In a country churchyard

Press, 1 June 1985, Page 19

In a country churchyard

Prebbleton’s All Saints Church, listed by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust; is regarded as an important landmark in Canterbury’s architectural history. It was designed by Benjamin W. Mountfort, and its bells were regarded as, the finest peal of bells in Canterbury. Built in 1872, the wooden church was consecrated by Bishop Harper on All Saints Day of the same year.

The first parish building was a chapel school built in 1859 on five acres of land given by James Tesswill. This school was later bbught by John Grigg of Longbeach for £3O and installed at Longbeach in about 1870 where it still remains. All Saints was later lengthened by 18 feet but by March, 1906, it had been razed to the ground by a

fire that began soon after a choir practice. By 1907 it had been rebuilt according to the original plan for £853 under the supervision of the first architect’s son, Cyril J. Mountfort. A new peal of five bells in 1913 helped to restore the church’s former reputation. At one stage the church was repainted for a mere £22 10s. Between 1948 and 1982 much of the

land surrounding the church was sold off. The vicarage also went under the auction hammer in 1953, along with some houses on Norrie and Williams Streets that were part of the church property. Until 1956, All Saints was part of a parish that included Hornby and Templeton and then it became part of the Halswell-Prebbleton parish. In 1982, the original church hall

was demolished and some of the adjacent land sold. A new church lounge was built and dedicated to Mr Tesswill. The oak tree in the church grounds is believed to have a larger span than any other oak tree in New Zealand. There is also an enormous macrocarpa tree planted many years ago in the grounds.

By

TESSA WARD