The Anglican Church of St Mary the Virgin, Rotherham, near Culverden, was opened on Anzac Day 1918. Despite the date, the church does not seem to have been dedicated as a war memorial church (‘Anzac Day’, The Colonist, 1/5/1918, p. 4). The brass plaque in the church which records the opening reads, THE CHURCH OF ST MARY THE VIRGIN. / BUILT 1918. / DEDICATED BY THE RIGHT REVEREND / THE / LORD BISHOP OF NELSON. / ON ST MARK’S DAY. (ANZAC DAY) 1918, but was not installed until 8 September 1927, the day the church was consecrated.
However, there is a three-light stained glass memorial window in the apse, dedicated to the memory of Lieutenant Francis Davison, killed at Gallipoli on 7 August 1915. This was presented to the church by his widow and unveiled in May 1923 (‘The Country’, Press, 30/5/1923, p. 3).The names of six members of the parish who died in the Second World War are also listed on a memorial lectern.
Francis Vallance, 2011
Text: Bruce Ringer, 2020
Find out more about the people listed on this memorial on the Auckland Museum's Cenotaph website