Sanctuary
The floor in the sanctuary is white Carrara marble, a setting designed to reflect the biblical quotation ‘And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal…’ (Revelation 4: 6)
The altar is free standing. The embroidered frontals and decorative bands in colours appropriate to the seasons of the church year are the work of the Cathedral linen guild.
The aumbry, where consecrated elements are kept, is in memory of Dean Walter Hurst, who was in office during the building of the Cathedral.
The candlesticks and 1.5 metre high Cross were designed in London and bought in England by Archbishop Owen and donated to the Cathedral by the Mothers’ Union. Though the Cross and candlesticks arrived in Wellington in 1960 it was 1963 before they were removed from safe storage. They were first put on display in Kirkcaldie and Stains, a leading Wellington store, before being placed in the Cathedral.
The ten sedilia, the seats for clergy and assisting ministers, beside the altar in the sanctuary, are of moulded concrete. The seat backs, crafted by a team of expert joiners in Wellington, are made from Japanese oak. Each seat back has 28 pieces of wood and most of the design is hand carved. The figures above the seats represent St Peter and St Paul, the saints of God, Christian symbols and, reflecting the Cathedral’s New Zealand heritage with two New Zealand birds, the tui and fantail, and from the forest, the kowhai tree and tree fern.
