City Side Baptist Church

 

In Auckland and some of the country's bigger cities there are some of the most lovely old colonial churches still standing. This one is on the outskirts of the central city and I do like to look up the history of places like this;

Early in 1864, a Mr Theophilus B Heath of the Wellesley Street Baptist Church commenced a Sunday School at his father's house in Exmouth Street. The school grew so rapidly that Mr Heath and Mr G Fitness approached the members of the Wellesley Street Church and showed them the need for Sunday School work in Mt Eden. A committee was formed to investigate the matter and was given the power to act with the result that a section was purchased in Mt Eden Road (Lot 19—opposite the Grafton Library, now Gailbraith’s Ale House). This cost eighty two pounds, ten shillings, and a Sunday School Hall was erected on it by Mr G Fitness for one hundred & thirteen pounds eight shillings and seven pence.

In the "New Zealand Herald" dated April 29th 1865 there appeared an article concerning the opening of the Mt Eden Sabbath School. Mr Cornford, Pastor of the Wellesley Street Baptist Church, presided at this meeting. The building was also used for a Sunday evening service, a Monday evening Prayer Meeting and a Thursday evening service.

Very soon this 20 foot x 30 foot Hall became inadequate for the work, and in March 1880 an appeal was made to the Wellesley Street Church for increased accommodation. Again the Church rose to the occasion, and the old section and building were sold for one hundred and eighty pounds and a new building erected on the present site for five hundred and fifty one pounds ten shillings (with section). The opening services were conducted on October 31st, 1880.

Early in 1885 the Wellesley Street Church moved to the present Tabernacle site in Queen Street, and it was felt that the time was right to form an independent church in Mt Eden, and so the Mt Eden Baptist Church was established on September 23rd 1885. The first minister was called in 1886.

In 1906 the Auckland City Council widened Mt Eden Road and this necessitated the shifting of the old building. This opportunity was used to erect the present building for one thousand six hundred pounds. The Church continued to grow until it became recognised as one of Auckland's larger churches, but then the fingers of industrialisation began to push away the congregation. Ministry became increasingly difficult as people moved out to the suburbs and on 1st June 1960 the members offered the use of the property to the Auckland Baptist Association to establish a City Mission.

A board was set up, and the Auckland Baptist City Mission was established on 28th September 1960. Rev B K Macready was invited to become the first Missioner, and arrived from Australia in February 1961.

In August 1983 work was begun on extending the Mission buildings. The new Mission Centre was opened on 8 April, 1984.

 It's nice to know that the building is still being used for missionary purposes today.

Linking up with Tuesday Treasures, Happy Tuesdays and Wordless Wednesday.

The little church at Ngahere

I've driven past this little church a few times on the way to Nelson Creek and Reefton. There's not much known about it sadly except it was privately owned until recently when the owner passed away. It's not looking good, very unloved - I wonder what the interior looks like.

Linking up with Through my lens, Tuesday Treasures, My corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.

St Mary's Catholic Church

In Hokitika is this beauty of a church named St Mary's Catholic Church, why it's so grand and ornate who knows? This caught our eyes last week on the first day of our holiday. In 1912 the parish building committee agreed to call for tenders for a new church so a Greymouth architect named John Thomas Watson prepared a concept design in Roman or neoclassical architecture.

Alfred Luttrell won the tender and although he was guided by Watson's work, he introduced significantly different aspects. The previous 1866 church was demolished in February 1914 and Bishop John Grimes laid the foundation stone a month later. Owing to the outbreak of WW1 and funding difficulties it wasn't until 1920-21 that the portico and tower were added. The church was built of double brick but in 1927-28 the plaster was finally applied and the building achieved it's final appearance.

In 2004 the church was registered with the Historical Places Trust but unfortunately following a structural assesment triggered by the Christchurch earthquakes in 2011 the church was closed to the public in 2012. 

Linking up with Our World Tuesday, Through my lens, Tuesday Treasures, Travel Tuesday, My corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.

Kaikohe's history

At the far end of Kaikohe this mural is on the side of one of the buildings. Although it looks a little worse for the wear to me it looks like it symbolizes the town/s history. I see the historical Aperahama Church which was built in 1885 and I see some Maori carvings.

 I was unable to find some information about it but all I could see on the mural itself were some names: V. Whiu, J. Harry, E. Capilli, I. Wilcox and J. Paki so I'm guessing these were the artists.

Linking up with Mural Monday.

Rawene Methodist Church

Most of you out there know by now I have a thing for old historical churches and cemeteries - this one I had been meaning to explore for some time.  The Rawene Methodist Church is on NZ's heritage list and was built by a William Cook in 1876 and is an example of a timber building made in gothic style.

Due to a failing congregation the church is now privately owned and the owners were granted $18,000 in 2019 to carry out work on it that respects the history as part of the National Preservation Incentive Fund. Apparently it will be transformed into an artists studio - I can't wait to see it when it's finished. 

