The facade of the RS Exton and Co premises at 333 Ann Street.
Brisbane’s Shrine of Remembrance, dedicated on Armistice Day in 1930.
The Story Bridge, spanning Brisbane River, was built between 1935 and 1940.
The Masonic temple at Barcaldine was constructed in 1901.
My heritage place
All Saints Anglican Church at Tamrookum near Beaudesert is family-owned, built in 1915 as a memorial to Robert Martin Collins.
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Gympie’s heritage still on track
Gympie’s heritage values have been recognised with three places in the region amongst the latest entries to the Queensland Heritage Register.
The newly heritage-listed places are:
- Gympie Railway Station Complex, Tozer Street, Gympie
- Mary Valley Cream Sheds, Amamoor, Kandanga and Melawondi Stations.
- Imbil Railway Bridge, over Yabba Creek
Queensland Heritage Council (QHC) Chair, Professor Peter Coaldrake, said 19 places in the Gympie region had been entered in the Heritage Register since September 2010.
“Gympie has a rich store of heritage and it is well known that the Gympie community puts great value on these places,” Professor Coaldrake said.
“The QHC recognises and congratulates the Gympie Regional Council and other owners of local heritage places for their outstanding work in maintaining them for future generations to enjoy.”
Professor Coaldrake said the Gympie Railway Station Complex was important in demonstrating the expansion of Queensland’s railway network and the growth of Gympie as a major regional centre.
“As a key site for the movement of goods and people for over a century until its closure in 1995, the station was intimately connected to the Gympie district’s development of its mining, timber, dairying and agricultural industries. This is reflected in the development of the surrounding railway precinct,” Professor Coaldrake said.
“The platform complex is an intact component of a much larger former railway station established in 1881.
“Initially the terminus of the line from Maryborough, the station evolved over time following connections to Brisbane in 1891, the Mary Valley branch railway in 1915, and the extension of Queensland’s coastal railway route.
“The platform complex dates largely from the 1910s, and was built in response to changing requirements associated with the expansion of Queensland’s railway network. It reflects the important status of Gympie within this system.
The arrangement of structures within the platform complex is considered rare within a Queensland railway station setting and includes the station building and adjacent staff and storage structures, platform shade and luggage lift, pedestrian subway, underpass and overbridge.
Professor Coaldrake said the passenger station building, constructed in 1913, was architecturally important.
“The largely intact station building is derived from the Queensland Railways A series ‘Pagoda’ style standard design and is considered rare in Queensland, as is the 1927 luggage lift connecting the platform and subway,” he said.
“The ‘Valley Rattler’ steam train tours and rail motor rides have become a major tourist attraction for the region thanks to a large group of volunteers and trainees who help operate and maintain the line, rolling stock and buildings between Gympie and Imbil.”
The Mary Valley Heritage Railway commenced operations on the former Mary Valley branch line on 23 May 1998.
The Mary Valley Railway Cream Sheds, located at Amamoor, Kandanga and Melawondi, were built between the 1920s and 1940s in response to the strong growth of dairying in one of Queensland’s most important dairying regions of the twentieth century.
“The cream sheds, which are largely intact, illustrate the historical importance and role of railways in transporting dairy produce in Queensland,” Professor Coaldrake said.
“Until motorised transport options and improved roads were more common, transportation by rail was an efficient way of delivering cream to butter factories, with transport contractors and individual farmers able to deliver their cream direct to the nearest railhead.
“Cream sheds constructed along railway lines were widespread throughout Queensland during the twentieth century. Most have since been removed.
“The Mary Valley branch railway is thought to have the largest collection of remaining sheds on one line in the state,” he said.
The Imbil Railway Bridge, a major engineering work on the Mary Valley Branch Railway Line constructed between 1911 and 1915, is important in demonstrating the Queensland government’s policy of establishing branch railway lines to promote closer settlement.
“Built over Yabba Creek near the town of Imbil, the bridge was constructed to facilitate closer settlement of the Mary River valley, an area of economic importance to Queensland agriculture during the first half of the 20th century,” Professor Coaldrake said.
“The construction of the branch railway increased settlement of the Mary Valley which lead to the Wide Bay Burnett district becoming one of Queensland’s major agricultural regions during the first half of the 20th century.
“The bridge, which is largely intact, illustrates the evolution in design and construction of steel railway bridges around the turn of the century.
“The dramatic visual statement made by the combination of the concrete and steel railway bridge set amidst the natural landscape evokes wonder at the contrast of man-made construction and nature,” he said.
These three places in the Gympie region were identified as part of the statewide heritage survey being carried out by the Department of Environment and Resource Management’s Heritage Branch.
The Queensland Heritage Council is the State’s independent advisor on heritage matters and determines what places are entered in the Queensland Heritage Register.
Places that are entered in the Heritage Register are considered of importance to Queensland’s history and are protected under heritage legislation.