Long before the first Christian missionaries travelled up the Waihou River in 1833 there had been a Maori settlement and pa at Te Aroha, associated with the Ngati Rahiri Tumutumu iwi. By 1874, the first European had settled. The Crown took ownership of 54,000 acres (21,853 hectares) in the area in 1878, speedily surveying plans for a township on the river. The town grew rapidly due to the popularity of the local hot springs with tourists and the goldfields opening nearby in 1880.
The first Anglican service in Te Aroha was held in the open air by Reverend W. Calder, Vicar of Hamilton, in December 1880. Later that month, a meeting was held to establish a church committee, attended by the Bishop of Auckland, William Garden Cowie (1831-1902); the Vicar of Cambridge, Reverend W. De L. Willis; and the Vicar of Hamilton. Prominent members appointed to the committee included Harry Kenrick, the goldfields warden; Jackson George O’Halloran of the Hot Springs Hotel; and Rewiti Mokena.
Erama Lipsey, daughter of the Ngati Rahiri chief, Mokena Hau, and wife of George Lipsey (the first European settler in the area) gifted the land for the church on the corner of Kenrick and Church Streets. In 1885, Te Aroha became an Anglican parochial district with its own vicar, Reverend James Marshall.
Early medieval vernacular timber buildings influenced the Camden Society in England, which in turn inspired Bishop George Augustus Selwyn (1809-1878) to popularise the Gothic Revival style in the New Zealand Anglican Church. The 1880s was a time of unprecedented church building for many denominations, often within tight financial constraints. Edward Bartley had also admired Gothic architecture as a young man, and by 1880 became the Auckland Anglican Diocesan Architect. This was by no means an exclusive appointment: he was also busily designing for other clients during this period, including many Wesleyan churches. The Te Aroha Anglican church is one of just a handful Bartley designed outside of what we now know as Auckland city.
In April 1886, Bartley called for tenders and the cheapest, £351, was accepted from Mr Sharler of Auckland, probably Henry James Sharler, a builder based in upper Union Street. By 22 May, the timber was on the ground, with construction expected to start the following week. Weather permitting, the building was expected to take six weeks. Circulars requesting donations of ‘anything saleable, from a needle to an anchor’ were distributed to neighbouring districts by a ladies’ committee to help raise funds. By 12 June, the contractors had the framing up and much of the building already boarded in. All of the heavy work, including the roof, belfry, crosses and window frames, was completed by 3 July. A vestry meeting was held in the church in early August to prepare for the opening. It was agreed to purchase a bell once funds permitted.
According to one of the original church committee members, Herbert Osmond Cooper, the church was ‘built of the best kauri throughout, and roofed with kauri shingles, surmounted by a belfry. The main building measured 41 feet 6 inches [12.65 metres] long, 23 feet [7 metres] wide, besides the chancel 7 x 6.6 [2.13 x 2 metres] and Vestry 10 x 10 [3 x 3 metres].’ The steeply pitched roof was not just an aesthetic element; it facilitated the fast drainage of rain from the shingles, prolonging their life.
It was a period of financial depression, but despite some debt still outstanding, the vestry decided that all seats should be free rather than rented. The church was opened by Bishop Cowie and the vicar on 22 August 1886 and was given the name St Mark’s. A ‘handsome’ altar cloth was donated by Archdeacon Willis. The building was ‘well filled’ at the two services with people attending from surrounding districts. Fundraising events continued.
An 1895 photograph shows the church with simple buttresses of single timbers and the vestry appears to be on the opposite side of the building to where it is located in 2014. The entry porch was located close to the main gate.
In late 1900, the vestry proposed that the church be enlarged with a lean-to structure rather than a transept, possibly due to the lower cost, with a tender of £94 being accepted for the work. In 1901, the vestry agreed to varnish the interior of the church and install new windows. Electricity and lights were installed in 1905 at a cost of £12.7.6.
A photograph taken in circa 1912 shows that pier buttresses were in place. The lean-to has replaced the vestry, which has been either relocated or rebuilt on the other side of the church building, where it is today. This work may have been done along with the addition in circa 1900.
By 1918, the church was in need of repairs, particularly the shingle roof, and the idea was mooted to build a new church. However, when the funeral of the MP Sir William Herries (1859-1923) was held at the church in 1923, it was at the same building and a shingle roof was still in evidence. Sir William had farmed in the district since the 1880s and had served as an MP for 25 years, with various ministry roles including Minister of Native Affairs and Minister of Railways. He had been a key supporter of the Prime Minister, Sir William Ferguson Massey (1856–1925), who attended his full state funeral along with three previous Prime Ministers – Joseph George Ward (1856–1930), Joseph Gordon Coates (1878-1943) and Sir Francis Henry Dillon Bell (1851-1936) – along with other cabinet ministers.
