And now a little more history related to the building – the photo below is of the wedding in 1969 of local builder Mike Riley and Fox Glacier postmistress Cheryl Roberts. This was the first wedding in the church for 10 years or so, and to the best of our knowledge there was only one subsequently. The couple went on to have four children and they were all christened in the church where Cheryl taught Sunday School for a period.

Wedding in the Fox Glacier church 1969

We got a wonderful email yesterday which shed some light on the history of the church…

Hello,

I have been wanting to tell you how pleased I am that you bought the little church, tidied it up and now have a going concern. I hope it proves very successful for you both.

My main interest is because my father, Joe Bennett, working for the Hokitika builders Goodfellow and Bennett built the church. I actually think the year of construction was 1952 as I had recently started school and caught the measles. Joe was working on the church then and used to come home for the weekend once a fortnight. While we (myself and my sister and brother) were all confined to bed with the measles it rained and rained. Mother was expecting my father, and some relief from three sick children, but Joe only got as far as the Mikonui River where the bridge was washed out, so he had to return to Fox Glacier. I can still recall the disappointment.

Of course this church was built long before the resource management act. The builders just used to wheel the wheelbarrow up to the stream just north of the church and select the stones (plenty more where they came from).

I presume you sold most of the pews which were made by my Godfather, George Gilchrist of the joinery company Kennedy and Gilchrist in Hokitika.

I know it is very difficult to find out much about any buildings where the permits originated in Hokitika because of the fire in the council offices.

Best of luck with the venture. The church looks lovely now.

Cheers,

Josephine Jaspers.

The Conversion of the Douglas Memorial Church at Fox Glacier into The Church at FOX – Luxury self-contained holiday accommodation is complete.

To view the entire conversion process as a series of slideshows go here