Holy Trinity Avonside was a heritage-listed Anglican church located in

Linwood Linwood may refer to: Places Many of the place names for Linwood come from the presence of linden trees. Australia *Linwood, South Australia * Linnwood, Guildford, 11-35 Byron Road, Guildford, New South Wales Canada * Linwood, Ontario * Linwood, ...

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

, New Zealand. It was registered as a "Historic Place – Category I" by the

New Zealand Historic Places Trust Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust) ( mi, Pouhere Taonga) is a Crown entity with a membership of around 20,000 people that advocate ...

. It was "damaged beyond the point of repair" in the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake and was demolished the following September.

History

Holy Trinity Avonside (north-east corner)

The Parish of the Most Holy Trinity Avonside was established in 1855, with the first service held in the Rev. Charles Mackie's home "Stricklands". The first service was held in a church building designed by Charles Edward Fooks and made of cob at Christmas Day 1855, but the church was only

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

on 24 February 1857; it was the first Anglican church in Canterbury consecrated by

Bishop Harper Henry John Chitty Harper (28 December 1893) was an Anglican bishop in the second half of the 19th century. Life Harper was baptised on 9 January 1804, educated at The Queen's College, Oxford and ordained in 1832. He was Chaplain of Eton Colleg ...

. The land for the church had been provided by John and Elizabeth Stace, who had arrived in Lyttelton on the ''Nugent'' in 1851. Architect

Benjamin Mountfort Benjamin Woolfield Mountfort (13 March 1825 – 15 March 1898) was an English emigrant to New Zealand, where he became one of the country's most prominent 19th-century architects. He was instrumental in shaping the city of Christchurch's unique ...

, a parishioner, designed additions to the church including a bell tower and timber

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquial ...

in 1869. Around 1873, further Mountfort-designed additions included a stone

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. ...

and

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building with ...

s. In 1905 the original cob building was replaced by a stone

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-typ ...

Cyril Mountfort Cyril Julian Mountfort (5 October 1853 – 23 November 1920) was a New Zealand ecclesiastical architect. He was the second son of Benjamin Mountfort. Biography Mountfort was born on 5 October 1853; his surname is recorded as 'Mountford' on his b ...

. In 1953–1954 the west end of the church was extended, removing the remaining pre-1870s part of the building. The church received damage in the

2010 Canterbury earthquake The 2010 Canterbury earthquake (also known as the Darfield earthquake) struck the South Island of New Zealand with a moment magnitude of 7.1 at on , and had a maximum perceived intensity of X (''Extreme'') on the Mercalli intensity scale. So ...

. Repairs were under way when the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake struck, when the church building suffered major damage including collapse of the chancel and most of the transepts. The church was "damaged beyond the point of repair". Workers repairing damage on the inside of the 1876 Mountfort-designed part of the church were having lunch outside when this part of the building collapsed. The church was demolished in September 2011 amidst much controversy. Heritage advocates claimed that the church was of higher importance than

ChristChurch Cathedral ChristChurch Cathedral, also called Christ Church Cathedral and (rarely) Cathedral Church of Christ, is a deconsecrated Anglican cathedral in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. It was built between 1864 and 1904 in the centre of the city, ...

and more should have been done to try and save it, or it should have at least been dismantled by hand to save important architectural features like the ceilings, but instead diggers smashed everything up. Bishop

Victoria Matthews Victoria Matthews (born 1954) is a Canadian Anglican bishop. From 2008 until 2018, she served as Bishop of Christchurch in the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. In 1994, she became the first woman ordained bishop in the ...

defended the demolition, stating that her "priority has to be humans and the safety of the community. It wasn't the time to take chances." A time capsule containing the words of the consecration was recovered from underneath the nave.

Graveyard

The church graveyard is the burial place of some prominent Cantabrians including: *

Joseph Brittan Joseph Brittan (12 January 1806 – 27 October 1867), a surgeon, newspaper editor, and provincial councillor, was one of the dominant figures in early Christchurch, New Zealand. Born into a middle-class family in southern England, he followed ...

(1805–1867), surgeon, newspaper editor, and provincial councillor *

James Arthur Flesher James Arthur Flesher (13 August 1865 – 18 August 1930) was a politician in Christchurch, New Zealand. He held many public offices and was Mayor of Christchurch from 1923 to 1925. Early life Flesher was born on 13 August 1865 in Christchurch. ...

(1865–1930), Mayor of Christchurch *

Julius von Haast Sir Johann Franz Julius von Haast (1 May 1822 – 16 August 1887) was a German-born New Zealand explorer, geologist, and founder of the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch. Early life Johann Franz Julius Haast was born on 1 May 1822 in Bo ...

(1822–1887), explorer and geologist *

(1852–1920), architect *

(1825–1898), architect, father of Cyril *

William Rolleston William Rolleston (19 September 1831 – 8 February 1903) was a New Zealand politician, public administrator, educationalist and Canterbury provincial superintendent. Early life Rolleston was born on 19 September 1831 at Maltby, Yorkshire as th ...

(1831–1903),

Superintendent Superintendent may refer to: * Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank *Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator *Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exe ...

Canterbury Province The Canterbury Province was a province of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. Its capital was Christchurch. History Canterbury was founded in December 1850 by the Canterbury Association of influential Eng ...

George Warren Russell George Warren Russell (24 February 1854 – 28 June 1937) was a New Zealand politician from Christchurch. He served as Minister of Internal Affairs and Minister of Public Health in the wartime National government, and was responsible for the Ne ...

(1854–1937), Minister of Health during the

1918 flu pandemic The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...

There is one

Commonwealth war grave The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mi ...

, of a New Zealand soldier of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

.CWGC Casualty record.

Heritage listing

On 16 November 1989, the church was registered by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust as a Category I historic place, with the registration number being 3113. Among Mountfort's churches, it is significant as it is his first Anglican stone church. The graveyard is also significant for the number of important people buried there. The parish was one of the first to be established in Christchurch.

References

{{Reflist, 30em Gothic Revival church buildings in New Zealand Religious buildings and structures in Christchurch Anglican churches in New Zealand NZHPT Category I listings in Canterbury, New Zealand Cemeteries in Christchurch Anglican cemeteries in New Zealand Buildings and structures demolished as a result of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake Former churches in New Zealand Benjamin Mountfort church buildings Christianity in Christchurch Listed churches in New Zealand 1850s architecture in New Zealand