New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero – Report for a Historic Place Stockade Hill, AUCKLAND (List No.9732, Category 2)
Stockade Hill, Howick, looking northeast Martin Jones, HNZPT, 22 Nov 2019
Name of author: Martin Jones DRAFT: Last amended 11 March 2020 Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3
1. IDENTIFICATION 4 1.1. Name of Place 4 1.2. Location Information 5 1.3. Legal Description 5 1.4. Extent of List Entry 5 1.5. Eligibility 5 1.6. Existing Heritage Recognition 6
2. SUPPORTING INFORMATION 6 2.1. Historical Information 6 2.2. Physical Information 19 2.3. Chattels 26 2.4. Sources 26
3. SIGNIFICANCE ASSESSMENT 28 3.1. Section 66 (1) Assessment 28 3.2. Section 66 (3) Assessment 29
4. APPENDICES 34 4.1. Appendix 1: Visual Identification Aids 34 4.2. Appendix 2: Visual Aids to Historical Information 38 4.3. Appendix 3: Visual Aids to Physical Information 42 4.4. Appendix 4: Significance Assessment Information 46
Disclaimer
Please note that entry on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero identifies only the heritage values of the property concerned, and should not be construed as advice on the state of the property, or as a comment of its soundness or safety, including in regard to earthquake risk, safety in the event of fire, or insanitary conditions. Archaeological sites are protected by the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014, regardless of whether they are entered on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero or not. Archaeological sites include ‘places associated with pre-1900 human activity, where there may be evidence relating to the history of New Zealand’. This List entry report should not be read as a statement on whether or not the archaeological provisions of the Act apply to the property (s) concerned. Please contact your local Heritage New Zealand office for archaeological advice.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Purpose of this report The purpose of this report is to provide evidence to support the inclusion of Stockade Hill in the New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero as a Category 2 historic place.
Summary
Located on a rise with extensive views across the Waitematā Harbour and Tāmaki isthmus, Stockade Hill has strong connections with Howick’s creation as a military Fencible settlement (1847); events during the Waikato War (1863-4); and the commemoration of citizens from the district who had served and died in the First and Second World War (1914-18 and 1939-45). Now a public reserve at the gateway to Howick town centre, the place incorporates the remnants of an earthwork redoubt created at the outset of the Waikato conflict, inside which a War Memorial commemorating the fallen from the World Wars was later erected. The place forms an important commemorative landscape, as well as being a local landmark. Its past use reflects several difficult aspects of New Zealand’s history, including conflict between peoples during the Waikato War, leading to the extensive loss of land by Māori; and the loss of life experienced by local citizens in global conflicts - especially during the First World War.
Traditionally known as Ōwairoa, the Howick area lies within the rohe of Ngāi Tai who established extensive gardening and fishing camps in the vicinity. In 1847, Howick was established as the largest of four European military or ‘Fencible’ settlements south of the colonial capital at Auckland - collectively representing the first adoption in the British colonies of an ‘enrolled pensioner’ system, utilising retired British and Irish soldiers. With its extensive views over the surrounding area, Stockade Hill was chosen as a military reserve. In 1851, it was the site of a mobilisation by local members of the Royal New Zealand Fencible Corps, the only time before its disbandment in 1858 that this force was gathered in response to a perceived threat.
During rising tensions before the Waikato War, Howick’s Pensioner settlers requested that the government construct a stockade or place of refuge. This was in spite of lengthy co-existence with local Ngāi Tai, and Māori resistance to European expansion south of Auckland occurring through peaceful means such as the creation of the Kīngitanga movement in the Waikato. Immediately after government forces invaded the latter in July 1863, a redoubt ‘as a place of refuge for the inhabitants in case of need, and for the defence of the district’ was erected. This consisted of a rectangular enclosure defined by a ditch and bank, the latter surmounted by a loopholed palisade made of
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 9732 3 corrugated iron sheets. Internally, the redoubt incorporated several buildings, including at least one blockhouse, a picquet house and a Commissariat Store.
As part of south Auckland’s inner defences, the fortification never saw active engagement. It was initially manned by the 70th Regiment, before being exclusively occupied by colonial militia, including a German-speaking company under Martin Krippner, a significant figure in the immigration of German peoples to New Zealand. In December 1863, Krippner hosted a gathering at the redoubt involving carols and a lit-up Christmas tree - an early documented instance of the latter tradition in this country. The redoubt was later used as accommodation for new immigrants working on road construction, and then probably as a military store, before being dismantled in 1873.
