St. Mary's Church Vicarage (1899)

This two-storey building, located on the corner of Robe and Vivian Streets, was built in 1899 as the vicarage for St Mary's Church. Prior to this, the old vicarage, located on the same site, had been moved to an empty section on Robe Street.

The architect, James Sanderson, called for tenders in November 1898. Construction was completed in 1899 for a cost of about £1,000.

                                            St Mary's Vicarage (5 January 1910). New Zealand Graphic.

The New Plymouth District Council heritage report includes some detail on the changes to the building since it was built. It is no longer used as a vicarage and is part of the plans for the re-development of the entire church site. As part of these plans the vicarage was brought forward from it's original site and re-purposed to provide facilities for Church hospitality downstairs and the Sir Paul Reeves Education Centre upstairs. 

In July 2020 the first part of a major re-development of the cathedral and vicarage site was completed when the vicarage was carefully moved forward from its original location. A legal challenge from a nearby householder prevented any further work on the building. This was resolved in favour of the defendants in 2021.

As part of the consent process the Taranaki Cathedral project team were required to keep a photographic record of the vicarage prior to and during development. This document is available here.

Documents

Brought to New Plymouth in 1860: Glastonbury Thorn Taranaki Herald 12 January 1963

Move infuriates neighbours Taranaki Daily News 23 June 2020