St David's Anglican Church and Raintrees (Samanea saman)

The destruction caused by the 1911 cyclone is a recurring theme in the district, but the reconstruction process has given us some beautiful buildings. St David’s Church of England, sheltered under a grove of raintrees, is one of these. The early timber church here was lost. The minister, Rev Edward Taffs designed the new church on traditional byzantine principles. Volunteers laid the foundations of locally sourced stone in 1915. After WWI the church ladies’ committee raised enough money to build the chancel and one bay window in 1919. Progress was thwarted by another cyclone in 1920 and again later by the Depression. Efforts were revived in 1937 when architects Hassall and Redmond modified the building plans. However tenders for the work were too expensive resulting in Rev Taffs and his grandsons undertaking most of the stone construction in 1940. Rev Taffs died in 1950. In 1951, the design was revised by Cairns architect Edwin Orchard and work was completed in 1952. The Church was dedicated 40 years after construction had commenced. Further additions were made in 1982 and leadlight windows subsequently installed. The avenue of Raintrees was planted by Rev Taffs in the early 20th Century.