St Andrews Presbyterian Church (former)

General

Also known as

St Andrew's Presbyterian Church; St Andrews Presbyterian Church; St Andrews Church; St Andrew’s Church

Classification

State Heritage

Register status

Entered

Date entered

11 June 2003

Type

Religion/worship: Church

Theme

8.1 Creating social and cultural institutions: Worshipping and religious institutions

Construction periods

1876–1929, St Andrews Presbyterian Church (1876 - 1929)

1876, St Andrews Presbyterian Church - Church (1876 - 1876)

1929, St Andrews Presbyterian Church - Hall (c.1929 - c.1929)

Historical period

1870s–1890s Late 19th century

Style

Gothic

Location

Address

65 Ipswich Street, Esk

LGA

Somerset Regional Council

Coordinates

-27.24264951, 152.42531757

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Significance

Criterion AThe place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland’s history.

St Andrews Presbyterian Church (former) at Esk (1876, moved on site 1887, extended 1900), as an early rural Presbyterian church in the West Moreton region and the first in the Brisbane Valley, is important in demonstrating the expansion of the Presbyterian Church in Queensland associated with closer agricultural settlement. It is an intact and representative 19th-century timber church set in landscaped grounds, comprising lawn and perimeter plantings.

Criterion DThe place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places.

The former St Andrews Presbyterian Church is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a timber-framed church built in 19th century Queensland. An intact and early example of its type, the principal characteristics include its: modest size; symmetrical, low-set, gable roof form with projecting gable roof front porch; timber-framed and clad construction; timber belfry; lancet windows; timber doors; interior layout with its delineation of nave, sanctuary, vestry; and open landscaped setting.

Criterion GThe place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons.

The former St Andrews Presbyterian Church has a long association with the people of Esk and the surrounding district, being a place of worship and social focus for approximately 125 years.

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.

The former St Andrews Presbyterian Church, Esk has a special association with David Cannon McConnel (1818-1885), an early, successful, and long-term pastoralist of the Brisbane Valley, and his wife, Mary née McLeod (1824-1910), an important philanthropist in Queensland.

In 1873, through donation of land and funds, the McConnels initiated the establishment of St Andrews Presbyterian Church, which commenced in 1876 as the centre of the Presbyterian charge of Esk. Their involvement in its management and development continued throughout their lifetimes.

History

St Andrews Presbyterian Church (former), is a timber-framed, gothic-influenced building, dating from 1876, located in the town of Esk in the Brisbane Valley, approximately 53km northwest of Ipswich. It was established as the first Presbyterian Church in the Brisbane Valley through the initiative of David Cannon McConnel and his wife Mary, of Cressbrook Station, who maintained a close association with the church. In 1887, the church was moved to its current site on the corner of Middle Street and Ipswich Street (Brisbane Valley Highway) and served the Brisbane Valley community for approximately 125 years.

The town of Esk (also known as Mount Esk, Sandy Creek and Gallanani) lies within the traditional lands of the Jagera People. Esk developed on land resumed from the former Mount Esk pastoral run, which was established in 1842. European settlement at the town site began with a teamsters' camp at the crossing of Sandy (or Esk) Creek on the coach road north from Ipswich to Nanango in the Burnett region. A township site was surveyed on the east side of Sandy Creek in 1872 and the first building, a hotel, was constructed in January 1873.[1] The town grew steadily during the 1870s as a service town after the resumption of pastoral land in the Brisbane Valley for agricultural settlement under the Crown Lands Alienation Act 1868.[2]

St Andrews Presbyterian Church at Esk was the first Presbyterian church built in the Brisbane Valley and one of the earliest known rural Presbyterian churches in the West Moreton region. Presbyterians were present in the future Queensland from 1838 (Moreton Bay settlement), with Rev. Thomas Mowbray as their first resident minister from 1847 and the first Presbyterian church opening in Grey Street, South Brisbane in 1851. Other congregations followed settlement throughout the colony. By 1863, the year in which the Presbyterian Church of Queensland formed, Presbyterian congregations existed in Toowoomba, Ipswich, Warwick, Rockhampton, Gladstone and Maryborough.[3] In 1875 there were 15 ordained Presbyterian ministers in Queensland.[4] Rural Presbyterian churches in the West Moreton region known to pre-date the church at Esk were established at Warrill Creek (before June 1872), Laidley (November 1872), Murphy’s Creek (May 1876), and Helidon (June 1876).[5]

