1890: St Andrews Church of Loburn

January 23, 2024

By AHNZ

St Andrew’s Church at Loburn, North Canterbury, was opened on 26 October 1890. It burned to the ground last Friday the 19th of January 2024.

The final service in the church was held in December 2006. Ref. Waimakariri Libraries

Or, perhaps it was November 2006. Ref. The Press, National Library

Loburn itself kicked off in 1851, the school established in May 1880 which was used as a church by the Presbertarians until they built their own. However, this congregation must be even older than that as according to M. Mosley’s Illustrated Guide to Christchurch and Neighbourhood (1885) a church was opened in May 1875. Ref. Mosley (1885,) NZ Electronic Texts Collection

Scottish migrants, the Carmichael family, donated the land for St Andrews. One of these farming brothers, Alfred, was married to the daughter of St Andrew’s Minister of its first 5 years, Reverend Richard Tout. Their farm was called Arthurstone and the villa dates from c.1891 too. So, evidently Loburn was well represented by a Scots community of pioneers from the get go along with the other nations. An Anglican and Catholic church still survive. But Loburn is itself a Scottish name as was the founder of the district, John Macfarlane. Ref. 1851: Loburn, AHNZ

Friday’s fire did not destroy Arthurstone’s historic house, just the out-buildings. But the little 1890 church nestled on 3 sides by tall hedges is gone now. Ref. Arthurstone, Bayleys.co.nz

“THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, Loburn, dates from 1890. It originally belonged to the Sefton charge, and was transferred to the care of the minister at Rangiora in 1895. The church is of wood and iron, with a schoolroom attached, and has seating accommodation for seventy adults; the Sunday school is attended by forty children, in charge of four teachers. The building is erected on a section of three-quarters of an acre of land, presented by the Carmichael family.” – The Cyclopedia of New Zealand (1903,) NZ Electronic Texts Collection

“I’m no gardener but had noticed this year how their cottage garden and their church home had started to take on the vision they intended. It was gorgeous.

Heart breaking to loose a home, precious belongings and memories. ” – Esme Whinwray, Facebook (2024)

“The loss of the deconsecrated church disturbs me particularly. Since we moved here, I have watched the restoration progress with interest. I coveted their magnificent gates and I applauded the transformation of the long neglected square of nothing in front of the church into a colourful cottage garden. On Wednesday I admired a particularly lovely, prolific lemon daylily and contemplated popping in and asking for a piece. How quickly life can be upended…One of the reasons the little church had such a bouffant kalaidescope of a garden was the thick shelter on three sides; the turpentine-loaded macrocarpa hedges in that area are probably as old as the church itself.” – Heartfelt Peonies, Facebook (2024)

St Andrew’s as I knew it in the 2010s was a quiet deconsecrated little plot of land. I lived within walking distance and would make it a recreational destination sometimes. As with usual historical or Ghost Busters/Scooby Doo adjacent things nobody else wanted to tag along for the adventure. I looked deeply into the hedges for signs archaeological evidence and found none. Could not see inside the building and the doors were locked. All I could do was to imagine what a special and sacred place it had been for most of New Zealand’s history. How many sermons, weddings, funerals had this little plot served? But now its people had receded and left it behind.

Then one day it appeared on the market for private sale. Some time before the Christchurch Earthquakes of 2011. Unfortunately I didn’t keep or have lost the records of this. Nor can I find any other photos except this one (left.)

The old church did sell and according to social media it had, this summer, just started taking on the appearance of being a home with a garden come to life.

My great grandfather was once in charge of the Sefton Presbyterian church (St Luke’s, est. 1873) up the road which itself was once the headquarters from which St Andrew’s was subordinate. His old church was made of brick and has also had a new life as a private home. So, I have a bit of empathy for the old Presbertarian Kiwis and their retreating infrastructure. Great grandad’s next church was Edendale, a now vanished suburb of Auckland better known as Balmoral. This too had receded and become a Hindu temple. Ref. AHNZ (2017)

Adding to the fatality list, St Andrew’s Blaketown. It has been claimed by Wokesters and turned into a big pink LGBTQIA+ cult HQ. Ref. 1939: St Andrew’s Blaketown, AHNZ

It’s upsetting to see them go down like that. Burned, colonised, and desecrated. The church fell apart because of high-ranking insiders such as William Salmond and Lloyd Geering. I have to remind myself that this isn’t my faith, isn’t my community, isn’t my fight. I wouldn’t even know I had these roots if I didn’t dig them up academically. But I do feel it deeply and am glad to now be able to identify those feelings by finding out for myself. But when it comes to these historic churches and the old faith crumbling all there is to do is watch and record.

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Img ref. St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church; Nicks Place; flickriver.com

Image Ref. St Andrew’s abandoned, AHNZ Archives (2009)

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