Reminder of Religious Past

This heavy iron church spire is a reminder of when religious worship, rather than contemporary art, held sway on New Plymouth’s Queen Street. Now occupied by the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, this spot has had a colourful and varied history.

The foundations of a Primitive Methodist Church were laid in 1862. It was replaced by a larger wooden church, designed by local architect Frank Messenger, in 1904. But this building’s devotional status was to be short lived. The unification of Methodist groups in 1913 led to the sale of the building to movie operators, People’s Pictures. The ‘flicks’ took over from sermons and in 1918 the present building was erected around the church, which continued to host movie screenings, until it was demolished. The People’s Picture Palace was renamed The Regent in 1930 and became the art gallery’s home in 1970. This spire was salvaged from the second church on the site.