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The First St Mary's Roman Catholic Church is a heritage-listed sandstone Catholic church at 163 Palmerin Street, Warwick, Southern Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Benjamin Joseph Backhouse and built from 1863 to 1894. It is also known as St Mary of the Assumption Church and St Mary's Church. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992. == History == The first Saint Mary's Church, Warwick is a substantial sandstone building, constructed 1863-5 to designs of prominent Brisbane architect, Benjamin Backhouse.〔 From the 1840s, it seems that informal Roman Catholic services were held in Warwick by visiting priests from Sydney, Ipswich and Brisbane. The first recorded mass was held in 1854 by Rev. Father McGinty who travelled from Ipswich, and this was celebrated at the Horse and Jockey Inn, Palmerin Street, where services for most other denominations were held at this time.〔 In 1862 Warwick became a separate parish of the church, only one year after the Borough of Warwick was declared a municipality on 25 May 1861. The first priest was Dr John Cani (who became the first Bishop of Rockhampton in 1882). By 20 August 1863, discussions were being held for the erection of a church in Palmerin Street, the main street of Warwick. £180 was needed for the purchase of land and £20 was subscribed on that day.〔 Various people, including Michael Knole, William Cowper and Sarah Ransley acquired the various future church lots (Allotments 7-12 of Section 49) by Deed of Grant on 16 August 1860. By September 1863, John Cani and James Quinn, the parish priest and Bishop of Brisbane respectively, became the registered owners of these allotments.〔 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. Benjamin Joseph Backhouse arrived in Brisbane in May 1861, and designed many buildings of architectural pretension in Queensland over the next six years, before he departed for New South Wales by 1868. He was responsible for the design of many churches including the second St Stephen's Roman Catholic Cathedral in Brisbane, additions to St John's Pro-Cathedral in Brisbane, as well as many other smaller regional churches.〔 Despite the setback of severe damage during a thunder storm the church the 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. The contractor was CA Doran and the structure cost about £1500. The stone for the construction of the church was obtained from the Sidling Quarries, which were a small group of quarries in Warwick.〔 In 1865 Dr Cani was succeeded by Father Scortechini, who was soon after replaced by Father Hogan. 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.〔 Monsignor Michael Potter was posted as a curate to Warwick in 1891, and continued there as the parish priest after Horan's death in 1905. It was Potter who decided that the original St Mary's Church was no longer adequate for the needs of his community. Thus he sought plans for the construction of a second larger church, further north on the same block in Palmerin Street. Local architects, Dornbusch and 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.〔 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.〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「First St Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Warwick」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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