Sandgate Baptist Church

The former Sandgate Baptist Church is the second Baptist church in Sandgate and opened on Christmas Day 1887. It was agreed early in 1887 to form a Baptist church separate from the Wharf Street church in Brisbane and the new building was constructed to the design of prominent Brisbane architect, Richard Gailey. In May 2012 the Sandgate Baptist congregation merged with the Geebung Baptist congregation and established a new church, Connect Baptist Church at Deagon. == Description ==

The former church stands close to the seafront at the corner of Cliff Street and Flinders Parade and is a prominent and well-known landmark in the area. A timber fence encloses the former church grounds and there is a pair of iron gates set at the street corner in line with the main entrance to the church. The building exhibits the principal characteristics of Carpenter Gothic style through its plan and various elements including its timber construction, steeply pitched roof, prominent timber gables and pointed arch motif to windows and doors. The building is constructed of timber, cruciform in plan, and set on concrete piers. The space between the piers is filled with concrete blockwork. The steeply pitched gabled roof is clad with corrugated metal sheeting and has an octagonal lantern and spire set at the roof crossing. This is clad in decorative pressed metal sheeting and has timber louvres set in panels at the base. The projecting gables to nave and transepts ends are decorated with fretwork panels above arched timber framing and have a rose window set with pink and blue coloured glass. Pairs of lancet windows set with obscure glass and sheltered by label mouldings also light the church. The main entrance porch has projecting gables over the door and flanking arched windows. There are smaller porches to the transepts and rear. There is an entrance vestibule and two pairs of arched timber doors set with leadlight opens into the main body of the church. The walls and ceiling are lined with beaded boards and the roof is supported by hammer beam. The floor is presently carpeted and there is a low platform at the western end. This has gothic influenced panelling at the rear and has a small room on each side of the platform with the doors concealed in the panelling. Office rooms with a small gallery above have been constructed in the northern transept. There was a modern metal garage at the southwest corner of the building and a single-storey 1960s brick hall to the rear of the church at the time the church was sold. These structures were not considered to have heritage significance. The garage has been removed and the hall demolished and replaced by a purpose-built kindergarten building. == Heritage listing ==

The former Sandgate Baptist Church was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 November 2003 having satisfied the following criteria. '''The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history.''' The former Sandgate Baptist Church is important in demonstrating the development of the Sandgate area, an early settlement close to Brisbane that became a popular seaside resort serving the city. The church was built in 1887 following the boom in Sandgate's population as a consequence of its connection with Brisbane by rail. It is the second Baptist church in Sandgate and reflects the growth of the Baptist Union in Queensland, replacing a small chapel built-in 1872. The size and quality of the church reflect not just the growth of the area but the importance given to religious observance in the nineteenth century Queensland. The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places. The former Sandgate Baptist Church is an excellent and substantially intact example of a timber church of its era in the Carpenter Gothic style. The place is important because of its aesthetic significance. It has aesthetic value as a well-composed building on a landmark site on the seafront. In its form, scale and detail it makes an important visual contribution to the built character of Sandgate, a fact acknowledged by its popularity over the years as a subject for photographs. The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons. The former Sandgate Baptist Church has a long association with the people of Sandgate and the surrounding district, being a place of worship and a meeting place for community groups for over a hundred years. == References ==