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St. Matthew's-in-the-City Anglican Church
Frank L. Pearson
Built 1902-5
Junction of Wellesley Street and Hobson Street, Auckland, New Zealand
Source: Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19020424-05- (no known copyright restrictions), from the Supplement to the Auckland Weekly News of 24 April 1902, p.5. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
See below for commentary. Mouse over the text for links.
Formatting George P. Landow, with new sources and commentary by Jacqueline Banerjee
Originally attributed on this page to J.L. Pearson, St Matthew’s-in-the-City in central Auckland was, indeed, commissioned from him in 1897, but unfortunately he died in the following year. It was then built to Frank Loughborough Pearson's design after his father's death. As the son and partner of the older Pearson, the younger architect did complete his father's last works, but the plans for this church appear not to have been prepared yet. Rather, says Anthony Quiney, St Matthew's was "a church of his own" (224. As such, it is an important proof of his skills.
Grade I listed, and seen as "one of the finest Gothic Revival stone churches in the country," it is built of probably the most admired building material in the country — light-coloured Oamaru stone. It is in Early English style, "based on a simple basilica form [with] a prominent offset tower, staged buttresses, and tall lancet windows with plate tracery and trefoiled openings" (listing text). The stone vaulting is particularly fine. A Lady Chapel was added later, from St Thomas's, an older wooden church which had been demolished to make way for a new road. There has also, inevitably, been some restoration work. As so often, the spire that was originally projected, as shown in the top engraving, has never been added. Perhaps that was wise in view of the threat of earthquakes here.
H.T. Purchas describes Auckland as having been not just the original seat of government in New Zealand, but "the most central position from which to reach the various mission stations; it was the strongest church centre of all the European settlements" (128). Naturally, it was felt that a splendid church should be provided for the residents. An earlier design of 1858 by William Butterfield (shown in the "historical photos" section on the church's own website, and exhibiting Butterfield's unmistakeable polychromy) was never used, presumeably because of the cost; but by the end of the Victorian period, Auckland had become a thriving business centre, and this facilitated the building of a particularly impressive edifice by another prominent architect from the "home country." The listing text says that St Matthew's can accommodate 1200-1400 parishioners in its main space.
As time went by, however, many of the well-to-do residents of Auckland's business area moved outside the confines of the city, leaving an inner city with a more mixed population, including the less well-heeled and the socially marginalised. St Matthew's-in-the-City remains an important centre and support for this more diversified community.
"The new Anglican church, St Matthews, about to be erected at the junction of Wellesley Street and Hobson Street, Auckland." Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections. Web.16 October 2025.
Purchas, H.T. A History of the English Church in New Zealand. Christchurch, New Zealand: Simpson & Williams, 1914. Internet Archive, from a copy in Robarts Library, University of Toronto. Web. 16 October 2025.
Quiney, Anthony. John Loughborough Pearson. New Haven and London: Yale University Press (published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art), 1979.
St Matthew-in-the-City. The church's own website. See especially Historical Photos.
St Matthew's-in-the-City Church (Anglican). Heritage New Zealand | Pouhere Taonga. Web. 16 October 2025.
Created 5 January 2012
Last modified 16 October 2025