Hero photograph
 
Photo by SBC

Reflections - The Main Building and the North wing

Jacqui Anderson —

With the move from Ferry Road and a change of name from St Bede’s Collegiate School to St Bede’s College...

the land purchased in Papanui, opposite the tram station needed a building to school the boys and house them.

The original Main building of the school was started in 1919 and would open in 1920, a three-story brick English Gothic style built by William Taylor that although would look plain, would have intricate plaster work on the windows and cornices.

When the school opened in 1920, it was a lonely building and to gain access to it, one had to drive up a cart track. The building stood alone in the middle of a “weed infested paddock”.

Image by: SBC

 There are different memories from the first students of this new school. Thaddeus McCarthy, one of the first boarders from the North Island recalls “the building was not yet finished, there were no playing fields, paths nor trees. A cold westerly blew, there was no heating and a shortage of money. Basil Blake on the other hand, who had been a pupil at Ferry Road said “Though we missed the intimacy of a small school we found the new school warm and comfortable”.

Although stark, the school thrived. At the time, of building the first part of the school, the Founders of St Bede’s in their optimism decided that they were building not just for the present, but also for the future. Although some thought this optimism extremely rash, it was rewarded far sooner than anyone believed “Never did they dream that three short years after its completion their college would be unable to accommodate the students seeking admission”. In 1923, with World War One in the past and the Great Depression in the future, the school had two options, turn pupils away or build a new building.

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The option of turning boys away was never entertained and with a tender of just under £ 8000 given by Messrs Scott and Son, and the architectural expertise of Mr St. A Murray the build of the North Wing was started in October 1923. With a roll now of 105 boarders, three cottages had to be used for some of the boys to live in. While these were great in summer, as winter came along, they were extremely uncomfortable. Luckily enough for the boys, it was at a time before Health and Safety and they were allowed to move in to the new dormitories, even though they were incomplete.

In 1925, there was a country wide outbreak of Infantile Paralysis, commonly known as Polio, which claimed the lives of 173 people, New Zealand’s highest ever death toll from this disease. and left others with a permanent limp. Due to this outbreak, all schools and public swimming baths were closed until April, causing the year to only have two terms. This may have caused academic pressure on the boys during the year, but it did give the builders extra time to complete the wing.

The North wing was built to the west of the original building, it was a beautiful spacious dwelling which had “outstanding features of cross ventilation, ample lighting and airy spaciousness” The English Gothic style was kept, as was the ornate plaster work on the cornices and windows. The ground floor of this wing was now the study hall, where the boys could study with desks wide apart, which made talking at study time an almost impossible feat. Running the whole length on the first floors were the senior dormitories, which could accommodate up to 50 beds and on the top floor, the junior dormitories. Facing out to the Northwest, these dormitories received all day sun an aspect all the boys could enjoy.

And so, 96 years ago this month, on 10 May, the North Wing was solemnly blessed and opened by His Grace, Archbishop Redwood SM.

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 The total cost to that date of the college had been approximately £42 000. To meet this cost, £11 000 had been received from within the Diocese, which included the sale of Ferry Road, £3600 was a bequest from His Lordship Bishop Grimes, and £17000 given by The New Zealand Province of the Society of Mary. What was left, which was just over £10 000 was a debt that the College would pay off over time.

The Main building and the North Wing stood proud in their landscape for nearly 60 years, the buildings saw hundreds of boys go through their doors, friendships made, homesickness overcome and lessons learnt. 

Image by: SBC

The sports fields formed and the trees in the driveway grew. In the late 1970s, the cost of earthquake strengthening and a change in modern schooling meant that an extremely difficult decision had to be made. Would the building remain practical as it was for the cost that the strengthening would take? An agonizing decision was made that in reality, new more modern facilities were required. On March 29 1980, in what has been described as a “sad, sad day for St Bede’s “. The demolition crew came in and the work began.

Image by: SBC

The Main building and the North Wing may no longer be a physical part of St Bede’s; however, they are still part of school memories and will live on through the history of the school.

Image by: SBC


The doors close on one era and open on a new one. May we always be proud to have been part of a richness that is a gift. (Taken from the 1980 Bedean)