Subsequent to becoming a public park, a simple War Memorial of Coromandel granite was erected in 1920-1 to people from the district who died in the First World War - at which time the redoubt earthworks were repaired and likely enhanced to create a ‘court of honour’ around the monument. Since the 1920s, the site has formed a major place of ceremony in the district each ANZAC Day. Plantings in the reserve include oaks commemorating the coronation of British royalty. Since at least 1961, an 1890s pine tree has been lit up each Christmas and annual carol services held - recalling earlier tradition on the site.
1. IDENTIFICATION1
1.1. Name of Place
Name Stockade Hill
Other Names Roman Catholic Chapel Hill (1856) Garrison Hill Bunker’s Hill Redoubt Hill Stockade Hill Park Howick Stockade Military Reserve Market Reserve
1 This section is supplemented by visual aids in Appendix 1 of the report.
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Soldiers’ Memorial Howick and Pakuranga First World War memorial
1.2. Location Information
Address 12R Mellons Bay Road, Picton Street and Ridge Road Howick AUCKLAND
Additional Location Information NZTM Easting: 1771779.5 NZTM Northing: 5915353.52
Local Authority Auckland Council
1.3. Legal Description
Lot 1 Suburbs of Howick (RT NA77/68; NZ Gazette 1979, p.1394) and Legal Road, North Auckland Land District
1.4. Extent of List Entry
Extent includes the land described as Lot 1 Suburbs of Howick (RT NA77/68; NZ Gazette 1979, p.1394) and part of the land described as Legal Road, North Auckland Land District, and the structures and features associated with Stockade Hill thereon. Extent includes historic plantings, including a pine, pūriri x 2, English oaks x 2 and oaks x 15 (Refer to map in Appendix 1 of the List entry report for further information).
1.5. Eligibility
There is sufficient information included in this report to identify this place. This place is physically eligible for consideration as a historic place. It consists of land, an archaeological site and structures that are fixed to land which lies within the territorial limits of New Zealand.
2 Approximate centre of earthwork redoubt
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1.6. Existing Heritage Recognition
Local Authority and Regional Authority Plan Scheduling Auckland Unitary Plan, Operative in part [15 Nov 2016], Schedule 14.1 – Schedule of Historic Heritage, ID No. 01268, Howick Redoubt/Stockade Hill R11_326, Category B; Schedule 10 – Notable Trees Schedule, ID No. 1547, 1 x Pine
For Category B items on Schedule 14.1, modification and restoration has Restricted Discretionary status; and demolition, relocation, new buildings or structures and subdivision has Discretionary Activity status. Maintenance and repair is permitted. For items on Schedule 10, tree removal is a Discretionary Activity.
Reserve Part of this place is a recreation reserve (NZ Gazette 1979, p.1394)
New Zealand Archaeological Association Site Recording Scheme This place has been recorded by the New Zealand Archaeological Association. The reference is: R11/326 Howick Stockade
Other Heritage Recognition Auckland Council Cultural Heritage Inventory: Computer Nos. 4506 Howick Redoubt, Stockade Hill; 17042 Howick WWI Memorial
2. SUPPORTING INFORMATION
2.1. Historical Information
Early history
Traditionally known as Ōwairoa, the Howick area lies within the rohe of Ngāi Tai. Descended from the Tainui waka, Ngāi Tai established extensive gardening and fishing camps in the eastern part of the Tāmaki isthmus. Nearby pā included the important settlement at Te Naupata. Both coastal and inland activity is represented by recorded archaeological sites located a short distance to the northwest, north and east of Stockade Hill.3
3 These include numerous midden sites, recorded as NZAA Site Record Nos. R11/309, R11/1364, R11/1366, R11/1370, R11/1437, R11/2286 and R11/2729.
