an opening to a steel slide down for the shorn. An electrical motor is suspended under the roof framing and a steel framed wool press stands unattached on the floor
Located in front of the Shearing Shed pavilion are up to five freestanding spectator stands constructed of steel pipe framed and hardwood boards for seats fixed to light steel angle sections.
48 Workshop: The workshop is a large workshop shed with central wall under double gable roof and skillion attached to the southern end. All walls are clad with corrugated galvanised steel sheeting. A formed concrete livestock ramp incorporating welded pipe adjoins the workshop
54 Stables: Purpose built single stall stables constructed of steel pipe framework with a prefabricated sectional lattice girders of welded angle iron bolted together. Steel pipe horizontals are in-between the columns and the southern wall is partly clad to provide weather protection of stalls. The skillion roof is clad with corrugated steel roof sheeting and the floors are concreted throughout.
58 Stables: Double bay horse stalls with a central wall constructed of concrete block with prefabricated sectional lattice girders and columns of welded angle iron bolted together. The gable roof is clad with corrugated steel roof sheeting and the floors are concreted throughout. A second single stall stable is located adjacent to the perimeter fence and constructed similar of stables 54. It runs parallel to the double bay stable with a grass exercise area in-between the two.
40. Liquor pavilion: (post 1970) The building has a gabled roof, clad with proformed corrugated steel roof supported on simple prefabricated sectional lattice girders of welded angle iron bolted together. The walls are constructed of concrete block and internal floor is concrete. A row of louvre windows on the northern side enables public viewing of events in the Show ring. Additional lighting is achieved through a series of hollow concrete blocks set into the wall. Access to the liquor pavilion is gained from the eastern end of the building and the building forms part of a cluster of exhibition pavilions near the livestock section of the showground which includes 42, 43, 45, 46 & 47.
43. Cooking pavilion: The building has a gabled roof, with the exterior clad with corrugated steel with a concrete floor laid throughout. Access is gained from the southern showground side.
42. Cat & Cavy pavilion: A skillion roofed infill building clad in horizontally applied corrugated steel sheets the pavilion adjoins both the liquor pavilion, 40, and the cooking pavilion, 43.
45. Pavilion: recent prefabricated modern garage structure with double roller doors and access ramp.
46. Open shed: recent prefabricated steel shed
47. Sharks Touch Football Club House: - The building has a gabled roof and the exterior is clad with corrugated steel with a concrete floor laid throughout. Access is gained from the southern showground side through three doors, two which incorporate access ramps.
Un numbered: Goat pavilion - Located between the workshop and stables 54 & 58 the goat pavilion is constructed from small sections of former railway rail track used as part columns and with stalls created from steel pipe horizontals in-between the columns with reinforcing mesh infill. The construction has timber rafters and covered with corrugated steel roof sheeting.
Other structures in Section 2. These are not considered to be of cultural heritage significance:
55. Toilet Block - recent concrete structure with a skillion roof shaded by adjoining large Banyan Tree.
57. Lions Bar facility: - Concrete structure with flat roof.
59 & 60. Swabbing stall, Stewards rooms, Announcers Stand: - Small rectangular adjoining buildings with one divided into two rooms and both clad concrete block masonry. An announcer's stand is above the swabbing room and adjoining the show ring and access is provided via a small flight of stairs.
Unnumbered large shed: (2008) Large corrugated steel sheeted building with gable roof adjacent to the perimeter fence located in-between stables 56 and the caretakers cottage 52.
Unnumbered: Perimeter fence: Three quarters of the showground is contained behind a perimeter fence which is largely constructed of timber and corrugated steel sheeting with the exception of the Ingham Street side which incorporates concrete block masonry and the caravan park side which is not fenced at all. Cyclone mesh fencing also secure certain areas of the showground.
","history":"The Townsville Showground was established in 1882 by the North Queensland Pastoral and Agricultural Association [P & A Assoc.] which later became known as the Townsville Pastoral Agricultural and Industrial Association [TPA&I]. It remains in use as one of Queensland's premier showgrounds and continues to provide an important regional venue for the showcasing of North Queensland industrial, pastoral and agricultural products and businesses, and for athletics events and community and entertainment events. It retains a variety of structures erected between the mid 1890s and 1970s that have been important in the functioning of the showground. These include: exhibition halls, 1901 grandstand, show ring, poultry and livestock pavilions, a dairy, stabling and marshalling areas, gates, turnstiles, and Curley Bell stands.
Encouraged by a boom in settlement due to an expansion of the pastoral and goldmining industry, and in response to the formation of the National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland in 1875 and up and coming inaugural Exhibition to be held in Brisbane in August 1876, Townsville's civic and business leaders called for the establishment of the North Queensland Pastoral and Agricultural Association [P & A Association], at a meeting held in June 1876. Before a suitable site could be secured, the first Townsville Show was held in 1880 with agricultural and pastoral products displayed in the Botanical Gardens reserve and industrial and horticultural exhibits at the School of Arts.
From its inception, the Association was reflective of regional interests. In 1880, office bearers included country delegates from Hughenden, Lilliesmere, Towerhill, Woodstock, Herbert River, Charters Towers, Bluff Downs, Greenvale, Woodhouse, Mount Stuart, Dotswood, Dalrymple, Reedy Springs, Lyndhurst, Wandavale and Herbert River.
In the late 1870s the P & A Association applied to the colonial government for 16 acres (6.47 ha) at West End to be set aside as a reserve for show purposes. In January 1881, a deed of grant was issued to the Association trustees for 10 acres (4.04 ha) of Crown Land to be reserved for a showground on Flinders Street West, later known as Ingham Road. At the time the new showground adjoined several reserves including the Defence Force Reserve, the Pound Reserve and the Manure Depot. This later provided room for expansion of the grounds as well as setting up establishing a long relationship between the defence force and Show Association in regards to usage of the defence drill hall for exhibition space.
The first show was held at the new showground in 1882, and it was quickly realised by the P & A Association at the time that the area was an insufficient to service the showground events with no dedicated show exhibition space or to provide a flexible sporting venue for the growing community. As a result the showgrounds were expanded in 1888 to take in the Manure Depot and the Pound Reserve covering a total area of over 30 acres (12.14 ha).
From the beginning the Townsville showground precinct was a venue where the community could meet, showcase its pastoral and agricultural produce; introduce new agricultural ideas and technology; and provide a much anticipated meeting place for the community to gather, meet relatives, and socialise. Prominent North Queensland pastoralists and agriculturalists used the venue to showcase their horses, promote their interest in breeding stock and encourage future growth in the region. In addition to stud stock, exhibitions reflected the major influence of wool, timber reserves, coffee, horticulture and minerals indicative of the pastoral, agricultural, and mining industries throughout the region. It also provided an outlet where the products of women's labour associated within the domestic environment were exhibited including displays of cookery, needlework, millinery, arts and taxonomy. In addition children were encouraged to enter events which displayed their prowess in the execution of schoolwork. Events attracted both professional and amateur participants and contributors travelled from west beyond Hughenden to take advantage of the opportunity to restock provisions, network and get together. Between Shows sporting groups took advantage of the broad even grounds with the Townsville Rugby Football Club playing regular games from July 1889.
In 1890, keeping with the principles to hold a premier regional event, the P & A Assoc. passed a motion to select country judges for the pastoral classes from around Queensland rather than select locally to ensure that the events retained a competitive edge. Successful competitors with prize exhibits from the Townsville Show were forwarded by the P & A Assoc. Committee for entry into the Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland Show (RNA) in Brisbane. The RNA encouraged the Townsville exhibits to be showcased at the Brisbane Exhibition, to attract interest and investment in the north. Some events such as horse competitions worked on an accumulated points system across various regional events and shows. Those with the highest points at the end of the Townsville Show were able to enter into the RNA competitions.
Freight concessions to assist the Show circuit came from a range of transport providers including the shipping company Howard Smith & Sons, and the Railway Department provided free livestock exhibit freightage for Show exhibits from and between local and regional show centres and for Show Champions sent to the RNA
An increasingly strong attendance and event participation at the Townsville Show resulted in a shortage of exhibition space. Up until this point the exhibitions were held in the Drill Hall named the "Norman Hall", but this remained unsatisfactory as it was not always available and the alternative arrangement of using the School of Arts separated exhibition contributors from the showgrounds. In 1891 the Society committee borrowed bank finance for the erection of purpose-built exhibition buildings and pavilions. However, the upgrading of the showground coincided with a severe national economic downturn. This, combined with a devastating drought in North Queensland, impacted so greatly on the regional community that the Show was cancelled for the next two years due to lack of funds as well as exhibits.
In order to boost attendances following the recommencement of the Show in 1894, the Association made a request to the Railway Department to expand it benevolent contribution and run Show excursion trains from Hughenden to Townsville and Ravenswood to Townsville. It was noted 'District residents took the opportunity to visit the town on these festive occasions and in a very short time were prominent amongst the successful exhibitors. Continued staunch support from the surrounding districts has played a big part in the success of the Townsville Pastoral and Agricultural Society Association.'
As other pastoral and agricultural associations were established in emerging North Queensland towns in the late nineteenth century, the name of the Townsville-based association was changed to the Townsville Pastoral and Agricultural (TPA & I) Association. A circuit pattern of show days was developed in consultation with towns across North Queensland, culminating in the Townsville show held each year in July. Goodwill between local businesses and the TPA& I Association provided an excellent reciprocal arrangement with many businesses contributing substantial event prizes which encouraged good participant rates. In turn, businesses benefited economically from the free advertising in the months leading up to the Show. Co-operation between local businesses, event organisers and the TPA& I Association extended well beyond the gazetted Show day with the Townsville Showground precinct used regularly for sports and athletics as well as for Trotting events.
Following the devastation of Cyclone Sigma in January 1896, a major thrust of expansion and upgrade to the showgrounds was proposed including the provision of 30 new iron cattle pens, enlargement of the ring (which also included plans for the addition of an outer show ring) and a 400 seat grandstand. While exhibition pavilions and dairy and livestock facilities had continually improved since the first show, the lack of a grandstand did not reflect the prestige of the Townsville Show. In particular, since a new grandstand was planned to be constructed at the Cluden Racecourse in late 1896, discussions had been underway to make provision for one at the Showground.
Tunbridge & Tunbridge, one of Townsville's principal architectural firms and designer of the Cluden Racecourse grandstand [QHR 600924], were requested to submit an estimate for the upgrade. The Tunbridge brothers [Walter Howard and Oliver Allan] had entered into partnership in Townsville in 1887, and soon developed a substantial North Queensland architectural practice with offices in Charters Towers and later Rockhampton. Tunbridge and Tunbridge designed many Townsville hotels, including the Metropole [1887], Victoria Park [1896], Lowth's [1897], Victoria Bridge [1900], Empire [1901], Sovereign [1904] and Carriers Arms [1906]. Over the course of 1897 discussions were held as to the best grandstand location for superior Show ring views. A totalizator was also planned to be incorporated into the structure to service the Trotting events.
Tenders for the grandstand were called in February 1901. The grandstand, 96ft in length and 47ft deep [approximately 29.2m x 14.3m] was to be erected on a mound 176ft long and 40ft deep. The gentle rise to the building was designed to have no steps with seats rising in tiers from the ground in front of the grandstand. In the centre was a stair well leading down below the stand and giving access to the luncheon room below. A bar, kitchen, lavatories and rest room were accommodated in this sub-floor. Bricks were used to support the foundations and retaining wall of the building with timber and iron used for the superstructure. To make good use of the prevailing breeze it was proposed the building face east-west and incorporate louvres on the top tier to the roof. Incorporating a decorative balustrade, the structure was designed to accommodate up to 1000 persons.
With the addition of a new grandstand, the Townsville Showground was complete as a dedicated showground facility offering numerous exhibition halls, substantial cattle yards, horse and dairy buildings and poultry sheds with the show ring neatly encompassed by a white picket fence.
In early 1903 Cyclone Leonta crossed the coast causing widespread devastation to Townsville including the showground. Three months later in a show of public unity the community held a grand opening of the Show to welcome the officiating Vice Regal party including the Governor Sir Herbert and Lady Chermside, and Premier Hon. Robert Philp. The official party and record crowd of over 3500 people were entertained by a display of horse events staged by station owners taking the prime opportunity to show their purpose bred remounts with a view of securing trade overseas.
