Kingsholme Methodist Church and Mission Hall (former)

Methodists in the district attended services in the Fortitude Valley church in Ann Street built in 1857 and the Primitive Methodist church built on the corner of Brunswick and Malt Streets in 1861. As suburban development extended into New Farm nondenominational religious services were conducted outdoors, later there were regular cottage meetings. In 1870 it was decided to build a nondenominational mission hall which became the centre for "revival services that led to many conversions". The Methodists eventually became responsible for the services at this hall, under the auspices of the Valley circuit. The hall was later acquired by supporters of the Methodist Church.1

The Kingsholme Methodist Church was constructed in 1927 through the devotion and generosity of Dr and Mrs E.W.H. Fowles. Architect W.C. Voller, who "was responsible for many churches of all denominations", designed the building with a square bell tower rising above the main entrance, set in a dramatic diagonal across the corner. J. Hobes was the builder and construction costs totalled £3,400. The generosity of parishioners quickly reduced this debt with Mr and Mrs A.J. Bradfield and Mr and Mrs F. Lather joining Dr and Mrs Fowles as valued supporters. The church remained a centre for Methodist worship and education until it was became a Uniting Church after the amalgamation of Methodist, Congregational and Presbyterian Churches in 1977. 

The building became the property of the Uniting Church in 1980 and was sold to the Macedonian Orthodox Church in 1984. Evidently not long after the formation of the Uniting Church some rationalisation of assets was undertaken. St Mary's Macedonian Orthodox Church is the only Macedonian Orthodox church in Brisbane reflecting the growing self awareness of this population group whose numbers have steadily increased with postwar immigration. That the church is in New Farm perhaps indicates not only the centrality of location but the increasing cultural diversity of the population.

Elevated above street level, the main floor of the building contains a nave, with a front and side entry vestibule. The tower which rises from the front entry vestibule, is positioned on an angle to address the street corner. To the base of the tower, the main entry doors of the building are reached by a short flight of tiled steps. The lower floor contains meeting rooms and is set back from both street frontages. No disabled access is provided to the church.

Exterior

The gable roof of the nave, clad in terra cotta roof tiles terminates to both ends with a parapet wall. The front entry vestibule projects forward from the nave's front wall below three stained glass windows. The vestibule has horizontal parapet walls which hide its skillion roof from view. The orange brick walls of the church are divided into bays by brown brick buttresses. Those buttresses to the front facade rise above the walls and are crowned with triangular capping pieces. The tower buttresses are capped in a pyramidal form extending past two levels of copings, the lower one with a crenellated pattern in the brickwork underneath. The square bell tower sits forward, and on an angle to the nave's front gable wall with a belfry vent to each wall face and narrow window to three sides 

below. It is crowned by a metal cross and candle stick structure with three lights in the position of candles. The parapet walls of the nave and vestibule are crowned with a rendered coping.

A leadlight window sits within each of the five side wall bays of the nave, except one which contains the side entry vestibule on Annie Street. This timber framed entry which is clad in fibre-cement sheeting, rests on a brick base and has a tiled gable roof. Horizontal bands of contrasting grey/blue coloured bricks extend across the face of each wall bay. They include a band crowning each wall, and at sill and window head height, the later incorporating an arch over each window. The timber framed windows sit within a shallow arched opening and are painted white. They consist of two casements and a pivoted window above. Single casement windows light the building's lower floor.

The back and front gable walls of the nave are divided into three bays. To the front facade, three, metal framed stained glass windows, the middle one larger than the outer two, sit centrally above the entry vestibule. The wall is crowned by an apex vent and features several darker brick horizontal bands and architectural features. The front wall of the vestibule is punctuated with leadlight windows with white painted timber frames. The edge of the concrete slab on which the vestibule sits has also been painted white, creating a strong horizontal element which contrasts with the vertical emphasis of the building's buttresses. A polychromatic brick fence which lines both street frontages is of a complimentary design. 

Interior

The front entry vestibule which has a tiled concrete floor is separated from the nave by a timber panelled wall incorporating leadlight windows. The nave has a timber floor which is carpeted. Its side walls reflect the building's exterior decoration, but with render up to sill height. To the top of each side wall is a projecting string course and rendered horizontal band. Hammer beam trusses support the roof and ceiling which comprises of diagonally laid tongue and groove boards to the underside of collar ties. A system of lights hang from the roof including three chandeliers. A timber screen has been added at some stage to the front of a raised sanctuary platform. Behind this, the back wall of the nave has a large rendered and face brick arch with a window to each side.    

HALL

This simple timber framed building has a steeply pitched iron roof and walls clad in chamfer boards. A simple open porch addresses the street. It has a gable roof supported on timber brackets and battened front. The building has simple windows in banks of three hoppers. Above the front porch are three coloured glass windows surmounted by a label mould. The undercroft of the building is enclosed with concrete block walls.

1. R.S. Dingle Annals of Achievement: A Century of Queensland Methodism 1847- 1947 p. 202 records the decision to build a nondenominal timber hall in Kingsholme. The hall beside the church is first recorded in the Post Office Directories in 1922 reflecting the increased detail recorded in later directories.

2. Brisbane City Council Sewerage Detail Plan 1927

3. Campbell, D.W. 'Urban Spatial Pattern Change: Transport and High Density Dwelling Use in Brisbane's Inner Suburbs', School of Australian Environmental Studies, Griffith University

4. Dingle, Rev R.S.C. 1947 Annals of Achievement: A Review of Queensland Methodism 1847-1947, Centenary Committee of the Queensland Methodist Conference, Brisbane

5. Greenwood, Gordon. Brisbane 1859-1959 A History of Local Government. Council of the City of Brisbane, Brisbane, 1959

6. McClurg, J.H C. 'Kingsholme Suburb', manuscript

7. Post Office Directories, 1921-1931

8. Queensland Land Titles Office Records

9. State Library Queensland. Indexes of Personal Names and Local Church History in the Christian Witness, Methodist Leader and Methodist Times

10. Richard, E.L. Early Brisbane Main Drains map. Evan Richard collection

11. Brisbane Courier http://trove.nla.gov.au/ Kingsholme Methodist Church hall (accessed 14-16/11/12)

12. Donald Watson and Judith McKay, Queensland Architects of the Nineteenth Century, South Brisbane: Queensland Museum, 1994