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. THOMAS'S, SANSON
Work began on St Thomas's at Sanson in April 1877. It should have started earlier but the contractor, whose lowest bid of £588 had been accepted, failed to show up.So the committee stumped up an extra £2 for the Ellerm brothers, Fred and Bert, who had the job done in time for Bishop Hadfield to consecrate the church in November of that year.
Remarkably, totara pegs and dowels rather than nails hold it all together.
The architect was Charles Tringham (he also designed All Saints, Foxton) who later gave up architecture for sheep farming in the Wairarapa.
Although the building, being mid-Victorian Gothic with tower, apse and sanctuary, appears somewhat more elaborate than most of my country churches it nevertheless was designed to hold a congregation of only 120.
© DON DONOVAN
donovan@ihug.co.nz
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