Whiteley Mission House, St Aubyn Street (1854)

The Whiteley Mission House was constructed in 1854 under the direction of Missionary Henry Hanson Turton and originally served as a school for Māori girls in New Plymouth.

The Mission House is clad in vertical board and battens often associated with this style of building. Interestingly, New Plymouth has a higher proportion of nineteenth century board and batten clad buildings than any other New Zealand city, with most constructed before 1870.

The building is of national historical significance and accordingly has a Heritage New Zealand Category One Classification. The Heritage New Zealand classification report describes the building as a "simple picturesque interpretation of the Gothic Revival; a style commonly associated with ecclesiastical buildings of the nineteenth century". The report also explains that "the building retains a significant portion of its original character, particularly in the front facade, and for this reason it remains a very rare example of mission-style architecture surviving from the early period of European settlement in country". 

Along with the adjacent Moturoa Mission Church, constructed in 1869 and shifted from Mangorei Road to its present site in 1940, this pair of board and batten clad buildings are important reminders of our past. 

Related items:

Taranaki DP1792 Sheet 1 (1902), ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)

Taranaki (Lot 1) DP8535 Sheet 1 (1959), ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)

The Grey Institution, New Plymouth (New Zealander 25 April 1849)

Public School Report (New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian 8 January 1853)

Renovation Proposal (Taranaki Herald 26 July 1980)

A Place of Learning (New Zealand Historic Places Magazine September 1993)

A Mission at Ngamotu, Vicki Price (Taranaki Daily News 1 January 2008)

Of passing interest, Kelvin Day (Taranaki Daily News 15 July 2013)