Country Churches of NZ 121. St. Mary the Virgin, Riverton, Southland

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. MARY THE VIRGIN, RIVERTON

St. Mary The Virgin has an extraordinary cross-brace supporting the gable quite unlike anything else in this collection, and I was much impressed by the detail of the side door (below).

McKenzie & Wilson of Invercargill were the architects for this 'new' church. It was built by a Mr Peterson on land donated in 1900 by a Mr Mills.

It replaced an 1862 St. Mary's nearby in which the last service was held on 5 January 1902 and the first in the new church one week later. A centennial service was held here shortly after I visited.

© DON DONOVAN
donovan@ihug.co.nz
.