Constructed in stages between 1880 and 1886 and then substantially extended in 1909, St Mary’s Church (Anglican) at 22A Church Street in central Timaru is a well-crafted notable Gothic Revival style bluestone building designed by a leading colonial architect, William Armson and seen to completion by his successors, J.J. Collins and Richard Harman. Particularly high-quality features of note within the church are 35 stained glass windows and extensive timber carvings by noted carver, Frederick George Gurnsey. The church is held in high esteem as a long-standing place of worship and local landmark, and it has high aesthetic, architectural, cultural, historical, social, spiritual and technological significance.

Timaru was an integral component of the extensive Ngāi Tahu network of kāinga nohoanga (settlement) and kāinga mahinga kai (food-gathering places) located throughout South Canterbury. Situated south of the prominent Te Waiateruati pā, Hoani Kahu from Arowhenua described Timaru as 'he pā nō mua, he kāinga nohoaka tūturu, he tūahu tapu, he urupā tūpapa, and he tauranga waka. The foods gathered at Timaru included ika (fish), makō (shark), hāpuku (groper), pipi, pāua, kina, and kaeo.

Whalers were attracted to Timaru in the 1830s, some staying to settle on the land. In 1850, William and George Rhodes took up ‘The Levels run’, a vast tract of land in South Canterbury, and subsequently began to use the shoreline at Timaru to ship goods in and out. The Rhodes brothers were responsible for the initial land purchase and survey a town in 1853. Not to be outdone, the government surveyed its own settlement immediately to the south of this in 1856. Colonial settlers began to arrive in significant numbers from 1859, and Timaru’s population and prosperity grew on the back of farming and the port. With the increase in population came the need for the building of a church. The first St Mary’s Church, completed by April 1861, was a small timber building with a shingle roof and small timber spire. A stone extension, incorporating new chancel (replacing the original timber chancel), transept and a small vestry, was complete in late 1869. However, in less than a decade the congregation had outgrown that building and in 1876 it was decided to erect an entirely new church to adjoin the existing one. The foundation stone for the new St Mary’s was laid in 1880 and this new church, built on the site of the original church, was considered sufficiently complete in 1886 to be consecrated. Architect William Armson designed the new building but he died in 1883 while it was still being constructed. The successors to his firm, Collins and Harman became the architects to see the new church through to completion.

Situated on an elevated position on the corner of Church Street, Sophia Street and Perth Street, St Mary’s Church (Anglican) is constructed of local basalt, known as bluestone, grey dolerite, and Ōamaru and Mount Somers stone, and a slate roof. Typical of Gothic Revival ecclesiastical architecture, the building has irregular stonework, pointed windows and steeply pitched roof and open timberwork on the interior. Its square tower is surmounted by four carved stone crockets. The main body of the church is the nave, built in the 1880s to Armson’s design, which has a large circular stained glass window on its west elevation. The tower and rectangular chancel of 1907-1909 reflect changes Collins and Harman made to Armson’s original design. The rectangular chancel extension has three tall lancet windows on its east elevation. The square tower, 30 metres tall is finished with an open balustrade and four crockets. To the south of the chancel is a single transept, now the Memorial Chapel of St Michael and All Angels to those who served and died in World War II. Through the Chapel and further south is a hall leading to a small clergy vestry, flower room and toilet, and a large octagonal choir room at the southern end. On the interior, the broad aisled nave has polished red Aberdeen (Peterhead) granite columns and Gothic arches and with clerestorey windows above. Both nave and flanking aisles have open timber roofs of rimu. Walls are mostly Ōamaru stone and there are significant timber elements, including some structural (floors, roof framing) and exquisitely carved timberwork for screens, doors, panelling and moveable items such as seating. This includes original pews from the 1880s and a wealth of other carvings by Frederick Gurnsey including pews, pulpit, chairs and seating for the priests, choir stalls, organ and other panels, war memorial wall, reredos, altar, and doors throughout. Stained and coloured glass windows contribute to the interior’s atmosphere, many being deemed exceptional examples of the English School. Of particular significance is the three light war memorial windows set in the south wall to commemorate the fallen of the two World Wars.

In 1907, construction began to complete the east end of the church and tower, including the chancel, a new side-chapel, vestry and an octagonal room. The grand opening of the completed St Mary’s took place in May 1909. Gurnsey’s high quality carvings were added in the church over a period of 23 years, from 1924 until 1947. In 1961 a new porch, with matching masonry, was added to the western entrance. Seismic strengthening of the rose window, tower was undertaken in 2019-2023. The tower crockets were removed in 2010-2011 after the Canterbury Earthquakes and reconstructed limestone replacements were installed on the tower in 2023.