Doors to an Amberley church built in 1866 will be opened to visitors next Tuesday so they can view the newly refurbished Carters Road, building.
The Hurunui Catholic Parish are inviting people to an open day at the 160-year-old church of the Most Holy Passion following its spruce up, thanks to a 2006 Heritage Award from the Hurunui District Council earlier this year.
Volunteer parishioners lent a hand to Chris McRae from North Canterbury Property Maintenance to paint the tower, and the outside of the outside of the church — roof, walls, foundations and the concrete pavement, with the held of a 17-metre cherry picker.
Dry rot was removed from the front corner of the tower and replaced, and new cladding timbers planed to match the original size thanks to local builder James Drewery, who has had many years in the heritage restoration business.
The rusted tower gutter was replaced, the steel lynch-gate entrance and front court way given a good water blast to removed years of road grime, the sign near the front was repainted and some of the stained glass protective perspex was replaced.
The inside of the church was given a major makeover some years ago.
The church was built as a chapel in 1866 on the farm of Frederick and Filumena Weld at Brackenfield for Catholics in the district. It was thought a township would develop nearby known as Brackenfield as a railway was being built in that direction. It was imported as a flat pack from Europe, with some of the design features influenced by Frederick’s admiration of Swiss architecture.
However, when the railway was built nearer the coast, the chapel and Brackenbridge graveyard were some distance from Amberley which had started to grown.
In the mid-1950s the church was shifted by trailer, and towed by traction engine to its Carter’s Road site.
It was extended, a choir loft added with confessionals underneath, and the tower was re-installed on the other side of the church.
The open day begins at 2.30pm, on Tuesday, October 27, at the front of the church. Visitors can walk around the outside and then through the inside of the church. The tour will be followed by a cuppa in the hall at 3pm. There will be a short presentation on the history of the church.