The church at Esk was established through the efforts of high profile members of Queensland’s early Presbyterian church, David Cannon McConnel (1818-1885), who established Cressbrook pastoral run in the Brisbane Valley in 1841, and his wife, Mary (née McLeod, 1824-1910).[6] McConnel, the son of a prosperous Manchester mill owner, became a successful pastoralist and cattle breeder at Cressbrook and a large landholder and farmer in Brisbane.[7] Both David McConnel and his wife were ‘imbued with principles of religious non-conformity, educational enlightenment and middle-class culture’.[8] Mary McConnel is recognised for her philanthropic works in the Colony of Queensland, especially her role in founding the Brisbane Children’s Hospital in 1878.[9]

In honour of their 25th wedding anniversary in 1873, the McConnels advocated for a Presbyterian Church to be built in Esk and established a subscription to fund its construction. Alexander Raff, pastoralist, politician, businessman and later Elder of the Presbyterian Church, and other Brisbane Valley pastoralists, donated money towards the building.[10] On 15 August 1873, Mary McConnel purchased a one-acre (0.41ha) suburban allotment in Middle Street, in the recently surveyed township east of Sandy Creek.[11] The McConnels paid for the land to be cleared and fenced.[12] On 10 April 1876, a further four, one-acre (0.41ha) suburban allotments, contiguous to the first allotment, were purchased by Mary McConnel. These allotments, between East and Middle Streets, occupied the northeast corner and highest land of the town site.[13] St Andrews Presbyterian Church was most likely erected on the allotment purchased in 1873.

The first recorded event at St Andrews Presbyterian Church was a service conducted by the recently arrived Rev. David Watt, M.A., on 12 February 1876.[14] Like many other rural churches of this period in Queensland, the small timber church replicated those of England, with Gothic-influenced architecture, steep roof, and lancet windows.[15]

On 23 April 1876, the Rev. Watt was inducted by the Rev. Colin McCulloch, Commissioner of the Presbytery of Brisbane, into the newly formed charge (parish) of Esk Town and district.[16] On that occasion, Rev. McCulloch stated:

The hearty thanks of all interested in the new charge are due to the surrounding stations for their ready and cordial support, and especially to DC McConnel, Esq. of Cressbrook, and his lady. But for their influence and liberal aid, Esk might have remained for years to come without a church or a minister…[17]

By early 1877, David McConnel had purchased the current site of St Andrews Presbyterian Church from its first recorded owner, Patrick Lawlor.[18] This allotment was situated opposite the convergence of the Gatton to Esk Road and the Ipswich to Esk Road. The church most likely stood on the rise above it. Tenders were invited for the erection of a clergyman's residence at Esk in October 1876 with plans and specifications viewable at Messrs George H Wilson and Co (Agent), Ipswich.[19] By 12 January 1877, the Presbyterian manse, sited in the northwest corner of the newly acquired allotment, was almost completed.[20] In October 1878, the church and manse were described as ‘a very neat church and a comfortable manse’.[21]

The 1880s were a period of growth for Esk. In 1884, two sawmills opened and in 1886 the railway reached the town, though it was located on the opposite bank of Sandy Creek from the established settlement. In time, the commercial centre of town shifted closer to the railway station and yards.[22] Most buildings were moved to the western side of Sandy Creek or were built there, including the Roman Catholic (1884) and Anglican (1889) churches. The Methodist church built on the east side (1883) was moved to Toogoolawah in 1906 and the later Methodist church was sited on the west side of the creek. In 2020, only the former St Andrews Presbyterian Church, Esk State School and some houses remain, marking the first settlement on the eastern side of Sandy Creek. In 1888 a small portion of the Presbyterian church land on Ipswich Street to the rear of the church (0.11ha) was leased for 21 years to Arthur Henry Thompson (Stock, Station and Commission Agent, and Auctioneer) and Walter Francis, as joint tenants, with its £10pa rent used for improvements to the church property.[23]

Probably as a result of the transfer of the town centre to the west side of Sandy Creek, the church was moved ‘from the hill to…near the manse’[24] – its current site – in October 1887. The church was positioned to the south of the 1877 manse (removed c1947), in an open setting with perimeter plantings; its front entrance facing west and accessed via a pathway from a gateway on the corner of Ipswich and Middle Streets.[25] This relocation was funded by the charge, especially the stations of Cressbrook, Colinton and Manumbar.[26]

The McConnels actively supported the Presbyterian Church at Esk after its establishment. In July 1883, the McConnels transferred the land on which the church and manse stood, and the five nearby allotments owned by Mary McConnel, (five acres / 2.02ha), to the Presbyterian Church of Queensland.[27] David McConnel served on the Esk Presbyterian Church’s Committee of Management until his death in 1885.[28]

