St Paul's Anglican 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 * C ...

at 124 Brisbane Street,

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

City of Ipswich The City of Ipswich is a local government area in Queensland, Australia, located within the southwest of the Brisbane metropolitan area, including the urban area surrounding the city of Ipswich and surrounding rural areas. Geography The Ci ...

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 , establishe ...

, Australia. It was built from 1855 to 1929. 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. A ...

on 21 October 1992.

History

St Paul's Church of England, Ipswich, 1940s

St Paul's Anglican Church is a Revival Gothic brick church completed in 1859, supervised by William Wakeling but probably to a design by

Edmund Blacket Edmund Thomas Blacket (25 August 1817 – 9 February 1883) was an Australian architect, best known for his designs for the University of Sydney, St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney and St. Saviour's Cathedral, Goulburn. Arriving in Sydney from Engl ...

. The side aisles were added in 1888/89, architect F.D.G. Stanley, and the western extensions were added in 1929, architect

George Brockwell Gill George Brockwell Gill (1857–1954) was an architect in Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. Many of the buildings he designed are heritage-listed. Early life George Brockwell Gill was born in 1857 in the Lambert district of Surrey, England. Archit ...

. The first Church of England services in Ipswich were held in a timber building in Ellenborough Street. A brick church was then erected in 1850 on the corner of Brisbane and Nicholas Streets, opposite the present-day church. This was always intended to be a temporary building and was later used as a Sunday School and day school; it was demolished in 1877. The foundation stone of St Paul's was laid in 1855 but the church was not completed until June 1859. The architect is believed to have been Edmund Thomas Blacket. Ipswich at that time was in the

Diocese of Newcastle The Diocese of Newcastle is a Church of England diocese based in Newcastle upon Tyne, covering the historic county of Northumberland (and therefore including the part of Tyne and Wear north of the River Tyne), as well as the area of Alston Moo ...

and similar designs were used for St Paul's at

West Maitland Maitland () is a city in the Lower Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia and the seat of Maitland City Council, situated on the Hunter River approximately by road north of Sydney and north-west of Newcastle. It is on the New England ...

and St John's at

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

. Blacket's former pupil William Wakeling arrived in Ipswich in 1856 and worked there for several years including some time as the partner of Thomas Casey as builder/architects; he carried out supervision of St Paul's and was also responsible for "the internal arrangements". The building was of a high quality because the church was designed and built at a time when Ipswich was socially and economically buoyant. There was also intense rivalry between Ipswich and Brisbane and the rector was hopeful of attracting the new bishop to the church, making Ipswich a cathedral town. A pipe organ was imported from England and installed in 1860, the first in the colony. This organ still exists, although it has been rebuilt, repaired and relocated. The gallery was built in 1882. At the same time, two lancet windows were installed in the eastern wall and a cast iron porch was added. North and south aisles were added in 1888, designed by F.D.G. Stanley and built by Robert Wilson and Co. In 1926, the old cast iron "Galilee porch" was replaced by the present porch; the bell in this porch is from the 1850 church. In 1929, Ipswich architect and prominent parishioner George Brockwell Gill designed and supervised an extension to the chancel, and the addition of an organ chamber, sacristy, chapel and vestry to the west end and southern transept. Major conservation work was carried out in 1992 under the supervision of

Buchanan Architects Buchanan may refer to: People * Buchanan (surname) Places Africa * Buchanan, Liberia, a large coastal town Antarctica * Buchanan Point, Laurie Island Australia * Buchanan, New South Wales * Buchanan, Northern Territory, a locality * Buchan ...

. The church contains fine stained glass windows and numerous memorials including marble tablets honouring people notable in Queensland history such as

George Thorn George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

and Thomas de Lacy Moffat. In the north-east corner is the Martyrs Chapel which honours New Guinea martyrs including medical missionary Mavis Parkinson who was killed by Japanese soldiers during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. The chapel contains a small bamboo cross in a glass case presented by the Bishop of South Tokyo and a cross found in an abandoned German mission. A Celtic cross in grey stone near the church entrance porch also honours Mavis Parkinson. The church contains a memorial tablet for

John Panton John Panton, MBE (9 October 1916 – 24 July 2009) was a Scottish professional golfer, who represented Great Britain three times in the Ryder Cup. Panton was born in Pitlochry. He turned professional in 1935 and took up a job in the local go ...

