All Saints' Church, also known as Hokitika Anglican Church, is an heritage-listed

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

located in

Hokitika Hokitika is a town in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island, south of Greymouth, and close to the mouth of the Hokitika River. It is the seat and largest town in the Westland District. The town's estimated population is as of . ...

, on the

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

of the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

of New Zealand. The church forms part of the Ross and South Westland parish of the Diocese of Christchurch within the

Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia ( mi, Te Hāhi Mihinare ki Aotearoa ki Niu Tīreni, ki Ngā Moutere o te Moana Nui a Kiwa; formerly the Church of the Province of New Zealand) is a province of the Anglican Communion serv ...

. The church building is a Category I building on the

Heritage New Zealand Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust) ( mi, Pouhere Taonga) is a Crown entity with a membership of around 20,000 people that advocate ...

Background

Soon after the establishment of Hokitika, during the

West Coast gold rush The West Coast Gold Rush, on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island, lasted from 1864 to 1867. Description The gold rush populated the area, which up until then had been visited by few Europeans. Gold was found near the Taramakau River in ...

of the 1860s, an Anglican church was built. This wooden building was erected in 1866 on Fitzherbert Street. Subsequently, the congregation decided to erect a new church as a memorial to All Saints' members who had died during World War I. A building fund was established, and in 1919 an architect from Invercargill, Edmund Wilson (1871–1941) was engaged to draw up plans. Despite putting forward a number of plans, no church was built, and the agreement with Wilson was dissolved in 1935. The congregation then invited proposals from several architects including Cecil Wood,

Roy Lovell-Smith Leonard Roy Lovell-Smith (born Leonard Roy Smith; 26 September 1884 – 25 April 1972) was a New Zealand architect. Early life and family Leonard Roy Smith was born in Christchurch on 26 September 1884, the son of the printer and stationer Will ...

and Richard Strachan De Renzy Harman. The congregation specified that the church be built from concrete, seat 200 people, and not cost more than

NZ£ The pound (symbol £, £NZ. for distinction) was the currency of New Zealand from 1840 until 1967, when it was replaced by the New Zealand dollar. Like the pound sterling, it was subdivided into 20 shillings (abbreviation s or /) each of 12 pen ...

4,000. A design from Harman was accepted. It is possible the congregation was inspired to specify concrete both by the relative cheapness of the material, and by the construction in 1931 of the nearby St Andrew's Presbyterian Church. Earthquake safety may also have been a consideration, after the

1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Si ...

Construction

Building began in 1936 and the church was consecrated on 1 November 1936, All Saints' Day, by the Rt. Rev. Campbell West-Watson, Bishop of Christchurch. The Unemployment Board, under the

United–Reform coalition Government of New Zealand The United–Reform coalition government of New Zealand was the ministry that governed New Zealand from 1931 to 1935. It was a coalition between two of the three major parties of the time, the United and Reform, formed to deal with the Great Dep ...

, instituted a house-building subsidy scheme, to provide work to the unemployed. During 1935 the scheme was expanded from house-building to include churches, Sunday schools, public halls, libraries and other buildings for non-profit organisations. All Saints' church was one of only a handful of churches to be built using a subsidy under the scheme. The total cost was £4,142, with a ten per cent government subsidy. The church has cavity walls of reinforced concrete, rimu roof timbers, joists and flooring. The

Oamaru stone Oamaru stone, sometimes called whitestone, is a hard, compact limestone, quarried at Weston, near Oamaru in Otago, New Zealand. Oamaru stone was used on many of the grand public buildings in the towns and cities of the southern South Island, es ...

font was carved by Frederick Gurnsey, a frequent collaborator of Harman's. The use of unadorned concrete required Harman to adapt and simplify some forms, giving a modern appearance. Initial plans for the church show a roof of cedar shingles and a tower with a spire. However the church decided to replace the shingles with tile, which meant forgoing the spire. The church contains a stained glass window designed by Wellington artist

Frederick Vincent Ellis Frederick Vincent Ellis (5 February 1892 – 8 November 1961) was a New Zealand artist and art teacher. His works of notable stained glass windows include the war memorial windows in the Auckland War Memorial Museum, the World War I memorial ...

. The window commemorates Louisa Ann Evans, who died 20 July 1918, and had been instrumental in support efforts for soldiers during the war.

Heritage status

The church is registered by

as a Category I structure, with registration number 5012. The listing recognises the church's importance as a landmark in a town with few medium- or high-rise buildings. It also states

"All Saints' may also be favourably compared with the Arts and Crafts-inspired work of contemporaries such as Cecil Wood. The church illustrates Harman's understanding and skilful exploitation of the qualities inherent in reinforced concrete and realised in solid form his belief that 'with a material such as concrete it is neither feasible nor desirable to imitate exactly features developed in wood or stone'."

Notable members of the congregation

Bess Hudson Elizabeth Mary Hudson (28 April 1875 – 7 May 1961) was an early nurse in Hokitika on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. Early life and family Hudson was born in Hokitika on 28 April 1875, the second daughter of Mary Hudson (n� ...

(1875–1961), nurse

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:All Saints' Church, Hokitika Heritage New Zealand Category 1 historic places in the West Coast, New Zealand Hokitika 20th-century Anglican church buildings in New Zealand Listed churches in New Zealand 1930s architecture in New Zealand Concrete buildings and structures World War I memorials in New Zealand Churches completed in 1936