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In 1836, the land was acquired by missionary William Fairburn as part of the approximately 83,000 acre ‘Fairburn Purchase’.4 After formal British colonisation in 1840, government authorities reduced Fairburn’s holding, possessing most of it for the Crown. Land at Ōwairoa was evidently used as a cattle run in 1847, when it was selected as the site of one of four European military or ‘Fencible’ settlements, intended to form an east-west cordon across the southern approaches to the new colonial capital at Auckland.5 Conceived in the aftermath of the Northern War in 1845-6, these villages were intended to both help defend Auckland in the event of another conflict, and stimulate the local economy through significant expansion of the region’s Pākehā population.6
Howick, as the new settlement at Ōwairoa became known, was occupied from late 1847 by members of the Royal New Zealand Fencible Corps and their families.7 Recruited in the British Isles, the ‘Fencibles’ consisted of retired soldiers, or Pensioners, who undertook to carry out military duties and associated labour in the new colony in return for land and other advantages. Auckland’s Fencible settlements represented the first use in the British colonies of an ‘enrolled pensioner’ system, which was subsequently employed in Australia, Canada and elsewhere.8 Howick was the second, and largest, of these settlements to be created in New Zealand.9
4 Paul Monin, Hauraki Contested 1769-1875, Wellington, 2006, pp.81-4. 5 Letter, Bishop Augustus Selwyn to Mr Hawkins, 23 Jun 1848, reproduced in A Journal of the Bishop’s Visitation Tour through his Diocese, including a Visit to the Chatham Islands, in the Year 1848, London, 1851. Secondary sources have variously referred to the letter being written on 18 Oct 1847 or referring to the area being chosen for a Fencible settlement on 18 Oct 1847: Ian F. McKenzie, ‘Stockade Hill Public Park, Howick’, MS697, n.d. Auckland War Memorial Museum, p.1, citing R. Hattaway, A History of All Saints Church and a Short Account of the Settlement of Howick, Auckland, 1947, p.21; Ruth Alexander, Gail Gibson and Alan La Roche, The Royal New Zealand Fencibles,1847-1852, Auckland, n.d., p.51. 6 After their arrival, Fencible soldiers and their families comprised approximately 30% of Auckland’s immigrants: Jock Phillips, 'History of immigration', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/history-of- immigration/print [accessed 15 Nov 2019]. 7 Alexander et. al., n.d., pp.51-2; Alan La Roche, The History of Howick and Pakuranga, Whitford, Bucklands and Eastern Beaches and Surrounding Districts, Auckland, 1991, p.78. 8 George K. Raudzens, ‘A Successful Military Settlement: Earl Grey’s Enrolled Pensioners of 1846 in Canada’, The Canadian Historical Review, Vol. 52, No.4, 1971, pp.395-7; Martin Gibbs, ‘The Archaeology of the Convict System in Australia’, Australasian Historical Archaeology, 19, 2001, pp.66-7; John M. McLellan, ‘Soldiers and Colonists: Imperial Soldiers as Settlers in Nineteenth-Century New Zealand’, M.A. thesis, Victoria University of Wellington, 2017, p.17. In 1852, New Zealand still had the largest enrolled pensioner contingent in the British Empire. The last British force to be referred to as ‘Fencible’ was the Royal Malta Fencible Artillery in 1889: Ian H.M. Scobie, An Old Highland Fencible Corps: the History of the Reay Fencible Highland Regiment of Foot, or Mackay’s Highlanders, 1794-1802, Edinburgh, 1914, p.4, fn.1. 9 Alexander et al., n.d., pp.27, 51-2: Onehunga is generally regarded as the first Fencible settlement due to the earlier commencement of its infrastructure, although the first Pensioners at Howick Beach may have arrived a couple of days before those at Ōnehunga in mid-November 1847. The other south Auckland settlements at Panmure and Ōtāhuhu were slightly later establishments (1848). Howick was named after a key figure in the creation and subsequent expansion of the ‘enrolled pensioner’ system - Viscount Howick, subsequently Earl Grey, who was Secretary of State for the Colonies in 1846-52: 'Henry George Grey', URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/people/henry-george-%28earl%29-grey (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 17-May-2017 [accessed 15 Nov 2019].
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Initial use as a military reserve (1847-62)
Located at the northern apex of the planned village, Stockade Hill formed an integral part of the settlement layout. Surveyed as a military reserve by the Surveyor-General C.W. Ligar by mid-December 1847, it occupied ‘the summit and sides of the most commanding hill in the vicinity’.10 It directly overlooked the village and afforded extensive views of the Waitematā Harbour.11 The latter was both the main access connecting Howick and Auckland in the late 1840s, and a major route between the capital and Māori-held lands to the south.
