St Joseph's Church and Cemetery (Catholic)

62 Pitfure Road, WAKEFIELD

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St Joseph's Church (Catholic) is located within a large churchyard which includes a sizeable cemetery, memorial gates and impressive mature trees, in the town of Wakefield, south of Nelson. While now incorporated into a residential area, when the church was first constructed in 1870 it was the focus of a rural Catholic community, and as such it is counted as one of Nelson's historic country churches. Planned European settlement in Nelson began in the early 1840s and it was only a few years later that people began to radiate out from this nucleus and establish rural farming settlements, like Wakefield, throughout the Waimea Plains. Although there was a small but active Catholic community in the Nelson area from early on, it was not until the arrival of Father Antoine Marie Garin, a French missionary, that the district had a resident Catholic priest. Garin and his curate initiated a building programme and by the late 1860s it was deemed necessary to build a church in Wakefield. By this time the settlement had consolidated and the population in the surrounding district was growing. This was also the situation elsewhere in the Nelson area and there was a second wave of church building around the period of 1870. The community spearheaded the construction of St Joseph's Church with their donations toward the building fund, and then throughout its history similar contributions have maintained and extended the building. St Joseph's Church is a modest sized timber country church that is a characteristic example of the Gothic Revival influenced church architecture in New Zealand, which developed into a vernacular style from the mid to late nineteenth century. The church, with its loftily gabled and externally buttressed nave, porch, chancel, and vestry, all of which contain lancet windows and access points, has all the component parts of this type of architecture. The wider churchyard is large and features a cemetery with recently constructed lych gate, as well as a memorial entrance gate, and a historic redwood tree that dwarfs the church with its imposing height. Within Wakefield St Joseph's Church is a landmark because of its prominent position and its aesthetic appeal. Church building is an indicator of the maturing of settlements, and as such St Joseph's Church has historical value because it marks the coming-of-age of this rural settlement. Moreover, the construction coincided with the beginning of a second wave of church building in the Nelson region and as such is demonstrative of the general coalescence and expansion of rural settlements around Nelson province in the late nineteenth century. This church and churchyard also have social and spiritual importance because it was one of only a few Catholic churches in the region when it was built and its construction was the result of the efforts of the local community, as has its subsequent expansions and maintenance.

St Joseph’s Church and Cemetery (Catholic), Wakefield. Image courtesy of www.flickr.com | PhilBee NZ - Phil Braithwaite | 15/03/2016 | Phil Braithwaite
St Joseph’s Church and Cemetery (Catholic), Wakefield. Image courtesy of www.flickr.com | PhilBee NZ - Phil Braithwaite | 15/03/2016 | Phil Braithwaite
St Joseph’s Church and Cemetery (Catholic), Wakefield. Image courtesy of www.flickr.com | PhilBee NZ - Phil Braithwaite | 15/03/2016 | Phil Braithwaite
St Joseph’s Church and Cemetery (Catholic), Wakefield. View of memorial gates looking towads cemetery | Karen Astwood | 01/06/2009 | Heritage New Zealand

Location

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List Entry Information

Overview

Detailed List Entry

Status

Listed

List Entry Status

Historic Place Category 2

Access

Private/No Public Access

List Number

1658

Date Entered

12th December 2009

Date of Effect

12th December 2009

City/District Council

Tasman District

Region

Tasman Region

Extent of List Entry

Extent includes the land described as Pt Sec 78 District of Waimea South (RT NL71/101), Nelson Land District and the building known as, and structures associated with, St Joseph's Church thereon, and its fittings and fixtures, and the following chattels: statuary, pedestals, altars and altar furniture, pews, and religious images (Refer to map in Appendix 1 of the registration report for further information).

Legal description

Pt Sec 78 District of Waimea South (RT NL71/101), Nelson Land District

Location Description

When travelling south along State Highway 6 from Nelson and entering Wakefield township, continue on a straight trajectory into Pitfure Road when the highway/Whitby Road curves westward. Pitfure Road rises slightly just after this intersection and St Joseph's Church is at the top of the rise on the southern side of the road.

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