Tapestry donated to Villa Maria College

We are very grateful to receive the kind donation of this tapestry from the Sheehan family, who have a long association with the College. Mr Paul Sheehan attended Villa Maria as a pupil of the Meadow School from 1932-1934. During the 1960s, his daughters attended Villa Maria College. The tapestry is a copy of Leonardo da Vinci's painting, The Last Supper.

What was the Meadow School?

Unlike Ireland, New Zealand had no state funding for Catholic primary schools. School fees from day and boarding pupils allowed the Sisters to teach poor Catholic children in free parish schools.

When Villa Maria opened in 1918, it began with the day and boarding school. In 1921, the sisters staffed and provided classroom space for a new Riccarton Parish School, which eventually became known as the Meadow School, for those Catholic families who could not afford to pay for their children’s education.

Although the parish pupils shared space with the Villa girls, it is unlikely that they shared classes, rather the two separate schools shared the same site. This was common with this multi-tiered style of schooling and a distinction between schools was often marked by a physical symbol such separate school gates. Here, the Villa girls wore blue shirts with their uniform while the parish pupils wore white.

Until 1925 the two schools operated within the same building, this changed when a temporary church known as the Church of Villa Maria was built on Peer Street next to the Villa site. The church had been built on what had been an open field and so became known as the ‘Meadow School’.

In 1930 the Riccarton Parish opened a new church on Puriri Street, Saint Teresa’s. Leaving the building on Peer Street to be used just for the Meadow School. A new parish primary school was also built to open for the new school year in 1937. Once St Teresa’s Primary School opened a gradual transfer of students from the Meadow School began. By 1941 the transfer was complete and the Meadow School was no more, although the Villa Sisters continued to teach the parish school at its new site.