St Michael's and All the Angels church from the west along Lichfield Street taken soon after its construction in 1871. Source: Bridge and Hastings family records / Marion Hastings Bridge, Archive 334, p. 41 .Image: Christchurch City Libraries File Reference CCL Photo CD5, IMG0097.

The Anglican church of St. Michaels and All the Angels Church at 84 Oxford Terrace stands on the site of the first church the Canterbury Association’s settlers built in 1851.

This second church was designed by little known architect William Fitzjohn Crisp (1846 – 1924) who come out from England in 1864 to study under the guidance of the Christchurch architect, Robert Speechley. Speechley was appointed to supervise the building of George Gilbert Scott’s Christchurch Cathdral in Cathedral Square. The cornerstone for St. Michael and All Angels was laid on the Feast of St.Michael and All Angels, September 29th, 1870.

Typically Victorian Gothic, it is constructed mainly of the native wood, matai and is considered to be one of the largest churches of its kind in the southern hemisphere. Its foundations are of stone rubble. The interior decoration includes a significant collection of Victorian and Edwardian memorial stained glass windows which were created by leading English stained glass firms of the day.  There are also a number of items, such as the stone font, which were brought out in the first four ships in 1850.

Unfortunately for Crisp, he experienced problems during the construction of his design which lead to him abandoning the project and returning to England during 1871.

The view of Christchurch looking south in May 1860, with St Michael's in the centre distance, the old Land Office and Worcester Bridge in the foreground. Source: Alfred Charles Barker. Image: National Library of New Zealand, ID: 1/2-022720-F

After Crisp’s departure, the Christchurch architect, Frederick Stouts (1834 – 1919) took over his position to see the church completed in June of that year. However due to financial constraints, the chancel, belltower and spire were not completed.

St. Michael and All Angels was opened on May 2nd, 1872 and continued to act as the Pro-Cathedral (from 1856) until the Christchurch Cathedral was completed in 1881. In 1875, the chancel was finally completed.

The belfry which stands separate from the church, was designed by Christchurch’s pre-eminent Victorian Gothic Revivalist architect, Benjamin Woolfield Mountfort. The belfry was erected in 1861 to house an important bell which had been brought out by the church on the first four ships in 1850. This bell acted as Christchurch’s first time piece and was rung every hour of the day, to let the early settlement know what hour it was. It must have been a comforting sound to many settlers who were homesick for the old country.

Unlike the Christchurch Cathedral’s architect, Gilbert Scott, Crisp understood the conditions that he was building under especially as Christchurch had only just been shaken by a magnitude 5 quake centred under Addington or Spreydon on June 5th, 1869. Crisp’s architectural plans were drawn up with considerable thought to its survival in an earthquake. The construction material was chosen due to stone being unstable if subjected to earthquakes.

St Michael's and All the Angels, early 1900s. Source: Private postcard collection

A meeting for the church parishioners was held on 14th December 1869 to present the concept plans for the new church. Julius von Haast gave some scientific information; the quake had been estimated as being a magnitude of 5 and the ground shaking intensity of MMI. Unfortunately, St. John’s on Hereford Street, which was the first Anglican church in Christchurch, had been built of stone in 1864- 65 and had suffered considerable damage. It was at this church meeting that the general consensus and opinion of the vestry was that due to the chance of more earthquakes, wood rather than stone should be used in the church’s construction.

The Gothic Revival inspired school hall on the corner of Durham and Tuam Street was designed by the first Education Board architect, Thomas Cane and was completed in 1877. The other historic building on the site is the stone school building which was designed in the Collegiate Gothic style by the noted Canterbury architect Cecil Wood in 1913.

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