10-year effort to repair quake-damaged church
Christchurch’s oldest Anglican stone church has reopened 10 years after being significantly damaged in the February 2011 earthquake.
St Peter’s at Church Corner was officially reopened yesterday following a $5 million rebuild.
The Historic Place Category 2 building had stood in the heart of Church Corner for more than
150 years and became a hub for community activity, being used by more than a dozen community groups.
Reverend Nicholas Mountfort said it had been a ‘‘long journey’’ to get the church repaired following the quakes.
‘‘We are very excited ... to be putting the church back into Church Corner.’’
Architect Hugh Tennent helped refurbish the damaged church, and it had now been strengthened to
100 per cent of the building code and expanded to include a hospitality space and toilets.
‘‘We have been working for 10 years to achieve this goal and [it] is really exciting for us to be able to celebrate and to open the church,’’ Mountfort said.
‘‘The new church is a really good combination of old and new.
‘‘It has modern amenities like a kitchen and a hospitality area but it has kept the majesty of the old building.’’
He said it felt good to hold a service in the church yesterday for the first time in 10 years.
‘‘It felt really natural ... like we had never been away.’’
The first church was built on the land using timber from Akaroa in 1858.
It quickly became too small for the community’s needs and was extended in 1861.
Benjamin Mountfort, the current vicar’s great-great-great-uncle, was engaged as an architect in 1874 and an addition was made in stone. The wooden section was then rebuilt in stone in 1900 using Mountfort’s plans but carried out by his son, Cyril.
Cecil Wood designed the tower in 1928, and it was built using local Halswell and Mount Somers stone.
Several local celebrities are buried near the church, including Nurse Maude, who founded district nursing in New Zealand; Sir Henry Wigram, who was mayor of Christchurch from 1902 to 1904; and Superintendent William Moorhouse, who was the second Superintendent of Canterbury Province.