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The first Anglican service to be held at St Peters Church in Queenstown took place 150 years ago this Sunday 1st of September.

In March of this year St Peters celebrated the first official Anglican service in Queenstown which was held on the site of Eichardt's Hotel by Bishop Henry Harper.

The upcoming celebrations are to mark the first service held on the current site of St Peters Anglican Church Queenstown. The completion of the original St Peters and the commencement of services in the church is being marked by a range of activities. A highlight will be the "Gathering of the Community" from across the parish as members will walk, ride or sail from all over the district to the church.

From 1:30pm-3:00pm the Queenstown and District Historical Society will be giving a presentation detailing the history of congregations in the early days of Queenstown. Weather permitting, they will also be leading walks around town to view some of the remaining landmark Queenstown buildings.

There are several events happening on the evening of Saturday 31st August from 5.00pm-7.00pm:

Rosemary Marryatt, the great granddaughter of William Rees, will be giving a talk which will include insights from William Rees's diaries and family stories that promises to be fascinating.

The exhibition "Brides and Baptisms: a time capsule of gowns" opens on Saturday 31st August as well as well as the launch of a commemorative book to mark the occasion.

For more information see the media release for the occasion here:

Media Release 150th Anniversary St Peters of Wakatipu Anglican Parish Aug 1st 2013.doc

There is detailed information of events and times on the St Peters website here:

www.stpeters.co.nz/events/2013-08/

The gaol in Arrowtown is hopefully about to have a new lease of life once again as a draft conservation plan has been drawn by conservator and architect Ian Bowman. The gaol is registered Category One by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust.

Prior to its construction in 1876, Arrowtown had a simple wooden building containing two cells. The large stone and concrete gaol was a building where sentences could be served and could hold several prisoners at once. Before any police buildings existed the only method of restraining prisoners was to put them 'on the log'. Being chained to a large log with leg irons was no obstacle for one large drunken Irishman who, local legend has it, simply picked up the log and carried it to the pub with him.

The Mountain Scene in 1974 reports that there was only one known escape from the gaol. The warder who was delivering a meal was overpowered by the prisoner and locked in the cell while the prisoner escaped. The warder's wife could hear her husband shouting from the gaol and assuming it was a prisoner, yelled back that he would just have to wait until her husband returned. She recognised her husband's voice eventually and released him from the cell.

The gaol is the only surviving gold rush era example and is the fourth oldest gaol in the country. Definitely something worth preserving and protecting.

If you would like to visit the gaol, the key is available at the museum.

   The Gaol in disrepair in 1974, prior to renovations in 1976.