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Kaikorai Presbyterian Church
Part of the West Dunedin Union as Kaikorai Pastorate 1968-1986; Kaikorai Union Church 1987-1999
The pioneers who established Kaikorai Church were mostly "Free Kirkers", members of the Free Church of Scotland following the 'Disruption of the established Church. Those who joined the Otago Scheme with Captain William Cargill stipulated that settlers be provided with church and school. 'One-eighth of the proceeds of land sales to be set aside for their maintenance.'
Weekly services were started in the district of Wakari and Kaikorai in 1852 by Rev. Jeffreys who resided at the Forbury. The bush extended from Flagstaff to the shore.
After he left these continued, first at Hood Hall, the home of Rev. Robert Hood, later called Ferntree House, then at the Wakari schoolhouse, built in 1858, which later became the Church of the Good Shepherd.
Halfway Bush was the hub of the settlement above the city and it was there that Wakari School, the first in the district, under the Provincial Government, was opened c 1858. One of Kaikorai's original elders, Mr. Colin Allan, was school secretary, and Kaikorai's first treasurer, Mr. D. Thomson was chairman and collector of the local education tax.
As a mission outpost of Knox Church a minister preached weekly at the school. In 1863 Rev. Urie preached at the schoolhouse for 3 months on Sunday afternoons which continued after this through the efforts of George Hepburn, an elder of First Church. Rev. Anderson was appointed to preach fortnightly at the schoolhouse in April 1865 until the Kaikorai Church was opened.
The need for a church grew and £477 were raised. The Wakari school committee petitioned the Dunedin Presbytery for permission to build a church in the area.
The Presbyterian Church was the first church in Kaikorai Valley. In 1866 a modest wooden building with a shingle roof for the Kaikorai area was built on an acre of land donated by Miss Helen Hood of Hood Hall for the site of a church and a manse. This was the first Kaikorai Presbyterian Church, operating as a "daughter" of Knox Church. The church was opened 23 December 1866. Dr Burns preached in the forenoon, Rev. Dr. Stuart in the afternoon, and the Rev. W. Will in the evening. After a lengthy illness Rev. Anderson died in 1867.
Miss Helen Hood emigrated to Otago from Haddingstonshire, Scotland, with her brothers Robert, a Presbyterian minister, and David, in 1852. They bought Ferntree House, later Wairoa Street, as well as 50 acres around it. The house was built from punga logs in 1849. She lived there 41 years. It was known as Hood's Hall, and the area around it as Kirkland Hill. She was a benefactor to many causes. Helensburgh Road, originally Helensburn Road, commemorates her name. She died in 1894 aged 80.
The charge was sanctioned by the Synod in 1868 as an independent congregation, and the first minister, Rev. William Alves was inducted in the same year. The manse was built in 1869. Rev. Alexander Blake was the second minister, coming from work among the Maori of Otago Peninsula, and with inmates of the Dunedin Gaol, from 1872 until 1877. He had been a Free Church Missionary in Madras.
Rev. Robert M Sutherland was the minister for forty years, from 1879 until he retired in 1919. He was born in Caithness, Scotland and licensed by the Free Church of Scotland. The first church building became too small and was extended in 1880 to seat 400 people and a bell tower added, at a cost of £500. When the church was completed the late Robert Glendining had donated a Canadian organ.
The district grew grew with the advent of the cable cars in 1861 and the Roslyn Mills in 1879. Whare Flat was appointed a preaching station with Kaikorai in 1873. Between 1866 and 1915 one could worship at Kaikorai Presbyterian, St John's Anglican, St Mary's Catholic, Roslyn Methodist, Roslyn Baptists, Church of Christ, the Wesleyan Chapel, the Gospel Hall or the Salvation Army Barracks prompting thoughts of union.
Sunday School was held in the Brockville district at the home of Mr. Goldsman, an elder of the church in 1893. After he left for Timaru the school moved to the house of another elder, Mr. John Laing, Mr. Geo. M. Blackwood and Miss J. Laing were the teachers. The Blackwood family gave ground to the church and a small church hall was eventually built there.
