page_title: Christ Church, Milton
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Christ Church, Milton / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Christ Church, Milton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 1912. The second church on this site. Designed by John Hingestone Buckeridge
context_page_description: Christ Church is a heritage-listed Anglican church at 16 Hale Street, Milton, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The current church building is the second one at this site and was designed by John H Buckeridge and built in 1891 as a "temporary" structure but remains in use to this day. The rectory was built in 1883 to a design of F.D.G. Stanley. It is also known as the former Memorial Church. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.
context_section_description: The ecclesiastical precinct at Christ Church, Milton, contains a timber church and rectory and a memorial reserve. The church was designed in 1891 by J H Buckeridge for use as both a Sunday school and a temporary church. The rectory was built in 1883 to a design of F.D.G. Stanley.
  
  The parish has a close association with the Paddington Cemetery, first major burial ground in Brisbane. Established in the early 1840s bordering on Boundary Street, now called Hale Street, the cemetery was divided into sections serving six Christian denominations and the Jewish community. During the 1860s and early 1870s, the Anglican community in Milton held services in the mortuary chapel which served their portion of the cemetery. In 1873 the Parish of Milton was formed and served a larger area than is presently the case, extending to Paddington, Enoggera, Red Hill, Milton, Rosalie, Torwood and Auchenflower. From 1875 burials at the cemetery ceased.
  By 1874, the congregation had grown to the point where it needed a larger, more permanent church building. A parcel of land adjacent to the Anglican section of the cemetery was purchased and a stone church constructed to the design of Richard Suter, lay preacher to the congregation and diocesan architect. It was dedicated on 16 January 1876 to the memory of these buried in the adjacent cemetery. Even though funds had been supplemented by borrowing, it was not possible to complete the church as designed and the western end was finished in brick and timber. A rectory was also provided for the parish priest. Additional land was purchased close to the church in 1882 and a timber dwelling in Gothic style was built to the design of F.D.G. Stanley in early 1883. In 1888 the church and rectory allotments were amalgamated into a whole by the purchase of two adjoining blocks.
  The foundations to the new church proved to be faulty, necessitating costly repairs. Extensive damage was also sustained during a severe storm in 1890, after which it was decided to sell the church for demolition. A large Sunday School hall was also needed as the population of the area grew. In 1890 there were 250 pupils and 600 in 1900 as the suburbs developed. In the nineteenth century, Sunday schools were thought to be very important, not only to teach religion, where government education was secular, but to mould character and encourage a high standard of ethics in adult life. The congregation could not afford two buildings and so a practical compromise was made in which the new hall was designed to also serve as an interim church.
  The new church/school was designed by J.H. Buckeridge. He had been engaged in 1886 as Diocesan Architect by Bishop William Webber, whose vision for the Church in Queensland included the erection of substantial new buildings to serve an expanding population. Although many could not be expensive, they were lifted above the ordinary by Buckeridge through quality of design and materials. Christ Church is possibly his most innovative design and was built for £920 by Lars Anderson, a Danish sawmiller and builder based at Esk. Anderson and his two brothers were very successful in this industry, partly because he had been instrumental in developing a system of light rail to extract timber from areas which were previously inaccessible due to difficult terrain. It is probable that Andersen was chosen rather than a local builder because he had constructed St Agnes Anglican Church at Esk. St Agnes was also designed by Buckeridge and the Milton parish priest, Rev. J. F. Leighton, had previously been rector at Esk. The choice is justified in the quality of Andersen's work evident in Christ Church. The timber used was shipped down from the Esk valley and the design made full use of the attributes of the various species.
  The stump capping ceremony took place on 4 June 1891. The building was opened and dedicated by Bishop Webber on 18 September 1891. The new church/hall building was placed on a different location within the allotment to the existing church as this continued in use while the hall was built. Some furnish
caption: The second and current Christ Church, Milton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 1912
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