I wrote and illustrated Country Churches of New Zealand. It was published in 2002 by New Holland, Publishers and is still on sale in bookshops. The publishers have kindly agreed to me re-publishing some of the book’s images and descriptions in this blog.
The Roman Catholic church of St Peter and St Paul was built for £267 in 1881. The architect was James Wrigley. His design ended where today's altar begins and there was no bell-tower until 1899.
Larger than your usual village church, it has an imposing west entrance with a porch surrounded by five simple, 'early English' windows, lots of brass doorknobs and fingerplates, and abundant stained glass in Art Nouveau style.
Many of the windows are dedicated and most of the names on them are redolent of the Bohemian settlement: Schischka, Straka, Remiger, Ranner, Becher, Schollum, Wenzlick, Bayer, Tunnwald. The organ, as typical of older country churches, was made by the Carpenter Company of Brattleboro, Vermont, USA.
© DON DONOVAN
donovan@ihug.co.n.
No comments:
Post a Comment