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 b ...

) 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 me ...

, 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 apostolic ...

(provisional cathedral) of the Diocese of Wellington 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 movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

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 a ...

, 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 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 Frederick de Jersey Clere (7 January 1856 – 13 August 1952) was an architect in Wellington, New Zealand. Biography He was born in Walsden, near Todmorden, Lancashire and trained as an architect before emigrating to New Zealand with his family ...

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 St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a G ...

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 Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

. 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 assembla ...

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 ...

roof

sarking Sarking is an English word with multiple meanings in roof construction: * The use of wood panels, or "sarking boards", called ''sheathing'', ''sheeting'' or ''decking'' in American English, under the roof-covering materials such as the shingles ...

Photo gallery

Current situation

Old St Paul's is now managed by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga. 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 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 c ...

(

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. 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, promot ...

. 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. 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 Coo ...

, most famous for his biography of explorer

James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and ...

, 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 website
about the church

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