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The Nelson Photo News

 

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The completed cathedral

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A coloured coat of arms, with a Maori motif, above the gallery.

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Since 1851, when the first Christ Church was erected on Church Hill, the church has dominated the landscape. Today, 116 years later, the all-but completed cathedral still dominates the centre of Nelson city. The completion of the cathedral, begun in 1925, is scheduled for the end of this month. While we cannot hope to cover the history of building progress of the cathedral parish in so little space, we have endeavoured here to give a background to the development of it from the time the first services were held in the first church in 1851 to the present time. In brief, the first church was erected in 1851 and it was enlarged in 1858 by adding 24ft to the south end. This stood until 1887 when the first "cathedral" was erected (in the short space of three months). By 1916 the building was beginning to show its age, but it was not until 1925 that work commenced on the new cathedral. This remained uncompleted but in 1962 work commenced on the first stage of completion. In the latest work, alterations were made to the roof and the entrance, and new vestries, chancel, sanctuary, trancepts and a 114ft tower were built. The cost of this work has been about £94,000.

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The cathedral, as originally planned, was to have looked like this. But, because of earthquake risk and other factors, the erection of this type of tower was prohibited. Aesthetically, the old design was nuch the better, but the building costs, especially today, would hare been astronomical and maintenance costs also very high. At left is the cathedral viewed from the entrance today.

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The design of the first cathedral planned in 1885 and erected in 1887

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The old cathedral viewed from the church steps

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The interior of the old cathedral and its Easter decorations

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The old and the new. The new cathedral under construction and a section of the old cathedral, without its tower, at the northern end.

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A blrd's eye view of the new sanctuary.

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Final touches were still being added to this (and the western) trancept when this picture was taken last month.