The Waihou Undenominational Memorial Church is a Gothic Revival timber structure designed by the noted architect Edward Bartley. Initially erected in 1886 for an Anglican congregation at Te Aroha, it was relocated to its current site in 1926. Subsequently occupying a property that had contained a public hall, the building was used as an undenominational memorial church, commemorating local men who had fought and died in the First World War (1914-18). The place is significant for reflecting the impacts of the First World War on rural communities; for having served as a site of public gathering and interaction for over 120 years; and for its on-going role as a place to remember people and events of importance to the local community. It is also notable for incorporating a well-preserved example of colonial ecclesiastical architecture with strong connections to the development of Anglicanism in Te Aroha. Initially erected in Te Aroha as St Mark’s Church, the building was opened by its vicar, Reverend James Marshall, and the Anglican Bishop of Auckland, William Cowie, in August 1886. Its creation reflected the importance of religious observance in nineteenth-century settler communities and, more specifically, Te Aroha becoming a parochial district in 1885. Constructed largely of kauri, the Gothic structure was of rectangular plan with a small projecting porch on one side of the building and a larger vestry on the other. Created late in the period when Edward Bartley was architect for the Anglican Diocese of Auckland, the building is perhaps the simplest of his church designs, and has unusual pointed gable doors and windows. Modifications at the turn of the century included the addition of pier buttresses and a lean-to, and possibly relocation of the vestry to the same side of the building as the porch. Outgrown by its congregation, the structure was relocated, partially by barge, in 1926 to the small farming community of Waihou about five kilometres away. It was placed on the site of the original Waihou Public Hall, which dated from circa 1880. Alterations included replacement of its shingled roof with corrugated iron, and the removal of the turn-of-the-century lean-to. The relocated structure functioned not only as a church shared by as many as eight different denominations, but as a memorial to those who had served their country in war. Memorials have continued to be added and include a bell rung at the re-opening; commemorative plaques; and stained glass windows, including a high quality window depicting St Chad dedicated to Waihou District Servicemen. Conservation was undertaken between 1999 and 2008. One hundred and twenty years after initial construction, this place of worship retains much of its original plan and chattels. It has been visited by politicians including at least four Prime Ministers and two Governor Generals. But most of all it is valued by locals, including present-day descendants of the pioneering settler families who established the church, and increasingly by people from outside of the district as a place to celebrate key life events such as marriages, or simply as a place of contemplation.






Location
List Entry Information
Overview
Detailed List Entry
Status
Listed
List Entry Status
Historic Place Category 2
Access
Private/No Public Access
List Number
2691
Date Entered
2nd February 2015
Date of Effect
3rd March 2015
City/District Council
Matamata-Piako District
Region
Waikato Region
Extent of List Entry
Extent includes the land described as Lots 158-159 Town of Waihou (RT SA32/72) and part of the land described as Pt Te Kapura 3503 Blk and Waihekau 3 3409 Blk (RTs SA15/160, SA15/161), South Auckland Land District, and the building known as Waihou Undenominational Memorial Church thereon. Extent includes the building’s fixtures and fittings, such as its bell and commemorative plaques. Extent also includes the following chattels: altar, prayer desk, lectern, 20 pews, brass cross, pump organ and hymn board. (Refer to maps in Appendix 1 of the List entry report for further information).
Legal description
Lots 158-159 Town of Waihou (RT SA32/72), Pt Te Kapura 3503 Blk and Waihekau 3 3409 Blk (RTs SA15/160, SA15/161), South Auckland Land District
Location Description
Opposite the intersection with Third Street. GPS X = 1836388.44 : Y = 5838202.53 (NZTM).
