​St John’s Anglican Church on Wai-iti Rd in Highfield is not an old church but it is a handsome one.
Behind the church we see today stands the original red brick Sunday school building. Over the years this evolved to become the church. Even though it has been replaced it still enjoys a busy life as a church hall.
The new one was built in 1949 in a classic style. It was opened in November 1951. The square tower is a notable feature, topped with an iron cross and weather vane, this rises above the battlements and gives the church its English character. 
Constructed by local builders the concrete and plaster exterior walls have been recently painted in a discreet taupe with white detailing. The repeated crests around the top of the tower have been nicely highlighted and are another appealing feature.  They include the St John’s cross, St George’s Anglican cross and the Trinity shield.
The slate roof is also beautiful and makes you think the church is older than it is.
The interior of the church is traditional, quite simple compared to churches of previous eras.  The interior has a comfortable, friendly and practical feel to it. Nice and solid, it is decorated with white walls, blue carpet and tapestry hangings.  The ceiling is of dark wood and rises to the rafters high above the congregation.  The original pulpit, gifted by the Tonkin family, has been brought across from the old church as was the lovely old Christening font, gifted by the Mothers Union.
The stained glass windows are deceptively simple and add plenty of light.  At the front of the church you can find another of Gypsy Poulstons wonderful stained glass windows, this one was dedicated in 1976. Her husband Eddie Poulston sculpted the modern crucifix which compliments Gypsy’s window beautifully.
The church also has an organ, keyboard to one side with the pipes on the opposite wall and this was made by the South Island Organ Company here in Timaru.
Karen Rolleston

​The establishment of a settlement at Woodbury was well underway by 1880, most of the farmland around the area had been taken up and was being developed.  The population of the district was greater than it is today and the needs of the growing community needed to be acted upon.
There is no record of the election of the first Domain Board but minutes show their first meeting was held on March 2nd 1880 at the Woodbury Hotel.  At this meeting it was proposed that a generous amount of land be set aside to be used as an education reserve and recreational area for the community. 
In total some 55 hectares of unfenced treeless tussock land was earmarked for the project.   To raise the money required for development much of the land was leased out with some of it planted in trees. 
Over the years that followed the Board judiciously used the income from rents received to carry out their planned improvements and help with ongoing maintenance.  Although this was a slow process, in the long run it has proved a sustainable one and in recent years the Board has had sufficient income from these farm rentals and the sale of matured timber to carry out the necessary work renewing fences, piping a water supply, replanting of trees and the upgrading of its buildings as well as its sports facilities.
The charming tin clad Woodbury Hall we see today was built as a Coronation Library Hall in 1911. Trees were felled and the timber cut for use in building the hall with the surplus wood being on sold. The official opening was on December 14th the same year.   One of the first major items purchased was a grand piano which lasted till it was replaced with a more robust upright piano in 1963.
This rustic country Hall has had been enjoyed by many users and has had many additions approved and instigated by the Board as ongoing improvements over the years.  Power and lighting were installed in 1925 and a Ball was held to celebrate the switching on of the electricity.
It still remains well used by the local community and is available to be hired out for functions including country weddings and the like.
Karen Rolleston.
Most of my notes about the history came from the Woodbury Domain and Cemetery boards’ booklet.

​In the township of Woodbury, just a few kilometres from Geraldine, you will find a beautiful Anglican church nestled into a yard surrounded by some large trees and a lawn.  It is enclosed by a handsome stone and boulder wall with charming wooden gates along both road frontages.  Some recent pruning suggests there are not as many trees as there once were and this opens up views of the church nicely.
In November, 1877 a public meeting to consider the erection of a church was held and by March 1879, St Thomas's Church was completed and consecrated by the Bishop of Christchurch.  
Tripp is a familiar name in Woodbury.  A well-known pioneer family whose descendants came to New Zealand in 1855, they settled in the area and made their home at Orari Gorge Station.  Descendants of the family still live there today.
This original part of the church was constructed of wood on concrete foundations and its form reflects the Norman style of architecture commonly used in churches about Devon, England, where the Tripps emigrated from.
A chancel and tower were added in 1926 made of local stone and attached to the old wooden building.  The large tower was named as a memorial to Charles George and Ellen Shephard Tripp and the Nave, built in 1938, was named for his children, Charles Howard and Eleanor Howard Tripp. It was designed by Cecil Wood and completed by local builders, Herbert Cooling and Oswald Scott of Woodbury.
Oak for the carved furniture and for memorial tablets is from the Tripp homestead at Orari Gorge.  Building materials feature local stones and boulders, as do many of these local memorial churches. The roof is of purple hued Welsh slate. The church also features seven beautiful stained glass lancet windows.
Wonderful destination for a Sunday drive or to attend a service, I understand the church is open to be viewed by passers-by and friendly visitors alike.
Karen Rolleston
 

