{{Use New Zealand English|date=January 2021}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}} {{Infobox church | name = Holy Trinity Avonside | full_name = | image = Holy Trinity Avonside.jpg | landscape = | caption = Holy Trinity Avonside in 2008, prior to its 2011 demolition | coordinates = {{coord|-43.5266|172.6586|region:NZ_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} | location = Linwood, Christchurch | country = New Zealand | denomination = | previous_denomination = Anglican | website = {{URL|holytrinityavonside.nz}} | former_name = | founded = | founder = | dedication = | dedicated = | consecrated = 1857 | events = 2011 Christchurch earthquake | status = Church (former) | functional_status = Demolished | heritage_designation = Category I | designated = 16 November 1989 | architect = | architectural_type =Gothic Revival style | style = | groundbreaking = | completed = | construction_cost = | closed = February 2011 | demolished = September 2011 | capacity = | length = <!-- {{convert|}}--> | width = <!-- {{convert|}}--> | height = <!-- {{convert|}}--> | materials = | parish = | deanery = | archdeaconry = | archdiocese = | diocese = | province = | district = | division = }} '''Holy Trinity Avonside''' was a heritage-listed Anglican church located in the Avonside Parish,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Holy Trinity Church—Avonside Parish |url=https://www.anglicanlife.org.nz/church/holy-trinity-church-avonside-parish/ |access-date=2025-06-24 |website=Anglican Life |language=en-US}}</ref> Christchurch, New Zealand. It was registered as a "Historic Place – Category I" by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust. The church building was "damaged beyond the point of repair" in the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake and was demolished the following September.
==History== thumb|left|The original Avonside Church in ca 1857 thumb|right|The 1876 part of the church, designed by Mountfort, collapsed while repairs were under way The Parish of the Most Holy Trinity Avonside was established in 1855, with the first service held in the Rev. Charles Mackie's home "Stricklands".<ref name=council>{{cite web|title=Church of the Holy Trinity, Avonside|publisher=Christchurch City Libraries|url=http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/heritage/Photos/Disc9/IMG0085.asp|accessdate=13 March 2011}}</ref> The first service was held in a church building designed by Charles Edward Fooks and made of cob at Christmas Day 1855, but the church was only consecrated on 24 February 1857;<ref name=register>{{cite web|title=Holy Trinity Church (Anglican) |work=The Register|publisher=New Zealand Historic Places Trust|url=http://www.historic.org.nz/TheRegister/RegisterSearch/RegisterResults.aspx?RID=3113 | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20110724200619/http://www.historic.org.nz/TheRegister/RegisterSearch/RegisterResults.aspx?RID=3113 | archivedate = 24 July 2011 |accessdate=11 September 2012}}</ref><ref name="Press July 2011" /> it was the first Anglican church in Canterbury consecrated by Bishop Harper.<ref>{{cite news|title=Consecration of Avonside Church |url= http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=LT18570228.2.9 |accessdate=10 September 2012|newspaper=Lyttelton Times|volume=VII |issue=451 |date=28 February 1857|page=6}}</ref> The land for the church had been provided by John and Elizabeth Stace, who had arrived in Lyttelton on the ''Nugent'' in 1851.<ref name="Press July 2011" /> Architect Benjamin Mountfort, a parishioner, designed additions to the church including a bell tower and timber vestry in 1869.<ref name=register/> Around 1873, further Mountfort-designed additions included a stone chancel and transepts. In 1905 the original cob building was replaced by a stone nave designed by Mountfort's son Cyril Mountfort. In 1953–1954 the west end of the church was extended, removing the remaining pre-1870s part of the building.<ref name=register/>
The church received damage in the 2010 Canterbury earthquake. Repairs were under way when the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake struck, when the church building suffered major damage including collapse of the chancel and most of the transepts.<ref name=bowron>{{cite web|author=Bowron, Hugh |title=Earthquake Report |date=27 February 2011 |url=http://www.holytrinityavonside.co.nz/EarthquakeReport27Feb2011.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110313234621/http://www.holytrinityavonside.co.nz/EarthquakeReport27Feb2011.pdf |url-status=dead|archive-date=13 March 2011 |publisher=Parish of the Most Holy Trinity Avonside |accessdate=13 March 2011 }}</ref> The church was "damaged beyond the point of repair".<ref>{{cite web|title=February Quake |url=http://www.holytrinityavonside.co.nz/html/februaryquake.