St John the Baptist Anglican Church, Richmond
St John the Baptist Anglican Church, Richmond | |
---|---|
Location | Crawford Street, Richmond, Shire of Richmond, Queensland, Australia |
Coordinates | 20°43′48″S 143°08′28″E / 20.7301°S 143.141°E |
Design period | 1900–1914 (early 20th century) |
Built | 1909–1988 |
Official name | St John the Baptist Anglican Church Complex |
Type | state heritage (landscape, built) |
Designated | 25 February 2000 |
Reference no. | 601714 |
Significant period | 1900s–1910s (historical) ongoing (social) |
Significant components | church, stained glass window/s, memorial – plaque, church hall/sunday school hall, formation – tramway, furniture/fittings |
Builders | Mr Moore of Hughenden |
St John the Baptist Anglican Church is a heritage-listed church at Crawford Street, Richmond, Shire of Richmond, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1909 by Mr Moore of Hughenden. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 25 February 2000.[1]
History
St John the Baptist Church, Richmond, was constructed in 1909 by Mr Moore of Hughenden.[1]
Richmond developed in the late nineteenth century on the banks of a waterhole on the Flinders River, primarily as a service centre for the extensive merino sheep and cattle grazing pastoral activities of the region.[1]
By 1878 the Anglican Church had established a presence in North Queensland under the leadership of George Frodsham, the Bishop of North Queensland.
In order to serve the isolated northern and western areas the members of the Anglican Synod of North Queensland proposed the establishment of the
A report in North Queensland 1878-1958 80 Years of Anglican Progress says that the Brotherhood of St Barnabas also worked in the Richmond Parish.[2] Despite the fact that there was no church building, Bishop Frodsham held services in a dance hall attached to a hotel and later in the Richmond Court House where he used the magistrates bench as a pulpit.[1]
During a tour of the west in 1904 Bishop Frodsham was reported to be advising the Richmond church community about the construction of a church. In
In 1908 the
By 1909 Hughenden had one priest and one deacon to serve 80,000 square miles. To overcome the shortage of priests the Anglican Synod sought young, unmarried priests from outside the region to serve in North Queensland. By 1913 a Bush Brother had been appointed to Richmond and a large room and verandah added to the vestry for his accommodation.[1]
While the Richmond community continued to depend on sheep and cattle for its livelihood, it received a boost during World War Two when an airstrip was constructed outside the town. During the wool boom of the 1950s the Richmond district was host to large teams of shearers and station workers, creating a vibrant economy. During this period there was a building boom including the construction of Housing Commission homes. The construction of the rail extension from Hughenden to Richmond and Mt Isa in the 1960s also gave the local economy a boost.[1]
During those years the Anglican Church continued to play a significant role in the Richmond community. A front fence and steel entrance gates were dedicated in 1951, and a steel-framed bell tower in 1981. The church building was clad with metal sheeting and two stained glass windows were added in the front facade in 1988; two stained glass windows were installed in the side walls to the sanctuary c. 1997.[1]
Description
St John the Baptist Anglican Church, Richmond is a small, rectangular, single-storeyed timber building with a gabled corrugated iron roof. Attached to the rear of the building is a
The church is approached via a set of decorative wrought steel gates, and a pathway flanked by two trees. To the north-west of the church is a steel bell tower.[1]
The exterior cladding of the building is
The front entry door has two leaves with stop-chamfered rails and tongue-and-groove boarding, and decorative early iron hinges.[1]
Internally, the
The nave is furnished with eight silky oak pews with pegged joints, and the table used as the altar is also silky oak. Mounted on the wall of the nave is a memorial board, which includes plaques commemorating the dedication of the altar rails in 1906, the gates and fence in 1951, and the bell tower in 1981.[1]
To either side of the entry doors are two tall
The extension to the rear is centrally divided, with bathroom facilities added at the south-east corner. Its walls and raked ceiling are lined with fibrous cement sheets. Furniture in this extension includes wardrobes, a lectern, a bellows organ and an iron bed.[1]
Heritage listing
St John the Baptist Anglican Church in Richmond was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 25 February 2000 having satisfied the following criteria.[1]
The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history.
St John the Baptist Church at Richmond, constructed in 1909, is important in demonstrating the expansion of the work of the Anglican Church in small western Queensland communities in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, particularly the influence of the Bush Brotherhood in establishing parishes and church buildings in remote towns.[1]
The place is important because of its aesthetic significance.
The interior of the building, which remains highly intact, has a strong aesthetic appeal generated by the clear varnished silky oak lining boards, joinery, furniture and memorials. This interior remains important in demonstrating the aesthetic possibilities of simply-designed, small timber churches of this era.[1]
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 a special association with the Bush Brotherhood movement in western Queensland.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v "St John the Baptist Anglican Church Complex (entry 601714)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
- ^ Fraser, Ross (1958), A historical sketch of the Diocese of North Queensland, Diocese of North Queensland, retrieved 13 July 2016
- ^ "HUGHENDEN NOTES". The Northern Miner. Queensland, Australia. 19 July 1909. p. 6. Retrieved 14 April 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
Attribution
External links
Media related to St John the Baptist Anglican Church, Richmond at Wikimedia Commons