Historic Heritage Study for the Upper Stebbings and Marshall Ridge Structure Plan
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Historic Heritage Study for the Upper Stebbings and Marshall Ridge Structure Plan The land stretching from Arohata Prison to the south, 1959, White’s Aviation, WA-51932, ATL. Elizabeth Cox, Bay Heritage Consultants For Wellington City Council April 2018 Table of Contents Executive Summary ............................................................................................... 3 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 5 Site Context ........................................................................................................... 5 Historical Narrative ................................................................................................ 9 Maori Tracks .............................................................................................................................. 9 Early Pakeha Settlement ........................................................................................................... 9 Early Colonial Settlement ........................................................................................................ 10 Military Road and Stockades ................................................................................................... 12 Rural Settlement: Late 1840s - 1900 ....................................................................................... 14 Wellington-Manawatu Railway ............................................................................................... 20 Twentieth Century .................................................................................................................. 20 A ‘Short Cut on the Main Trunk’: 1928-1933 .......................................................................... 22 Suburb/Township Development ............................................................................................. 25 Arohata Borstal/Prison ............................................................................................................ 25 1950s – 2010s .......................................................................................................................... 27 Recommendations ............................................................................................... 29 Appendix One: Detailed History of the Blocks in the Area of this Study ................ 30 Appendix Two: Existing Historic Heritage Listings in the Vicinity .......................... 34 Bibliography ........................................................................................................ 37 2 Executive Summary This report was commissioned by Wellington City Council to discuss a specific area (see Figure 1) which lies between Johnsonville and Tawa, which can be roughly generalised as part of the Glenside area, the Upper Stebbings Valley and part of what might be considered in the lower area of Tawa. Figure 1: The Study area, With TaWa to the north and Churton Park to the south This report provides an analysis of the history of the study area, supported by an Appendix which provides the history of the particular legal blocks within the study area in more detail. This work then underpins a number of recommendations which are made at the end of the report, regarding the identification, protection and promotion of heritage resources in the area: - Archaeological Field Survey If future development of this area is to occur, every effort should be made to first document the numerous possible very early settler 19th century house sites in the area. Therefore, it could be useful to commission an Archaeological Field Survey to traverse the area in order to identify any such remaining 19th century house sites along the Middleton/Willowbank Roads corridor, along with any associated old gardens, trees and shelter belts, sawpits, and associated farming and other material. 3 Once identified, some of these sites could be preserved, perhaps in green reserve sites, and listed as archaeological sites in the NZAA Site Recording Scheme if recommended by an archaeologist. - Preserve the area around the RailWay Survey Peg Protection of this site should be considered, plus protection of a view shaft between the tunnel and peg. - Middleton Stockade Although much of the stockade was likely to have been destroyed when the house on the site was built in the 1990s, the associated path up to the site, along the Middleton Rd roadside, should be protected from further works if possible, along with perhaps protection of the views from the site into the valley (although this is now a private house site). - Naming: A number of naming suggestions are made, to mark a number of local residents from the past. 4 Introduction The Glenside area, earlier known as The Halfway, has been associated with the early history of both the Wellington and Porirua regions since its earliest days, and is rich in both Maori and Pakeha history. It is a place for which transport – walking, rail and road – has been crucial to its history, both before and after pakeha settlement, and has altered the landscape in significant ways. It was settled by some of the very earliest New Zealand Company settlers to Wellington, and has been associated with the history of agriculture since these days. It retains much of its rural flavour, despite recent developments. It is also closely associated with the history of corrections and imprisonment. Today the area had a number of people interested in the heritage of the area and the wider heritage landscape issues. The Glenside Progressive Association has argued that these aspects of their area deserve protection. They have argued that because of the current limited intrusion of modern development the landscape features and heritage items within the Glenside area make it an area worthy of protection and has high value as compared to other areas considered to be of heritage landscape significance in the wider Wellington region.1 The area is also very much connected to the early history of Tawa and many of the people who lived in this area, particularly in the north, were historically closely connected to that village/town as it was settled and developed, and as a result the Tawa Historical Society is interested in the area. A site visit, with local resident and chair of the Glenside Residents Association, Claire Bibby, was carried out in December 2017. A visit was also made in February to Bruce Murray of the Tawa Historical Society. Their assistance is appreciated. Since this report was commissioned by Wellington City Council to focus only on a specific subsection of Upper Stebbings Valley area, Glenside and southern Tawa, it ought to be acknowledged that the complete history of wider area is not covered in this report. It focuses as far as possible on the heritage items within the area included in the site area, although it is of course impossible to tell the story of those places without discussing the wider vicinity. A list of other nearby heritage listed places is included at the end of the report for information. For a history of the Glenside area, readers are referred to Claire Bibby’s ‘The History and Heritage of Glenside’, 2002, and for Tawa there are numerous historical works, many by the Tawa Historical Society, which are very useful. A separate report commissioned by the WCC discuss the early history of the tangata whenua in the area, so this report passes over that aspect only lightly. This report discusses the history of the area in general terms, with a more detailed history of the particular New Zealand Company blocks contained in Appendix One. Many of the legal titles in the area still reflect the initial surveys and divisions of land made at the time of the New Zealand Company sales of land in the 1840s. Appendix Two contains a list of listed/recorded heritage sites in the wider Glenside vicinity. Site Context The site covered in this report is bounded on its eastern side by Middleton Road (which changes its name to Willowbank Road as it nears Tawa), which follows the path of the Old Porirua Road. Included in this study area, on its northern boundary, is Arohata Prison and a number of associated buildings. To the north of the study area is the suburban reaches of Tawa. To the south, outside the study’s boundaries, is the main area of what is known as Glenside today, and the suburban area of Churton Park, much of which has been developed in the last 40 years. The western area of the study is the Upper Stebbings Valley and is largely farmland; a further major Churton Park roading and housing development is currently underway in neighbouring blocks in what is known as Lower Stebbings or Churton Park. For much of Middleton/Willowbank Road a tall bank rises above the road. Although they are not always readily evident from the road, there are a number of houses on the hill above the road, on large residential/life-style blocks. The remainder of the site is farmland or native and exotic forest. The Crown has owned the prison and the surrounding land for 80 years, originally using it for a large dairy farm, but is now largely planted with pines. The study area also contains a private dog kennels business on a large area of land. A small 1950s subdivision (Richmond Hill), to the side of Middleton Road, is excluded from the study 1 ‘Heritage Overview’, Glenside Progressive Association website, http://www.glenside.org.nz/heritage- topmenu-98.html 5 area. A central feature of the site is the Marshall Ridge, which provides a high open space area visible