The Nave - Northern Side
York Glass
The York Glass was presented to the Cathedral by the Archbishop of York to mark the Cathedral’s Centenary on 1 November, 1981. The panel contains pieces of glass from the 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 17th, 18th and 19th centuries and was mounted as a centenary gift by the girls and staff of St Margaret’s College. The Archbishop of York, Dr Stuart Blanch, was a guest for the Centenary.
Hawdon Memorial Window
This window in the west wall was the first memorial window installed in the Cathedral. Being near the font it features baptismal subjects, the left light displaying St John the Baptist and the right Philip in the act of baptising the Ethiopian (Acts 8:38). The Hawdon crest is incorporated in the trefoil lights.
The Hon Joseph Hawdon was born in England but emigrated first to Australia. Arriving in Canterbury in the early 1850s, he took up land at Craigieburn. The Hawdon River and Lake Hawdon now bearing his name.
The brass panel on the right is to the memory of Sarah Elizabeth Hawdon, elder daughter of Dr A.C. Barker. Dr Barker arrived in the ship Charlotte Jane and Sarah was the first child born to the pioneers on 15 March 1851. She married a son of Joseph Hawdon.
Rhodes Memorial - The Tower and Spire
In the north wall under the tower is a marble tablet with this inscription: “This tower was erected by Robert Heaton Rhodes, in memory of his brother, George Rhodes.” The spire was erected to the memory of their father by the children of George Rhodes, 1881. The Cathedral is indebted to the Rhodes family for the tower, the spire, eight bells, a memorial window, and renovations to the tower as required. The family settled in Canterbury before the arrival of the First Four Ships: Mr George Rhodes in 1847 and Mr Robert Heaton Rhodes in 1848.
After attending a morning service in June 1901, the Duke of Cornwall and his wife (King George V and Queen Mary) came back to the Cathedral to climb the tower and see the view. Since then, thousands of people have done the same thing.
The top of the spire was damaged in three earthquakes and after the last one, in 1901, the stonework was replaced by a wooden frame covered in copper sheeting. This is the green portion seen from the
outside. Repairs were financed by members of the Rhodes family. The tower is 36 metres high and the spire 27 metres, making it 63 metres from ground level to the cross at the top.
Cathedral Bells
The Christ Church Cathedral Association of Bellringers, hard at work.
There were originally ten bells, with a weight of almost seven tons, and they were cast by Messrs John Taylor & Co of Loughborough, England, only a short time after they had made the bells for St Paul’s Cathedral, London. The first peal was rung on 9 September 1881. The Christchurch Cathedral Society of Bellringers was founded in 1880 and was the southernmost Society in the world until 1975, when a peal was installed in First Church, Dunedin.
In the late 1970s, the wooden frame in which the bells were hung was in urgent need of repair or replacement. It was decided to have a larger peal of less weight and thirteen new bells also cast at Taylors of Loughborough, were unpacked in front of the Cathedral on 8 November 1878. They were rung for the first time on Christmas Day 1978. These bells still hang in the tower, the heaviest weighing 25 hundredweight (approx. 1,250kg). A massive steel frame was installed in place of the original structure of 1881.
A plaque beside the tower door gives details of the Cathedral bells (visible from the tower stairs).
Visitors, ringers and non-ringers alike, are always welcome into the ringing chamber, please see the Bell Ringers page in the Music section for more information.
The Stanley Font and Cover
The font, designed by Mountfort for Dean Stanley of Westminster Abbey, is of white Castle Hill stone with four columns of blue-grey Hoon Hay stone. It was given by the Dean in memory of his brother, Captain Owen Stanley of HMS Britomart, who reached Akaroa just before the French settlers arrived in 1840. Dean Stanley wrote the verse on the north side. The verse however is not historically correct as sovereignty had already been proclaimed over the South Island on 17 June 1840.
The font cover is of New Zealand wood, designed and executed by Mr Andrew Swanston of Christchurch under the supervision of Mountfort while the tasks of cutting, planing, and fitting were completed by Thomas Marriott, several times Master Bellringer. It is in the memory of Francis Grellier Stedman, lay reader and church worker and Registrar of Canterbury College from 1876 to 1891.
Tancred Memorial Window
The memorial windows above the Fylfot Mural are to the memory of Sir Thomas Tancred, Bart, an early settler. Sir Thomas was a member of the Provincial Council from its inception to its dissolution, Deputy-Superintendent twice and Speaker of the Council three times. He was also a prominent Member of Parliament for many years.
The window shows medallions of saints; the left light showing St Matthias and St James the Less; the centre St Michael, St Mary Magdalene, St Ethelreda (with a model of the nunnery she founded in her hand); the right light St Jude and St Simon.
At the base of the windows in the north and south walls of the nave are the Arms of various dioceses in England at the time this Cathedral was constituted. They form a link between the Mother Church and the colonies. The Arms in the Tancred window are those of the dioceses of Lincoln, Ely and Peterborough.
