LINCOLN 2ND CHURCH
Church Name: Church of the Reparation
Situated at New Headford in Shands Road
By 1880 the first church at New Headford, Shands Track, built in 1871, was found to be too small and Fr Chervier had this larger church built alongside the original church, at a cost of £2000. (In 1892 Fr Chervier said £1363/1/6.) It was dedicated by Bishop Moran of Dunedin on September 19, 1880 .
Its full name was “Sanctissimi Sacramentia Eucharistia Reparationis”, and it is referred to variously in parish returns as the Church of the Reparation and the Church of the Most Blessed Sacrament.
It was known to the largely Irish congregation as St Paddy’s and featured a large statue of St Patrick. The 1892 parish return begins “Sacred Heart and the name of the church The Reparation.” The Sacred Heart name may refer to the name of the New Headford Mission.
Plans were made to relocate the church to Lincoln in 1908, but in spite of a new presbytery being built there, this did not happen. In 1909 a bell tower was added to the front of the church by Fr Drohan MSH. The New Headford church survived until the present St Patrick’s church was opened in Lincoln in 1956, when it was sold to Mr Hubert Kraak and demolished, although some materials were used in the new church.
In the book Lake Ellesmere to Te Pirita Sarah Penney says: “Over the years at Shands Track church parishioners had disagreed about the suitability of the site of a church. Two main groups of parishioners took issue. One thought the church should remain where it was. This was known as The Plains group and comprised those living at Broadfields, West Melton, Templeton, Springston and Rolleston. The other group, The Swamps, comprised residents of Lincoln, Greenpark, Tai Tapu, Motukarara and Ladbrooks who favoured the church being centrally placed at Lincoln , where there was rail access, considered to be a desirable asset. It was the Presbytery that precipitated the final move. Conditions in the building had deteriorated to such an extent that the roof leaked, borer was prevalent in the struts and rafters and repairs were needed. Mr Henley resisted the suggestion to move the church centre. He had given generously the sum of £1000 towards the building of the Cathedral. About that same time a section of 1.6 hectares was purchased by Fr James Foley SM in Lincoln
Early in the first decade to the twentieth Century Shands Track Parish passed from the control of the Marist order to the secular clergy, the first secular priest being Fr Robert Richards. About 1906 or 1907 the Swamps group was faced with the task of raising a sum which was beyond its means, so the old church remained for some further years. The school ceased in 1903 or 1904. The church remained, the advent of the motor car making the journey of those further away less of an ordeal. The new brick church at Lincoln was built on the section bought previously.
(Photos courtesy of Marist Archives, Wellington and Lincoln Historical Society)
