“CHRIST CHURCH” in Russell

When I took a picture of the Christ Church in RUSSELL not long go, I did not know that I would stumble upon more information on the Church soon. Here it is:

The Church was built in 1835.

Bullet hole

It is the oldest surviving church in New Zealand.

The church was built by Gilbert Mair. He was a former ship’s carpenter.

During the battle in 1845 between British forces and Rawiti and Hone Heke, the church became the centre of fighting and received a number of bullet holes.

The church was named ‘Christ church’ by Bishop Cowie in 1873 in recognition that it was the oldest surviving church.

I stumbled upon the above information in the magazine of the Baptist Churches in NZ (December, page three).