Uniting Church Central Memorial Hall is a heritage-listed

church hall A church hall or parish hall is a room or building associated with a church, generally for community and charitable use.

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 r ...

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 , established_ ...

, Australia. It was designed by

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 ...

and built from 1895 to 1895 by W Betts. It is also known as Congregational Sunday School. 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 9 July 1993.

History

The Uniting Church Central Memorial Hall is a two storeyed brick building erected in 1895 to the design of architect George Brockwell Gill as a Sunday school for the

Congregational Church Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

. The Ipswich Congregational Church was formed in 1854 with Reverend Edward Griffith as its first pastor. A year later, the first church was erected on a site in Brisbane Street. This was replaced in 1870, with the earlier building becoming the Sunday school. After the 1893 flood destroyed the Sunday school, a new site was sought. In 1894, the East Street site was purchased by the Church. The site, opposite the court house and police station had previously been granted to the Ipswich Town Council as a site for the erection of the Town Hall, however this did not proceed and in 1893 was proclaimed a town lot. Plans for the new Sunday school were ambitious; however the work of the Sunday school was considered important, given the secular nature of the state's education system and their enrolment substantial. In 1895, the Congregational Sunday School had 429 scholars and fifty-one teachers under the superintendence of

James Clarke Cribb James Clarke Cribb (1856 - 1926) was a businessman and politician in Queensland, Australia . He was a Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly. Early life James Clarke Cribb was born 4 October 1856 at Ipswich, the son of Benjamin Cribb (a ...

. George Brockwell Gill's plans provided for a number of classrooms accommodating both children and adults. They were located in the wings of the hall, on the raised platform, and on the front second storey. An infants room and large storeroom were located under the platform at ground level. Opening off the entrance was a library and a room known as the Endeavour Room. The new school cost £3,000. The contractor was W Betts and the brickwork was undertaken by John Mackenzie. In 1938, the Church acquired the adjoining residence Keiraville previously owned by the Cribb family who were prominent members of the church. After this, Keiraville became the manse. In 1957, a new brick church was erected to the north of the hall. This was known as the Central Memorial Church in memory of those who served in the two World Wars. In 1978, the property was transferred to the

Uniting Church The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was founded on 22 June 1977, when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost all the churches of the Congregational Union ...

. In recent years, the church and Sunday school were closed. The hall is now regularly used by various community groups. The lower former infants classrooms is used as a kindergarten.

Description

The Memorial Hall is a substantial polychromatic brick building with a corrugated iron roof. It has a two-storeyed wing with a gabled roof fronting onto East St, and a two-storey height hall with a gabled roof extending out to the east: the site slopes away and another storey is included at the rear. The East St elevation has a central entry

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

, and a decorative gable breaks the roofline above. The eastern end of the building finishes by expressing the hall roof in a gable end, which is flanked by

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 projecting to the north and south; this elevation also has a central timber portico. The north and south walls have skillion roofs under

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, and timber

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 entrance porticos. The Memorial Hall is a distinctive member of a small grouping of public buildings on East St, which include the Police Station (1930s) and

Old Ipswich Courthouse The Old Ipswich Courthouse is a heritage-listed former courthouse located at 73-75 East Street, Ipswich, City of Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Charles Tiffin and built from 1859 to 1936. It was added to the Queensland Heri ...

(1859 and 1880). The exterior is finely detailed, with rich variations in materials and openings. The base of the building has broad arches, while the upper level openings have hemispherical and flat arches. The gable peaks have circular vents. Surrounds include combinations of beige brick

voussoir A voussoir () is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, which is used in building an arch or vault. Although each unit in an arch or vault is a voussoir, two units are of distinct functional importance: the keystone and the springer. The ...

s and toothing, and terracotta voussoirs, hood mouldings, red brick surrounds, and toothed concrete sills and

keystones A keystone (or capstone) is the wedge-shaped stone at the apex of a masonry arch or typically round-shaped one at the apex of a vault. In both cases it is the final piece placed during construction and locks all the stones into position, allo ...

. The main entrance portico to the west has series of concrete arches with keystones on brick

column 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. ...

s under a gabled roof. Other external decoration includes beige brick

quoins 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 ...