The reserve appears to have been used as a place of emergency assembly for Howick’s Fencible Corps.12 In April 1851, a detachment gathered there when Auckland was perceived to be under threat.13 This force was mobilised after a large group connected with Ngāti Pāoa had travelled to Auckland to protest an affront against the mana of one of its leaders, Te Hoera, who had been struck by a Māori constable while visiting the capital.14 Seeking custody of the latter to administer justice under traditional law, the party was met by regular troops and Fencibles from Ōnehunga, supported by mobilisations at other Fencible centres. Confronted by a refusal of the colonial authorities to release the constable, the Ngāti Pāoa group returned to Thames.
Tensions between Māori and Pākehā communities reflected by this event increased in the late 1850s and early 1860s. After the Royal New Zealand Fencible Corps was disbanded in 1858, Howick’s inhabitants felt themselves vulnerable to possible conflict that might lie ahead. This was in spite of lengthy co-existence with local Ngāi Tai, and Māori resistance to European expansion south of Auckland occurring through peaceful means such as the creation of the Kīngitanga movement in the Waikato.15 Writing of the local atmosphere prior to the outbreak of the Waikato War in 1863, one Howick resident, the Reverend Vicesimus Lush, noted that:
…there is, I am sorry to say a desire on the part of many Europeans to force on a war with the natives, knowing that ultimately the latter must be exterminated and that
10 McKenzie, n.d., p.1. 11 Alan La Roche, ‘A History of Stockade Hill and Howick Stockade’, Jan 2017, p.11, quoting Vicesimus Lush, 29 March 1861. 12 The Fencible Corps was otherwise required to undertake military exercises twelve times per year and also attend church parades each Sunday: Alexander et al., n.d., p.62. 13 Alison Drummond (ed.), The Auckland Journals of Vicesimus Lush 1850-63, Christchurch, 1971, p.64; Alexander at al., n.d., p.110.; Ian F. McKenzie’, ‘The History of Stockade Hill’, Journal of the Auckland-Waikato Historical Societies, No.20, Apr 1972, pp.13-16. 14 Monin, 2006, pp.135-9. Te Hoera had been struck on the head, the most tapu part of the body. 15 Alexander et al., n.d., p.110.
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therefore the quicker will the whole country be opened up for occupation by Europeans.16
Fearful that Kīngitanga might take up arms at the outbreak of the Taranaki War in March 1860, Howick’s Pensioners immediately asked the Colonial Secretary for arms and ammunition, and ‘the erection of a place of retreat or Stockade where our wives and families may retire upon any sudden emergency’.17 Colonel T.R. Mould of the Royal Engineers drew up initial plans for a stockade as part of a broader proposal to create a defensive line across the Tāmaki isthmus.18 Towards the end of 1860 Captain Mairis, also of the Royal Engineers, selected the military reserve at Howick as one of two ‘points for fortification’, and prepared further drawings. The government offered £200 to erect both defences if local settlers would supply the necessary labour.19 In response, Howick’s inhabitants requested more precise specifications of the timber work ‘of which the designs involved a great deal’.20 Concern was also expressed that the design at Stockade Hill would not accommodate sufficient settlers.21
Although blockhouses were built at Ōnehunga, Ōtāhuhu and elsewhere, impetus at Howick subsided.
Construction and use of Howick Redoubt (1863-73)
A redoubt at Stockade Hill was eventually erected in 1863, at the immediate outbreak of the Waikato War (1863-4). Two days after government forces invaded Māori lands in mid-July, it was reported that the Governor had given directions ‘for the erection of a stockade at Howick, as a place of refuge for the inhabitants in case of need, and for the defence of the
16 Drummond, 1971, p.219. Lush wrote the entry on 9 April 1861. 17 Letter, James White and others, Howick, to Colonial Secretary, Auckland, 7 Apr 1860, James White and others ACGO 8333 IA1 207/[42] 1860/646, Archives New Zealand, Wellington. 18 Mould, who was Governor Thomas Gore Browne’s deputy in Auckland Province, visited Howick for this purpose, and blockhouses subsequently built at Ōtāhuhu, Ōnehunga and elsewhere. Construction of a stockade at Howick was initially discounted, and muskets issued to the settlement’s military Pensioners instead: Letter, Major Ponsonby Peacocke, Howick, to Lt. Col. Nixon, Ōtāhuhu, 2 April 1861, AAYS 8708 AD100 3/fz MB1861/874, Archives New Zealand, Wellington; Despatch, Governor Gore Browne to Duke of Newcastle, 24 Apr 1860, AJHR 1860, E-3, p.30; Letter, Major Ponsonby Peacocke, Howick, to Colonial Secretary, Auckland, 20 Jul 1861, AAYS 8708 AD100 3/x MB1861/659, Archives New Zealand, Wellington; J. A. B. Crawford, 'Mould, Thomas Rawlings', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1990. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1m56/mould-thomas-rawlings [accessed 18 Nov 2019]. 19 Letter, Major Ponsonby Peacocke, Howick, to Lt. Col. Nixon, Ōtāhuhu, 2 April 1861, AAYS 8708 AD100 3/fz MB1861/874, Archives New Zealand, Wellington. 20 ibid. This may suggest that initial plans were for timber stockades and buildings. Peacocke’s letter notes that ‘neither the strength nor the skeleton frame was exhibited in the drawings, but outside surface only’. 21 Letter, Major Ponsonby Peacocke, Howick, to Colonial Secretary, Auckland, 20 Jul 1861, AAYS 8708 AD100 3/x MB1861/659, Archives New Zealand, Wellington.