A new church, built to honour of those who had died in the First World War (1914-18) and in thanksgiving for peace, was finally built at Te Aroha in 1926.
The old church was offered to Hugh Ross for the Waihou Church Committee for approximately £16. Ross was a well-known Waihou orchardist, nurseryman and seedsman who had lived in the district since at least 1880 and was responsible for planting over 600 trees in the Te Aroha Domain. He purchased the church in memory of his son Hugh Leslie Ross, who had been killed at Las Basse Ville in the First World War.
Anglican services had been held in Waihou since 1879. Church services were often held in the old public hall, which had been built after 1880 on land donated by the Campbell brothers - Hugh, an Auckland solicitor, and James Palmer Campbell (1855-1926) - who had taken up property in the area in 1875. J. P. Campbell went on to become president of the Law Society and a member of the Legislative Council. In July 1883, the land was transferred to Hugh Campbell; Charles Gould, a Piako farmer; Reuben Parr, a Waitoa farmer; Charles Collins, a farm manager of Waitoa; and Frederick Strange, another farmer of Waitoa. The hall was administered by a committee, described as tenants, the inaugural members being Herbert Osmond Cooper, Hugh Ross, John Hubert, Dick George, Chance Lewis and Ernest Alcock.
It was the only public hall between Hamilton and Te Aroha at that time. The hall had been used as a school until 1895, with students including the son of Reuben Parr who became Sir (Christopher) James Parr (1869–1941), politician and New Zealand High Commissioner to London.
A new hall was built in circa 1914 - a larger building on a more prominent site. At a small public meeting which included representatives of the old hall committee (Cooper, Parr, Ross and Hubert) held on 7 December 1925 at the old hall in Waihou, Ross offered the church building to the community. It was noted that the hall site was for undenominational purposes. It was decided, after an initial hesitation over the potential costs associated with relocation and refurbishment, to accept the ‘generous offer’ of the church building from St Mark’s. H.O. Cooper was elected chair of the church committee. Arrangements were made to prepare the site by dismantling the old hall for sale by auction and cutting down associated trees.
In December 1925, it was decided to call for tenders to move the church, minus the lean-to on its southern side, from Te Aroha to Waihou, and to reroof it with iron.
On 13 April 1926, the church was relocated to the current site in three pieces. This required crossing the Waihou River – the current bridge was yet to be built and the railway bridge was likely to be too narrow to accommodate the sections. According to Alan Cooper, a descendant of H.O. Cooper, the church was barged across the river in pieces on the tray of vehicle(s) belonging to Stan McConnachie’s firm, McConnachie Transport, and then transported by road to Waihou. The McConnachie family has a longstanding association with Te Aroha, with Stan winning many awards for his horses at the local show. The family’s association with transport continues in the name of a garage it used to own.
In October 1926, the Waihou church committee decided to accept an offer from St Mark’s Te Aroha of three pieces of furniture (the original altar, prayer desk and lectern) under the condition that the church be undenominational; and to purchase 20 pews from them. At £50, the pews cost over three times more than the £16 building.
The offer of Mrs E.A. Ross of a bell in memory of her son was also accepted. The bell was made at A & G Price’s Foundry in Thames, and was cast from gun metal. It was tolled at the opening of the church.
On 10 December 1926, the church was officially opened by the Governor General, Sir Charles Fergusson, accompanied by the Te Aroha mayor and councillors. It was dedicated as a Memorial Church, in remembrance of the men who had fought and died in the First World War. Lady Alice Fergusson presented an altar cross which was dedicated by the Anglican vicar, Reverend R. Connelly. The church relocation and refurbishment had cost £534, paid for by voluntary public donations.
On 15 December, two Waihou residents were married at the new church – Lawrence Johnson and Margaret Gibson.
In 1927, the church committee included Hugh Ross, Mr Lewis, Mr Hubert, H.V. and B.G. Cooper. These family names were to be associated with the church for many years to come. Over the first four years, a variety of contributions were received from at least eight local families, including a wash basin, tank stand, trees (some natives), hedging plants, electric lighting, vases, cement and labour - such as laying a cork aisle mat and constructing steps.
A New Zealand marble tablet was ordered in late 1930 to commemorate those who had attended the Waihou school or were resident in the school district who had served in the First World War. The memorial was to be funded by local subscriptions. Two flags were donated in circa 1933. One of the original church committee members responsible for obtaining the church, Hugh Ross, died the same year, with a combined memorial service held at the church. In 1947, after fundraising, three memorial tablets were erected in the nave to Hugh Ross, Mr Hubert and H.O. Cooper.