Mary McConnel’s association with the church continued. In 1898 she opened the Presbyterian church bazaar in Esk.[29] In 1899 prior to her departure overseas, the chairman of the Presbyterian Church committee:

spoke of the work of the church and Sunday-school by Mrs McConnel, sen, of Cressbrook…. the friend they respected and loved, and to whom they were indebted for so many improvements in the church. The presentation of an illuminated scroll [not extant in 2020] was gratefully acknowledged, which…added considerably to the appearance of the window at the east end of the interior of the church.[30]

Mary McConnel’s close association with the Esk Presbyterian Church was commemorated in 1907 when church members planted two ornamental trees in the church grounds: ‘on either side of the entrance gates … in memory of Mrs DC McConnel and Mr George Smith, both…energetic church workers for many years.’[31] These memorial trees were most likely planted on either side of the historical corner entrance to the church site, shown in a c1897 photograph.[32]

Other members of the McConnel family were involved with St Andrews Presbyterian Church at Esk. David Rose McConnel of Cressbrook (son of David and Mary McConnel) attended the soiree that celebrated the church’s move in 1887 and in 1889 he was serving on its committee.[33] When Henry Plantagenet Somerset, MLA, opened the Esk Presbyterian Church’s ‘Scotch Tryst’ (bazaar) on St Andrews Day 1908, he stated his wife [Katharine Rose McConnel], ‘the daughter of the founder of the Presbyterian Church in Esk…had taken a keen interest in its progress’.[34]

The Presbyterian church continued to grow within the Brisbane Valley. By 1885, there were congregations at Biarra, Moombra, Esk, Wivenhoe, Deep Creek and Cressbrook and the Esk charge was 64km long.[35] Other Presbyterian churches opened as the community grew, such as Wivenhoe on 30 January 1890.[36]

Although Esk experienced difficulties in the 1890s due to flooding and financial recession, the 1900s were a period of growth. Dairying developed into a major industry in the fertile Brisbane Valley following its establishment in the 1890s. Cream depots operated by local farmers opened at Esk and other centres, and the opening of the Cressbrook Condensed Milk Factory in 1898 boosted milk production in the upper Brisbane Valley.[37] Dairying in the area expanded and a butter factory was built in Esk c1903. In 1908, the population of Esk exceeded 600 and in 1913, the town was officially named Esk.[38]The boom in dairying lasted until the end of World War I with several small revivals later.[39]

Religious instruction for children at Sunday school was integral to the Presbyterian church. Fund-raising for a hall for Sunday school purposes commenced c1899 when the Sunday school enrolment was 69 scholars. In 1900 the church was extended for a little over £70 to erect a Sunday school ‘of the same size as the current building…and…attached to it’.[40] This work almost doubled the length of the church, moved the sanctuary eastward to create more seating and added a room behind the sanctuary, which presumably was used as a Sunday school as intended. Completion of the extension was celebrated in July 1900.[41]

By 1908, Sunday school enrolments had risen to 90.[42] In 1909 the Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser newspaper reported the church’s recent purchase of a hall for Sunday school use, the debt on which needed to be repaid. The siting of this hall is unknown, but it was possibly the former stock and station agent building located behind the church on the site of the current manse.[43] Numerous newspaper articles reported activities in the St Andrews hall from 1909 to 1930 – for Sunday school, social and fund-raising events, and as a temporary hospital during the Spanish flu pandemic in 1919.[44] In 1933 the church was fund-raising for its renovation; however, the building was removed from the site by June 1949.[45]

Repairs and changes to the church have occurred during its lifetime. In September 1878, a hailstorm broke windows of the church and manse, necessitating replacement.[46] The congregation in 1884 raised funds to ‘improve the little church building, which was cold and draughty’.[47] Throughout 1920 and 1921 the church raised funds for renovating and painting St Andrews church and manse. Repairs to the church, hall and manse took place by March 1922 after damage from a cyclonic storm in November 1920.[48] In December 1926, another hailstorm broke 16 window panes in the church.[49]

St Andrews Presbyterian Church at Esk celebrated its 50th anniversary in February 1926 with a re-union tea held in Esk’s Lyceum Hall, attended by Rev. Mervyn Henderson, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Queensland and Principal of Emmanuel College, University of Queensland.[50]

In 1947 the 70-year-old church manse was reportedly sold for removal and plans for a new manse were submitted to Esk Shire Council.[51] In mid-1948, Reverend AD Calvert (ministering at Esk July 1948-February 1950) moved into the new manse, located east of the church,[52] which the Queensland Moderator of the Presbyterian Church dedicated on 19 March 1949.[53]

A small gabled timber building with a metal roof was added to the site, northeast of the rear of the church between 28 June 1949 and 1 July 1951.[54] This building’s use is not known.