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district’.22 By 19 July a redoubt had been largely completed, evidently incorporating a blockhouse for settler protection.23 In the event of alarm, the bell of All Saints’ Anglican Church at the east end of Picton Street was to be rung.24
Occupying the uppermost crest of the reserve, the stockaded redoubt was rectangular in plan and defined by a ditch and bank.25 The latter was surmounted by a defensive wall, created of two-metre high corrugated iron sheets held in place by a timber frame. The use of earthen banks and an iron parapet may have been due to the hasty circumstances under which construction occurred.26 The iron incorporated loopholes to accommodate rifles or muskets.27 Two bastions at the west and east corners of the fortification enabled covering fire along the face of each wall - a common feature of New Zealand redoubts at this time.28
The fortification formed the easternmost of an inner line of defences to south of Auckland in the early stages of the Waikato War.29 This included other stockades erected to shelter Pākehā settlers, such as at Waiuku, Mauku, Pukekohe, Wairoa and Papakura Valley.30 In August 1863 - at a time when skirmishes to the south of Auckland were occurring - the Howick redoubt was described as ‘nearly completed’ and occupied by 50 men from the 70th Regiment.31 Part of Britain’s imperial army, the 70th Regiment had recently arrived in New Zealand from India.32 The Howick force was led by Major G.A. Ryan, who had commanded a
22 New Zealander, 14 July 1863, p.3. According to James Cowan, it was erected because Howick was considered especially vulnerable to incursions by waka from the Thames area: James Cowan, The New Zealand Wars: A History of the Maori Campaigns and the Pioneering Period, Vol.1 1845-64, Wellington, 1922 (1983 reprint), p.246. 23 Drummond, 1971, pp.238-9; Daily Southern Cross (DSC), 18 Jul 1863, p.3; 20 Jul 1863, p.4. 24 La Roche 2011, p.96. 25 Its current measurements of some 34 x 28 metres (112 x 93 feet) broadly correspond with a contemporary description of it being ‘a chain and a half in length’ (approximately 30 metres): DSC, 20 Jul 1863, p.4. 26 Earthwork redoubts were often preferred over timber stockades in campaign situations because they were quicker to erect: Nigel Prickett, Fortifications of the New Zealand Wars, Department of Conservation, Wellington, 2016, p.5. 27 Letter, Major St Clair Tisdall, Colonial Store Office, Auckland, to Dr Pollen, Agent General Government, 5 Dec 1872, ACFL 8170 A1628 8170 Box 11 bc 72/1292, Archives New Zealand, Wellington. 28 Prickett, 2016, pp.5-6. 29 New Zealander, 3 August 1863, p.2. 30 ’Memorandum of Measures of Defence in Northern Island’, Colonial Defence Office, Auckland, 20 Oct 1863, AJHR 1863, A- 6, p.2). 31 Drummond, 1971, p.247; DSC, 19 Aug 1863, p.3; 31 Aug 1863, p.3; Vincent O’Malley, The Great War for New Zealand: Waikato 1800-2000, Wellington, 2016, pp.231-5. The size of the Howick redoubt parallels examples created in the Taranaki War, which could accommodate at least 100 soldiers in tents: Prickett, 2016, p.6. However, the Howick redoubt was also intended to accommodate settler refugees, which is likely to have reduced the number of troops housed. 32 '70th Regiment belt buckle', URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/70-belt-buckle (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 19-Aug-2014 [accessed 5 Nov 2019].
