Old St Stephen's Church
| Old St Stephens Church | |
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Old St Stephen's Church (now St Stephen's Chapel), 2015
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| Location | 249 Elizabeth Street, Brisbane City, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
| Coordinates | 27°28′08″S 153°01′43″E / 27.4688°S 153.0286°ECoordinates: 27°28′08″S 153°01′43″E / 27.4688°S 153.0286°E |
| Design period | 1840s - 1860s (mid-19th century) |
| Built | 1849 - 1850 |
| Architect | A W Pugin |
| Architectural style(s) | Gothic |
| Official name: Old St Stephens Church, Pugin Chapel | |
| Type | state heritage (built) |
| Designated | 21 October 1992 |
| Reference no. | 600108 |
| Significant period | 1849-1850 (fabric) 1850-1874,1874-1892 (historical) |
| Builders | Alexander Goold, Andrew Petrie |
 Location of Old St Stephens Church in Queensland
Location of Old St Stephens Church in Queensland
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Old St Stephens Church is a heritage-listed Roman Catholic church at 249 Elizabeth Street, Brisbane City, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by A W Pugin and built from 1849 to 1850 by Alexander Goold and Andrew Petrie. It is also known as Pugin Chapel. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.
The land at the site was originally planned for church purposes in 1847. Six allotments of section 33 were set aside for the use of the Roman Catholic Church in September 1848 with the original deeds of grant being signed by New South Wales Governor Charles Fitzroy in November 1849 (Queensland did not separate from New South Wales until 1859).
From the early days of free settlement, Brisbane's Catholic population was significant with Catholics comprising 30% of residents in 1846. In 1849 and 1850 the New South Wales Government, under provisions of Governor Richard Bourke's 1836 Church Act, subsidised the building of Old St Stephens Church which was opened on 12 May 1850. It was built by Alexander Goold, to a design attributed to the internationally renowned Gothic Revival architect Augustus Welby Pugin, a personal friend of Sydney-based Archbishop Bede Polding.
With the growth of Brisbane's Catholic community and with Separation approaching, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane was created in 1859. Old St Stephens became a cathedral but its capacity became increasingly inadequate and on 26 December 1863, Archbishop Quinn laid the foundation stone for a new cathedral. In the eleven years it took to finish the new St Stephen's Cathedral, provision was made for extra space in the old church. A wooden annexe was built onto the northern frontage and extra doorways were cut in the stone wall on this side. Inadequate accommodation was not the only problem, for the soft sandstone was crumbling, particularly that of the little belfry which had to be dismantled at some time before 1875. A temporary wooden belfry was erected to a design by architect AB Wilson in 1888.
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