Status
Listed
List Entry Status
Historic Place Category 2
Access
Private/No Public Access
List Number
2691
Date Entered
2nd February 2015
Date of Effect
3rd March 2015
City/District Council
Matamata-Piako District
Region
Waikato Region
Extent of List Entry
Extent includes the land described as Lots 158-159 Town of Waihou (RT SA32/72) and part of the land described as Pt Te Kapura 3503 Blk and Waihekau 3 3409 Blk (RTs SA15/160, SA15/161), South Auckland Land District, and the building known as Waihou Undenominational Memorial Church thereon. Extent includes the building’s fixtures and fittings, such as its bell and commemorative plaques. Extent also includes the following chattels: altar, prayer desk, lectern, 20 pews, brass cross, pump organ and hymn board. (Refer to maps in Appendix 1 of the List entry report for further information).
Legal description
Lots 158-159 Town of Waihou (RT SA32/72), Pt Te Kapura 3503 Blk and Waihekau 3 3409 Blk (RTs SA15/160, SA15/161), South Auckland Land District
Location Description
Opposite the intersection with Third Street. GPS X = 1836388.44 : Y = 5838202.53 (NZTM).
Cultural Significance
Social Significance or Value The place has considerable social significance in the Te Aroha area as a public gathering place for over 120 years. It has particular social value for its role in the marking of important life events, notably weddings, funerals and family reunions. It has a long association with a number of pioneer settler families in the Te Aroha district, such as the Coopers. Its association with St Mark’s in Te Aroha is still celebrated. The place is especially significant as a memorial to members of the local community who have served in conflict. Spiritual Significance or Value The Waihou Undenominational Memorial Church has spiritual significance as a place of worship for approximately 120 years. It retains spiritual value as a place of contemplation for both locals and travellers, providing a location where people who fought during the two World Wars – and other community members who have died – can be remembered in a setting with sacred connections.
Historic Significance
Historical Significance or Value The place has historical significance for its connections with early Anglican activity in Te Aroha, a prominent late nineteenth-century resort to the south of Auckland. Connections are enhanced by the survival of ecclesiastical chattels that are associated with the building’s use prior to its relocation to Waihou in 1926. The place is also significant for reflecting the impact of the First World War on rural communities. The church was purchased for relocation to Waihou to remember a local man who had died during the war; and was dedicated on its current site as a Memorial Church in remembrance of community members who had fought and died in the conflict. The initial sale of the building was additionally occasioned by the construction of a similar memorial church at Te Aroha. The building has significant connections with several notable individuals in New Zealand, including the Anglican Bishop of Auckland, William Cowie (who helped set up the church’s founding committee and originally opened the building in 1886); the former Minister of Native Affairs and Minister of Railways, Sir William Herries (whose funeral in the church in 1923 was attended by numerous other dignitaries including four Prime Ministers of New Zealand); and Governor General Sir Charles Fergusson, who opened the church on its relocated site in 1926. Connections with the Fergusson family are enhanced by the retention of an altar cross gifted by Lady Alice Fergusson, in 1926, and a plaque to Charles and Alice Fergusson’s memory which is associated with a visit by their son, Governor General Sir Bernard Fergusson, in the 1960s.
Physical Significance
Architectural Significance or Value The church has architectural significance as a well-preserved example of a simple timber ecclesiastical building created during a time of financial depression for a small rural community in the Gothic Revival style. It is a relatively intact, late-career design by the notable late nineteenth-century Auckland architect, Edward Bartley. Bartley was architect for the Anglican Diocese of Auckland, and the building can be considered one of his simplest church designs.
