St Andrew's Anglican Church

The original timber church was dedicated by Archdeacon Glennie on St Andrew's Day, 1866, having been built in the style of a quiet English village church. The cost of over £200 had been raised by public subscription and the church remained free of debt. Previously services had been held in the home of the judge's sister-in-law, Mrs Neilson. 

In 1882 the Lutwyche, Albion and Hamilton districts were separated from the Valley parish to form a new parish with its own Rector, who also administered St Matthew's, Grovely. Judge Lutwyche's widow donated the land adjoining the Church for a parsonage for the new Rector who conducted services at St. Mark's, Albion, at Hamilton, at St Matthew's, as well as St Andrew's. The parish continued to grow and in 1885 the timber church was extended by twenty feet to accommodate the extra worshippers. Sunday School attendances also attest to the commitment of the community with 183 pupils and 14 teachers in 1886.

In December 1887 a building committee was formed for the erection of a new church. However, debts remained on St Mark's, Albion and the rectory, and the current account was heavily overdrawn. The floods and economic depressions of the 1890s further damaged the parish's finances and the parish was divided into six districts to assist in collecting funds. The Parochial Council formed in 1895-6 assisted in the revitalisation of the parish and was unique in having women as elected members. The parish then turned its attention to St Mark's. By the turn of the century the parish included churches at Albion, Cabbage Tree Creek, Grovely and Hamilton.

By 1911 the financial situation had eased and the parish discussed the possibility of a pipe organ for St Andrew's. In April 1914 a permanent building fund was established to raise money for the erection of a permanent church of stone, brick, cement or other suitable material. A committee comprising mainly women parishioners was formed and successfully raised several hundred pounds before World War One started, suspending efforts towards a new church. A new belfry however was erected in the grounds of the church in 1915 because of the poor state of the one on top of the old church. The purchase of 'Armstrong House' and surrounding property in 1917 was arranged to secure an entrance to St Andrew's from Kedron Park Road. This was resold in 1923 retaining only ten feet as an entry to the church grounds.

During 1918 it was decided that once the war was over the new church would be built as a memorial to members of the parish who had died in the war, and in November the committee again proceeded with organising the funds. Meetings were held to foster interest and raise the estimated £2500 required. In the 1920s, surrounding housing estates were rapidly filling and parish numbers had outgrown the Sunday School facilities. A new hall was built at St Andrew's, opening in December 1921 at a cost of £613/10/11. As a result of offers of tradesmen's services the lych gate and stone fence were also completed before the church. The rock faced granite stones for the fence were purchased by individuals in remembrance of their relatives lost in the war. The parish memorial, the Lych Gate designed by Mr Mayer, formed the centre of the wall and both were dedicated on 6 July 1924. The Rectory, built in 1884, also needed repairs and was moved to its present site and renovated in October 1925.

The Church was designed by Melbourne architect, Louis Williams, whose brief was to plan a design utilising part of the old church and costing no more than £6000. By April 1925 the parish fund totalled £3173 in real and anticipated assets with a loan of £2000 promised by the diocese. The architects estimated cost of the structure was £5000. Construction of the present church began in October 1925 and was carried out by Mr J.C. Hobbs, who was both builder and contractor on the site. The foundation stone, donated by Mr Ives, a Kedron stonemason, was laid by Canon Osborne in the presence of 1500 parishioners on 29 November 1925, the feast of St Andrew. 

The construction of the church proceeded. While the original tender of £4244 was for the construction of the church without the tower, parishioners persuaded the committee to authorise the completion of the tower. The building of the tower meant that St Andrew's was the first Church of England in Brisbane to have a tower or spire. The tower was dedicated as a memorial to Archdeacon Osborn, the fifth rector of the parish from 1890 to 1920, who had not lived long enough to see his dream completed. The clock on the face of the building, also a memorial to the Archdeacon, was the first public clock in Windsor. In 1927 a set of bells, donated by brothers Herbert, E.P. and Sydney Jones, in memory of their father Alfred Jones, was installed in the tower. The octave of bells was the only clavier-operated carillon in Australia and the first electrically controlled carillon of its kind in Queensland. Another bell was added in 1929, and another five in 1938, with two of the original bells being removed at this time. 

St Andrew's Church, Lutwyche, was opened on 8 August 1926 by his Excellency Lord Stonehaven, the Governor-General. Others present included Lady Stonehaven, Captain Davidson, A.D.C., the Rector (Rev A.H. Osborn), his brother (Rev N. Osborn), Bishop Le Fanu, Alderman W.A. Jolly (Mayor of Brisbane) and Rev R.S. Dingle, of the local Methodist Church. There were also representatives of the Masonic, Manchester Unity, Protestant Alliance, Foresters, and Druids as well as Sunday School children, church officers and Boy Scouts. Bishop Le Fanu performed the opening ceremony and dedicated the building.