In 1913 the Showgrounds grounds were again the central venue where the community could gather. To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of Townsville a Jubilee carnival was promoted by the Townsville and District Development Association. Nearly all major celebrations and community events finished at the Townsville Showground, which provided a fitting venue for the community to enjoy the fireworks display after the opening torchlight procession from the centre of town. Over the next week the community and region enjoyed a number of sporting and novelty events, including bicycle races, athletics, children's sporting events and music contests bringing in competitors from Cairns, Mareeba and Charters Towers and attracting state of the art mechanical entertainment in the form of a steam powered merry-go-round.
In the 1910s the Townsville Municipal Council began a series of drainage works programme in the West End area. From 1913 onwards substantial stormwater drains were constructed to direct the flow of water from Castle Hill to counter the effects of tropical downpours. Consisting of large concrete and stone pitched storm water drains and with at least two drains traversed the Showgrounds and the scope of the drainage programme was not fully completed in the mid 1920s. These works enabled a review of the Showground facilities with low lying areas of the grounds built up, boundary fences extended, new turnstiles installed and the popular poultry and bird fanciers pavilion extended.
In absence of a major exhibition facility, the adjacent military drill hall had long been used as the major exhibition hall. The special relationship between the Defence Force and TPA & I Association was reinforced though Memorial Day sports and demobilisation events in support of the returned local men who had fought during World War I. To acknowledge their efforts the Association Committee resolved to admit free of charge any soldiers in uniform, with no charge for machinery exhibits for returned soldiers engaged in agricultural pursuits. In 1918, Alfred Barton Brady, Government Architect for Queensland, oversaw the design of the Defence force Drill Hall. The name of Andrew Irving - a successful architectural draftsman with the Queensland Public Works Department - appears on the drawings. The new Drill hall was constructed around 1919 within the former defence force reserve of four acres. To be used '... for horticulture, preserves, arts and crafts, children's section, caged birds and district exhibits.' An open parade ground was located between the show ring and the Drill Hall.
In 1924 the show circuit in North Queensland encompassed Mackay, Proserpine, Bowen, Ayr, and Charters Towers, and as far west as Hughenden, with the Townsville show being the premier event in the circuit.
Sideshows were discouraged from the Townsville show prior to the 1920s, as it was felt that they attracted an undesirable class of people who might disrupt the 'respectable' show proceedings. The fractious relationship between the sideshow men and the Queensland Chamber of Agriculture spilled over in the early 1920s with the sideshow men in Townsville staging a protest march, complete with a procession of ponies and posters, advocating a boycott of the TPA&I Show. When eventually admitted, the sideshow men were confined to a small area between the butcher shops and the poultry pavilion. One of the first sideshows to gain access to the Townsville show was the Sharman and Staig Boxing Troupe in 1924. Within 15 years the Showmen's Guild played an integral role in the Townsville Show.
By 1929 the showground improvements included a grandstand, exhibition hall, secretary's office, committee room, fat cattle yards, stud and dairy cattle stalls, dog shed, poultry pavilion and pavilions erected by various firms. The grounds were enclosed by an 8ft high iron fence and the show ring by a picket fence, and "at intervals along the boundary, magnificent trees give a cool and picturesque appearance to the surrounds" (Brisbane newspaper article cited in Thuringowa Library Heritage Services Information Sheet Number 12).
During the severe economic depression of the early 1930s a flood of public support resulted in a range of planned fundraisers and benefits which ensured that the Show continued throughout the Depression The Depression also gave rise to other community activities staged at the Showground, including a soup kitchen to cater for the large number of itinerant workers or for those just down on their luck, and as a camp ground for the 9th and 49th Battalions' reunion held in conjunction with the 1933 Townsville Show week.
An increase of grounds use led to improved event facilities with additional seating offering trackside viewing provided via a series of eight-tiered stands. Constructed by local manufacturer Curley Bell during the late 1920s and early 1930s and later modified to incorporate safety rails, the viewing stands became affectionately known as the 'Curley Bell's'. The new stands provided better views of trotting events, which were reintroduced in 1939 with competitors and spectators from far and wide. By 1939, the Townsville Show was described in the popular Cummins & Campbells Monthly Magazine as the 'Show Window of the North; but it is more than that.' The precinct was regarded as a community facility, as evidenced from the expanding repertoire of events throughout the 1930s including a Gymkhana, motor cycle racing, a rodeo and greyhound racing.
In the late 1930s concerns were raised at each TPA&I Association committee meeting about the Showground's ability to provide adequate exhibition space. The overcrowding of exhibits made it evident that a larger exhibition hall was necessary if the Townsville Show was to continue to attract ongoing competitors and exhibitors as well as businesses and suppliers of goods and services. Local architectural firm W & M Hunt were approached to design an exhibition hall on the brief that it could also fulfil the additional roles of dance hall and rentable picture theatre. However, the final design was based upon a commercial warehouse that belonged to Heatley and was being constructed at the time in Ogden Street. To accommodate the new hall the dairy pavilion was removed and reassembled closer to the stud cattle pavilion in the south-eastern end of the grounds, and was upgraded with new milking pens and additional iron fencing. New horse stalls were constructed along the Parkes Street fence line to make up for the shortage of stabling accommodation for visiting horses.
Messrs Hanson & Sons successfully tendered £6130 for the construction of the new Exhibition Hall in late November 1937. When completed in 1939 the hall provided ample floor space for exhibits and for dancing purposes, being one of the largest dance venues in North Queensland. Three large sliding doors along each side of the hall and another at each end offered ample ventilation. Lighting was achieved by three lantern lights running along the ridge of each of the two gable roofs. Access to the dance hall was through the main entrance fronting Flinders Street (Ingham Road). After World War II this hall became known as Heatley Hall, in memory of Mr TL Heatley, one of the longest serving members and former president of the TPA&I Association.
In April 1942 the Australian Army seconded the showground for military purposes and the annual Show was suspended for three years. The advance parties of HQ 5 Division and 29 Infantry Brigade had arrived in Townsville and the Divisional HQ personnel were accommodated in the Showgrounds. Additional prefabricated warehouses were constructed at the showground in 1942-1943 (including the No.4 Bulk Store, later known as Keiry Hall).
Regular Saturday night dances were held in the Heatley Hall to provide entertainment for local citizens and troops alike. Many local couples met and courted here during the war. During the three raids on the city by Japanese flying boats operating out of Rabaul in late July 1942, West End residents took advantage of the large concrete and stone-pitched storm water drains (approximately 1.6 high and up to 2.5 metres wide in some areas) at the Showground as unofficial air raid shelters. When WWII was proclaimed officially over the Victory Parade procession marched from the central business district and ended at the Townsville Showground where sideshow entertainment was provided for the crowd.
At the completion of the war the annual pattern of Show planning and activities recommenced and the northern circuit reformed. Local and regional show-goers travelled to attend the premier event and dressed up to enjoy a day 'at the show'. For many it was the annual opportunity to meet relatives, socialise with friends, and have a photograph taken in their best clothes. For some it was the only opportunity to have a photograph taken.
By 1951, through the incorporation of former Army buildings, the showground facilities had expanded to include three exhibition halls, a grandstand, extended agricultural and pastoral stalls for cattle and horses, dairy stalls and milking shed, as well as poultry and dog enclosures, a caretaker's office, association offices, a Pacific Ice cream booth, re-positioned entrance and side gates, as well as ticket offices and the Curly Bell stand. During this period the North Queensland pastoral industry renewed its breeding effort to produce a breed of cattle resilient to northern climatic conditions. As a result, the Townsville Show hosted the Brahman cattle breed for the first time in 1952 and the Santa Gertrudis in 1953. Both breeds were received by an enthusiastic crowd.
In 1969 the North Queensland regional Show circuit included: Rockhampton, Mackay, Proserpine, Home Hill, Charters Towers, Bowen, Ayr, Townsville, Ingham, Malanda, Atherton, Innisfail, Cairns, Mossman, Collinsville, Tully with a broader show circuit to Brisbane. Townsville Show competition categories were either 'District' or 'Local'. District events embraced any area North of the 24th parallel (app. Gladstone) and west to the Queensland border. Local entries were drawn from Townsville, Thuringowa, Ayr, Dalrymple, Charters Towers and Hinchinbrook. The Railway Department continued to provide free livestock exhibit freightage for Show exhibits from and between local and regional show centres and for Show champions to the RNA. Excursion tickets were available for outlying towns and this practice continued into the 1970s. Road freightage was subsidized under The State Transport Act 1960 for the movement of livestock, machinery and produce to and from the Show.
In 1971 the new cattle yards incorporating water troughs and a cattle sale arena complete with auctioneers platform were made available to the North Queensland Livestock and Property Brokers Produce Association for cattle sales. The Townsville Show also encouraged regional charities and organisations such as the Queensland Bush Children's Fund, H.M. Prison Farm and Rural Youth Clubs to exhibit and raise money.
The impact of cyclone Althea in 1972 provided the impetus for a major expansion and modification program to cater for changing Showground requirements. Every building sustained damage. Those that incorporated cyclone bracing survived relatively intact - such as the current Poultry Shed and Heatley Hall; others - such as the betting shed, caretaker's cottage, pig pavilion and Keiry Hall - were severely damaged or collapsed such as the Drill Hall (known as the Garbutt Hall). The show ring track was extended to its current elliptical shape to better cater for racing interests such as harness racing and motor cycle and bicycle races, and an officials' box was constructed to oversee the greyhound racing. The ring was enclosed by a new fence constructed of concrete block with cyclone mesh fencing. The fence, incorporated a decorative triangular pattern which was also used in the upgrade to one of the oldest Exhibition pavilions adjoining the Heatley Hall.
When the show ring was extended the main grandstand was dismantled and relocated to its current position. Without the advantage of the earth mound and front spectator seats, two new steel access stairs were added. A second grandstand was constructed to provide additional seating and exhibition /office space. The Showground continually changed from the mid 1970s with nearly all of the substantial shade trees along Ingham Road removed, and smaller buildings constructed. Around the back of the ring where the cattle yards had previously stood, a large liquor booth was constructed as well as a Cat and Cavy pavilion, a kitchen, additional ablution blocks, additional horse stalls, and various smaller buildings.
The Townsville Show remains popular with the local and regional community and continues to enjoy record attendances. In 2007 over 59,000 show attendees were registered over the three-day and four-night event while in 2008 this number expanded to approximately 63,300. The contemporary range of entertainment and cultural activities conducted at the Showground have expanded to cater to extreme sports events, public rock concerts and providing a venue for motor homes and motor bike clubs while maintaining a strong emphasis on attracting use by local community clubs and not-for-profit organisations.
","criteria":"In use as a showground since 1882, the Townsville Showground is integral to the important Queensland showground circuit that culminates in the annual Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland [RNA] Exhibition in Brisbane. It remains one of the longest-running showground facilities outside Brisbane and is one of North Queensland's premier showgrounds.
The place provided an important venue for showcasing and facilitating the expansion of pastoral, agriculture and industrial production and innovation in North Queensland during the late nineteenth century and much of the twentieth century.
|The Townsville Showground, developed between the 1880s and the 1970s, is an intact regional showground facility which demonstrates the principal elements characteristic of its type. These include: exhibition halls, grandstands, the Curley Bell stands, show ring, poultry and livestock facilities, dairy sheds, stabling and marshalling areas, as well as gates and turnstiles.
The 1901 grandstand at the Townsville Showground is one of two major grandstands designed and constructed in the late nineteenth/early twentieth century by Tunbridge and Tunbridge, one of Townsville's principal architectural firms and designers. The other grandstand is located at Cluden Racecourse (1896) [QHR 600924]. It is important in illustrating the quality of their design work.
|The place has a strong social significance for generations of Townsville and North Queensland families who have attended the annual pastoral and agricultural exhibitions since 1882. The 1901 grandstand and Heatley Hall have particular social significance as the place where families enjoy watching events and where couples court.
The place remains important as a venue for major regional community and entertainment events.
