PROSPECT NEARER.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 96, 24 April 1928, Page 12

PROSPECT NEARER.

ANGLICAN CATHEDRAL.

FUND TO BE ESTABLISHED,

SITE AT PAR NELL. (H.v Telegraph.—Tress Ass...-i;ii;.ui.) WEL'.IX<;TO\, Monday. Provision tor tin: revenue from the cathedral site of six acres at, Auckland being devoted to a fund for the erection of a cathedral, is made in a bill that passed the second reading and through the committee stages at to-night's session of General Synod. The bill also provides for the revenue from the bishop s house site at Auckland being devoted to a fund towards repaying the cost of erection of the bishop's" house and its maintenance and general upkeep. Archdeacon Simkin said the donor of the cathedral site was the late Bishop Selwyii. The gift had been made in 1859, and a condition of it was that the land be used for a cathedral. All the revenues from the cathedral site would accrue towards the erection of a cathedral. In nine years they would have the Selwyii centenary, and they hoped to have a cathedral befitting the City of Auckland.

The building of a cathedral on the site will mean the realisation of the vision of Bishop Selwyii after the expiration of many years. In 1843 the t)i.iho|j is chronicled to have written:

"The laud bought for a church includes a noble site for a cathedral, distant about three-quarters of a mile from the centre of the town and commanding a magnificent view of the Waitemata Harbour." to-day the site would perhaps take some finding. It is an area bounded bv St. Stephen's Avenue, Brighton Road and Manukiui Road, just across the way from St. Mary's Cathedral and also close to Bishopscourt. Known locally as the "croquet ground," for some time I'«st it has been a residential area. As u result of long investigations, the Diocesan Synod has established its ownership of the property, it being contended that Bishop Selwyn, who landed in Auckland in 1842, dedicated it as an area for a permanent cathedral. History has it that Bishop Selwyn began to look for a suitable site in 1H43. He purchased in all 27 acres of land, and 6i acres was set aside for the cathedral. At the first synod in 1859, a trust was created to govern the proj»erty. Unfortunately the trust grouped all the properties together, and consequently difficulties were created in lateT years. When it was decided to lease the property in 1904 to provide revenue, a mistake was made when the vi«rw was taken that the cathedral site did not solely belong to Auckland.

It may be that when the time conies for the erection of a cathedral, some new site will be found. The fact remains, however, that there is a site in existence, and one that reflects credit on the discerning judgment of Bishop Selwyn and his appreciation of the Anglican needs of a future Auckland.