St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church is a heritage-listed

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

at Church Street,

Gympie Gympie ( ) is a city and a Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Gympie Region, Queensland, Australia. In the Wide Bay-Burnett District, Gympie is about north of the state capital, Brisbane. The city lies on the Mary River (Queen ...

Gympie Region The Gympie Region is a local government area in the Wide Bay–Burnett region of Queensland, Australia, about north of Brisbane, the state capital. It is between the Sunshine Coast and Hervey Bay and centred on the town of Gympie. It was creat ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia. It was designed by

Francis Drummond Greville Stanley Francis Drummond Greville Stanley (1839—1897) was an architect in Queensland, Australia. He was the Queensland Colonial Architect. Many of his designs are now heritage-listed buildings. Early life Stanley was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 1 ...

and built from 1883 to 1935. It was added to the

Queensland Heritage Register The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. As a ...

on 20 February 1995.

History

St Patrick's Church was constructed on Calton Hill in Gympie from 1883 to 1887, by the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. It was the third permanent church constructed in the town for the Catholic community on or near this site. The building was designed by the prominent

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

architect, FDG Stanley. The first Catholic mass was celebrated in Gympie in February 1868, in the Brisbane Hotel, by Father Tissot. The following month, Father Matthew Horan arrived on the newly established goldfields and assumed his position as parish priest, which he held until his death in 1923. Upon his arrival, Father Horan pitched a tent on Calton Hill to celebrate mass, beginning the long Catholic domination of the site. Tenders appeared in the Nashville Times on 18 March 1868, for the construction of a permanent church building. This timber building was ready for use by the end of 1868, but lasted only four years due to the damaging effects of weathering and white ants. Some of the land at Calton Hill was donated to the church by local residents including Patrick Lillis, and other land was bought at auction. In 1872 a second church was constructed of hardwood, and opened by Rev Dr

James O'Quinn James Quinn, also known as James O'Quinn (17 March 1819 – 18 August 1881 ), was an Irish-Australian prelate of the Catholic Church and the first bishop of the Diocese of Brisbane. Early life Quinn was born at Rathbane (or Athy), Coun ...

, Bishop of Queensland. Despite the later addition of side aisles, the hardwood church was regarded as inadequate for the growing Catholic congregation and another building was planned reflecting the importance of the church in the community. In 1879 a Catholic school was established on land nearby, when the

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute of Catholic women founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. As of 2019, the institute had about 6200 sisters worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations. They a ...

arrived in Gympie. Plans for the new church were prepared by well known Brisbane architect, FDG Stanley, and a local builder William Streeton and presented to the newly appointed Bishop

Robert Dunne Robert Dunne (5 September 1830 – 13 January 1917) was the second Roman Catholic bishop of Brisbane and later he became its first archbishop. Dunne was born in Ardfinnan, County Tipperary, Ireland and was educated at Lismore Grammar School ...

in 1881. Plans shown to the bishop were prepared for both a stone and brick church costing £3800 and £3000 respectively, and from these Dunne decided to proceed with a stone church. Bishop Dunne officiated at a ceremony, on 28 January 1883, to lay the foundation stone at St Patrick's. Subscription lists were opened for the funding of the construction and donations by the end of the day totalled £1200. On 19 September 1883 the tender of J Smith and Co was accepted to supply the material and build the church for a sum of £3591. Construction of St Patrick's took place over the next four years, firstly by the original contractors, then by Messrs Peter and George Duckworth. At about the time of this changeover the southern wall of the church collapsed in a strong wind. The joinery and seating was undertaken by local carpenter, William Condon. An organ worth £500 and a marble altar also worth £500 which was donated by Mr James Fitzpatrick, a successful mining pioneer in the area, were features of the new building. On 17 July 1887 St Patrick's Church was opened by Rev.

who had become the first Archbishop of Queensland. The church was built at a final cost of around £10,000. At the opening, St Patrick's Church, which was built to accommodate 950, was crowded with 1400 people who paid to attend the service. The church was described as a landmark for many miles around due to its elevated position, its great height, its pure white stone walls and its well-cut lines. St Patrick's was rectangular in plan, though was designed to accommodate the later addition of transepts. It was originally built with corrugated iron roof sheeting with small ventilation gablets lining the roof. When St Patrick's opened, other churches in Gympie included a timber Presbyterian church on Red Hill, a timber Weslyan Methodist Church on Surface Hill which was replaced in the 1890s by a large brick church, and a small Church of England on Palatine Hill, also replaced by a large brick church in 1888. St Patrick's Church continued to grow under the care of Father Horan; an organ gallery, designed by

