[2] As an early penal colony the site was originally home to a cottage, lumber yard, engineer's store and workshops.

[1] During the convict era the engineer's weatherboard cottage stood on part of the site, at the corner of William and Elizabeth Streets.

A detached bell tower was erected in 1877, and in 1879–1880 a building which served as church school, synod hall, library and committee rooms was built in the eastern corner of the site.

[1] A bronze statue of Queen Victoria, a replica by English sculptor Thomas Brock of the original in Portsmouth, was erected in mid-1906.

On Empire Day veterans from the Crimean, Sudan and South African wars gathered in what became known as the Queens Gardens, which became also an assembly point for state occasions such as funeral or celebratory processions.

[1] A bronze statue of TJ Ryan, designed by Australian sculptor Bertram MacKennal and erected by public subscription, was unveiled in the gardens in 1925.

[1] In 1962 the CIB building at the northern corner of the site was demolished and the park was extended to occupy the entire square, with a total area of 0.48 hectares (1.2 acres).

Queens Gardens is a public park, square in plan, that is bounded by William, Elizabeth and George Streets on the southwestern, northwestern and northeastern sides and by the Lands Administration Building (now Heritage Hotel) on the southeastern edge.

A lily pond, recently rebuilt, is located adjacent to the intersection of the diagonal path and the asphalt area.

[1] Although the design of the park is relatively recent, earlier monuments have been incorporated which provide links to the previous form of the site.

[1] A statue of Queen Victoria, is centrally positioned on the asphalt area in front of the symmetrical facade of the Lands Administration Building.

The diagonal path is terminated by the monument which looks towards the Treasury Building and is framed by two leopard trees (Flindersia maculosa).

Separated from the main area of the park by a fence and garden, it is positioned diagonally facing the corner of William and Elizabeth Streets.

[1] A recent addition to the park's memorials is a rough hewn block of bluestone with a bronze plaque bolted to it that commemorates the service of Australian women in war.

The site is significant for its potential to reveal substrata evidence of building materials and artefacts from the 1820s, which could contribute to an understanding of the early European settlement of Queensland.

The gardens, together with the Queen Victoria and TJ Ryan statues, exhibit landscape and aesthetic qualities, and a townscape contribution as the integrating core of a remarkably fine group of public buildings, which are valued by the community.