The place is important as one of the few venues where the products of women's and children's labour associated with the domestic and educational environments has been exhibited regularly since the late nineteenth century.
|Townsville Showground has a strong and special association with the important work of the Townsville Pastoral, Agricultural and Industrial Association in fostering the expansion of pastoral, agriculture and industrial production and innovation in North Queensland since 1882.
|The Townsville Showground incorporates elements that are aesthetically significant including the Tunbridge & Tunbridge grandstand (1901), interwar amenities blocks, Heatley Hall (1939, the Stud Stock pavilions (c.1890s), entrance gates, ticket boxes, Curley Bell stands (1920-30s), poultry pavilion, show ring and mature Banyan trees.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion G | Criterion H | Criterion E","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place 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 | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":29044,"place_ref":602652,"name":"Mt Spec Road and Little Crystal Creek Bridge","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Mt Spec Road","suburb":"CRYSTAL CREEK","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2008-10-30","description":"The Mt Spec Road, Crystal Creek stretches approximately 18km from its junction with the old Bruce Highway to the western outskirts of Paluma, north Queensland. It includes the bridge over Little Crystal Creek, which is located about halfway along the Mt Spec Road.
Although originally a gravel road, the Mt Spec Road now has a bitumen surface and rises some 885m up the Range. The road is two way. It has never been widened, and the original route and character of the road has been retained.
The Little Crystal Creek Bridge comprises a single span arch, constructed of concrete but faced with stone. It spans the Little Crystal Creek Gorge in Paluma Range National Park. The Bridge has an aesthetically pleasing design, and is particularly photogenic, being in a very scenic location.
The original Little Crystal Creek Main Roads campsite that was used for the construction of the Bridge is now a car park developed by Queensland Parks and Wildlife in the 1990s. The car park at Little Crystal Creek is located on the left-hand side of the road for visitors to Little Crystal Creek Bridge and swimming hole, and part of this lies outside the heritage boundary, which is restricted to the road reserve. There is a large interpretive historical sign, including photographs, which was erected by Thuringowa City Council and Queensland Parks and Wildlife several years ago. Although a large part of the original dry stone wall in this location was removed during development of the car park, some sections still remain within the road reserve. Many of the stones of the wall were taken away and reused to build the walking track to Witt's Lookout at Paluma, although a pile of unused stones remain adjacent to the Witt's Lookout track.
There are several smaller concrete arch culverts, similar in construction to the bridge over Little Crystal Creek, and sections of dry stone walling (battering) and stone-paved gutters at various points along the full length of the road. The sections of stone guttering range from 10m to 140m in length and were constructed only where needed to divert run-off into pipe culverts. Most of the stone guttering occurs on the left-hand side of the road on the drive up the range, although one section of guttering survives on the outside of the slope, some 2.8 km from the beginning of the road. Over 200 reinforced concrete culverts, or 'pipe culverts', occur along the road.
Although it is now difficult to determine where many of the campsites used by the road workers during construction of the Mt Spec Road were situated, the location of The Saddle Campsite, some 10.3km from the beginning of the road, is marked by three ship's water tanks located within the road reserve. The tanks are about 1.2m square and about 1m deep (approximately 1000L capacity each).
There is a Main Roads Commission Benchmark tree located 265m ASL, some 4.8km from the start of the road. The tree is above the sealed road but within the road reserve, and although now dead, the blazed benchmark is very clear, and includes a broad arrow with "MR 51/2" marked on it.
At Paluma itself, some of the original white-painted round timber Main Roads guideposts still exist, for example, on the turnouts to Lennox Crescent. Although there were similar timber guideposts along the full length of the Mt Spec Road until a few years ago, most of these have been removed and replaced with modern metal/ plastic guideposts. One section of timber guard rail, however, remains at a location about 16km from the beginning of the road, providing evidence of the original post and rail construction.
There are spectacular views of Halifax Bay and the coastal plain as the road twists and turns up the Paluma Range.
","history":"Mt Spec Road and Little Crystal Creek Bridge, Crystal Creek, are situated in north Queensland, 61km north of Townsville. Mt Spec Road stretches some 18km from its junction with the old Bruce Highway to the western outskirts of Paluma. It provides access from the coastal plain, just 5km wide in this area, to the Paluma Range, which rises some 1000m above the Big Crystal Creek floodplain. The concrete arch bridge over Little Crystal Creek is a prominent feature of the landscape in this area, and is located about halfway along the Mt Spec Road. The bridge is a very common subject for photography by locals and visitors, and Little Crystal Creek is one of the most popular natural destinations for residents of the twin cities of Townsville and Thuringowa.
\nLobbying to build the Mt Spec Road took place over some 30 or so years, against a background of philosophical ideas of 'progress' and 'settlement' and the need for access to the areas west of Paluma for tin miners, timber cutters and farmers ('farmers access roads'), to the Paluma/Crystal Creek area itself for tourists and as a water supply for Townsville. This lobbying and the prolonged debate over the eventual location and construction of the road were also linked with the need to preserve features of the natural landscape. It took place amongst considerable controversy.
\nThe earliest European access to what is now Paluma probably followed Aboriginal pathways, and there were six tracks in the Herbert district in the 1880s and 1890s that provided direct access to Mt Spec. However, only a few of these tracks were suitable for horses; most were foot tracks, and the easiest access to the forest in this area of broken topography was from the west.
\nIn 1875 tin was discovered west of Paluma. It was soon realised that a good access road was required not only for the tin miners but also for visitors to the ranges, as the scenic beauty and temperate climate of the Paluma Range had been noted since the early 1900s. The Paluma Range area had been promoted for tourism and as a health resort from as early as 1902, when a correspondent from the North Queensland Herald visited the Mt Spec tin mines. The North Queensland Register of 28 July 1913 suggested that a township be gazetted at Cloudy Clearing, the original name for the site of Paluma, that a sanitarium be established in the ranges, and that 'the scrub' be protected.
\nSuccessful Townsville businessman, REA McKimmin, wrote in 1913 of the scenic attractions of Mt Spec:
\n\"...I have seen most of the Southern Beauty Spots...and have no hesitation in stating that Mt Spec would surpass them all in every way if properly opened up...the wonderful change of climate compared to Townsville during the summer months is difficult to describe...\".
\nSimilarly, Phillip Foxlee, a Mt Spec tin miner, wrote to Queensland Premier Theodore in 1925:
\n\"All the water comes pouring through this Gorge in one channel at the mouth...this Gorge [is] two miles wide for almost its entire length...and [is] crammed full of waterfalls on every side...I think eventually we will have people from all parts of the world through that Gorge and circle round back to Mt Spec...it is likely to be a National Park.\"
\nPublic interest in mountain retreats had endured from colonial times, when the summer's heat was to be avoided and recuperation at higher, cooler altitudes was prescribed for diseases such as tuberculosis, a trend which continued during World War II, when patients of the disease were still privately recuperating in Paluma. Mt Spec had become a popular weekend destination for visitors from Townsville and Ingham after World War I, and a series of 'ranches' and guesthouses had appeared long before the road was constructed. Most of these visitors walked in on foot, just as the tin miners had done.
\nBy 1920, the need to provide all-weather roads was a priority for Queenslanders - a response to the increased number of motor vehicles on the roads, and to the need to provide suitable infrastructure for an expanding economy. Queensland roads were in a deplorable condition, the result of haphazard planning by the then responsible but under-funded local government authorities. In the development of a road network, Queensland lagged far behind the other States. In response, the Queensland Government established the Main Roads Board in 1920 to oversee the construction of connecting roads and bridges and to provide funding to the local authorities involved. In 1925, the Main Roads Board became the Main Roads Commission under JR Kemp as Commissioner and continued the overseeing of road and bridge construction throughout Queensland. The Main Roads Board quickly realised that road and bridge specifications and other standards were urgently required to improve the quality of construction and establish a uniformity of practice. Road standards were therefore established, introducing three classifications of roads in 1925 and a single standard bridge design in 1922-1923. Two years later alternative designs were added to cater for different loadings, labelled First Class (later A Class) and Second Class (B Class). These standards did not change significantly over the next 80 years.
\nThe Main Roads Act 1920 provided that responsibility for roads and bridges be shared between local and state authorities, ensuring that road planning and building was coordinated beyond the scope of individual local authorities. Under the Act, roads could be gazetted as Main Roads outside towns if they were trunk roads joining towns which were not yet connected by railway; feeder roads linking farming areas to the existing rail network; and developmental roads, which were to open to closer settlement new areas of Crown Land. Under amendments to the Main Roads Act 1920, several new categories of declared roads were added, including in 1929-1930 Tourist Roads, which were intended to open up areas to tourist traffic. Seven Tourist Roads had been declared by June 1930, although limited work had been carried out on them, and these included the Mt. Spec Road, which therefore is one of the earliest declared Tourist Roads in Queensland. The inclusion of Mt Spec Road as a Tourist Road was largely due to influential Townsville businessmen, who with varied commercial, political and personal motives had brought together the various stakeholders to lobby for the construction of the road.
\nThe newly formed Main Roads Board and subsequent Commission were anxious to make a mark, a factor exploited by the various lobby groups around Townsville. These included organisations such as the Royal Automobile Club of Queensland (RACQ), which arose from the growth in motor vehicle traffic and had a particularly active membership in Townsville in the late 1920s, and the Townsville and District Development Association, which had been campaigning since the early years of the twentieth century for the State Government to open Mt Spec to settlement.
\nTownsville City Council was a powerful advocate for the construction of the Mt Spec Road. Mayor WH Green saw the potential of Mt Spec as a water catchment for Townsville, because in the 1920s Townsville's water supply could not meet demand, and access to a guaranteed supply was required for the growing population. Although the motivation to improve access to the ranges was both the quantity and quality of the water at Mt Spec, financial constraints and the location of the area outside Townsville City Council's jurisdiction within the Shires of Thuringowa and Hinchinbrook resulted in an unwillingness to commit Townsville City's own funds to the construction of the road. Many of Townsville City and neighbouring Councils¿ concerns over financial responsibility for the proposed road were, however, relieved by its gazettal as a Tourist Road in October 1929. Nevertheless, Mayor Green's vision for Mt Spec as a water supply for Townsville was not met until the end of 1954, with the official opening of the first pipeline from Big Crystal Creek to Townsville and later with the construction of the Paluma Dam in the 1960s.
\nThe construction of the Mt Spec Road finally came down to the State Government's need to deliver unemployment relief during the Great Depression and to provide quick scenic access to the proposed township at Cloudy Clearing in the ranges, for which Townsville branches of the Country and Progressive National Party had lobbied the Minister for Lands in 1931. There was otherwise mixed support for the road and its perceived benefits compared to its potential costs, particularly following the release of the Report of the Royal Commission on the Development of North Queensland in 1931. The purported economic benefits of the road were not clearly demonstrated. For example, potential timber reserves could be accessed by the road, a point made forcefully by state foresters to the Royal Commission, but logging areas within the Mt Spec State Forest had only been gazetted in the 1920s, the full extent of the timber reserves was unknown and the timber industry was only just beginning. Furthermore, tin mining was suffering a downturn, and the possibilities for farming on the tableland around Mt Spec that had been promoted by the Townsville and District Development Association were not readily apparent, with the only evidence that it was viable being fruits and vegetables grown in miners¿ clearings.
\nFinally, after an expedition into the ranges in 1924 by Townsville City Council and the RACQ, a motion was passed to request the Main Roads Board to undertake a survey of a road to Mt Spec, which was eventually carried out between 1929 and 1931. In November 1930, construction of the Mt Spec Road began with the clearing of about five miles of track from the railway line to the base of the Paluma Range. The new Main Roads Commission was responsible for surveying, designing and supervising the construction of the road. Apart from a few contractors, the only permanent staff were Commission employees. Labour was mostly unskilled and drawn from the region's unemployed men under Unemployment Relief Scheme funds that the Government insisted the Main Roads Commission deploy as a way of easing unemployment. The construction of the Mt Spec Road was the largest Unemployment Relief project in the region.
