Knox Presbyterian Church

 “Behold, I have set before thee an open door and no man can shut it.” (ref. Miss Bernice Shackleton: The Ever Open Door A Century of Worship 1874-1974)

There was an old saying that if you put “Mac” in front of your name you were sure of a job within the Waimate district. With this settler ‘CV’ emphasis on Scottish heritage it was only natural the Presbyterian church would flourish, and it did.

In 1871 the pioneering minister Rev. George Barclay had proposed the building of the first Presbyterian church in Waimate and, under the leadership of a Scotsman from Forfarshire, local farmer John Cochrane, a committee of several Presbyterian settler families organised the build.

On that committee was James Bruce who drew up the plans and specifications for the church advocating the use of native timber from the Waimate forest in its construction.  Seasoned totara was supplied from Mr. Bruce’s local mill.  The plain wooden building with its ‘lofty lines’ and steep shingle peaked roof, its tall narrow windows, porch, and bell tower stood on the edge of the Waimate Bush and could seat 200 people. It was opened in August 1874.

“It must have been quite a sight to see parishioners arrive in their buggies, gigs and drays, some on horseback, and others on foot. There were no streets in Waimate at this stage, except on Queen Street and High Street.”

The Waimate Bush fire of 1878 burnt down as far as Shearman and Manse Streets but the church buildings, located just beyond the fringe of the flames, remained untouched.  The fire destroyed the thriving timber industry that had been supplying wood for the construction boom occurring in these early days of colonial settlement.  Families were forced to leave Waimate district. Others managed to find employment in farming; work that seemed to suit the Scottish migrants.

On March 12, 1934, sixty years on from the laying of the foundation stone of the first church, the foundation stone of the new church was put in place. The decision had been made to demolish the original wooden church and build a new church made of stone. The foundation stone from the first church would be set in the wall of the apse of the new church.

The current Knox church opened for worship in 1935 and was capable of seating 300. The new church was built of Waimate grey river-bed stone, most of the stone taken from the riverbed near McCullough’s Bridge, but provision was made for the inclusion of stone from the Waituna and Hook districts served by the church. The building was solidly buttressed, in what has been regarded by some as colonial Gothic, and the lower tower was crowned with a spire. Native timber preserved from the original Gothic style church (built in 1876) was incorporated in the new building. Some concessions to ancestral allegiances were required as slate for the roof came from Wales.

The walls of the interior were white plaster without much ornamentation, but the timbered ceiling and the great arched totara rafters were preserved from the original church, and depicted a Celtic-Nordic influence brought with the Scottish settlers. Wood from the first church was selected and used in the new communion table. Also salvaged was the circular window that has as its centrepiece a picture of a burning bush (the emblem chosen by the settler church). This window now resides on the east wall and sits above six memorial windows near the entrance to the church.        

The Presbyterian community in Waimate has endeavoured to adapt to the needs of a changing world, a society quite different from that of the settler families who attended the inaugural service held in their first church in 1874. Knox Church remains a fully operational church, a place where parishioners continue to open its sturdy wooden doors every Sunday. 

References

Waimate Knox Presbyterian Church for research information

Shackleton, Bernice: The Ever Open Door A Century of Worship 1874-1974, 1974

The Waimate Advertiser

Waimate Museum and Archives

K. Beker (photographs and research material)