Wildbore 5 (Brethren Church) Traditional Cache

The old wool shed you see in front of you is no ordinary wool shed. The middle section was once an operating Brethren church, and fragments of evidence of its ecclesiastical origins can be found in its fancy windows. It began life as the Brethren Gospel Hall on a section in Pohangina Township across the river, purchased for this purpose in 1896 by W.H. Dallison. The church was the first building of worship in Pohangina and was used by other denominations until their own churches were built. This first church soon became too small and a new one was built, opening in 1905. A local farmer, Job Palmer (and parishioner of the church), bought the old church building and transported it to his farm on the other side of the river at Awahou (its present site). In her book marking the Awahou School centenary, Lois Hall, provides this account of its transportation across the river: “Job Palmer … was a devout man, but the bullock handlers trusted with its transportation, were less so. A crisis occured with the river running higher than usual – the blandishments the men used to entice their animals across were not to Mr Palmer’s liking.” Either Palmer himself or subsequent landowners added the additional “wings” to the church building, creating the larger barn you see today. While the building today is a little tired and worn, as the first place of worship in the Pohangina Valley it is in fact a very significant one.