The intention to re-establish a church hall after World War II was shown when the Queensland Moderator of the Presbyterian Church performed a ‘stump ramming ceremony’ on the corner stump of the proposed new Fellowship Hall on 19 March 1949.[55] The current hall, located north of the church, was moved on site between 1 July 1951 and 1 May 1958.[56] Oral history reported that the church bought the Esk Commercial Hotel’s billiard room (1887) for use as its hall, and this is supported by aerial photography.[57]

The Esk Presbyterian charge celebrated its centenary on 21 March 1976. At that time, its parish extended from Wivenhoe to Nanango and from Atkinson's Lagoon to Kilcoy.[58] A centenary history of the Esk Presbyterian Church was published by the congregation that year.[59]

St Andrews Presbyterian Church did not join the Uniting Church of Australia when it formed on 22 June 1977, combining most Presbyterian, Methodist and Congregational churches in Australia. The church was used by the Continuing Presbyterian Church thereafter.[60]

St Andrews Presbyterian Church, Esk played an important role in the Esk and district community from its establishment in 1876 until its closure about 125 years later. Not only did the church support the religious needs of the community, it commemorated Boer War and World War One soldiers who served, and contributed to the social life of the community through events and organisations such as its Women's Guild, (formed 1908).[61]

St Andrews Presbyterian Church was sold in May 2003. Since then the church building has been re-purposed as a wedding venue and its communion table removed. Non-significant structures have been added to the site since 2003, including a skillion-roofed shed to the north of the hall, and a timber walkway linking the church with the hall.[62]

In 2020, the former St Andrews Presbyterian Church is part of an Esk heritage walk.[63] The place retains its 1876 church (extended 1900), set in open, landscaped grounds with perimeter plantings.

Description

St Andrews Presbyterian Church (former), Esk is a modest, timber church located in Esk. Standing at the intersection of Ipswich and Middle Streets, the town’s main thoroughfares, the building faces west towards Middle Street and is in landscaped grounds with open lawns and boundary plantings. The nearby hall, manse and sheds are not of state-level cultural heritage significance.

Features of St Andrews Presbyterian Church (former) of state-level cultural heritage significance include:

• Church building (1876 and 1900 extension)
• Church grounds

Church building (1876 and 1900 extension)

The timber-framed and clad church is low-set and rectangular in plan with its short sides facing west (front) and east. It has a steep gable roof with a small timber belfry, small gable roofed front entry porch at its western end and a series of lancet windows down both long sides. Wide double doors from the porch lead in to the nave, which has raked ceilings with exposed scissor trusses. A sanctuary is at the eastern end of the nave, one step up from the nave floor level, it features an altar rail; curved and raised dais with turned timber balustrade; and lectern, which are early fabric. A part height partition separates the sanctuary from the former Sunday school room (later the vestry) which occupies the eastern end of the building and has a separate eastern entrance. The sanctuary and former Sunday school room are likely an early extension made in 1900, which follows the earlier building in structure, materials and detail. The addition is clearly delineated in the exterior weatherboards and interior wall linings.

Features of the church building of state-level cultural heritage significance also include:

• location and orientation of church
• original section (1876) and extension (1900)
• low-set form
• rectangular plan with attached front porch
• symmetrical composition of front elevation
• open understorey
• timber-framed construction; weatherboard cladding[1] with timber beading marking the extension; lancet ventilation panels of fixed timber louvres in gable ends
• steep gable roofs over main body and porch clad with corrugated metal sheets
• timber-framed, centre-pivoting lancet windows
• entry porch
  • scalloped bargeboard
  • single lancet window to front
  • access on both sides via short timber stairs with open risers and timber balustrades
  • timber board floor
• timber double entry doors, ledged and lined with wide diagonal beaded boards
• interior layout comprising nave with sanctuary at east end and former Sunday school room behind with separate entry
• clear-finished timber board floors; sanctuary floor is raised one step higher than nave and former Sunday school room floors
• walls lined with horizontally-fixed timber beaded boards, with narrower boards lining the extension (sanctuary and former Sunday school room)
• part-height partition (1900) between sanctuary and former Sunday school room
• sanctuary fabric including altar rail; curved and raised dais with turned timber balustrades and lectern
• raked ceiling lined with diagonally-fixed timber beaded boards, exposed timber scissor trusses and metal tie-rods

Features of the church building not of state-level cultural heritage significance include:

• understorey stumps (later replacements)
• non-original concrete slabs at base of both front stairs
• non-original timber sign on front of entry porch
• carpets
• transom light above former Sunday school eastern entry door
• non-original door and window hardware
• non-original electrical services
• non-original water goods

Church grounds

The church building stands in a simple landscaped setting of open lawns and boundary planting providing an uncomplicated rural character and allowing for natural lighting and ventilation of the church’s interior spaces.

