Saint Hilda's Collegiate School is a secondary school for girls in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, New Zealand.

History

Founded as an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

school in 1896 by the first bishop of Dunedin, Bishop

Samuel Nevill Samuel Tarratt Nevill (13 May 183729 October 1921), was the first Anglican Bishop Anglican Diocese of Dunedin, of Dunedin, before becoming Primate of New Zealand. Life A Nevill baronets#Nevill baronets, of Grove (1675), scion of the House of Nevil ...

and staffed by the

Sisters of the Church The Community of the Sisters of the Church is a religious order of women in various Anglican provinces who live the vowed life of poverty, chastity and obedience. In 2012 the order had 105 sisters living in community, together with an extensive n ...

. The sisters withdrew from the school in the 1930s. St Hilda's is the only school of the

Anglican Diocese of Dunedin The Diocese of Dunedin is one of the thirteen dioceses and ''hui amorangi'' (Māori bishoprics) of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. The diocese covers the same area as the provinces of Otago and Southland in the South Is ...

. It is integrated into the New Zealand state school system. It has a roll of approximately 450 girls with around one third of the school being boarders from both around New Zealand and overseas. The school is named after

Saint Hilda Hilda (or Hild) of Whitby (c. 614 – 680) was a Christian saint and the founding abbess of the monastery at Whitby, which was chosen as the venue for the Synod of Whitby in 664. An important figure in the Christianisation of Anglo-Saxon Engla ...

, a 7th-century English abbess remembered for the influential role she played in the

Synod of Whitby In the Synod of Whitby in 664, King Oswiu of Northumbria ruled that his kingdom would calculate Easter and observe the monastic tonsure according to the customs of Rome rather than the customs practiced by Irish monks at Iona and its satellite ins ...

. Saint Hilda is considered one of the patron saints of learning and culture, including poetry. Occupying a site bounded by Cobden Street, Heriot Row and Royal Terrace, the original buildings have been demolished and the site redeveloped from the mid 20th century. Some of the new buildings were designed by

Ted McCoy Edward John McCoy (23 February 1925 – 17 January 2018), generally known as Ted McCoy, was a New Zealand architect whose practice was based in Dunedin. He designed the sanctuary of St Paul's Cathedral (completed 1970), and the Richardson (form ...

. The chapel includes copies of windows from the first chapel.

Notable alumni and staff

* Fiona J. McDonald, graduate * Bessie Te Wenerau Grace, staff * *

Louise Petherbridge Louise Durant Petherbridge (née Harris, born 1931), is a New Zealand actor, director, deviser, producer and lecturer. Early life Born in Dunedin, New Zealand, Petherbridge attended St Hilda's Collegiate and the University of Otago, graduat ...

- actor and director

References

External links

* Girls' schools in New Zealand Boarding schools in New Zealand Secondary schools in Dunedin Educational institutions established in 1896 1896 establishments in New Zealand Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia {{NewZealand-school-stub