Hugo Durietz Hugo William Du Rietz (sometimes written as Du Reitz, Durietz, Dureitz) (–1908) was a pioneer gold miner and architect in Gympie, Queensland, Australia. He was the architect of many heritage-listed buildings in Gympie. Early life Hugo Will ...

was added in 1896. Upon Horan's death on 6 July 1923, Dean Michael O'Flynn became the new parish priest. O'Flynn immediately began arrangements for the completion of the east end of the church. Brisbane architects, Cavanagh and Cavanagh, were commissioned to design the completion of the southern end, parts of which had been stopped with metal sheeting until this time. The extension included a polygonal chancel and flanking this, two smaller polygonal rooms used as the vestry and the sanctuary. The tender of Mr Brittam, for an amount of £1790 was accepted by 8 September 1924 and the work was finished in 1925. The following year work was completed on the adjacent brick presbytery, which replaced an earlier timber building. On 14 April 1929 Archbishop

James Duhig Sir James Duhig KCMG (2 September 187110 April 1965) was an Irish-born Australian Roman Catholic religious leader. He was the Archbishop of Brisbane for 48 years from 1917 until his death in 1965. At the time of his death he was the longest-ser ...

dedicated newly installed stained glass windows placed where in the gables where the transepts were to have been extended. These windows were dedicated to the remembrance of the Catholic Emancipation and in particular to a key figure in the struggle,

Daniel O'Connell Daniel O'Connell (I) ( ga, Dónall Ó Conaill; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilizat ...

. Duhig also laid the foundation stone for the new convent, commemorating the centenary of the Sisters of Mercy and the Jubilee of their arrival in Gympie. Father O'Flynn remained at St Patrick's until his death in 1935, when he was replaced by Monsignor Timothy Malony. Malony undertook vast improvements to the grounds, including paving and lawns around the church, and the construction of broad steps to the church. In 1951, the new parish priest Monsignor David Dee, concerned with the lack of accommodation at St Patrick's, established a new Catholic church in northern Gympie, diminishing the large congregation.

Description

St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church is a substantial sandstone building on Calton Hill, a prominent site in Gympie. It is surrounded by concrete paving, and established lawns and gardens. There is a timber-framed

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...

on the lawns to the east of the church. The church has a rectangular plan, featuring a clerestoried five

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and side

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parl ...

s, with an additional unextended

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...

bay. The church features a polygonal

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

and two smaller polygonal rooms on the southern end used as a

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

and a

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a saf ...

. The building is constructed of rock-faced sandstone laid in courses of random sized blocks, with elements such as

quoining Quoins ( or ) are masonry blocks at the corner of a wall. Some are structural, providing strength for a wall made with inferior stone or rubble, while others merely add aesthetic detail to a corner. According to one 19th century encyclopedia, t ...

, continuous moulding beneath the gutter,

plinth A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In c ...

course and

string courses A course is a layer of the same unit running horizontally in a wall. It can also be defined as a continuous row of any masonry unit such as bricks, concrete masonry units (CMU), stone, shingles, tiles, etc. Coursed masonry construction arranges ...

chiselled smooth. The building has a plinth of larger rock-faced

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

blocks. The angle buttressing is sandstone with wide chiselled edges. The southern end of the church, including the transept

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

s, diagonal buttressing, chancel, vestry and sanctuary is constructed of bricks with an inscribed render, imitating

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

stonework. Generally the church has pointed arch windows with geometric stone

tracery Tracery is an architecture, architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of Molding (decorative), moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the s ...

. The steeply pitched gabled roof has Marseilles pattern interlocking

terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based ceramic glaze, unglazed or glazed ceramic where the pottery firing, fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, a ...

tiles, with matching ridge capping.

