Midsummer 1865 saw the Presbyterian’s of Lyttelton open their church of St. John’s on 1st January; while Lyttelton’s Catholics celebrated the opening of St. Joseph’s Church in midwinter on 29th June.
Back in 1865 it would have been considered an outrage to comment on two different churches, the homes of two very separate denominations, in the same sentence. They represented two very different sectors of Lyttelton’s population; both were ‘lighthouses’ for their own religious culture in the predominantly Anglican See! At one end of Winchester Street was St. John’s ‘Kirk’, home to a very Scottish congregation; at the other end was St Joseph’s, a Roman Catholic Church home to those of mainly Franco-Irish origins.
Despite the obvious differences Lyttelton contractors, Messrs England Brothers and Messrs Graham and Weybourne, erected both these churches out of locally quarried stone from Sumner Rd and Governors Bay quarries, (with imported slate for their roofs). They are both fine examples of plain gothic designs and testaments to good craftsmanship. Brian Weybourne was a skilled stonemason; in 1864 Weyburne had also built, from Quail Island stone, Lyttelton’s original Anglican parsonage (still standing below the cemetery at 26, Ripon Street) and his own square stone house still stands at 75, St. David Street. It is highly likely that some of the building stone came as ballast for the many sailing ships that arrived in Lyttelton.
St. John’s Presbyterian Church, designed by Architect Samuel Farr, originally was used for a dual purpose as the Lyttelton High School during the week and for worship at weekends. Farr went on to produce many of Christchurch’s fine buildings over the next 20 years. St. Johns’s first manse was at the top of Dublin Street, then at 22 St David Street, later above the Sumner Road. In 1980 St. John’s Sunday school was dismantled and its kauri and pitch pine recycled to build a house on the hill above Voelas Rd; the new Manse took its place on the Sunday school’s site.
The ‘Lyttelton Times’ 19th January 1865 recorded that Messrs Graham and Weybourne had been awarded the contract to build St. Joseph’s Church for 1200 pounds, having just completed the Presbyterian Church.
St. Joseph’s Church was designed by architects Messrs Mountfort and Bury to accommodate 400 people with Messrs England Brothers furnishing the woodwork and interior fittings.
The England brothers: Robert and Kelinge, were the carpenters for both churches; in 1865 they occupied a house, cottage, timber-yard, workshop and front-shop on section 173 nearby in Oxford Street. Architect, Benjamin Mountfort had gained some notoriety in Lyttelton due to the first Anglican Church he designed in 1851 being constructed of green timber, which shrunk rendering the building so dangerous it had to be demolished. The success of the building of St Joseph’s Catholic Church certainly salvaged his reputation, Mountfort is acclaimed as one of New Zealand’s most brilliant pioneer architects responsible for many of Canterbury’s best gothic buildings.
St Joseph’s Church, with parish priest Father B. Chataigner, initially served all of Lyttelton and Christchurch. The ‘Lyttelton Times’ 14th July 1865 reported its grand opening. In the five years prior to this the Catholic population had celebrated mass in private houses, so the modest 48 feet long church would have seemed luxurious; from 1869 it also housed the Catholic school; this too was reported in the Lyttelton Times on 18th February detailing that St. Joseph’s school enjoyed a school picnic at Cass Bay, transported there by Mr. Kenner’s horse and dray.
By 1878 St. Joseph’s schoolroom was built to the left of the church; 1921 saw a brick school-room built behind the church at the cost of 1500 pounds. This was replaced in 1983 by the present school. The church was extended in 1941 and the interior altered in the 1960's.
Both churches have written histories that tell the stories of the characters involved with their churches. One family that served the parish and Lyttelton community most faithfully since 1890 are the Sisters of Mercy, but that is another story!
Across Winchester Street stands Lyttelton’s first Church, Holy Trinity was initially built for the Anglicans in 1853, but then rebuilt in stone 1859-60. The fourth church to arrive on Winchester was the Wesleyan Methodist church, its wooden building was literally moved from its Norwich Quay site to the Winchester Street site that had been bought in 1863 and already accommodated the Wesleyan school.
Lytteltonians could have renamed Winchester street to Church Road, had it not been for the fact that the names of the original streets each represented an Anglican Bishopric of the mother country to demonstrate their Church of England links: Norwich, London, Winchester, Exeter, Ripon, St. David, Oxford, Canterbury and Dublin.
The churches of St. John and St Joseph also had to have a ‘Dissenters’ cemetery on Reserve Terrace separate from the Anglican’s cemetery on Canterbury Street.
Today Lyttelton’s four churches are happily no longer islands, they are unified through the close community that links them: a melting pot of 155 years. Ecumenical practice is now encouraged. The Presbyterians and Wesleyan Methodists have joined together to form the Union Church, very appropriate as the first Presbyterian sermon was preached in the Methodist church in 1856.
All the congregations have met together for Palm Sunday celebration, prayer groups, Advent and Lenten programme's. The churches reflect what the strong stone buildings of their forbears symbolised: their own Christian culture, which in 2005 is that of 21st century New Zealanders.
