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Available Now |
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Organ music from Holy Trinity Cathedral,
played by
Eugene Lavery,
Assistant Organist |
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Click here |
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The first St Stephen's Chapel
Bishop G.A. Selwyn purchased 2½ acres (1ha) of land above Judges Bay (Taurarua) in 1844, and on it erected the first St Stephen's Chapel. Designed by The Revd. Sampson Kempthorne (1809 - 1873), CMS Missionary, it was a simple building of scoria and rubble, with buttressed walls. It was consecrated on 1st December 1844.
It collapsed during a storm in 1847, and poor workmanship was blamed at the time. More recent speculation is that the early English settlers, having no knowledge of local soil and substrata conditions, nor of the minor earthquakes which occur from time to time, built in the English manner. With very shallow foundations, the heavy buildings were prone to settle unevenly. As well, scoria, being porous volcanic rock, absorbs water, adding to the weight of the building and possibly destroying the mortar used in building it.
[Gallery]
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