User talk:Ralph Coles

Heritage and National Trust Citation

NATIONAL TRUST OF QUEENSLAND -

CITATION FILE REFERENCE NO. ESK PRESENT NAME: St Andrews Presbyterian Church FORMER/OTHER NAME: N/A ADDRESS: Church and Hall: corner Ipswich Street and Middle Street Manse: No 65 Ipswich Street Esk (adjacent) LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA: Esk Shire Council PRESENT USE: Community Venue and Arts Centre PRESENT OWNER: Ralph Coles LAND DESCRIPTION: ACCESS: by appointment

YEAR OF CONSTRUCTION: 1876

HISTORY:

Esk stands on the former Mount Esk Run taken up in 1842 by Gideon Scott and purchased by the Bigges of Mt Brisbane Run in 1849. Initially it was a teamster’s camp established at the crossing of Sandy Creek on the coach road north. This road became the Main North Road from Ipswich to the Burnett. The first building known to have been built at Sandy Creek was a hotel constructed in 1872 (now gone).

Plans for a town at Sandy Creek were lodged in 1873 stimulated by a copper mining boom at Biarra to the west. The town was called Gallanani and was laid out on the southern banks of Sandy Creek around the existing hotel. It developed quickly to include a range of government and commercial buildings and houses. The commercial centre of Gallanani moved to its present location on the north side of the creek crossing in the early 1880s with the construction of the railway, which reached town in 1886. The township of Gallanani became known as the railway town of Esk and was officially renamed Esk in 1913.

Most of the public buildings were either moved across the Creek or replacement buildings were built in the new town centre. The Roman Catholic (1884 rebuilt c.1905) and Anglican (1889) Churches were built on the north side of the crossing on either side of the main road. An 1880s Methodist Church on the south side of the Creek was moved to Toogoolawah in 1906 and the existing Methodist Church built on the north side of the Creek near the other churches.

Today the Presbyterian Church and the State School are the only public buildings remaining on the south side of the Creek to mark the original centre of the settlement, although the street layout and some of the older houses also survive. The school buildings were rebuilt in 1946 on the original site.

In 1873 David and Mary McConnel of Cressbrook, two of the first white settlers in the Brisbane Valley, donated land on the south bank of Sandy Creek for the construction of a Presbyterian church. Alexander Raff (Biggs’s financial manager) and probably Mary McConnel donated money towards the building. The church was completed by 1876 and was the first church to be built in Esk. As such it served as a Union Church accommodating all denominations.

The church stood on the corner of Ipswich and Middle Streets in the commercial centre of town next to a hotel and store and close to the Sandy Creek crossing. A manse was also constructed. The Queensland Times of 1878 reported (as quoted in the Kerr database):

The Presbyterian church and manse are beautifully situated, both erected through liberality of surrounding stations and settlers. No “isms” or sects here. Holds 120. Manse is “built almost of cedar” 6 large rooms with kitchen.’

The survey plan for the School of Arts Reserve in 1890 shows the church building in its present location with a hotel and store next door and a bank opposite. The plan appears to be an earlier drawing that was modified in 1890 to show the new location of the School of Arts Reserve. This may explain why the manse is not shown on the plan. Chalk suggests that the first manse stood on Middle Street to the north of the existing hail as shown in a photograph dated 1898. A photograph from 1908 appears to shown a similar arrangement, with empty space where the site of the existing manse stands. in 1947 the manse was sold for removal and a replacement building constructed by 1948. Probably the existing manse is the one constructed in 1948 and was on a different site to the first manse.

The date of construction of the hail is not known but by 1929 there was a hail in existence on the site which was used as a Sunday School and for social activities. Local informants suggest the building was the billiard room of the Commercial Hotel in Esk recycled.

DESCRIPTION: The church stands on its original site on the main Brisbane Valley Highway facing Middle Street. The hall stands on the north part of the site also facing Middle Street. There is a garage and an outhouse behind the hail. The manse stands to the west side of the complex facing the Brisbane Valley Highway (Ipswich Road). The site is grassed and fenced with a plain timber and wire fence and there is a gate connecting the manse garden to the church site.

The church is a landmark driving southwards out of Esk because of its location immediately opposite the crossing and its plain but distinctive form. Driving into town from the South it is the first church in a fine precinct of historical timber churches, associated buildings and mature trees on both sides of the Creek crossing.

The church is a rectangular weatherboard building with a porch and lancet windows. It is set on low stumps and has a gabled galvanised iron roof. A joint in the weatherboards suggests that the building has been extended and almost doubled in size.

