Lyttelton altar for chapel in Antarctica

Press, 6 May 1980, Page 6

Lyttelton altar for chapel in Antarctica

The original altar of St Saviour’s Church, at Lyttelton, will be installed in the chapel at Scott Base, Antarctica.

Antarctica. At 10 a.m. today the altar will be presented to the Antarctic Division of the Department of Scienr tific and Industrial Research at a service to be held at the Cathedral Grammar School, to where the whole church was moved from Lyttelton in 1976. The presentation will be made by the school chaplain, the Rev. A. G. Sullivan, and the service will be conducted by the Ven. Michael Brown, chaplain to the Antarctic Division and vicar of St Mary’s Church, Merivale. The altar began its history in west Lyttelton

At 10 a.m. today the altar will be presented to the Antarctic Division of the Department of Scien ; tific and Industrial Research at a service to be held at the Cathedral Grammar School, to where the whole church was moved from Lyttelton in 1976. The presentation will be made by the school chaplain, the Rev. A. G. Sullivan, and the service will be conducted by the Ven. Michael Brown, chaplain to the Antarctic Division and vicar of St Mary’s Church, Merivale.

about 95 years ago when St Saviour’s was built. Seafarers as well as parishioners attended the church. In 1901, the crew of the Discovery marched to St Saviour’s on church parade when their ship was in port. In 1910, Captain Scott and the crew from the Terra Nova attended services at the church on his last voyage to Antarctica.

St Saviour’s was given to the grammar school as a chapel in 1976 after Lyttelton people decided they could not support two churches. The new foundations at the school were dedicated by the Bishop of Christchurch (the Rt Rev. W. A. Pyatt) on June 26, and the chapel was declared a historic monument by the Historic Places Trust.