\nThe project was labour-intensive took five years to complete. Working conditions were hard and isolated. Initially, all workers were located in one large camp near the base of the range, No. 1 Camp, where a pipeworks was erected on Ollera Creek. There were four major campsites throughout the duration of the project, but it is difficult to determine the total number of camps accurately because, as work progressed, smaller satellite campsites were established near where significant work, such as the construction of concrete arch culverts, was being undertaken. Mango and lemon trees and passionfruit vines previously marked the locations of these campsites, but these have mostly been removed, so that it is now difficult to determine where the campsites were situated on the ground. The campsite at The. Saddle, some 10.1 km from the start of the road, was quite large, housing over 100 workers and being maintained over a period of three years. The camp was on level ground below the road on the right-hand side, and included the Main Roads Commission site office, a tool shed and a telephone. Three large ship's water tanks now mark the location of this campsite. These tanks stored water for the camp, being fed by a nearby creek. Water was transported to fill the tanks in dry weather.
\nSand was dug from the creek bed near No. 1 Camp for the hundreds of concrete pipes forming most of the culverts under the road. The eucalypt forest and then the rainforest, marked on Main Roads working drawings as 'vine scrub' or 'jungle', had to be manually cleared. Initially, the only mechanical aids were a few trucks, two tractors and two air compressors, with cuttings being blasted through the granite with gelignite and most work being done with picks and shovels. After the trees were cleared, horse-drawn ploughs broke up the softer earth, while horse-drawn scoops, wheelbarrows or mining trolleys on portable lengths of track removed the overburden. 'Tumbling tommies', small scoops that were towed behind the crawler tractors, were used later on.
\nThe significance of the project to Queensland's unemployment relief efforts was so great that the Governor, Sir Leslie Wilson, even visited for lunch, viewing progress on the road at No. 3 Camp, after travelling by train to Moongobulla and then up to the site.
\nIn keeping with one of the main purposes of the road and as construction continued, a series of guesthouses and camping grounds were established along its length due to the beauty of the scenery, with Barrett's Guesthouse providing for the single male workers and visitors to the construction site.
\nAs visitation to the Paluma Range increased, lobbying for the gazettal of a township continued, and with the head of works on the road still two miles from Paluma, the first auctions of lots were held in December 1934. The establishment of a township at Cloudy Clearing, now known as Paluma, had begun.
\nThe Mt Spec Tourist Road was opened by JG Jesson MLA on 18 July 1937, sponsored by the Townsville and District Development Association and some twelve months after the full length of the road had become trafficable by car.
\nThe Main Roads Commission also assumed responsibility for the provision of a range of tourist facilities, and in conjunction with the construction of the Mt Spec Road, built picnic areas and shelter sheds at Little Crystal Creek, The Saddle and at the top of the range; surveyed and built a network of walking tracks, some of which formed the basis for the present National Parks track system; and constructed scenic lookouts at The Saddle, The Loop (now McClelland's Lookout in honour of the Officer-in-Charge of construction), Star Valley and Widt's Lookout. Another innovation was the establishment of a 'motor camp' at Paluma in 1937, possibly the first motel in Australia, which continued to be managed by Main Roads for another twenty years.
\nIt is clear from the available evidence that the aesthetic appeal of the road was considered by the Main Roads Commission throughout its construction. The aesthetically pleasing design of the concrete arch bridge across Little Crystal Creek constitutes the best example of this. The final design of the bridge also illustrates the long-term thinking of the local Main Roads overseer and engineers, who had successfully lobbied Main Roads' head office in Brisbane for a radical change from the more usual second-class timber bridge to a first-class concrete bridge. On 8 June 1931, the District Engineer Townsville had written to the Secretary Main Roads Commission in Brisbane that \"from the aesthetic point of view a masonry arch should be considered, as it would harmonise with a rather picturesque spot.\" This variation was approved in January 1932 and contributed to an escalation in the final constructions costs of the project. Four stonemasons were employed during the construction of the Little Crystal Creek Bridge. Wages for the stonemasons and \"too much work dressing stone\", as noted by the District Engineer Townsville in June 1933, contributed to the excessive cost of the bridge. However, overall approval of the final result using unskilled labour as well as that of the stonemasons is apparent in the words of the Commissioner of Main Roads, who wrote in 1933 that the bridge was \"an illustration of the high quality of work which can be achieved by such labour skilfully directed.\" The Little Crystal Creek Bridge is reportedly the only concrete arch road bridge in Queensland that remains in service.
\nOther examples that illustrate the way in which the final aesthetic appeal of the road was taken into account during construction include the several smaller concrete arch culverts that still exist along the full length of the road, which are similar in construction to the bridge over Little Crystal Creek, and the sections of stone battering and stone-paved gutters that have survived despite subsequent road improvements and maintenance and natural weathering.
","criteria":"Mt Spec Road, which stretches approximately 18km from its junction with the old Bruce Highway to the western outskirts of Paluma and includes the concrete arch bridge over Little Crystal Creek, is important in demonstrating the evolution and pattern of North Queensland's history. The road was constructed between 1930 and 1936 and before the northern highway from Townsville to Ingham, at a time when Main Roads were still a new concept. It was constructed at the height of the Great Depression, using mostly unskilled labour and with the application of Unemployment Relief Scheme funds. Construction of Mt Spec Road was the largest Unemployment Relief project in the region. It was a difficult and ambitious project that eventually took six years to complete and is significant as a long-term regional project employing hundreds of men.
\nThe place is also important in demonstrating transport and communication patterns in North Queensland, and in particular the opening up of the Paluma Range to tourists, tin miners, timber cutters and farmers. The place is one of Queensland's earliest declared Tourist Roads, a new category of Main Road established under 1929-1930 amendments to the Main Roads Act 1920, and constructed under the auspices of the newly formed Main Roads Commission, whose responsibility was to guide the planning and construction of roads in Queensland.
|Mt Spec Road remains substantially intact throughout the 18km of its length and demonstrates an extensive and now uncommon use of concrete arch culverts, dry stone walling and stone-paved gutters.
The Little Crystal Creek Bridge on Mt Spec Road is the only identified Main Roads concrete arch bridge dressed with stone remaining in service in Queensland.
|Mt Spec Road is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of an early declared Tourist Road designed to open scenic locations to tourist traffic and constructed in hilly terrain by a large depression-era labour force using limited mechanical assistance. These characteristics include the extensive use of concrete arch culverts, dry stone walling and stone-paved gutters; the inclusion of a substantial concrete arch bridge over Little Crystal Creek rather than a less substantial timber structure; and the facing of the bridge and the arch culverts with stone.
|The concrete arch bridge over Little Crystal Creek is an aesthetically pleasing design in a picturesque location along the Mt Spec Road. The bridge spans the Little Crystal Creek gorge in the Paluma Range National Park, and has become representative of this scenic part of the landscape, being a very prominent feature commonly photographed by locals and visitors. The aesthetics of the stone-faced concrete bridge are repeated in the several smaller concrete arch culverts that are located along the full length of the road. The road affords spectacular views of Halifax Bay and the coastal plain.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion E","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":30539,"place_ref":645603,"name":"Range Hotel, Burial Ground and Camping Reserve","alternate_name":"700003","street_address":"Page Road (old Hervey Range Road)","suburb":"HERVEY RANGE","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2009-03-06","description":"The camping reserve comprises some 464 hectares in the Hervey Range, approximately 36 km southwest of Townsville. The topography of the reserve is relatively flat. However, to the west of the reserve the gradient increases dramatically immediately to ascending the Hervey Range. The reserve is bisected by the former Hervey Range Road (now renamed Page Road), the Hervey Range Developmental Road, and more recently by high voltage electricity transmission lines.
\nNative and introduced vegetation dominates the area, with Moreton Bay ash (Eucalyptus tesselaris), Poplar gum (E. platyphylla), Blue gum (E. tereticornis) and narrow leaved ironbark (E. crebra) being the most common species. There is a thick cover of grasses in the woodland understorey, comprising Black spear grass (Hetetopogon sp.) and kangaroo grass (Themeda spp.). Cocky apple (Planchonia careya) and native Gardenia (Kailarsenia ochreata) are common woodland species in the area. Introduced species include Lantana sp., mango trees (Mangifera sp.) and Agave sp.
\nThe former Hervey Range Road cuts through the reserve and continues to the top of the Hervey Range to Thornton's Gap. The route of the road is still clearly visible, particularly in the largely intact steep sections. There are some washed out sections on the climb up the range. The course of the road has changed little since its construction.
\nThe Range Hotel is no longer extant. Archaeological artefacts, including late 19th century bottle glass and ceramics indicate the likely location of the hotel. Agave plants at this site may have been part of the hotel garden. A small burial ground is located some 150 metres south of the former Hervey Range Road and Range Hotel site. The graves are overgrown with lantana and spear grass. There are three ornate sandstone headstones of a type often found in North Queensland burials dating before c.1880. No maker's names are present although it is likely the headstones were imported from Brisbane with the inscriptions added locally. The lettering on the headstones has weathered and one is lying horizontal on the ground. Each grave is encircled by white-painted stones. The graves have been identified as follows:
\n1. Francis Earl, a local squatter who died of fever at the Range Hotel on 12 March 1866. The inscription reads:
\nSacred to the Memory of
\nFrancis John Earl
\nDied at the Range Hotel
\nOn the 12th March 1866
\nAged 25 years
\nIn the midst of life we are in death
\n(verse illegible)
\n2. Mary Langton, a mother of three small children under 4 years old, who committed suicide by taking poison at the age of 28 years. Her husband, John Langton, carried goods from Townsville to Dalrymple Township. The inscription reads:
\nSacred to the Memory of
\nMary Langton
\nWho departed this life
\n6th December 1873
\nAged 28 years
\nThe Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away
\nBlessed by the name of the Lord
\n3. John Henry Bell, a child of 4 years, who died of inflammation of the lungs in May 1879. His father, Charles, was a carrier and lived at Bellgrove on the Hervey Range Road. The inscription reads:
\nIn loving memory of
\nJohn Henry
\nSecond son of
\nCharles & Mary Ann Bell
\nBorn 14th January
\nDied 11th May 1875
\nThe Langton and Earl headstones are aligned north-south about 8 m apart, with the Bell headstone between them, about 5 m northwest of the Langton headstone. The layout of the graves suggests that there may have been as many as five plots between the Langton and Earl burials and three rows of grave plots. The positions of the graves imply a possible original layout of at least 21 grave plots in three rows of seven. The graves were likely marked with wooden grave markers which have since been destroyed by fire, termites or fungal decay.
\nA dense concentration of archaeological material is located south of the former Hervey Range Road and the power transmission lines on the high bank of a creek. Some material is eroding into the creek bed. The surface artefacts are visible in a 20m2 area, although low visibility due to vegetation cover obscures the full extent of the site. Artefacts include glass bottle fragments and patterned ceramic fragments datable to the 19th century. This may be associated with a potential second hotel situated at the site. An old softwood tree (possibly Terminalia sp.) situated in the middle of this area bears a rectangular-shaped blaze on its trunk, measuring 60 cm x 30 cm.
\nThe remains of the Theiss Brothers camp in this area comprise wooden stumps, posts, concrete slabs, an old telephone line and a concrete explosives magazine. These remains represent another phase in the history and development of the camping reserve.
","history":"The Range Hotel, Burial Ground and Camping Reserve includes a section of the original route of the Hervey Range Road to Thornton's Gap, archaeological artefacts and a small burial ground associated with the former Range Hotel which was built in 1866, but is no longer extant. The Hervey Range Road was established c.1865-6 and extended from present day Townsville to Hervey Range at Thornton's Gap. At the base of the Hervey Range, at least one hotel was established in 1866 to service the increasing number of people and stock travelling along this early inland transportation route, and as a result a small community developed. In 1872, a camping reserve was also gazetted around the Range Hotel site to provide additional accommodation options. By the early 1880s, the introduction of the railway to Charters Towers resulted in a reduction in traffic along the road. The Range Hotel closed in 1884 and the adjacent sections of the Hervey Range Road became obsolete and fell into disrepair following construction of a deviation to the south in the 1970s.
