The Opening
The Official Opening and Dedication was conducted by the Moderator of the General Assembly, the Rt. Rev Professor William Hewitson B.A.. He opened the doors with a presentation gold key following which the congregation proceeded into the building to the stirring words of the "Old Hundreth". Prof Hewitson then preached upon the uses of the House of God; "A house of teaching", "A house of prayer" and "A house of sacrifice". |
THE STRUCTURE
The entrance porch is distinguished by irregular weather boards above door height, fernlike carvings above the door, wrought iron hinges and door handle, and a decorative lantern. The prominent porch is paneled above a polished slate sill. The floor and doorstep are of Timaru basalt, which is extremely durable and hard to cut. The entrance doors to the body of the church are Matai (black pine), of Gothic design with leadlights fitted in wash leather. The carved pink internal doorway surrounds are of Mount Sommers sandstone, whilst the walls are Oamaru stone blocks above the sills, and below is a dado of Oamaru stone sawdust. Above the Oamaru stone, and between the rafters, is a rimu panel frieze. Behind this panel is a sliding board on rollers and a jarrah track. It was designed to provide ventilation but proved to be ineffective and has long been closed off. The roof trusses are set against heavy stone buttresses. In the interior they are supported by carved Oamaru stone corbels which jut out from the wall directly below each of the principal rafters. The interior view of the roofing timber is impressive and timeless. |
The outer walls are principally of local basalt extracted from the Glenelg Spur quarry. Colour is added by a variety of rock selected ‘at random’, e.g. the Port Hills tuff from Tai Tapu quarry provides the warm red tone.
The roof, which incorporates a 52 degree pitch, is of imported countess size (i.e. 20 inches x 10 inches) grey slates, supported on imported Oregon trusses with wrought iron straps and belts. Purlins support dressed rafters to which diagonally placed tongue and groove sarking has been added to act as a brace to the roof plane. The trusses are set against the heavy stone buttresses on the outer walls. |
DEVELOPMENTS
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Administrator: Gail Weaver |