Townsville Baptist Church facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Townsville Baptist Church |
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Former Townsville Baptist Church, 2003
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| Location | 513 Sturt Street, Townsville CBD, City of Townsville, Queensland, Australia |
| Design period | 1919–1930s (interwar period) |
| Built | 1922 |
| Official name: Potters House, Townsville Baptist Church | |
| Type | state heritage (landscape, built) |
| Designated | 27 February 2004 |
| Reference no. | 602253 |
| Significant period | 1920s (historical) ongoing (social) |
| Significant components | church, views to, trees/plantings, church hall/Sunday school hall |
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The Townsville Baptist Church is an old church building in Townsville CBD, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1922 and is special because it was made using recycled materials. Since 1985, a group called the Potter's House Christian Fellowship has used it for their meetings. This building is so important that it was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on February 27, 2004.
Contents
A Look at the Church's History
The Townsville Baptist Church is a building made of brick with a smooth, plastered finish. It also has a wooden hall attached. It was built in 1922 using bricks from another old building. Some wood from an earlier church, which was damaged by Cyclone Leonta in 1903, was also used. The Baptist Church sold the building in 1981, but it has continued to be used as a place of worship and community meetings.
Early Days of the Church
Baptist Church services in Townsville started in January 1888. At first, they met in rented rooms. In 1891, the Townsville Baptist Church bought the land and two small houses on Sturt Street. This land was used by the Baptist Church until they sold it in 1981. They then moved to a new location in Kirwan.
Building the First Church
In 1893, the church bought an empty Congregationalist church building. They moved it to their Sturt Street site. The first service in this new building was held in November 1893. However, in January 1903, a big storm called Cyclone Leonta damaged the building. The church saved some parts of the damaged building and used them to build a temporary hall.
A New Church Building
Church records from 1912 show that the temporary hall was not meant to last forever. People started saving money to build a new church and hall. But it took a long time, and the new church wasn't built until 1922. Because they didn't have a lot of money, they couldn't build a completely new church.
So, they found a used building: an old powder magazine (a place to store gunpowder) located about eight miles away. The church members took apart this old building and cleaned about 30,000 bricks themselves! The contract to build the new church was signed for £832/6/-. The foundation stone was laid on July 8, 1922. It's very likely that the old timber church hall was attached to the back of this new brick church at that time. The new church officially opened on Saturday, September 23, 1922.
Changes Over the Years
Church records show that work was done on the hall in 1949. In 1957-58, new steps were built at the back, and the gutters and drainpipes were replaced. In 1959-60, the Townsville City Council took eight feet of the church's front property for road improvements. This meant the front steps ended right at the edge of the footpath. The council built the stone wall at the front in 1962. A concrete toilet block was added to the church hall in 1969-70. The church also needed repairs in 1971-72 after it was damaged by Cyclone Althea.
A New Chapter
In 1981, the church land and buildings were sold. This happened because both the Townsville City Church and the Currajong Baptist Church were too small. The church members decided to join together and bought a new property in Kirwan. The Sturt Street property was sold four more times before the current owners bought it in 1994. Since about 1985, the Potter's House Christian Fellowship has used it as their place of worship.
What the Church Looks Like
The Townsville Baptist Church is easy to spot at the corner of Sturt and Fletcher Streets in Townsville. It's on a small hill on the northern side of Sturt Street, looking out over Ross Creek. There are palm trees and frangipani plants around the building.
Building Features
The church is a single-story building made of brick with a smooth, plastered surface. Its walls have strong supports called buttresses. It sits directly on the natural granite rock of the site, and you can see the natural shape of the granite around the building. The church has a wooden floor and a roof made of corrugated iron. It has a simple rectangular shape with a small front entrance porch facing Sturt Street.
Both the porch and the main church building have pointed roof ends called gables. These gables are decorated with wooden boards and strips, and a small ornament called a finial at the very top. The northern end of the church roof is shaped like a hip (sloping on all sides).
Steps lead from the entrance porch down to the footpath. There are five tall, pointed arch windows along each side of the church. There is also one window on each side of the front entrance. These windows have two parts, each with three small glass panes. They have a mix of colored and plain glass. The entrance porch has a pointed arch double door at the front and a single pointed arch window on its sides.
The hall is attached at a right angle to the back of the church. It's a single-story wooden building raised on stumps. It has a gabled corrugated iron roof and a boarded ceiling. Wooden strips are placed around the space under the building. The outside wooden siding has been covered with plastic siding. There are two pointed arch windows on the western wall and seven pointed arch windows on the northern wall. These also have a mix of colored and plain glass. At the eastern end, there's a toilet block made of concrete blocks with a sloped corrugated iron roof.
Inside the Church
The inside of the church is a simple, open space with some nice decorations. A raised platform is at the northern end of the church. From here, two doors lead into the hall. A pointed arch at the southern end connects to the entrance porch. The walls are plastered smooth. The ceiling has a pattern of sunken panels called coffers and is lined with beaded boards. The ceiling also has five decorative, carved wooden pieces called fretwork ceiling roses. These are placed between the metal rods that help support the building.
Why the Church is Important
The former Townsville Baptist Church was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on February 27, 2004. This means it's recognized as a very important historical place.
Historical Significance
The church site shows how Queensland's history has unfolded. It has been used as a place of Christian worship since 1893. It was especially important for the Baptist Church community from 1893 until 1981.
Architectural Significance
The main part of the building is a largely untouched Baptist church from the early 1900s (built in 1922). It's a great example of its type, showing the simple, less decorated style often found in Protestant churches.
Aesthetic Significance
The Townsville Baptist Church is located on a small hill on Sturt Street. It adds to the beauty of the street where residential homes meet commercial areas.
Community Connection
The church is highly valued by the community as a meeting place. It shows how dedicated and clever the Baptist Church community was. Even with limited money, they were able to build the current church by saving and reusing materials from other buildings.
Images for kids
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Townsville Baptist Church, 1923
