St Christopher's Church Seatoun
Date: October 2012
St Christopher’s Church Seatoun 27 Ventnor Street
Image: Charles Collins, 2015
1 Date: October 2012
Summary of heritage significance • St Christopher’s Church is a good representative example of an early 20th century church designed in a Romanesque Revival style. It is notable for the quality of its design, materials and craftsmanship, and for the well considered neo-Romanesque decorative scheme. • The building has a historic association with the Presbyterian community of Seatoun. • The building has had few intrusive modern alterations and additions in the past 80 years and contributes to the sense of place and continuity of Seatoun.
District Plan: Map 7 Reference 399 Legal Description: LOT 5 BLK VIII DEEDS 110 Heritage Area: No HPT Listed: No Archaeological Site: Risk unknown Other Names: Presbyterian church Key physical dates: 1932 Architect / Builder: Architect: William Fielding Former uses: Church Current uses: Church SR 186964 – expires 03 August 2027 Earthquake Prone Status: 124 Served
Extent: Cityview GIS 2012
2 Date: October 2012
1.0 Outline History
1.1 History
In 1913 a Presbyterian church hall was opened in Seatoun where it was served by a home missionary.1 In 1932 a new church, St Christopher’s, was built to the design of William Fielding. The foundation stone was laid on the 6th of April 1932, by His Excellency Lord Bledisloe, the Governor General. It was officially dedicated in October of that year by Dr. John Dickie, the principal of the Presbyterian Theological College in Dunedin.2 The Minister at the time was Rev. A. A. Armstrong.3
St Christopher’s parish boundary encompasses the western half of Miramar peninsula and also includes Strathmore. The church has historic links to Scots College in Strathmore and continues to hold services for the college’s community.4
The church was found to be ‘Earthquake Prone’ in 2012 and is currently closed (2013) while a decision is made on its future.5
Presbyterian church at Seatoun and Rev. Dr. John Dickie (inset). (Evening Post, 15 October 1932). Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.
1.2 Timeline of modifications
1932 Erect church 00056:127:B11544 1989 Church additions and alterations 00059:244:D11166 1994 Fire reinstatement 00060:175:6351
1 Evening Post, 8 September 1913, Page 9. 2 Evening Post, 15 October 1932, Page 11. 3 History is an updated version of: Wellington City Council, ‘Presbyterian church,” Wellington Heritage Building Inventory 1995: Non-Residential Buildings (Wellington City Council, 1995), F. 4 St Christopher’s Presbyterian church, Seatoun-Strathmore, ‘About us,’ accessed 12 October 2012, http://www.stchristophersseatoun.org.nz/aboutus.htm. 5 St Christopher’s Presbyterian church, Seatoun-Strathmore, ‘Home,’ accessed May 2013, http://www.stchristophersseatoun.org.nz/
3 Date: October 2012
1.3 Ownership history
1932 Presbyterian Church Property Trustees
1.4 Occupation history
1923 St Christopher’s Presbyterian Church
1.5 Architect
William Fielding was one of those steady but undramatic designers who never sought, nor was subject to, the limelight. He carried out a great deal of sound and important work, the first of which in New Zealand is reported in 1911, two years after he arrived here from England where he was born. His practice in New Zealand included churches, residential work, and such projects as the Working Men’s Club, The Trades Hall and the Evening Post Building, Wellington.6
2.0 Physical description
2.1 Architecture
The church is designed in the Romanesque Revival style which was popular in North America and Europe from the 1820s through to the end of the nineteenth century. The church is sited approximately from east to west with a polygonal apse to the east of the church, and a simpler arch over the font at the west. The entrance is via a diminutive tower to the north that forms the porch. The church is arranged as a simple rectangular hall and there are no aisles, or transept, and the vestries and “Ladies’ Guild Room” form lean-to extensions to the north and south of the chancel/choir area.
The church exterior is of rendered cavity brick with a red Marseille tile roof. The windows are generally fixed or timber “hopper” style with a brick arch at the head. The west, Ventnor Street, elevation is a symmetrical composition of a gable end wall pierced with window openings. The verge is an interesting decorative element and was created from a combination of red quarry tiles and smooth render. The centre of the gable is punctuated by a small round window at high level set over a small projecting bay with a lean-to roof that houses the font. The bay is framed by a pair of rectangular buttresses decorated with consoles.
The north, Forres Street, elevation is notable for the simple, squat tower that forms the entrance porch, and for the way that the church roof extends to form a porch which houses the coat cupboard and the Minister’s vestry. The tower and nave eaves are decorated with a similar verge/facing detail as west elevation. The main entrance doors are tall with a semicircular arched head, and are notable for the large, decorative hinges, and for the decorative door surround with its incised render detail to the arch, set over a pair of squat flanking columns.
The small domestic scale of the building, the tiled roof, the low eaves, and the roughcast render exterior of the church give it an almost Arts and Crafts aesthetic, but the overall effect of the church layout and the decorative scheme is Romanesque.
6 Biography taken from: Wellington City Council, ‘William Fielding,’ Wellington Heritage Building Inventory 2001: Non-Residential Buildings (Wellington City Council, 2001), APPENDIX III.
4 Date: October 2012
The influences of this style are found in the Romanesque architecture of Europe during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The revival style was popularised in North America by Henry Hobson Richardson.7 While the Gothic style was a popular choice for Catholic or Anglican churches, the Romanesque Revival became the choice of style for many Nonconformist and Presbyterian churches,8 and local examples include the Wesley Church (c.1880) on Taranaki Street9 and the St James Presbyterian Church (1900) on Adelaide Road.