​Follow the signs just a few km’s north of Geraldine and you will find the small settlement of Woodbury.  Originally named Waihi Bush, the town was first established by Robert Taylor and Frederick Flatman in 1866 to service the saw milling and farming industries that were developing around the area.  The village grew rapidly in its early years and was home to a large general store, two butcher’s shops, a shoemaker, a creamery, a blacksmith and a two-storeyed wooden hotel that would later blow down in a gale.
Waihi Bush was renamed Woodbury after the birthplace of Frederick Flatman’s wife, Elizabeth, in Devonshire, England.  It is situated in a fertile farming valley which extends from Geraldine back to the foothills.  Beautiful plantings of established trees in the area add to its picturesque appeal. 
There are some lovely cemeteries dotted about the countryside and the Woodbury cemetery is one of them.  It adjoins the local Domain where a short walk leads to a relatively new boulder fence and gates that have been placed to mark the original entrance.  It is well signposted and can also be accessed from the main road. 
The cemetery is not attached to any church. It is forest lined, surrounded by large and beautiful collection of evergreen cypress and cedar type trees,  a tranquil and calm place to visit with several memorial seats dotted about and sheltered beside the trees.  
The first burial here was for John Nicholas E. Pearce in November 1889 and the cemetery is still being used today.  There are many aged and charming headstones and memorials to ponder on in this well maintained place.  I realise not everyone enjoys wandering around country cemeteries but those of you that do would find this one beautiful, a private and peaceful location and the record of local history here fascinating.   
Karen Rolleston

​Towards the end of last year I wrote about one of our earliest South Canterbury settlers, Elizabeth Rhodes, and her journey south from Christchurch in 1854.
When she first arrived in Timaru with her husband, George Rhodes, she lived for a short time in a cottage on the beach on the site of what is now our Landing Service Building.  In order to be closer to the middle of the run they occupied they moved into a hut on The Levels Station.
This hut was the first Homestead in the region.  For us today the word Homestead conjures up images of grand dwellings and sprawling homes however in South Canterbury in 1854 this was not the case.
The hut Elizabeth moved into was just over 9m long and 3.6m wide. There were 2 rooms with no communicating door between them.  One, a bedroom which occupied a third of the floor space and included a platform for the help to sleep on, the other a drawing room, dining room and kitchen combined. There was a large open fireplace at the far end with an outside chimney made of cob or sods.
The six foot tall exterior walls were built of totara slabs and the roof was thatched with tussock or raupo, (bulrush).  The interior walls were thickly lined with cob, made by mixing clay with water and chopped tussock, this was held in place with wooden laths.
There was initially little comfort to be had in the old slab hut but, with her adaptable nature and strength of purpose she made a real home there.  In later years Elizabeth told her children that she loved those early days and the hard life as a pioneer wife.  She enjoyed great friendships with the local Maori and the few other Pakeha women and settlers in the area at the time. 
The hut still stands on the rise it was built on looking out over the Levels plains. It is protected and well maintained by the current landowners.  The thatch roof has been expertly redone and the totara walls are still strong and as raggedly beautiful as ever.
Karen Rolleston

