Old St Mary’s

It’s clear, even in its current abandoned state, that the former St Mary’s Church in Carterton was once a beauty.
Now the church that was once the heart of a community sits alone, forlorn and looking like it had been through a fire.
From the outside it’s discoloured, stained glass windows are broken and the statue of Mary at the top is looking down on an overgrown garden.
Despite being on the main road, it feels lonely but there was a time when it was the centre of the community.
After the Christchurch earthquake, St Mary’s was assessed as unsafe and in need of extensive restructuring.
In 1876, Fr Anthony Halbwachs raised funds to build St Mary's Church in Carterton, the center town of the Wairarapa.
Halbwachs was the first parish priest in the Wairarapa. He also raised funds to build churches in Masterton, Greytown, Featherston, and Tinui.
Wellington architect Thomas Turnbull was picked to design the church.
It was built on a block of land purchased in 1867, for £146. Sited at 461 High St South, it became the centre of a growing Polish village and the first headquarters of the Wairarapa Catholic Mission Station. It originally had a 23m spire.
In 1901 when the towns from Carterton south were recognised as a separate parish. Fr Thomas Cahill was the appointed resident priest in 1904. The church was relocated a number of times and in 1932 it became the parish hall for a new larger church of ferro-concrete built for a growing congregation.
Thomas Turnbull was born in Scotland - the home of gothic style churches - on August 23, 1824 to Jeanie and Joshua Turnbull.
Both however died early in his life and he was raised by relatives. He initially went into the building trade before going to the architectural office of David Bryce in Edinburgh.
By 1851 he had gone to Australia - filled with burgeoning gold fields and began gaining experience designing churches.
He married Louisa Urie in Melbourne before the couple went to San Francisco where he worked until 1871 until he came to Wellington.
At the time Wellington was still rebuilding after a series of severe earthquakes. Turnbull advocated for structurally sound methods of building, using ideas such of iron supports and tensile reinforcing.
But his true talent lay in the gothic churches, a great many of which are still standing, such as St Peter’s and St John’s, both on Willis Street.
He also designed many Wellington buildings that showed his style, the General Assembly Library and a group of commercial buildings on the corner of Lambton Quay and Customhouse Quay, including the former National Mutual Life Association building, and the former head office of the Bank of New Zealand (1889), both strong and ornate classical designs typical of much of Turnbull's commercial architecture.
The old Kirkcaldie and Stains building and the stunning Old Bank Arcade are also his work.
Thomas died in Wellington on February 23, 1907, and is buried in Karori Cemetery.
Many of his works still stand and it’s a shame one of his churches, many of which are heritage listed, has been left to the elements.​