Completed in 1902, St Margaret's Church has been a symbol of the continuing history and strength of the Anglican faith in the Taihape township for over 100 years. In the Rangitikei region, the first official centre of the Anglican Church was St Stephen's, in Marton. Until the late 1880s, when more parishes were established, the vicar, Reverend Towgood, travelled extensively on horseback to bring the Anglican faith to settlers in the outlying settlements. When settlers from Canterbury established what became the township of Taihape (Otaihape) in 1894, vicars from the new parishes of Mangaweka and Hunterville administered to those of the Anglican faith. In 1898, when the government began selling land at Taihape, the first move to establish the town's own parish was made when Town Section 13 was vested in the Anglican Church. Less than three years later Percy Wise Clarkson, Taihape's first resident lay curate, arrived. Reaching Taihape after a hard day's travelling over rough bridle tracks, Clarkson lamented that he 'felt like Philip being sent into the desert', but he immediately began collecting funds for a church. By the end of the first week he was gratified to find that he had over £100 promised. Clarkson's mentor Reverend R. L. Dove of Hunterville then wrote to the Anglican diocese's architectural firm Clere and Swan, and requested plans for a building of 50 by 28 feet (15.2 by 8.5 metres) to seat 100 people for no more than £200. The plans were completed by John Sidney Swan (1874-1936), who was then acting Chief Draughtsman of the firm. It was the last and grandest church Swan designed before his senior partner, Frederick de Jersey Clere, returned from Britain. Clarkson began clearing the bush-covered Section 13 in preparation for the church's construction. This took over eight months to achieve, during which bazaars and concerts were held to raise more funds to pay for the church. In addition to working on the site, Clarkson continued to visit and preach in outlying districts, travelling many kilometres over poor bridle tracks. He noted 'I find the work very heavy and the long distances trying, but am in love with it'. In July 1902, three months after Clarkson was ordained a deacon, the contractors Messrs Heald & Co. began work on the timber church. It was completed two months later for a total cost of £474 and its opening was celebrated with three, well-attended services on 10 September 1902. The church was designed in a simple, Gothic style with a nave and chancel, side aisle, a porch on the west end and a tower in the north that added authority and visibility to the building. The dramatic tower was a copy of one designed by Clere for St Thomas's Church in Newtown (1895), but the well-defined lancet windows and the queen-post roof construction were Swan's own. As Taihape expanded, numbers attending the small church continued to grow. In 1905, the year after the railway reached the township and Clarkson was ordained as a vicar, Taihape became a separate parochial district of approximately 4000 square miles (10360 square kilometres). In 1909 the church was expanded to accommodate an extra 60 persons and a Norman style tower was erected to accommodate a clergy vestry and baptistry. Memorial windows to the parishioners were installed at the same time and the church was re-dedicated by the bishop. The church continued to serve its Taihape parishioners until its jubilee in 1974, when concerns were raised over the deteriorating building fabric. Upon receiving architectural advice, it was concluded that the building could be saved. During the restorations, part of the Norman style tower that had been added in 1909 was removed, and general maintenance work was carried out. In the 1970s and 1980s, Taihape was a bustling railway town with a population of approximately 4000. When the railway was corporatised in 1991, many jobs were lost and the population more than halved. The smaller population could no longer support a stipendiary vicar. Yet the town was determined not to lose its church, and in 2000 it began experimenting with 'mutual ministry'. Mutual ministry, which relies on a team of lay persons to undertake the jobs traditionally carried out by the vicar, has allowed the church to continue to serve the parish of Taihape as a 'depository of memories' and an inspiration to the soul.