St Agnes Anglican Church is a heritage-listed

churchyard In Christian countries, a churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church (building), church, which is usually owned by the relevant church or local parish itself. In the Scots language and in both Scottish English and Ulster S ...

at Ipswich Street, Esk,

Somerset Region The Somerset Region is a local government area located in the West Moreton region of South East Queensland, Australia, northwest of the City of Brisbane. The region is centred on the town of Esk, which also serves as the council seat. Somer ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. It was designed by

John Hingeston Buckeridge John H. Buckeridge (1857–1934) was an English-born Australian architect, who built about sixty churches in Queensland and is also remembered for remodelling the interior of the Macquarie era church of St James', King Street, Sydney. Life J ...

and built in 1889 by Lars Andersen. It is also known as St Agnes Rectory and Church Hall. 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 ...

on 21 October 1992.

History

The timber church, rectory and church hall which comprise the St Agnes group at Esk, were erected between 1889 and 1910. The Anglican Parish of Esk had been created in 1886. For the first few years, services at Esk were conducted at the non-denominational Union Church. The present site, intended for a church, hall and rectory, was donated by Ellen Webb, and transferred to the

Anglican Church Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

in 1889. Plans for the church were prepared in late 1888 by

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

diocesan architect John Hingeston Buckeridge, with working drawings following in 1889. Limited funds produced some alteration to the design. The building was erected in mid-1889 by local Esk contractor, sawmill proprietor and Anglican parishioner, Lars Andersen, and was dedicated on Monday 28 October 1889 by

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

William Webber. In 1907 the western end of the building was lengthened by , the communion rails were extended, and a

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spen ...

was added. The

rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, p ...

was constructed in 1901–1902, and had been paid for by November 1902. It also was designed by Buckeridge, and included a parish room (meeting room). Since 1928, when the Esk and Toogoolawah parishes re-combined to form the Brisbane Valley parish, the rector has resided at Toogoolawah, and St Agnes rectory has been rented. Currently it is leased to a local art and craft society. The church and rectory were two of approximately ninety Anglican buildings erected during the episcopate of the

Anglican Bishop of Brisbane Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protes ...

William Webber, from 1885 to 1903. Webber had an understanding of ecclesiastical design and architecture generally and was responsible for bringing Buckeridge to Brisbane from London, appointing him as Diocesan Architect in 1887. The church hall began as a smaller

Sunday School ] A Sunday school, sometimes known as a Sabbath school, is an educational institution, usually Christianity, Christian in character and intended for children or neophytes. Sunday school classes usually precede a Sunday church service and are u ...

building, constructed . It was extended as a hall between 1908 and 1910, and has been modified since. This building does not form part of the heritage listing. In 1903 shade trees were planted in the grounds, some of which remain. The street entrance pillars were erected in honour of former parishioner and Brisbane Valley pioneer

Francis Edward Bigge Francis Edward Bigge (1820—1915) was a pioneer pastoralist and politician in Queensland, Australia. He was a Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council and a Member of the Queensland Legislative Council. He championed the development ...

. They were designed and built by stonemason

Andrew Petrie Andrew Petrie (June 1798 – 20 February 1872) was a Scottish-Australian pioneer, architect and builder in Brisbane, Queensland. Early life Andrew Petrie was born in June 1798 in Fife, Scotland, to parents Walter Petrie and Margaret (''née'' ...

Toowong Toowong ( ) is a riverside Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Toowong had a population of 12,556 people with a median weekly household income of $1,927. Geography Toowong is ...

in 1920. The bell and

belltower 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 (building), church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many ...

were erected in 1953.

Description

St Agnes rectory and church, located with a hall, belltower and grounds containing a number of mature trees, form an Anglican Church group which, along with the Presbyterian, Uniting and Catholic Church groups, is situated on Ipswich Street, the main road into Esk.

Church

St Agnes church is a weatherboard building with a steeply pitched ribbed metal gable roof with deep timber brackets to the

eaves The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural sty ...

. The building has a rectangular plan set on a later brick base, with a vestry added to the east and a porch to the north west. The entry porch has a gable roof with weatherboard

balustrade 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 ...

and gable. The entry and vestry doors have convex quarter circles at the top corners. The building features

lancet windows A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a sharp pointed arch at its top. This arch may or may not be a steep lancet arch (in which the compass centres for drawing the arch fall outside the opening). It acquired the "lancet" name from its rese ...

, most of which contain

leadlight Leadlights, leaded lights or leaded windows are decorative windows made of small sections of glass supported in lead cames. The technique of creating windows using glass and lead came to be known as came glasswork. The term 'leadlight' could b ...

glazing except in the

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...

which features

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

. The building has a scissor trussed roof with boarded ceiling and vertical

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. A strong joint, it allows two flat pieces to be joined strongly together to mak ...

boards to the walls 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 ...