The exterior of the church building is plain but it incorporates distinctive features, particularly the decorative belfry on the roof and the wide diagonal beaded tongue and groove boarding on the pair of entrance doors. Similar diagonal tongue and groove boarding is also evident on the eaves soffit and may be an indication of its early date of construction. There is a louvered lancet window high up on the rear elevation and a door, suggesting that there is a vestry at the back of the building behind the altar. This arrangement may have resulted from the way the building was extended to the east. The porch has decorative barge boards. The hail is a smaller gabled building also weatherboard with a gabled galvanised iron roof. At least part of the interior is lined with asbestos cement. It has a porch and narrow rectangular windows shaded with hoods. The rear has been extended with part of a building possibly recycled from elsewhere and incorporating a verandah. This rear part, which does not contain windows, may be the recycled billiard hall recalled by local informants.

The garage is a single skin weatherboard building with a gabled roof, probably interwar. There is an outhouse behind.

The manse is weatherboard building on low stumps with a hipped galvanised iron roof. Windows are casements with horizontal glazing bars and there is a small Art deco porch. The interiors of the buildings were not open for inspection.

SIGNIFICANCE: The heritage and townscape values of the Presbyterian Church have been recognised for many years. Esk was identified in the Brisbane Valley Townscape study (1975) as being a township of potentially national significance and in the study the Presbyterian Church was identified as a significant feature worthy of preservation and care’. More recently the church was included in the heritage trail for Esk published by the Shire of Esk.

Towns and their pattern of development are an important aspect of Queensland’s Heritage. Esk is a particularly good example of a historic town in the way it demonstrates a sequence of phases of development from the 1 870s to the present in its street layout and its buildings. It shows the impacts of mining, pastoralism, timber and dairying and the effects of changing methods of transport and communication, particularly the road and the railway.

The Presbyterian Church is of historical significance as the oldest church in Esk. In particular it demonstrates the early pattern of development of the town around the road and then the railway. (Criterion A.4) The church stands on its original site on the main road near the original Sandy Creek crossing and marks the original commercial centre of Gallanani. It is the only nineteenth century public or commercial building to survive from Gallanani on its original site. (Criterion B.1)

The church building is significant as a representative example (as far as can be determined from the exterior) of a small timber country church and is rare for its early date of construction. (Criterion D.2)

The church is of social value to the local community as a place of continuous worship for the last 125 years. This value is enhanced by the original use as a Union Church serving all the Christian denominations in the locality. The church is of social value as a landmark on the southern entry to town. (Criterion G)

Although the church is plain and its architecture cannot be assessed without inspecting the interior, the church building has aesthetic value as a townscape element. This derives from its visual association with the other historic timber churches across the Creek and its contribution to the character of the town entrance. The Church has a special association with the former Presbyterian community of Esk Shire. The church has a special association with the David McConnel who donated the site and whose descendents are of significance in the local region occupying the same property since white settlement of the region. (Criterion H.!)

REFERENCES: David Chalk 1985 Assessing Cultural Significance and Preparing Conservation Policies in Notable Towns: Esk As a Case Study, Unpublished undergraduate thesis, University of Queensland, pp. 98a, lOa, John Oxley Library negative no. 173103 National Trust of Queensland 1976 The Brisbane Valley A townscape study, unpublished report pp.52-57 and fold out plan. Ruth S Kerr 1988, Confidence and Tradition A history of Esk Shire Council of the Shire of Esk, Esk pp. ix, 7, 40, 118, 191,216-217 Extracts from Ruth Kerr’s Esk Shire Database held by Esk Shire In 1873 D McConnel bought land at Sandy Creek, Esk, for a Presbyterian Church. (ESK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH CENTENARY 1976 p 6)

1873 McConnel’s advocated for a Presbyterian Church to be built in Esk - honoured McConnel’s silver wedding anniversary - Alex Raft sent a cheque towards the building. (M McCONNEL, MEMORIES OF DAYS GONE BY) 1876 12 February, Reverend David Watt conducted a service at Esk. He stayed until his death on 3 August 1877. - The charge had 5 relieving ministers after the death of Reverend Watt. -29 September 1880, Reverend John S Pollock was inducted into ministry at Esk. - Within 5 years, the charge had 5 separate preaching pieces and was 40 miles long. (ESK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH CENTENARY 1976 p 7,8) 1876

Esk Presbyterian Church built in 1875 largely through efforts of Mary McConnel, she donated 20 acres of land and it is believed she paid for church. First Minister, Reverend David Watt MA. came out from Scotland to it - buried Esk Cemetery. Mrs McConnel also had Presbyterian Church erected at Cressbrook. (QT 11/1/1910) 1876

