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Taranaki Daily News, 27 December 1929, Page 14

Trouble seems to be the lot' of the Waikato diocese. Strong differences' of opinion between '- the • Bishop (Dr, Cherrington) and some of his '■ clergy-appear to have: subsided, and now the ' cathedral' itself is the- cause of anXiety. St. Peter’s 'Church, Hamilton-, - a handsome looking structure, but incomplete, is reported to be structurally weak. It was taken as the Cathedral church of. the newly created diocese, and' being the mother church of the Waikato and most centrally situated on a commanding position in the middle of the town, was considered in ejery way suitable as the. Bishop’s seat. .For many years the women’s guild had worked to obtain funds for a very beautiful'east window. The window has. arrived, but a structural problem has arisen which may pre-, vent its being set in its appointed place.At meetings of the congregation and the chapter, it was decided that none of the funds in the possession of the cathedral treasurer should be-expended except on permanent work. The cathedral architect, Mr. G. S. Reid, has expressed the gravest anxiety as. to the wisdom of putting in the new window in the east; wall in its present state. This • raised the question of making the east wall sufficiently strong and the minimum cost was stated to be about £6OO. Further discussion raised the point whether the durability of the present structure was assured and if the site were suitable. -A (report in the parish magazine states that as a result of an inspection of the cathedral by the greater chapter with the architect it was found that “the condition of the' main rafters : of the roof, the cracks.in the tower, the generally 'shoddy appearance of the build-' ing, together with further information supplied by the architect, as well as the congested nature of the site, all tended to fill those present with the greatest discouragement. It is too early to decide yet, what steps we shall take, but at present it looks as if we shall have to -turn pur attention to another site and leave it to a future generation to build entirely new cathedral;"