St John's Anglican war memorial church lych gate in Waihi.
The present St John’s Anglican Church building in Seddon Street, Waihi, was opened in 1906.
In August 1919 the congregation resolved to build a lych gate as a parish war memorial. This stands at the entrance to the churchyard and contains two marble tablets. One reads: “For God and country / the Great War / 1914 – 1918. / In proud and grateful memory / of those men of this parish / who fought / and of those who, / fighting, fell.” The other is inscribed with the names of 26 servicemen who died during the war.
The Lady Chapel inside the church contains a Second World War roll of honour. This is honours a total of 99 men from the district who served during the war, 12 of whom were killed.
The lych gate also has memorial plaque for Elizabeth Clara Kate Durstan, formerly Sister White, who served in France during the First World War, and who died on 29 December 1947.
Sources: ‘St John’s, Waihi’, Church Gazette, 1 October 1919, p. 162; David More, The Church by Martha Hill, Waihi, 1981, pp. 31, 35-6.
Community contributions