OLD ST. THOMAS'.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18996, 18 April 1925, Page 1 (Supplement)

OLD ST. THOMAS'.

AN HISTORIC RUIN. lIY ELSIE IC. MORTON'. There are but few tilings left in Auck- ;> land now to carry thought back to the . days of tbe pioneering " forties." The f old windmill, of course, is the principal lundmark on the trail that leads far back into the dim, distant years. A few old cottages, a few ancient headstones in quiet cemeteries. . . . and the quaint old ivy-covered ruin of St. Thomas' Church, out at Tamaki. The latter is our ono and only ruin, and is sufficiently picturesque in its decay to have found a place in the hearts of many hundreds of Aucklandors. They look on it with prido and , interest, and rightly so, for it is the centro of a host of associations and memories connected with the establishment of Christianity in a new and uncivilised land. Within the little cemetery adjoining the church are some 16 or 17 graves. Some of them have long since fallen into utter neglect; others bear headstones showing who lies beneath. Here are buried the Hon. Henry Chamberlin, M.L.C'., who died in 1808, and Dr. J. A. Laing, died in 1906, whose names are inscribed on a handsome nfitrble monument. Here, too, lie the remains of Dame Anne White, relict of Sir Henry White, whose crumbling headstone, cut from a slab of sandstone, bears the earliest burial date in the cemetery, October 11, 1845. Of other graves, there remains little but a charred, post or two, a broken headstone, or a broken railing. Ordinary respect for the dead demands that these poor, neglected resting-places should be restored to order. Building of the Ohurch. The story of old St. Thomas' Church carries ono back to the earliest years of Auckland settlement. The land for the site was given by the late Alexander Shepherd, first Colonial Treasurer, the Rev. i'\ Thatcher, designer of several of Auckland's early churches, being the architect. The foundation stone was laid on St. Thomas' Day, December 21, 1843, by the ActingGovernor, Lieutenant Willoughby Shortland. Many settlers, including Major Bunbury, Messrs. Spain, Kempthorne, ' Church, Newman, and others, contributed in money and labour to the building of the little church. The rough scoria stone of which it was constructed was brought by the first settlers of the district in their drays and bullock waggons from the neighbourhood of Mount Wellington, as their contribution toward the erection of this altar to the Almighty in the heart of the wild. There were no roads in those days, no properly-cut tracks. The work was laborious,, but they did it for the glory of God, and were content. The sand for the mixing of the cement was brought from Kohimarama Beach, and it is supposed that either the mixing of this cement with salt water, or the use of unwashed salt sand, was responsible for the early deterioration of the walls of the church. Certain it is that after twelve brief years of service, the little building was deemed unsafe, and was used no more for public worship, whereas a somewhat similar building, erected in 1859, and used now as a chape! at Flying School Bay, Kohimarama, still stands staunch and strong after nearly sixty years of service. A Haven of Refuge. But there was no anticipation of such a short period of life for the little church by those who built so zealously in days gone by. The completion of the building was hastened by the outbreak of \var with the Maoris in the North, and the general feeling of insecurity which existed in the little settlement of Auckland. This feeling naturally was intensified in the remote and practically isolated country districts, and St. Thomas', like so many other churches of early Auckland, was built as a refuge and haven for the wives and children of the settlers in the event of trouble. In the crumbling, ivy-covered walls may still be seen the loop-holes for the placing of guns in case of attack by the foe. In 1844 the first services were held in the partially constructed church by the Rev. W. Cotton, bishop's chaplain at St. John's College, and the formal opening took place in May, 1847. The first oaptism recorded in the register of old St. Thomas' is that of Joseph Atkin, son of one of the first settlers at Tamaki, who afterwards became a distinguished scliohr of St. John's College, and as a fellowmissionary of Bishop Patteson suffered a martyr's death for the cause of Christ in Melanesia. His hand it was that in the days of long ago planted the ivv which has since spread a protecting mantle over those walls, now crumbling to dust. The sister of this heroic man, Miss Atkin. who still lives in the old homestead at Kohimarama, holds, clear memories of the days when all the settlers of the district joined in worship at St. Thomas' Church. There were some large families in those pioneering days, notably one of thirteen children, so that the congregation quite filled the little church. Sundayschool was held at ten o'clock, before the ordinary service. There were no reluctant scholars in those days. "We liked to go, and, if wo could help it, never missed a Sunday," said Miss Atkin. in recalling old times. "It was the only outing we got in those days." The story of St. Thomas' Church takes one back to the days of the foundation of St, John's College, and for some years it was in the centre of the spiritual life of that wonderful little colony, where the great bishop strove to put into effect his high ideals and zeal for the advancement of learning and religious education in Auckland. On Sunday mornings, the students at St, John's attended i)ivine service at St. Thomas', the services being taken sometimes by Fishop Selwyn himself, and at other times by Bishops Patteson, Abraham, Archdeacon Lloyd, cr other members of the college staff. There were no denominational barriers in those . early days, when men felt a stronger need of Divine protection and guidance than they do to-day, and in the congregation which assembled each week to offer up prayer and praise were settlers of all denominations, acknowledging a common need and a common Fatherhood Closing of the Ohurch. But all too soon came the end of these early services, all too soon the closing of that little church where so many thankful hearts had been upraised in thanksgiving. In the year 1859, a sharp earthquake shock was felt in the district, and shortly afterwards a deep crack appeared in the stone-work of the western door. Although the church was supposed to have been substantially built, and was, indeed, intended to be the chancel of a larger church, it was deemed unsafe to hold services there any longer, and public worship was discontinued shortly afterwards, the chapel at St. John's College being used for many years as the parish church. Despite fears that the old church would fall to pieces, however, a photograph taken in 1901 shows the outer walls in an apparently fair state of preservation, and an unshingled. strongly-beamed roof. The first shingles, which came from a sawpit at Coromandel, lasted barely ten years, and the roof had only just been re-shingled when the church was closed. The little church retained its picturesque appearance until 1915, when, during an exceptionally severe storm, the wooden roof, witli its covering of ivy, fell in, leaving only the bare walls. Such is the history of (lie old-time ruin that Aucklanders are being asked to preserve. With such memories enshrouded within those crumbling walls, with a record that embraces all that was finest and best in those splendid days of self-sacri- i lice and endeavour, it surely behoves each i one who feels a reverence for the past, to : respond liberally to that appeal. <