Reverend H. Reeve, Archdeacon of Waitotara, laid the foundation stone of the new Sunday School building at St Mary’s Anglican Church, Hawera, on 11 October 1916. The substantial red brick building was opened on 7 December 1916. It included a vestibule, a hall, a kitchen and no fewer than twelve classrooms. The parish subsequently decided to dedicate the building as a peace memorial. A memorial tablet set into the façade of the hall opposite the foundation stone reads: HAWERA PAROCHIAL DISTRICT / ST MARY’S MEMORIAL HALL / THIS BUILDING ERECTED DURING THE GREAT WAR / 1914-19, IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF ALL WHO / HAVE FALLEN AND AS A THANK OFFERING TO GOD FOR PEACE [….] There are a large number of other parish memorials within St Mary’s Church itself.
The earthquake-prone hall was demolished in 2021.
See: ‘Anglican Church: St Mary’s Sunday School’, Hawera & Normanby Star, 12/10/1916, p. 8; J. Houston, The Parish of St Mary the Virgin, Hawera, [1932], pp. 20, 22, 32-4, 41-3.
Images: Bruce Ringer, 2017 and Mike Gooch, 2024
Text: Bruce Ringer, 2017