The Church of Saint Hilda was named for the famous and powerful Abbess Hilda of Whitby (614 – 680), apparently because of the likeness seen by early parishioners between Island Bay and Whitby.

The story of St Hilda's parish in Island Bay begins in 1882 when the Wellington City church of St Peters, daughter Church of St Marks, converted a small cottage into a mission room in Newtown and in 1884 built a ‘Parochial Room’. The Parochial District of St Thomas was constituted on 1 December 1896 and quickly extended its mission into the less accessible parts of the district, Worser Bay, Seatoun and Island Bay. 

In 1897 a Mrs Reeve of Island Bay made a room available in her home for Anglican services – the humble beginning of the vigorous congregation we know today.

In June 1898 two sections became available on the corner of Humber Street and The Parade, which were secured by a parishioner, Mr Fitzgerald, with a deposit of £50, and another parishioner, Mr Beck, built a church room on the site.   The blessing and opening ceremony of this small building took place on 11 September, 1898.  It was conducted by the Bishop of Wellington, who preached from the text Hallowed Be Thy Name. There were regular services for some time, conducted principally by a Mr Thornton, with occasional visits, when opportunity offered, from the Vicar.   

Island Bay was made a parochial district on 1 January 1910. The Reverend W. Fancourt was instituted as the first Vicar, and on Christmas Eve of that same year, Bishop Frederic Wallis laid the foundation stone of the present church on 24 December 1910. 

Rev. Fancourt's personality and approach can be seen in this extract from a letter recalling those times:

They were very hard days, the laying of the foundations of St Hilda’s.  I thought Bishop Wallis had set me an impossible hurdle.  I often felt it was impossible and my dear father cheered me to go on. There were only a handful of attendants, and they were workers, and mostly choir.  My first congregations were nearly all choir; the curtains were drawn halfway across the church room.  Yet it was wonderful the love and co-operation these builders of St Hilda’s gave to God.  They worked, and the others came and worked, and so we built up a little foundation, on which others have laboured in a similar way, until you have now reached the stage in which St Hilda’s is a parish.  It was missionary work;  nearly all those first adults had to be prepared for Confirmation, and I thank God for what He did through them.

Twenty young men from St Hilda's parish died on active service  in World War One, and immediately after the war, the parish and district was hard hit by the 'Spanish Influenza’ epidemic.   The outbreak in Wellington coincided with Armistice Day, 11 November 1918, and spread like a giant conflagration.  Island Bay was the first suburb to feel the full force of the scourge, and it was also the first to have it under control.   The St Hilda’s Boy Scouts Troop provided a valuable corps of helpers. 

When Doctor Fyffe, who, with a team of eight Sisters from the Home of Compassion had been working together in the Island Bay area, was no longer able to visit the suburb, Sister Clotilde was made responsible for the area and was assigned a motor cyclist with side-car, and a couple of boy scouts were placed at her service.  These young men were Boy Scouts from St Hilda’s Troop.  The Scouts delivered food to homes and were given the power to break in to houses if they suspected that people needing help were inside.  Often there were people who were sick and others who had already died.  Whenever the Scouts found sick or dead people, they were required to return to St Hilda’s Church Hall to pass through a decontamination vapour shower as a safeguard against passing on the illness.  The Scouts also had the right to stop motorists to ask for assistance for sick people or for them to be driven somewhere if the need arose.    Their great work was recognised by the government at the end of the epidemic when each scout received a ‘thanks’ scroll signed by the then Minister of Health, Mr G.W Russell.  In addition, the people of Island Bay thanked the Scouts by presenting the troop with a carrying flagpole engraved with an expression of thanks.

In 1919, the two storey house nearby, which doubled as a residence for the local policeman and his family, and the police station, was purchased, and became the vicarage.  It still serves its purpose today.

