Mt Eden Congregational Church, also known as St James Church, is a historic former church in

Mount Eden Mount Eden is a suburb in Auckland, New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Z ...

, Auckland, New Zealand. Constructed in 1900 to a neo-classical design from Mitchell and Watt for a

Congregational Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christianity, Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice Congregationalist polity, congregational ...

church it later renamed to St James Church following the 1969 union of Congregational churches with the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand. In the 21st century the church fell into disrepair and as the church could not fund the repairs the building was sold, later being developed into residential apartments.

Description

The church is located at the corner of View and Esplanade Roads. It has a

cruciform A cruciform is a physical manifestation resembling a common cross or Christian cross. These include architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described as having a cruciform ...

layout and before conversion had a vestibule,

transepts A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") churches, in particular within the Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architectu ...

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

, and

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

. The original

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

roofing was replaced with corrugated steel. A stained glass window memorial window for the First World War I is a replica of a painting by Sir Noel Paton's ''Lux in Tenebris''. Beneath the window is a tablet that says (For God and Country) and the names of the 17 parishioners killed in the war. A smaller tablet commemorates the four whom were killed during the Second World War. Prior to conversion to apartments the church contained a wooden

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

from 1900, a sloped floor, and red, pink, and green paintwork for the interior.

History

The Mt Eden Congregational Church branched off from a church in Beresford Street. Using money from the sale of a property on

High Street High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...

the church obtained the funds to buy the land in

and in May 1885, the Mt Eden Congregational Church was formed. The church was built near the back of the site to allow expansion. Designed by Robert Jones Roberts it was an unreinforced concrete building of

Victorian Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

style. It was constructed by Messrs Rose and Clarke and could seat up to 300 worshippers. In 1900 the church had grown and plans were developed for a new church. The foundation stone was laid by

George Fowlds Sir George Matthew Fowlds (15 September 1860 – 17 August 1934) was a New Zealand politician of the New Zealand Liberal Party, Liberal Party. Biography Early life and career Fowlds was born in Fenwick, East Ayrshire, Scotland. His father, Ma ...

, 13 January 1900. Designed in a neo-classical style by Mitchell and Watt it opened 5 August 1900 and could seat 400. A roll of honour was revealed on 16 December 1919, it contains the name of 76 parishioners who served in World War I, of whom 17 were killed in action. On 11 March 1923 a stained glass window memorial was installed. In 1969 the church became St James Church after the merging of Congregational and Presbyterian churches. The church merged with St James Church on Beresford Street. It later became the Mt Eden Pacific Islanders Presbyterian Church in 1979, with a predominantly Cook Islander congregation. In 2007 a historic stone wall around the church was demolished by the church itself, who were unaware of the historicity and legal protection it had. Auckland City Council chose not to fine the church over it. The church college was demolished in 2012. In the same year the church closed due to an unsafe building notice, although services were still occasionally held into 2017. The congregation sold the property as they could not afford the cost of repairs and restoration work, on condition that the church hall was to be demolished to allow apartments to be built behind the church. The church hall, constructed in 1885 as the original church, was damaged by fire in December 2018 and later demolished. An

accelerant Accelerants, or accelerators, are substances that increase the rate of a natural or artificial chemical process. They play a major role in chemistry, as most chemical reactions can be hastened with an accelerant. Understanding accelerants is cr ...

was likely used to start the fire. Despite having a category B heritage listing with

Auckland Council Auckland Council () is the local government council for the Auckland Region in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority that also has the responsibilities, duties and powers of a regional council and so is a unitary authority, according to t ...

the

Environment Court The Environment Court of New Zealand () is a specialist court for plans, resource consents and Natural environment, environmental issues. It mainly deals with issues arising under the Resource Management Act 1991, Resource Management Act, meani ...

ruled it could be demolished before the blaze occurred. The fire resulted in Auckland Council abandoning it's appeal of the ruling. Conversion into apartments was carried out by Gel Architects. The stained glass windows were one of few interior features to be preserved during the conversion.

Gallery

File:Photos 128968 extralarge.jpg, Interior of Mt Eden Congregational Church in 2017 File:Photos 128965 extralarge.jpg, The stained glass windows were one of the few interior features to be preserved during conversion into apartments File:Photos 128971 extralarge.jpg, The church hall in 2017, shortly before it was burnt and demolished

References

{{reflist Former Congregational churches Churches in Auckland Former Presbyterian churches Neoclassical architecture in New Zealand