Catholic Apostolic Church (former)

This site was one of several blocks of land sold in South Brisbane under the Victoria Bridge Land Sales Act of 1879 which allowed the Brisbane Municipal Council to recover revenue previously foregone on other government property. It was purchased as allotment 18 of Section 42 of the City by Reginald H. Hurd in April 1885. In November of that year, the thirty six perch block was sold to Peter MacPherson and William Henry Miskin, a prominent Brisbane businessman. The land changed hands again in January 1886, when it was purchased by George Clark, who in 1888, mortgaged the land for £70, possibly in connection with the construction of the church.

South Brisbane at this time was experiencing a building boom and developing rapidly as a thriving industrial, commercial and residential area which rivalled the northern side of the river. In 1888, South Brisbane was proclaimed as a Borough, and in the spirit of optimism of the period, there was a drive to build churches and other community buildings. The Catholic Apostolic Church in Manning Street was situated close to the busy thoroughfare and commercial area of Melbourne Street.

The original Catholic Apostolic Church to be built on this site first appears in Post Office Directories in 1888. According to an elderly former member of the church, this building was destroyed by a fire which commenced at a nearby engineering works in the late 1910s. It is believed that the present church building, built to replace the former church, was never consecrated as the last of the twelve apostles appointed in the church died before its construction. The last minister of the church, Reverend J.T. Young died in 1932, after serving as trustee and minister from the early 1890s. The life of the church continued under the guidance of its deacons, the last of whom died in 1957. In 1962, the site was purchased by the Synod of the Anglican Church who renamed the church St Thomas' Church of England. This church replaced another church of the same name which had been located in Grey Street. 

In 1980, the property was sold by the Anglican Church. Since 1984 it has been used as professional offices and a fashion warehouse. This building remains as evidence of the changing religious and spiritual life of the South Brisbane area over a period of several decades.

It has a traditional plan with entry vestibule to the street, nave, side transepts and a sanctuary at the rear. A pair of gothic lancet windows are situated in the small gable fronted entry vestibule. These are wrapped in rendered bands at sill and head heights as are the flanking single windows to the main front. In the main gable a lead light rose window with blue brick surround is featured, set between capped brick piers. Both front walls, are trimmed top and bottom with rendered bands, capped at the gable apex with a cross and anchored at the eaves with corbelled blocks. A flat-roofed extension to the gabled entry vestibule is capped with sprung-arch decorated cornice and contains a small lancet window with an overscaled rendered head in the wall to the street. The entrance gate is to the side of this structure.

The side walls of the church are divided into bays with stepping, capped engaged piers as buttresses, each bay contains pairs of lancet windows. The roof eaves, with deep fascia, oversails these buttresses giving an almost domestic quality to the building's side elevations. The transepts are of different heights, emerging from the main roof at close to eaves height. These wings are lit with square-topped casement windows and feature simplified detailing.

Alterations imposed by its use as offices include free-form garden beds and brick paving to the front yard, some of which functions as car parking space. The interior of the building was not inspected. The building's current name "Callan House" is spelt out in gold lettering on a plaque in the gable of the entry vestibule. The exterior of the building seems to be well maintained and intact.

1. Gillman, I. 1988, Many Faiths One Nation: A Guide to the Major Faiths and Denominations in Australia, Collins, Sydney

2. Queensland Post Office Directories

3. Queensland Land Office Records