Taranaki Cathedral

The Taranaki Cathedral, the Church of St Mary, is one of the heritage buildings in New Plymouth and the newest cathedral in the Anglican Communion.[1]

Taranaki Cathedral

The church was designed by Frederick Thatcher, a London-trained architect, one of the first settlers arriving in New Plymouth in 1843. He came with the intention to become a farmer, but was drawn into design and civic administration. He designed St. Mary’s Church at the direction of Bishop George Selwyn.[2]

St Mary's was a parish church from 1842 to 2010 and it was consecrated as a cathedral in the Diocese of Waikato and Taranaki on 6 March that year.[3] On 28 June 1984, the building was registered as a Category I heritage structure by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust (now Heritage New Zealand), with registration number 148.[4]

The cathedral is a member of the Community of the Cross of Nails and is a centre for Peace and Reconciliation.

The Cathedral was closed after a structural assessment following the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. As of 2022, it was still closed.

Whilst the church building is closed Sunday services continue in the Peace Hall across the road.

List of deans

The Dean is the head of the chapter of canons and is one of the senior priests of the diocese.

  • 2010–2016: Jamie Allen[5]
  • 2016–2018: Peter Beck[6]
  • 2018: Ross Falconer[7]
  • 2018–2020: Trevor Harrison [8]
  • 2020–2021: Jacqui Patterson and Jay Ruka [9]
  • 2022–present: Jay Ruka

References
  1. "The Taranaki Cathedral Church of St Mary – New Plymouth". taranakicathedral.org.nz. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  2. "Itinerary: City Guide New Plymouth". Architecture Now. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  3. "The Taranaki Cathedral Church of St Mary – Taranaki Churches – Kete New Plymouth". ketenewplymouth.peoplesnetworknz.info. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  4. "Taranaki Cathedral Church of St Mary (Anglican)". Register of Historic Places. Heritage New Zealand. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  5. Lee, Hannah (20 January 2016). "Devoted Dean Jamie Allen resigns following indefinite Taranaki Cathedral closure". Taranaki Daily News. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  6. Birch, Mark (3 May 2016). "The new Dean of Taranaki Installed". Taranaki Cathedral. Retrieved 16 July 2017. Keith, Leighton (8 April 2018). "Tears shed as the Very Reverend Peter Beck bids farewell". Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  7. Persico, Christina (21 March 2018). "Changing of the guard at Taranaki Cathedral". Taranaki Daily News. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  8. Matthews, Jane (27 May 2018). "Dean of Taranaki Anglican Cathedral resigns after a month". Taranaki Daily News. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  9. "Taranaki Cathedral has two Deans - a New Zealand first". 2 March 2020.


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