Why is this place significant?

ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION: Built entirely from locally quarried limestone, with timber detailing inside and out, St Albans vicarage and adjoining chapel have rough-hewn stone walls with contrasting ashlar foundations, quoins, door and window surrounds, string courses, chimneys and buttresses (chapel only). The gabled roof forms of both buildings are sheathed in corrugated iron and another feature common to both is the extensive use of timber lined ceilings which have been laid on the diagonal. The chapel is a small building four bays in length. It stands south of the vicarage, roughly parallel to the adjacent highway. An entrance foyer projecting from the liturgical south side of the building forms a link between the chapel and vicarage and also provides external access to the former via a pair of double doors which are framed by a cross gable echoing the larger roof forms of the vicarage. Lit by large rectangular windows divided into multiple panes, the chapel has a central aisle and a slightly elevated chancel which is otherwise continuous with the main body of the church. At the liturgical west end of the building a fireplace, which has since been superseded by a pot belly stove, projects into the "nave" and is flanked by a freestanding organ. Beside the latter, on the liturgical south side of the chapel, there is also an external door which provides access to the two outhouses at the rear of the vicarage which appear to have been built to serve the churchgoers' needs. Most of the chapel's furniture and fittings have been donated by local families, including the stained glass window behind the altar which depicts three images of Christ; the Rock of the Church, "I am the Way the Truth and the Life", and the Good Shepherd. Gifted by Doug McIlraith in memory of his wife Anne, who died in 1968, the window has richly coloured stained glass set against a background of diamond shaped panes of pale cathedral glass. Decorative air vents set into the ceiling and walls provide minor ornamental accents within the chapel which is partially carpeted and has a panelled dado. St Alban's vicarage is a large two-storeyed house designed in a restrained English Revival style. Characteristic of this style are the bracketed eaves, half-timbered gable ends and the picturesque asymmetry of the exterior composition which is dominated by steeply pitched roof forms articulated by prominent bargeboards and chimneystacks. The two principal elevations of the house face north-east and north-west and both feature square bay windows crowned with hipped roofs and cast iron crestings and verandahs carried on timber posts beneath a frieze of turned spindles. A small cross gable breaks through the verandah on the north-east side of the house, thereby signalling the location of the main entrance, and it is echoed by another cross gable, crowning a first floor window above the same verandah, which lights the master bedroom. The entire house is lit by large sash windows and, where the architect has sought to emphasise the major compositional elements of the building's exterior, these are grouped in pairs or in threes, as is the case with the principal by facing north-west. Inside the vicarage the main entrance opens into a hall which extends the length of the house and features a decorative hall arch at the foot of the dog-leg stair which rises to the first floor. Two spacious living rooms open off the entrance hall in front of the hall arch, beyond which two passages at right angles to the hall provide access to the study, and thence to the chapel, and the service wing in the southern corner of the house. The main hall and stair landing are lit by leaded windows and windows of a similar design are also featured in the inglenook of the principal living room which faces north-east. An informal sitting room which is adjacent to the living room communicates with it via a serving hatch and at the rear of the house the kitchen and bathroom flank the back stair and rear exit. A lean-to projecting from the back of the house contains a meat store and washhouse. On the first floor five bedrooms are arranged around the upper landing, including the master bedroom which has an adjoining dressing room. A built-in linen cupboard and a second bathroom, which retains its original tin bath and massive overhead shower rose, are also located on this floor which is slightly elevated above the two servants' bedrooms in the service wing. The latter is unlined on both the ground and first floors and thus its internal walls reveal the limestone construction on the building. MODIFICATIONS: An internal wall was removed from the first floor of the service wing, thus converting two rooms into one. The original kitchen and scullery were probably converted to a sitting room and kitchen at the same time as the serving hatch was installed between the former and the main living room.

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This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1980. This report includes the text from the original Building Classification Committee report considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. Please note that entry on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rarangi Korero identifies only the heritage values of the property concerned, and should not be construed as advice on the state of the property, or as a comment of its soundness or safety, including in regard to earthquake risk, safety in the event of fire, or insanitary conditions. A fully referenced upgrade report is available on request from the Otago/Southland Area Office of Heritage New Zealand.