Features of the church grounds of state-level cultural heritage significance include:

• simple landscaped setting of lawns and perimeter planting providing an uncomplicated rural character[2]
• open space surrounding church building to permit natural light and ventilation to its interior
• south west corner entry from Ipswich and Middle Streets.

Features of the church grounds not of state-level cultural heritage significance include:

• gable roof shed with walkway and timber screen
• vegetation (landscaping including planting around the perimeter of the property is considered significant)
• landscaping not previously mentioned including fencing, gates, flagpole and signs.

References

[1] Queensland Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships, <https://culturalheritage.datsip.qld.gov.au/achris/public/public-registry/home>, accessed 30 Apr 2020; Ruth S Kerr, Confidence and Tradition, Council of the Shire of Esk, Esk, 1988, pp. 6-7, 34, 91; ‘Advertising’, Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald & General Advertiser (Qld Times), 6 Jul 1869, p. 1; QHR602408 St Andrews Church, Esk current entry. The Mount Esk lease established by Gideon Scott was purchased by the Bigge brothers of Mt Brisbane run in 1849. Esk was established on land excised from Mount Esk run under the Crown Lands Alienation Act 1868. The township was also referred to as Mount Esk in newspapers. The Department of Public Lands called the town Gallanini, but this name does not appear elsewhere. (National Library of Australia, Trove newspapers, Queensland newspapers, 1872-1900.)
[2] Pugh, Theophilus. Pugh’s Almanac, 1873-1880. Theophilus P Pugh, Brisbane, 1873-1880.
[3] Richard Bardon, Centenary History of the Presbyterian Church of Presbyterian Church of Queensland, Brisbane, Presbyterian Church of Queensland, 1949, pp. 20, 22, 26-27, 29-32; QHR601757 Warwick Uniting Church. Earlier known Presbyterian churches in the West Moreton region were at Warrill Creek (Churchbank, Ipswich Reserve by 1872), Laidley (1872), Murphy’s Creek (1876), Helidon (1876). (Qld Times: ‘Local and General News’, 22 Jun 1872, p. 3; ‘Laidley Presbyterian Church’, 14 Nov 1872, p. 3; ‘Helidon’, 10 Jun 1876, p. 3.)
[4] Bardon, Centenary History of the Presbyterian Church of Queensland, p. 55.
[5] Qld Times: ‘Local and General News’, 22 Jun 1872, p. 3; ‘Laidley Presbyterian Church’, 4 Nov 1872, p. 3; ‘Helidon’, 10 Jun 1876, p. 3.
[6] Kerr, Confidence and Tradition, p. 4: HJ Gibbney, 'McConnel, David Cannon (1818–1885)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, <http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mcconnel-david-cannon-1234/text6367>, published first in hardcopy 1974, accessed online 25 March 2020. During the 1860s weekly Presbyterian church services were held in the recently constructed addition to Cressbrook House. (QHR600503 Cressbrook Homestead.)
[7] He was also a ‘justice of the peace, one of the first directors of the New South Wales Bank branch at Brisbane, a pioneer of the Presbyterian Church at South and North Brisbane, a founder of the Moreton Bay Horticultural Society, and a supporter of the anti-transportation and separation movements’. (Moreton Bay Courier (MBC): 4 Aug 1849, p. 3; 17 Nov 1849, p. 3; 1 Dec 1849, p. 2; 9 Nov 1850, p. 3; 19 Feb 1853, p. 2; 25 July 1857, p. 2 cited by Fisher, ‘McConnel’s Second “Bump of Hope”’, pp. 29, 37-38.) Fisher regarded the McConnels ‘as one of the great pioneering families of early Queensland’. (Rod Fisher, ‘David Cannon McConnel’s Second “Bump of Hope”: Bulimba House and Farm 1849-53’ in Brisbane History Group, Brisbane: People Places and Pageantry, BHG Papers No. 6, BHG, Brisbane, 1987, p. 29.)
[8] Fisher, ‘McConnel’s Second “Bump of Hope”’, p. 30.
