Coates Memorial Church


On our last trip out to Matakohe just before we drove home again I talked the other half into walking down the drive next to the museum so I could have a look at this church.


The Coates Memorial Church opened in 1950 and the architect was Horace Lovell Massey (Massey is a well known name in the Kaipara region).


Inside it's very clean, tidy and well maintained. Mr Massey was also part of a firm named Massey, Morgan, Hyland and Phillips who also designed the nurses home at Napier Hospital (1925) and the Fallen Soldiers Memorial Hospital in Hastings (also 1925). From the research I've read he also designed many other churches, crematoriums and fine houses.


Matakohe is a farming area which was first settled around 1860 by farmers and labourers from England, there were no roads or trails - the only link with the outside world was the sea right through the Kaipara inlet.


A big Kauri gum industry developed here around 1867-1870 by the settlers and from memory the earliers grave we saw was from the 1880s. The name "Coates" as per the name of the church is another well known one for the area - in fact one of our last prime ministers was Gordon Coates who lived in nearby Maungaturoto.

Some information taken from the Maungaturoto - History of the Kaipara Facebook page.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday.

Comments

Susan Heather said…
It is a lovely church isn't it.
20 February 2020 at 17:12
Red said…
Interesting history of the area.
21 February 2020 at 04:37
local alien said…
Glad you got to photograph the inside. It's beautiful. The outside looks beautifully groomed too
21 February 2020 at 04:58
eileeninmd said…
Hello, the church looks pretty inside and outside. Love the sky in the first shot too. Have a great day and happy weekend!
21 February 2020 at 07:46
Billy Blue Eyes said…
What a beautiful church, I do like the interior . The churchyard is also well kept. So have you had a go at making flapjack yet?
21 February 2020 at 08:10
Spare Parts and Pics said…
Beautiful church and a really interesting history!
21 February 2020 at 08:24
William Kendall said…
It certainly is a beautiful church.
21 February 2020 at 10:00
Jim said…
Great shots.
21 February 2020 at 10:01
At Home In New Zealand said…
Lovely church and great to see it so well maintained.
21 February 2020 at 14:53
Graham Edwards said…
I didn't recognise the church and knew that I'd definitely not been inside it. It's definitely one of the best looking and looked after inside. One of the beauties of your blog is, as I've said before, the fact that I go chasing off when you mention a place I can't remember.
22 February 2020 at 05:40
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