CHURCH JUBILEE

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2787, 3 June 1916, Page 9

CHURCH JUBILEE

ST. PAUL'S PRO-CATHEDRAL

ITS EARLY HISTORY

RECORDS AND MEMORIALS

Tho jubilee of St. Paul's Anglican Pro-Cathedral will be celebrated on Tuesday next (Juno G), which will also be the fifth anniversary 'of tho consecration, of the Bishop ot Wellington (Dr. Sprott), who was vicar of St. Paul's for a period of nearly twenty years. Archdeacon Faueourt, who took part- in the consecration of tho church, will be the preacher to-morrow morning, and the Bishop will preach at the special thanksgiving service to bo held on Tuesday evening. Fifty Years AflO, Many a good Anglican churchman, who has tried wearily to find his ProCathedral, would lie surprised to hear that the site in Mulgrave Street was chosen deliberately because a church placed there muse be a conspicuous object. But that was fifty years ago, and lifty years ago the sea lapped the cliff on which the church was built, and the sacred building caught tho eye <i£ every travolier who. caino to Port Nicholson to. make his homo out here. Times have changed, and now nearly a milo of reclaimed land separates the headland from the sea. It is _still possible to get some idea of the artistic grace of the building from between the serrated roof of tho butter store on the wharf and tho long unrelieved front of the Pest and Telegraph Stores. The present building is not the first church in to bear tho name, of St. Paul. The original church stood near the sit© now occupied by the yards of the contractor for the new Houses. .of Parliament. The old church, or rather a portion of it, is still existent. It is now tho mortuary chapel of the Bolton Street Cemetery.' In it aro memorials to Wakefield and officers aud men who fell in the Maori: wars. Tho Consecration. . , The present church was consecrated on .rune C, 1866, by Bishop Abraham, first Bishop of Wellington. A brass tablet within the entrance of the building—the inscription is. a model of Latiiiity— tells us that the architect was the Itcv. 1?. Thatcher, who had formerly been curate of the parish. -The. plans had. provided for a much more lofty structure, but they were cut down for fear of earthquakes. The squat and undignified spire ia only a miniature of what it was intended to rear as a landmark over Thorndon. Tho.-Bishop was attended by Archdeacon Hadfiold (afterwards second Bishop of Wellington), the Revs. P. 11. Maxwell (curate of St..-. Paul's), A. Stock (St. Peter's), St. Hill, D.Des Bois, Fancourt, and Abraham. Of these clergy only one now remains with us, the Von. Thomas Fancourt, Archdeacon it' Wolliugtoii. Ho had only recently been ordained at that .time. Two of tho vestrymen at tho timo of the cousecration aro still with us— Mr. David Anderson and: Dr. Leonard Boor, of Nelson. Mr. C. P. Powles was elected to tho vestry a 'month'.After the church was consecrated, and has been intimately connected with the parish ever since. The Rov. H. G. Tuckey was appointed to the vestry in 1X69, and Mr. Leonard Stove, C.M.G., has served from 1i)72 to tho present time. The Vicars ot St. Paul's, The incumbents, whoso portraits havo recently been secured for tho church, were successively the Rovs. Robert Cole, IT. Thatcher, P. H. Maxwell, W. H. Ewald, H. W. Harvey, It. J. Thorpe, John Still, and T, H. Sprott. Tho last-named (now fourth Bishoj. of. Wellington) celebrates on June Gnot only the jubilee of tho church of which ho was vicar for nearly twenty years,', but also the fifth anniversary of his consecration as Bishop. The contract price for the building was ,£3171, but additions made tho actual cost •Ji-1301), and this did not- include any ol tlie t'urnitiiro _oi" ornaments; these wero •all gifts to the" church.-: But' it-was found necessary to: eidarge the'churcli, at a'.very early date. Considerable extensions were made in 1868; a transept was added in the following year. A new aisle and trail, sept in 1873. Demands for additional seating compelled the yostry to expend .£6OO in 1875, and a larger sum in 1883. Notwithstanding these additions and enlargements, the church, internally at any rate, coraparo.i well, lor beauty and dignity with more modern structures. jAt ono time a large gallery filled one of tho transepte; happily now there is no trace of it, and the stately groining of the heavy beams that l'orni tho roof of the spacious chancel gives the building the tone of reverent strength. Bells and Windows. One of the first additions to the church was a peal of three liells, costing just under A'lso. Unfortunately, the bells of St. Paul's cannot be- swung—the timbers Of the tower are not strong enough for that. Tho bells bear inscriptions, that on the. first is "My tongue shall sing of Thy righteousuess," on the second "Their sound is gone out into ■ all lands and their words unto, the end of the world," on the third "In the evening and morning and qt jioonday will I pray." The windows are almost without exception of stained glass. The west -window—scenes in the life of St. Paul—is a memorial to the soldiers who fell in the Maori wars. The chancel windows, a gift of Bishop Abraham, represent the'twelve Apostles. They surround, a picture of the Crucifixion. Among the others are some fine pieces of glass work, notably a fine threeliglit window in memory, of Mr. Levin, representingl the good Samaritan, one in memory of Mrs. Swainsou, Christ blessing the children, and one commemorating Madame Matson, "Mary hath chosen the better part." The reading-desk is interesting, in that it'links, us with the past. It is carved out of oak that came from Wells Cathedral. The pulpit is modem. 'It was presented to the church by his family, in memory of Mr. Scddon. The Parish Records. The old records of the vestry furnish interesting reading. A Sunday evening offertory was an innovation and an experiment. It appears that it was suggested by some wltf could not attend morning service. The main difficulties in those days seem to be the demand 'or v«'v:s—at one time tlie churchwardens report 76 people asking for seats who could not bo accommodated—and the maintenance of the church-schools. The curate had no parsonage, and the parish ran into debt to build one on land given in, Bolton Street .by the New Zealand Company. This building still stands, though the parsonage is built on another sits in the smie grounds. The Cathedral Church. The Anglican Church in Wellington lias no Cathedral, but there is an agreement between the Bishop and Standing Committee of the diocese and the clergy, churchwardens,. and vestry of St. Paul's parish, dating from tho time of the inception of i'he present building, which places the church at the disposal of the Bishop except at times of ordinary parish services, which are distinctly defined. Certain seats—all those in the chancel, and 08 others—belong to the dioeese "as a quasi-cathedral." 'This agreement holds good so long as the Bishop shall choose to consider the Church of St. Paul as the Cathedral Church. If ho establishes his Cathedral on any other site it is to bear tho name of the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity."