Old St Paul's (formerly St Paul's Pro-Cathedral) is a historic site, a city landmark (
tourist attraction
A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement.
Types
Places of natural ...
) and a wedding and event venue in the heart of
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...
, the capital city of New Zealand. The building served a dual role as the
parish church
A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...
of
Thorndon and the
pro-cathedral
A pro-cathedral or procathedral is a parish church that temporarily serves as the cathedral or co-cathedral of a diocese, or a church that has the same function in a Catholic missionary jurisdiction (such as an apostolic prefecture or apostoli ...
(provisional cathedral) of the
Diocese of Wellington
The Diocese of Wellington is one of the thirteen dioceses and hui amorangi of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. The diocese covers the area between the bottom of the North Island of New Zealand up to the area of Mount ...
of the
Anglican Church
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 the ...
between 1866 and 1964. It exemplifies 19th-century
Gothic Revival architecture
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th cent ...
adapted to colonial conditions and materials, and stands at 34 Mulgrave Street, Pipitea, close to
Parliament Buildings.
History
George Selwyn, the first
Bishop of New Zealand
The Diocese of Auckland is one of the thirteen dioceses and hui amorangi of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. The Diocese covers the area stretching from North Cape down to the Waikato River, across the Hauraki Plains ...
, purchased part of the site of the church in 1845 and
Governor George Grey added to it in 1853,
at which time the land stood on a prominent cliff-top overlooking
Wellington harbour.
Agreement to build the church was reached by 1861
and the Reverend
Frederick Thatcher
The Reverend Frederick Thatcher (1814 – 19 October 1890) was an English and New Zealand architect and clergyman.
He was born at Hastings to a long-established Sussex family. He practised as an architect in London from 1835 and was one of the ...
, then vicar of St Paul's,
Thorndon, was engaged as the architect.
The foundation stone was laid by
Governor Grey on 21 August 1865. The building work was executed by John McLaggan and a team of eight carpenters, and the church was consecrated by
Bishop Abraham
Bishop Abraham () (formerly Fr. Ishak Azmy Boules) serves as the Auxiliary Bishop of Diakonia (i.e., Social Services) in the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles, Southern California, and Hawaii. He is also the Vice Head of the Ecumenical Relati ...
on 6 June 1866.
Soon after the church opened, it became apparent that it was unstable in high winds, and so the south transept, designed by
Christian Julius Toxward, was added in 1868.
Later additions included the north transept and north-aisle
extension, also by Toxward, in 1874; the moving of the chancel five metres to the east and the addition of minor north and south transepts to the design of George Fannin in 1876; the choir vestry in 1882, probably designed by Toxward; and extension of the baptistry as designed by
Frederick de Jersey Clere in 1891.
Thatcher’s original wooden shingle roof was replaced with corrugated iron in 1895, and subsequently with Welsh slates in 1924.
In 1964 the Diocese of Wellington moved to the new
St Paul's Cathedral nearby. After a significant battle to prevent its demolition, Old St Paul's was purchased by the New Zealand Government in 1967, and subsequently restored by the
Ministry of Works under the guidance of Peter Sheppard.
Architecture
Old St Paul's is built in a
Gothic style
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
** Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken ...
,
albeit with a subdued effect due to the limited resources available. It is constructed from
New Zealand native timbers, with stunning
stained-glass windows. The interior has been likened to the upturned hull of an Elizabethan
galleon
Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships first used as armed cargo carriers by European states from the 16th to 18th centuries during the age of sail and were the principal vessels drafted for use as warships until the Anglo-Dutch W ...
, with exposed curving
rimu
''Dacrydium cupressinum'', commonly known as rimu, is a large evergreen coniferous tree endemic to the forests of New Zealand. It is a member of the southern conifer group, the podocarps.
The Māori name ''rimu'' comes from the Polynesian ...
truss
A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure.
In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembl ...
es and
kauri
''Agathis'', commonly known as kauri or dammara, is a genus of 22 species of evergreen tree. The genus is part of the ancient conifer family Araucariaceae, a group once widespread during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, but now largely res ...
roof
sarking.
Photo gallery
Current situation
Old St Paul's is now managed by
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga
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 ...
.
While no longer used as a parish church, it remains
consecrated,
and is a popular venue for weddings, funerals and other services. In 2016 a celebration service of
evensong
Evensong is a church service traditionally held near sunset focused on singing psalms and other biblical canticles. In origin, it is identical to the canonical hour of vespers. Old English speakers translated the Latin word as , which became ...
was held in the cathedral to commemorate 150 years since it was consecrated.
The flags displayed in the
nave
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
include the ensigns of the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
, the
New Zealand Merchant Navy and the
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
(
second division
In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
), which was stationed in Wellington during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
.
The church retains close links with the
New Zealand Defence Force
The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF; mi, Te Ope Kātua o Aotearoa, "Line of Defence of New Zealand") are the armed forces of New Zealand. The NZDF is responsible for the protection of the national security of New Zealand and her realm, prom ...
.
Some of the walls and columns of Old St Paul's are decorated with memorial plaques, including many dedicated to those who fought and died in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. There is a plaque in memory of Wellington historian
John Beaglehole
John Cawte Beaglehole (13 June 1901 – 10 October 1971) was a New Zealand historian whose greatest scholastic achievement was the editing of James Cook's three journals of exploration, together with the writing of an acclaimed biography of Co ...
, most famous for his biography of explorer
James Cook, but who also played a significant role in the fight to save Old St Paul's from demolition.
Old St Paul's was closed from May 2019 until July 2020 for
seismic strengthening work.
References
External links
{{Commons-inline, Old Saint Paul's
A selection of © photos taken during the architectural RestorationHistorical websiteabout the church
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...
Religious buildings and structures in Wellington City
Frederick Thatcher church buildings
Wooden churches in New Zealand
Gothic Revival church buildings in New Zealand
Carpenter Gothic church buildings
NZHPT Category I listings in the Wellington Region
Listed churches in New Zealand
1860s architecture in New Zealand
Churches in Wellington City