The Port That Never Was: A Heritage Journey from Wynnum to Cleveland

Living TapestryHistoryHeritageWalking tours
Written By Alannah McFadzean

The shoreline between Wynnum and Cleveland is Quandamooka Country, and Cleveland is known as Nandeebie. It also holds a surprising story. In the mid-1800s, wealthy graziers hoped Cleveland would become the main port of Moreton Bay. Brisbane won out, but Cleveland's would-be founders left behind a lighthouse, a handful of historic buildings and some people who deserve to be remembered. Four Brisbane Living Heritage members help tell that story.

Cleveland Point: The Port That Never Was

Cleveland was proclaimed in December 1850, when many people hoped Cleveland Point would become the main port of Moreton Bay, with either Brisbane or Ipswich as the commercial centre. Pastoralist Francis Bigge led the push, but the hopes faded. According to local historian Peter Ludlow, Governor Gipps' 1842 visit coincided with low tide and he had to wade ashore through mud, and shipwrecks in 1847 and 1853 steered captains towards Brisbane. In 1859 Bigge converted his wool store into a sawmill.

The reminders are still there. The Queensland Heritage Register describes the 1864–65 Cleveland Point lighthouse as the only surviving timber-built 19th-century lighthouse in Moreton Bay, and according to the Australian Heritage Database it is one of only two surviving hexagonal timber lighthouses in Queensland, the other being the Old Burnett Heads Light. Bigge's Norfolk pines, also heritage-listed, served sailors as a landmark for generations. The brick Old Cleveland Court House is thought to have been built around 1853 as quarters for Bigge's workers, and was later rented to the police as a residence, courthouse and lock-up.

Redland Coast Museum

Redland Museum - Lighthouse

Redlands Coast Museum, Cleveland

On Smith Street, the Redlands Coast Museum (formerly Redland Museum) explores the social history of the Redlands, with collections reflecting the district's agricultural, maritime and community heritage. It began as a Rotary Club of Cleveland project and grew into a community-run museum in the early 1970s. It also holds a boiling pan from the Ormiston sugar mill, donated by Ormiston House in 1974.

Blacksmiths shop

Exhibition - Our Communities Textiles

Redland Art Gallery

At the corner of Middle and Bloomfield Streets, Redland Art Gallery officially opened in 2003. Its collection of more than 830 works includes artists from the early settler period as well as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists. The gallery's exhibitions and programs continue to showcase the diverse cultural life of the Redlands Coast, on Quandamooka Country.

FISHO- Jack Rogers

Ormiston House

Built in stages between about 1858 and 1865, Ormiston House was the home of Louis Hope, a significant figure in Queensland's early commercial sugar industry. Hope established Queensland's first sugar-crushing mill at Ormiston in 1864, and by 1865 his plantation was the colony's largest. The estate's history also includes the employment of South Sea Islander labourers in the sugar fields, from 1867 according to the Redland Museum. This history deserves to be understood in the wider context of Queensland's sugar industry and the exploitation experienced by many Pacific Islander workers. Today volunteers care for the house and its 14 acres of gardens overlooking Moreton Bay.

Queensland Places

Wynnum Heritage Ambulance Station

Wynnum's ambulance service began in 1915, when a first aid tent was pitched on Pine Street, Wynnum South, during the holidays, according to the Queensland Ambulance Transport Brigade's January 1915 review. After years of community fundraising, a purpose-built station opened on Tingal Road on 19 November 1927. The Department of Public Works contributed £750 towards the total construction cost of £3,284/19/1. Now a museum, the building is recognised on the Queensland Heritage Register as the only known early masonry residential ambulance station in the state.

Used in Boy Swallows Universe Film

Plan Your Journey

  • Ormiston House, 277 Wellington Street, Ormiston: Sundays, 12pm to 4pm.

  • Redlands Coast Museum, 60 Smith Street, Cleveland: daily, 10am to 3:30pm.

  • Redland Art Gallery, corner of Middle and Bloomfield Streets, Cleveland: check the gallery for current hours.

  • Wynnum Heritage Ambulance Station, 33 Tingal Road, Wynnum: by appointment (see the Brisbane Living Heritage listing).

A Sunday works best, as Ormiston House opens only on Sundays. Check each venue for current admission.

Sources

 
Alannah McFadzean
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Brisbane's Secret War: The City and the Pacific Campaign