St Agnes Anglican Church, Esk
St Agnes Anglican Church is a heritage-listed churchyard at Ipswich Street, Esk, Somerset Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by John Hingeston Buckeridge and built in 1889 by Lars Andersen. It is also known as St Agnes Rectory and Church Hall. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992. History The timber church, rectory and church hall which comprise the St Agnes group at Esk, were erected between 1889 and 1910. The Anglican Parish of Esk had been created in 1886. For the first few years, services at Esk were conducted at the non-denominational Union Church. The present site, intended for a church, hall and rectory, was donated by Ellen Webb, and transferred to the Anglican Church in 1889. Plans for the church were prepared in late 1888 by Brisbane diocesan architect John Hingeston Buckeridge, with working drawings following in 1889. Limited funds produced some alteration to the design. The building was erected in mid-1889 by local Esk contractor, sawmill proprietor and Anglican parishioner, Lars Andersen, and was dedicated on Monday 28 October 1889 by Bishop William Webber. . In 1907 the western end of the building was lengthened by , the communion rails were extended, and a vestry was added. The rectory was constructed in 1901-1902, and had been paid for by November 1902. It also was designed by Buckeridge, and included a parish room (meeting room). Since 1928, when the Esk and Toogoolawah parishes re-combined to form the Brisbane Valley parish, the rector has resided at Toogoolawah, and St Agnes rectory has been rented. Currently it is leased to a local art and craft society. The church and rectory were two of approximately ninety Anglican buildings erected during the episcopate of the Anglican Bishop of Brisbane William Webber, from 1885 to 1903. Webber had an understanding of ecclesiastical design and architecture generally and was responsible for bringing Buckeridge to Brisbane from London, appointing him as Diocesan Architect in 1887. The church hall began as a smaller Sunday School building, constructed . It was extended as a hall between 1908 and 1910, and has been modified since. This building does not form part of the heritage listing. In 1903 shade trees were planted in the grounds, some of which remain. The street entrance pillars were erected in honour of former parishioner and Brisbane Valley pioneer Francis Edward Bigge. They were designed and built by stonemason Andrew Petrie of Toowong in 1920. The bell and belltower were erected in 1953. Description St Agnes rectory and church, located with a hall, belltower and grounds containing a number of mature trees, form an Anglican Church group which, along with the Presbyterian, Uniting and Catholic Church groups, is situated on Ipswich Street, the main road into Esk. Church St Agnes church is a weatherboard building with a steeply pitched ribbed metal gable roof with deep timber brackets to the eaves. The building has a rectangular plan set on a later brick base, with a vestry added to the east