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St James Church is a heritage-listed church at 145 Mort Street, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Richard George Suter and built from 1869 to 1953. It is also known as St James Church of England. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 28 July 2000. == History == St James Church of England was constructed in 1869 to the design of prominent Brisbane architect, Richard George Suter. The building which has a number of additions, was constructed as the second Church of England in Toowoomba.〔 The first Church of England was established on the site of the present St Luke's Anglican Church, at the corner of Herries and Ruthven Streets. St Luke's Church was established on this site in a small timber building in 1857, but it was not long with Toowoomba rapid growth that this small rudimentary structure was considered too small for the growing community. There was much debate about the location of a more permanent structure, some of the townsfolk and the Bishop felt that a brick building should replace the existing timber building on the same site, whereas other influential members of the community preferred to see the church re-located to a site near the Mort Estate where land was offered to the church by James Taylor MLA.〔 Designs for the new building were acquired, firstly from local architect Arthur Hartley in 1866 and then from Brisbane architect Richard George Suter in 1868. At a meeting of the Church Parish in September 1868 the Suter plans and specifications of the new church were approved and yet there was still no agreement on the site of the new building. It was only after the Bishop in February 1869 changed his mind on the matter that the site near the Mort Estate was finally chosen. The bishop felt that there was larger population here, although he acknowledged that the site would be less convenient for some of the parish.〔 At a meeting of April 1869 the tender of local contractor, Richard Godsall for the construction of the building for ₤1400 was accepted and construction began. Suter's design of the church was in keeping with the design of small parish churches in England of the time - modestly sized Gothic Revival buildings with steeply pitched roofs, small ornate roof towers, well executed brickwork and pointed arched openings throughout. The polychrome striped brickwork of the original St James Church is particularly interesting and unusual in the Queensland context. The church is similar in proportion and massing to other Church of England buildings designed by Suter including St Mark's in Warwick (1867-1870). Suter was a strong supporter and warden in the Church of England and was a popular choice of architect for many of the Church's buildings from the mid 1860s until the mid 1870s.〔 The land on which St James Church was built at the corner of Mort and Russell Streets, was acquired by Mr James Taylor, a prominent churchman, on 19 January 1865 from a Mr William Horton. The land was formally acquired by the Corporation of the Synod of the Diocese of Brisbane on 8 February 1884 and trustees were later appointed. The Foundation Stone of the church was laid by the Governor of Queensland, Samuel Wensley Blackall in May 1869 and the church was completed before Christmas of that year. The opening of the church was reported in the Toowoomba Chronicle where the building was described as comprising an apsidal chancel, nave and transepts to the north and south, with bluestone foundation and freestone dressings. The transept and chancel roofs were set at a lower height than the nave roof with a spire at the crossing. The north and south transepts had small open timber porches.〔 The construction of this new building was thought by many, including the Bishop to have replaced the earlier St Lukes. However the building was named St James, after St James the Less, not St Lukes indicating a separate entity rather than a continuing tradition. In fact, those parishioners unhappy about the relocation of the site argued strongly for the retention of the early St Luke's site where services continued to be held in what was now regarded as a school room. Suffice to say, this debate raged for about 30 years and in the early 20th century, St Lukes and St James became separate parishes north and south of the Margaret Street dividing line.〔 By 1876, St James was considered inadequate and cracks appeared in the apsidal chancel at the eastern end of the building facing Mort Street. However money was restricted by the effective funding of two separate churches and it was not until 1882 that work was commenced on major additions to the church designed by local architect James Marks. The original apsidal chancel was replaced by a larger face brick extension which presented a new gabled end to Mort Street with a tripartite lancet window on the face of the wall known as the Davenport window. As well the nave was extended by two bays. During the 1880s an oak reredos (carved screen behind alter), altar rails and choir stalls were installed. Another major addition to the church was the installation in the northern nave windows of stained glass windows commissioned from English firm, Clayton and Bell and depicting the Nativity of Jesus and the Agony in the Garden. The slate roof of the building was replaced in the 1890s with rib and pan iron sheeting.〔 As well as size restrictions, St James was faced with major structural problems and in 1904, the eastern wing of the building, facing Mort Street, was demolished. The chancel was rebuilt along with the northern transept and adjoining vestry. This work was supervised by Brisbane architect John Smith Murdoch and finished at a cost of ₤1000.〔 In 1953 the apsidal baptistery was demolished and rebuilt to the design of Toowoomba architect Charles B Marks.〔 More recent alterations have included the replacement of the southern porch with a brick gable roofed projection.〔 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「St James Church, Toowoomba」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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