Register Record Register Number: 1923 Site Reference: P3151

Name: St Albans Wesleyan Church (Former)

Other Names: Name Year From Year To Merivale Uniting Church [present name] St Alban's Church (Methodist) [name on register as at November 2004] St Albans Methodist Church The Methodist Church of St Alban the Martyr Chinese Methodist Church

Location: 163 Papanui Road, Merivale, CHRISTCHURCH

Registered Legal Description: Pt RS 105 and Pt Lot 22 DP 1462 (CT CB375/270)

Local Authority: Christchurch City

Summary: What was eventually to become the Christchurch suburb of St Albans was a local seat of Methodism almost from the foundation of Canterbury province. Several families later to become prominent in the St Albans Wesleyan church emigrated on the First Four Ships in 1850, where they caused some consternation among the more doctrinaire of Anglican passengers. By 1853 the little community of Wesleyans in St Albans were convening regularly for Sunday School, and later in that year the first Wesleyan service was held in the district by Rev. W. Kirk. Due to the efforts of the St Albans congregation, Kirk was appointed Christchurch's first Wesleyan minister. John Broughton, a member of the congregation, gave a section in High St in Christchurch for the erection of a first Wesleyan chapel in the city. This was however some considerable distance from the locus of the St Albans congregation, who soon had ambitions for their own church. By 1854 a ¼ acre section in St Albans Lane (St Albans Road) had been donated for this purpose. A first tiny Wesleyan church was erected on the site in 1859.

In 1868 the decision was made to build a new church, and extra land adjacent to the old building was purchased. Before the new building was commenced, the old church was altered to serve as a schoolroom. A new wing was added to accommodate 250 scholars, and the old church became an infant room. Upon completion, the schoolroom complex served briefly as the church.

In September 1868, just a month prior to the intended date for the laying of the foundation stone of the new church, businessman John Thomas Peacock offered another, better site in St Albans Lane and £100 towards construction costs - on condition that the remains of his father Captain John Jenkins Peacock be buried in the church grounds. Upon acceptance of his offer, J. T. Peacock's mother gave a further £100. The new church, seating 270, opened on the new site in April 1869 at a cost of £1, 850. Captain Peacock's remains were removed from the Barbadoes Street cemetery and re-interred in a vault under the chancel. Later other family members were also interred there. This church was enlarged in 1884.

John Thomas Peacock (1827-1905) arrived in Lyttelton from Australia in the mid 1850s to manage the extensive New Zealand affairs of his father's Sydney- based shipping company, Peacock and Co. In 1862 the goodwill of the shipping business was sold, and J. T. Peacock retired in 1863 to a large new house, Hawkesbury, on Papanui Road in St Albans. Throughout his career Peacock took an active part in public life. In addition to his support of the St Albans Wesleyan Church, he served (amongst other roles) as a provincial councillor, member of the House of Representatives and the Legislative Report Execution Time: 17/09/2013 12:54:14 Page 1 of 4 Summary:

Council, and first mayor of the St Albans borough in 1881. By the end of the 1860s, three of Peacock's sisters and his parents had followed him to Canterbury. All were eventually to settle with their respective families within the St Albans/Merivale area. The extended Peacock family were at the forefront of a move into the district of many of Christchurch's prosperous non-conformist merchants and professionals. The St Albans Wesleyan Church not only therefore had a strong congregation, but was also financially well-endowed. In this point it differed markedly from its sister church, the Crescent Road Wesleyan Church (also constructed in 1869) to the east in nearby Knightstown, a more working class district.

In 1871, 1¼ acres at the corner of (what would become) Rugby Street and Papanui Road was bought from George Gould and J. T. Peacock for £150, as a site for a St Albans parsonage. Due to a burgeoning congregation, it was decided in 1894 to construct a replacement church on this site, and the parsonage was relocated around the corner to the Rugby Street frontage. The magnanimous J. T. Peacock subscribed £1,150 towards the building costs of the new church, and had the honour of laying the foundation stone in November 1894 - as he had for the previous church twenty six years before. Designed by R. W. England, the new building in form closely resembled its predecessor. The 400-seat church was completed by contractor William Smith at a total cost of £2,380, and opened in May 1895.