, an Ipswich pioneer, merchant and politician. On 25 February 1966, the

Governor of Queensland The governor of Queensland is the representative in the state of Queensland of the monarch of Australia. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governor performs constitutional and ceremonial func ...

, Sir Henry Abel Smith,

unveiled a commemorative baptismal font bowl and plaque in honour of Anna MacArthur (daughter of

Philip Gidley King Captain Philip Gidley King (23 April 1758 – 3 September 1808) was a British politician who was the third Governor of New South Wales. When the First Fleet arrived in January 1788, King was detailed to colonise Norfolk Island for defence ...

and wife of Hannibal Hawkins MacArthur), organised by the

Queensland Women's Historical Association The Queensland Women's Historical Association is a historical society in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia which studies the history and heritage of Queensland, including its pioneer families and the contribution made by women. The Association is ...

Hall

A church hall was built in 1908 but was demolished in 1962 along with the timber belltower and replaced by a new brick and steel parish centre which was dedicated as a war memorial; it was designed by Conrad and Gargett Architects.

Rectory

The rectory was built in 1895-6, designed by G. B. Gill. It replaced an earlier building on the same site which had become dilapidated. There have been only minor changes to this building since construction. It ceased being the rectory and is now used for church offices.

Grounds

The grounds of the church provide an attractive setting, and include a limestone perimeter wall, much of which was built prior to 1876. The Brisbane St section has long been a favourite place for Ipswich people to sit to watch processions. The limestone stone terraces were extended along Nicholas and Limestone Streets in the 1930s and the bus shelter in Nicholas Street was built in 1932.

Description

St Paul's Church occupies a whole block within the city centre of Ipswich. The site includes the church, church hall, rectory, gardens and perimeter limestone walls, all of which are dominant landmark elements within the urban setting. The Revival Gothic church is of

Latin cross A Latin cross or ''crux immissa'' is a type of cross in which the vertical beam sticks above the crossbeam, with the three upper arms either equally long or with the vertical topmost arm shorter than the two horizontal arms, and always with a mu ...

plan form, with the

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 sa ...

placed at the western end. External walls are of face brickwork and contain five arched windows of stained glass with small pivoting vents. The steeply-pitched

gable 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 ...

roof is sheeted with flat pan-and-roll

galvanised iron Galvanization or galvanizing (American and British English spelling differences, also spelled galvanisation or galvanising) is the process of applying a protective zinc coating to steel or iron, to prevent rusting. The most common method is hot ...

and is penetrated by

dormer window A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the usable spac ...

ventilators. The roof structure consists of finely-proportioned hammer beam

truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembl ...

es which intersect above the crossing, supporting a raised lantern roof ventilator. The entrance

porch A porch (from Old French ''porche'', from Latin ''porticus'' "colonnade", from ''porta'' "passage") is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance of a building. A porch is placed in front of the facade of a building it commands, and form ...

is at the eastern end and leads to a

foyer A lobby is a room in a building used for entry from the outside. Sometimes referred to as a foyer, reception area or an entrance hall, it is often a large room or complex of rooms (in a theatre, opera house, concert hall, showroom, cinema, etc. ...

beneath the upper

choir loft A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

with timber screen,

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron– carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impur ...

lace

balustrading A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its co ...

and cast iron spiral stair access. The new floor of the church is of traditional clear-finished

hoop pine ''Araucaria cunninghamii'' is a species of '' Araucaria'' known as hoop pine. Other less commonly used names include colonial pine, Queensland pine, Dorrigo pine, Moreton Bay pine and Richmond River pine. The scientific name honours the botanist ...

and walls are painted plaster. The church

pews A pew () is a long bench (furniture), bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating Member (local church), members of a Church (congregation), congregation or choir in a Church (building), church, synagogue or sometimes a courtroom. Overview ...

are of traditional design and appear to be original. The northern

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 wi ...

did contain the organ and choir stalls, but the organ has been renovated and relocated to the southern transept. The southern transept is also extended to accommodate two

vestries 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 colloquially ...

. 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, par ...

s extend along both sides of the

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 ...

