St Andrew's First Presbyterian Church is a Neoclassical

Presbyterianism Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

church constructed in 1850 in the

Auckland city centre The Auckland Central Business District (CBD), or Auckland city centre, is the geographical and economic heart of the Auckland metropolitan area. It is the area in which Auckland was established in 1840, by William Hobson. It is New Zealand's le ...

, and is the oldest surviving church in Auckland. It is registered as a Category I heritage building by

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 ...

History

In May 1847, a committee was established to find a Presbyterian minister for the city of Auckland, and to construct a suitable church. Construction began on the building in December 1847, but due to problems with cost the construction was slow and scaled back. The main church building was completed in 1850, making St Andrew's the oldest surviving church in Auckland. The church building was constructed from locally sourced

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

and Mahurangi mudstone, from a plan by architect Walter Robertson. Scottish minister David Bruce arrived in 1853, and by 1860 the name St Andrews was adopted. Governor

George Grey Sir George Grey, KCB (14 April 1812 – 19 September 1898) was a British soldier, explorer, colonial administrator and writer. He served in a succession of governing positions: Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, Go ...

and his family attended the church, as well as many other influential members of Auckland society. St Andrew's was seen as the mother church for Presbyterianism in the

Auckland Province The Auckland Province was a province of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. Area The province covered roughly half of the North Island of New Zealand. It was the largest of the six initial provinces, both ...

, and to express this, the church building was expanded in the 1880s, by the addition of a

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

and tower, completed in 1882. A portico and tower were features of the original buildings plans, however the additions did not use Robertson's original designs, instead adopted a new design by Matthew Henderson. The church suffered from falling patronage in the 1920s and 1930s due to the growth and suburbanisation of Auckland, to the point where the church faced closure in the 1930s. In 1957, the church was refurbished. In the mid-1980s, a service began for the

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

community in Auckland. Refurbishment work on the church began in April 2001, which included the removal of the

louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

s with stained glass.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:St Andrew's First Presbyterian Church 1850 establishments in New Zealand 1850s architecture in New Zealand Auckland CBD Buildings and structures in Auckland Churches completed in 1850 Greek Revival church buildings Heritage New Zealand Category 1 historic places in the Auckland Region Listed churches in New Zealand Neoclassical church buildings in New Zealand Presbyterian churches in New Zealand Stone churches in New Zealand