








Saint George Missionary Orthodox Parish



"St. David's Church" was built in 1933. The foundation stone was laid in November 1932 by the Anglican Bishop Cherrington - the first bishop of Waikato - who consecrated the church in February 1933.
The type of building is characteristic to the early settler churches of New Zealand. The architect was Mr. Edgecumbe belonging to the firm "Edgecumbe and White". The builders were Murphy and Short. It was completed at a cost of GBP 500.00.
The bell and stained glass windows come from "St. Peter's Church", a church built in 1876 at the south end of Victoria Street in Hamilton, which was demolished when the current Anglican Cathedral was built.
The funds needed for the construction were raised by the local community in the Matangi area through donations of shoppings, dancing, picnics in the country, masked parties for children and other social functions, along with the generous donation of land, piano and altar by the Family Taylor, David and his wife, Patience.
The religious services were provided by "St. Peter's Cathedral" in Hamilton once a week. With the rationalization of gasoline in the 1940s, services were reduced every two weeks and then, from the post-war years until recently, to take place only once a month.
In 1976, "St. David" became part of the cooperating "St. Francis Parish" of Anglican, Methodist, and Presbyterian congregations that came together and established a church district in the area. This included "St. Francis" Church in Hamilton, "St. Andrew" in Tauwhare and "St. David" in Matangi. Religious services continued until December 9, 2018.
"St. David's Church" is a historic heritage building, protected in the Waikato district due to the construction model and traditional materials used at the time: solid wood ceiling and structure, with kauri wooden floors and straw-insulated walls.