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From Heritage New Zealand Spring 2006

St Patrick's Day

by Karen Beker

One of Francis Petre's finer churches is receiving the attention it deserves.

St Patrick's Basilica, Waimate Photo: Courtesy of Karen Beker

“And which St Patricks church is this?” you may well ask. Enter the South Canterbury town of Waimate via the main northern entrance and one of the first sights to catch the eye is the Catholic church. St Patrick’s Basilica, a Category I registered building, is an imposing feature of the Waimate landscape, sedately perched on a rise that overlooks the township and farming hinterland. As an architecturally impressive spiritual home for the Catholic community, St Pat’s has provided an attractive landmark for the past 95 years.

Recognition of the Lombard-Romanesque structure’s national architectural importance has added impetus to the restoration project now being organised by parishioners. The architect responsible, Francis William Petre, also responsible for Christchurch’s Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament and many other churches around the country, has been described as New Zealand’s most significant neo-classical architect.

The sanctuary prior to alterations in the 1960's Photo: Courtesy of Karen Beker

The first Catholic mass in Waimate, said by the visiting Marist priest Father Jean Baptiste Chataigner, was in 1867 in the home of Larry and Sarah Tooher. The Toohers’ picturesque bluestone cottage now carries a Category II classification. The growing number of Irish settling in the Waimate district generated a desire for a permanent place of worship, and the first Catholic church in 1876.

This, a wooden structure made of timber harvested from the local Hunters Hills, could accommodate up to 200. By 1907, the local Catholic community was confidently established and construction of the Basilica began. At a cost of £6000 ($12,000), the concrete, brick and Oamaru stone church was completed in 1909, and in 1912 the imposing copper dome bell tower was added at a further cost of £1000 ($2000).

St Patrick’s Basilica at Waimate is one of a number of
significant works designed by Francis William Petre. It was the only one of his later designs to be completed to his specifications, and Petre maintained close supervision over the construction. His interest in neo-classicism is reflected in its architecture. Petre combined classical designs with permanent and local materials to create a somewhat grand Italianate edifice on what was once a very unassuming colonial landscape.

This architect had a penchant for dramatic silhouettes. St
Patrick’s is simple in design, solid in structure and incorporates frequent use of the arch. Although it does not have the aisles, in other respects it follows the form of the Roman basilica, oblong in shape with a semi-circular apse at the end.

The sanctuary as it is now. Photo: Courtesy of Karen Beker

Petre’s use of light to emphasise the fabric of this church is most notable. On entering, one is struck by its airiness. Inside, the nave is divided into four bays by the wide arches of the side window openings. At the southern end, an arch opens into the sanctuary, and there are seven beautiful stained-glass windows set high in the wall to catch the morning sun. The sacristy is sited to one side of the sanctuary to enable placement of the windows in such a way that light falls on the altar.

The floor, supported by concrete piles, was originally tongue-and-groove boarding. Large concrete columns support the organ loft and choir gallery above the main entrance of the nave.

Access to loft and gallery is by a cast-iron spiral staircase. The church’s Hobday organ was the last built by Arthur A. Hobday, in 1922, and some experts consider it one of his finest. Restoration, at a cost of $70,000, was completed in 1996. The organ is registered under the New Zealand Antiquities Act, and was gifted to the church by the local Hanley family in 1917.

Seven beautiful stained glass windows overlook the sanctuary. Photo: Courtesy of Karen Beker

Francis William Petre was born in Lower Hutt in August 1847. The Petres were an old and notable English Catholic family, once residing at Thorndon Hall in Essex. Petre’s grandfather, the 11th Baron of Essex, had been a director
of the original New Zealand Company, constituted in 1839 in
accordance with the vision of Edward Gibbon Wakefield. His father, Henry Petre, first came out to New Zealand with the main body of Company settlers, landing at Port Nicholson from the Oriental early in 1840.

At the time of his son’s birth, Henry Petre was farming in
the Hutt Valley. He decided to return to England in 1855 for his family’s education. Francis Petre was educated at a Jesuit College in Derbyshire before spending two years as a naval cadet at Portsmouth. He spent time at school in France, and on return attended Ushaw College in Durham.
Petre’s initial ambition was to be a sculptor but instead he was articled, in 1864, to a London firm of engineers and
naval architects. In 1872, he came out to New Zealand as a supervisory engineer for John Brogden & Sons, English
railway contractors. In 1875, F. W. Petre established his own practice as architect and engineer, based in Dunedin.

Described as “controlled and chaste”, Petre’s first major design was of Dunedin’s St Dominic’s Priory, built in 1877 for the Dominican Sisters. The convent remains a tribute to his early engineering skill. Gothic in style, his revolutionary choice to use reinforced concrete remained a characteristic of his architecture. Several of his other New Zealand churches have undergone extensive restoration. He also designed a number of convents, schools, commercial houses and private residences, one being the Italianate villa built for E. B. Cargill on the high cliffs overlooking Otago Harbour.

During this time the architect met and married the
owner’s daughter, Margaret Cargill, and proceeded to
father 12 children.

The Waimate St Patrick’s Church Restoration Trust has set itself an ambitious target, giving exterior maintenance and structural repairs priority. Work on the interior of the church is also anticipated. A total of approximately $340,000 is needed for stage one and stage two. A further $75,000 is estimated for stage three, the repainting of the church interior.

Frances William Petre, 1847-1918. Photo: Courtesy of Karen Beker

As a result of substantial grants, donations and fund raising already undertaken by parishioners, stage one of the restoration work is now complete, and in March a thanksgiving Mass was held to mark this achievement.The church is now secured for future generations. Restoration Trust Chairman John Foley is thrilled with the result and said that the Trust would endeavour to push ahead with fund-raising to completion of stage two and stage three.

It was not coincidental that this thanksgiving Mass was held following St Patrick’s Day. Overseeing the entrances and exits of priests, parishioners and liturgical fashions in the church is a statue of St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. One can but hope that the old saint’s blessing will continue to fall upon those working “to direct and enrich our future by using wisely the heritage of our past” was built.