Nelson City Council

About

Today Marsden House is home to the Marsden House Funeral Services, a four-generation family business.

History

The striking neo-Gothic building in Nile Street East has been an outstanding feature of Nelson since 1923, but the history of the land goes back to the beginning of the Nelson settlement. Town Acre 438 had been purchased on 12 January 1843 by J.F.Wilson and Thomas Marsden. When Bishop Selwyn visited Nelson in December 1843 he made plans for a church school.

The southern (Nile Street) half of Town Acre 438, was bought from Dr. Joseph Foord Wilson for the sum of £50, three months being given for the removal of cowshed and fruit trees. On his next visit to Nelson in 1845 Bishop Selwyn noted the recent erection of ‘a handsome Brick School House’ and the Nelson Examiner considered it ‘a great adornment to the little town.’

The paper on another occasion described it as ‘the most truly architectural edifice in Nelson: it is well and substantially built, with brick walls, and with a bay window at the south-end, was really quite picturesque, and an excellent example of the old English style’.

The school was added to by Bishop Hobhouse and completely rebuilt by Bishop Suter in 1881 but was closed in 1895 after his death, and the building gradually deteriorated during the next seventy years.

On 22 January 1973 the Diocesan Trust Board transferred ownership of the historic Marsden House to Francis, Patrick and Stephen Day, a family-run funeral home business. Marsden House had been built in 1922 as a church house for the Diocesan offices. Thomas Marsden had built his cottage on the original site Town Acre 438 in 1843 and his children were born there, hence the continuation of the Marsden name.

In 1974 the Day family firm moved to its new headquarters after the building was reconditioned to meet its new requirements and reinforced against earthquake damage.

Location

Marsden House is located on the corner of Nile Street and Shelbourne Street.

For more information

For more information on heritage walks and heritage sites please contact Arts and Heritage Team Leader.