Churches, lodges & community organisations (under development)
Churches
In the earliest decades of Strath Taieri settlement there were no church buildings as such, but services were conducted by itinerant clergy in all three denominations, usually held in settlers’ residences or in other buildings such as schools.
St John’s Presbyterian Church in Middlemarch opened in 1895, although the Strath Taieri Presbyterian Parish had been active since 1868 when The Reverend Dr Donald Stuart of Dunedin baptised John and Margaret McPhee at Mount Stoker. With a large proportion of the district’s early settlers having Scottish origins, the St John’s congregation was the largest of the three denominations in the district. Regular services are no longer held at St Johns, but the church is used periodically for ecumenical services and gatherings.
Click here for detailed history of the Strath Taieri Presbyterian Parish from 1868 until 1981.
Prior to June 1901, when St Patrick’s Catholic Church in Middlemarch was completed and opened, Mass was held every few weeks at Strath Taieri School, the priest travelling by buggy from Palmerston, holding Mass at Hyde, Macraes and Middlemarch. For many years the congregation was served from Palmerston and later from Ranfurly, the priest’s overnight accommodation being a small hut which still stands on the church property today. The church closed and the final Mass was held on 18 October 2025.
St Chad’s Anglican Church was opened in March 1901. Before St Chad's was built and opened, Church of England services had been held from time to time in Middlemarch from 1894, usually at Webb’s Hall opposite the railway station. It wasn’t until 1909 that St Chad’s had a resident vicar, The Reverend William Wingfield, who was paid a stipend of 90 pounds per year and was required to provide his own house. The Rev Wingfield earned a great deal of respect, not only from the St Chad’s congregation, but from the entire district. By the time he retired and departed the district in 1914, he had established a strong Anglican following and he left the parish in good stead. For many years the parish was served by a series of visiting vicars. In 2023, St Chad’s was secularised and sold to become a private residence.