St Matthew's Anglican Church

The district now known as Sherwood was occupied by graziers from the 1840s. By 1860 the land was subdivided into farming lots and closer occupation followed. Early farmers grew crops of grain and vegetables and later added commercial crops of cotton and sugar. From the 1860s a number of churches of the various denominations began to be established in the area. Presbyterian worship began in 1863 with a weatherboard church being erected in 1867. A non-denominational church was also built in the Oxley area in 1865. This slab building was constructed "for the religious and secular instruction" of the local inhabitants and was used on Sabbath mornings for Church of England services and open for the use of other Protestant religions during the remainder of the day.

The first Anglican church in Sherwood was built on the site of the Church of England cemetery fronting Sherwood Road in 1868. The church was constructed of brick and stone and was consecrated by the Right Reverend Bishop Tufnell on 13 January 1874. In 1875, the construction of the railway and the Indooroopilly railway bridge, provided the impetus for early residential development and increases in the local population. The congregation gained its first resident minister in 1876, when the Reverend J.S. Hassell took up the post, which he held until his retirement in 1899.

Due to deterioration the original church was replaced by a timber structure, which was opened by the Anglican Bishop of Brisbane and the State Governor, in 1893. That year saw extensive damage to the Anglican graveyard caused by the heaviest flooding of the Brisbane River yet seen by the European settlers. On 27 September, 1921 a further disaster beset the parish; the wooden church, church records and cemetery records were destroyed by fire. The Brisbane Courier reported that:

The alarm was given shortly after 8 o'clock, and within ten minutes the entire building, which was an old wooden structure about 65 feet by 30 feet, was enveloped in flames ... The cause of the fire is unknown, but it is stated the flames were first observed coming from the direction of the vestry.

Although the building was insured for about £1200, the furniture for £100 and the organ for £80, an immediate rebuilding appeal was launched to raise £2000 for a new church. On 8 November a parish meeting elected to rebuild on a site opposite the state school, nearer the centre of population. From the funds raised, an allotment of land located on the corner of Oxley and Sherwood Roads was purchased. The church complex was to be located on an acre of land with the new church costing about £3400. Mr Hood, the building contractor, estimated that the church would be erected within four months. The Parish hall which was still intact and located on the Anglican cemetery site was to be re-located to the new site. On 4 March, 1923, the foundation stone for the present church was laid by Archbishop Sharp. Noting that £2500 had been subscribed towards liquidating the debt on the new church, Archbishop Sharp observed that the outcome of the disastrous fire was that the parish "would have a more worthy church built of brick, and on a site which the majority of parishioners considered to be superior to the old one". The church was later extended by 40 feet to cater for the growing congregation.

The floor plan of the church is shaped like a cross, consisting of a large nave, two short transepts wings, a sanctuary to the west and to the east: an entry vestibule, vestry and gallery. The main doors of the entry vestibule are reached from Sherwood road via a covered walkway, providing disabled access. Entry to the building can also be gained through the transepts or via a door to each side of the nave.

Exterior

The large gable roof of the nave and the lower roofs of the apse, entry vestibule and transepts, all terminate in parapets. The long, narrow gable roof of the entry walkway extends to the fence line on Sherwood Road and terminates with a parapet supported on brick columns. Between the columns is a pair of metal gates and above, in the gable parapet is written "St Matthews". Set on a rendered brick plinth, the walls of the building have stepped buttresses located along each side wall of the nave and to each corner of the apse, transepts and entry vestibules. The buttresses have bullnosed rendered blocks which narrow the buttresses toward the top. The walls feature several rendered horizontal bands including one at eaves height that sits above a projecting brick stringcourse and row of dentils and extends across each parapet wall. Each parapeted gable wall also features a rendered apex, the western gable wall of the nave and apse are crowned with crosses.

The building features coupled round arched windows with a centred circular window above. These metal framed stained glass windows comprise of lower casements and fixed circular windows. Each set of windows sits within a slightly recessed rendered panel, framed by an orange brick arch. Each arch springs from a rendered horizontal band, which is repeated at sill level. A two tier set of windows within the gable wall of the entry vestibule, sits below a bell that is suspended on a metal frame. These windows, and single round arched windows in the apse and nave, are timber framed with opaque green glass. Most are double hung. Circular windows can also be found within the gable walls of the nave and apse, and above both side doors of the nave.

The doors of the building comprise of either tongue and groove, vertical joint boards or timber panels with leadlight windows to their top halves. The main timber panelled doors of the entry vestibule, are crowned with a timber panelled round arch fanlight and framed by a orange brick arch.

Interior

The spacious interior of the building features an exposed timber floor which is carpeted in the sanctuary and to traffic areas. Set in slightly recessed rendered panels, the side windows of the nave have orange brick surrounds with a quoining effect to each side. Each window has a rendered sill which extends past the windows forming part of one of two orange brick horizontal bands which run the full length of each wall. Hammer beam trusses with tie rods form the main roof structure of the building. Ceilings are lined with fibre cement sheets with contrasting timber cover strips. A metal vented screen runs the full length of the nave roof at its apex.

Framed by a large orange brick sanctuary arch, the apse is lined with timber wall panelling with an alter screen and canopy to its back wall. Timber panelling with decorative arches feature in the walls of the vestry and gallery balustrades.

Intactness

This building is very intact. A slight change in brick colour in the last two bays of the nave and in the entry vestibule, suggest these areas were added at a later date. The only other noticeable changes to the building are the presence of perspex sheets over each stained glass casement window.

HALL

This timber framed hall faces Oxley Road. It has a gable roof clad in corrugated iron and walls clad in chamfer boards. T-shaped in plan it has a lower section to one side wall with a hipped skillion roof, which houses offices. The front facade of the building features two large lancet windows to each side of an open porch with three small lancets above. Both the gable end of the porch and main roof have finials. The porch is decoratively detailed with shaped bargeboards, recessed gable wall featuring trefoil arch motifs, which are repeated in the porch balustrades.

1. Brisbane Centenary Celebrations Committee 1924, Brisbane Centenary Official Historical Souvenir, Brisbane

2. Brisbane Courier, 28 September 1921

3. Queenslander, 26 November 1921

4. Sherwood District Centenary Celebrations, 1967