Old Bishopsbourne, Historic religious residence in Milton, Australia.
Old Bishopsbourne is a two-storeyed residence of local porphyry and sandstone at 233 Milton Road, Milton. French casement windows with fanlights open onto wide verandahs enclosed by Gothic stone arches, and the second-storey balustrade is cast iron in an inverted arch pattern. The hipped roof is slated and has four tall chimney-stacks.
Edward Tufnell, first Anglican Bishop of Brisbane, raised £4,400 in England for the diocese; £3,000 went to building this See house, designed by Benjamin Backhouse and completed in 1868. It remained the primates' home until 1964, when Archbishop Philip Strong moved to Hamilton and the house passed to St Francis' Theological College.
The stone chapel in the grounds replaced a timber chapel designed by diocesan architect Richard George Suter around 1870; the present building dates from 1912. The site's name recalls Bishopsbourne, the See house of the Anglican primates of Brisbane, and the grounds later housed St Francis' Theological College from 1936.
Old Bishopsbourne stands at 233 Milton Road in Milton, and the former See house is now part of St Francis Theological College, so the interiors are not open to casual visitors. The Gothic stone arches and wide verandahs can be seen from Milton Road, and porphyry and sandstone gateposts from the 1870s still mark the old carriage entrance.
The property retains original 1870s garden plantings, including Hoop and Bunya pines, along with remnants of native eucalyptus woodland dating to the building's construction period. These surviving plants form a living link to the site's early history and the surrounding Australian landscape.
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