Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Premium
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Crownthorpe Chapel turns 100: A sanctuary for veterans

Hawkes Bay Today
8 Apr, 2021 03:27 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

St George's Memorial Chapel in Crownthorpe turns 100 on April 10. Photo / Warren Buckland

St George's Memorial Chapel in Crownthorpe turns 100 on April 10. Photo / Warren Buckland

For 100 years a Crownthorpe chapel surrounded by palm trees has been an oasis for those who have endured "chaos".

Since 1921 war veterans and service personnel have appreciated the solace and sanctuary of St George's Memorial Chapel - which will continue with a Centenary Anzac service this month.

Father Bill Chapman has been involved with the chapel since the early 2000s and has been instrumental in bringing back its Anzac involvement.

Chapman said St George's is a sanctuary for those who have seen and experienced war.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"It's an oasis of peace that was built from chaos," he said. "This came out of a tragedy: it's called the First World War."

Father Bill Chapman and reverend David van Oeveren outside St George's Memorial Chapel. Photo / Warren Buckland
Father Bill Chapman and reverend David van Oeveren outside St George's Memorial Chapel. Photo / Warren Buckland

The memorial chapel was built - and consecrated - on April 10, 1921 as a family memorial by Crownthorpe Estate's John Henry Coleman.

He commissioned it in memory of his son Herbert Napier Coleman, who was killed in action in France on April 13, 1918.

Herbert's youngest son, Lloyd Watt Coleman, was also killed while serving in the Air Force during WWII.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

When Chapman first started preaching, the chapel was in disrepair.

In 2008 he rounded up the members of the community and asked them to help save "their chapel".

Chapman said the meeting place was so full you couldn't move.

"These people had never darkened the doorway at any time, unless it was a funeral or a wedding or a baptism, but on this occasion they were all here," he said.

Inside St George's Memorial Chapel, which had extensive restoration work back in 2008. Photo / Warren Buckland
Inside St George's Memorial Chapel, which had extensive restoration work back in 2008. Photo / Warren Buckland

"They raised thousands because the building meant a lot to them."

Chapman, who served in the Royal Navy, said he has always admired the community for the way they got stuck in and restored the place.

The churchyard also pays homage to those who have served the country, including the gravestone of Gallipoli veteran James Agnew and a descendant seedling from the original Gallipoli "Lone Pine".

The chapel is attached to the Waiapu Anglican Diocese.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Hawke's Bay regional dean and reverend David Van Oeveren said Chapman has restored a community at St George's with a military focus, building links with veterans.

"You get these returned servicemen who, by the very nature of their job, are a bit rough around the edges, and they come here and there's a real level of spiritual depth and camaraderie because they're remembering things that they might not talk about," he said.

"They're remembering comrades that have fallen in battle or have passed since."

Vietnam veterans are among the servicemen who regularly make the trip to St George's.

Van Oeveren said they have horrific stories to tell, but they come to Crownthorpe and feel centred in a "very spiritual place".

On Anzac day, Sunday April 25 at 2pm, St George's will be having a remembrance service and celebrating its 100th year.

Van Oeveren estimates 100-200 people will turn up.

"That will be a good turn out for a rural chapel 45 minutes from anywhere," he said.

"There will be three key speakers involved at Sunday's service, two are locals who have a connection with this place and one is the Bishop of Waiapu," he added.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today
|Updated

'We have you surrounded': Police stood down after Hawke's Bay stand-off, search continues

Premium
Hawkes Bay Today

Black Ferns: Tui pair on the big bird for matches in South Africa

Hawkes Bay Today

Four crashes in 40 minutes in Hawke's Bay, two seriously injured


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

'We have you surrounded': Police stood down after Hawke's Bay stand-off, search continues
Hawkes Bay Today
|Updated

'We have you surrounded': Police stood down after Hawke's Bay stand-off, search continues

A police officer could be heard speaking over a loudspeaker at the scene.

17 Jul 04:06 AM
Premium
Premium
Black Ferns: Tui pair on the big bird for matches in South Africa
Hawkes Bay Today

Black Ferns: Tui pair on the big bird for matches in South Africa

17 Jul 04:00 AM
Four crashes in 40 minutes in Hawke's Bay, two seriously injured
Hawkes Bay Today

Four crashes in 40 minutes in Hawke's Bay, two seriously injured

17 Jul 03:11 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP