Graceville Uniting Church

Walter Taylor, the builder and architect of the live-in Walter Taylor Bridge, was also responsible for Graceville Uniting Church, a unique interwar gothic church and its connecting buildings, all of which represented a total break from the design and building conventions of the time.

Innovative Taylor individually fashioned the pre-cast concrete parts of the church in his workshop before interlacing them to achieve the intricate and unusual effect which was seen as a break through in Methodist architecture. Being a religious man, he wove his beliefs into the building too, with 34 buttresses planned to represent the years of Christ’s life although for reasons unknown only 33 were made. As well, the building features 1450 gothic arches and 8000 panes of tinted glass.

Having built the original church in 1917, which still stands overshadowed by this gothic one, in 1951 Taylor built the Memorial Hall, with part of its foundation being recycled from the church fence parts that had to be demolished for its construction. After the deaths of Taylor and his wife Louisa, the two large windows on the Verney Rd (southern) end were dedicated to them.