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110302222130/http://www.holytrinityavonside.co.nz/html/februaryquake.html |url-status=dead|archive-date=2 March 2011 |publisher=Parish of the Most Holy Trinity Avonside |accessdate=16 March 2011 }}</ref> Workers repairing damage on the inside of the 1876 Mountfort-designed part of the church were having lunch outside when this part of the building collapsed.<ref>{{cite web|title=Church 1876 |url=http://www.holytrinityavonside.co.nz/html/church_1876.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110302222122/http://www.holytrinityavonside.co.nz/html/church_1876.html |url-status=dead|archive-date=2 March 2011 |publisher=Parish of the Most Holy Trinity Avonside |accessdate=16 March 2011 }}</ref> The church was demolished in September 2011 amidst much controversy. Heritage advocates claimed that the church was of higher importance than ChristChurch Cathedral and more should have been done to try and save it, or it should have at least been dismantled by hand to save important architectural features like the ceilings, but instead diggers smashed everything up. Bishop Victoria Matthews defended the demolition, stating that her "priority has to be humans and the safety of the community. It wasn't the time to take chances." A time capsule containing the words of the consecration was recovered from underneath the nave.<ref name=demolition>{{cite news|last=Gates|first=Charlie|title=Demolition of historic Trinity Church's an 'absolute sacrilege'|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch-earthquake-2011/5688653/Churchs-hasty-demo-absolute-sacrilege|accessdate=27 September 2011|newspaper=The Press|date=27 September 2011|page=A2}}</ref>
==Graveyard== The church graveyard is the burial place of some prominent Cantabrians including: * Joseph Brittan (1805–1867), surgeon, newspaper editor, and provincial councillor * James Arthur Flesher (1865–1930), Mayor of Christchurch<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~ashleigh/1870-1908/1930.August.Christchurch.Press.Snippets.html |title=Christchurch ''Press'' August 1930 – Snippets |last=Evans |first=Beverley |accessdate=20 February 2010 |archive-date=9 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609183754/http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~ashleigh/1870-1908/1930.August.Christchurch.Press.Snippets.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> * Julius von Haast (1822–1887), explorer and geologist<ref name=register/> * Cyril Mountfort (1852–1920), architect<ref name="Press July 2011">{{cite news|last=Crean|first=Mike|title=Anguish over unique church|newspaper=The Press |date=30 July 2011|page=C12}}</ref> * Benjamin Mountfort (1825–1898), architect, father of Cyril<ref name=register/> * William Rolleston (1831–1903), Superintendent of Canterbury Province<ref name=register/> * George Warren Russell (1854–1937), Minister of Health during the 1918 flu pandemic<ref name="Avonside Cemetery Tour">{{cite web|last=Greenaway|first=Richard L. N.|title=Avonside Anglican Parish Cemetery Tour|url= http://library.christchurch.org.nz/heritage/cemeteries/avonside/AvonsideParishCemetery.pdf |publisher=Christchurch City Libraries|accessdate=13 August 2011|page=19 |date=June 2007}}</ref>
There is one Commonwealth war grave, of a New Zealand soldier of World War I.<ref>{{cite web|title=James Thomas Irwin|url=http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/642327/IRWIN,%20JAMES%20THOMAS|publisher=Commonwealth War Graves Commission access date 16 December 2016}}CWGC Casualty record.</ref>
==Heritage listing== On 16 November 1989, the church was registered by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust as a Category I historic place, with the registration number being 3113. Among Mountfort's churches, it is significant as it is his first Anglican stone church. The graveyard is also significant for the number of important people buried there. The parish was one of the first to be established in Christchurch.<ref name=register />
==References== {{Reflist}} {{commons category|Holy Trinity Church (New Zealand)}}
Category:Gothic Revival church buildings in New Zealand Category:Religious buildings and structures in Christchurch Category:Heritage New Zealand Category 1 historic places in the Canterbury Region Category:Cemeteries in Christchurch Category:Churchyards in New Zealand Category:Anglican cemeteries in New Zealand Category:Burials at Holy Trinity Avonside Category:Buildings and structures demolished as a result of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake Category:Former Anglican church buildings in New Zealand Category:Benjamin Mountfort church buildings Category:Christianity in Christchurch Category:Listed churches in New Zealand Category:1850s churches in New Zealand Category:Stone churches in New Zealand