St Peter's Cathedral is an

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 ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

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 ...

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

, located in the

Waikato The Waikato () is a region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the nort ...

region of 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 ...

of New Zealand. It is located on a small hill, known as Cathedral Hill (), in the southern central part of the city off Victoria Street.History
St Peter's Cathedral, Hamilton, New Zealand.

Overview

St Peter's Cathedral serves as the

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...

for the

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

and Diocese of Waikato, the surrounding region. The Diocese is one of seven diocese in

Aotearoa ''Aotearoa'' () is the Māori name for New Zealand. The name was originally used by Māori in reference only to the North Island, with the whole country being referred to as ''Aotearoa me Te Waipounamu'' – where ''Te Ika-a-Māui'' means N ...

, forming part of the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is a Christian Full communion, communion consisting of the Church of England and other autocephalous national and regional churches in full communion. The archbishop of Canterbury in England acts as a focus of unity, ...

around the world. The

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

is a mixed-voice choir consisting of 24 singers. Close by to the north of the cathedral on the other side of the street is Waikato Museum. On the opposite side of the

Waikato River The Waikato River is the longest river in New Zealand, running for through the North Island. It rises on the eastern slopes of Mount Ruapehu, joining the Tongariro River system and flowing through Lake Taupō, New Zealand's largest lake. It th ...

over the Victoria Bridge is the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

cathedral, the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Hamilton. The senior priest of the cathedral is called a Dean, currently The Very Rev'd Julian Perkins.

History

The first Anglican church was built in Hamilton and was almost completed in 1867, but burnt down in that year. A second church was built in 1871 but was considered unsatisfactory. On land at the base of the current cathedral site, a third church was dedicated in 1884 and consecrated in 1887. The present St Peter's Cathedral, the fourth Anglican church in the succession of buildings, was completed in 1916. It was modelled on a 15th-century church in

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The building was designed in

ferro-concrete Reinforced concrete, also called ferroconcrete or ferro-concrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low ultimate tensile strength, tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having ...

by Warren and Blechynden of Hamilton and was the third on this site. The eight bells of the cathedral were cast by the Mears & Stainbank foundry of

Whitechapel Whitechapel () is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is the location of Tower Hamlets Town Hall and therefore the borough tow ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The tenor bell (the bell with the lowest pitch) was purchased in 1931 and installed in 1933. The remaining six bells were added in October 1948 after fund-raising. Ringing is undertaken by members of The Australian and New Zealand Association of Bellringers. St Peter's Cathedral was registered 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; in ) is a Crown entity that advocates for the protection of Archaeology of New Zealand, ancest ...

) as a Category II historic building on 5 September 1985 with registration number 4206.

21st century

The cathedral hosted a meeting for the Hamilton mayoral election, 2016. A multi-coloured light show at the cathedral was planned for December 2016.Christmas magic made with multicoloured light show on Hamilton's St Peter's Cathedral
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Peters Cathedral, Hamilton, New Zealand 1867 establishments in New Zealand Churches completed in 1916

Churches in Hamilton, New Zealand Tourist attractions in Hamilton, New Zealand Culture in Hamilton, New Zealand Heritage New Zealand Category 2 historic places in Waikato Listed churches in New Zealand 1910s churches in New Zealand

Overview

History

21st century

See also

References

External links