St Andrews Church

The little timber church on Wellington Street Ormiston was built by the Hon. Louis Hope in 1868, as a private chapel, Sunday school and schoolhouse. It is now surrounded by suburban houses, all built on the former sugar plantation established by Hope, the father of the Queensland sugar industry. Queensland's first commercial sugar production was initiated on this estate. The chapel is believed to have been constructed by James Yorston, a Scottish employee on Hope's estate. The timber was cut at Ormiston, pit-sawn to size, and dressed and shaped with an adze. Originally the chapel stood amongst bunya pines and a number of flowering trees. The chapel pre-dated the first Anglican church at Cleveland by at least six years and served as a school for the children of employees on Hope's estate, until establishment of the Cleveland No.2 School (Ormiston State School) in 1872. In 1882 the Hopes transferred the chapel on 0.2 hectares of land to the Anglican Church as a gift. Since the late 1950s the church has been maintained by the Friends of St Andrews, a non-denominational group and services are still held here.