THE former Catholic church at Grandchester has changed hands again.
The large timber building was deconsecrated in October 2022 and the new owners, a family from Brisbane, had plans to establish it as an art centre, according to an announcement made by Parish Priest Father Stephen Bliss.
He also advised that the parish had hoped to move the building onto the grounds of St Edmunds College in Ipswich.
“There were also other offers from other schools who were happy to have it placed on their land,” Father Bliss said at the time of the sale.
But due to its heritage listing, the Ipswich City Council would not allow the building to be moved off the property, nor to be moved to another site on the 1.37 hectare piece of land.
The parish sold the property, including the church building, for $350,000.
Less than 16 months later, on February 20, this year, it sold again for $415,000.
The description of the building at the time of sale indicated that no improvements had been made. It remains in the ‘Special Uses place of worship’ zone, it is not serviced with town water and has modern toilet facilities.
A snapshot of the Jockey Club Inn
St Peter’s Catholic Church, Grandchester, was opened by Archbishop Robert Dunne, on the invitation of Parish Priest Andrew Horan, on Sunday, November 4, 1895.
The building was the work of architect Henry Wyman and builder James Madden.
Originally, the church grounds encompassed three hectares and had been purchased by the congregation for £161 10s from the owner of what was then known as the Bigge’s Camp Hotel. [Bigge’s Camp was the first name of the place we know today. It was renamed Grandchester in 1865, on the day the Governor Sir George Bowen was there to officially open Queensland’s first railway line which ran from Ipswich to Bigge’s Camp.]
According to a local correspondent in 1894, the church was built at the rear of the old hotel, which at the time was being slowly demolished by Jacob Baker who had won the tender for its removal.
“This old place has served in a good many capacities during its forty-four years of existence,” the correspondent wrote.
The hotel was built in 1844, when Henry Mort who was managing the huge Laidley Plains station run enticed Wellmand Douyere to build a ‘public house’ on the run at the lagoon known as Bigge’s Camp. Douyere was working for the Bigge’s Brothers on the Mt Brisbane run at the time.
Douyere agreed and gained a licence for the hostelry in April 1850. It opened as the Jockey Club Inn.
It retained that name through a number of ownerships until 1860 when it was renamed the Postman’s Arms. And soon after the renaming of Bigge’s Camp, it became the Grandchester Hotel.
In its earliest years it was a busy place as it became the first stop for the stage coaches after leaving Ipswich.
Business activity after the next leg of the railway was built is not recorded but we do know that in 1876, the building had 14 rooms, a detached kitchen and the outbuildings included large stables. At the time, it had been re-opened as a public house after being used as a private residence by the owner’s mother for four years.
The building and seven acres of land was purchased by Father Horan in 1880, with the aim of establishing a convent school with the Sisters of Mercy.
When that didn’t eventuate, it was rented out as a private residence until it was sold for removal ahead of the construction of the house.
