St Paul’s Church at Rangiaowhia
A window through which the residents of the settlement of Rangiaowhia looked, is in place after critical restoration work.
Reverend Julie Guest at St Paul’s Church on Rangiaowhia Rd in front of the stained-glass window which has been refurbished.
Christchurch based conservators have restored the 170-year-old window at the altar of St Paul’s Anglican Church on Rangiaowhia Road midway between Te Awamutu and Cambridge, to its rightful place.
The church opened in 1856, welcoming worshippers from Rangiaowhia who were driven from the land by the British Army in the New Zealand Wars in February 1864.
The window was removed more than a year ago by Stewart Stained Glass after cracks appeared in the enamel and the wooden frame.
New Zealand’s youngest stained glass window conservator Izaac Randell, 29, in the proves of removing the stained glass. Photos: Supplied.
Parish priest Julie Guest was delighted to see the window restored and its temporary vinyl replacement was removed after the parish raised $80,000 for the project.
“As one of the restoration team said, it’s so much more dynamic when the light shines through,” she said.
“The team created a printed replica of the window which has been in place for the year while we continued to fund-raise the cost of repair. The replica was amazing, but not very transparent so the whole church was darker.”
Meanwhile, the parish has raised enough money to replace copper spouting stolen from the old church, one of the Waikato’s two category one historic buildings.
The parish insurance company has agreed to reroof the church office which had copper stolen at the end of last year.
Guest said plans for similar work at St John’s Anglican Church had been parked.
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The original Rangiaowhia window showing its beauty and brightness- but not the major work required to repair cracks and wear. It is now back in place.
The historic stained-glass window at St Paul’s Anglican Church has been restored at a cost of $80,000.