Maintenance was carried out on the organ in 1951 and a subscription list was started to help with the cost of looking after the church.
A Second World War Roll of Honour tablet was purchased from W. Parkinson Ltd for £39.15 in 1952, with the Waihou District Services Club contributing most of the cost. The dedication services were led by Reverend Canon Dawson.
In 1954, a memorial to Waihou District Servicemen in the form of a stained glass window depicting St Chad was obtained through W.G. Douglas and Sons in Auckland. The window was made by James Powell and Sons (‘Whitefriars Glass’) in England, who are regarded as one of the longest surviving and historically important English glassmakers. Powell’s records indicate that the wrong size window was produced for St Chad’s Anglican Church in Wanganui in 1952 and the window was reused at Waihou. This may well explain why it only cost around £175 rather than the English market rate at the time of more than £250, as well as why this is the only arch-shaped window in the church. The Waihou Services Club was consulted, and perhaps contributed to the costs.
It was decided to install the window in the north western end of the church, by removing the existing central window and by reframing and relocating the two smaller side windows at equal distances between the corner of the building and the central window. In 1955, the memorial window was dedicated. Local councils and the South African Veterans’ Association were also approached about the relatives of those who had died in the South African war. The same year, the Ladies’ Committee’s suggestion of interior paint colours of ivory with a pinkish trim was accepted and implemented - perhaps the first time the interior was painted rather than varnished.
In 1964, the Governor General, Sir Bernard Fergusson, son of Sir Charles and Lady Alice Fergusson, visited the church. Two flags were donated, to be placed either side of the Second World War Memorial tablet, and a plaque to the memory of his parents was fixed next to it.
A structural inspection in 1999 confirmed that the church building was in poor condition. The original timber pile foundations, which set the church very close to the ground, were rotting and the ground had subsided, probably in part due to the rotting of the tree roots from the trees that were cleared from the site when the church was relocated. This had caused the building to warp and the main bracing elements to pull away.
In 1999, Raymond Salisbury of Images in Glass Ltd reported on the windows, commenting on the quality of the St Chad window. Because the St Chad stained glass window was slightly too small for its frame and age, it had bowed and was at risk of cracking and glass falling out. Salisbury noted that the sanctuary windows had been double glazed and transfers or decals had been applied on the inside of the glass at an unknown date. The transfers, which were in very poor condition, depicted a choir, various saints and the Good Shepherd. Only two of the images were easy to discern. The other windows had been glazed in a thick obscure glass, but many panes had been replaced with non-matching glass or were broken.
In 2001, a building permit was issued for repiling and repairing the church under plans drawn by Matthews and Matthews Architects. The building was lifted. During repiling, the sanctuary window depicting St Paul cracked, fell out and shattered. The transfers on the other windows continued to deteriorate.
Other work included reroofing in 2002 (triple runs of corrugated iron were replaced with long run iron); removing a hand basin; and replacing spouting and downpipes.
In January 2003, most of the land forming the current place was transferred to the Waihou Undenominational Church. Financial grants in the same year enabled the repair of the nave side windows and the replacement of those behind the altar. The faces of the child and Jesus used in the central altar window were donated by a local man, Harvey Webb, who had served in London during the Second World War and rescued these fragments from a bomb site.
One of the side sanctuary windows was replaced with a memorial window dedicated to Vena Barker. The stained glass windows featured in a Country News Magazine article promoting the church in 2007.
Cork covering in the aisle was removed in circa 2005. Around this time church textiles, including the historic altar cloth and flags, were damaged by fire. By 2008, the facelift was declared largely complete at a cost of approximately $100,000, and was accompanied by an increase in the number of events held in the church.
Since it was built, the church has provided a venue for services held by the following denominations: Anglican, Church of Christ, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Salvation Army, Seventh Day Adventist and some non-denominational Christian groups. Church committee members have been prominent figures in the local community, with responsibility for church affairs often being passed down to family members. Since the building’s relocation to its current site, the small local community has donated labour, materials, money and fittings for the church, most notably in the form of memorial windows and plaques.
The church has been a hub of the small Waihou farming community, a place used to celebrate key life events for over 120 years in the area. With improved transport making access to larger towns easier and a downturn in religious practice, church services are no longer held there on a regular basis. However, between 2003 and 2013 alone, this humble country church was used for 79 weddings, three funerals, three family reunions, two Women’s Division meetings, the St Mark’s Church 125th Anniversary and three exhibitions. The visitors’ book shows evidence of people revisiting the site to renew their associations with the place as well as many people simply stopping to appreciate its atmosphere. The memorial bell continues to be rung for weddings, funerals and special occasions.
