Townsville, QLD - St James Anglican

History and Architecture:

The first Anglican church was established on Melton Hill, purchased with the aid of parishioners at a sale of crown lands and work began on the on 24 May 1871. The structure was constructed of weatherboard with a shingle roof. The current Church was designed by Arthur Blacket and was built in 1887 by MacMahon & Cliffe. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.

The proposal to build a cathedral was approved by a church synod in 1884 and the Cathedral Building Committee was appointed. The intention initially was to have the cathedral designed by John Horbury Hunt. However, in 1885, Arthur Blacket of Sydney, son of Edmund Blacket (he New South Wales colonial architect) was commissioned to design a building to be erected on the church land behind the existing weatherboard structure. The initial designs called for a cathedral constructed of sandstone with granite columns which would hold 1000 parishioners. The nave would be 37 feet (11 m) wide, transepts would be 24 feet (7.3 m) wide and the total interior length from chancel to bell tower would be 115 feet (35 m). 

A Foundation stone reads, " A.M.D.G. In the Centenary Year of Queensland this stone was blessed by The Lord Bishop of Coventry containing a gift from Coventry Cathedral presented by H.R.H. The Princess Alexandra on the occasion of her visit to the building in erection and set by the Most Reverend The Primate of Australia 12th June 1960".