After an objection to the use of fermented wine for sacrament in 1893 it was replaced with unfermented wine. In 1900 communion was served from individual communion cups which became the practice and bread was cut into cubes instead of broken from the slice. The precentor became the Choir Master in 1906.
In 1906 a tender was accepted for the erection of a new church built by Stephen Samuel Aburn. The Mayor of Roslyn laid the foundation stone, underneath which is a time capsule holding copies of the Otago Daily Times, Evening Star and Outlook: photos of the manse, manse family, and district: press account of Rev. Sutherland's 21st anniversary: papers on stipend: Bible Class syllabus: card with threepence, sixpence and shilling to show how small sums add up: invitation to the laying of the stone: order of church service: men on door duty: ticks, bazaar and others: syllabus of the Endeavour Society.
The new church opened on the site of the old church which was moved to the rear of the grounds to serve as a hall on 5 December 1907. Four stained glass windows were installed to honour founding members in the brick church, Miss Hood and her brother the Rev. David Hood, Adam Blackwood and David Thomson. The vestibule windows were installed in 1908, given by the Sunday School pupils and their Superintendent. A new manse was built in Brighton Street, later Beresford Street and electric lighting was installed in 1917.
Eleven memorial trees were planted in the church grounds in a special ceremony on Saturday 23 August 1919. JS Douglas, the deputy Mayor of Dunedin, the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand, the president of the Returned Servicemen's Association and the Kaikorai School Band participated. Four trees represented the Ministers of Kaikorai Church: Alves, Blake, Sutherland and Hutchison, the other trees planted were for the naval battle of Jutland, soldiers' memorial trees commemorating the battles of Gallipoli, Somme, Messines, Paschendaele and Bapaume and for peace the Jerusalem tree. The widening of Taieri Road would remove the trees in 1959, the last was cut down on Saturday 11 November 2006 due to extensive rot.
From 1919 until 1925 Rev. William R. Hutchison was the minister. He was born in India, the son of a missionary. Mr Sutherland returned to unveil the Soldiers' Window in 1920.
Arrangements were made for a building of a five-roomed house, the work was partially completed until a halt was called and work ceased. The owner agreed to adapt the building to the needs of children. Suitable classrooms and cloakrooms were constructed with accompanying decorations, named after the first Superintendent, "Hepburn". The rooms were named after the Manse children: "Rose", "Violet" and "Beatrice", becoming the Sutherland Hall. The congregation provided money for fittings and furniture. Pr. Davies and the Revs RRM Sutherland and WR Hutchison opened and dedicated Sutherland Hall in September 1920. The Kaikorai Kindergarten rented the hall and it later became a private dwelling. The senior Bible Class boys donated the oak communion table and the Sunday School the communion chair.
Dr Leslie Sutherland was ordained to serve as a medical missionary in Jagadhri Hospital, India in 1925 and his sister Violet Sutherland later joined him.
In 1925 Dr. DJ Albert was inducted but left for Australia the next year due to the illness and slow recovery of his daughter living in Dunedin. The Rev. James Smith, a chaplain during the war, served for ten years from 1927 and was involved in celebrating the church's Diamond Jubilee within a year.
Services were held at Ashburn Hall between the 1930s-1960s, previously a 'Field of Service'.
The Beresford Street manse was sold for £825 and a property purchased in City Road for £1250 in 1938. Rev Thomas Campbell begain 1938, serving for a year as an overseas chaplain from 1941, the pulpit was occupied by the Rev Dr. S. Hunter of Knox College. The Rev John Pringle, once the minister of Chalmers Church, undertook the parish visiting. Mr Pringle gave Communion Chalice from Chalmers Church Dunedin to Kaikorai Presbyterian after that church on Smith Street and York Place closed and it was in use at the time of the Centennary 1968. Evening services were held at 4pm due to blackout restrictions.
Boys' and Girls' Brigade were begun during the ministry of Rev. Alexander Reid Harper from 1944-1954. A Sunday School opened in Glenelg Street, first in the house of Mr. and Mrs. H. Hodge, then in the old Mowat dairy, a monthly church service was held there from 1949.
Rev. D. Kitchingham of Roslyn Methodist Church proposed to work with Kaikorai with special concern for Brockville in 1963.
