First Church is a prominent church in the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is located in the heart of the city on Moray Place, 100 metres to the south of the city centre. The church is the city's primary Presbyterian church. The building is regarded as the most impressive of New Zealand's nineteenth-century churches, [1] and is listed by Heritage New Zealand as a Category I structure. [2]
Prior to the construction of the church, smaller earlier buildings had been used by the congregation, [3] but the rapid rise in the city's population meant that a larger, more permanent structure was necessary.
The original First Church stood close to the former beach in the city's lower High Street. This was a rough, weatherboard building, erected very quickly, and capable of holding some 200 people. It was opened in September 1848, within six months of the arrival of the city's first permanent European settlers from Scotland. [4] So hasty was the construction of the building that early congregations had to remain standing, as seating was not installed until three months later. [5]
A stone church was built in 1850 which expanded and extended the original structure, doubling its capacity. This building not only served as a church, but, in the city's early days, was also a school, public lecture hall, and served as the Otago Provincial Council chambers. The building was utilitarian, and may have only ever been intended as a temporary solution, as plans for a more stately building were being mooted as early as 1856. After construction of the permanent church, the 1848 and 1850 buildings were used as a wool store, but were destroyed by fire in 1865. [5]
From 1864 a third structure ("The Interim Church") was used, on a site above the previous buildings on Dowling Street. A sturdy wooden structure on a stone base, it had seating for 600, and was used until the present building was ready for use in 1873. The wooden building was dismantled and moved to Fryatt Street, where is served as a tram workshop; part of the original stone foundations on Dowling Street are still visible adjoining a city council car park. [6]
The current church stands on the stump of Bell Hill, a major promontory which initially divided the heart of Dunedin in two. In the city's early years, gold was discovered inland, resulting in rapid growth in the city. The hill became a massive obstacle to the development of Dunedin, and a decision was made by the Otago Provincial Council to make a substantial excavation into the hill. This resulted in a cutting through which one of the city's main streets, Princes Street, now passes, and the reduction of the height of Bell Hill by some 12 metres (40 ft). Much of the excavated soil and stone was used in the reclamation of land which now forms the Southern Endowment of South Dunedin. The church's site, on a promontory of what is left of the hill, commands views to the south across Queen's Gardens towards the Otago Harbour and South Dunedin.
The building, in decorated Gothic style, was designed in 1862 by Robert Lawson, who also designed the city's Knox Church, which has a similar tower. Lawson had won a competition for the design of the church from among six entrants. [7] Construction was delayed after the decision to reduce Bell Hill, with the foundation stone being laid in May 1868 by Dr. Thomas Burns, and was officially opened on 23 November 1873, by which time Burns, its champion, had already died. [3] The church is dominated by its multi-pinnacled tower crowned by a spire rising to 56.4 metres (185 ft). The spire is unusual as it is pierced by two-storeyed gabled windows on all sides, which give an illusion of even greater height. Such was Lawson's perfectionism that the top of the spire had to be dismantled and rebuilt when it failed to measure up to his standards. It can be seen from much of central Dunedin, and dominates the skyline of lower Moray Place, and has a capacity of over 1000.
The expense of the building was not without criticism. Some members of the Presbyterian synod felt the metropolitan church should not have been so privileged over the country districts where congregants had no purpose designed places of worship or only modest ones. The Reverend Dr Burns's championship of the project ensured it was carried through against such objections.
Externally, First Church successfully replicates the effect, if on a smaller scale, of the late Norman cathedrals of England. The cathedral-like design and size can best be appreciated from the rear. There is an apse flanked by turrets, which are dwarfed by the massive gable containing the great rose window. It is this large circular window which after the spire becomes the focal point of the rear elevations. The whole architectural essay appears here almost European. Inside, instead of the stone vaulted ceiling of a Norman cathedral, there are hammer beams supporting a ceiling of pitched wood and a stone pointed arch acts as a simple proscenium to the central pulpit. Above this diffused light enters through a rose window of stained glass. This is flanked by further lights on the lower level, while twin organ pipes emphasise the symmetry of the pulpit.
At 56.4 metres (185 ft), [8] the spire makes the building one of the tallest in the South Island, and it was the island's tallest building until the construction of ChristChurch Cathedral, Christchurch was completed in 1881. It again held that rank briefly from 1888, after the latter building was damaged by an earthquake. The church is currently the city's tallest building, and the fourth tallest building in the South Island (after Pacific Tower, the Forsyth Barr Building, and Rydge's Hotel, all in Christchurch).
