St Mary's Church & Convent, Townsville facts for kids

St Mary's Church, Townsville
St Mary's Church, 1988
19°16′09″S 146°48′09″E / 19.2692°S 146.8026°E / -19.2692; 146.8026
Country	Australia
Denomination	Roman Catholic
History
Dedication	Mary, mother of Jesus
Architecture
Architect(s)	Rooney Brothers
Architectural type	Church buildings
Style	Gothic Revival
Years built	c. 1880s - 1923
Administration
Parish	Townsville
Archdiocese	Townsville

St Mary's Church and Convent are important historical buildings in West End, Townsville, Australia. They are listed on the Queensland Heritage Register, meaning they are protected for their historical value. The church was built in 1888 by Cowell & Holt and designed by the Rooney Brothers.

Today, St Mary's Church is still used for religious services. The building that used to be the convent, where nuns lived, is now a private home.

History of St Mary's Church

Building the First Church

St Mary's Church was built in 1888. It served as a place for Catholic church services and a school for the growing area of West Townsville. It is the second oldest Catholic church in North Queensland.

In the 1880s, many people lived in West Townsville. However, the main Catholic church and school, St Joseph's, was quite far away. So, in 1887, Father William Mason Walsh decided to build a new church and school closer to the people.

The Rooney Brothers, famous builders and designers in Townsville, designed the church. They were strong supporters of the Catholic Church.

Early Church Design and School

St Mary's Roman Catholic Church in 1924, showing its early design.

When St Mary's was first built in 1888, it was a simple rectangular building. It had a main hall, called a nave, and an entrance porch. The wooden benches, called pews, inside the church are from this time.

The area under the church was enclosed to create classrooms. The Sisters of Mercy, a group of Catholic nuns who taught and nursed, started St Mary's School there in the same year. They taught under the church until a new school building was built nearby in 1917.

The Sisters of Mercy and the Convent

The Sisters of Mercy came to Townsville in 1878. For ten years, they taught at St Joseph's Church. From 1888, some nuns traveled to teach at St Mary's.

In 1917, St Mary's became Townsville's second Catholic parish (a church district). To give the nuns a place to live near the new parish, the church bought a timber house in Castling Street. This house was likely built in the 1880s and moved to this site.

In 1917, the house was raised on tall wooden blocks. A small chapel was added for the nuns. Rooneys Ltd did these improvements. St Mary's Convent opened on August 12, 1917. The nuns lived there until 1964. After that, it became the priest's house until 1975, and is now rented out.

Church Upgrades and Gardens

Major changes were made to the church in 1923 by Doig & Ritchie. The building was made wider to include transepts (parts that stick out on the sides, making the church look like a cross). Side aisles and a sacristy (a room where the priest prepares) were also added.

Many beautiful items were added in 1923. These include the marble altar, wooden side altars, a baptismal font (for baptisms), altar rails, a pulpit (where sermons are given), and wooden Stations of the Cross (pictures showing Jesus's journey).

Gardens were also created around the church in 1923. Some large fig trees planted then still provide shade. Other trees and shrubs were added in the 1980s.

Unlike many Catholic churches, St Mary's Church did not change its interior much after the Second Vatican Council in 1963, which brought changes to church practices. The school closed on July 16, 1997.

What St Mary's Church Looks Like

A view of St Mary's Church from the back in 1994.

St Mary's Catholic Church is a single-story building made of chamferboard (wooden planks with angled edges). It has a triple gable roof covered with corrugated iron. The building stands on square concrete posts. It is located on a corner, facing Ingham Road. Other church buildings, like the Presbytery and Parish Hall, are nearby.

Church Design Details

The church has a T-shape. The main part, the nave, faces north. There is a small room called a vestry on the west side and confessionals on the east. The main entrance has twin timber stairs and a gabled roof. Other entrances also have gabled porches. The windows are tall and narrow, called lancet hopper windows.

Inside, you can see the wooden scissor trusses (roof supports) and a ceiling made of diagonal boards. Wooden columns divide the main hall into three sections. Above the north entrance, there is an organ and a choir gallery. The doors have pointed arches.

The church has a beautiful grey marble altar and a Calvary Arch. There are also high-quality plaster statues and carved wooden pews. The font and Stations of the Cross are also made of carved wood.

You can still see parts of the original church structure underneath the building. Large fig trees grow along the Castling Street side of the property.

What the Former Convent Looks Like

The former Convent is a tall, single-story timber building. It has a roof made of corrugated galvanised iron. It is located at 15 Castling Street, West End, Townsville.

Convent Design Details

The building has six main rooms under a hipped roof (a roof that slopes on all four sides). It has a gabled entrance porch facing Castling Street. A verandah (a covered porch) goes around the house. Even though the house is large, its low roof and timber louvres (slanted slats) make it look smaller.

The six central rooms are arranged with three on each side. Each room has a door to the central hallway and french doors leading to the verandah. The back verandah has been enclosed to create a kitchen, a bathroom, and two sitting rooms.

At the front of the house, one room has been extended into the verandah to form a chapel. This chapel has a Gothic pointed arch opening. The internal doorways of the two front rooms have pointed arch openings for ventilation. The front porch panels have decorative crosses cut into them.

The walls are made of exposed timber frames with horizontal chamferboards. The floors are made of pine. The house was moved to this site, and you can see where the floorboards were cut along the hallway. The verandahs have sloped ceilings lined with pine and are enclosed with painted timber louvres.

The area under the northern verandah has been built in to create a set of rooms. Maps painted on the walls show that these rooms were once used as school classrooms.

Why St Mary's is Important

St Mary's Church and Convent were added to the Queensland Heritage Register on January 2, 1993. This means they are recognized for their historical and cultural importance.

Showing Queensland's History

St Mary's Church, built in 1888 and expanded in 1923, shows how the Catholic Church grew in North Queensland. The former convent, from the 1880s, is an early and well-preserved house in Townsville. It shows how timber buildings were often moved and rebuilt in Queensland in the 1800s and early 1900s, especially from goldfield towns like Ravenswood and Charters Towers to Townsville.

Unique Architectural Features

St Mary's Church is mostly unchanged. It shows the main features of a simple, developing timber church from the late 1800s and early 1900s in Townsville. The church's size, shape, and materials make it a special part of the Ingham Road streetscape and Townsville's overall look. The inside of the church and its fittings also show great quality and craftsmanship.

Community and Cultural Value

St Mary's Church is the second oldest Catholic church in North Queensland. It has been a very important place for Catholic worship, education, and community life in Townsville for over 100 years. It is also important because it was the center of St Mary's parish, which was created in 1917 as only the second Catholic parish in Townsville. The church also has a special connection with the Rooney family and their important building companies.

Connection to Important People

The former St Mary's Convent is important because of the Sisters of Mercy. They greatly helped with education and culture in West Townsville for almost 50 years. The building still clearly shows its history as a convent.