St Paul’s Memorial Church (Anglican) and Pūtiki Parish Hall

6 Te Anaua Street, Pūtiki, WHANGANUI

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St Paul’s Memorial Church, consecrated on 5 December 1937, is of historical, cultural, spiritual and social heritage significance as a physical testament of the long history of the Anglican mission at Pūtiki, Whanganui. It is of outstanding architectural, aesthetic cultural and traditional significance for its magnificent interior decoration, showcasing revived Māori traditions of carving, tukutuku panelling, kōwhaiwhai-painted rafters, and kākaho-lined ceilings in a special and striking fusion with the European neo-Gothic architectural form of the building. It is an embodiment of the influences that Christianity and Māori culture have had on each other. The church has significance for its association with Sir Apirana Ngata’s programme to revive traditional Māori art, and location in a cultural landscape of great value to tangata whenua. The adjacent church hall, built in 1953, features innovative interior decoration by eminent artist Dr Cliff Whiting that includes contemporary interpretations of customary art. The people of Pūtiki-wharanui were introduced to Christianity in the mid to late 1830s by Wiremu Eruera Te Tauri, a rangatira of Ngāti Tūwharetoa hapū Ngāti Te Rangi-ita who married Pūtiki chief Te Mawae’s daughter. A few years later, Henry Williams of the Anglican Church Missionary Society (CMS) was the first European missionary to visit Whanganui. At Pūtiki he found a community eager for Christianity. The Pūtiki Mission Station was formally established in 1840. St Paul’s Memorial Church is the fifth church built at the mission station. Designed and built by Arthur J. Cutler, based on a neo-Gothic design by Clere & Clere, the new church elicited an outpouring of contributions for a building that would commemorate the people of the Pūtiki Māori Mission throughout its history. The relatively plain plastered exterior of the timber-framed building contrasts with the richness of the interior; the off-centre placement of the entrance to the nave the only structural hint of the traditional Māori design on display inside the single-gabled nave and polygonal chancel. Ngata designed the interior scheme to showcase his School of Māori Arts and Crafts’ work, with tutors (led by renowned master carver Pineamine Taiapa) and students passing on their knowledge to local carvers and weavers. A wealth of memorial furnishings was created, resulting in an interior alive with intricately decorated elements that are imbued with great social, cultural and spiritual meaning. A hall was built next door in 1953 to house the church’s social, educational and cultural activities; it has been used as a venue for many community groups and events since. An early example of the community projects he would become known for, Cliff Whiting’s decoration of the interior with kōwhaiwhai, tukutuku and kākaho in 1972 provided continuity with Ngata’s earlier work by showcasing and teaching these forms of Toi Māori to the next generation, including remarkable modern interpretations of the arts. The conservation of St Paul’s Memorial Church from 2014 created a further opportunity to pass on this traditional knowledge, while ensuring the ongoing future of the buildings and their taonga of Toi Māori.

St Paul's Memorial Church (Anglican) and Pūtiki Parish Hall, Whanganui | Jamie Jacobs | 06/08/2018 | Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga
St Paul's Memorial Church (Anglican) and Pūtiki Parish Hall, Whanganui. The western end of the nave showing the baptistery | Karen Astwood | 13/12/2017 | Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga
St Paul's Memorial Church (Anglican) and Pūtiki Parish Hall, Whanganui. St Paul’s Memorial Church and lychgate, viewed from Te Anaua Street | Jamie Jacobs | 06/08/2018 | Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga
St Paul's Memorial Church (Anglican) and Pūtiki Parish Hall, Whanganui | Karen Astwood | 13/12/2017 | Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga
St Paul's Memorial Church (Anglican) and Pūtiki Parish Hall, Whanganui. Ceiling detail | Jamie Jacobs | 06/08/2018 | Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga
St Paul's Memorial Church (Anglican) and Pūtiki Parish Hall, Whanganui | Jamie Jacobs | 06/08/2018 | Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga

Location

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List Entry Information

Overview

Detailed List Entry

Status

Listed

List Entry Status

Historic Place Category 1

Access

Private/No Public Access

List Number

9718

Date Entered

4th April 2019

Date of Effect

4th April 2019

City/District Council

Whanganui District

Region

Horizons (Manawatū-Whanganui) Region

Extent of List Entry

Extent includes part of the land described as Lot 1 DP 11329 (RT WN462/9), part of the land described as Pt Church Mission Station Putiki Māori Reserve (RT WN672/22) and part of the land described as Legal Road, Wellington Land District, and the buildings known as St Paul’s Memorial Church (Anglican) and the Pūtiki Parish Hall thereon and their fittings and fixtures including: carved entrance archway, baptistery canopy, pulpit, pews and choir stalls, altar rails, organ screen, memorial plaques, four memorial windows, all tukutuku panels, carvings and kōwhaiwhai paintings, and the following chattels: prayer desk, copy of painting by George Sherriff of third Pūtiki mission station church, illuminated war memorial cross, Prince Edward memorial photo, Richard Taylor photo, A.O. Williams photo, framed list of original memorials, framed Pūtiki Mission Station land documents, font and copper jug, altar, carved candlesticks, wooden altar cross, brass bible stand, lectern, credence table, sanctuary chair, Bishop’s Chair , processional cross, wrought iron flower stands, sterling silver communion chalice presented by Hori Kingi Hipango . (Refer to map in Appendix 1 of the List entry report for further information).

Legal description

Lot 1 DP 11329 (RT WN462/9), Pt Church Mission Station Putiki Māori Reserve (RT WN672/22), Legal Road, Wellington Land District

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