Sir George Gilbert Scott visited the barn in 1850 and sketched it, using its design as the basis for proposals for the new ChristChurch Cathedral in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Speechly was sent to Christchurch, New Zealand in 1864 by Sir George Gilbert Scott as resident architect to supervise the building of the new ChristChurch Cathedral.
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Although Chamberlain continued to build in both Leicester and Birmingham (where he built the Edgbaston Waterworks whose tower would inspire the young J. R. R. Tolkien) his career failed to take off, and in 1864 he considered moving to New Zealand after being offered a commission to design Christchurch Cathedral.
On 18 March 2011, Major performed in the national Christchurch memorial service at Hagley Park of Christchurch in the presence of Prince William, Prime Minister John Key, Bob Parker, Hayley Westenra, ChristChurch Cathedral Choir, dignitaries, international rescue teams and tens of thousands of New Zealanders.
Choirs under his direction have appeared in Leipzig's Neue Gewandhaus, Prague's Dvorak Hall, the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Sydney Town Hall, Christchurch Cathedral, Avery Fisher Hall, and Carnegie Hall, and he has prepared choruses for performances under such conductors as Valery Gergiev, Sir David Willcocks, Nicholas McGegan, Krzysztof Penderecki, Sir Neville Marriner, and Helmuth Rilling.