Old St. Paul's, Wellington

Old St. Paul's, Wellington
Old St. Paul's, Wellington
	Exterior of Old St. Paul's
Location	Mulgrave Street, Wellington
Country	New Zealand
Denomination	Anglican
Website	Old St Paul's, Wellington
History
Dedicated	6 June 1866
Architecture
Functional status	Consecrated
Architect(s)	Reverend Frederick Thatcher
Style	Gothic Revival
Years built	1865–66
Administration
Diocese	Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga
Heritage New Zealand – Category I
Designated	26 November 1981
Reference no.	38

Last updated April 29, 2019

You may be looking for Old St. Paul's Cathedral, a destroyed cathedral in the City of London.

Or for Old Saint Paul's, Edinburgh, of the Scottish Episcopal Church.

Coordinates: 41°16′35″S174°46′49″E / 41.276262°S 174.780394°E / -41.276262; 174.780394

Geographic coordinate system Coordinate system

A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position and two or three of the numbers represent a horizontal position; alternatively, a geographic position may be expressed in a combined three-dimensional Cartesian vector. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation. To specify a location on a plane requires a map projection.

Old St. Paul's is an historic site, a Wellington landmark and a popular wedding- and event-venue in the heart of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. The building functioned as the cathedral of the Diocese of Wellington of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia between 1866 and 1964. It exemplifies 19th-century Gothic Revival architecture adapted to colonial conditions and materials, and stands at 34 Mulgrave Street, Thorndon, close to the New Zealand Parliament.

Wellington is the capital city and second most populous urban area of New Zealand, with 418,500 residents. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the major population centre of the southern North Island, and is the administrative centre of the Wellington Region, which also includes the Kapiti Coast and Wairarapa. Its latitude is 41°17′S, making it the world's southernmost capital of a sovereign state. Wellington features a temperate maritime climate, and is the world's windiest city by average wind speed.

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 denominations with an episcopal hierarchy, such as the Catholic, Anglican, Orthodox, and some Lutheran and Methodist churches. Church buildings embodying the functions of a cathedral first appeared in Italy, Gaul, Spain and North Africa in the 4th century, but cathedrals did not become universal within the Western Catholic Church until the 12th century, by which time they had developed architectural forms, institutional structures and legal identities distinct from parish churches, monastic churches and episcopal residences.

The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion serving New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, and the Cook Islands. Since 1992 the church has consisted of three tikanga or cultural streams: Aotearoa, New Zealand, and Polynesia. The church's constitution says that, among other things, it is required to "maintain the right of every person to choose any particular cultural expression of the faith". As a result, the church's General Synod has agreed upon the development of the three-person primacy based on this three tikanga system. It has three primates (leaders), each representing a tikanga, who share authority.

History

George Selwyn, the first Bishop of New Zealand, purchased part of the site of the church in 1845 and Governor George Grey added to it in 1853,^[1] at which time the land stood on a prominent cliff-top overlooking Wellington harbour.^[2] Agreement to build the church was reached by 1861^[2] and the Reverend Frederick Thatcher, then vicar of St. Paul's, Thorndon, was engaged as the architect.

The Reverend Frederick Thatcher was an English and New Zealand architect and clergyman.

Thorndon is a historic inner suburb of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. Because the suburb is relatively level compared to the hilly terrain elsewhere in Wellington it contained Wellington's elite residential area until its best was destroyed in the 1960s by a new motorway and the erection of tall office buildings on the sites of its Molesworth Street retail and service businesses.

The foundation stone was laid by Governor Grey on 21 August 1865.^[3] The building work was executed by John McLaggan and a team of eight carpenters,^[4] and the church was consecrated by Bishop Abraham on 6 June 1866.^[5]

Soon after the church opened, it became apparent that it was unstable in high winds, and so the south transept, designed by Christian Julius Toxward, was added in 1868.^[6] Later additions included the north transept and north-aisle extension, also by Toxward, in 1874; the moving of the chancel five metres to the east and the addition of minor north and south transepts to the design of George Fannin in 1876; the choir vestry in 1882, probably designed by Toxward; and extension of the baptistry as designed by Frederick de Jersey Clere in 1891.^[6] Thatcher’s original wooden shingle roof was replaced with corrugated iron in 1895, and subsequently with Welsh slates in 1924.^[7]

Frederick de Jersey Clere was an architect in Wellington, New Zealand.

