"It's like a new-age heritage that we've got coming back and it's a great place where we can reflect on how far the school's come and where it's going to go in the future. It's very exciting!" Mia Thompson, Deputy Head Girl - Y13

Many of you will have seen the new (old!) Chapel that has appeared outside the boarding houses. This much awaited Chapel will be used as an intimate space for prayer, reflection and contemplation for both students and staff, as well as hosting weddings, christenings and funerals for Old Girls. It also fulfils a decade-long dream of departing principal, Gillian Simpson, to have a small chapel back on the grounds of St Margaret’s.

Now the chapel is on site, we have the goal of completing the extensive restoration work takes place so that it can be consecrated before Gillian departs at the end of Term 2.

The Chapel started its life as St Mark's of Rotherham and 18 years ago the Satterthwaite family in North Canterbury bought it to save it from demolition. The couple had got married in it and wanted to save a piece of history of their area and own a little piece of the past. They moved it to their farm where it sat, occasionally hosting weddings for many years.

Now, nearly two decades later, the former St Mark’s has travelled from their farm in the Waiau Valley to St Margaret’s College to become St Mark's Te Whare Hauora (The House of Wellbeing) for students, staff and the surrounding community. The Satterthwaites have strong connections with St Margaret’s. Every female member of the family attended the school for the past 90 years and with the school losing 85% of its buildings in the earthquakes, they wanted the school to have a little piece of history for future generations of St Margaret’s students.

If you'd like to find out more on how you can help bring St Mark's Chapel back to life, click here.