The building is constructed of Oamaru stone, set on foundations of basalt breccia from Port Chalmers, with details carved by Louis Godfrey, who also did much of the woodcarving in the interior. The use of "cathedral glass", coloured but unfigured glass pending the donation of a pictorial window for the rose window is characteristic of Otago's 19th-century churches, where donors were relatively few reflecting the generally "low church" sentiments of the place. Similar examples can be found in several of Lawson's other churches throughout Otago.
Other notable features of the building include stained glass windows dedicated to those fallen in war and to the Otago Mounted Rifles. For many years, the church housed a 1908 Norman & Baird organ, though this was replaced in 1983 by a digital organ by Allen. A full set of eight change-ringing bells, cast by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, was installed in 1975 and are rung by members of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Bellringers. At that time the only such set in a Presbyterian church outside the United Kingdom and claimed to be the southernmost ring of bells in the world. [9] [10] A large bell on a pedestal stands outside the church, sent from Scotland in 1851. [11] Also located in the grounds in front of the church is a memorial plaque to Dr. Burns. [3] The entrance gates to the church feature two lamps which started life as Edinburgh street lamps, another connection to the homeland of many of the city's first settlers. [11]
A miniature of the church was created by Lawson in the city's Northern Cemetery as a family tomb for noted early Dunedinite William Larnach. [12]
Regular Sunday services are held in the church in English (10.00am), Cook Island Maori (12.00 Noon), and Samoan (2.00pm). [13] The church is also used for a variety of both religious and secular civic and cultural events within the city. [14]
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from Dùn Èideann, the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. The city has a rich Māori, Scottish, and Chinese heritage.
Francis William Petre, sometimes known as Frank Petre, was a New Zealand-born architect based in Dunedin. He was an able exponent of the Gothic revival style, one of its best practitioners in New Zealand. He followed the Catholic Church's initiative to build places of worship in Anglo-Saxon countries inspired by Romance forms of architecture. His basilica Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, in Christchurch was demolished in 2021.
George Street is the main street of Dunedin, the second largest city in the South Island of New Zealand. It runs for two and a half kilometres north-northeast from The Octagon in the city centre to the foot of Pine Hill. It is straight and undulates gently as it skirts the edge of the hills to its northwest. South of The Octagon, Princes Street continues the line of George Street south-southwest for two kilometres.
Princes Street is a major street in Dunedin, the second largest city in the South Island of New Zealand. It runs south-southwest for two kilometres from The Octagon in the city centre to the Oval sports ground, close to the city's Southern Cemetery. North of The Octagon, George Street continues the line of Princes Street north-northeast for two and a half kilometres. Princes Street is straight but undulating, skirting the edge of the City Rise to its northwest. The part of the street immediately below The Octagon is the steepest section, as the road traverses an old cutting through Bell Hill.
Moray Place is an octagonal street which surrounds the city centre of Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. The street is intersected by Stuart Street, Princes Street and George Street. Like many streets in Dunedin, it is named for a street in the Scottish capital Edinburgh.
Benjamin Woolfield Mountfort was an English emigrant to New Zealand, where he became one of the country's most prominent 19th-century architects. He was instrumental in shaping the city of Christchurch's unique architectural identity and culture, and was appointed the first official Provincial Architect of the developing province of Canterbury. Heavily influenced by the Anglo-Catholic philosophy behind early Victorian architecture, he is credited with importing the Gothic revival style to New Zealand. His Gothic designs constructed in both wood and stone in the province are considered unique to New Zealand. Today, he is considered the founding architect of the province of Canterbury.
Robert Arthur Lawson was one of New Zealand's pre-eminent 19th century architects. The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography states that he did more than any other designer to shape the face of the Victorian era architecture of the city of Dunedin. He is the architect of over forty churches, including Dunedin's First Church for which he is best remembered, but also other buildings, such as Larnach Castle, a country house, with which he is also associated.