In 1964 the Diocese of Wellington moved to the new St Paul's Cathedral nearby. After a significant battle to prevent its demolition, Old St. Paul's was purchased by the New Zealand Government in 1967, and subsequently restored by the Ministry of Works under the guidance of Peter Sheppard.^[8]^[9]

Current situation

Old St. Paul's is now managed by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga.^[1] While no longer a parish church, it remains consecrated, and is a popular venue for weddings, funerals and other services.

It is constructed from New Zealand native timbers, with stunning stained glass windows. The interior has been likened to the upturned hull of an Elizabethan galleon, with exposed curving rimu trusses and kauri roof sarking.

The flags displayed in the nave include the ensigns of the Royal Navy, the New Zealand Merchant Navy and the United States Marine Corps (second division), which was stationed in Wellington during World War II.^[1] The church retains close links with the New Zealand Defence Force.

Some of the walls and columns of Old St. Paul's are decorated with memorial plaques, including many dedicated to those who fought and died in World War I. There is a plaque in memory of Wellington historian John Beaglehole, most famous for his biography of explorer James Cook, but who also played a significant role in the fight to save Old St. Paul's from demolition.^[10]

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References

1 2 3 History of Old St. Paul's
1 2 Sheppard, Peter. Restoring Old St Paul's. Wellington: Ministry of Works, 1970, p. 3.
↑ Evening Post, 21 Aug 1865, p. 2
↑ Bircham, Deric. Old St Paul’s: An Illustrated Essay. Wellington: AH & AW Reed, 1981, p. 28.
↑ Wellington Independent, 7 Jun 1856, p. 5
1 2 Sheppard, Peter. Restoring Old St Paul's. Wellington: Ministry of Works, 1970, p. 4.
↑ Alington, Margaret and Alington, William. Old St Paul’s Wellington: A Pictorial Record. Wellington: Friends of Old St Paul’s Society, 1968, p. 3.
↑ Cox, Elizabeth (2018). A Friend Indeed: The Saving of Old St Paul's. Wellington. ISBN 9780473397722.
↑ Kernohan, David. Wellington’s Old Buildings. Wellington: Victoria University Press, 1994, p. 52.
↑ Beaglehole, Tim. "Beaglehole, John Cawte". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography . Ministry for Culture and Heritage . Retrieved 28 April 2012.

External links

Historical website about the church

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[HPT_history-1] 1 2 3 History of Old St. Paul's

[Sheppard_p3-2] 1 2 Sheppard, Peter. Restoring Old St Paul's. Wellington: Ministry of Works, 1970, p. 3.

[3] Evening Post, 21 Aug 1865, p. 2

[4] Bircham, Deric. Old St Paul’s: An Illustrated Essay. Wellington: AH & AW Reed, 1981, p. 28.

[5] Wellington Independent, 7 Jun 1856, p. 5

[Sheppard_p4-6] 1 2 Sheppard, Peter. Restoring Old St Paul's. Wellington: Ministry of Works, 1970, p. 4.

[7] Alington, Margaret and Alington, William. Old St Paul’s Wellington: A Pictorial Record. Wellington: Friends of Old St Paul’s Society, 1968, p. 3.

[8] Cox, Elizabeth (2018). A Friend Indeed: The Saving of Old St Paul's. Wellington. ISBN 9780473397722.

[9] Kernohan, David. Wellington’s Old Buildings. Wellington: Victoria University Press, 1994, p. 52.

[DNZB-10] Beaglehole, Tim. "Beaglehole, John Cawte". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography . Ministry for Culture and Heritage . Retrieved 28 April 2012.