The original wooden church was demolished to make way for the later hall in 1966. Ross Clarke inducted the first women elders, Andrena Begg and Margaret Robertson in 1967.
In 1968, the centenary of the church, Kaikorai went into West Dunedin Union Parish, along with Brockville, Halfway Bush and Wakari pastorates - the areas from which the early settlers travelled to worship, and Waitati. Roslyn Methodist Church and the local Congregational and Church of Christ churches were also part of the union. Roslyn Methodist closed and joined with Kaikorai, the church receiving their memorial plaques of two world wars and their brass cross. The Roslyn organ was installed at Kaikorai in 1970. West Dunedin split into two parishes, Kaikorai Union (Kaikorai and Brockville) and Flagstaff Union (Wakari and Halfway Bush) in 1987.
The scheme originated out a proposal to form a Union Parish of the Kaikorai Presbyterian Parish, including Brockville, and the Roslyn Methodist Church. During the ministry of DL Kitchingham (1963-1965), Roslyn Methodist Church began negotiations with their Presbyterian neighbours, with special concern for the new suburb of Brockville.
At a meeting sponsored by the Regional Joint Standing Committee on church Union, on 18 October 1966, the idea of a wider Union Parish, to include the Presbyterian parishes of Wakari and Halfway Bush was put forward. The meeting agreed to the desirability of such a parish and a sub-committee was appointed to formulate more detailed proposals. These proposals were voted on by meetings of office bearers.
A representative committee was formed and a draft constitution formulated. The draft constitution was referred to the congregations as a suitable document to be discussed and voted on. The plans of the Methodist Church were realised during the ministry of WL Wallace in 1968.
After celebrating their 90th anniversary, Roslyn Methodist Church joined with Kaikorai Presbyterian Church. Together with the parishes of Halfway Bush, Wakari, Brockville, Waitati, Warrington, and Seacliff, West Dunedin Union Parish was the largest Union Parish in New Zealand. There were more than twenty lay preachers to assist three to four ministers.
The Roslyn Methodist Church was demolished in 1970 and its pipe organ installed at Kaikorai Church.
Kaikorai Union Church separated from West Dunedin Union Parish in 1986, and then the link with Brockville was dissolved in 1988.
The Farley Street manse, built in 1944, was sold in 1988.
The manse of the Hegan family was in Hood Street, named for the family of Mrs Helen Hood, who gifted the land for the church and hall in 1866.
Kaikorai Parish withdrew from Union with Methodists in 1998 and returned to a Presbyterian Parish.
Kaikorai has instituted community events - Kaikorai Carols, Children's Day; and Mainly Music, Play Group, and Youth work with Brockville Community Church. They operate Indoor Bowls and Walking Groups, and Alpha.
Kaikorai completed work on an administration block to serve the community and slowly began to refurbish the exterior of the historic church, and do further work on the carpark and grounds.
Southern Presbytery dissolved Kaikorai Parish on 23 September 2024. Dunedin City Council removed Kaikorai Presbyterian Church from its list of properties for protection from demolition or modification without consent under changes to the district plan 17 July 2025.
MINISTERS:
1868-1872 William Alves
1872-1878 Alexander M. Blake
1879-1919 Robert M. Sutherland
1919-1925 William M. Hutchison
1925-1926 David J. Albert
1927-1938 James D. Smith
1938-1944 Thomas G. Campbell
1944-1955 A. Reid Harper
1965-1966 William N Flett (Methodist)
Becomes Kaikorai Union
1967-1972 Ross K.J. Clarke (1968 went into West Dunedin Union)
1974-1975 Stanley R. Goudge (Methodist)
1976-1979 Norman J Goreham (Methodist)
1980-1981 Vacant
1982-1988 Colin Hay (returned to Kaikorai Union)
1989-1999 Donald W. Hegan
2000-2011 Ian Guy
2012 Vacant
2014 John Daniel
The pioneers who established Kaikorai Church were mostly "Free Kirkers", members of the Free Church of Scotland following the 'Disruption of the established Church. Those who joined the Otago Scheme with Captain William Cargill stipulated that settlers be provided with church and school. 'One-eighth of the proceeds of land sales to be set aside for their maintenance.'
