History – Puhoi church

It took the settlers of Puhoi just a year to build the original Puhoi Catholic church. In 1877, Puhoi was named as the centre of a parish that extended from Auckland’s North Shore to Whangarei. Father Adelaar travelled to all corners of the parish and he used the presbytery built for him by the settlers when he was in Puhoi. He suggested that a church be built and John Wenzlick took up leadership of the task. Subscriptions were sought from Puhoi, Warkworth and Auckland, amounting to £250 18s 6d. Architect James Wrigley designed the building, and the people gave their labour and timber and the use of their bullocks, horses and drays. Women and children also contributed – evidence is in the child’s footprints in the varnish of the roof sarking. It was truly a labour of love – their Lord transforming their untrained efforts into a magnificent building, which stands as a monument to their faith.

The original church was a simple, rectangular, gabled building, 44 feet by 25 feet, unpainted kauri weatherboard with a front porch and lean-to sacristy at the rear. The roof was of shingles, its steep pitch and height of the walls taking it to 28 feet. Large scissor trusses supported the roof internally. How did they get them up there? Apparently, they built the walls of the church first and put a false floor across the top. Then, by throwing a rope over a beam, and attaching one end to the scissor truss timber and the other to their bullock team, they lifted the timber up to the floor. Once the trusses were shaped they were manoeuvred into place in the same way.

The church was blessed and opened on August 10, 1881 and named the Church of Saints Peter and Paul, after the church in Littitz, Bohemia, which John Wenzlick had attended.

Also June 29, the day the settlers arrived in Puhoi, was those saints’ feast day. A request was sent to Bohemia that a painting like the one they remembered from the Littitz church be sent as an altarpiece for the new church. By 1885, Pilsen artist Johan van Herzog had painted an exact copy and despatched it to Mr Kretchmar, Auckland, for framing, before being sent to Puhoi. Statues were donated by the Paul Straka family in 1890. A bell tower was added to the porch and the church was lined. The total bill of £302 14s 6d for the church was finally paid off in 1899. By then, the church was too small. Subscriptions were again called from the parish.

Within a year, the church had been extended by 17 feet to include the new sanctuary, sacristy and confessional. The roof shingles were replaced with corrugated iron; a bell tower erected on the main roof; the choir loft added and more arch-headed, plain glass windows added. A triple wedding opened the extensions.

To celebrate the community’s 60th anniversary in 1923, Father Silk arranged to have 22 stained glass windows installed and settlers’ names are commemorated underneath. The interior and exterior of the church was painted, bringing it to the present-day style. Recent renovations ensure that our church will stand as our place of worship into the future.

Jenny Schollum, Puhoi Historical Society
www.puhoiheritagemuseum.co.nz