[9] Queensland Government ‘Mary McConnel (1824-1910), <https://www.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/38612/mary-mcconnel-biography.pdf>, accessed 8 May 2020.
[10] M[ary] McConnel, Memories of Days Gone By, n.p. cited by Presbyterian Church, Esk <http://www.boadicea.com/church/referencesl.htm> accessed 28 Apr 2020; ‘Hon Alexander Raff’, Queenslander, 31 Jan 1914, p. 39: Queensland Heritage Register (QHR) 601668 Grangehill, Brisbane. Rev. Adam McIntyre officiated as Presbyterian Minister at Cressbrook for some months in c1864. (Qld Times 9 Jun 1866 p. 3 cited by Presbyterian Church, Esk <http://www.boadicea.com/church/referencesl.htm> accessed 28 Apr 2020.)
[11] DNRME, DoG 10210222 (Lot 112 CP E1721).
[12] Qld Times 20 Sep 1975 p 11 cited by Presbyterian Church, Esk <http://www.boadicea.com/church/referencesl.htm> accessed 28 Apr 2020.
[13] DNRME, DoG 10273119; DoG 10273120. They were Allotments 1, 2, 13 and 14 of Section I, now 101, 102, 113 and 114 CP E1721.
[14] St Andrews Church Centenary Committee found this information while tracing the history of Esk Presbyterian charge in 1975. The offering was £19 of which £17 was sent to England for a communion service and £1 each was spent on linen and a Bible. (Qld Times, 4 Nov 1975, p 20 cited by Presbyterian Church, Esk <http://www.boadicea.com/church/referencesl.htm> accessed 28 Apr 2020); Esk Record, 28 Mar 1936 cited by ‘Presbyterian Church, Esk’, <http://www.boadicea.com/church/referencesl.htm> accessed 28 Apr 2020. Rev. David Watt arrived in the Colony in February and initially resided at Cressbrook; ‘Horseman at 84’, Courier Mail, 1 Sep 934, p.15.
[15] Keith Rayner, The History of the Church of England in Queensland, University of Queensland, PhD thesis, 1962, p. 132; Boomerang, 3 Dec 1887 cited by Rayner, The History of the Church of England in Queensland, p. 241.
[16] ‘Commercial Intelligence’, Queenslander, 20 May 1876, p. 32; ‘Official Notifications’, The Week, 8 Mar 1876, p. 17; ‘The Anglican Church, South Brisbane’, The Week, 22 Apr 1876, p. 16.
[17] ‘Telegraphic’, Brisbane Courier, 17 May 1876, p. 3.
[18] DNRME, DoG 10212006, 1873.
[19] Qld Times, 21 Oct 1876 p. 2 cited by Presbyterian Church, Esk <http://www.boadicea.com/church/referencesl.htm> accessed 28 Apr 2020; ‘Classified Advertising’, Brisbane Courier, 15 Dec 1876, p.1. The place was referred to as Mount Esk in this advertisement.
[20] ‘Esk and Cressbrook’, Qld Times, 16 Jan 1877, p. 3; ‘Telegraphic’, Brisbane Courier, 17 May 1876, p. 3; ‘Family notices’, Brisbane Courier, 8 Sep 1876, p. 2; ‘Advertising’, Qld Times, 28 Oct 1876, p. 2. In July 1877 the land on which the manse was built was transferred to McConnel. (DNRME, DoG 10212006.) Rev. David Watt, born c1841, died in the Esk manse on 3 August 1877, aged 36 years. (‘Family Notices’, Queenslander, 11 Aug 1877, p. 1.) Before the manse was completed, Rev. Watt resided at Cressbrook station.
[21] Local & General News’, Qld Times, 17 Oct 1878, p. 2.
[22] ‘The Town of Esk’, Brisbane Courier, 13 Mar 1929, p. 10.
[23] 2 Jan 1888 lease of 12 3/4perches. DNRME, CoT 10298245; ‘Presbyterian General Assembly’, Brisbane Courier, 15 May 1889, p. 5.
[24] ‘Esk Presbyterian Church Soiree’, Qld Times, 8 Oct 1887, p. 7. The church moved, most likely, from the site provided by Mary McConnel in 1873, to its current location.
[25] c1897 photograph of Esk, Queensland State Archives, Image ID: 25424.
[26] ‘Esk Presbyterian Church Soiree’, Qld Times, 8 Oct 1887, p. 7.
[27] DNRME, CoT 10298245; 10273120; 10273119; ‘Presbyterian General Assembly’, Morning Bulletin, 21 May 1884, p.3. In 1938, the five acres of land donated by Mary McConnel to the Presbyterian Church were sold. (DNRME, DoG: 10273118, 10273119, 10273120, 10273121, 10210222.)