The St Andrew's parish continued to grow and despite Albion becoming a separate parish in 1925, was the largest parish in the diocese in 1947. Early in 1958 tentative plans were drawn up for the completion of the church by Brisbane architects Ford, Newtown and Newell for Mr Louis Williams, Melbourne. In July, tenders were called with the lowest tender of £18,500 accepted from Mr A.L. Place. The old church, which had formed the sanctuary, chancel and Lady Chapel was demolished in January 1960. The extensions to St Andrew's were completed and the whole church was consecrated on 4 December 1960. Brickwork was matched to the original building by re-opening the claypit from which the original bricks had been made and the stained-glass windows of the old church were incorporated into a large stained glass section in the chapel wall. As well as the previously mentioned memorials to the victims of World War One, Archdeacon Osborn and Albert Jones, the church contains numerous personal memorials and gifts from parishioners which attest to the ongoing commitment of the Anglican community to their church.

The floor plan of the church is shaped like a cross, consisting of a nave, side aisles and two short transept wings which contain a chapel, vestries and organ loft. Located at the east end of the nave is the sanctuary; and to the west, the tower, main entry doors and baptistery. Entry is made through a central door under the tower or via two side vestibules at the front corners of the nave. Disabled access is provided through the chapel, located on the south side of the nave. The older section of the building comprises of the nave and tower, with the sanctuary, vestries and chapel added later.

Exterior

The building appears as a homogenous whole, although distinction can be made between the two stages of the building by variations in massing and roof treatment. The nave and tower have thick parapet walls, whilst the transept and chancel area are lighter in massing with overhanging eaves. Both the nave and transept have bellcast roofs, extending perpendicular to each other. 

The side walls of the nave are divided into bays by triangular buttresses which support intermediate arches over windows or doors. Above these, a coping lined with brick dentils forms the parapet top. The rhythm of buttresses is continued on the three gable ends of the chancel extension, defining a central bay within each wall. In the transept walls, this space is filled with a large five bay pointed arch window. Behind the sanctuary a rendered curved wall with central cross forms the back of niche, with full height windows to each side. This niche is framed by a shallow pointed arch.

Three wall bays to each side of the nave, feature a pair of leadlight doors containing pains of coloured glass. Each pair has a leadlight fanlight which sits within an arched frame.The doors open out onto small concrete balconies. To accommodate the chancel extension, a fourth set of doors appear to have been replaced with smaller, stained glass, twin lancet windows. The  main entry doors to the nave comprise of a pair of tongue and groove, vertical joint timber doors, with each door containing three small panes of coloured glass. Located within an arched opening, each entry is crowned by an arched timber panel. Of particular note in the building is the large five bay stained glass window in the chapel which incorporates the stained glass windows from the original timber church. Other small stained glass windows are located in each side wall of the sanctuary and a wall at the rear of the baptistery. 

The symmetrical front facade of the building has a central square tower, with an entry door, accessible via a flight of tiled steps. To each side of this, massive parapet walls feature a few narrow stained glass windows. Below sill height, several projecting stringcourses form horizontal bands across the facade above a narrow stone and brick plinth. The tower rises above the building's main entry doors which are set into a stepped pointed arch opening, and surmounted by a decorative brick cross. Above this, the front wall of the tower features a pair of lancet windows and a clock. Large vents to each face of the tower identify the belfry, each vent is framed by a squinch arch. Buttresses to each corner of the tower extend past a chamfered brick coping which caps the tower. It is crowned by a flagpole which extends from the centre of the tower. 

Interior

The heavy massing of the nave exterior is continued into its interior. Brick columns and arches define the side aisles of the nave and extend into the chancel area, with a larger arch visually separating the vestry, organ loft and chapel from the sanctuary. Two blind arches beyond, have been set into the sanctuary walls.  Smaller arches span the nave aisles. The steep timber lined ceiling of the nave, with exposed timber framing is supported by four large hammer beam trusses.  Above the chancel area, a shallow pitched suspended ceiling hangs within the roof space.  A large pendant light hangs from its centre. 

A lightweight wall and metal screen provide a barrier to the vestry and organ loft incorporating the organ pipes. Behind the communion table is a curved wall featuring a central cross. The building's timber floor is carpeted to traffic areas and raised in the crossing and sanctuary. The church contains much of its original furniture and is very intact.

Lych gate

A dominant feature on the Lutwyche Road alignment is a timber framed Lych gate. This structure is square in plan, with a cross pitched gable roof clad in timber boards. Its open timber framed walls each feature three bays. These bays include a central opening with a narrow decorative bay to either side incorporating gothic motifs. Within the central opening to the street are two cross braced gates, whilst chains hang across the openings in each side wall. Timber trusses feature within each gable end.

1. Architectural & Building Journal of Queensland, 10 August 1926

2. McKeering, B.K. n.d., St Andrew's Anglican Church Lutwyche 1866 - 1991 (The Diary of a Parish), n.p.

3. Newspaper File:  Brisbane  - suburbs - Lutwyche, John Oxley Library

4. St Andrew's Church of England, Lutwyche, Queensland: Combined funds canvas 1956

5. Telegraph, 17 September 1966