Detail Of Assessed Criteria
This place was assessed against, and found to qualify under the following criteria: a, b, c, e, h. It is considered that this place qualifies as a Category 2 historic place. (a) The extent to which the place reflects important or representative aspects of New Zealand history The Waihou Undenominational Memorial Church reflects important aspects of New Zealand history, including the development of the Anglican Church in the Te Aroha area in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The building reflects the financial hardships at the time of construction and the importance placed on religious observance in nineteenth- and twentieth-century New Zealand society. It also demonstrates the importance of church bodies in the social and cultural development of settler communities. The place strongly reflects the impact of the First World War and other conflicts on small rural communities in New Zealand. (b) The association of the place with events, persons, or ideas of importance in New Zealand history The place has associations with several individuals of importance in New Zealand history, including William Cowie, Bishop of Auckland; and Governor General Sir Charles Fergusson. Several Prime Ministers also attended the building at the funeral of prominent politician, Sir William Herries. (c) The potential of the place to provide knowledge of New Zealand history The Church building is on the site of an earlier public hall, remnants of which may survive as buried archaeological deposits. As a well-preserved structure originating in the 1880s, the building also has potential to provide evidence about construction methods and materials employed in colonial religious architecture, and about the physical use and development of the place. (e) The community association with, or public esteem for the place The Church has provided a place for religious worship, fellowship, commemoration and community use for over 120 years, retaining a strong association with the Waihou community and to a lesser extent with the Anglican community in Te Aroha. It continues to be used to mark significant events, particularly weddings, by people from as far away as Wellington, who appreciate its simple rural charm and setting. (h) The symbolic or commemorative value of the place The Church has strong commemorative value as a memorial to local men who served in the First World War. It also remembers individuals who served in other conflicts. The church building contains two rolls of honour naming men of the Waihou area who served in the First and Second World Wars; a stained glass window dedicated as a memorial to those who have fought; and a bell made of gunmetal in memory of a local soldier killed in action in the First World War. The place continues to serve as a centre for the remembrance of local people who served as soldiers. Significant people associated with the church are also commemorated on plaques and in memorial windows.
Construction Professional
Biography
Edward Bartley was born in Jersey in 1839, and educated in the Channel Islands where he learned techniques of the building trade from his father, an architect and builder. Bartley immigrated to New Zealand with his elder brother Robert, also an architect, while still in his teens. They eventually settled in Devonport, Auckland. Initially Edward was in the building trade but later he practised solely as an architect. He was at one time vice-president of the Auckland Institute of Architects and was also Diocesan Architect for the Church of England. Amongst Bartley's most notable works were his ecclesiastical buildings including St John's Church, Ponsonby (1881), St David's Church, Symonds Street (1880), Holy Trinity Church, Devonport, and the Synagogue (1884). He was also responsible for the Opera House (1884) and Auckland Savings Bank, Queen Street (1884).
Name
Bartley, Edward
Type
Architect
Biography
No biography is currently available for this construction professional
Name
Sharley, Henry
Type
Builder
Construction Details
Start Year
1886
Type
Original Construction
Description
Lean-to; and vestry possibly relocated to other side of building
Start Year
1900
Type
Addition
Description
East windows installed
Start Year
1901
startYearCirca
Type
Modification
Description
Lean-to removed
Start Year
1926
startYearCirca
Type
Modification
Start Year
1926
Type
Relocation
Description
Shingle roof replaced with corrugated iron
Start Year
1926
Type
Modification
Description
St Chad stained glass window installed
Start Year
1955
Type
Addition
Description
Repiled and renovated
Finish Year
2008
Start Year
2001
Type
Maintenance/repairs
Description
Most of the sanctuary windows replaced
Start Year
2003
startYearCirca
Type
Maintenance/repairs
Construction Materials
Timber, corrugated iron
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.
