St James' Anglican Church is an heritage-listed

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

located in

Kerikeri Kerikeri () is a town in the Bay of Islands, in the Far North District of the North Island of New Zealand. It lies at the head of Kerikeri Inlet, a northwestern arm of the Bay of Islands, where fresh water of the Kerikeri River enters the Paci ...

, on the

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. The first church on the site was built in 1829, with the current building dating from 1878. The

congregation Congregation may refer to: Religion *Church (congregation), a religious organization that meets in a particular location *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administrative body of the Catholic Church *Religious congregation, a type of religious instit ...

forms part of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa in the Diocese of Auckland, currently operated as a mission of St Paul's Church,

Whangaroa Whangaroa, also known as Whangaroa Village to distinguish it from the larger area of the former Whangaroa County, is a settlement on Whangaroa Harbour in the Far North District of New Zealand. It is 8 km north-west of Kaeo and 35 km ...

. The church was listed as a Category 1 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; in ) is a Crown entity that advocates for the protection of Archaeology of New Zealand, ancest ...

History

The first chapel was started in November 1823 and opened some six months later, but this was not built on the site of the present church. The second chapel, which was started some time early in 1829, was by tradition built on the site chosen by the redoubtable

Hongi Hika Hongi Hika ( – 6 March 1828) was a New Zealand Māori rangatira (chief) and war leader of the iwi of Ngāpuhi. He was a pivotal figure in the early years of regular European contact and settlement in New Zealand. As one of the first Māor ...

, then the paramount chief of the

Ngāpuhi Ngāpuhi (also known as Ngāpuhi-Nui-Tonu or Ngā Puhi) is a Māori iwi associated with the Northland regions of New Zealand centred in the Hokianga, the Bay of Islands, and Whangārei. According to the 2023 New Zealand census, the estimate ...

. When the Mission Station was disbanded in 1848 this chapel fell into disrepair, and the current church was built on the same site in 1878. An extract form the ''Church Gazette'' reads: "A remarkable neat little church was opened at Kerikeri on December 5th 1878. The services were conducted by Archdeacon Clarke and the Rev H P Tua." The entire cost of the building was

NZ£ The pound (symbol £, £NZ. for distinction) was the currency of New Zealand from 1933 until 1967, when it was replaced by the New Zealand dollar. Prior to this, New Zealand used the pound sterling since the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. Like t ...

235: a small debt of NZ£10 was all that was owed. The building was made of

Kauri ''Agathis'', commonly known as kauri or dammara, is a genus of evergreen coniferous trees, native to Australasia and Southeast Asia. It is one of three extant genera in the family Araucariaceae, alongside '' Wollemia'' and ''Araucaria'' (being ...

weather boards (boards and battens) and a shingle roof, and foundations of

pūriri ''Vitex lucens'', commonly known as pūriri, is an evergreen tree endemic to New Zealand. History Pūriri was first collected (by Europeans) at Tolaga Bay by Banks and Solander during Cook's first visit in 1769. The plant was described by S ...

piles on stone blocks. William Cook and Son of

Waimate North Waimate North is a small settlement in Northland Region, Northland, New Zealand. It is situated between Kerikeri and Lake Ōmāpere, west of the Bay of Islands. It was one of the earliest centres of European settlement and features the second-o ...

, who had built the church of St John the Baptist in 1871, were also the builders of St James.

Cemetery

The

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

of St James is the oldest cemetery still in operation in New Zealand. Several graves are dated before 1840.

Dedication

The church is dedicated to St James the Greater of Compostela. Tradition has it that after his martyrdom in AD 42, the body of St James was placed in a boat without sail or rudder which drifted onto the Spanish coast. His shrine at Compostela became a famous place of pilgrimage and still is today.

References

External links

Official website
Churches completed in 1878 19th-century Anglican church buildings in New Zealand Far North District Bay of Islands 1870s churches in New Zealand 1820s establishments in New Zealand 1823 establishments in Oceania Religious buildings and structures in the Northland Region Gothic Revival church buildings in New Zealand Wooden churches in New Zealand {{NewZealand-church-stub