[28] The first recorded meeting of the Presbyterian charge at Esk was held on 18 March 1876 under the chairmanship of McConnel. (Qld Times, 20 Sep 1975 p. 11 cited by Presbyterian Church, Esk <http://www.boadicea.com/church/referencesl.htm> accessed 28 Apr 2020. In October 1878, McConnel wrote to the editor of the Qld Times newspaper, detailing the church’s use from August 1877 to October 1878. McConnel presided at the annual meeting of the congregation and anniversary tea meeting of the Presbyterian Church at Esk in May 1884. (‘The Presbyterian Ch at Esk’, Qld Times, 22 Oct 1878, p. 3;‘Soiree and Service of Song at Esk’, Qld Times, 27 May 1884, p. 3; Kerr, Confidence and Tradition, pp. 216-8.)
[29] ‘Our Esk Letter’, Qld Times, 17 Dec 1898, p. 3.
[30] ‘The Esk Presbyterian Church, Qld Times, 16 Mar 1889, p. 5.
[31] ‘Our Esk Letter’, Qld Times, 7 Sep 1907, p. 5.
[32] Image looking southwest across Esk c1897. Queensland State Archives Image ID:25424.
[33] ‘Esk Presbyterian Church Soiree’, Qld Times, 8 Oct 1887, p. 7; ‘The Esk Presbyterian Church’, Qld Times, 16 Mar 1889, p. 5.
[34] ‘The “Scotch Tryst”’, Qld Times, 5 Dec 1908, p. 11.
[35] Esk Presbyterian Church, Esk Presbyterian Church Centenary, pp. 10, 11, 12.
[36] Esk Presbyterian Church Annual Report 1889, Ipswich, printed at advocate office 1890 cited by Presbyterian Church, Esk <http://www.boadicea.com/church/referencesl.htm> accessed 28 Apr 2020.
[37] ‘The Travelling Dairy’, Brisbane Courier, 27 Dec 1889 p. 2; ‘Through the Country. From Fernvale to Bellevue. Development of the Dairying Industry’, Qld Times, 6 Feb 1897, p. 6; Kerr, Confidence and Tradition, p. 74; ‘The McConnel’s & Toogoolawah’, <cressbrookstation.com.au/the-mcconnels-toogoolawah/>, accessed 6 May 2020.
[38] ‘The historic township of Esk’, Experience Somerset, <https://www.experiencesomerset.com.au/the-historic-township-of-esk/>, accessed 26 May 2020.
[39] Kerr, Confidence and Tradition, p. 70.
[40] ‘Our Esk Letter’, Qld Times, 12 May 1900, p. 2.
[41] ‘Queensland’, Brisbane Courier, 3 Jul 1900, p. 4.
[42] ‘Our Esk letter’, Qld Times, 11 Mar 1899, p. 3; Kerr, Confidence and Tradition, p. 217.
[43] DNRME, Aerials: SVY05725154, 28 Jun 1949. Note the possible site of the 1909 hall was east of the church.
[44] ‘Christmas Tree and Sale of Work’, Qld Times, 24 Dec 1909, p. 10; ‘Scotch Tryst’, Qld Times, 2 Dec 1910, p. 2; ‘News from the Country’, The Daily Mail, 12 Apr 1919, p. 14; ‘Position at Esk’, Qld Times, 29 May 1919, p. 5; ‘News from the Country’, The Daily Mail, 28 Aug 1919, p. 9; ‘Esk Letter’, Qld Times, 11 Sep 1919, p. 7; ‘Esk Letter’, Qld Times, 25 Sep 1919, p. 6; ‘Esk letter’, Qld Times, 5 Nov 1919, p. 6; ‘Esk Letter’, Qld Times, 2 Nov 1920, p. 3; ‘News from the Country’, The Daily Mail, 21 Dec 1920, p. 9; ‘Esk’, Bne Courier, 18 Mar 1922, p. 12; ‘Esk’, Bne Courier, 17 Jul 1922, p. 9; ‘Stanley District’, Qld Times, 24 Aug 1923, p. 7; ‘Stanley District’, Qld Times, 28 Mar 1924, p. 9; ‘Stanley District’, Qld Times, 15 Dec 1924, p.7; ‘Esk’, Bne Courier, 10 Dec 1925, p. 10; ‘Esk’, Bne Courier, 20 Sep 1927, p. 7; ‘Esk’, Bne Courier, 20 Sep 1927, p. 7; ‘Presbyterian’, Telegraph, 31 May 1930, p. 11.
[45] ‘Stanley District. Esk’, Qld Times, 23 Sep 1933, p. 14; DNRME, Aerial SVY05725154, 28 Jun 1949.
[46] ‘Esk and Cressbrook’, Qld Times, 24 Sep 1878, p. 3.
[47] ‘Soiree and Service of Song at Esk’, Qld Times, 27 May 1884, p. 3
[48] ‘Esk Letter’, Qld Times, 2 Nov 1920, p.3; ‘News from the Country’, The Daily Mail, 6 Dec 1920, p. 4; ‘News from the Country. Esk’, The Daily Mail, 25 Feb 1921, p. 4; ‘Esk’, Bne Courier, 18 Mar 1922, p.12; ‘Esk’, The Daily Mail, 6 Mar 1922, p. 11. Repair of the manse occurred in 1892. (Esk Presbyterian Church, Esk Presbyterian Church Centenary, pp. 10, 11, 12 cited by Presbyterian Church, Esk <http://www.boadicea.com/church/referencesl.htm> accessed 28 Apr 2020.)
