Country Churches of NZ 105. St. Martin's, Duntroon, North Otago

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.

ST. MARTIN'S, DUNTROON

Despite it being late spring, the inside of St Martin's, Duntroon was cold as charity, its fabric stark and undecorated. Outside was much warmer, the Oamaru stone butter-toned and paint-box friendly.

The church, named after one similar in Duntroon, Scotland, was financed by a bequest from Emily Campbell according to the wish of her late husband, Robert, an early settler.
Thomas Cane was the architect and John Menzies, of Maheno, the mason builder. It was consecrated in 1901.

There's something oddly personal here: my grandmother was a Campbell, and her husband, Robert Pye, was a stonemason. No connexion of course, the world is full of Campbells - and masons - but the clan's coat of arms on one side of the church door is, for me, strangely meaningful.

© DON DONOVAN
donovan@ihug.co.nz
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