St Alban's Church, Eastbourne
| St Alban's Church | |
|---|---|
 Interior of St Alban's in 2024 | |
 | |
| 41°17′48.86″S 174°53′41.18″E / 41.2969056°S 174.8947722°E | |
| Location | 11 Ngaio Street, Eastbourne |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Website | stalbanschurch |
| History | |
| Dedicated | May 1910 |
| Consecrated | 1936 |
| Architecture | |
| Architect(s) | Frederick de Jersey Clere |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Style | Gothic Revival |
| Years built | 1910 |
| Administration | |
| Province | Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia |
| Diocese | Wellington |
St Alban's Church is a historic Anglican parish church belonging to the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. It is located in the Lower Hutt suburb of Eastbourne, on the east coast of Wellington Harbour in New Zealand.
The church is the oldest in Eastbourne having been designed by the then Diocesan architect of Wellington, Frederick de Jersey Clere, and completed in 1910.[1] Following assessments after the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake, the church building along with its accompanying parish hall were closed after failing to meet the required earthquake building standards.[2] This saw the parish move its services to the hall of the nearby Wellesley College in Days Bay.[2]
The church is dedicated to Saint Alban, the first Christian martyr of Great Britain.
History
[edit]The very first Anglican service to be held in Eastbourne is believed to have taken place in a disused in store in June 1902.[3] Before the community in Eastbourne received their own church and vicar, the Vicar of St James Church in Lower Hutt, The Reverend Joshua Jones, would travel to on horseback to the Eastern Bays to conduct occasional services.[3]
The land on which St Alban's Church is built, located at the end of Ngaio Street, was purchased in 1908.[3] Its design was produced by the distinguished Wellington architect, Frederick de Jersey Clere, who is also responsible for other significant church buildings in the region, such as St Mary of the Angels and St Andrew's on The Terrace, both of which are located in Wellington.[3] The church was completed and dedicated in May 1910. Its first vicar was The Reverend Ernest I. Sola, who served the parish until 1917.[3]
In 1927 the parish hall was built and in 1936 St Alban's Church was formally consecrated.[4]
Vicars
[edit]- 1911: Ernest I. Sola
- 1917: Oswald Stent[4]
- 1927: Herbert Goertz[4]
- 1929: William Raine[4]
- 1934: Charles Kreeft[4]
- 1946: Paul Stanley[4]
- 1951: Ian McCaul[4]
- 1956: Edward Giles[4]
- 1965: John Malcolm[4]
- 1971: Peter Stuart[4]
- 1982: Terry Molloy[4]
- 1989: Colin Wright[4]
- 2002: Damon Plimmer[4]
- 2013: Eleanor Sanderson
- 2018: John Hughes
- 2022: -
- 2024: Sue Brown
Notable Vicars
[edit]From 2002 to 2012 The Venerable Damon Plimmer would serve as the Vicar of St Alban's.[5] Subsequently he serves as the Archdeacon of Central Otago in the Diocese of Dunedin on the South Island.[6]
From 2013, The Right Reverend Dr Eleanor Sanderson served as Vicar of St Alban's, prior to being elected assistant bishop in the Diocese of Wellington in 2017.[7] Sanderson was the first woman to be elected to the office of bishop within the diocese.[8] In June 2022, Sanderson was announced as the next Bishop of Hull in the Diocese of York of the Church of England.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ "The Eastbourne Herald July 2023". issuu. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
- ^ a b "Eastbourne Herald August 2016 by The Eastbourne Herald". Issuu. 31 August 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
- ^ a b c d e Beaglehole, Ann; Carew, Alison (2001). Eastbourne: A History of the Eastern Bays of Wellington Harbour. Eastbourne, New Zealand.: The Historical Society of Eastbourne, Inc. p. 95. ISBN 0-473-07966-6.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Stuart, Julia (2010). For Everything Its Season: a history of Anglicans in Eastbourne 1844-2009. Eastbourne, New Zealand.: Eastbourne, N.Z. : Parish of Eastbourne Trust Board, 2010. ISBN 9780473174194.
- ^ "Sermons – St Alban's Anglican Church Eastbourne New Zealand". 22 January 2016. Archived from the original on 22 January 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
- ^ "Diocese of Dunedin / Diocese of Dunedin / Directory / Home – Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia". anglican.org.nz. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
- ^ Conger, George (13 June 2017). "Assistant Bishop of Wellington consecrated". Anglican Ink © 2025. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
- ^ "Wellington gets first female bishop". NZ Herald. 5 June 2017. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
- ^ "New Bishop of Hull brought in from New Zealand". www.churchtimes.co.uk. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
Further reading
[edit]- Maclean, Susan (2002). Architect of the angels: the churches of Frederick de Jersey Clere. Wellington: Steele Roberts. ISBN 1-877228-68-0.