The bishop left this Milton home in 1964 for posher pastures at Hamilton but the original home remains, looking somewhat like the sort of two-storey homes favoured by the Italians when they first started building in Australia.
The Chapel of the Holy Spirit was built in 1912.Credit:Brismania
It is now known as Old Bishopsbourne and remains largely hidden by the brewery.
After a short drive winding among the trees, a whole new world – and era – appears.
The main house was built in 1865-68 for Edward Wyndham Tufnell, the first Anglican Bishop of Brisbane.
It was designed by the colonial architect Benjamin Backhouse, who also had a hand in Government House, which isn’t that far away.
Inside the Chapel, which was designed to be in harmony with the adjacent Bishopsbourne.Credit:Brismania
It turns out it is now the home of a theological college. There are some newer (maybe ’70s) brick apartments, but what is most amazing is a little stone church and the original Bishopsbourne.
Built in 1912 but looking centuries older, the church is not unlike the many little stone churches that dot the English countryside.
The timber buildings on the grounds are reminiscent of the old guesthouses built in spas and country resorts at the turn of the 20th century. Credit:Brismania
I have since discovered the walls are 18 inches, or 45 centimetres, thick and made of Brisbane tuff, the building stone quarried at either Windsor or Kangaroo Point, at the time of the first settlement.
History says that stone for many buildings and churches was sourced from the Kangaroo Point Cliffs (it was used to build the Commissariat Store in 1829) and it was a “wonder rock” also used for kerbing and guttering.
Despite this little church’s size, it has a huge pipe organ.
The St Francis Theological College moved to Milton from Nundah in 1936, and the organ was installed in 1972, having come from the Catholic Apostolic Church in South Brisbane where it was installed in 1935. It also looks much older.
There are also some delightful old timber buildings that are reminiscent of the old guesthouses built in spas and country resorts at the turn of the 20th century.
If you look carefully, you can see the old chimneys of Bishopsbourne rising beyond the stacks of the brewery.
I have since discovered that I wasn’t trespassing at all, and this surprising part of Brisbane is open for visitors – if you can find it!