An Earlier Building on Same Site

Te Ao Hou, March 1964, Page 39

An Earlier Building on Same Site The photograph on this page, which was taken in 1891, recalls some of the eventful history of the Turanga Pastorate in the past 100 years. It shows not the present Holy Trinity Church, but the one which preceded it. This was built in 1889, and unfortunately was destroyed by fire in 1910. After this the present building was erected, being dedicated by Archdeacon Herbert Williams in 1913. The carvings used in this building were new ones, and had been made by Te Ngaru of Te Arawa and Te Tuhi of Tuhoe. But the church of 1889 was not the first to stand on this site. In 1849 ambitious plans were made by the people of the district to build a great church at Manutuke. This building, said to have been larger than the Rangiatea Church at Otaki, was decorated with elaborate and beautiful carvings. These all employed an unusual manaia (profile figure) design; it is said that this was done so that no human figure would appear in the carving. This first building was dedicated in 1863. However during the period of the wars which followed, missionary work was set back throughout the diocese of Waiapu. The church at Manutuke was not well cared for, and it eventually collapsed. In 1889 the second church was erected, using timbers and carvings from the first one. This is the one shown in the photograph. When it burnt down most of the old carvings were lost, though a few were saved. These were erected outside the meeting house at Te Kuri, Muriwai, some ten miles to the south of Manutuke. They are still to be seen there.

Mrs Clark (‘Aunty Millie’), who was the winner in the Maori bread competition, standing by some of the entries. The bread in the foreground is rewena; in the background is paraoa.