The Vicar’s Report of March 1926, makes mention of a number of groups working within the church:

The Vestry “an unusually active body”; the Ladies’ Guild, the Choir, Bible classes and Sunday school; and  the Church of England Men’s Society made up of a “small and compact body of mostly young men enthusiastic in the Master’s Service”.   The Vicar, Reverend Blaythwayte, commented “that he was now half-way through his seventh year as Vicar,’ and added that ‘these years had been years of peace, free from contention of any kind, unmarred by angry passions.”

In 1933 St Hilda’s became a parish in its own right, and at about the same time, a seven-foot wide extension was added to the hall.

In World War two, a further thirteen men of St Hilda's died, and an Honours Board in the south aisle recalls these and those who died in the Great War.

One very public event on the parish calendar was the annual fair, recalled by parishioner Esma Kuring, writing in 1959:

Household circulars were delivered by the postman and I think everyone on the Bay looked forward to the great day and hoped it would be fine.  A parade headed by a Wellington band would proceed down the main street, followed by decorated prams, scooters, and bicycles and anything else the “wags” thought of entering, and lastly waving from a decorated car or truck would come Father Christmas himself complete with bag of toys and a bunch of balloons…

Fund raising activities would feature at intervals throughout the years in support of the church, church furnishings, activities, building, maintenance, and magazine fund – or for whatever good and needy cause was to the fore at the time.  Activities would include card evenings, dances, play readings, a Queen Carnival, garden parties.  

Church groups which were formed throughout the early years were many and varied, including: Bible Classes; Play Reading Circle; Sewing Guild; Sunday School, kindergarten  intermediate and junior; Junior Church; Table Tennis Club (ceased during WW2); Tennis Club; (partly in recess during the war years); Vestry; Missionary Auxiliary; Choirs - junior and senior; Guides, Cubs, Brownies, Scouts; Ladies’ Guild; Mothers’ Union; Church of England Men’s Society, Youth Groups, Girls’ Sewing Guild, Girl Guides.

Mention has been made of croquet and tennis being played on the church lawns, although there is no written record of these activities.

Both Houghton Valley and Owhiro Bay/Happy Valley came under the wing of St Hilda’s.  There was no church building in Happy Valley, and by courtesy of the Bata Management, the factory refreshment room was used for Sunday services. As well as St Hilda’s Vicar taking services at Happy Valley, the Church of England Men’s Society also made themselves available to assist in this work.  This arrangement lasted for a number of years.  

Houghton Valley fared better.  With the help of the City Council, St Chad’s Church Hall was opened and dedicated by the assistant Bishop, the Rt Rev. E.J. Rich, on 2 March 1958. Parishioners of the district contributed to the building funding, as did the St Hilda’s congregation.    There was a fine oak altar, graciously furnished which could be screened by folding doors when the hall was used socially, and the vestry and kitchen were also well equipped.  Communion services were held on the second Sunday of each month, and Matins on the remaining Sundays.   While better roading and transport proved a factor in enabling people to settle in the area, it is ironic that the building of the road link via Melrose to Buckley Road,  contributed to the falling numbers of church-goers, and finally the closing of the little church of St Chad in 1979. 

The 50th Jubilee celebrations of the founding of St Hilda’s were held over several weeks in 1959, during which time the present pipe organ was installed from funds donated by parishioners.  Also installed were a stained glass window, a banner, a lectern and a pulpit book rest. The concluding Thanksgiving Service was celebrated on 22 November.

In July 1960 the baptistry was added to the church while retaining the fine ceiling woodwork which is an attractive feature of St Hilda’s.                                                      

In 1975 the hall was shifted to its present position and joined to the church, and its interior remodelled.   This was not without its problems but carried out despite last minute objections from the neighbours, an injunction, and the case being taken to court.  The weather also threatened to impede the hall’s progress, as it became literally bogged down in the middle of the lawn due to the heavy rain experienced at the time.

The 75th Anniversary of the founding of the parish was celebrated in 1984.  Special mention was made of St Hilda, Patron Saint of the Parish:

Members of the Parish were invited to enjoy a quiet walk around the interior of St Hilda’s to recall, not only their past history, but to remind them of some of the people to whom they owed this building, the memorial gifts and furnishings.  including several significant stained glass windows