Story: Public, commercial and church architecture

Architect Frederick Thatcher’s 1866 design for St Paul’s Anglican Church in Wellington followed the English medieval Gothic style, then thought to be the only appropriate style for a church. In England, such churches would have been built of stone; in New Zealand wood was the most available material. In practice, the wooden construction of Old St Paul’s has enabled it to withstand Wellington’s high winds and earthquakes for nearly 150 years.