Thursday 19 May 2016

St Paul's Church - Rangiuru, historical or not?



On our travels around Te Puke (pronounced Tee Pookee) last weekend we drove past this church, I wasn't sure if it was historical or not so I took some photos and promised I would look into it when home again. But unfortunately I couldn't find very much information about it so if anyone out there can provide anything please let me know. Anyway I just liked the look of it with it's small town cemetery and tiny building, reminds me of something I'd find up north where I'm from :-)

9 comments:

carol l mckenna said...

Lovely place and great shots of this unique church ~

Happy Week to you ~ ^_^

Pauline said...

I agree, it does look like the little churches up here, doesn't it? I'd be interested to hear if you receive any info about this little gem.

Spare Parts and Pics said...

Definitely looks historical... old and quaint and very well cared for! Beautiful shots.

Andrew said...

Hi, as far as I know, it is not considered to be "historically significant" or anything by the Western BoP council. This is all from memory, I can look it all up if you really want although it will take awhile to find my sources (We have a small museum which has probably hundreds of old books and writings and such...), but I think the land and resources were donated by local iwi who wanted a church, or Whare Karakia, which means house of prayer, and is really just Maori for Church. It was built in the late 1800's, I think it was finished in time for its first service in 1890-something, but I'm pretty sure it was finished before 1900. And Reverend Turuturu Ngaki was the guy who "built" it, and was its first minister. Other than that, just a regular little church, still used today, I think it still has services every Sunday. if you tag along to one of those someone may know more!
One way to tell how old churches are is to look through the graves. The oldest gravestone you find was most likely after the church was built, so it was finished before then. Not always, but mostly.

Amy said...

hi Andrew, thanks so much for the information - really appreciate it :-)

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

It is very pretty, especially through that fence/gate. That is a great picture.

betty-NZ said...

I love seeing little places like that! It's great that it's still in use.

Jarek said...

What lovely light you had while shooting. Great photos, especially second one

Steve said...

This church is over 102 years years old. It celebrated its centenary several years ago. It is St Pauls Anglican Church, Rangiuru, Te Puke.

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