Wickham Terrace: Old Windmill, Wickham Park, Parking and Walks

Wickham Terrace is a historic street on the hill above the Brisbane CBD in Spring Hill, home to the Old Windmill, Wickham Park and a run of heritage buildings. It climbs west from the corner of Ann and Wharf Streets to Gregory Terrace, and it is better known for its private medical specialists than for sightseeing, so most visitors come for the history at the top of the hill.

The street was named after John Clements Wickham, a police magistrate and Government Resident of the Moreton Bay district. Land sales began in 1856, and residents chose the high ground for its views and breezes. After World War II hospitals and medical practices took over, and the street earned comparisons with London’s Harley Street.

The Old Windmill

The Old Windmill at 226 Wickham Terrace is the main reason to visit. Convicts built it in 1828 to grind grain for the Moreton Bay penal settlement, and it is the oldest surviving convict-built structure in Queensland. It has been on the Queensland Heritage Register since 21 October 1992.

The hilltop turned out to be a poor spot for catching wind, so convicts worked a treadmill to turn the millstones, in some cases for up to 14 hours at a time. It later became a signal station for ships entering the Brisbane River, and the newly founded Queensland Museum used the top of the tower from 1862 to 1868.

The tower has a darker history too. In 1841 two Aboriginal men, Mullan and Ningavil, were hanged from the windmill, which the Museum of Brisbane describes as Queensland’s first public execution. In 1934 the first experimental television broadcast in Queensland was transmitted from the tower.

For more on the tower, see our guide to The Old Windmill, Brisbane.

Wickham Park and the air raid shelters

Wickham Park is a 19,100 square metre council park at 330 Wickham Terrace. It slopes down from the street towards Albert Street and borders Roma Street Parkland. The park holds the remains of heritage-listed World War II air raid shelters, and the Spring Hill Reservoirs sit at 230 Wickham Terrace behind the windmill. The reservoirs supplied fresh water to Brisbane from 1871 to 1962.

Roma Street Parkland is next door, so you can add a garden walk to the same trip. Our Roma Street Parkland guide covers the gardens and playgrounds.

Heritage buildings along Wickham Terrace

Several buildings along the street are heritage listed or well known:

• 25 Wickham Terrace: St Andrew’s Lutheran Church.
• 32 Wickham Terrace: All Saints Anglican Church.
• 163 Wickham Terrace: the Baptist City Tabernacle, on the Queensland Heritage Register.
• 217 Wickham Terrace: Craigston, on the Queensland Heritage Register.
• 355 Wickham Terrace: the Theosophical Society Building, on the Queensland Heritage Register.
• 497 Wickham Terrace: Lady Bowen Hospital, built in 1889 to give free midwifery services, treatment and nursing to expectant mothers.

Most of these are working churches, offices and clinics, so enjoy them from the footpath.

Spring Hill Heritage Trail

Brisbane City Council’s Spring Hill Heritage Trail starts at Lady Bowen Hospital, 497 Wickham Terrace. It is a 3.2 km walk with 21 stops that ends at the Alliance Hotel on Boundary Street. Only the first stop is on Wickham Terrace, and the rest wind through the narrow streets of Spring Hill past 19th-century cottages.

Planning your visit

• How long: about an hour for the windmill, Wickham Park and a walk along the street. Allow longer if you add Roma Street Parkland or the heritage trail.
• Cost: free to walk the street and the park. Parking is extra.
• What to bring: comfortable shoes for the hill, a hat and water.
• Accessibility: the street climbs a hill. Council’s heritage trail page warns of steep sections, and no accessibility details are published for the windmill or park.

Getting there and parking at Wickham Terrace

By car, Wickham Terrace is about 1.3 km from the Brisbane CBD, about 5 minutes without traffic.

The council’s Wickham Terrace Car Park is at 136 Wickham Terrace and is open 24 hours. Entry and exit are via Wickham Terrace and Turbot Street, and the height limit is 1.93 metres. Rates are:

• Weekends: $6 flat from 5.30 am Saturday to 5.30 am Monday.
• Public holidays: $10 flat from 5.30 am to 5.30 am.
• Weekday evenings: $6 flat if you enter after 4 pm and leave before 5.30 am.
• Weekdays, 5.30 am to 6 pm: free for the first 15 minutes, $24 for 30 minutes to an hour, $34 for up to 2 hours and $49 for the day.

You can pay by card at the pay stations on Levels 2 and 4 and at both exit gates, or by cash on Level 4 only. On foot, the car park has entrances from Turbot Street and Wickham Terrace, and a lift from the Anzac Square subway (Monday to Friday, 5.45 am to 8.30 pm). Check council’s Wickham Terrace Car Park page for current rates.

By public transport, Roma Street train and bus station sits beside Roma Street Parkland, which borders Wickham Park. Plan your trip with the Translink Journey Planner or call 13 12 30.

Nearby

• Roma Street Parkland – gardens and playgrounds right beside Wickham Park.
• Anzac Square, Brisbane – the war memorial and shrine in the city, close to the car park lift.
• Museum of Brisbane – free entry and Brisbane history in City Hall.
• Brisbane City Hall – the clock tower and a Brisbane landmark.
• Queen Street Mall – shops and food in the CBD.
• Fortitude Valley – dining and live music a short trip north.

Browse more history and landmarks or everything in Brisbane.

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• Spring Hill (Brisbane)
• Brisbane Arcade (Brisbane City)
• Regent Theatre (Brisbane City)

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