As we drove home Nigel made a stop at the fuel station in Clinton so I hopped out and wandered up the road to take a few photos of a church I like to keep an eye on. Something’s afoot there but I don’t know what – therefore I don’t know the fate of the building. Ever since I’ve been able to see into the property I’ve been fascinated by the distant view of the blue doors with the big vintage hinges. As the sign on the gate says, “St Leo’s Catholic Church (1886)” and there’s a tall, dense holly hedge either side of the front gate. 03 December. Clinton, South Otago, New Zealand.
Text and photos by Liz; Exploring Colour (2022)
Exploring Colour 
That’s a beautiful door! I wonder what will happen to the building…over here disused churches are sometimes turned into homes.
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Yes.. homes, and cafes and/or craft shops and/or art gallery!
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Would be a lovely art gallery!
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I love the blue door–I would call it Tiffany Blue. I googled to see which St. Leo this was named after, but came up with this bit about it being bought and converted into a cafe.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/78755989/exaucklanders-drawn-to-historic-st-leos-catholic-church
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Ah yes.. thanks Madeline! So that’s a 2016 article which I saw at the time, and subsequently the lady’s employer closed the Balclutha store that she’d been employed to manage. After that I had no idea what would happen to the church or what impact there would be on their plans.
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When I was in Italy last month, one of our tour guides (maybe in Speleto) talked about how the blue in Mary’s dress changed at some point in history (I am not much for details so I cannot remember when it was or why).
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I really like the third photo, showing the church in isolation, or at least surrounded by the land. The wires suggest it’s not all that isolated, but it surely is compelling.
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Thanks Linda! It sits apart, rather forlorn. I wonder what will happen?
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If you can peek inside, see if there’s a manger there.
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Very handsome doorway. I don’t remember ever seeing a church with doors that color, seems like if they’re not brown or black, they’re always red. But this a really pretty color.
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I’m glad you like this doorway! Once when we were looking at properties, we looked at a house in Invercargill that had blue carpet throughout the house, similarly eye-catching. In the past it had been a Catholic building, for clergy I think. Anyway I dubbed the carpet ‘Virgin Blue’ because it reminded me of the colour used in paintings that depict the Virgin Mary!
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