Linking up with Skywatch Friday. 

St Francis de Sales and All Saints Church

This is one place that's kinda special to me because of family connections. The St Francis de Sales and All Saints Church in Devonport, Auckland looks like one grand austere old lady.  Between 1890 and 1900 the Catholic population in town doubled and the first church on this site was a former mortuary chapel barged across the Auckland Harbour from the historical Symonds Street Cemetery to be resited here in 1893. This particular suburb was first settled by colonists in 1840 and is one of the first colonial settlements in Auckland and the first on the North Shore.

St Leo's school opened across the road in 1893 and by 1904 the church was enlarged for 200 parishioners. Father Michael Furlong who was the parish priest from 1905 to 1962 sold his own property to finance the current church, above which was built in 1919. 

My mum on the right with her twin on their confirmation day in the 1950s.

Interestingly enough my mother and her siblings were raised in Devonport and attended St Leo's school and this church as they were growing up, in fact when my grandmother passed away in 1996 her funeral was held here because they were all Catholics until the last 5 years of her life when she became a Christian.  Mum has said she remembers the nuns at school being very strict and not very kind to the children.

Linking up with Our World Tuesday and My Corner of the World.

St Michael and All Angels Hakaru

This wee church is somewhere I've been meaning to visit for a while. St Michael and All Angels Anglican Church is in Hakaru, about 10 minutes out of Mangawhai.

Built in 1887 it replaced an earlier church that was there in 1861 but as the community grew the original one became too small and was moved to Hukatere later on. This one is made of Kauri, cut and milled locally with an iron roof.

Graves in the cemetery include those one person from the South African War and 2 from World War One. The front memorial gates commemorate a local man named Frank Wintle who was killed in the North African desert in World War 2.

There are quite a few local names I recognized such as Tantrums, Stewarts, Blackwells and Wintles - descendants of those names still live around the area today. Unfortunately the doors were padlocked and we couldn't get inside to take interior photos.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday.

St Andrews Church - Taumarere

Nearly halfway through my week and here's another historical church we found on our travels. St Andrews Anglican Church is in Taumarere, just out of Kawakawa and was was erected in Paihia in 1874.

We've been quite fortunate so far in that most of the churches we explored have had unlocked doors with signs welcoming people inside. This one in particular served all ethnicities of people mainly Maori but after the attendance numbers dropped it fell into disrepair. In 1904-ish a lay preacher named William Bedggood arrived in the area and began repairing the church. In 1926 it was moved by barge then transported by Bullocks to where it is today.

The inside of the church, in particular the carpet and atmosphere had a very 1950's/1960s feeling, I don't know whether it was the tablecloth or the mat but it was good to see that it's been kept so nicely.

Linking up with My Corner of the World.

St Paul's Anglican Church - Whangaroa

If this photo looks a little bit lop-sided it's because this little old church in Whangaroa was up the top of a very steep driveway near the top of a hill. I struggled to walk up the path and when I did I had to steady myself with a small tree nearby.

St Paul's Anglican Church has been in this spot for approx 125 years and when it was opened in 1883 people came by boat or walked for miles to get to the services. St Paul's has quite a history; it's witnessed the slow decline of the timber industry, a fire that burned the school that was originally in front of it and the building of the Whangaroa big gamefish club rooms and marina.

Unfortunately the doors were locked but services are still held today on the first Sunday of each month.

Waikumete Chapel of Faith

This baby was built in apparently 1886 and is on the grounds of Auckland's Waikumete Cemetery. It was built by a man named Ebenezer Morris who emigrated to NZ in 1877. He also had other business in the Kaipara district of Matakohe plus Auckland and Thames. It's named the Chapel of of Faith and was originally as a mortuary chapel but is now being hired out for spiritual events, christenings, weddings, funerals and prayer meetings.

On the day we visited it was closed so all I could get was a photo of the outside.

Mangungu Mission Church

This historical church is one of the oldest in the Hokianga region and was founded around 1821 as part of the mission house and station. In 1840 this land was where an additional 64 signatures were added to the Treaty of Waitangi and after the deception was discovered at the original signing there was still alot of opposition to this.

After some discussion between one chief and some missionaries they decided it would be good for the Maori people in general. Gifts of tobacco and blankets were given out by Governor Hobson but many people were unhappy with this considering they were trading the rights to their land and asked for their signatures to be removed from the treaty. This was refused  and although there were people who were opposed to this, those who did sign ended up being the most faithful.

It's a pity that such a beautiful spot overlooking the harbour could be part of what is now considered to be a one sided travesty.

Motukaraka Church

Overlooking the Hokianga Harbour is this gem with a very high steeple. Motukaraka Church or as it's otherwise known the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption is Catholic based and was designed by Thomas Mahoney but opened in 1910 by Dean Lightfoot one of the Mill Hill Missionaries.

There is a war memorial next to the church dedicated to those who fought in the 2nd world war - names include Private Massey Rameka, Private David Hoani and Private Chris Harris.