, and several string courses, made up of combinations of diagonally-placed bricks and projecting bricks, with a concrete string course at hall floor level. The building has in total five timber entrance porticos with fine timber detailing including battens and, cross-braced balustrades. The roof is crowned with a timber and corrugated iron fleche with four gables with finials, which when erected contained a Boyles patent ventilator. Internally, the hall is encircled by rooms. The western end has a large meeting room, library and office either side of an entrance hall, and a timber

mezzanine A mezzanine (; or in Italian language, Italian, a ''mezzanino'') is an intermediate floor in a building which is partly open to the double-height ceilinged floor below, or which does not extend over the whole floorspace of the building, a loft ...

with

balcony A balcony (from it, balcone, "scaffold") is a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade, usually above the ground floor. Types The traditional Maltese balcony is ...

access to meeting rooms. To the north and south the hall is flanked by

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, offices and storage areas. The south aisle has been converted to a kitchen. The eastern end of the hall has a stage and backstage area, and rooms under the eastern end are currently used for childcare. The hall is an impressive two-storey height space with exposed timber

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, clerestory

lighting Lighting or illumination is the deliberate use of light to achieve practical or aesthetic effects. Lighting includes the use of both artificial light sources like lamps and light fixtures, as well as natural illumination by capturing daylig ...

, a hardwood floor, and rendered masonry walls. The ceiling has exposed rafters and diagonal timber boards. The aisles are arcaded with arches springing from substantial square columns with square capitals and barley twists in the centre. Doorways to ancillary rooms are also arched. The aisles have raked timber boarded ceilings with exposed rafters. The mezzanine sits behind three arches springing from

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s in the western wall, and has a

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag Inclusion (mineral), inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a ...

balustrade. The stage has timber partitions to rear, and behind the stage area is a gable wall with a three-light stained glass window. The clerestory windows have multi-coloured panes around their edges. The principal entrance to the building to the west has arched doors with arched stained glass

sidelight 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 doorways.Barr, Peter.Illustrated Glossary, 19th ...

s, leading to an entry vestibule; similar doors and sidelights lead to the hall. The entrance vestibule is a double storey height volume with timber stairs climbing around its perimeter. The stairs have finely turned and carved balustrades, striped timbers to the soffits, and meet an arched window with coloured glass at the half landing. The vestibule also contains a brass and timber honour roll. The adjacent library has extensive timber shelving, and the meeting room opposite has external entrance doors with coloured glass and timber boarded ceilings with a star- shaped ceiling rose. The mezzanine rooms have exposed framing under gable roofs, with diagonally boarded ceilings. The Memorial Hall is a very fine and intact building; the interior spaces, particularly the hall and entrance vestibule, have impressive spatial qualities, and contain finely detailed elements. The exterior is distinctive and rich in its use of materials and fine detailing of walls, porticos and openings. The associated church and the Hall were put on the market in 2009.(25 September 2009), Praying for church sale, ''The Queensland Times''
Retrieved 14 April 2016

Heritage listing

Uniting Church Central Memorial Hall was listed on the

on 9 July 1993 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history. The Uniting Church Central Memorial Hall is important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history, in particular the development of the Congregational Church in Ipswich and the importance placed on education within the Church. The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage. It is a rare example of a substantial masonry Sunday School building, and demonstrates the principal characteristics of a substantial Ipswich building by architect George Brockwell Gill. The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places. It is a rare example of a substantial masonry Sunday School building, and demonstrates the principal characteristics of a substantial Ipswich building by architect George Brockwell Gill. The place is important because of its aesthetic significance. It exhibits a range of aesthetic characteristics valued by the community, including the fine detailing and rich use of materials of the exterior; the contribution to the townscape as a distinctive and substantial decorated brick building amongst a group of public buildings on East St; the impressive spatial quality of the hall and entrance vestibule; the decorative detailing of major internal elements; and the fine craft-work of the stairs and stained glass windows. The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons. As the Sunday school and hall for over ninety years, it has a special association with the Congregational (now Uniting Church) community of Ipswich. 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 has a special association with the life and work of a number of people associated with the life of the church, in particular James C Cribb, Joseph Hargreaves, and Alexander Nichol, who served as Superintendents of the Sunday School; and members of the church, who served during the First World War, whose names are recorded on the roll of honour.

References

Attribution

External links

{{UCA Churches, state=autocollapse Queensland Heritage Register Ipswich, Queensland

Articles incorporating text from the Queensland Heritage Register Community centres Former Congregational church buildings in Australia Church halls in Queensland Defunct schools in Queensland