When the original Presbyterian church reached its 40th birthday in 1913, the Wanganui Chronicle recorded that “finding that the old building was in a bad state of repair, an energetic committee of the church has lately had the whole matter of repairs and renovation attended to and the building now looks trim and clean and young again”.
Unfortunately, the new youthful appearance was of little use when in March 1918, it encountered winds that were so strong, they lifted the building off its blocks.
As a result, the building was left with a “bit of a twist”. The church was damaged beyond repair and the decision was made to purchase another site for its replacement.
The sale of the wrecked church yielded £35 and most of it became a local woolshed. “There is no trace of it these days,” elder David Bennett ONZM told Midweek.
By late 1918, Westmere and the district’s Presbyterian community were keen to form their own local parish, with Westmere as its centre. The transformation was to take place at the beginning of 1919.
Parishioners were also negotiating to buy a new site for the “manse and glebe [land]”. The new site was purchased on the main road — this became the site of the present church.
The new parish was to include Westmere, Kowhatanui, Rapanui, Brunswick, Kai Iwi and Maxwelltown (now called Maxwell.)
The new minister was to be the Rev Frazer B. Barton, BA, who had recently returned from 18 months of service in France.
His induction duly took place on January 14, 1919, in the Westmere Public Hall, which was evidently the temporary parish church between 1918 and 1924.
A building fund was built up through donations, stock drives and in other ways until 1924.
Construction of the new church was started in August 1924, with the foundation stone being laid by Mr W. J. Cooper on August 30, 1924, before a large gathering of visitors and parishioners.
The church was being dedicated to serve as a place of worship, and also to “perpetuate the memory of the gallant men who made the supreme sacrifice” during World War I.
The church was opened on November 22, 1924. In 1954, the Westmere Parish Hall was built alongside the church.
This was due to the number of young people in the parish who needed a place to meet for Sunday school, Bible classes, meetings and church socials.
Funds had not been plentiful, however, and it took a generous gift of £500 from G. F. Moore of Bushy Park to get the project under way.
The hall was duly planned and constructed with the aid of many willing helpers, under the guidance of Mr Ed Chesswas.
A new manse was erected in 1958, because the old one was constantly in need of repair and a total replacement was deemed the wisest policy.
During the 1960s, services that had previously been held around the outlying areas of the parish were centralised in Westmere.
Historic Places Register
The Westmere Presbyterian Memorial Church has a Category 2 listing with the NZ Historic Places Trust, having been registered since July 2, 1982.
However, the trust advises it holds no additional information on this church, beyond its year of construction.
The names of the people from the Westmere district associated with the church who served in WWII are recorded on the Ancestry.com website.
Of these people, three died: N.C. Gardiner, R.F. Kitto and I.F. Macintosh. Another 30 people, including one woman, were listed as having served in the war.
Church details
The single-storey brick church has a rectangular floor plan and is designed in a simplified Gothic style with a steeply pitched gable roof with a parapet and angled coping.
The church has buttresses along the side walls that have two offsets, and the street corners have angle buttresses above, which is the gable shoulder.
The side windows have simple lancet arched openings, while the front elevation has the Gothic form of a Serliana window. The main entry is from the southeast corner.
Materials used were: brickwork, cement render, timber joinery, corrugated steel and marble foundation stone. The architectural style is known as Inter-War Gothic, the serliana window is an unusual form associated with local architect T.H. Battle.
Anniversary book produced
A 324-page commemorative book, The Westmere Presbyterian Memorial Church 1873–2023, chronicles the church and district history.
It has been researched by reidentl Lynley Fowler and compiled by Catherine Kennedy.
The book is available from Paige’s Book Gallery or the church.
■ Registration is required for all events by contacting Silas Stedman on 021 173 4432.
