Esther's church

The Church of the Good Shepherd at Lake Tekapo is one of the most photographed buildings in the world.
Built out of local stone, it was specifically designed to be a part of the landscape and not to impose upon it. Where many churches were built to exalt their magnificence - the Church of the Good Shepherd was to be built without disturbing anything in the area and the materials had to be from within five miles of the site.
It was built in 1935 as a memorial church commemorating early settlers.
Since then its raw beauty has drawn photographers from everywhere.
Walter Ernest Detheridge Davies had recently become the vicar of Fairlie in February 1933 and he realised it needed its own church.
He thought it in particular should have a view over the lake.
The land for the building was given by the owners of Braemar Station.
The church was designed by Christchurch architect Richard Strachan De Renzy Harman based on the drawings of Esther Hope.
Esther Barker was born in Woodbury, on August 8, 1885 to farmer John and mother Emily.
She went to Miss Bowen’s school in Christchurch and was always fascinated by art. She went to England where she attended the Slade School of Fine Art in London as well as studying at the Chelsea College of Arts.
Esther became known for her watercolour paintings of the Mackenzie Country.
She travelled as she painted in Europe and was in Brittany when the first World War began and she was initially unable to return to England.
Once she did, she drove trucks between London docks and the city, before travelling to Malta to become a Voluntary Aid Detachment She married Henry Norman Hope in 1919 and returned to New Zealand where she began exhibiting her art.
Esther prepared several drawings of a church in 1933 and they were given to the architect who used them to create a design. The church was opened in 1935.
The builders of the church were instructed that the site was to be left undisturbed, and that even the matagouri bushes surrounding the building were to remain. Rocks which happened to be on the wall line were not to be removed.
Esther’s watercolours were exhibited around the world and now her work is held in several New Zealand museums.
She died on July 16, 1975 and was cremated at the Salisbury Park Crematorium in Timaru.​