St Andrew's Church is a heritage-listed church building located at

Rangi Ruru Rangi Ruru Girls' School is a New Zealand private girls' day and boarding secondary school located in Merivale, an inner suburb of Christchurch. The school is affiliated to the Presbyterian Church, and serves approximately girls from Years 7 ...

in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was the first Presbyterian church to be built in Christchurch. It is registered as a "Historic Place – Category I " by Heritage New Zealand. The building was designed in the

Gothic Revival style Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

and was first opened for worship on 1 February 1857.

History

In 1854 a committee was set up to establish a Presbyterian church for Christchurch. The committee was granted a plot of land on the corner of Tuam and Oxford terrace from the Government. The committee also requested a minister be sent from Scotland. Charles Fraser was chosen and arrived in Christchurch in 1856. The original church was designed by the architect Henry John Cridland. The building was modified and enlarged a number of times between 1862 and 1986. The first addition happened around 1862 when a nave was added. At this time the original building was divided into two halves with a new nave being built between the two halves. This turned the original building's two halves into the transepts of the now larger church. A further addition was made between 1892 and 1893 when the nave was widened to allow for more seating. The church moved in 1986 from its original site opposite the Christchurch Hospital to its current home in the grounds of Rangi Ruru School.

Heritage listing

On 7 April 1983, the church was registered by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust as a Category I historic place, with the registration number being 304.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andrews Church, Christchurch Gothic Revival church buildings in New Zealand Churches in Christchurch Heritage New Zealand Category 1 historic places in Canterbury, New Zealand Churches completed in 1957 2011 Christchurch earthquake Listed churches in New Zealand 1850s architecture in New Zealand Presbyterian churches in New Zealand