The former Trinity Methodist Church is registered as a category I historic place by

Heritage New Zealand Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust; in ) is a Crown entity that advocates for the protection of Archaeology of New Zealand, ancest ...

, which recognises its historic and architectural significance. Originally a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

church, it is located on the corner of

Moray Place Moray Place is an octagonal street which surrounds the city centre of Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. The street is intersected by Stuart Street (to the east and west), Princes Street (to the south) and George Street (to the north). Like many ...

and Upper Stuart Street, in the heart of the southern city of Dunedin. In 1977 the church was refitted and operated as the

Fortune Theatre The Fortune Theatre is a 432-seat West End theatre in Russell Street, near Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster. From 1989 until 2023 the theatre hosted the long running play '' The Woman in Black''. History The site was acquired by aut ...

. Financial difficulties in 2000 threatened the theatre with closure, and forced the sale of the building to the

Dunedin City Council The Dunedin City Council () is the Local government in New Zealand, local government authority for Dunedin in New Zealand. It is a Territorial authorities of New Zealand, territorial authority elected to represent the people of Dunedin. Since O ...

, who leased the building back to the Fortune Theatre Trust. The theatre trust closed in 2018. As of July 2021, the building is empty with no current plans for its use.

Background

The Methodist congregation of Dunedin initially met at the Oddfellows Hall and then at the City Council Chambers, previously the

Dunedin Athenaeum and Mechanics' Institute Dunedin Athenaeum and Mechanics' Institute is an adult education institute based in a heritage building in Dunedin, New Zealand. The private organisation provided classes and a library for members. Presently it operates a subscription lending li ...

, on the corner of Manse and High Streets. The congregation were gifted a plot of land on Bell Hill. A wooden building with a slate roof, designed by W Greenfield, was erected but during construction strong winds damaged the building, which was on an exposed site near the present-day Dowling Street. The structure was required to be fortified with buttresses and a transept, which more than doubled the original tender price of £1100. The finished building was reportedly draughty, uncomfortable and the lights swayed in strong winds. Eventually the church was considered unsafe, and services moved to the Lyceum. When the first minister for Dunedin was appointed, Isaac Harding (1815–1897), services were held in a canvas tent on Stafford Street. Mr Harding was succeeded by Mr Aldred in 1864, and then by Reverend A R Fitchett. The

Otago gold rush The Otago gold rush (often called the Central Otago gold rush) was a gold rush that occurred during the 1860s in Central Otago, New Zealand. This was the country's biggest gold strike, and led to a rapid influx of foreign miners to the area � ...

swelled congregation numbers, and plans were made for a new church on Stuart Street.

Existing church building

The Trinity Methodist Church was designed by Scotsman R. A. Lawson and was opened in 1870. Made out of the local materials

trachyandesite Trachyandesite is an extrusive igneous rock with a composition between trachyte and andesite. It has little or no free quartz, but is dominated by sodic plagioclase and alkali feldspar. It is formed from the cooling of lava enriched in alkal ...

and

Oamaru Oamaru (; ) is the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, it is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is south of Timaru and north of Dunedin on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast; State Highway 1 (New Zealand), Sta ...

stone, the former church is an example of

Gothic Revival architecture Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

and contains a "Rose"

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

window which is located at the back of what was later the theatre's main stage. The building is close to the city's centre,

The Octagon The Octagon may refer to: *The Octagon, Christchurch, a former church in the central city of Christchurch, New Zealand *The Octagon, Dunedin, the city centre of Dunedin, New Zealand *The Octagon (Egypt), the headquarters of the Egyptian Ministry of ...

. The congregation proposed building a nearby Sunday School in 1924, as a memorial to those who had died in the First World War. Instead, a Sunday School was established in the basement of the church, opening on 28 June 1930. The church closed in 1977, with the final service on Christmas Day of that year.

Theatre

In 1966 the building was structurally strengthened and waterproofed, the Mission organ was enlarged. Other changes included renovation of the interior, reduction of the exterior pinnacles and recladding of the bell tower. In 1977 it was remodelled for use as a theatre. The Fortune Theatre company was initially located in the 105-seat Otago Cine Club

theatrette A theater, theatre or playhouse, is a structure where theatrical works, performing arts, and musical concerts are presented. The theater building serves to define the performance and audience spaces. The facility usually is organized to provide ...

at the rear of the Athenaeum building of the

Octagon In geometry, an octagon () is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, which alternates two types of edges. A truncated octagon, t is a ...

. However, after hiring full-time acting staff in 1977, it was decided that the venue was too small to continue to be viable and in 1978 the company moved to the former Trinity Methodist Church where it remained until its closure in 2018. Financial difficulties in 2000 threatened the theatre with closure, and forced the sale of the building to the

, who leased the building back to the Fortune Theatre Trust.

Ghost hunt

Not long after the Fortune Theatre moved into the old church, tales spread of "sinister voices" being heard offstage and well-secured lights falling from the lighting grid. A phantom audience member has also been reported by theatregoers on numerous occasions. Reports continued to come from a variety of reliable sources until the claimed hauntings of the Fortune Theatre became a part of Dunedin folklore. In 2005, the theatre was featured on '' Ghost Hunt'', a New Zealand television show, as it is claimed that the theatre is haunted. The ''Ghost Hunt'' investigation team visited the theatre and were shown a picture that is claimed to show the ghost of a young woman gliding through a wall of the

foyer A lobby is a room in a building used for entry from the outside. Sometimes referred to as a foyer, entryway, reception area or entrance hall, it is often a large room or complex of rooms (in a theatre, opera house, concert hall, showroom, cine ...

, below a Gothic window. During the investigation team's visit, they were also able to talk to people who had worked at the theatre and claim to have had

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...

experiences in the building: A

lighting technician An electrical lighting technician, or simply lighting technician, is involved with rigging stage and location sets and controlling artificial, electric lights for art and entertainment venues (theatre or live music venues) or in video, television ...

claimed that he was all alone setting up on stage one day when he "glimpsed a person" over his shoulder on the edge of the stage and thought that "they were reading through some lines, as an actor would" but knew no cast members were around at the time. He turned the stage lights on and "suddenly they were gone". A man who ran the box office claimed to have had two "disconcerting" experiences. The first experience involved a "young boy sitting in the corner". He initially "thought nothing of it" but the "realisation struck" him that the theatre was closed. He "turned back around, but he'd disappeared." The second experience involved a girl he claims he noticed when he "looked up to the back corner of the audience seating, near where the soundman usually sits" after he heard "a strange noise in the theatre" on one occasion.

References

{{authority control Churches completed in 1870 Former churches in New Zealand Heritage New Zealand Category 1 historic places in Otago Listed churches in New Zealand Reportedly haunted locations in Dunedin Robert Lawson buildings Theatres in Dunedin Central Dunedin Stone churches in New Zealand 1870s churches in New Zealand

Background

Existing church building

Theatre

Ghost hunt

See also

References