Significance
Criterion AThe place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland’s history.
St Marys Anglican Church is significant as having always been the naval chapel in Queensland.
St Marys Anglican Church contains the oldest pipe organ in Queensland and the religious art of Godfrey Rivers.
Criterion BThe place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland’s cultural heritage.
St Marys Anglican Church is an early and intact religious precinct of church, hall and rectory and is one of the only two surviving stone churches designed by RG Suter.
Criterion DThe place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places.
St Marys Anglican Church is an early and intact religious precinct of church, hall and rectory and is one of the only two surviving stone churches designed by RG Suter.
Criterion EThe place is important because of its aesthetic significance.
The building remains as an historical and visual landmark in Kangaroo Point.
Criterion GThe place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons.
St Marys Anglican Church is significant as having always been the naval chapel in Queensland.
Criterion HThe place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland’s history.
St Marys Anglican Church is an early and intact religious precinct of church, hall and rectory and is one of the only two surviving stone churches designed by RG Suter.
History
The Church of St Marys Kangaroo Point was built in 1873 by Alfred Grant to a design by diocesan architect Richard G Suter. It replaced a timber structure built in 1849 on land closer to the river. In 1892 a cyclone caused considerable damage to the church's roof and bellcote.
The pipe organ is the oldest in Queensland, dating from the early nineteenth century. It was imported from a London church in 1876.
The church hall was built in 1879. The rectory, designed by diocesan architect John H Buckeridge, was completed in 1889.
St Marys was patronized by the governors when they resided at Old Government House. It has always been the naval chapel in Queensland and was once connected by stairs with the Naval Stores below the quarry face. The Warriors' Chapel, dedicated in 1950, contains a memorial to those who died on HMAS Voyager in 1964.
Description
St Marys is a Gothic style church built on a prominent riverside site above the Kangaroo Point quarries. Constructed of Brisbane tuff, it is cruciform in shape, but with shallow transepts and a faceted sanctuary bay. The gable roof, originally timber shingled, is now in ribbed galvanized iron. It is surmounted by a small stone bellcote at the front gable.
In the interior, the nave is unlined, and timber trusses, resting on small masonry pillars, support the roof. The sanctuary is lined with plaster and its ceiling features three paintings by the noted artist Godfrey Rivers.
The hall is a timber structure on concrete stumps. Cruciform in shape, it has a gabled corrugated iron roof surmounted by a central ventilation lantern.
The rectory is a large single-storeyed brick residence with verandahs on three sides. It stands on brick piers with honeycomb infill. Entry is through a gabled frontispiece. The verandah has timber posts and balusters. A number of bays on the rear verandah add to the complexity of the corrugated roof which is a series of hips and gables.