Correspondent says Esk Presbyterian Church was built in 1876 by Mr and Mrs D C McConnel but not in first instance for a Presbyterian Church - many friends of other denominations helped and subscribed and many years before it was made over to the Presbyterians. Victoria Chapel, Cressbrook is undenominational and not built by Mrs McConnel although she was greatly interested and laid the first pile. (QT 17/1/1910 p4) 1876-1975

Esk Presbyterian charge (Parish) will celebrate its centenary 21 March 1976. - Parish covers from Wivenhoe to Nanango and from Atkinson’s Lagoon to Kilcoy. - In earlier times, services held at Deep Creek (now Bryden) and Five Mile Waters (now Moombra) - D C McConnel and wife Mary celebrated their silver anniversary in 1873 and bought, cleared and fenced land at Sandy Creek (Esk) for the Church. - First recorded meeting of the charge was 18 March, 1876 under chairmanship of D C McConnel. - Others present were Messrs James Jones, John Mimer and T W Long. (QT 20/9/1975 p 11) John Peters Snr and Mrs Peters were the first couple married in Esk in 1876 by Rev. David Watt, in Presbyterian Church. (E.R. 28/3/1936) 1876-80

Committee tracing history of Esk Presbyterian charge found first recorded event was a service conducted at Esk by Reverend David Watt, MA., on 12 February 1876. - Offering was 19 pounds and 17 pounds sent to England for communion service and 1 pound each spent on linen and a Bible. - Reverend Watt died in the Esk manse 3 August 1877, aged 34 years. - First session meeting of Esk charge held in Brisbane under chairmanship of Reverend Cohn McCulloch, Minister of Wickham Terrace Church. - Mr Alexander Raft’ appointed elder to attend church’s general assembly in May 1879. - John S Pollock was inducted as Minister at Esk, a former pupil at Divinity Hall, on 29 September 1880. - He and three other ministers, Charles Legate, James McQueen and Andrew Wilson all later became moderators of the Presbyterian Church in Queensland. (QT 4/11/1975 p 20)

Rev. David WATT, Presbyterian Minister at Mt Esk died August 3 - suffered from consumption - left Scotland for Queensland 18 months ago hoping to improve his health -36 years old - in Scotland he was Assistant Minister in a city charge in Edinburgh. (QT 7 3)

Rev. C. Clarke appointed the charge of Mt Esk Presbyterian church, after death of Rev. Mr Watt. (QT 25/10/1 877 p. 3) [ Esk was a settlement close by on the Brisbane river but sometimes Esk was called Mt Esk] The Presbyterian church and manse are beautifully situated, both erected through liberality of surrounding stations and settlers. No “isms” or sects here. Holds 120. Manse is “built almost of cedar”, 6 large rooms with kitchen. Late Reverend Mr Watt first pastor but his health failed. Died. Reverend Mr Mossop supplied his place until Reverend C Clarke of Brisbane appointed. (QT 8/1/1 878)

Presbyterian Church - Advertisement - Reverend William Robertson from Warrnambool Victoria will preach at Esk Church Sunday 8 March 11.00 a.m. and will visit other parts of that district. (QT 28/2/1878) By 1885, there were decision making congregations at Biarra (Toogoolawah), Moombra, Esk, Wivenhoe, Deep Creek and Cressbrook. - 1890’s financial struggle for the Esk charge. - 1892 repairs needed at the manse and Reverend Andrew Wilson installed at Esk. -6 February 1893 flood washed away the bridge that spanned Sandy Creek, opposite the main gate of the Church yard. (ESK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH CENTENARY 1976 p 10,11,12)

Esk: Presbyterian Church as had a decrease in subscriptions “caused probably through the bad times.” (QT 18/6/1891)

David Muir was Session Clerk for 35 years, 1895-1930. The charge records show a period of growth during this time. - Early 1900’s, 237 adults enrolled in the Charge. - 1908, Esk Sunday School had 91 pupils - Minister preached as often as possible at Atkinson’s Lagoon (Union church), Bellevue, Biarra near Esk (Hall), Caboonbah (Union Church), Coominya, Deep Creek (Union Church), Esk (St Andrew’s, Fernvale, Harlin, Hazeldean (Union Church), Cressbrook, Moombra (Hall), Moore (Hall), Murrumba (Hall) Toogoolawah (Union Church), Villenue, Wivenhoe (Presbyterian Church). -27 managers needed for temporal affairs. - Minister’s transport arranged beforehand; by rail, buggy, bicycle or horseback. - Minister was met and accompanied from one centre to the next. (ESK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH CENTENARY 1976 p 15)