‘27 Ventnor Street, erect church,’ 24 March 1932, 00056:127:B11544, Wellington City Archives.
2.2 Materials
• Cement render on cavity brick walls • Brick arches over timber “hopper” windows • Timber exposed roof trusses • Marseille tile roof
2.3 Setting
The church is located on the corner of Ventnor Street and Forres Street in the seaside suburb of Seatoun. The main pedestrian entrance to the church is off Forres Street, while another driveway allows access to the original wooden hall which stands apart at the rear of the church. The church has been designed with low eaves to a small, domestic, scale that integrates well with the suburban townscape of Seatoun. Located to the north of the church, across Forres Street, is Te Kura Kaupapa Māori O Nga Mokopuna School. Rows of Pohutukawa trees also grow outside the church on both Ventnor and Forres Street.
7 ‘Romanesque Revival,’ in Grove Art Online, Oxford Art Online, accessed October 9, 2012, http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T073139. 8 Sherry Pace, Historic churches of Mississippi, (University Press of Mississippi, 2007), p.xvi. 9 New Zealand Historic Places Trust, ‘Wesley Church,’ accessed 19 October 2012, http://historic.org.nz/TheRegister/RegisterSearch/RegisterResults.aspx?RID=4422.
5 Date: October 2012
3.0 Sources
New Zealand Historic Places Trust. ‘Wesley Church.’ Accessed 19 October 2012. http://historic.org.nz/TheRegister/RegisterSearch/RegisterResults.aspx?RID=4422.
Pace, Sherry. Historic churches of Mississippi. University Press of Mississippi, 2007.
‘Romanesque Revival.’ In Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Accessed October 9, 2012. http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T073139.
Wellington City Council. ‘Presbyterian church.” Wellington Heritage Building Inventory 1995: Non-Residential Buildings. Wellington City Council, 1995. F.
Wellington City Council. ‘William Fielding.’ Wellington Heritage Building Inventory 2001: Non-Residential Buildings. Wellington City Council, 2001. APPENDIX III.
Newspapers
Evening Post. Volume LXXXVI, Issue 60. 8 September 1913. Page 9.
Evening Post. Volume CXIV, Issue 92. 15 October 1932. Page 11.
Wellington City Archives
‘27 Ventnor Street, erect church.’ 24 March 1932. 00056:127:B11544.
6 Date: October 2012
4.0 Criteria for assessing cultural heritage significance
Cultural heritage values
Aesthetic Value: Architectural: Does the item have architectural or artistic value for characteristics that may include its design, style, era, form, scale, materials, colour, texture, patina of age, quality of space, craftsmanship, smells, and sounds?
St Christopher’s Church is a good representative example of an early 20th century church designed in a Romanesque Revival style. It is notable for the quality of its design, materials and craftsmanship, and for the well considered neo-Romanesque decorative scheme / ornamentation.
Townscape: Does the item have townscape value for the part it plays in defining a space or street; providing visual interest; its role as a landmark; or the contribution it makes to the character and sense of place of Wellington?
The building is a minor local landmark for its vibrant Marseille tiled roof, and for its location on a prominent corner site.
Group: Is the item part of a group of buildings, structures, or sites that taken together have coherence because of their age, history, style, scale, materials, or use?
Historic Value: Association: Is the item associated with an important person, group, or organisation?
The building has a historic association with the Presbyterian community of Seatoun.
Association: Is the item associated with an important historic event, theme, pattern, phase, or activity?
Scientific Value: Archaeological: Does the item have archaeological value for its ability to provide scientific information about past human activity?
The archaeological risk is unknown. There has been historic human activity in the Seatoun area prior to 1900. The flat land was formerly a kumara cultivation ground for Māori.
Educational: Does the item have educational value for what it can demonstrate about aspects of the past?
Technological: Does the item have technological value for its innovative or important construction methods or use of materials?
Social Value: Public esteem: Is the item held in high public esteem?
Symbolic, commemorative, traditional, spiritual: Does the item have symbolic, commemorative, traditional, spiritual or other cultural value for the community who has used and continues to use it?
7 Date: October 2012
The building will have symbolic religious value for the Presbyterian community of Seatoun.
Identity/Sense of place/Continuity: Is the item a focus of community, regional, or national identity? Does the item contribute to sense of place or continuity?
The building has had few intrusive modern alterations and additions in the past 80 years and contributes to the sense of place and continuity of Seatoun.
Sentiment/Connection: Is the item a focus of community sentiment and connection?
The church has been the site of traditional social ceremonies associated with the key events in the lives of its congregation. It will be therefore form the focus of community sentiment and connection for many of its parishioners, and their friends and family.
Level of cultural heritage significance Rare: Is the item rare, unique, unusual, seminal, influential, or outstanding?
Representative: Is the item a good example of the class it represents?
Authentic: Does the item have authenticity or integrity because it retains significant fabric from the time of its construction or from later periods when important additions or modifications were carried out?
The building has retained a significant amount of original fabric therefore it has authenticity.
Local/Regional/National/International Is the item important for any of the above characteristics at a local, regional, national, or international level?
Because of the role it has played as a church for Seatoun’s Presbyterian community the building is of local importance.
8 Date: October 2012
5.0 Appendix
Research checklist (desktop)
Source Y/N Comments 1995 Heritage Inventory Y 2001 Non-Residential Y heritage Inventory WCC Records – building file WCC Records – grant files (earthquake strengthening, enhancement of heritage values) Research notes from 2001 Non-Residential heritage Inventory Plan change? Heritage Area Report Heritage Area Spreadsheet Heritage items folder
(electronic) HPT website HPT files Conservation Plan Searched Heritage Library
(CAB 2)
Background research
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