Holy Trinity Avonside

File:Original Avonside Church.jpg

File:Holy Trinity Avonside (north-east corner).JPG

The Parish of the Most Holy Trinity Avonside was established in 1855, with the first service held in the Rev. Charles Mackie's home "Stricklands".{{cite web|title=Church of the Holy Trinity, Avonside|publisher=Christchurch City Libraries|url=http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/heritage/Photos/Disc9/IMG0085.asp|accessdate=13 March 2011}} The first service was held in a church building designed by Charles Edward Fooks and made of cob at Christmas Day 1855, but the church was only consecrated on 24 February 1857;{{cite web|title=Holy Trinity Church (Anglican) |work=The Register|publisher=New Zealand Historic Places Trust|url=http://www.historic.org.nz/TheRegister/RegisterSearch/RegisterResults.aspx?RID=3113 | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20110724200619/http://www.historic.org.nz/TheRegister/RegisterSearch/RegisterResults.aspx?RID=3113 | archivedate = 24 July 2011 |accessdate=11 September 2012}} it was the first Anglican church in Canterbury consecrated by Bishop Harper.{{cite news|title=Consecration of Avonside Church |url= http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=LT18570228.2.9 |accessdate=10 September 2012|newspaper=Lyttelton Times|volume=VII |issue=451 |date=28 February 1857|page=6}} The land for the church had been provided by John and Elizabeth Stace, who had arrived in Lyttelton on the Nugent in 1851. Architect Benjamin Mountfort, a parishioner, designed additions to the church including a bell tower and timber vestry in 1869. Around 1873, further Mountfort-designed additions included a stone chancel and transepts. In 1905 the original cob building was replaced by a stone nave designed by Mountfort's son Cyril Mountfort. In 1953–1954 the west end of the church was extended, removing the remaining pre-1870s part of the building.

The church received damage in the 2010 Canterbury earthquake. Repairs were under way when the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake struck, when the church building suffered major damage including collapse of the chancel and most of the transepts.{{cite web|author=Bowron, Hugh |title=Earthquake Report |date=27 February 2011 |url=http://www.holytrinityavonside.co.nz/EarthquakeReport27Feb2011.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110313234621/http://www.holytrinityavonside.co.nz/EarthquakeReport27Feb2011.pdf |url-status=dead|archive-date=13 March 2011 |publisher=Parish of the Most Holy Trinity Avonside |accessdate=13 March 2011 }} The church was "damaged beyond the point of repair".{{cite web|title=February Quake |url=http://www.holytrinityavonside.co.nz/html/februaryquake.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110302222130/http://www.holytrinityavonside.co.nz/html/februaryquake.html |url-status=dead|archive-date=2 March 2011 |publisher=Parish of the Most Holy Trinity Avonside |accessdate=16 March 2011 }} Workers repairing damage on the inside of the 1876 Mountfort-designed part of the church were having lunch outside when this part of the building collapsed.{{cite web|title=Church 1876 |url=http://www.holytrinityavonside.co.nz/html/church_1876.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110302222122/http://www.holytrinityavonside.co.nz/html/church_1876.html |url-status=dead|archive-date=2 March 2011 |publisher=Parish of the Most Holy Trinity Avonside |accessdate=16 March 2011 }} The church was demolished in September 2011 amidst much controversy. Heritage advocates claimed that the church was of higher importance than ChristChurch Cathedral and more should have been done to try and save it, or it should have at least been dismantled by hand to save important architectural features like the ceilings, but instead diggers smashed everything up. Bishop Victoria Matthews defended the demolition, stating that her "priority has to be humans and the safety of the community. It wasn't the time to take chances." A time capsule containing the words of the consecration was recovered from underneath the nave.{{cite news|last=Gates|first=Charlie|title=Demolition of historic Trinity Church's an 'absolute sacrilege'|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch-earthquake-2011/5688653/Churchs-hasty-demo-absolute-sacrilege|accessdate=27 September 2011|newspaper=The Press|date=27 September 2011|page=A2}}

The church graveyard is the burial place of some prominent Cantabrians including:

• Joseph Brittan (1805–1867), surgeon, newspaper editor, and provincial councillor
• James Arthur Flesher (1865–1930), Mayor of Christchurch{{Cite web |url=http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~ashleigh/1870-1908/1930.August.Christchurch.Press.Snippets.html |title=Christchurch Press August 1930 – Snippets |last=Evans |first=Beverley |accessdate=20 February 2010 |archive-date=9 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609183754/http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~ashleigh/1870-1908/1930.August.Christchurch.Press.Snippets.html |url-status=dead }}
• Julius von Haast (1822–1887), explorer and geologist
• Cyril Mountfort (1852–1920), architect{{cite news|last=Crean|first=Mike|title=Anguish over unique church|newspaper=The Press |date=30 July 2011|page=C12}}
• Benjamin Mountfort (1825–1898), architect, father of Cyril
• William Rolleston (1831–1903), Superintendent of Canterbury Province
• George Warren Russell (1854–1937), Minister of Health during the 1918 flu pandemic{{cite web|last=Greenaway|first=Richard L. N.|title=Avonside Anglican Parish Cemetery Tour|url= http://library.christchurch.org.nz/heritage/cemeteries/avonside/AvonsideParishCemetery.pdf |publisher=Christchurch City Libraries|accessdate=13 August 2011|page=19 |date=June 2007}}

There is one Commonwealth war grave, of a New Zealand soldier of World War I.{{cite web|title=James Thomas Irwin|url=http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/642327/IRWIN,%20JAMES%20THOMAS|publisher=Commonwealth War Graves Commission access date 16 December 2016}}CWGC Casualty record.

On 16 November 1989, the church was registered by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust as a Category I historic place, with the registration number being 3113. Among Mountfort's churches, it is significant as it is his first Anglican stone church. The graveyard is also significant for the number of important people buried there. The parish was one of the first to be established in Christchurch.

{{Reflist}}

{{commons category|Holy Trinity Church (New Zealand)}}

• {{Find a Grave cemetery}}

Category:Gothic Revival church buildings in New Zealand

Category:Religious buildings and structures in Christchurch

Category:Heritage New Zealand Category 1 historic places in the Canterbury Region

Category:Cemeteries in Christchurch

Category:Churchyards in New Zealand

Category:Anglican cemeteries in New Zealand

Category:Buildings and structures demolished as a result of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake

Category:Former Anglican church buildings in New Zealand

Category:Benjamin Mountfort church buildings

Category:Christianity in Christchurch

Category:Listed churches in New Zealand

Category:1850s churches in New Zealand

Category:Stone churches in New Zealand