​I think we can all agree that our lights are some of the most spectacular Christmas decorations in the country! Personally, I am always thrilled to see them go up again each year and I’ve been bothering people all week to see what I can find out about them.
In 1975, Tony Sleigh, at the time Timaru District Council’s City Electrical Engineer, travelled to the UK with his family for a sabbatical.  While there he spent some time talking to the Regent Street Association who, since 1954, had been responsible for the famous annual Regent Street Christmas lights display. 
On his return to Timaru Tony put forward the suggestion that we design and install our own set of high quality Christmas lights for the city.  The idea was quite radical as there were very few Christmas street lights in New Zealand at the time.   Great debate and discussion within the Council followed as the concept was not only radical but also a relatively expensive one to implement. The then MED helped out by purchasing the lights and gifting them to the city. 
Tony, in conjunction with Allan Shaw, well known for the Theatre Royal’s lighting, managed the construction and installation of the lights.  The original designs were stars and the moulds for these were made in a Dunedin factory.
Over the years they have been progressively added to and upgraded, the pretty hanging side lights are a newer addition and the incandescent bulbs have been replaced with LED bulbs.  A lot of work goes into ensuring they are up to date with current electrical standards  and they have to be robust enough to withstand our weather, wild winds and hail storms in particular.
They are unique to our city and have been place now for more than 40 years providing a continuing seasonal delight to us all.  What a wonderful show of foresight and an ongoing legacy from Tony Sleigh and his team to Timaru. 
Thanks so much for reading our column this year, wishing you  a Merry Christmas from the Timaru Civic Trust.
Karen Rolleston

8​Elizabeth Rhodes was one of the first European women to settle in South Canterbury.   In 1954 she rode down as part of a group that included her husband, George Rhodes. It took seven days, through trackless tussock and across unbridged rivers. A courageous journey for a young, newly married English girl and an adventure, to ride along a route that no European woman had travelled before.
George and Elizabeth moved  into a small cottage that sat on Timaru’s shoreline, nowadays the site of our Landing Service Building. After a short time here they moved to The Levels Station where they spent many happy years raising their family and living a pioneering life in a fairly basic slab hut.
George died in 1864 at the young age of 47. The Levels was sold but, determined not to leave the region she had such happy memories of, Elizabeth purchased Linwood House  which stood behind the present Council chambers.
In 1867 Elizabeth married Arthur Perry, a charming young barrister from Tasmania who had commenced a law practice in Timaru.  They remained at Linwood until 1873 when they purchased Beverley from Henry Le Cren. A large house on 8 hectares of land at the junction of Wai-iti Rd and the Great North Road, now Highway 1. It was to become a garden of note in the district.
There were no plant nurseries to purchase trees from in those days, the early settlers bought seed with them from England and Elizabeth was no exception.  She sowed many seeds over the years and one of her great pleasures was to see the trees they grew into. 
She decided to move one of these trees, a young Wellingtonia Gigantica she had nurtured from seed that her first husband, George Rhodes, had given her some years before.  Her brother in law, Major Wright, laughed in a friendly way, at her plan to move the tree from Linwood to Beverley and said “That tree is far too big to be moved, Lizzie, I will bet you a case of champagne that is does not grow” 
The young tree arrived at Beverly in a wheelbarrow, I don’t think history records who pushed the barrow but the tree grew and continues to do so today. Wright lost the champagne, Elizabeth won her bet and we have our Timaru Christmas tree. 
Almost all the other trees and shrubs from Beverley have long gone and this remains one of our oldest and tallest trees at more than 34 metres high, it’s has lost its top, gained a star and is well cared for these days by the current property owners here in Timaru.
Karen Rolleston

​When Joseph Orford was looking for a site on which to set up his long envisaged Preparatory School he settled on the village of Winchester in South Canterbury, an area he had been repeatedly drawn to on his travels about New Zealand in the early 1900’s.
Even then Winchester had a rather English charm to it with its tree lined lanes and fishing streams so he purchased a 15 acre block just over a kilometre from the village. His piece of land was rather more windswept than Winchester itself was and the land was covered in stones, broom and gorse. However closes proximity to the railway station made it the perfect choice.
Photos of the school at the time show how bleak the site was but over the years Joseph Orford planted wind breaks in an effort to combat the winds that used to roar and gust through the grounds as well and many trees and shrubs, some of which are still standing today.  These days you would never know how open the area was to the weather and it appears to be just as English as the village Orford was drawn to in the first place with a lush setting of beautiful trees and hedges and views across to the plains and mountains beyond.
In 1907 construction was begun on his School House. It was completed on 5 September the same year and welcomed its first 3 pupils. The building was constructed of wood with room for the Orford family and the classrooms as well as a dorm room and basic boarding facilities. The family rooms were separated from the School rooms by a curtain.  The building grew over the years and more buildings appeared on site.
 These days the original house area is for offices and administration.  It’s a beautiful old building which still retains its original charm and lends an established air to the school.  Smartly painted, it’s in great condition, and presents an appealing presence as you drive into the school from the Main Highway entrance.
Karen Rolleston

