Brief History
From the old St. Paul's to the new St. Paul's
The first Church building that was built on the Otakau Road site was erected in 1955. This replaced the original Milford Anglican Church Building which was situated several Kilometres to the east of the Milford shopping area at the corner of Kitchener and Muritai Roads. This previous Church, also named St. Paul's-by-the-sea was probably given this name because it was then quite close to the sea.
The reason for changing the position of the Church was that there was no land on which to expand on the Kitchener Road site. It was also considered that the original Church building was too close to the Anglican Church of St. Peter's in Takapuna and furthermore the Church was not very well situated to serve the growing areas of Milford and Forrest Hill. In order to provide for the increasing numbers of people attending our Church it was decided that the original building on the Otakau Road site would become a Hall and a new larger Church building would be erected. Our new Church building was dedicated in 1979.
The early years in Castor Bay
A small hall (its origin is unknown) had been built at some stage on the Otakau Road site where St. Paul's Anglican Church of Milford is now situated. This Hall was shifted to a section at 59 Seaview Road in the suburb of Castor Bay in 1947.
This building was given the name "All Hallows". It was then used as both a Church and a Hall for Parishioners in the Castor Bay area. A number of additions were made to this building over a period and in particular a major extension was constructed in 1952.
The Presbyterians owned a large area of land (where the All Hallows Church Building is now standing) on which there was a small Church/Hall. This land was situated further along the road at the corner of Seaview Road and Katui Street. During the 1970s discussions took place with the Presbyterians in an effort to rationalize the use of these two Church properties.