The missionaries identified with their mostly Maori congregation and learned their native language. Father John Baptist Becker, also one of the missionaries is buried next to the church and was responsible for translating the bible for his parishioners.

The interior resembles that of a gothic design and has been incredibly well looked after. However upon looking at the mat leading down the centre of the aisle we could see there was some water damage so maybe there was a leak in the roof at some point but it was still immaculate nonetheless.

Maraeroa Maori Urupa Church

Horeke Road in the Hokianga District runs for about 35 minutes with most of it being a dirt gravel road. Much of New Zealand's small towns are linked by this and along the way once again I asked the other half to stop when this baby caught my eye.

For some reason I can't find any information whatsoever about it except that it's named Maraeroa Historical Church and is on 1737 Horeke Road. There is only one grave there belonging to a Private Hone Matiu who served in the 1st World War and died in 1919.

Now sometimes we've found that with old churches the door is either locked or unlocked - this one was the latter. He's not into old buildings as much as I am so I carefully walked inside and what I saw was a very sparse but well looked after interior - looks quite humble doesn't it? From the retro pattered carpet mat down the center of the aisle to the table covered with a cloth and fresh flowers to the weaving hanging on the walls. Under the table to me it looked like a cloth or a cloak with feathers possibly hanging off the end and on top of the table is a large bible.

Linking up with Our World Tuesday.

Omanaia historical church

Last Sunday on our travels around the area this church caught my eye from the main highway and we turned into the driveway to check it out.

Omanaia Historical Church was apparently founded in 1884 and is the second oldest standing church building in the Hokianga district.

There was a heaviness in the air but we couldn't believe it when I tried the front door and it was unlocked. This is the interior - looks like someone has really looked after this property as other churches we've explored are in nowhere near as good condition.

Oromahoe Historical Church

Along the way on my fascination for historical buildings and churches we found this one about 15 minutes out town recently. The Oromahoe Church is owned by a trust and is next door to a Marae. It's about 120 years old and situated on land in a very country-ish area. According to the Papers Past website the church was built around 1880 but there aren't any further details.

Now when we find a Maori church we never immediately enter the gates. We are not of that culture so a huge amount of respect and caution is necessary - it's like barging into someone's home, we would prefer to be welcomed or invited there, we were unable to enter and see the inside.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday.

Saint Michael's Anglican Church, Ohaeawai

Last weekend B and I explored a bit more of the outer area of Kerikeri. This time we found an old church, one of the many that are dotted around New Zealand. This one is just before the tiny settlement of Ohaeawai - it's dated from 1871 and was built on the site of an old battle, the battle of Pene Taui's Pa in 1845.

The church was built by local Ngapuhi people and at the opening in 1872 the remains of soldiers killed in the early battle were moved there. Inside the church is an account of the fight and and a plaque listing all the names.

St Mary's on the Hill Anglican Parish

Just a short distance out of South Auckland in this quaint quiet area near the Bombay Hills is this wee church, St Mary on the Hill Anglican Parish.  According to the website a small wooden church was originally built was built around the 1860s but was destroyed by a fire in the 1867 so worship services were held around the area in different places including the local school.

But as the population grew so did the need for a church. In 1890 Francis Pyne arrived from England and bought 700 acres of land for his benefactor Harriet Johnston who came to NZ about a year later. A large home was built for her in which she lived in until she died in 1916. In 1899 she offered to pay for the Anglican Church to be built in an imposing Gothic revival and the wages of the resident clergyman and the church of St Mary on the Hill was consecrated by Bishop Cowie in 1901.

Linking up with Our World Tuesday :-)

Kutarere Church - 1861

One of those rainy bleak miserable days we had recently we decided to go for a drive and on the way through the countryside I spotted this old church near Opotiki. Looking very old and neglected the Kutarere Church made around 1861 is apparently in the process of being restored by local residents.

A bit of background I found says this:
Opotiki was originally the most populous of several Maori settlements in the vicinity of Opotiki Harbour and was known as Pakowhai. It was a main settlement of the Whakatohea tribe. In August 1861 the Rev. Carl Sylvius Volkner arrived at Pakowhai to establish a mission station and, with Maori help, built a church. When the Whakatohea allied themselves with the Maori “King” movement in 1864, Volkner took his wife to Auckland for safety. During his absence Hauhau emissaries converted most of their tribe to the cause and, subsequently, the mission station was sacked. Volkner was brutally murdered when he returned in March 1865. A punitive expedition arrived by sea on 8 September 1865 and landed at the present town site. Fighting ensued and the hostile inhabitants fled. Intermittent skirmishing with the Hauhaus continued in the immediate district until about the middle of 1868. Most of the original Opotiki settlers were members of the 1st Waikato Regiment who were allotted sections.

An identical one was built which is currently being used in another town but it's nice to know this one will hopefully be looking nice and tidy again soon.