William Mason was a New Zealand architect born in Ipswich, England, the son of an architect/builder George Mason and Susan, née Forty. Trained by his father he went to London where he seems to have worked for Thomas Telford (1757–1834). He studied under Peter Nicholson (1765–1844) before eventually working for Edward Blore (1787–1879). In 1831 he married Sarah Nichols, a Berkshire woman apparently fifteen years older than he was. A son was born in the first year of their marriage. In 1836 he returned to Ipswich to practise. Having worked at Lambeth Palace he had attracted the interest of the bishop of London, who now employed him independently designing churches and parsonages. These included three commissions for churches in Essex: St Lawrence, East Donyland; St Botolph, Colchester; and St James, Brightlingsea. The most remarkable of these is St Botolph's (1838) in white brick and Norman style. Apparently Georgian in plan and in its interior it strikes a Medieval note outside. St James (1836), also white brick and in the lancet style and resembling some of Blore's work, is very like St Paul's Church, Auckland which Mason built a few years later. Perhaps because of economic hardship, perhaps because of ambition in 1838 the Masons emigrated to New South Wales.
Holy Trinity Church is an heritage-listed Anglican church located in Port Chalmers, Otago, New Zealand. Completed in 1874, the Academic Gothic Revival church building is constructed in volcanic stone and has some fine stained glass, and is listed as a Category I Historic Place by Heritage New Zealand. Together with St Barnabas Church, Warrington, Holy Trinity Church is part of the Port Chalmers-Warrington Parish of the Diocese of Dunedin.
Caversham is one of the older suburbs (neighbourhoods) of the city of Dunedin, in New Zealand's South Island. It is sited at the western edge of the city's central plain at the mouth of the steep Caversham Valley, which rises to the saddle of Lookout Point. Major road and rail routes south lie nearby; the South Island Main Trunk railway runs through the suburb, and a bypass skirts its main retail area, connecting Dunedin's one-way street system with the Dunedin Southern Motorway. The suburb is linked by several bus routes to its neighbouring suburbs and central Dunedin.
Knox Church is a notable building in Dunedin, New Zealand. It houses the city's second Presbyterian congregation and is the city's largest church of any denomination.
Maxwell Bury was an English-born architect who was active in New Zealand in the 19th century. He is best remembered for his buildings for the University of Otago.
James Louis Salmond was a New Zealand architect active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many of his buildings remain, particularly in Otago. He established a practice carried on by his son and grandson into the 21st century.
The Dunedin Town Hall, also known as the Dunedin Centre, is a municipal building in the city of Dunedin in New Zealand. It is located in the heart of the city extending from The Octagon, the central plaza, to Moray Place through a whole city block. It is the seat of the Dunedin City Council, providing its formal meeting chamber, as well as a large auditorium and a conference centre. The oldest part of the building has been called the only substantial Victorian town hall still in existence in New Zealand.
All Saints' Church is a heritage-listed Anglican church located in Dunedin, New Zealand. Established in 1865, the church is part of the Dunedin North parish in the Diocese of Dunedin.
Consultancy House is a historic building in The Exchange, in downtown Dunedin, New Zealand. It has a New Zealand Historic Places Trust grade I classification.
Tokomairiro Presbyterian Church is a major church building in the New Zealand town of Milton, in the Otago Region. It was designed and built by Robert Lawson and officially opened in 1889.
The Cargill Monument is a notable public monument in central Dunedin, New Zealand. It is dedicated to the city's founding father, Captain William Cargill, and is approximately 7.5 metres (25 ft) in height.
This list of works by Robert Lawson categorises and provides brief details of the structures designed by Scottish-born architect Robert A. Lawson (1833–1902) who is said did more than any other designer to shape the face of the Victorian era architecture of the city of Dunedin.
St Andrew's Presbyterian Church was a prominent church in Dunedin, New Zealand. Designed by pre-eminent Dunedin Robert Lawson it was constructed in 1870 to serve a rapidly developing area of the city which became notorious for its slum housing, poverty and crime which led to it being referred to as the "Devil's Half-Acre" from 1873 onwards. The church is best known for its long time crusading minister the Reverend Rutherford Waddell. Waddell's 'Sin of Cheapness' sermon which was a landmark in New Zealand's social and labour history was delivered from its pulpit. It eventually closed as a place of Presbyterian worship in 1978 and after briefly serving as a place of worship for the Word of Life Pentecostal Church it was purchased by the Coptic Orthodox Church in 2000, who renamed it the Archangel Michael Coptic Orthodox Church.