Fylfot Mural
On the north wall, a large mural dado of inlaid marble and encaustic tiles, a gift of the Cathedral Guild in 1885. This mural has often provoked public comment because of the inclusion in the geometric design of numerous swastika-like symbols. The date of the gift rebuts any suggestion that the designer intended any connection with the German Nazis, and indicates that the symbol is a "fylfot" - a Sanskrit word describing an equal-armed cross of which each arm is continued rectangularly. The name is thought to be based on an ancient direction for the design of a painted window, in which fylfot may mean either the particular pattern or something to fill the foot of the window. The symbol is commonly found in ancient Christian art and has acquired, in theological thought, the sanctity of its use.
Mural Dado
The mural dado of inlaid marble and encaustic tiles, was the offering of the Cathedral Union in 1885. The Cathedral Union was a society organised about 1881 by Bishop Harper for the spiritual advancement of its members.
Memorial Mural
This mural of inlaid marble and encaustic tiles is dedicated to the memory of Isaac Luck, partner and brother-in-law of Mountfort. In 1865 he was chairman of the Christchurch Town Council.
Rhodes Memorial Window
The Rhodes Memorial Window is to the memory of Robert Heaton Rhodes, an early pastoralist of Purau. He was a member of the Provincial Council 1853-62 and 1869-70 and represented Akaroa in Parliament 1871-74. The subjects of the first light are The Return of the Prodigal Son; the second the full-length figure of St John the Evangelist; the third Christ blessing the children. The diocesan Arms are those of Gloucester/Bristol, Hereford and Worcester.
The Harper Memorial Window
This window is in memory of Emily, first wife of the first Bishop of Christchurch. The first light shows the call of Nathaniel, John 1:48; the next a full-length figure of Christ in the act of Blessing; and the third the raising of Dorcas, Acts 9:36. “She spent all her time doing good and helping the poor.” The Arms of the dioceses of Winchester, Rochester and Salisbury are shown at the base.
Greenwood Memorial Window
This window is in memory of James and Joseph Greenwood, two of Canterbury’s earliest settlers, who took possession of land at Motunau and Purau in 1843. The first light shows Joseph minding the sheep and seeing his vision of the sheaves; the centre contains full length figures of Our Lord and St Peter; and the third shows David minding sheep and seeing a vision of God. The Arms are those of the dioceses of Manchester, Ripon and Carlisle.
Pyatt Tukutuku Memorial
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This traditional Maori art work is made of Kie Kie (native flax), leather and rimu wood. It was carved and woven by many hands, including craftsmen from Rolleston Prison, directed by Mae Taurua, a Lay Canon of this Cathedral. Much of the weaving took place here, with worshippers and visitors from many countries adding their stitches to the design. |
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| In that way, the artwork celebrates the Maori proverb on the memorial plaque alongside which translates as: “What is the most important thing in life? It is people, people, people.” The outer panels depict Roimata - the splashing of tears, the memorial and redemption of loved ones. The inner panels depict Poutama - the stairway to heaven. The red colouring points to the feathers of the red breasted parrot, worn as a mark of chieftainship by the kakakura. This refers both to the memory of Allan Pyatt, fifth Bishop of Christchurch, and in wider context to Christ, the paramount chief of his people. |
Wall Panels
These memorial panels are a collection of memorials to those who have served the Cathedral. Under the Greenwood window and extending to the left under the Harper window are memorials to men and women who have given long service to the Cathedral. The memorial to the Revd F.G. Brittan depicts the First Four Ships, as Mr Brittan was the last survivor of that band of pilgrims.
Selwyn Memorial Pulpit
The Selwyn Memorial Pulpit, one of the outstanding features of the Cathedral. It commemorates George Augustus Selwyn, the first and only Bishop of New Zealand, whose see comprised the whole of the country and also the islands of Melanesia.
Born in 1809 and educated at Eton and Cambridge, Bishop Selwyn was ordained in 1833 and consecrated bishop in 1841. He came to New Zealand both to administer the Anglican Church and to Christianise the Maori. His intellectual and physical feats in discharging his duties were prodigious. He subsequently became the 19th Bishop of Lichfield, England, in 1868, and on his death Selwyn College, Cambridge, was founded in his memory. His son John was the second Bishop of Melanesia (from 1877 to 1889) and later Master of Selwyn College.
The pulpit was designed and constructed under the direction of Mountfort. It is wholly of various stone found in the diocese and was first used on All Saints’ Day, 1884. The sculptures were prepared by John Roddis of Aston, Birmingham and R.L. Clark, another English sculptor, completed the work from Mr Roddis’ models. They illustrate scenes in the life of Bishop Selwyn. The first panel from the north side shows Selwyn preaching to the Maori. The second panel represents the Bishop’s welcome to Bishop Harper, first Bishop of Christchurch, on 24 December 1856. Mrs Harper and some of their children accompany the Bishop. The third panel shows Bishop Selwyn, with upraised hand, standing at the door of St Stephen’s Chapel, Parnell, on 13 June 1857 after the signing of the deed which gave the Anglican Church of New Zealand its own constitution. The last panel depicts the Consecration of Bishop Patterson in Auckland.