[49] ‘Storm at Esk’, Daily Mercury, 13 Dec 1926, p. 7.
[50] ‘Esk’, Brisbane Courier, 16 Feb 1926, p. 9; Qld Times 16 Feb 1926 p. 7 cited by Presbyterian Church, Esk <http://www.boadicea.com/church/referencesl.htm> accessed 28 Apr 2020.
[51] Esk Presbyterian Church, Esk Presbyterian Church Centenary, p. 25 cited by ‘Presbyterian Church, Esk’ <http://www.boadicea.com/church/referencesl.htm>, accessed 28 Apr 2020.
[52] ‘Fathers, Sons to Speak’, The Courier-Mail, 3 Jul 1948, p.4; ‘Winton’, Morning Bulletin, 17 Feb 1950, p. 9.
[53] ‘Moderator’s Visit to Esk’, Qld Times, 23 Mar 1949, p. 7.
[54] DNRME, Aerials: SVY05725154, 28 Jun 1949, QAP0163024, 1 Jul 1951.
[55] ‘Moderator’s Visit to Esk’, Qld Times, 23 Mar 1949, p. 7.
[56] DNRME, Aerials: QAP0163024, 1 Jul 1951; QAP0780095, 1 May 1958.
[57] Mrs Hertrick, Esk, 19 Apr 1986 cited by ‘Presbyterian Church, Esk <http://www.boadicea.com/church/referencesl.htm> accessed 28 Apr 2020. The Commercial Hotel, Esk operated a billiard hall from 1887 until at least 1938 and advertised its billiard table, cues and balls for sale in August 1954. (‘Esk’, Qld Times, 20 Dec 1887, p. 4; ‘Hotel Repairs, Alterations’, The Courier-Mail, 4 Mar 1938, p. 9; ‘Advertising’, The Courier-Mail: 5 Aug 1954, p. 12; 7 Aug 1954, p. 19.) Aerial photographs confirm the removal of a building from the Commercial Hotel site and the appearance of the hall on the church site between 1951 and 1958. (DNRME, Aerials: QAP0163024, 1 Jul 1951; QAP0780095, 1 May 1958.)
[58] Qld Times 20 Sep 1975, p. 11 cited by Presbyterian Church, Esk <http://www.boadicea.com/church/referencesl.htm> accessed 28 Apr 2020.
[59] Esk Presbyterian Church, Esk Presbyterian Church Centenary, Esk Presbyterian Church, Esk, 1976.
[60] Kerr, Confidence and Tradition, p. 218. Now called the Presbyterian Church of Queensland.
[61] Kerr, Confidence and Tradition, p. 217; ‘Our Esk Letter’, Qld Times, 6 Mar 1900, p. 3; ‘Soldiers’ Memorial Service’, Brisbane Courier, 29 Nov 1918, p. 4; ‘Stanley District’, Qld Times, 30 Apr 1923, p. 2. On 14 April 1918 an honour board to those members of the church who served in World War I was unveiled in St Andrews Presbyterian Church before a large congregation. (‘Esk Honour Board’, Telegraph, 16 Apr 1918, p. 9.) In 2020, the memorial is no longer in the church. Numerous social events organised by the church included soirees, bazaars, fetes, tennis tournaments, musical entertainments, picnics, sports days. (Trove newspaper search, <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/search?adv=y&searchTerm=>, accessed 2020.)
[62] Site visit by Heritage, EHP 2003. Images stored in LHIS database, Department of Environment and Science.
[63] ‘The historic township of Esk’, Experience Somerset, <https://www.experiencesomerset.com.au/the-historic-township-of-esk/>, accessed 26 May 2020.

[64] The church may not have originally been clad with weatherboards but may have been single-skin with its framing exposed externally. However, the retention of a line marking the separate boards of the extension indicates that it was clad prior to 1900. The concealed framing is of state-level cultural heritage significance and may retain detailing of wear patterns to indicate if the building was originally single-skin.
[65] Planting around the perimeter of the grounds is evident as early as c1897 and has been a continuous part of the landscaping since at least 1949. Individual plants and trees have been replaced at different stages and are not considered of state-level cultural heritage significance.

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