Weekly services were started in the district of Wakari and Kaikorai in 1852 by Rev. Jeffreys who resided at the Forbury. The bush extended from Flagstaff to the shore.
After he left these continued, first at Hood Hall, the home of Rev. Robert Hood, later called Ferntree House, then at the Wakari schoolhouse, built in 1858, which later became the Church of the Good Shepherd.
Halfway Bush was the hub of the settlement above the city and it was there that Wakari School, the first in the district, under the Provincial Government, was opened c 1858. One of Kaikorai's original elders, Mr. Colin Allan, was school secretary, and Kaikorai's first treasurer, Mr. D. Thomson was chairman and collector of the local education tax.
As a mission outpost of Knox Church a minister preached weekly at the school. In 1863 Rev. Urie preached at the schoolhouse for 3 months on Sunday afternoons which continued after this through the efforts of George Hepburn, an elder of First Church. Rev. Anderson was appointed to preach fortnightly at the schoolhouse in April 1865 until the Kaikorai Church was opened.
The need for a church grew and £477 were raised. The Wakari school committee petitioned the Dunedin Presbytery for permission to build a church in the area.
The Presbyterian Church was the first church in Kaikorai Valley. In 1866 a modest wooden building with a shingle roof for the Kaikorai area was built on an acre of land donated by Miss Helen Hood of Hood Hall for the site of a church and a manse. This was the first Kaikorai Presbyterian Church, operating as a "daughter" of Knox Church. The church was opened 23 December 1866. Dr Burns preached in the forenoon, Rev. Dr. Stuart in the afternoon, and the Rev. W. Will in the evening. After a lengthy illness Rev. Anderson died in 1867.
Miss Helen Hood emigrated to Otago from Haddingstonshire, Scotland, with her brothers Robert, a Presbyterian minister, and David, in 1852. They bought Ferntree House, later Wairoa Street, as well as 50 acres around it. The house was built from punga logs in 1849. She lived there 41 years. It was known as Hood's Hall, and the area around it as Kirkland Hill. She was a benefactor to many causes. Helensburgh Road, originally Helensburn Road, commemorates her name. She died in 1894 aged 80.
The charge was sanctioned by the Synod in 1868 as an independent congregation, and the first minister, Rev. William Alves was inducted in the same year. The manse was built in 1869. Rev. Alexander Blake was the second minister, coming from work among the Maori of Otago Peninsula, and with inmates of the Dunedin Gaol, from 1872 until 1877. He had been a Free Church Missionary in Madras.
Rev. Robert M Sutherland was the minister for forty years, from 1879 until he retired in 1919. He was born in Caithness, Scotland and licensed by the Free Church of Scotland. The first church building became too small and was extended in 1880 to seat 400 people and a bell tower added, at a cost of £500. When the church was completed the late Robert Glendining had donated a Canadian organ.
The district grew grew with the advent of the cable cars in 1861 and the Roslyn Mills in 1879. Whare Flat was appointed a preaching station with Kaikorai in 1873. Between 1866 and 1915 one could worship at Kaikorai Presbyterian, St John's Anglican, St Mary's Catholic, Roslyn Methodist, Roslyn Baptists, Church of Christ, the Wesleyan Chapel, the Gospel Hall or the Salvation Army Barracks prompting thoughts of union.
Sunday School was held in the Brockville district at the home of Mr. Goldsman, an elder of the church in 1893. After he left for Timaru the school moved to the house of another elder, Mr. John Laing, Mr. Geo. M. Blackwood and Miss J. Laing were the teachers. The Blackwood family gave ground to the church and a small church hall was eventually built there.
After an objection to the use of fermented wine for sacrament in 1893 it was replaced with unfermented wine. In 1900 communion was served from individual communion cups which became the practice and bread was cut into cubes instead of broken from the slice. The precentor became the Choir Master in 1906.
In 1906 a tender was accepted for the erection of a new church built by Stephen Samuel Aburn. The Mayor of Roslyn laid the foundation stone, underneath which is a time capsule holding copies of the Otago Daily Times, Evening Star and Outlook: photos of the manse, manse family, and district: press account of Rev. Sutherland's 21st anniversary: papers on stipend: Bible Class syllabus: card with threepence, sixpence and shilling to show how small sums add up: invitation to the laying of the stone: order of church service: men on door duty: ticks, bazaar and others: syllabus of the Endeavour Society.
