The original wooden St. Mary's Church, Merivale, Christchurch, built in 1866. The new church was consecrated on 1926 it is the second on the site. The building was designed by Edmund Richardson Fitz Wilson. This solid stone Anglican church with its square, crenelated tower, serves the well-to-do parish of Merivale. At the rear of the nave, glance upward to the beautiful barrel-vaulted ceiling and across the rows of richly carved pews. The organ is one of the largest parish organs in the country, containing 2800 pipes. The church is decorated with a collection of exquisite stained glass windows. A booklet is available to guide you through the elements of each window.

The tower of St Mary's Merivale was damaged in the September 2010 quake, and then collapsed more in the February quake.