Settlement in north Queensland occurred comparatively late in the history of European occupation of Australia (Allingham 1978:5). The Kennedy District was the first region opened for settlement in north Queensland, and was officially proclaimed from 1st January 1861 (Allingham 1978:1). The district comprised 51,000 square miles, extending to the north beyond present day Cardwell, west to the Great Dividing Range, and south beyond Mackay (Allingham 1978:1, 204).
The year 1861 witnessed a rush of settlers and squatters to the new district to secure pastoral runs. By the end of the year, the best runs were selected with 454 applications lodged for over 31,000 square miles of land (Allingham 1978:27). The rapid expansion west into inland Queensland necessitated the development of suitable transportation routes. The first inland road was surveyed by John Melton Black and built by employees of Black and Co. (later Towns and Co.) under the supervision of Andrew Ball, with a subsidy of £500 from the Government. The road was blazed in 1865 and ran due west from the present day Townsville across the Bohle and Alice Rivers and up what was then known as the Dalrymple Range (later Hervey Range) at Thornton's Gap to places further west and to the gulf. It was the only access to inland areas during the early years of settlement in the region.
The road was just a track, with the only steep part being the pull up to Thornton's Gap. Despite the steepness of this part of the route, it was still the easiest road from the northern parts of Kennedy District to the sea then blazed. The roads in this period were hazardous, rough, potholed and boggy during the wet season.
Hotels and wayside inns appeared along the major routes, and licensed hotels were established along the Hervey Range Road. As it could take up to four days for a bullock team and wagon to travel from Townsville to the foot of the Hervey Range, and then a further day to climb the range to Thornton's Gap to the Eureka Hotel, a market for accommodations was identified. At least one hotel and inn was established at the foot of the range, the Range Hotel, which was erected in 1865-6. There may have also been another at the foot of the range, called The Gate Hotel, possibly built close to The Range Hotel (Gibson-Wilde nd.:8), although little is known about this second hotel. Another hotel, the Eureka Hotel QHR 600923), was built at the summit of Thornton's Gap in 1865 at the time of the road construction.
The Range Hotel was built by James Edward Mead in c.1866. He is believed to have been the same person who tendered for the Heidelberg run on the Bowen River at Rockhampton in 1861, but never stocked it. Mead had originally applied for a licence for the Royal Oak, 25 miles from Cleveland Bay, but the hotel was named the Range when it was advertised in 1866 as being 20 miles from Townsville with two sitting rooms and six bedrooms (Gibson-Wilde 1984:218). The Range Hotel was a long single storey timber structure with a gable roof and front rooms opening onto the verandah (Illustrated Sydney News 1882). The hotel was 'very pleasantly situated' and the proprietor has added to the natural beauty by planting some Leichhardt trees around the house which looked very graceful' (Townsville Herald 13 November 1878).
The second proprietor, Robert Williamson, was also a carrier and is said to have been the first person, along with John Melton Black, to have taken wagons through Thornton's Gap. A small community grew up around the hotel, which is known to have included a blacksmith shop owned by John McNeill, and a small burial ground (Gibson-Wilde 1984:218).
In March 1866, a government gang started improving the road, although nothing was done to lessen the steepness of the ascent to Thornton's Gap. By December 1866, the road was being heavily used by carriers and travellers, and at times there could be 100 or more wagons strung out along the length of the road. In an attempt to recoup some of the cost of the road, the Department of Public Works installed a toll gate at the foot of the Range in 1867, adjacent to the Range Hotel (Gibson-Wilde and Gibson-Wilde 1988:86). The cost to carriers regularly using the road was high - 3 shillings for a two-wheeled dray or wagon, drawn by three or four horses, or four bullocks - prompting teamsters to find an alternate route inland. By the following year, the toll on Hervey Range Road had been removed altogether, and it was again being used by carriers, teamsters and travellers journeying inland and on to the Gulf of Carpentaria. It became known as the Georgetown Road, and it remained the main road from Townsville to Georgetown into the 20th century.
Gold was discovered near Charters Towers in late 1871 and in August 1872 the Charters Towers Goldfield was officially proclaimed. Following these discoveries, the Hervey Range Road also became an important transportation route for people journeying to and from these goldfields. In 1872, the area of land surrounding the Range Hotel and the road was also gazetted as a camping reserve (QGG 25 May 1872). The camp is marked on Robert L. Jack's Geological Sketch Map of the District between Charters Towers Goldfields & the Coast produced in 1878 as "Camp III" and it shown situated adjacent One Mile Creek, a branch of the Black River. Although the introduction of the railway from Townsville to Charters Towers reduced traffic on the Hervey Range Road in the 1880's, it remained a vital link with cattle stations in the inland and northern regions of the district (Gibson-Wilde and Gibson-Wilde 1988:218). The Range hotel finally closed in about 1884 (Gibson-Wilde and Gibson-Wilde1988:218).
In the 1930s, the road up the Hervey Range was upgraded using funds under a major unemployment relief scheme, allowing motor vehicle access to the top of the range for the first time since its construction in the 1860s. Thuringowa Shire Council regularly maintained the Hervey Range Road from the 1930s until it became obsolete with the construction of the Hervey Range Developmental Road in the 1970s.
During the construction of the Greenvale Railway Line in the 1970s, the camping reserve was used as a camp site for Thiess Brothers workers employed on the line.
References
Main source for information is the National Trust of Queensland entry THU 1/7 unless referenced otherwise.
Allingham, Anne (1978) Taming the Wilderness: the first decade of pastoral settlement in the Kennedy District, Studies in North Queensland History No.1, Townsville: James Cook University.
Gibson-Wilde, Dorothy (nd.) The Eureka Hotel - The Best Country Stand in North Queensland.
--- (1984) Gateway to a Golden Land: Townsville to 1884, Townsville: James Cook University Press.
Gibson-Wilde, Dorothy M. and Bruce C. Gibson-Wilde (1988) A Pattern of Pubs: Hotels of Townsville 1864-1914, Townsville: James Cook University.
Illustrated Sydney News 1882
Queensland Government Gazette, 25 May 1872
Townsville Herald, 13 November 1878, From Townsville to Dalrymple by "a Traveller"
","criteria":"The Range Hotel, Burial Ground and Camping Reserve have potential to reveal important information on aspects of Queensland's history, including early road construction techniques, early transport and communications, the development of a small, isolated community, and the earliest residents of the region. Features identified within the place include a section of the original Hervey Range Road to Thornton's Gap, the remains of the former Range Hotel, one of the earliest hotels and inns established in the region (c.1866), and an historical burial ground.
\nThe old Hervey Range Road is important in demonstrating early communication patterns in the Townsville region. The road is one of the few surviving examples of a roadway dating from early European settlement in the region and was the initial route inland from the port of Townsville to the hinterland areas. The camping reserve provided a resting place for travelers and livestock using the road between 1864 and the 1970s. The route of the road remains clearly identifiable within the camping reserve and beyond where it climbs up the Hervey Range.
\nArchaeological surveys of the section of the old Hervey Range Road (now known as Page Road) have the potential to reveal important information about early road construction techniques. The remains of the original route comprises one of only a few surviving examples of a roadway from the earliest European settlement period in north Queensland. The route of the road is still clearly identifiable in parts though additional archaeological investigations will aid the documentation of previously poorly understood changes to this once important transportation route.
\nThe Range Hotel, Burial Ground and Camping Reserve have potential to reveal important information relating to the development and survival of a small community during the period of early settlement in north Queensland. There is archaeological potential for substantial remains of the former Range Hotel and an associated settlement to be located near the site of the identified bottle dump and burial grounds. Little is known of the composition of this small, ad-hoc settlement, other than that it also included a blacksmith.
\nArchaeological investigations of the former hotel sites within the camping reserve have potential to reveal important information relating to the operation of, and custom of, early frontier hotels and lodgings. Analysis of materials from the former Range Hotel, and the speculated existence of a second hotel called The Gate Hotel, will help comparative analysis with other early frontier hotels situated along this and other important transport and communications corridors. Analysis of archaeological artefacts will help inform on the former Eureka Hotel (QHR 600923), which is situated at the top of Hervey Range and linked to this place by the old Hervey Range Road, and provide important comparative data for the artefacts recovered from other early hotel sites across Queensland.
\nThe burial ground adjacent to the former Range Hotel features one of the oldest extant headstones in the region, the grave of 24 year old Francis Earl, a local squatter who died of fever at the Range Hotel on 12 March 1866. The Range Hotel burial ground contains sandstone headstones that are highly characteristic of nineteenth century cemeteries in this region, with relatively ornate decoration typically found on graves dating from before c.1880. There is potential that the recorded burial ground contains additional graves (possibly as many as 21) which also date to the earliest European settlement of the Townsville region. Consequently, there is potential to provide new and important information that will contribute to our understanding of the early history and demography of settlement in the region, including but not limited to why burial grounds are found associated with hotels, why people were buried there and not in formal cemeteries, the patterning of burial grounds in the region.
\nThe Range Hotel, Burial Ground and Camping Reserve have potential for archaeological deposits associated with travellers journeying to and from the Charters Towers Goldfields and inland pastoral properties. Analysis of these archaeological remains will provide important insights into the materials being transported and used by the diverse range of peoples transiting to and from the area since 1865, but especially to the Charters Towers Goldfields from 1872.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion C","criteria_definitions":"The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":30699,"place_ref":602719,"name":"Ross River Meatworks Chimney","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Stuart Drive","suburb":"IDALIA","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2009-08-14","description":"The Ross River Meatworks Chimney stands on the south bank of the Ross River approximately 150 metres downstream from the south abutment of the Ross River Bridge in the suburb of Idalia in south Townsville. In 2009, the chimney stands in the north of a large, vacant residential subdivision, part of the Fairfield Waters development in south Townsville.
The chimney is a brick structure with an outer skin of red facebrick. It comprises a base and a tapering stack. The base is expressed as a plinth, square in plan and approximately 8.6 metres high. The stack, approximately 31 metres high, flares out at the top to take a plain, splayed, concrete crown.
The plinth is distinguished by a plain oversized cornice and the northwest, northeast and southeast faces are relieved by an indented rectangular mid-panel defined by a bevelled cement perimeter band. The plinth corners are tapered to take a decorative concrete moulded roll. The southwest face accommodates the arched opening to the base. This can be covered by a dropping counter-weighted heavy metal door. The northwest face of the plinth has bricks punched out about two-thirds the way up.
A lightning strap is dislodged at the top of the stack but remains fixed to the southeast face of the stack and plinth, terminating at the ground. Metal straps wrap around the stack at regular intervals. A 400mm wide concrete drain runs along the southeast side of the plinth.
Two circular (5.6m diameter) concrete upstands, 300mm thick and 400mm high, stand in line to the northwest.
A public walking/cycling track winds along the south bank of the Ross River and as it passes the chimney it is about 20 metres from the face of the plinth.
","history":"The Ross River Meatworks was established by the Queensland Meat Export and Agency Company during 1891-1892 as the first purpose-built meat freezing works in Queensland. Located on the banks of Ross River in suburban Townsville, the 130 foot (39.6m) high brick chimney remains the principal surviving evidence of an important meatworks in Queensland during the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. The only Queensland meatworks from this era still in operation is at Lakes Creek, near Rockhampton, established in 1871 for the production of canned beef before shifting to frozen beef for export in the 1880s. Its early brick chimney has not survived.
Although the wool industry was the impetus for early pastoral activity in Queensland, cattle soon proved better suited to the wetter conditions in northern areas. However, early development of a Queensland cattle industry was hindered by the lack of a sufficiently large market for fresh beef. In the 1860s excess stock were disposed of by selling to other graziers or to boiling down works.
Ports to service the new pastoral runs being taken up in northern and far north-western Queensland in the early 1860s were established at Port Denison (Bowen) in 1861 and Cleveland Bay (Townsville) in 1864, with Cleveland Bay declared a Port of Entry in 1865. Entrepreneur and businessman Robert Towns (after whom Townsville is named) and his business partner John Melton Black founded the settlement at Cleveland Bay to supply their pastoral leases in the hinterland.
