Eskdale War Memorial Church – A Rescued Register

When Cyclone Gabrielle hit New Zealand in February 2023, it caused widespread devastation. Eskdale, in Hawkes Bay, was hit particularly hard, with many homes and buildings severally damaged or destroyed. Eskdale War Memorial Church was one of the buildings damaged by the floods, but one of the things they were able to salvage was this church marriage register.

The Eskdale War Memorial Church

The Eskdale War Memorial Church was built in 1920 and was designed by James Chapman-Taylor, a well-known Arts and Craft architect. The church, which is located near the Esk River, has survived the devastating Hawke’s Bay earthquake of 1931 and the 1938 Esk Valley flood. This time the church withstood Cyclone Gabrielle and its second major flood which saw two metres of water rush through the building.

When the marriage register was retrieved from the church it was covered in silt and soaking wet. Following advice from John Kinder Theological Library, it was wrapped in Gladwrap and stored in a freezer to prevent any mould growth until the register could be dealt with.

The register was eventually brought up to the Library in Auckland, where it was carefully unwrapped and placed in a room with a fan and dehumidifier running continuously. There, the register sat slowly drying out until it was ready for handling.

On initial inspection, it was found the register pages were stuck together, and the force of the flood waters had folded over and torn the pages, making it impossible to tell how much of the register had been completed.

Once the pages were dry enough to handle, it was found that only the first few pages of the register had been used. It was decided to remove the pages which had information recorded on them by slicing them out of the register with a scalpel.

Next, the pages were carefully separated using tweezers and a spatula. The clumps of silt were carefully lifted from the pages which were then gently brushed to remove the remaining fine silt.

The surviving pages were in remarkably good condition despite being in several pieces. There were only some minor losses to the edges of the pages and the ink had bled in places, but overall, the details of the marriages can still be read.

The pages were pieced together like a jigsaw and enclosed in clear polypropylene sleeves. The pages were then scanned so that when the Eskdale Church starts a new marriage register, they can print out the scans and attach them to the front of it with an explanation about what happened. The rescued register and the salvaged pages have now been returned to Eskdale community with a story of survival to tell.