Erskine College, Wellington

Erskine College is a collection of historic buildings and landscapes (including the Chapel of the Sacred Heart and Main Block Convent) in Wellington, New Zealand.

Erskine College
Erskine College building, Wellington
General information
Architectural styleFrench Gothic and Edwardian collegiate architecture
LocationCorner Avon Street and Melbourne Road, Island Bay, Wellington, New Zealand
Coordinates
Completed1906
Design and construction
ArchitectJohn Sydney Swan
Designated13-Aug-2009
Reference no.7795

Built in 1905 by the Society of the Sacred Heart (Sacré Coeur), the buildings served as a Catholic girls' boarding school (Convent of the Sacred Heart at Island Bay) until its closure in 1985.[1]

The name was changed to Erskine College in the late 1960s to avoid confusion with Sacred Heart College, Lower Hutt; being named after Mother Janet Erskine Stuart, the fifth Superior General of the Society of the Sacred Heart.[1]

The buildings and grounds are now classified as a "Category I" ("places of special or outstanding historical or cultural heritage significance or value") historic place by Heritage New Zealand.[1]

The college buildings, with the exception of the chapel, were controversially demolished by its owners The Wellington Company in 2018, to make way for 96 townhouses.[2][3]

The Erskine College building being demolished in October 2018

References
  1. "Erskine College (Former)". Register of Historic Places. Heritage New Zealand. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
  2. "Erskine College demolition underway as massive development begins". Stuff. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  3. "Wellington.scoop.co.nz » Farewell to a heritage building". Retrieved 7 January 2019.

Old Girls


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.