Demolishing the first St Matthew's Church, 1930

HISTORIC OCCURRENCE

LINK WITH PAST GOES. CHURCH STEEPLE DEMOLISHED.

An historic occurrence took place in town this morning about 9.45 o'clock, when the steeple of the old St. Matthew's Church, which had peeped over the tops of the nearby trees for so many decades, was brought to the ground. As the workmen tugged on the ropes attached near the top, a group of interested spectators watched the fall of the steeple. It came away cleanly, and as it crashed to the ground a heavy cloud of dust rose up.

Amongst the knot of spectators was Mr H. Bannister, who. saw the old church being built, and who helped to plant the trees on the section.

Inspecting the steeple after its fall, it was seen that the timber was in a remarkably fine state of preservation, despite its many years of exposure to the elements. The main braces show scarcely a blemish, and would probably last for a long while yet. The demolition of the historic structure is proceeding apace and will soon be completed.

INTERESTING RECOLLECTIONS.

It is interesting to recall that the section, which originally extended to Queen Street, covering an area of one acre, was purchased from the Wairarapa Small Farms Association for the sum of £5. Today the unimproved value would be somewhere round about £27,000. This estimate is based on £200 a foot for the Queen Street frontage, that figure being considered somewhere in the vicinity of the market value today. The southern boundary takes in Mr L. S. Nichol's shop, which stands on the original entrance of the church drive.

The old St. Matthew's Church was erected in 1864 by Mr P. Donald, builder. It was enlarged and consecrated ten years later (in 1874). Further additions were made from time to time, as the number of parishioners increased.

Wairarapa Daily Times, 16 January 1930, Page 4