The Taranaki Cathedral Church of St Mary (formerly known as St Mary's Church) is an Anglican

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

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 * C ...

, located at 37 Vivian Street, New Plymouth, in New Zealand. Following the

2011 Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time (23:51 UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the entire of the Canterbury region in the South Island, centred south-east ...

, in 2016 the cathedral was closed for repairs. The cathedral is the oldest stone church in New Zealand and is listed on the Nez Zealand Heritage Register. At the same time, it is one of the newest cathedrals in the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...

. The cathedral serves as the seat of the Bishop of Waikato and Taranaki, the Most Reverend

Philip Richardson Sir Philip Wigham Richardson, 1st Baronet, (26 January 1865 – 23 November 1953) was a British sport shooter and Conservative politician. He was the first son of John Wigham Richardson, the shipbuilder from Newcastle upon Tyne. He also compe ...

. The church, with the original part built between 1845 and 1846 in the

Gothic Revival style 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 ...

, was designed by

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 ...

, a London-trained architect, one of the first settlers arriving in New Plymouth.

History

New Plymouth was chosen as the site for New Zealand’s second European colony, with settlers arriving from 1841 onwards. The beginnings of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

in the area came as a result of the need to provide the familiar spiritual and cultural institutions of home to the settlers, as well as missionary services to the Maori population. As the majority of colonists were members of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

, the Church Mission Society was able to seek the appointment of a

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

for New Zealand, tasked with setting up the Anglican constitution in the new

Diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...

of New Zealand. Initially, the diocese included the whole country as well as islands from

Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...

Selwyn, George Augustus (1809-1878), by Mason & Co

In 1841 George Augustus Selwyn was appointed the Bishop of New Zealand. He arrived in New Zealand in 1842 and began his work. After visiting New Plymouth in October 1842, Bishop Selwyn began to organize the construction of churches in this new parish. He appointed the reverend William Bolland as

Deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

for the parish of New Plymouth, allocating an existing sandstone house at Te Henui as residence for him and his family. He also got in touch with

, a London-trained architect, associate of the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three supp ...

, who arrived in New Plymouth in 1843. He was a key figure in the development of New Zealand’s Gothic Revival vernacular churches. With the funding provided by the Bishop Selwyn, reverend Bolland along with architect

began the building process of two new churches, St Mary’s Church in central New Plymouth, and the Holy Trinity Church at Henui, now in

Fitzroy Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to: People As a given name *Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name: **FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855) ** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beau ...

. The foundation stone for St Mary's was laid on 23 March 1845. The stone masons Thomas Rusden, Harry Hooker, and Phillip Moon built the church in eighteen months, using stones hauled from the beach. George Robinson, the chief builder, was the one responsible for the beautiful

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 ...

(red pine) roof. St Mary's is one of the earliest stone churches in New Zealand, with the original part of it built between 1845 and 1846 in the Gothic Revival style. This original part, approximately 15m by 9m, designed by Thatcher according to ideas supplied by Bishop Selwyn, has plain rubble walls, exposed timber beams, a steep-sloped Rimu roof and tall, narrow windows with pointed arches at the top. Other than a place for worship, during the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and

Second Taranaki War The Second Taranaki War is a term used by some historians for the period of hostilities between Māori and the New Zealand Government in the Taranaki district of New Zealand between 1863 and 1866. The term is avoided by some historians, who ei ...

s, St Mary’s also became a religious redoubt, with the churchyard used as a bullock yard for transport teams. The church even housed for a time a compartment for the storage of ammunition and explosives. A company occupied the west area, where church extensions were being carried out. These extensions included then new holes for muskets. A naval force was posted inside the church when it was thought that the town might be under siege, and, at several times, women and children congregated inside the church for safety. The church has been very considerably enlarged and modified, with the new various sections blending into a harmonious whole. The first extensions to St Mary's were made during the war years. In 1859 the church was lengthen and a veranda was added. Unfortunately, due to many interruptions caused by the fighting, this extension was not completed until 1862. In 1864, two years later, parallel to the existing building, it was added another aisle, designed by George Robinson, the chief builder of the original part of the church. Further enlargements were made in 1893 to the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a sa ...

and organ chamber by Benjamin W. Mountfort, a well-known church architect. In 1915 it was added the side chapel of All Saints, designed by John Francis Messenger, a local architect. At the same time the northern transept was enlarged as a memorial to Archdeacon Govett, under construction professionals George Edmund Tole and Horace Lovell Massey. St Mary's was a parish church from 1842 to 2010 and it was consecrated as a cathedral in the Diocese of Waikato and Taranaki on 6 March that year. On 28 June 1984, the building was registered as a Category I heritage structure by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust (now

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 ...

), with registration number 148. The cathedral is a member of the Community of the Cross of Nails and is a centre for Peace and Reconciliation. In February 2016, after a structural assessment following the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, the Cathedral was closed. Sunday services continued in the Peace Hall across the road. The adjoining cemetery surrounding the church contains the graves of Reverend William Bolland, who opened the church, the Reverend Henry Govett, the second vicar, Captain Henry King, Resident Magistrate and other notable historic figures, as well as a number of significant trees.

Image gallery

File:NZ NP St Mary's Church (1).jpg,

St Mary’s Church

File:The Taranaki Cathedral of St Mary (11045541565).jpg,

File:The Taranaki Cathedral of St Mary (11046124853).jpg,

File:St Mary's Church door & entrance (11045376714).jpg,

St Mary’s Church
- the entrance

File:NZ NP St Mary's Church (8).jpg,

St Mary’s Church graveyard

List of deans

The

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

is the head of the chapter of canons and is one of the senior priests of the diocese. * 2010–2016: Jamie Allen * 2016–2018:

Peter Beck Peter Joseph Beck is a New Zealand entrepreneur and founder of Rocket Lab, an aerospace manufacturer and launch service provider. Before founding the company, Beck worked in various occupations and built rocket-powered contraptions. Early lif ...

* 2018: Ross Falconer * 2018–2020: Trevor Harrison * 2020–2021: Jacqui Patterson and Jay Ruka * 2022–present: Jay Ruka

References

Bibliography

*Heritage New Zealand,
New Zealand Heritage List
' *Porter, Frances; ''Historic Buildings of New Zealand: North Island'', New Zealand Historic Places Trust, Auckland, N.Z., Methuen, 1983, ISBN 0456031103

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taranaki Cathedral 1842 establishments in New Zealand 19th-century Anglican church buildings in New Zealand Anglican cathedrals in New Zealand Buildings and structures in New Plymouth Listed churches in New Zealand Heritage New Zealand Category 1 historic places in Taranaki Stone churches in New Zealand Gothic Revival church buildings in New Zealand 1840s architecture in New Zealand Frederick Thatcher church buildings 2011 Christchurch earthquake