By the mid-1860s, drought and recession had led to a collapse in the pastoral industry in north Queensland. In order to salvage some profit, squatters turned to the boiling down of sheep and cattle for tallow (for candles and soap). Hoofs and horns were utilised for oil, and hides for leather. In 1864 a number of small-scale boiling down works were established on pastoral properties in the Kennedy and gulf districts, but the boiling down industry became more professional in 1866, when Towns & Co. opened a boiling down plant at Cleveland Bay, and Morehead & Young, partners in the Scottish Australian Pastoral Company, opened a similar operation on the Albert River where the settlement of Burketown had been established in 1865. Neither of these establishments survived for any length of time. At Cleveland Bay, the Queensland Meat Export Company established a meatworks south of Townsville on Alligator Creek in 1879, using some of the equipment from Towns' factory.
Following the discovery of gold at Charters Towers in 1871, a railway from Townsville to the goldfield was constructed between 1879 and 1882. The first trains carried both gold and wool from local graziers back to the port of Townsville. Demand led to the approval of a western extension to Hughenden to service the cattle grazing industry. The Northern Railway opened in 1887 and soon became the most profitable in Queensland as graziers took up land along its route. During the 1870s the increase in population at newly opened Queensland gold fields, particularly on the Palmer River, provided a ready market for beef. By the end of the decade there was an oversupply. Following the drought of 1884-1886 cattle were driven overland to southern markets, but droving costs led to a huge reduction in profitability. There was a need to establish a processing industry in north Queensland to supply meat for an export market. Frozen meat proved to be the solution.
Australian experimentation with meat-freezing works and the fitting out of refrigerated ships to carry frozen meat to Britain was initiated in Sydney and Melbourne, with mixed results. Refinements in processing and shipping led to a successful shipment in 1880. The Central Queensland Meat Export Company's works at Lakes Creek installed freezing equipment in 1883, but was burnt down shortly after. A meat freezing works was established at Poole Island off Bowen in 1884, but its first shipment was lost in a tornado. In 1889 the North Queensland Meat Export Company re-started the Alligator Creek works, initially for boiling down and preserving, and later utilising the freezing equipment from Poole Island.
In November 1890 the Queensland Meat and Export Agency Company formed with the intention of establishing purpose-built meat freezing works at Townsville and in Brisbane. By February 1891, following the subscription of shares, it was decided to proceed with construction of a meatworks at Townsville. Plans were made for a second works at Eagle Farm in Brisbane mid year. A contract was entered into with the British India Steam Navigation Company to transport the meat to Britain.
Six acres (2.43ha) of land on the banks of Ross River were acquired from the Idalia Land Company in August 1891 and twenty-five acres (10.12ha) of crown land were allocated nearby for drafting yards. A short branch line to the railway linked the works with the wharves. Construction began in September 1891 under the supervision of contractor William McCallum Park. By late September the site was laid out, concrete foundations were in place and construction of workers cottages had commenced. A light tramway was built to haul sand for the concrete from the riverbank. The works was to be steam-driven, necessitating the construction of a huge brick chimney. The foundations for the chimney consisted of a square of concrete built 5 feet (1.5m) deep to support the 130 foot (39.6m) tall brick superstructure. The bricks were baked on site.
The Ross River Meatworks Chimney was one of at least 30 nineteenth century industrial brick chimneys in the Townsville region (extending north to Ingham, south to the Burdekin River and west to Cloncurry), marking the sites of steam-driven pyrites works, batteries, mines, sawmills, brick works, water works, soap works, breweries, meat works and sugar mills. Most were the work of highly skilled bricklayers. The chimneys took a variety of forms, including square, round and hexagonal. Some round or hexagonal chimneys were constructed on square plinths, as at the Ross River Meatworks. They were markers of the steam age in nineteenth century Queensland. The Ross River Meatworks Chimney is the only surviving nineteenth century brick chimney in the immediate Townsville area. Regionally, the 1889 brick chimney at the former Burdekin River Pumping Station at Charters Towers (QHR 601081) also survives.
Despite on-going industrial action by carpenters and bricklayers, the Ross River Meatworks began operation on 28 June 1892. The plant was coal powered, with six Babcock and Wilcox 96-horsepower safety tubular boilers supplying steam for the various engines. Cattle and sheep were processed separately. An overhead tramway transported the carcases to a cooling room, then into the freezing, canning or preserving rooms. In the freezing room, the two compound engines could produce 400 horsepower each and each machine could circulate 170,000 cubic feet of air per hour. The freezing and cold storage building was about 100 feet square and two storeys high. The refrigeration machinery was a combination of Bell-Coleman and Haslam machines, which circulated cold air and removed moisture and impure air at the same time. Electric lighting powered by a Crompton dynamo was installed by Barton and White electrical engineers - 31 years prior to the provision of public electric lighting in Townsville. In August 1892 the Ross River meatworks was inspected by New Zealand industry experts, who described the works as 'superior to any in the colony - actively engaged in the meat export trade'.
The company had a difficult time in its first year of production and initial shipments of meat from Townsville were unsuccessful. Transport from Ross River was problematic with the meat taken by rail to the Townsville wharf, then loaded aboard a lighter, and reloaded for shipping to London. It is unclear which part of the process failed, but the first shipment arrived in London in early December 1892 in a putrid state. At the same time the directors had taken out further loans because of numerous unforseen expenses in the construction of both meatworks. The next shipment to reach England in mid-January included meat from the company's recently opened Eagle Farm meatworks, but was partially spoilt. The 1893 Brisbane floods silted up the Brisbane River inhibiting coastal shipping and halting production from both meatworks for some time. Another shipment of Townsville meat which arrived in London in May was also found to be tainted. The company overcame its early problems and appointed a new director, William Forrest in January 1893. He soon became Chairman of the Board and is credited with turning the company into a successful enterprise.
The Meat and Dairy Produce Encouragement Act 1893 provided loans for meat and dairy works funded through a tax on sheep and cattle. The Queensland Meat and Export Agency Company applied for funds to duplicate and upgrade both the Townsville and Eagle Farms works. The agents for Linde British Refrigeration, J Wildridge and Sinclair Ltd, were contracted to undertake the extension projects. The £30,000 extension at Ross River doubled the freezing capacity. The four new store rooms could hold 200 tons each and the chilling room could hold 120 bullocks. Other additions included new engine and boiler houses, a fresh water reservoir and pumping station and additional slaughtering yards and pens. By the time the extensions were completed in April 1895, the meatworks was reported to have processed 50,000 head of cattle and 13,000 sheep since opening. An international study of the frozen meat trade, published in 1912, stated that the Townsville works of QME&A was the most up to date freezing works in existence in either hemisphere. It also had the largest capacity of any meatworks in Australasia at this time.
Ongoing upgrades ensured the best and most economic equipment and methodologies were employed. Even during the drought and the problems associated with ticks in the early 1900s, the Ross River Meatworks was producing more meat than any other establishment in Australasia. In 1901 the company purchased the works of the Burketown Meat Export Co. which operated as a canning works. In 1903 it began purchasing significant grazing properties in north Queensland to engage in fattening cattle and breeding. It contracted to supply beef to American forces based in the Philippines in 1898 and established a cold-storage warehouse in Singapore in 1903. Evidence given by the Eagle Farm manager Charles Ross to the Royal Commission into the Meat Industry in October 1912 indicated that Ross River was at that time processing 3000 cattle a week and new cold storage facilities were under construction. By 1915 the company restructured, forming two organisations - the Queensland Meat Export and Agency Co Ltd (QME&A) and Australia Stock Breeders Company Ltd.
During 1918-1919 there was a series of protracted strikes at the Ross River and Alligator Creek meatworks, which began with the workers' rejection of compulsory arbitration in favour of direct bargaining. They staged ongoing wildcat strikes and go-slow campaigns to achieve their aims. At the same time the companies wanted to remove a clause from employment contracts giving preference to union members, which they achieved for a short time, hiring returned servicemen in place of industrial activists. Support was then offered by the Queensland Rail Union and the Waterside Workers Federation and the strikes continued. By July 1919 the ongoing dispute degenerated to the point where riots occurred in Townsville with police firing shots to disperse the crowd of 1000 people who were protesting the imprisonment of strike leaders. This strike is regarded as one of the most ferocious in Australian history. In 1920 the Arbitration Court restored a modified union preference clause into the employment contracts.
By 1921, the beef export trade had collapsed because it was no longer receiving preferential treatment from the British government. Also the Navigation Act of 1921 prevented international ships from being used to carry local goods. The QME&A recorded its biggest loss of £80,000. The Eagle Farm works was mothballed in 1933 in the hope that beef prices would improve. It was demolished in 1938. In 1933, Ross River began exporting chilled beef. The establishment of the Australian Meat Board (AMB) in 1936 regulated the flow of meat to the overseas market and licensed suitable ships to ensure that the best quality meat reached the market. In 1937 the AMB allocated 82.25 per cent of the total Australian export of chilled meat to Queensland abattoirs.
While the Ross River meatworks had been the largest and most up to date during the 1910s, it was surpassed by other establishments in the following 40 years. Lakes Creek and the Brisbane Abattoirs had larger capacities by the 1950s. Ross River works were run down by then and suffered considerable losses in 1951 and 1954, due to prolonged industrial disputes, increasing wages, drought and government controls on exports. In 1955 the Vestey company bought the meatworks and began replacing old dilapidated buildings and introduced new killing and processing mechanised operations, reducing staff. In the late 1950s the works changed from coal-fired to oil-fired boilers with Lightfoot ammonia compressors. The change from coal to oil also negated the need for coal handlers. In 1961 a partnership was formed with the Angliss Group. Export markets changed from the United Kingdom to America during the 1960s and in more recent times to Japan, Korea and South East Asia. The meatworks remained the major employer in Townsville and by 1990 had a record year, processing 93,601 beasts, handling 27 percent of the north Queensland production. This result was achieved despite industrial action during 1990. However, a further downturn occurred as a consequence of the 1991-2 recession.
In 1992 Vestey sold the meatworks to Smorgon Consolidated Industries. During the early 1990s the Australian meat trade began exporting live meat but unions argued that the planned export of 500,000 head of cattle in 1995 was akin to exporting 150,000 jobs. Despite an unusual alliance between the union and animal liberation activists aimed at stopping the live meat trade, they were unsuccessful. Smorgon announced the closure of the Ross River meatworks in February 1995 arguing that the business was no longer profitable because of drought, live cattle exports and the falling Australian dollar, and it was part of a general divestment of company assets at the time. With the exception of the chimney and an office building, all other buildings and structures on the site were demolished in 1997.
In 1999 a scheme was proposed for a housing estate on the site, with the chimney a feature of planned parkland. At that time $58,000 was spent on sandblasting the chimney and stripping and restoring the metal strapping. The developer had planned to include the establishment of a small brewery alongside the chimney in the old office building, but this part of the project did not proceed and the former office building has been demolished.
","criteria":"The Ross River Meatworks Chimney is important surviving evidence of the link between north Queensland pastoralism and the development of frozen and chilled meat as an important export industry for Queensland. The landmark structure is associated with the first purpose-built meat freezing works in Queensland, which operated for over a century from 1892 to 1995, producing frozen and later chilled meat for the export market. In the early 1900s it had the largest capacity of any meatworks in Australasia. Proclaimed by independent observers as 'superior to any in the colony' in 1892, and 'the most up to date freezing works in either hemisphere' in 1912, the Ross River meatworks processed cattle and sheep from across northern Queensland, the Northern Territory and the Kimberley Ranges of Western Australia and exported meat world-wide. The meatworks was a major employer in Townsville, an important Queensland regional centre.
Located on a former railway line less than 5km from a major port, the chimney remains important evidence of how nineteenth century export industries were dependent on Queensland's early network of railways linked to ports and shipping that connected with world markets. It is also surviving evidence of the reliance of early Queensland industry on steam-driven power.
|The 39.6m high structure is prominent in the landscape of the Ross River floodplain as it has been since its construction in 1892. Through its intactness, integrity and magnitude, the chimney remains a landmark along the Flinders Highway (Stuart Drive).
|The Ross River Meatworks Chimney consists of an 8.6m high firebox with a 31m high chimney stack, constructed from bricks made on site and mortar made with sand from the Ross River. It demonstrates a substantial level of intactness and a high degree of integrity. As the only remaining nineteenth century meatworks brick chimney in Queensland and one of few early industrial brick chimneys surviving in the Townsville region, it is important in illustrating the principal characteristics of its type.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion E | Criterion D","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":32286,"place_ref":602796,"name":"St Patrick's Convent","alternate_name":"St Patricks Convent","street_address":"45 The Strand","suburb":"NORTH WARD","lga":"TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2012-02-03","description":"St Patrick's Convent, a two-storey timber framed building, stands within the St Patrick's College complex bounded by The Strand and Fryer and Oxley Streets, Townsville. Facing The Strand, the building is notable for its steeply pitched gable roofs to the north and south wings.
