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Khandallah Presbyterian Parish
Scottish settler arrived in the area around 1858. Religious service started at the Nairn homestead as early as 1878, where up to a dozen or so people would meet together, and later, about 1885, at the home of Mr. W. Littlejohn in Crofton (Ngaio).
Six years later a building was erected at the bottom of Simla Crescent, later 92 Simla Crescent, for church services, and Christian people of the district met there for Sunday services over eleven years. Lay preachers kept the services going.
Rev. J. Patterson conducted the first regular Sunday services on 14 June 1891, the text chosen for the address on that occasion being "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ".
Wellington Presbytery appointed the Rev. H.B. Burnett to oversee church work in the Khandallah area, stretching from Johnsonville to Wadestown.
Presbytery appointed a session for a new parish called Onslow which consisted of three congregations at Johnsville, Khandallah and Wadestown. Each congregation worked to establishing itself and eventually each opened their own church building.
The Khandallah held their first Communion Service on 12 September 1897 in the Simla Crescent Hall with 20 communicant members on the Roll. It became evident by 1896 that if services were to continue, the congregation should acquire a site. They purchased the site at 38-44 Cockayne Road in 1897. Plans were prepared for a Church building by 1900 and opened on the 21st of April 1902.
The church decided in 1944 to hold services in the RSA Hall in Ngaio and a new church building opened in 1948.
A large site for a church was bought on Ganges Road in 1919. The wooden church building which had stood in Cockayne Road for 48 years moved to Ganges Road. Plans for a larger church were prepared and a new church building was completed and dedicated on 5 December 1960.
The old wooden building served as a hall and was severely burnt in a fire on 14 March 1971. The complex was rebuilt and dedicated 19 November 1973.
A Place of Remembrance was dedicated by the church on 21 July 1996. Plots and commemorative plaques celebrate the lives of previous members of the congregation.
Six years later a building was erected at the bottom of Simla Crescent, later 92 Simla Crescent, for church services, and Christian people of the district met there for Sunday services over eleven years. Lay preachers kept the services going.
Rev. J. Patterson conducted the first regular Sunday services on 14 June 1891, the text chosen for the address on that occasion being "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ".
Wellington Presbytery appointed the Rev. H.B. Burnett to oversee church work in the Khandallah area, stretching from Johnsonville to Wadestown.
Presbytery appointed a session for a new parish called Onslow which consisted of three congregations at Johnsville, Khandallah and Wadestown. Each congregation worked to establishing itself and eventually each opened their own church building.
The Khandallah held their first Communion Service on 12 September 1897 in the Simla Crescent Hall with 20 communicant members on the Roll. It became evident by 1896 that if services were to continue, the congregation should acquire a site. They purchased the site at 38-44 Cockayne Road in 1897. Plans were prepared for a Church building by 1900 and opened on the 21st of April 1902.
The church decided in 1944 to hold services in the RSA Hall in Ngaio and a new church building opened in 1948.
A large site for a church was bought on Ganges Road in 1919. The wooden church building which had stood in Cockayne Road for 48 years moved to Ganges Road. Plans for a larger church were prepared and a new church building was completed and dedicated on 5 December 1960.
The old wooden building served as a hall and was severely burnt in a fire on 14 March 1971. The complex was rebuilt and dedicated 19 November 1973.
A Place of Remembrance was dedicated by the church on 21 July 1996. Plots and commemorative plaques celebrate the lives of previous members of the congregation.
Khandallah Presbyterian Parish. Presbyterian Research Centre, accessed 27/07/2026, https://pcanzarchives.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/122031
