Spare Cathedral from total demolition

Joseph Johnson/Fairfax NZ

IRREPLACEABLE: 'To lose this unique voice would be a great loss'.

OPINION: British archaeologist, heritage adviser and writer RICHARD TERRY visited Christchurch recently and says Christ Church Cathedral has an irreplaceable authority and total demolition would be a great loss for the city.

Why squander public money on heritage conservation when there are so many other calls on our resources?

It's a reasonable question - to which one response would be that it's because historic places speak directly to us, conveying powerful, complex and highly poignant narratives.

As an English visitor to some of New Zealand's historic sites and buildings during the new year, I was enormously impressed by the breadth and richness of the stories they reveal.

From the elegant mission houses and impressive Maori fortifications of Northland, to the rugged simplicity of the shacks of Chinese goldminers in Central Otago - everywhere voices from the past, yearning to be heard.

These places encapsulate New Zealand's rich and densely textured history, relating it in a way that everyone can appreciate, no matter their culture of origin. Places can be just as effective at spinning a compelling yarn as Kiwi storytellers of international repute like Jane Campion and Eleanor Catton.

This telling of tales is central to our sense of kinship as human beings. It's why millions of people visit historic places all over the world - a feeling of discovering insights into the shared human condition.

That's why I would suggest, as others have done, that what happens to Christ Church Cathedral affects us all in some way. In the light of the ongoing debate - whether to rebuild, partially retain or completely demolish - it's interesting to bear in mind the cathedral's origins, and that of the city of Christchurch itself.

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Spare Cathedral from total demolition