\nThe building is symmetrical around a central core flanked by projecting wings to the north and south. Verandahs are provided to the north, east and west; the north and east now enclosed with louvres and asbestos cement sheeting. The west and part of the north verandahs retain decorative balustrading, lattice and valance. The exterior of the north and south wings have asbestos cement sheeting applied over chamferboard and weatherboard cladding. Generally the building is constructed of single skin walls; the mid-west wall is clad with chamferboards and lined with beaded vertical boards; some internal partitions are lined to each side.
\nThe main entry is from the east verandah through a timber panelled door with coloured glass sidelights. The ground floor is organised off a central entrance hall, flanked by the visitor parlour to the north and vestry to the south. The entrance hall is screened from the central stairwell by a three-quarter height partition accommodating a door with brightly coloured glass panels. Two rooms flanking the stairwell mirror the east rooms and open into them. The room to the south accommodates the office and the priest breakfast room is to the north. A community dining room runs the length of the north wing and a former chapel occupies the south wing. Two decorative timber arches span the community room at the west end. The chapel ceiling is lined with decorative pressed metal and a decorative timber arch defines an alcove to the east. Ground floor partitions and other ceilings are lined with beaded tongue and groove boards. The ground floor west verandah retains its decorative screening, valance, lattice and criss-cross balustrading. The ground floor east and north verandah are enclosed with asbestos sheeting and banks of louvres and each has added partitioning.
\nThe upper floor works off a central corridor running north-south accommodating eight bedrooms to the west and six to the east. Timber arches mark the transition between the earlier central core and the wings. One west bedroom is partitioned into two bathrooms; one houses a lift and another has a partition removed and functions as a small sitting room. To accommodate built-in wardrobes in the east bedrooms one partition has been removed. The upper east rooms to the north and south wings have added partitioning providing additional bedrooms. Corridor partitions are post and rail lined with vertical boards to the corridor, the east wall single skin exposed frame is lined with horizontal boards to the rooms and the west wall is a combination of exposed frame single skin to the wings and chamferboard cladding to the 1883 core. Openings in the rooms at the north and south end of the 1883 core are boarded. The upper north verandah is enclosed with asbestos sheeting and louvres and accommodates bathrooms and an informal kitchen. The middle part of the west verandah is enclosed to provide a utilities room.
\nLawns with garden beds run from the front of the convent to the street. A perimeter fence comprising concrete piers and decorative wrought iron balustrading runs along The Strand and Fryer Street. Decorative wrought iron gates provide entrances from The Strand and Fryer Street. A concrete path runs from the pedestrian gate on The Strand to the front entrance.
","history":"St Patrick's Convent, the oldest known surviving purpose-built convent in Queensland is a timber framed two storey building, located on The Strand at Townsville. It was built for the Sisters of Mercy during 1883 and was a substantial improvement on an earlier one built for the Sisters of St Joseph. They had worked in the parish since 1872, establishing a school and convent, before leaving Townsville early in 1878. The Sisters of Mercy arrived later that year. This representative convent building has been the base for the Sisters of Mercy mission in North Queensland for almost 130 years.
Townsville was established as a port to service the pastoral lands of inland North Queensland. Founded in 1864 by John Melton Black and Robert Towns, after whom the city is named, it boomed following the discovery of gold in the late 1860s and early 1870s at the five nearby towns of Capeville, Ravenswood, Georgetown, Gilberton and Charters Towers. By the 1890s Townsville was the main port in North Queensland, superseding Bowen which was founded as Port Denison in 1861. Townsville's location provided a sheltered port in Cleveland Bay and Ross Creek, with road access to the interior. [1] This was complemented by the growth of railways to the west, the first stage of which was built to Charters Towers in 1882. [2] Early industries included wool, cattle grazing and mining. Townsville was, and continues to be, the main commercial centre supporting the inland settlements and the growth of the sugar industry along the coast.
Catholicism in Queensland expanded following separation, and the creation of the Diocese of Queensland. Newly appointed Bishop James Quinn arrived in Queensland, accompanied by five priests and five Sisters of Mercy, in May 1861. At the time the population of the Colony of Queensland was 30,059, with 7696 (39%) of these being Catholics. From 1866 both Anglican and Catholic visiting clergy held services in the courthouse in Townsville. In October 1868, Quinn acquired two adjoining parcels of land on the corner of Fryer Street and The Strand. [3] Father James Connolly was sent to Townsville in 1871, and St Joseph's Church and presbytery were built shortly after. The Anglicans built St James' Church in 1873 and established a school in 1877, predated by the National School, established in 1869. [4]
The Sisters of St Joseph, the order founded by Saint Mary MacKillop, arrived in Townsville in 1872, initially living in a couple of rooms at the rear of the presbytery. [5] In 1873 a small low-set shingle-roofed timber convent was built behind the church, and a school was established. The sisters taught around 100 students at that time, and it was the first convent school in North Queensland. [6] In 1876 tenders were called for the erection of a school house, and the following year, tenders were called for the removal and enlargement of the convent. [7] In 1877 the convent was relocated on the site and enlarged to eight rooms to accommodate orphans and boarders. [8] As a consequence of an argument between the sisters and the parish priest Father Connolly, the Sisters of St Joseph departed Townsville in March 1878, accompanied by 15 orphans, and then resided at the South Brisbane Convent. [9] By October 1879, the Sisters of St Joseph relocated to their Adelaide motherhouse, having been driven out of Queensland by Bishop Quinn. [10]
Father Connolly's successor in Townsville, Father William Walsh, who was to serve the parish for almost 30 years, arrived in August 1878. He reportedly requested the services of the Sisters of Mercy to resume the operation of the school, although this is likely to have been initiated by Bishop Quinn. Walsh quickly organised a bazaar to fund a new convent. [11] Prior to their arrival, Father Walsh had arranged for the existing convent house to be renovated and repainted and a shed was built to house the school and was being furnished.
The Sisters of Mercy arrived in November 1878. [12] The order had been founded in Ireland by Catherine McAuley in 1831, with a mission to improve social justice through educational, religious and social services to women and children who were at risk of homelessness, exploitation and entrenched poverty. In essence their commitment was in the service of the poor, sick and uneducated. [13] They were the preferred order of Bishop Quinn who when replacing the Sisters of St Joseph with the Sisters of Mercy in Mackay in 1879 stated: 'I want first class education given in all leading places'. [14] After Father Walsh acquired allotment 3 on Mitchell Street, [15] a boarding school known as St Patrick's, was re-established on this site during 1880. [16] The non-vested primary school remained named St Joseph's, situated in Fryer Street.
Bishop Quinn died in September 1881, and Italian priest Dr Cani became his temporary replacement. Robert Dunne was inducted into the role of Bishop of Queensland. However, in December Dr Cani was appointed to a new diocese of Rockhampton, created to service central and north Queensland. The Rockhampton Diocese was extensive, beginning just north of Bundaberg and reaching up to Halifax, west to the Northern Territory border, with its northern border just south of the Gulf of Carpentaria. [17] Far North Queensland was served by the Pro-Vicarate of North Queensland, established in 1876, which encompassed the area north of Halifax and included Cape York. [18] In 1881 the Sisters of Mercy in Townsville were teaching 130 girls, 87 boys and 188 infants. [19] During the following decade, the Sisters of Mercy took over schools in Charters Towers (1882) and Bowen (1885).
In the meantime, a new dormitory was added to St Patrick's boarding facilities by local architects and builders, Rooney Brothers. It opened in October 1882 and provided room for a further 18 beds. [20] The only other boarding school to have operated in Townsville prior to this was a small private establishment operated by Mrs Deakin O'Reilly in 1875. [21] The longevity of this establishment is unknown. Three other short- lived schools operated in the late 1870s through to the mid 1880s. The last of these, Dr Thomatis's grammar school operated briefly between 1881 and 1886. Townsville Grammar, established in 1888 [22] housed boarders, as did St Anne's Anglican girls' school, which started with six boarders in 1917 [23] thereby making St Patrick's the oldest operational boarding school in Townsville.
Construction commenced on the new St Patrick's Convent after Father Walsh acquired another allotment on The Strand [24] to the north of the church in 1882. The foundation stone for the convent was laid by Dr Cani on 21 January 1883. The ceremony included the admission of four novices into the convent and the initiation of the building fund. [25] The exact date of the building's completion is unknown. Photographs of this building depict a two storey timber colonial structure with verandahs to the front and sides and a small central gable. St Patrick's is the oldest extant purpose-built convent in Queensland. [26]
Rapid expansion in the region led to a growth in ecclesiastical buildings to service the population. Between 1876 and 1891, Townsville was the fastest growing region of Queensland with the town's population more than doubling from 5 410 in 1881 to 11 454 within the five years to 1886. [27] A second storey was added to St Patrick's boarding school in 1887. [28] During 1888 another church, St Mary's (QHR 600879) was established at West Townsville, as well as a school managed by the Sisters of Mercy, who travelled every day from The Strand.
The expansion of buildings in Fryer Street and on The Strand was not without setbacks. St Joseph's Church was dislodged from its foundations during major flooding in January 1892 and had to be demolished. Water also entered the convent grounds to a depth of six feet, partially undermining one corner of the building, as well as washing away some stumps of the home of architect Matthew Rooney in Fryer Street. The recently erected church belfry was left standing but listing at a 45 degree angle. [29] The flood resulted from a two-day rainfall of over 32 inches (81 cm). [30] After the flood, Mass was held in the school for many years. Fr Walsh resolved to build a church on higher ground and began planning for a large new church situated in Stanley Street, at the foot of Castle Hill. A design competition was held in 1894 and the resultant Church of the Sacred Heart, which opened in 1902, became known as the Townsville Cathedral (QHR 600939). At the time there was a perception that Townsville was soon to become the seat of a new diocese of North Queensland, excised from the northern part of the Rockhampton diocese. Despite the fact that there were 3000 Catholics in Townsville at the turn of the century, [31] the new diocese was not created until 1930.
The Sisters of Mercy initiated what is now the oldest operational high school for girls in Townsville. Early in 1892, they advertised the commencement of a University Class at St Patrick's Convent on The Strand. At the end of the year, it was reported that four students had passed their junior examinations. [32] By 1900 junior and senior examinations were offered, as well as teacher registration examinations at St Patrick's. [33] These exams were set by Sydney University until 1910 when Queensland University began setting its own papers based on the Sydney model. [34] At this time in Queensland, only private high schools such as Townsville Grammar existed. Established in 1888, it accepted its first female student in 1893 and became co-educational in 1905. Grammar Schools provided the only government-subsidised secondary education available in Queensland prior to 1912 when state high schools were established. While the Thomatis's Grammar School did offer high school places for girls, it was a short-lived operation (1881-1886). [35] St Patrick's preceded Townville Grammar by one year in providing high school education for girls.
In response to continued growth in the region St Patrick's Convent was dramatically extended and renovated in 1900 by local contractor Mr William Dawson. The original gable roofed 1883 core of the building had verandahs to the front and sides on both levels. Wings were added to the north and south ends of the structure altering the building's appearance from The Strand. It was then dominated by the two prominent steeply pitched gable roofs sheltering the end wings and a tall pyramidal roof marking the central entry porch. The alterations included decorative treatments of the carpenter Gothic style to the front elevation and verandahs, including quatrefoil windows to the gable infills and to a decorative panel to the tower, pointed arch windows with hood moulds, pointed arch valances and decorative screens.
