Kelvin Grove Uniting Church (former)

Through Reverend Woolcock's efforts the local congregation grew. A  parcel of land was purchased and a small wooden church erected in 1883 on this site at the corner of Davidson Street and Enoggera Road by Mr Sylvanus White. The area was still then widely referred to as Kelvin Grove, though the new market for cattle and stock had been established there since the late 1870s. By 1894 Bible Christian Methodist churches had been erected at Clifton Terrace, Kelvin Grove, Everton Park, Bunya, Brookfield, Moggill, Indooroopilly Pocket, Hamilton and Carina. As a result of severe financial difficulties, the Bible Christians began negotiations in 1894 for amalgamation with the Wesleyan Methodist Church, and these were successfully completed by 1897. The church then became Wesleyan Methodist. 

The former Bible Christian church, enlarged after a few years, was then moved to the back of the allotment when the present red brick church was erected in 1914. It was used for a time as the Sunday school hall. In 1930 the congregation began the erection of a new hall in anticipation of the celebration of the 1933 Jubilee of the Church. The former church was moved again and incorporated into the new ‘Jubilee’ hall, for use as a kindergarten hall. The hall extension was prompted by an increase in the activities of the church in the district.

In 1977, when the Uniting Church was formed by the amalgamation of the Congregational, Presbyterian and Methodist Churches, the church was renamed the Kelvin Grove Uniting Church.

By 1995, the church had become surplus to the requirements of the Uniting Church and the property was sold. The new owners converted the building to a private residence.

The former church building features a steeply pitched gable roof. The shallower gable roof of the hall intersects the church gable below its ridge line. Equally spaced timber framed windows with triangular heads line the remaining side wall of the church. To each gable end, two of these windows sit below a diamond shaped louvred vent. They feature a lower pane of opaque glass and a clear glass top.

1914 BRICK CHURCH

This former red and brown brick church is Gothic in style with a gable roof clad in corrugated iron. Consisting of a nave, front entry vestibule and vestry to the rear, the building sits to the front of the property overlooking Enoggera Road. A small brick toilet block which was added to the rear of the vestry at some stage, has been removed to accommodate a carport.

Exterior
The brown brick side walls of the nave are divided into five bays by red brick buttresses. Single timber framed lancet windows to each bay have dark brown brick sills and small panes of opaque glass. A white horizontal band runs the full length of each side wall forming an arch over each window. Incorporated in this is a hoodmould.

 
To each symmetrical gable wall of the nave, a louvred opening sits behind a battened gable screen. Three leadlight lancet windows are located centrally below this, the centre one taller than the outer two. Crowned with hoodmoulds, these windows have partially rendered surrounds. Several white horizontal bands extend from either side of the windows across the front facade. A centrally located entry vestibule projects from the front facade and has a parapet wall to the street. Rendered brick stairs to each side lead to a pair of timber doors with rendered lintels. The hipped roof of the vestibule projects beyond its side walls and is supported on timber brackets. Curved brick balustrades to the stairs rise to the parapet wall, which features a central window. The window has three timber framed casement windows, it is crowned with a drip cap. The building's front facade and entry vestibule are built only of red brick.

The walls of the vestry are brown brick with red brick quoins to the corners and side of openings. Bulky white lintels sit above windows and doors.

Interior
Timber box beams with bead mouldings form the main roof supports to the nave's truncated gable ceiling. The painted interior is broken at dado level by a bead moulding and by decorative vents within each ceiling bay. The timber floor is carpeted throughout. Two doors in the rear wall of the nave access two interconnected vestry rooms. Both have side doors to the outside, and a window to the rear.

The building is very intact. The internal wall between the vestries has recently been removed and a large opening punched into the vestry wall facing Davidson Street to create a garage. It is believed that the rest of the building is now used as a rumpus room as part of the adjoining residence.

1. Dingle, Rev R.S.C. 1947, Annals of Achievement: A Review of Queensland Methodism 1847-1943, Queensland Book Depot, Brisbane

2. Marsden, B. S. 1970, 'Temporal Aspects of Urban Population Densities: Brisbane 1861 - 1961'

3. Australian Geographical Studies, Vol 8, No 1, April 1970

4. Methodist Times 14 August 1930

5. Methodist Times 5 October 1930