St Peter’s Church (Catholic) opened in 1882 and is described as ‘one of the oldest buildings in Wairoa’. The timber building has some architectural importance as a representative example of New Zealand Gothic Revival church architecture and was designed and built by Ralph Gardiner Jr of Wairoa. Serving the town and wider rural area, the church has social and spiritual value because it has been the focus of its community’s religious activities and Catholic rites of passage since the late nineteenth century.

The ancestral waka Tākitimu stopped at Wairoa and Māori have a long association with the river, the town’s site, and the wider area. The government purchased the site in 1864 and the town was originally called Clyde. In the early period Catholic services were held in various places around the town, including the County Hall.

As with other churches throughout New Zealand, it was the local community who provided the bulk of the church’s building, and on-going maintenance, funds. Fundraising for St Peter’s Church began by 1880 and involved community events, such as bazaars and concerts, which were well-supported. The community’s fundraising efforts and the help of other denominations was praised.

By late 1881 the Queen Street property had been acquired and designs for the church were being prepared by Gardiner. Construction appears to have begun a few months later. The church was completed by July 1882 and opened and consecrated in October that year. At the time St Peter’s Church was described as ‘well executed and faithfully carried out’, with its features including: a vestry, a steeply pitched nave gable supported by roof trusses terminating in laminated timber arch bracings, and native timber match-lining and mouldings. Visible from the exterior were a belfry, large triple lancet window over the entrance and a chancel rose window, as well as simple buttresses along the nave’s sides.