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detachment at the first engagement of the Waikato War at Koheroa, and later went on to participate in the battle at Gate Pā, Tauranga.33
Further construction inside the redoubt included a picquet house, possibly in September 1863.34 The fortification also contained a store, used by the Commissariat Department.35 The initial strategic importance of the redoubt, surveying potential incursion along the Waitematā coast, may be indicated by it being one of relatively few in the vicinity manned by professional troops.36 By October 1863, as major conflict moved further south, this force was entirely replaced by militia.37
The redoubt was subsequently occupied by a company of German-speaking militia volunteers under the charge of Martin Krippner (1817-1894). Krippner was a notable figure in the encouragement of emigration to New Zealand from German-speaking Europe in the early 1860s, who had established the volunteer company by mid-October.38 The militia company members took part in church services and other gatherings at Howick.39 In December 1863, settler families visited the stockade to see Krippner’s troops receive Christmas presents, at which time Bavarian Christmas carols were sung and a Christmas tree lit up - a relatively early documented example in New Zealand of the latter tradition, which was popularised in the British Empire from the 1840s through its use by Queen Victoria’s German husband, Prince Albert.40
33 DSC, 19 Aug 1863, p.3; 31 Aug 1863, p.2; 21 July 1863, p.3; Lyttelton Times, 10 May 1864, p.1 supplement. The 70th (East Surrey) Regiment had recently arrived from India and also fought in the Taranaki War. 34 McKenzie, n.d., p.9. The picquet house was erected by a local carpenter, William White. 35 Letter, Capt William Saunders, Ōtāhuhu, to General Jones [?], 23 Oct 1863, AD 1 4 C 925 186 gb CD 1863/1562, Archives New Zealand, Wellington. 36 DSC, 31 Aug 1863, p.2. 37 The militia required use of the Commissariat Store as a Magazine: Letter, Capt William Saunders, Ōtāhuhu, to General Jones [?], 23 Oct 1863, AD 1 4 C 925 186 gb CD 1863/1562, Archives New Zealand, Wellington. A local resident, L.H. White, later recalled that the 70th Regiment occupied Howick Stockade for ‘about three months’, although the period may have been nearer two: Auckland Star (AS), 22 Jul 1933, p.7. 38 Nancy Swarbrick, 'Krippner, Martin', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1990, updated November, 2010. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1k16/krippner-martin [accessed 5 Nov 2019]. Krippner established a new settlement of migrants from Bohemia (now in the Czech Republic) at Puhoi, to the north of Auckland, and subsequently created the militia company in September-October 1863, to which all ‘German’ members of the Waikato militia were required to transfer: DSC, 22 Sep 1863, p.1; 22 Oct 1863, p.3. 39 Drummond, 1971, p.257. Krippner was granted his commission on 17 October 1863 and his militia company certainly in Howick by mid-November 1863: Swarbrick, 1990; DSC, 16 Nov 1863, p.4. 40 Drummond, 1971, p.271. Decorated Christmas trees were popular in British upper-class circles before the 1840s, but became much more widespread after their use by Victoria and Albert was minutely described in periodicals from the mid- 1840s onwards so that ‘by 1860…there was scarcely a well-off family in the land that did not sport a Christmas tree in parlour or hall.: Alison Barnes, ‘The First Christmas Tree’, History Today, Vol.56, Issue 12 Dec 2006 https://www.historytoday.com/archive/history-matters/first-christmas-tree [accessed 12 Feb 2020]. Early published mentions in New Zealand include the use of pōhutukawa at a Christmas feast by Patuone in 1857; and what may have
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The extent to which settler families in the area retreated to the fortification in 1863 is currently unclear, although it may have been a place of particular refuge after two Pākehā boys, Richard and Nicholas Trust, were killed nearby in late October.41 Resultant settler panic led to a local rangatira and other Māori who were visiting Howick at the time being briefly held inside the stockade, in spite of Ngāi Tai not being in conflict with the Crown.42
The redoubt’s use as a fortification and refuge became redundant after government forces moved into the Lower Waikato, seizing a vast area of fertile, Māori land through military force and, later, formal confiscation or raupatu.43 As part of the latter, large tracts of Ngāi Tai land to the south of Howick was also taken.44 Use of the redoubt after the Waikato War included housing 30 immigrant families from overseas in 1865-6, when accommodation inside the stockade amounted to 51 rooms.45 This formed part of a larger scheme whereby migrants were settled throughout Auckland Province and worked for the government, before being allowed to gain employment on their own accord. Their tasks included creating roads to ‘open up’ Crown-held land as part of the colonising process.