St Andrew’s Day celebrated at Esk by holding a Scottish Tryst on the local racecourse. - Proceeds to aid renovating St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church and manse. - Sports day, and band played. - Officially opened by Mrs Luinley Hill. - Concert held later at the Lyceum Hall. (QT 9/12/1900 p 3) Henderson, graduated 1907 Cambridge. - Arrived Queensland 1915. - 1922, appointed acting-principal of Emmanuel College. - 1924, appointed principal. - 1925, Moderator of Queensland. - 1933-1948 Chairman of Board of Education. - 1924 second hand car purchased for the Minister. - 1926, February 13-15, Golden Jubilee of the Charge. - 1928-1932 Reverend C B Watts Minister. (ESK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH CENTENARY 1976 p 20)

1908, Women Church members formed a Guild which soon affiliated with the Presbyterian Women’s Missionary Union. - 1906-1911 Reverend W G Stevens served Esk. - 1911-1916 Reverend John Lundie ministered. - Each year, he bicycled approximately 700 miles around the charge. - This was a growth period for the Charge with few problems. - 1916-1922 Reverend Mervyn Henderson, minister. (ESK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH CENTENARY 1976 p 16,17,19)

W J Stevens is Presbyterian Minister Esk (just had holiday at Noosa) (QT 3/11/1910 p 3)

AGM St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church Reverend S Laundie MA. Presided. S M Chaille Secretary, S Cock chairman of committee. Minister since November last travelled over 700 miles by bicycle to attend services when thermometer never below 90. Choir under M Cock. In 1913, 20 baptisms, 5 funerals, 3 weddings. Miss B Smith organist. Mr Armstrong school superintendent. Annual picnic and children’s sports of Esk Presbyterian Sunday School held 28 May on bank of Sandy Creek. - Games held in morning and children’s races held in afternoon. (QT 1/6/19 16 p 3)

Secretary Queensland Presbyterian Fellowship asking to hold Annual Camp or Conference at Esk Easter - Granted. (ESK 16/1/1924 p 468)

Presbyterian Church Esk annual Thistle Fair and Competitions evening held Lyceum Hall. (QT 3/12/1924 p. 3)

Presbyterian Church, Esk held jubilee celebrations. - Reverend S M Mitchell had been with the Church in Esk for 7 years. - paid special mention to Mr David Muir, member of congregation for 50 years; 36 years an Elder and also Session Clerk for last 30 years. - Celebratory tea also attended by Principal Henderson (Moderator of Presbyterian Church in Queensland and Principal of Emmanuel College). (QT 16/2/1926 p7) Exemption granted to Esk Presbyterian Church for Hall while it is used solely for Sunday School and Church Functions. (ESK (9/10/1929 p 92)

St Andrew Presbyterian Ladies’ Guild, Esk annual meeting. - New officers. - President Mrs C B Watts. - Vice President Mesdames A Smith, W Berry, T C Pryde, and J T Barr. - Secretary Mrs S Bailey. (QT 24/2/1930 p 10)

Esk Presbyterian Church AGM - Reverend C B Watts presided - Committee: A S Heap, R M Chaille, T C Pryde, K Smith, J T Barr, S Robertson, C J Berry, W Burden, R F W Smith, B Blank -8 places received regular services -80 pounds paid off Toogoolawah Church - Debt of 120 pounds still - Esk Women’s Guild raised 160 pounds. (ER 14/3/193 1)

Reverend C B Watts, Presbyterian Church Minister transferred to Kingaroy. (ER 19/3/1932)

1943-1947 Reverend I Gray Minister and last to reside in old manse. 1947 Old house sold for removal and plans for new manse submitted to Esk Shire Council. Mid 1948 Reverend A Calvert moved into the new manse. - 1949 Reverend George 0 Johnstone Minister and Interim Moderator of Esk for 20 years. - 1951 Charge Committee approved to sell land with main street frontage for 15 pounds. (ESK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH CENTENARY 1976 p 25)

Preaching Places:- The Presbyterian Church bought the billiard room of the Commercial Hotel, Esk, as a Church Hall (MRS HERTRICK, ESK, 19/4/1986)

The above citation was prepared on the basis of evidence available at this time. The statement of significance is merely a summary of the most important aspects of the property based on this available knowledge, and can be subject to re-assessment should fresh information either support or contest this evaluation. The intention of the citation is to provide informed identification, and in no way displaces the necessity for detailed professional study of a significant place.