. The sanctuary has horizontal boards to the walls and the interior surfaces have been painted. A timber screen separates the sanctuary from the nave. This screen has a tongue and groove balustrade and decorative timber brackets forming a pointed arch in the centre. A timber cross is supported above the centre and a

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

is built into the western end of the nave. The internal faces of the doors have decorative diagonal boarding at close centres. The floor of the sanctuary and

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

are raised above the nave and

, and at

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

level there are spaced ventilation boards. The altar and

altar 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 ot ...

are of stained carved timber and the building contains original

pews A pew () is a long bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a synagogue, church, funeral home or sometimes a courtroom. Occasionally, they are also found in live performance venues (such as the Ryman A ...

, a stone

baptismal font A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...

and memorial plaques. A 1953 timber-frame

with a corrugated iron pitched roof is located to the north east of the church. Entry to the site is via memorial gates which consist of three sandstone gateposts with decorative metal gates. The posts are square in plan with pyramid

capitals Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

, rock finish faces with dressed corners and base and a marble plaque and name badge on the two centre posts. The grounds include a number of notable mature trees.

Rectory

St Agnes rectory is a single-storeyed

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

building with a

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

hipped

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. It has timber stumps, with

verandahs A veranda (also spelled verandah in Australian English, Australian and New Zealand English) is a roofed, open-air hallway or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a handrail, railing and frequently ...

on the north and east sides. The street entrance

porch A porch (; , ) is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance to a building. A porch is placed in front of the façade of a building it commands, and forms a low front. Alternatively, it may be a vestibule (architecture), vestibule (a s ...

has a projecting gable to the verandah with decorative timber

truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as Beam (structure), 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 ...

finial A finial () or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a dome, spire, tower, roo ...

and barge boards. The verandah roof is at a lesser pitch to the main roof and the hipped

gables Gables may refer to: * Gable, a portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches * Gables, Nebraska, an unincorporated community in the United States * Gables, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia * Ken Gables (1919-19 ...

have curved timber bargeboards. The verandah features decorative timber

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. They come in four main pairs of shapes, as given in the box to the right, which also gives their n ...

and posts and the walls are single-skin with exposed timber framing. The front door has timber panelling with glass

sidelights A sidelight or sidelite in a building is a window, usually with a vertical emphasis, that flanks a door or a larger window. Sidelights are narrow, usually stationary and found immediately adjacent to doorways.Barr, Peter.Illustrated Glossary", ...

and

fanlight A fanlight is a form of lunette window (transom window), often semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing (window), glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open Hand fan, fan. It is placed over another window or a doorway, ...

French doors A door is a hinged or otherwise movable barrier that allows ingress (entry) into and egress (exit) from an enclosure. The created opening in the wall is a ''doorway'' or ''portal''. A door's essential and primary purpose is to provide securit ...

with fanlights open onto the verandah. The double hung

sash windows A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned window (architecture), paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double gla ...

have sunhoods with curved timber brackets and a

carport A carport is a covered structure used to offer limited protection to vehicles, primarily cars, from rain and snow. The structure can either be free standing or attached to a wall. Unlike most structures, a carport does not have four walls, and u ...

has been added to the south, the roof of which cuts across a side window. The building has a brick

chimney A chimney is an architectural ventilation structure made of masonry, clay or metal that isolates hot toxic exhaust gases or smoke produced by a boiler, stove, furnace, incinerator, or fireplace from human living areas. Chimneys are typical ...

and a rear verandah has been enclosed with chamferboards and

casement windows A casement window is a window that is attached to its frame by one or more hinges at the side. They are used singly or in pairs within a common frame, in which case they are hinged on the outside. Casement windows are often held open using a case ...

. Internally, the joinery is intact and the building has boarded walls and ceiling. A detached laundry is located at the rear.

Heritage listing

St Agnes Church and rectory were 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. St Agnes Church and rectory are important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history, being associated with the consolidation of the Anglican church in Esk. The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage. They demonstrate an uncommon aspect of Queensland's cultural heritage, comprising as they do the only known group of buildings in Queensland which contains both a church and rectory designed by diocesan architect JH Buckeridge, and are important in illustrating the principal characteristics of their type. The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places. They demonstrate an uncommon aspect of Queensland's cultural heritage, comprising as they do the only known group of buildings in Queensland which contains both a church and rectory designed by diocesan architect JH Buckeridge, and are important in illustrating the principal characteristics of their type. The place is important because of its aesthetic significance. The place is important in exhibiting a number of aesthetic characteristics valued by the local community, including the intactness of the federation-era rectory, and the contribution, through scale, form and materials, of the buildings and grounds to the streetscape of Ipswich Street and to the Esk townscape. The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons. The place has had a special association with the Anglican community in Esk as a centre of local worship, for over a century. 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 church and rectory have a strong association with architect JH Buckeridge, being examples of his ecclesiastical work in Queensland.

References

Attribution

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Agnes Anglican Church Esk Queensland Heritage Register Esk, Queensland Anglican churches in Queensland John H. Buckeridge church buildings Articles incorporating text from the Queensland Heritage Register Buildings and structures in Somerset Region