The withdrawal of troops and a wider economic depression in Auckland Province saw many of Howick’s male inhabitants seek employment in the Coromandel goldfields.46 Local settlers suggested relocating the redoubt buildings to a more central position in the village for use as
been European-style Christmas trees in December bazaars and commercial shop windows from 1860 and 1861 onwards: Hawke’s Bay Herald, 9 Jan 1858, p.3; New Zealander, 22 Dec 1860, p.3; Lyttelton Times, 25 Dec 1861, p.4; Otago Daily Times, 17 Dec 1862, p.4. In December 1862, a schoolroom in Collingwood featured ‘a sight not often seen at the antipodes – a Christmas tree, beautifully arranged, glistening with all the prismatic colours, branches weighed down with bonbons, lollies, ornaments of all kinds formed into various shapes, dolls ready dressed…’: Colonist, 6 Jan 1863, p.2. Christmas trees laden with prizes or other items also occasionally featured at school events during the New Zealand winter: Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle,10 Aug 1861, p.2. 41 La Roche, 1991, p.96. 42 Letter, Major Ponsonby Peacocke, Howick, to Thomas Russell, Defence Office, 26 Oct 1863, AAYS 8638 AD1 Box 4/bI CD1863/1361, Archives New Zealand, Wellington. Referred to by Peacocke as ‘George King’, the rangatira may have been Hori Te Whetuki, a Ngāi Tai leader who lived in peaceful co-existence with the Pākehā community: NZH, 11 Jul 1865, p.5; 15 Jan 1869, p.4; DSC, 2 Feb 1866, p.6. 43 In early January 1864, Krippner’s militia was transferred to guard a much larger number of Māori prisoners-of-war aboard the hulk Marion in the Waitematā Harbour: New Zealander, 7 Jan 1864, p.4.; 6 Feb 1864, p.5; 3 Mar 1864, p.3; 21 Jul 1864, p.3; 17 Sep 1864, p.2; DSC, 20 Apr 1864, p.3. Krippner’s company also carried Colonel Nixon’s coffin at the latter’s funeral in May 1864: New Zealand Herald (NZH), 1 Jun 1864, p.3. Nixon’s memorial at Ōtāhuhu was later said to be visible from Howick: NZH, 30 June 1865, p.7. 44 La Roche, 2011, p.99. 45 DSC, 20 May 1865, p.4; 31 May 1865, p.4; 27 Mar 1866, p.5; 16 Feb 1870, p.4; NZH, 31 May 1865, p.7. This occurred shortly after tenders were advertised to lease out blockhouses at Howick and elsewhere: NZH, 8 Apr 1865, p.4; DSC, 11 Apr 1865, p.1. From February 1865, the fortification had been under the charge of Richard Barry, Auckland Militia: Letter, Richard Barry, Howick, to Dr Pollen, General Government Agent, 26 Nov 1872, ACFL 8170 A1628 8170 Box 11 bc 72/1292, Archives New Zealand, Wellington. 46 NZH, 21 Sep 1867, p.4; 29 Sep 1868, p.6; DSC, 30 Dec 1867, p.3; La Roche, 1991, p.101.
