Methodist Church (former)

Primitive Methodists made up only a small proportion of Brisbane's population late last century - in 1881, just 1.78% of the population were either Primitive Methodists or from the United Methodists Free Church. Five years later these church numbers had risen to 2.2%. Despite the small size of the Primitive Methodist community in Brisbane, it was committed to establishing local places of worship.

The church was designed by lay preacher of the Primitive Methodist Church, politician and architect, Arthur Morry. Morry's best known extant work is the Hebrew Synagogue, Margaret Street (1884-86). Mr Morry had designed and supervised the construction of a Presbyterian Church on Wickham Terrace in 1888 and was able to retrieve the old pews from the church it was replacing for use at Hill End. 

Morry, who lived on Gray Road, was actively involved in the Hill End Church as he became more actively involved in politics. In 1887 he had been elected to the Woolloongabba Divisional Board and held the office of Alderman of the succeeding South Brisbane Municipal Council. When in 1890 he was elected Mayor of South Brisbane, the congregation recorded its honour in having "the first citizen of the municipality" regularly worshipping among them. In July 1890 he was elected to represent South Brisbane in the Legislative Assembly, serving until 1893. Morry was described as a humanitarian who frequently used his oratorical skills for evangelical and temperance causes. He became Chairman of the South Brisbane Local Flood Relief Committee, which was established following the disastrous floods of 1893. 

It may have been due to Morry's influence that the church played a vital role in providing flood relief in 1893. It just escaped the flood waters, but several properties nearby were swept away, and the church grounds were used to display goods rescued from the flood waters for identification.

Primitive Methodists made up only a small proportion of Brisbane's population late last century - in 1881, just 1.78% of the population were either Primitive Methodists or from the United Methodists Free Church. Five years later these church numbers had risen to 2.2%. Despite the small size of the Primitive Methodist community in Brisbane, it was committed to establishing local places of worship.

The church was designed by lay preacher of the Primitive Methodist Church, politician and architect, Arthur Morry. Morry's best known extant work is the Hebrew Synagogue, Margaret Street (1884-86). Mr Morry had designed and supervised the construction of a Presbyterian Church on Wickham Terrace in 1888 and was able to retrieve the old pews from the church it was replacing for use at Hill End. 

Morry, who lived on Gray Road, was actively involved in the Hill End Church as he became more actively involved in politics. In 1887 he had been elected to the Woolloongabba Divisional Board and held the office of Alderman of the succeeding South Brisbane Municipal Council. When in 1890 he was elected Mayor of South Brisbane, the congregation recorded its honour in having "the first citizen of the municipality" regularly worshipping among them. In July 1890 he was elected to represent South Brisbane in the Legislative Assembly, serving until 1893. Morry was described as a humanitarian who frequently used his oratorical skills for evangelical and temperance causes. He became Chairman of the South Brisbane Local Flood Relief Committee, which was established following the disastrous floods of 1893. 

It may have been due to Morry's influence that the church played a vital role in providing flood relief in 1893. It just escaped the flood waters, but several properties nearby were swept away, and the church grounds were used to display goods rescued from the flood waters for identification.

In 1914 the church was moved to its present location in Dornoch Terrace, Hill End. It is not clear why the church was moved. However, the building has now occupied its Dornoch Terrace site for more than 80 years - three times longer than it lasted at Gray Road. 

As the population of Hill End changed and as religious observance in general diminished during the second half of the twentieth century, the congregation of the Hill End Church began to decline in numbers. In the late 1960s the Methodist Church made the difficult decision to close the church, its congregation once again having to travel to West End to worship. 

This heralded a new phase in the history of the building, beginning what has become a thirty- year association with music. In 1971 the former church was sold to trustees for the Queensland Light Opera Company which converted the building into The Music Box, a musical theatre. Performances were staged in the top floor theatre, which was entered from the street; the middle floor housed club and function rooms; and the Company's costumes were stored on the lower floor. Regular performances were held, and audiences from all over Brisbane came to know and love the building. Eventually the Company out-grew the Hill End theatre, and moved to Her Majesty’s Theatre in the city. In 1986 new owners established the Stoliarsky School of Music in the building, and since that time hundreds of music students have received training and performed concerts in the former church.

As the land slopes steeply away from Dornoch Terrace, only the top floor, which comprises the original church building can be seen from the street. This floor includes the central nave (now a concert hall), entry porch and two small offices which were possibly the original vestry rooms to the back. The two lower floors sit below street level, comprising various teaching rooms, storage space and toilets. Entry to the nave can be made through the front entry porch, through a side entry door or via a flight of timber stairs at the back of the building. These stairs also access the lower floors and yard. 

Exterior

The steeply pitched gable roof over the nave is crowned with four, equally spaced roof vents, with a timber finial to each gable end. The smaller rooms to the rear of the building have skillion roofs whilst the porch has a lower gable. Centrally located within the symmetrical front facade, the enclosed porch is clad in narrow weatherboards and a band of fibre cement sheeting with cover strips giving a half-timbered effect. This effect is repeated in the nave gable, above a line of timber dentils. 

The building has a row of small leadlight lancet windows along each side wall and one to each side of the entry porch on its front facade. These consist of a pointed arch timber frame encompassing a fixed fanlight and single casement. The front facade of the building also features a large semi-circular window above the porch. A circular window is located in the opposite rear gable wall. The remaining windows in the offices and lower floors are double-hung, framed in timber or aluminium , some incorporating air conditioning units.

Set back slightly from the top floor, the walls of the lower two floors have an exposed timber frame with internal vertical joint boards or fibre cement sheeting. This structure has been reinforced externally with steel framing including footings, posts and bearers, and is used in conjunction with a few concrete stumps and timber bearers. General maintenance including painting and minor repairs is needed.

Interior

The interior of the nave and porch are lined with tongue and groove, vertical joint boards to walls and ceiling. These are broken with a timber dado and cornice. Diagonally laid boards feature in the gable ends. The main roof structure consists of a set of three rafters with collar beam and tie rods. The timber floor is carpeted, and a stage has been placed over the original sanctuary. Above this, a wall has been built to enclose the roof space. Other notable changes to the interior include lighting, ceiling fans and plastic seats. No original furniture remains. 

1. Crook, D.P. Aspects of Brisbane Society in the 1880s, thesis, University of Queensland, 1958

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

3. Huff, E. (Queensland Light Opera Company member and performer), Telephone Interview, 4 October 1996

4. Queensland Methodist Times, 20 October 1938

5. Queensland Titles Office Records

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