A newspaper article published in the North Queensland Herald in November 1900 described the newly renovated building: The ground floor of the south wing comprised a chapel for the Sisters of Mercy, being 40 ft by 16 ft (12 m by 4.9 m), which boasted a highly ornamental ceiling, paintings on the walls and an ornate altar. The chapel opened onto both front and rear verandahs of the building, and also led to the high school room in the north wing. Its size replicated that of the chapel with 14 ft (4.2 m) wall plates and included similar decorative features. The rear verandah was 90 ft (27 m) long and 9 ft (2.7 m) wide and was enclosed with lattice. The first floor housed a community room above the chapel with views across the harbour. The 80 ft (24 m) corridor had bedrooms on either side. The upper floor on the northern wing contained five rooms. The front balcony was 130 ft (39.6 m) and 9 ft (2.7 m) wide. [36] No architect has been identified, although it is possibly the work of the Rooney Brothers, who had undertaken previous work for the Sisters of Mercy; or possibly the work of WG Smith and Sons who designed St Mary's convent in Charters Towers for the Sisters of Mercy in 1891-2 and are know to have been Catholics, with WG Smith's daughter' wedding ceremony held at St Patrick's convent in 1898. [37]
In late nineteenth century convent design, the convention was to distinguish between public and private uses and spheres within the building. The plans for St Patrick's demonstrate this: the room to the north of the entry hall was the visitor parlour; the room to the south was the priest's vestry; the room to the west of the visitor parlour was the priest's breakfast room; and the internal stairwell rising to the bedrooms above is screened from the entrance hall. These planning arrangements demonstrate the law of enclosure regulating life within the convent. Public access to the chapel was generally limited to the celebrations involving the induction of novices. Some convents also provided boarding facilities, but St Patrick's already had separate boarding accommodation, so boarders were not accommodated in the convent.
Townsville's location in the tropical north meant it was regularly impacted by significant weather events. Cyclone Leonta struck on 9 March 1903, and the deaths of seven patients in the wrecked hospital may be attributed to it. The brick Grammar School was partially demolished. The roof was torn from the Sacred Heart Cathedral. There was little impact to St Patrick's Convent although the school buildings sustained some damage. [38]
A number of administrative changes occurred to the Sisters of Mercy around the turn of the century, with ongoing building projects occurring into the early twentieth century. Bishop Cani died in March 1898 and was replaced by Bishop Higgins. He invited the Josephite nuns to return to Queensland and they opened a school in Clermont in 1900. [39] In 1901 the Sisters of Mercy severed their links with the Rockhampton Community, of which they had been part since 1873.
A new era began for the Sisters of Mercy in North Queensland, continuing throughout the twentieth century. Many new convent and church buildings were constructed as part of the ongoing development of the region. Mary Benigna Desmond became the Mother Superior of the Townsville community from 1901, making St Patrick's the Motherhouse. At the time the sisters had branches in Bowen, Ravenswood, and Winton, with 36 nuns teaching 800 children. An important component of the growth of the order in North Queensland was the establishment of a Novitiate, or training house, in 1901 in the grounds of St Patrick's. The Sisters of Mercy opened another school in South Townsville in 1904. [40] In December 1905 Bishop Higgins was transferred to Ballarat and James Duhig was consecrated as Bishop of Rockhampton. Duhig dedicated St Patrick's High School [41] adjacent to the convent on The Strand in Townsville costing £3100 in October 1911, reputedly designed by Mother Bernadine. On the same day he dedicated a new altar to Father Walsh, who died in 1908, at the Sacred Heart Church. [42] In 1917, the Sisters of Mercy opened a new convent at St Mary's at West Townsville, in a house relocated to the site for the purpose (QHR 600879). A new St Joseph's Church was built in Fryer Street in 1921 (QHR 602130). A hostel known as St Rita's was opened in an old house relocated to The Strand to the north of the convent, reputedly in the early 1900s. It provided accommodation for young women from country areas working in Townsville. [43]
The interwar years saw ongoing expansion of the church's activities in North Queensland. A submission was made to Rome in 1927 to create the new diocese of Townsville. At the time there were 22,000 Catholics in the proposed diocese, 6000 of them being in Townsville. Catholics in this region comprised 24 per cent of the population, compared with 18.9 per cent as the national average. [44] The diocese was created on 25 May 1930 under Bishop Terence McGuire. [45] This event had been preceded by the celebrations of the golden jubilee of the Sisters of Mercy in August 1929, attended by 60 sisters. At that time they were educating around 2000 children in the North Queensland towns of Bowen, Ravenswood, West End (Townsville), South Townsville, Ingham, Proserpine, Halifax and Home Hill. [46]
The existence of the Novitiate was integral to this growth with 50 Australian-born women entering St Patrick's Convent from 1901 until 1990 and the motherhouse continuing to receive sisters from Ireland. In 1926 there was a massive intake of 35 Irish sisters. [47] The chapel was the site of ritual celebration and ceremony for the induction of postulants, and newspaper articles described the events in great detail including the attire of the newly blessed novices and the chapel's floral arrangements and the attendance of their friends and relatives. [48]
Further expansion of educational facilities occurred during the 1930s. A new catholic school was built at Garbutt's Siding in June 1933. [49] Rosario Infants School opened on The Strand in 1935, pioneering the Montessori Method of infant teaching in North Queensland. [50] In 1936 the Little Flower Academy, a concrete and timber building, opened on the site of the old St Rita's hostel, the operations of which were relocated to the presbytery. The Bishop vacated the old presbytery and moved to Stanley Street near the Cathedral. [51] The Little Flower Academy was a commercial and domestic science building designed by JG Rooney and built by W Hammond. [52] According to Bishop Maguire, these subjects would equip a young lady with the education she needed to exert and influence good in the world. [53] St Patrick's Convent remained the home from which the Sisters of Mercy went out to conduct the core activities of their mission. Other convents were added to Townsville during 1936, including those for the Sisters of St Joseph, the Sisters of the Good Samaritan and a Sisters of Mercy convent at Railway Estate. [54] Bishop McGuire also found ways of financing holidays for the sisters to Bowen or a similar seaside retreat, and St Patrick's in more recent years has served that purpose for sisters from throughout the diocese.
During World War II many buildings on The Strand were used by the military including St Patrick's Convent, St Rita's, the school and the Little Flower Academy-all occupied by the Women's Australian Auxiliary Air Force (WAAAF). The sisters were vacated to other convents, day students were taught at West End and the boarding students were relocated to Ravenswood and Winton. The WAAAF vacated the buildings in June 1945. In July, the church advertised in the local press that the buildings were undergoing painting, repairs and renovations and were expected to be ready for occupation in September. [55] The exact nature of the renovations is unknown. The fibro cladding on the exterior of the building was installed between the late 1950s [56] and 1964, [57] and included the enclosure of the front verandahs, reusing existing sash windows on the upper floor and installing louvres on the lower floor. The central spire was removed and replaced with a gabled entry porch at the ground level.
A new bishop, Dr Hugh Edward Ryan, was appointed to Townsville in 1938. Shortly before the end of the war, he was able to fulfil the dream of his predecessor Bishop McGuire, in establishing a Catholic hospital in Townsville. In February 1945 local doctor, Dr Halberstater handed over his small private hospital, 'Lister', to the Sisters of Mercy. [58] The establishment of the Mater Misericordiae Hospital fulfilled another aspect of the mission of the Sisters of Mercy: serving the sick. In April 1954, fundraising began for a new Mater Hospital. The 50 bed hospital was opened in Fulham Road, Pimlico in 1962. Another wing was added in 1967, and further extensions in 1979 and 1983. In the meantime the sisters also ventured into aged care with the establishment of Villa Vincent in the suburb of Gulliver in 1964. Villa McAuley retirement accommodation was established nearby in 1979 and was extended in 1980 and 1982. [59] Bishop Ryan retired in 1967 having overseen dramatic changes in the Townsville Diocese since 1938, including a doubling of the population of Catholics, which was reflected in the number of priests, brothers (from 15 to 38) and nuns (from 143 to 211) in the community.
The most dramatic changes to the Sisters of Mercy site on The Strand occurred during the late twentieth century. New buildings were added including a chapel on the site of St Rita's (the old presbytery) in 1959, a new science block and classrooms in 1963; another new building for St Patrick's high school and the Loreto Infirmary in 1968 which provided aged care for nuns. In December 1971, Cyclone Althea damaged St Patrick's Convent, tearing off part of the roof of the north and south gables [60] causing internal water damage. [61] Some cladding was broken on the front enclosed verandah on the first floor. The sash windows were replaced with louvres sometime after the cyclone. In 1978 Commonwealth funding allowed for the upgrade of boarder's facilities and another science block. [62] The 1911 high school building adjacent to the convent was demolished and replaced with a brick dormitory building of a similar style in the mid 1980s. [63] The Little Flower Academy developed 'concrete cancer' and was replaced by a new administrative building which opened in 1991, retaining the name St Theresa's. [64]
St Patrick's College on The Strand in Townsville operates as the Mercy Catholic Secondary Day and Residential College, adjacent to St Joseph's Church and primary school. A dramatic fall in the number of religious staff generally in Catholic schools occurred during the late twentieth century, with numbers of brothers and nuns in the Townsville diocese dropping from 99 to 50 between 1967 and 1971, and down to 31 religious teachers in 1983. In September 2008, St Joseph's Church hosted the Jubilee celebrations of ten sisters serving the diocese. Eight had served for 50 years, one 60 years, and Sister Mary Pius Carrol, 70 years. In 2011 the convent housed the last remaining sisters, having also served as a place of retreat and relaxation for nuns of the Townsville Diocese for many years.
A decorative fence with concrete pillars and metal palisade panels is located on the boundary with The Strand and along Fryer Street to St Joseph's Church. It may have been built at the same time as the church in 1921. Photographic evidence indicates it pre-dates 1933. Two gates are retained in Fryer Street which would have provided access to the old presbytery; one a pedestrian gate and a vehicle access gate. Three more pedestrian gates are situated along The Strand accessing the convent and the other buildings to the north.
","criteria":"St Patrick's Convent is the oldest known surviving purpose-built convent in Queensland. The convent, home to Townsville's Sisters of Mercy since 1883, is important in demonstrating the way of life of a religious order that has made a significant contribution to the development of Queensland, particularly in relation to the provision of education and health care. It also serves as a place of retreat for sisters ministering elsewhere in the diocese.
St Patrick's Convent is a product of the establishment phase of Catholic primary and secondary education in North Queensland when its institutions spread out from Brisbane to newly emerging settlements around the colony. From 1892 the convent accommodated classes for St Patrick's high school, now the oldest operational high school for girls in Townsville.
St Patrick's Convent illustrates the pattern of development of Townsville, the major commercial centre of North Queensland. The region's wealth, initially generated through mining, pastoral and agricultural pursuits, led to the establishment of the port of Townsville and numerous schools, to serve the population. The ongoing development of the school site is evidence of the growth and prosperity of the city.
|The building has had a special association with the Sisters of Mercy since its construction in 1883, and was the Motherhouse for the order in the Townsville region from 1901. The Sisters of Mercy have provided education in the region since 1878, building many schools across the Townsville diocese including establishing the oldest operational high school for girls in St Patrick's. The chapel in the southern wing regularly received novices into the order, and the ritual celebrations at these events attended by the sisters' friends and families served to publicly acknowledge and promote the role of the Sisters of Mercy in Queensland in the upkeep of Catholic traditions. The sisters established the Mater Hospital in Townsville, as well as aged care facilities, to fulfil their mission of providing for the poor, the sick and the uneducated. The convent occupies a prominent position within the campus of St Patrick's College, Townsville, demonstrating the ongoing commitment of the Sisters of Mercy to their mission in Queensland.
|St Patrick's Convent demonstrates the principal characteristics of a convent, built in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries including an internal separation of private and public spaces and having a dominant street presence on a prominent site in the town. The convent plan includes a chapel, community room, dining room, visitor parlour, priest breakfast room, vestry and bedroom cells. The small and austere bedroom cells on the upper floor are representative of the vow of poverty taken by the sisters, as are the modest and functional spaces and restrained use of decorative treatments throughout the convent, reflecting the philosophy of the Sisters of Mercy in their mission to serve the poor, the sick and the uneducated.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion H | Criterion D","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places"} ]}