The new church opened on the site of the old church which was moved to the rear of the grounds to serve as a hall on 5 December 1907. Four stained glass windows were installed to honour founding members in the brick church, Miss Hood and her brother the Rev. David Hood, Adam Blackwood and David Thomson. The vestibule windows were installed in 1908, given by the Sunday School pupils and their Superintendent. A new manse was built in Brighton Street, later Beresford Street and electric lighting was installed in 1917.
Eleven memorial trees were planted in the church grounds in a special ceremony on Saturday 23 August 1919. JS Douglas, the deputy Mayor of Dunedin, the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand, the president of the Returned Servicemen's Association and the Kaikorai School Band participated. Four trees represented the Ministers of Kaikorai Church: Alves, Blake, Sutherland and Hutchison, the other trees planted were for the naval battle of Jutland, soldiers' memorial trees commemorating the battles of Gallipoli, Somme, Messines, Paschendaele and Bapaume and for peace the Jerusalem tree. The widening of Taieri Road would remove the trees in 1959, the last was cut down on Saturday 11 November 2006 due to extensive rot.
From 1919 until 1925 Rev. William R. Hutchison was the minister. He was born in India, the son of a missionary. Mr Sutherland returned to unveil the Soldiers' Window in 1920.
Arrangements were made for a building of a five-roomed house, the work was partially completed until a halt was called and work ceased. The owner agreed to adapt the building to the needs of children. Suitable classrooms and cloakrooms were constructed with accompanying decorations, named after the first Superintendent, "Hepburn". The rooms were named after the Manse children: "Rose", "Violet" and "Beatrice", becoming the Sutherland Hall. The congregation provided money for fittings and furniture. Pr. Davies and the Revs RRM Sutherland and WR Hutchison opened and dedicated Sutherland Hall in September 1920. The Kaikorai Kindergarten rented the hall and it later became a private dwelling. The senior Bible Class boys donated the oak communion table and the Sunday School the communion chair.
Dr Leslie Sutherland was ordained to serve as a medical missionary in Jagadhri Hospital, India in 1925 and his sister Violet Sutherland later joined him.
In 1925 Dr. DJ Albert was inducted but left for Australia the next year due to the illness and slow recovery of his daughter living in Dunedin. The Rev. James Smith, a chaplain during the war, served for ten years from 1927 and was involved in celebrating the church's Diamond Jubilee within a year.
Services were held at Ashburn Hall between the 1930s-1960s, previously a 'Field of Service'.
The Beresford Street manse was sold for £825 and a property purchased in City Road for £1250 in 1938. Rev Thomas Campbell begain 1938, serving for a year as an overseas chaplain from 1941, the pulpit was occupied by the Rev Dr. S. Hunter of Knox College. The Rev John Pringle, once the minister of Chalmers Church, undertook the parish visiting. Mr Pringle gave Communion Chalice from Chalmers Church Dunedin to Kaikorai Presbyterian after that church on Smith Street and York Place closed and it was in use at the time of the Centennary 1968. Evening services were held at 4pm due to blackout restrictions.
Boys' and Girls' Brigade were begun during the ministry of Rev. Alexander Reid Harper from 1944-1954. A Sunday School opened in Glenelg Street, first in the house of Mr. and Mrs. H. Hodge, then in the old Mowat dairy, a monthly church service was held there from 1949.
Rev. D. Kitchingham of Roslyn Methodist Church proposed to work with Kaikorai with special concern for Brockville in 1963.
The original wooden church was demolished to make way for the later hall in 1966. Ross Clarke inducted the first women elders, Andrena Begg and Margaret Robertson in 1967.
In 1968, the centenary of the church, Kaikorai went into West Dunedin Union Parish, along with Brockville, Halfway Bush and Wakari pastorates - the areas from which the early settlers travelled to worship, and Waitati. Roslyn Methodist Church and the local Congregational and Church of Christ churches were also part of the union. Roslyn Methodist closed and joined with Kaikorai, the church receiving their memorial plaques of two world wars and their brass cross. The Roslyn organ was installed at Kaikorai in 1970. West Dunedin split into two parishes, Kaikorai Union (Kaikorai and Brockville) and Flagstaff Union (Wakari and Halfway Bush) in 1987.
