Historic Poverty Bay No. 1

The Presbyterian Church at Matawhero is the oldest church in Poverty Bay. The building itself dates back to about 1862, and was reputed to have been erected as a storehouse by Capt. G. E. Read, the uncrowned king of Poverty Bay. About four years later it was acquired by Archdeacon William Leonard Williams and converted into a church, and the first marriage service, between Robert Atkins and Jane Sharp, was conducted in 1868. Soon after it became the centre of a military settlement and was the only building in the immediate area to escape destruction in the Te Kooti raid on 10 h November, 1868.

On 6th May, 1872, it became the first Presbyterian Church in Poverty Bay

×

 

•