Chapel restoration seen as preserving an Auckland treasure

By CathNews New Zealand

August 29th, 2025

Stained glass from St Mary’s Chapel in Ponsonby (Auckland Council)

St Mary’s Chapel in Ponsonby is being hailed by Auckland Council as a great example of preservation of Auckland’s taonga. Source: The Post.

The chapel has been undergoing a painstaking renovation since 2022. Mother Cecilia (Ellen) Maher commissioned the chapel on behalf of the Sisters of Mercy in Auckland, and it was blessed by Bishop Pompallier in 1866. Designed and built by renowned architect Edward Mahoney in the Gothic Revival style, the chapel is built from kauri with ornamental timber buttresses and tall arched windows.

The chapel received a Regional Historic Heritage Grant in 2022/23 of $50,000 to support the restoration and repair of its stained and painted lead light windows. The glass was cracked, the lead lighting was disintegrating and the steel supports were rusted.

Maria Matheson from the McAuley Trust says she’s extremely grateful to the Auckland Council for its support.

“It has been a privilege to be entrusted with the care of this beautiful chapel,” she said.

The McAuley Trust and Salmond Reed Architects have been working on the Old Convent Chapel alongside local firms Matassa, A Touch of Glass, Otahuhu Engineering and Zandric Enterprises. So successful has the work been the restoration project won awards from Te Kāhui Whaihanga NZ Institute of Architects NZIA and a Resene Colour Award.

St Mary’s Old Convent Chapel is protected under the Auckland Unitary Plan as a category A historic heritage place. It is also listed in the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga List Rārangi Kōrero as a category 1 place.

The Auckland Council has opened funding applications for this year’s Regional Historic Heritage Grant Programme. Individuals and community groups can apply for up to $50,000 for the preservation of heritage places.

The chapel restoration was used to publicise the programme for 2025.

FULL STORY

Faith, kauri and a council grant: Inside St Mary’s divine restoration (The Post – subscription required)

Boost for Aucklanders wanting to preserve taonga, through Regional Historic Heritage Grant Programme – OurAuckland (Auckland Council)

Regional Historic Heritage Grants Programme – 2022/2023 (Auckland Council)