The scheme originated out a proposal to form a Union Parish of the Kaikorai Presbyterian Parish, including Brockville, and the Roslyn Methodist Church. During the ministry of DL Kitchingham (1963-1965), Roslyn Methodist Church began negotiations with their Presbyterian neighbours, with special concern for the new suburb of Brockville.
At a meeting sponsored by the Regional Joint Standing Committee on church Union, on 18 October 1966, the idea of a wider Union Parish, to include the Presbyterian parishes of Wakari and Halfway Bush was put forward. The meeting agreed to the desirability of such a parish and a sub-committee was appointed to formulate more detailed proposals. These proposals were voted on by meetings of office bearers.
A representative committee was formed and a draft constitution formulated. The draft constitution was referred to the congregations as a suitable document to be discussed and voted on. The plans of the Methodist Church were realised during the ministry of WL Wallace in 1968.
After celebrating their 90th anniversary, Roslyn Methodist Church joined with Kaikorai Presbyterian Church. Together with the parishes of Halfway Bush, Wakari, Brockville, Waitati, Warrington, and Seacliff, West Dunedin Union Parish was the largest Union Parish in New Zealand. There were more than twenty lay preachers to assist three to four ministers.
The Roslyn Methodist Church was demolished in 1970 and its pipe organ installed at Kaikorai Church.
Kaikorai Union Church separated from West Dunedin Union Parish in 1986, and then the link with Brockville was dissolved in 1988.
The Farley Street manse, built in 1944, was sold in 1988.
The manse of the Hegan family was in Hood Street, named for the family of Mrs Helen Hood, who gifted the land for the church and hall in 1866.
Kaikorai Parish withdrew from Union with Methodists in 1998 and returned to a Presbyterian Parish.
Kaikorai has instituted community events - Kaikorai Carols, Children's Day; and Mainly Music, Play Group, and Youth work with Brockville Community Church. They operate Indoor Bowls and Walking Groups, and Alpha.
Kaikorai completed work on an administration block to serve the community and slowly began to refurbish the exterior of the historic church, and do further work on the carpark and grounds.
Southern Presbytery dissolved Kaikorai Parish on 23 September 2024. Dunedin City Council removed Kaikorai Presbyterian Church from its list of properties for protection from demolition or modification without consent under changes to the district plan 17 July 2025.
MINISTERS:
1868-1872 William Alves
1872-1878 Alexander M. Blake
1879-1919 Robert M. Sutherland
1919-1925 William M. Hutchison
1925-1926 David J. Albert
1927-1938 James D. Smith
1938-1944 Thomas G. Campbell
1944-1955 A. Reid Harper
1965-1966 William N Flett (Methodist)
Becomes Kaikorai Union
1967-1972 Ross K.J. Clarke (1968 went into West Dunedin Union)
1974-1975 Stanley R. Goudge (Methodist)
1976-1979 Norman J Goreham (Methodist)
1980-1981 Vacant
1982-1988 Colin Hay (returned to Kaikorai Union)
1989-1999 Donald W. Hegan
2000-2011 Ian Guy
2012 Vacant
2014 John Daniel
P-A63.38-104Kaikorai Union Church and Hall, Taieri Road, Dunedin, circa 1990.
P-A63.38-104Kaikorai Union Church and Hall, Taieri Road, Dunedin, circa 1990.
P-A63.38-104Kaikorai Union Church and Hall, Taieri Road, Dunedin, circa 1990.
P-A63.38-104Kaikorai Union Church and Hall, Taieri Road, Dunedin, circa 1990.
P-A63.38-104Kaikorai Union Church and Hall, Taieri Road, Dunedin, circa 1990.
P-A63.38-104
Relates to
Recollect CollectionKaikorai Union Parish, DunedinSouthern Presbytery
Southern PresbyteryKaikorai Presbyterian Church. Presbyterian Research Centre, accessed 04/04/2026, https://pcanzarchives.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/112595
