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Erskine College, Wellington
Erskine College was a Catholic girls' boarding school in Island Bay, Wellington, New Zealand, and the subject of a campaign to protect its historic buildings (the Chapel of the Sacred Heart and the Main Block Convent). It was largely demolished in 2018 to build housing, but the chapel was restored and later reopened. HistoryThe Convent of the Sacred Heart (as it was initially known) was founded by nuns from the Society of the Sacred Heart (Sacré Coeur), who came to New Zealand at the invitation of Archbishop Redwood.[1] The four-storey Gothic Revival brick and reinforced concrete convent building was designed by architect John Sydney Swan and built between 1904 and 1906.[1] Teaching of pupils started in 1907. More buildings were added as the school roll increased. The interior of the Chapel of the Sacred Heart, also designed by Swan and built in 1929-30, is regarded as one of the finest examples of a Gothic Revival interior in New Zealand.[2] The school's name was changed to Erskine College in the late 1960s to avoid confusion with Sacred Heart College in Lower Hutt. It was named after Mother Janet Erskine Stuart, the fifth Superior General of the Society of the Sacred Heart.[1] The buildings served as a Catholic girls' boarding school until its closure in 1985. By that time, nearly 3000 girls had been educated at the college.[1] Peter Jackson's 1996 film The Frighteners used Erskine College as one of its locations.[3] An arts school, The Learning Connexion, occupied Erskine College from 1996 to until 2009.[3][4] Historic significance and campaignThe buildings and grounds were 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 Save Erskine College Trust was formed to protect the site in 1992, the first non-government heritage protection authority in 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.[5][6] The chapel was restored and reopened in 2023.[7] Old Girls
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