, terminating in small chapels at the western end. The church interior contains some fine timber joinery including sanctuary screens,

communion rail The altar rail (also known as a communion rail or chancel rail) is a low barrier, sometimes ornate and usually made of stone, wood or metal in some combination, delimiting the chancel or the sanctuary and altar in a church, from the nave and oth ...

and panelling of cedar and pine. The interior also contains numerous marble tablets and memorials, pulpit, baptismal font and

lectern A lectern is a reading desk with a slanted top, on which documents or books are placed as support for reading aloud, as in a scripture reading, lecture, or sermon. A lectern is usually attached to a stand or affixed to some other form of support. ...

of fine quality. A chapel in the north-eastern corner of the nave honours Mavis Parkinson and contains an altar faced with

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

tapa cloth Tapa cloth (or simply ''tapa'') is a barkcloth made in the islands of the Pacific Ocean, primarily in Tonga, Samoa and Fiji, but as far afield as Niue, Cook Islands, Futuna, Solomon Islands, Java, New Zealand, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea an ...

and a small bamboo cross in a glass case. The rectory is a lowset timber building with verandahs on all sides and a fine projecting

pedimented Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pediment ...

entrance porch to the east overlooking the town centre and d'Arcy Doyle Place. Walls are of

chamferboard Clapboard (), also called bevel siding, lap siding, and weatherboard, with regional variation in the definition of these terms, is wooden siding of a building in the form of horizontal boards, often overlapping. ''Clapboard'' in modern Americ ...

and the

hipped roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...

is clad in

corrugated galvanised iron Corrugated galvanised iron or steel, colloquially corrugated iron (near universal), wriggly tin (taken from UK military slang), pailing (in Caribbean English), corrugated sheet metal (in North America) and occasionally abbreviated CGI is a ...

. The roof form has distinctive metal ventilators and banks of brick chimneys with terracotta chimney pots. The interior plan form of the rectory remains relatively unchanged except for minor modifications to accommodate the church offices, meeting rooms and storage space. Most of the cedar joinery, except for one fireplace surround, has survived. Contemporary car accommodation has been constructed at the rear and a disabled persons ramp built alongside the northern verandah. The church grounds are raised above the surrounding footpaths and contained on all sides by early limestone retaining walls with sloping concrete copings, once surmounted by a small

picket fence Picket fences are a type of fence often used decoratively for domestic boundaries, distinguished by their evenly spaced vertical boards, the ''pickets'', attached to horizontal rails. Picket fences are particularly popular in the United States, ...

. A pair of circular

crenellated A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

gate pillars exist at the main northeast entrance and are constructed of random rubble

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

matching the walls adjacent. The garden contains some mature trees and a fine-grained Celtic cross memorial set on a

stylobate In classical Greek architecture, a stylobate ( el, στυλοβάτης) is the top step of the crepidoma, the stepped platform upon which colonnades of temple columns are placed (it is the floor of the temple). The platform was built on a level ...

of three steps and engraved with an inscription and traditional Celtic motifs.

Heritage listing

St Pauls Anglican Church and Rectory was listed on the

on 21 October 1992 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history. The place demonstrates the pattern of Queensland's history, exemplifying the buoyant mood of pre-Separation Ipswich and the aspirations of its citizens to construct community buildings worthy of its perceived importance. The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage. Completed in 1859, it is a rare example of a church built prior to Separation and is the oldest Anglican Church in Queensland; it contains the oldest pipe organ in Queensland. The place is important because of its aesthetic significance. The main church is a fine revival Gothic building constructed over a long period from 1855 to 1929. With its central city setting and landscaped grounds including a fine limestone wall and terraces, it is a major landmark in Ipswich. The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons. The church has been closely associated with the spiritual and social life of the Ipswich community since the 1850s. The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history. It is closely associated with two important Queensland architects F.D.G. Stanley and G.B.Gill and also with Edmund Blacket and William Wakeling. It is associated with the life and work of Anglican Church martyr Mavis Parkinson, a medical missionary who was killed in New Guinea during World War II. The rectory is a finely-detailed example of a late Victorian residence and is a good example of the domestic work of G.B. Gill.

References

Attribution

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Pauls Anglican Church Ipswich Queensland Heritage Register Ipswich, Queensland

Articles incorporating text from the Queensland Heritage Register

1859 establishments in Australia Churches completed in 1859 Gothic Revival church buildings in Australia