The original church site was sold at this time, and building moved to sit adjacent to the second church, where it served as the adult class. The second church was also altered to make it more suitable for school and social purposes. This work was carried out at a total cost of £420; when completed, £250 remained outstanding. Peacock generously offered to match every £5 donation, and by the first tea meeting of 1895, the debt was settled. The peripatetic remains of Captain Peacock, and those of his family were exhumed from their vault under the second church and interred in Linwood Cemetery and elsewhere. The old church buildings continued to serve as the Sunday school until they burnt down in 1902. A new Sunday school and hall were then built on Rugby Street beside the later church.

Robert William England (1864-1909) was born in Lyttelton, the son of Robert West England, a partner in the construction firm, England Bros. At the age of nineteen he went to England to study architecture, and was articled to Joseph Lancaster Ball of Birmingham for three years. In 1885 England was admitted to the Royal Institute of British Architects, and returned to New Zealand to set up in practise the following year. In 1906, he entered into partnership with his younger brother Edward Herbert England, establishing a new architectural firm of 'England Bros.'. England was a prolific architect, specialising in large domestic buildings. Prominent dwellings he designed include Holly Lea (the McLean Mansion, 1902, Cat. I), Fitzroy (J. T. Peacock's niece's home, now the Nurse Maude Association Building, 1898, Cat. II), and Wharetiki (1902, Cat. II). Despite this domestic reputation however, the Englands' designed considerable numbers of churches, vicarages, church halls and sunday schools for a variety of denominations - though the Methodists were the most frequent client. In 1909 R. W. England died following a nervous breakdown.

Electricity was installed in the church in 1918. The present light shades were fitted during a renovation of the church in 1936. In 1973 the decision was made to reorder the church interior to a design by Graeme Hoddinott of architects Hall and McKenzie. The work was carried out by builder John Bills at a cost of $1, 633. This included the extension of the sanctuary into the nave, the replacement of the pews with chairs, and the installation of a new organ platform at the back of the church suitable for the choir or other performances. The old organ, originally installed in 1906 for £500, was sold in 1974. Its replacement was installed after much delay in 1979, at a cost of $25, 000. A covered walkway linking the church and Sunday school was also added by Hoddinott and Bills in 1974 as part of the renovations.

Work was first carried out on the tower and spire in 1922, and then again as Report Execution Time: 17/09/2013 12:54:14 Page 2 of 4 Summary:

part of general church renovations about 1936. In 1962 it was repaired and painted, which sufficed until 1985 when the significant ingress of water forced the church's hand. Christchurch City Council granted $1, 000 towards the estimated $5, 115 cost of repairs. These were carried out during 1986. The church itself was re-roofed with decramastic tiles in 1979, replacing the original corrugated iron.

In 2000 the St Albans Uniting Parish began to assess their future requirements. Consequently the future of the church and adjacent Sunday school are presently (2005) uncertain.

Registration Status: Registration Removed

Registration Type: Historic Place Category 2

Date Registered: 24 June 2005

Extent of Registration: Registration includes the building its fixtures and fittings, and the land on CT CB375/270

Chattels

District Plan Listing: District Plan Christchurch City District Plan Operative (in part) 21 November 2005. Item listed in Appendix 1: List of Protected Buildings, Places and Objects

Maori Interest: Unknown

NZHPT Office: Canterbury/West Coast Office

Other Information: A fully referenced version of this report is available from the NZHPT Southern Region Office.

General Nature of Wahi Tapu:

Section 23 Section 23(1) Architectural Assessment: Section 23(1) Historical Section 23(1) Social Section 23(1) Spiritual Section 23(2) a Section 23(2) b Section 23(2) e Section 23(2) g

Section 23(2) Detail:

Report Execution Time: 17/09/2013 12:54:14 Page 3 of 4 Register Record Register Number: 1923 Site Reference: P3151

(a) it reflects the central role the church as an institution once played in the spiritual and social life of the community, and in the life of this once strongly Methodist community in particular.

(b) of its association with important Christchurch businessman and personality J. T. Peacock and his extended family.

(e) it has been held in high esteem by its congregation for the last century, and consequently been sympathetically altered for the needs of modern worship.

(g) it was designed by R. W. England, a prominent Christchurch architect known largely for his domestic work.

Statement of Wahi Tapu:

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