queenslandchurches

The first Saint Mary's Church, Warwick is a substantial sandstone building, constructed 1863–1865 to designs of prominent Brisbane architect, Benjamin Backhouse.[1 The plan for the church was duly prepared by prominent Brisbane architect, Benjamin Backhouse, to the specifications that it was to be simple but tasteful, in the Gothic style and in stone or brick. Despite the setback of severe damage during a thunderstorm, the church building was officially opened on 23 August 1865 by Bishop Quinn, the first Roman Catholic Bishop of Brisbane. At this time the church was named the St Mary of the Assumption, now popularly shortened to St Mary's. This original building consisted of only the nave of the present church, with side entrances, not through porches, but simply accessing the body of the church directly. The roof of the building was slated or shingled. By 1867 a Catholic school, run by the Misses O'Mara until the arrival of the Sisters of Mercy in 1874, was established in the church by the next parish priest, Father O'Reilly. The church was partitioned with calico screens, firstly to separate the sanctuary from the teaching area and, later to divide the teaching area into smaller rooms in the body of the church. O'Reilly was replaced by Father McDonagh, who was the first resident priest, and after him in 1876 came Father James Horan who was to remain in Warwick until 1905. Horan was responsible for the completion of the church by 1894 when the transepts and chancel were added. By this time porches over the side, entrances were also completed.[1] AS St Mary's Church over time became inadequate for the needs of his community, new plans are sought for the construction of a second larger church, further north on the same block in Palmerin Street. Local architects, Dornbusch & Connolly drew plans for the second St Mary's church which, like the original church, was to conform to a cruciform plan, but only the body has thus far been completed. The new church was constructed between 1920 and 1926 when it was officially opened.[1] After the opening of the new church, the original St Mary's was partitioned, lined and used as school rooms, for the Catholic primary school which began in the building in its earliest days. It has remained as a community meeting hall and store to this day. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_St_Mary%27s_Church,_Warwick

St Patrick's Cathedral is a dominant Victorian Gothic church built from basalt and located on James Street, Toowoomba. It was designed by James Marks for the then Catholic Toowoomba Mission and was built between 1883 and 1889.[2] The Cathedral is a fine example of the Victorian Gothic architectural style, the distinguishing elements of which include steeply pitched roofs, buttresses, pinnacles, tracery and pointed arches. Also included in the Queensland Heritage Register's entry is the Presbytery, with walls of face brick and a tiled roof, which is sited on the eastern side of the Cathedral building.[2] St Patrick's is cruciform in plan, and almost 61 meters (200 ft) long and 31 meters (102 ft) wide. The main gabled roof contains the nave and features a stone cross at its apex of the front gable parapet. It intersects with the gabled roofs over each transept. All are steeply pitched. The Cathedral's stonework is "hammer dressed square rubble". A brick chimneystack protrudes through the roof at the western end of the building. One large, timber-battened gable end projects off the main roof at the east end of the southern facade. At the west end of this facade, the roof is hipped. The gable end projecting east is clad in chamfer boards. Space only 4 meters (13 ft) wide at its narrowest separates the Presbytery from a recently constructed brick Parish Centre to the south. St Patrick's was originally a modest timber church but following its destruction in 1883 by fire, work began on St Patrick's Cathedral. The building of the Cathedral was an indication of the emerging importance and institutional presence of the Roman Catholic Church in the Darling Downs region, and the development of St Patrick's following the creation of the Diocese of Toowoomba in 1929 reaffirmed the permanency and strength of Catholicism in the region.[2] Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Patrick%27s_Cathedral,_Toowoomba

St Andrew's Uniting Church at Bundaberg is a substantial brick church located in the heart of the city, at the corner of Maryborough and Woongarra Streets, opposite Buss Park. Designed in the Gothic style, the body of the church is cruciform in shape and is positioned north-south such that the sanctuary faces north. The building is constructed of variegated and multi-colored bricks, with decorative cement dressings on the external walls. The roof is clad with fibrous-cement tiles. The building is laid on a cement foundation and its maximum overall dimensions are 115 feet by 41 feet. A carillon tower of 'battlement design', attached to the eastern side of the building, dominates the building. The tower measures 71 feet in height and slightly tapers toward the top. Each face of the tower has decorative arched openings and is crowned with the cross of St Andrew on the middle battlement. The tower contains a carillon, or set of bells, one of which bears the emblem of the burning bush and dedication to the memory of members of the Pierson family. A First World War Honour Board is located in the Tower entry and later memorials have been added. At the southern end of the church is the official main entry. Above the entry is a large stained glass window that consists of four large panels crowned by seven crosses; the whole arrangement is set within an arch. There are six stained glass windows along either side of the nave, set between the buttresses. Exposed arched trusses in dark stained pine support the roof structure and dominate the internal ceiling. The eastern and southern boundaries of the property are marked by a low stone fence, with a small roofed gate (reminiscent of a lych gate) at the corner where the two boundaries meet. . The gate is made of the same stone as the fence and has a fibrous-cement tiled roof. Gardens have been established along the sides and southern end of the church. These consist of garden beds along the base of the walls, low set shrubs, and a number of small trees. These help to reinforce links with the neighboring Buss Park. Source: apps.des.qld.gov.au/heritage-register/detail/?id=602489