​Canterbury's ties to Methodism goes back to 1850 when and the "Cressy" sailed into Lyttelton Harbour and on board were Wesleyan members and their families.
In 1865 the Rhodes family of Timaru, donated a central Bank Street site for the Wesleyan church to be situated on. The same year plans were drawn up and contractors engaged. A small wooden church measuring 74 square metres complete with belfry and a porch was built and first minister arrived. This provided a spiritual home for the burgeoning congregation to gather in.  A two storied villa on Butler St was built at the same time for the married preacher.
Within 10 years the original building became too small and in 1874-1875 a new, more substantial church was erected out of dark grey stone. This church, designed by F. Wilson and built by S. Harding was to seat 400 people and was opened on March 21st 1875. It is the first and oldest remaining Methodist church in South Canterbury.
At the time of construction the original wooden church was shifted to the rear of the site for use as a schoolroom.  With a further view to possible expansion the rear wall of the new build was constructed out of wood and the church was indeed lengthened in 1890 with a wooden addition to fit the choir and vestries as well as 140 more seats.
In 1913 the Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists united which saw the congregation grow again. An organ was built for the church in the same year and in 1930 the stone tower and 24m steeple were added. The steeple is perhaps not as glamourous as some of the other spires that we see about our town but the green of the copper makes quite a statement.
There have been many changes and alterations to this church over the years. Services ended here in 1991 and to see it quietly sitting there, locked up and silent, does not relay at all the busy life it has led over the 140 plus years it has been on its Bank Street site.
It looks to be in good condition and has a Historic Places Category 2 listing.
Karen Rolleston

​This little building was erected as a memorial to Herbert and Gladys Elworthy of Craigmore by their children and grandchildren.  It sits on a pleasant section opposite Rongomaraeroa, the Peace Walk in Maungati.
St James Church Hall fulfils the function of a community hall as well as a church. Early in 1924 a Methodist Minister needed a central place in Maungati where he could conduct his services. Mr W J McDonald offered the use of a room in his house until the school was built in 1913.  Regular monthly services continued at the school for many years.  I imagine when the new church hall went up the local faithful were delighted to have a more permanent venue for worship.
On July 28, 1953, the Maungati Church Hall was officially opened. It was designed by R A Heaney, of Timaru. Built of red brick with wooden details, it measured 50 feet by 20 feet.
A fun discovery was that a Lights On ball was held in the Maungati Church Hall to celebrate the switching on of electric power in the Maungati, Gordons Valley and Southburn areas in May 1960.
Community halls are found throughout all rural farming districts. Once they played a huge part in the community providing a much needed centre for get togethers, dances, meetings, celebrations, church services and the like. Some of these halls are still in use but due to the changing needs of the community, population decline and ease of transport making it far simpler to get into town, these days, they are often they are simply closed up.  
This one is still well used, there is a playcentre on site and monthly services are held under the umbrella of the Waimate District Cooperating Parish.
The settlement of Maungati was formed in 1912, the word itself comes from the Māori language words "maunga", meaning "mountain", and "tī", meaning "cabbage tree", translated this means "mountain of cabbage tree".  Indeed there are many cabbage trees in the area.
It is a beautiful area of South Canterbury, lightly populated and just 18 miles southwest of Timaru.  It is a farming community in limestone rich country which provides very dramatic landscapes and backdrops. There are some stunning Maori rock drawings located about the district and a 9 hole golf course runs along the main road.
Karen Rolleston