Gables Gables may refer to: * The plural of gable, portion of walls between the lines of sloping roofs * Ken Gables (1919-1960), Major League Baseball pitcher * Gables, Nebraska, an unincorporated community in the United States * Gables, New South Wales, ...

are found on the southern end of the east and west walls, where transepts were to begin. Featured on each of the gables is a large pointed arch

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

window, integrating many smaller lights with geometric tracery. The western wall features a

portal Portal often refers to: * Portal (architecture), an opening in a wall of a building, gate or fortification, or the extremities (ends) of a tunnel Portal may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * ''Portal'' (series), two video games ...

entrance framed by a ribbed pointed archway. Pointed arch windows flank the portal and feature hood mouldings, which are integrated with a string course. Above the entrance is a large three arched window, incorporating four lancet lights and geometric tracery. At the highest point of the gable is a small inverted eyelet window. Pointed arch windows are found on the southern and northern walls, defining the internal bays. The

clerestory In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...

windows use the

quatrefoil A quatrefoil (anciently caterfoil) is a decorative element consisting of a symmetrical shape which forms the overall outline of four partially overlapping circles of the same diameter. It is found in art, architecture, heraldry and traditional ...

motif, to frame brightly coloured stained glass in simple geometric patterns. Internally, round sandstone piers supporting pointed arches, form arcades which define the nave and aisles of the church. Slender engaged

columns A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

extend upward from the piers to support a variation of hammer-beam

timber roof truss A timber roof truss is a structural framework of timbers designed to bridge the space above a room and to provide support for a roof. Trusses usually occur at regular intervals, linked by longitudinal timbers such as purlins. The space between each ...

es, strengthened with

brackets A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. Typically deployed in symmetric pairs, an individual bracket may be identified as a 'left' or 'r ...

of decorative joinery. The ceiling is diagonally boarded,

tongue and groove Tongue and groove is a method of fitting similar objects together, edge to edge, used mainly with wood, in flooring, parquetry, panelling, and similar constructions. Tongue and groove joints allow two flat pieces to be joined strongly together t ...

, v-jointed timber. A pointed chancel arch, opens onto the chancel which has a faceted

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

ceiling, which is painted with religious scenes. The chancel features a marble

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

, accessed via two marble

stairs Stairs are a structure designed to bridge a large vertical distance between lower and higher levels by dividing it into smaller vertical distances. This is achieved as a diagonal series of horizontal platforms called steps which enable passage ...

, and a small stained glass

rose window Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window'' w ...

of the

Holy Family The Holy Family consists of the Child Jesus, the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph. The subject became popular in art from the 1490s on, but veneration of the Holy Family was formally begun in the 17th century by Saint François de Laval, the first ...

. The organ gallery at the west end of the church is supported on slender round columns with prominent stylised

Doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...

capitals Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

. The organ is inscribed with Richard Heslop 16 Burma Rd London. Timber-framed

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Way of Sorrows or the Via Crucis, refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and accompanying prayers. The station ...

line the walls of the side aisles. Many of the stained glass windows bear plaques with details of the person who donated them.

Heritage listing

St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church was listed on the

on 20 February 1995 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history. St Patrick's Church, erected 1883–87, is a substantial sandstone building which is important in demonstrating the rapid growth of Gympie in the 1880s, as a result of the prosperity of the gold fields. The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places. St Patricks is a good example of church architecture practiced in the 1880s, influenced by Gothic revival styles and of the ecclesiastical work of the prominent Queensland architect, FDG Stanley. It has a number of elements demonstrating high quality craftsmanship including the marble altar, the organ, joinery, stone masonry and stained glass windows. The place is important because of its aesthetic significance. St Patricks is a good example of church architecture practiced in the 1880s, influenced by Gothic revival styles and of the ecclesiastical work of the prominent Queensland architect, FDG Stanley. It has a number of elements demonstrating high quality craftsmanship including the marble altar, the organ, joinery, stone masonry and stained glass windows. The church has been an outstanding landmark in Gympie since its opening in 1887, as a large imposing building constructed on a prominent site. It was the first substantial masonry church in Gympie and served as the model for subsequent churches in the town. The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons. The church demonstrates the spread of the Catholic Church in regional Queensland. It has a long association with the Catholic community in Gympie and reflects the development of Catholicism in the area.

References

Attribution

External links