St James Church, Toowoomba
| St James Church, Toowoomba | |
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Viewed from Mort Street, 2014
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| Location | 145 Mort Street, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia |
| Coordinates | 27°33′28″S 151°56′56″E / 27.5579°S 151.9488°ECoordinates: 27°33′28″S 151°56′56″E / 27.5579°S 151.9488°E |
| Design period | 1840s - 1860s (mid-19th century) |
| Built | 1869 - 1953 |
| Architect | Richard George Suter |
| Architectural style(s) | Gothic |
| Official name: St James Church, St James Church of England | |
| Type | state heritage (built, landscape) |
| Designated | 28 July 2000 |
| Reference no. | 601298 |
| Significant period | 1860s (historical) 1860s, 1880s, 1900s, 1950s (fabric) ongoing (social) |
| Significant components | trees/plantings, church, views to, furniture/fittings, steeple, stained glass window/s, garden/grounds, tower - bell / belfry |
 Location of St James Church, Toowoomba in Queensland
Location of St James Church, Toowoomba in Queensland
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St James Church is a heritage-listed Anglican church at 145 Mort Street (on the corner with Russell 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.
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.
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