Current Description On the outskirts of the rural village of Waihou, the view from the Waihou Undenominational Memorial Church gates incorporates other key historic landmarks, such as the hall (celebrating its centenary in 2014) and the former post office. A twentieth-century Sunday School Hall across the road is administered by a separate body. The single-storey church building is set back from the road and surrounded by historic trees on a section that visually incorporates a paper road. There is farmland on two sides, the rear view extending to the hills in the distance, providing an attractive rural setting for events. The architecture of the Waihou Undenominational Memorial Church is loosely Gothic Revival, a style traditionally associated with the Anglican Church and established in New Zealand by Bishop Selwyn, to the extent that it is sometimes known as the Selwyn Gothic style. The style was taken up by architects such as Reader Wood, Frederick Thatcher (1814–1890), Sampson Kempthorne and, the architect of this church, Edward Bartley. The church has few modifications and shows evidence of being close to its original plan. Matthews and Matthews describe the plan as ‘a single volume with the sanctuary area articulated through the use of a separate smaller scale gable form, repeating the detail and form of the nave. The vestry and entry porch on the north eastern side are separate gabled forms, again matching the nave.’ The entry porch is on the furthest side from the road, so the simpler door in the north western side is the most commonly used. The concrete steps at all entries are not original: they were replaced after the church was raised. The pointed gabled doors and windows are unusual, even compared with Bartley’s other churches, which more commonly use pointed arched windows or square headed lancets popular in much New Zealand church architecture of the period. Window architraves are double bevelled. There is a triple gabled window in the chancel, with similar single windows in the chancel side walls and the nave. Only the one exposed to the least sun contains remnants of a transfer print. The other chancel windows are of more modern date, although the central window incorporates faces of Christ and a child which are recycled from a London church or churches. There is another set of three windows at the northern end which were altered when the stained glass window was installed. The window that was removed to make way for the St Chad stained glass window has been used to replace broken panes of glass in the nave. The aperture containing the St Chad stained glass is the only pointed arched window in the building. Horizontal rusticated weather boards form the exterior cladding and are predominantly nailed with hand-forged nails. The corner cover boards are intact. It is not known if the timber framed and clad buttresses were specified in this form in the original Bartley design. They are not particularly common in other churches of this type and are not present in an early photograph of the church when it was located in Te Aroha. Pier buttresses are a feature of many of Bartley’s churches, although the three that support the nave on the Waihou church are much bigger than usual. They have been reclad. The steeply pitched gabled form has been reroofed with long run corrugated iron due to the difficulty of replacing the three shorter runs. A belfry at the north western end incorporates a Celtic cross into its design. At the other end is a broken wooden cross. Inside, the layout and finishes are simple and plain. The four simple scissor trusses support exposed rafters. Both the roof sarking and the wall linings are of tongue and groove boards; only the walls are painted. There are no skirting boards. The walls are decorated with a variety of memorial plaques of various ages; the largest are dedicated to local soldiers who fought in the world wars. The altar rail that separates the nave from the chancel has two turned wooden columns and a profiled top rail. As with the pews, altar, lectern and prayer desk, the rails are in dark stained natural timber. These chattels are believed to be original and are in a simple style that is in harmony with the building interior. The church can seat over 100 people. The brass cross donated by Lady Alice Fergusson remains on the altar and the gunmetal memorial bell is still rung to mark special occasions. An earlier pump organ and hymn board are stored in the vestry. There are no mains water pipes on site and the water tank, tank stand, toilet(s) and hand basin have been removed. Without the original plans it is difficult to know how far the simplicity of the design, such as the simple window style and the minimal use of detailing, was a result of the architect intentionally keeping costs down or due to the implementation choices of the contractors and church. It is one of the simplest, if not the simplest, of Bartley’s churches.
Completion Date
2nd February 2015
Report Written By
Kathryn Mercer
Information Sources
Bartley, 2006
M W Bartley, Colonial Architect, The Career of Edward Bartley 1839-1919, Wellington, 2006
Watson, 1981
W Watson, Sermons in Wood: Waikato Hauraki, 19th century wooden churches, Norton Watson, 1981
Other Information
A fully referenced New Zealand Heritage List report is available on request from the Northern Region Office of Heritage New Zealand. Please note that entry on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero identifies only the heritage values of the property concerned, and should not be construed as advice on the state of the property, or as a comment of its soundness or safety, including in regard to earthquake risk, safety in the event of fire, or insanitary conditions.
Current Usages
Uses: Civic Facilities
Specific Usage: Historic Property
Uses: Commemoration
Specific Usage: Memorial - World War One
Uses: Commemoration
Specific Usage: Memorial - World War Two
Former Usages
General Usage: Religion
Specific Usage: Church
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