Draft:St Benedict's Church, Newton

St Benedict's Church
St Benedict's Church
Address	1 St Benedict's Street, Newton, Auckland
Country	New Zealand
Denomination	Catholic
Associations	Benedictines
Website	https://stbenedictsauckland.org.nz/
History
Consecrated	22 April 1888
Architecture
Architect(s)	E. Mahoney and Son
Style	Gothic Revival
Years built	1887–1888
Groundbreaking	1881
Administration
Diocese	Auckland
Parish	Parish of Newton
Heritage New Zealand – Category 1
Designated	6 June 2013
Reference no.	640

St Benedict's Church is a historic neo-Gothic Catholic church in Newton, Auckland, New Zealand, the church complex includes a Presbytery and a former convent. Constructed in the 1880s the site housed the first Benedictine mission in New Zealand.

Description

The church site is along the eponymous St Benedict's Street and sits on an elevated position above Auckland. The site houses a presbytery, former club room, and former convent building.

St Benedict's Church is a Gothic Revival brick church, it has an aisled nave, transepts, sanctuary, and a basement. The jambs of the doors and windows are made from Oamaru stone is used for other stonework Malmsbury bluestone. The timberwork is heart kauri and the roof is constructed from English slate. The roof is held up by a king-post. The church's design was possibly influenced by St Augustine's Church, Ramsgate and Augustus Pugin—as the son of the architect hired had visited St Augustine's Church and monastery in Ramsgate and some features such as the spireless tower, asymmetrical elevations, and exposed brickwork are indicative of Pugin's influence. St Benedict's has been compared to St Wilfrid's Church, Hulme, another church designed by Pugin.

The presbytery is of the same style and has stained glass windows.

History

In 1879 Walter Steins Bisschop, the Archbishop of the Diocese of Auckland and Dom Raffaele Cesta, the Abbot General of the Benedictines in Subiaco, agreed to establishing a mission in New Zealand. In 1880 and 1881 the Catholic Church purchased the land for this purpose. The Benedictines were intended to manage a parish that catered for the growing population outside of Auckland and later take over the Auckland Diocese. The parish centred around St Benedict's extended both west and south of the city. The fathers came from the St Augustine's Abbey, Ramsgate, an outpost near Gawler, South Australia, and Subiaco. Between 1880 and 1890 the Benedictines accounted for half of the Auckland Diocese's clergymen. An early 13th century style English Gothic kauri timber church designed by Edward Mahoney was constructed in 1881–1882 for the Benedictines. This church was the largest in Auckland possibly the country at the time of completion. It was named St Benedict's after the founder of the Order of Saint Benedict, Saint Benedict of Nursia. It opened in July 1882.

John Edmund Luck was appointed Bishop of Auckland in August 1882, although he did not arrive in New Zealand until November. Shortly after Luck's arrival St Benedict's Church was proposed as the potential cathedral for Auckland instead of St Patrick's. Around this time St Benedict's parish had 1500–2000 worshippers and held more communions than St Patrick's parish. A fire broke out in December 1886 which destroyed the church and presbytery. It was decided that the new church be built of brick and stone to avoid this. A temporary timber structure was put up quickly whilst work on the new brick structure, designed by either Edward or his son Thomas, took place.

The new church started construction in 1887 and finished in 1888, the presbytery was finished shortly after in the same year. The church's final design was simpler than what was planned. James J. Holland won the tender — Holland had also designed the masonry foundation of the old church, which had survived the fire and was reused for the new building. The new church was described as the largest in New Zealand and influenced ecclesiastical architecture for Catholic churches in the Auckland Province. It was consecrated on 22 April 1888 by Archbishop Francis William Redwood.

Construction on the new presbytery had started in February 1888. John Lynch won the tender at £1,386. The date of completion is unknown but it likely finished around the time St Benedict's Church opened. Like the church, financial constraints resulted in the final building being less grand than what was originally planned. Sometime after 1908 but before 1923 two extensions were made to the presbytery: a basement and single storey extension. The presbytery was used to host meetings of the Guild of St Luke. The guild was founded by James Michael Liston, parish priest and later Bishop of Auckland, for the purpose of explaining Catholic teachings on social issues.

In 1888 it was announced that the Benedictine mission was to wind down due to insufficient funds. In 1890 Father Sullivan returned to Britain. In 1893 an altar and reredos was put up in the church sanctuary. It was constructed by Francis Augustine Luck, brother of Bishop Luck. In 1895 the parish priest, Father Downey, died. Downey's funeral was held at the church and he was buried in Panmure. Bishop Luck, who was the superior following the departure of Father Sullivan, died in 1896. By 1899 the parish had come under Diocesan control following the end of the mission. The succeeding priest was Reverend George Gillan. Under Gillan some modifications were made to the church: boundary railings were added in 1900, the interior walls were plastered in 1905, and an organ was installed in 1907.

Under Gillan the St Benedict's Club Rooms were constructed c.1917 and finished in 1919. St Benedict's Club was established in May 1894 as a young men's club and previously operated out of St Benedict's Hall which was built across the road from the church in 1896. The club room was a single storey brick structure with a gabled roof. As of 2012 the club rooms are used for private offices.

The parish decreased in size as churches in Grey Lynn, Balmoral, and Avondale all separated into their own parish. Liston was parish priest through the 1920s. Under Liston's leadership stained glass windows were installed in the transepts and new seating was installed.

From 1953 to 1955 a porch, offices, and a lady chapel were added; in addition, the sanctuary and sacristy—which were intended to be temporary—were replaced with brick. The presbytery had it's top floor modified Reginald Ford was the architect for all of these additions and modifications. In the 1960s the construction of the Auckland Motorway saw most of the nearby Catholic graveyard removed. The Dominican Order were responsible for the parish from 1976 to 2002. In 1987 the crypt was partitioned for administrative space. Between 2002 and 2003 a major restoration work was undertaken on the church. The church and presbytery remain in use by the Catholic Church.