Rangiātea Church in Ōtaki, was the oldest

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

Anglican church in New Zealand. Originally completed in 1851, the building was burnt down by an arsonist in 1995, and by 2003 the church had been completely rebuilt. Rangiatea Church, Barraud 1851

In 1848,

Te Rauparaha Te Rauparaha (c.1768 – 27 November 1849) was a Māori rangatira (chief) and war leader of the Ngāti Toa tribe who took a leading part in the Musket Wars, receiving the nickname "the Napoleon of the South". He was influential in the origina ...

who had just returned to Ōtaki issued the challenge of building the church to the chief of

Ngāti Wehi Wehi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

, who accepted. Te Rauparaha thrust into the ground a sword he had been given by Governor George Grey, saying: "Tokina to mea nei. Kua mutu taku ruri ki te Whenua. Ka ruri au ki te Rangihoatu. Hanga he whare karakia ma tatau.’ ome and take possession of this weapon. I no more seek honour on earth. I seek honour in heaven. Go to and build us a church. Rangiātea Church was built under the direction of

and English missionary

Octavius Hadfield Octavius Hadfield (6 October 1814 – 11 December 1904) was Archdeacon of Kapiti, Bishop of Wellington from 1870 to 1893 and Primate of New Zealand from 1890 to 1893. He was a member of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) for thirty years. H ...

. Te Rauparaha died in 1849 and contemporary sources say he was buried near the front of the church, though he may have later been secretly reinterred on Kapiti Island. Sacred soil was placed in the foundations where the church would stand. This soil had reputedly been brought from to New Zealand on the

Tainui Tainui is a tribal waka confederation of New Zealand Māori iwi. The Tainui confederation comprises four principal related Māori iwi of the central North Island of New Zealand: Hauraki, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Raukawa and Waikato. There are ...

canoe from Rangiatea or Ra'iatea in the Leeward Islands and kept safe for centuries. During the original construction of the church in the late 1840s, large

tōtara ''Podocarpus totara'' (; from the Maori-language ; the spelling "totara" is also common in English) is a species of podocarp tree endemic to New Zealand. It grows throughout the North Island and northeastern South Island in lowland, montane a ...

logs had to be floated down rivers at nearby Ohau and Waikawa. The ridge pole and the three central pillars of the church were each created from single logs. The rafters and wall slabs were also made from tōtara. The church was eighty feet long by thirty-six wide, and forty high, and could accommodate up to 900 people. The design of the church is unusual in that it incorporates ideas from both English and

church design. The walls were formed of large pieces of tōtara about three feet apart, with the spaces in between filled in with

tukutuku Tukutuku panelling is a distinctive art form of the Māori people of New Zealand, a traditional latticework used to decorate meeting houses (wharenui). Other names are tuitui and arapaki. Tukutuku flank the posts around the edge of the wharenui ...

panels. The rafters are painted with

kowhaiwhai The ''koru'' () is a spiral shape based on the appearance of a new unfurling silver fern frond. It is an integral symbol in Māori art, carving and tattooing, where it symbolises new life, growth, strength and peace. Its shape "conveys the id ...

patterns. The curved sanctuary railing of black maire wood was carved in a Māori style, with each post having a different design. Stylised figures were not used because some Europeans at the time would have found them offensive in a church, though carvings of six demigods were included on a pulpit installed in 1950. The fenestration and flooring were done by English carpenters. A carpenter named Edward Prince, who had arrived in Wellington in 1841, was employed in making the window frames, as well as some other unspecified work. Services were first held in 1849, before the church was entirely finished.

Restorations

Rāngiatea Church's first documented restoration took place in 1886. In 1911 buttresses were added to the exterior of the church and the shingle roof was replaced with one of corrugated iron. In 1948 tukutuku panels were restored in preparation for the church's centenary, which was held in 1950.

References

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Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

Buildings and structures in the Kapiti Coast District NZHPT Category II listings in the Wellington Region Religious buildings and structures in the Wellington Region Ōtaki, New Zealand Listed churches in New Zealand