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a courthouse, lockup and other purposes.47 The fortification may have been used for storing military material, with items other than ‘the skeleton of three signal balls’ being subsequently handed over to the commander of the Howick Cavalry Volunteers in November 1872.48 The following month, an official report stated that:
The earthwork parapet is crumbling from age – The Corrugated Iron facing the parapet, is falling into the Ditch from decay of the Timber post & rails to which it was nailed. The houses or barrack rooms inside are likewise falling into ruin – doors & windows gone or broken…49
Of five surviving structures, one consisted of a wooden building erected of inch-thick boards; two were of wood and corrugated iron; and two clad entirely with iron - one evidently very large and in good condition. A small, corrugated iron closet had collapsed.50 As local settlers wished to purchase the material for fences, sheds and other structures, the corrugated iron and two ‘Wood Blockhouses’ were offered for sale.51 In 1873, the redoubt buildings and parapet were dismantled, and their material dispersed to various properties in the Howick area.52
Use as a ‘market reserve’ (1893-1919)
Use of the site over the next twenty years is currently unclear. Government plans to sell it as ‘waste land’ during the economic depression of the late 1880s and 1890s were opposed by local inhabitants, who petitioned the former Governor, George Grey, for its transfer to the townspeople.53 The land was surveyed as a ‘market reserve’ in September 1893, and
47 Letter, Richard Barry, Howick, to Dr Pollen, General Government Agent, 26 Nov 1872, ACFL 8170 A1628 8170 Box 11 bc 72/1292, Archives New Zealand, Wellington; Letter, Every McLean, Howick, to Donald Maclean, Defence Minister, 24 Dec 1870, AD1 104 C 925 224 di CD1871/128, Archives New Zealand, Wellington. Theft of timber and other materials from the redoubt also occurred in 1870-2: Letter, Richard Barry, 26 Nov 1872, op.cit. 48 Letter, Richard Barry, Howick, to Dr Pollen, General Government Agent, 26 Nov 1872, ACFL 8170 A1628 8170 Box 11 bc 72/1292, Archives New Zealand, Wellington. 49 Letter, Major St Clair Tisdall, Colonial Store Office, Auckland, to Dr Pollen, Agent General Government, 5 Dec 1872, ACFL 8170 A1628 8170 Box 11 bc 72/1292, Archives New Zealand, Wellington. 50 ibid.. 51ibid.; NZH, 2 April 1873, p.4. Approximately half of the iron came from the redoubt parapet which comprised 230 sheets, each measuring six by two feet. 52 According to Alan La Roche, some of the ‘heavy sheets of iron were taken to Fortunes Road and used on a barn or henhouse…They were later donated to the Howick Historical Village’: La Roche 2017, p.17. An example illustrated is of Lysaght ‘Orb’ type, measuring 2.35m x 0.71 m: ibid., p.16. Six cast iron coal scuttles manufactured in Stourbridge, England, said to have been used as horse troughs at the stockade, were moved to ‘Mrs Gooch’s farm at Meadowlands’ and later also given to the Howick Historical Village: ibid., p.17. See also La Roche, 2011, pp.95, 99. 53 NZH, 11 Dec 1897, p.9.
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subsequently vested in the Howick Township Road Board.54 At around this time, the centre of commercial activity in Howick shifted from Howe Street - within the nucleus of the early Fencible layout - to Picton Street, immediately to the east of Stockade Hill.55 Until the Second World War, Howick was the main service and retail centre for many eastern farming districts to the south of Auckland.56
In the mid-1890s, the overgrown reserve formed ‘an eyesore to anyone arriving at the entrance to this pretty little township’.57 Howick was gaining a reputation as a favourite honeymoon and day trip resort, sometimes known as the ‘Brighton of Auckland’.58 The reserve was leased out at low rent on condition that planting and other improvements were made.59 A large pine tree in the western part of the reserve may belong to this activity.60 Due largely to its commanding views, but also historical connections, the reserve was predicted to become ‘the Mecca of Auckland tourists’.61 At the turn of the century, both the view and redoubt earthworks were considered notable.62
From 1904 to 1920, the reserve was leased to John Crawford (1862-1924), a prominent local businessman who ran an omnibus between Howick and Auckland.63 Crawford was also active in public affairs, including as a member of the Howick Township Road Board in the early 1900s and commissioner of the Howick Town Board at the latter’s inception in 1922.64
54 SO 6814, North Auckland Land District, LINZ; NZ Gazette 1894, p.959; AS, 23 Jul 1895, p.5. 55 La Roche, 2011, p.116. 56 ibid. 57 AS, 10 Sep 1895, p.8. 58 Observer, 27 Jan 1900, p.8. 59 In 1895, the reserve was reportedly leased to F. Boler of the Northern Wairoa for 21 years at £3 per annum, on condition that the land was ‘cleared, grassed fenced, and otherwise improved…’ AS, 10 Sep 1895, p.8. However, exactly one year later, a lease of the same length was granted to Richard Wilson, at a very small rent, conditionally that he is to make very substantial improvements, planting among the rest…’ AS, 9 Sep 1896, p.3. 60 La Roche, 2011, p.97; 2017, p.24. In 1896, Auckland’s press suggested that the Board should plant a tree at the top of Beach Road so that the site’s panorama of the Hauraki Gulf - considered unparalleled ‘except from Mount Eden or the like’ - could be enjoyed: AS, 9 Sep 1896, p.3. 61 NZH, 11 Dec 1897, p.9. 62 Cyclopedia of New Zealand, Vol.2: Auckland Provincial District, Christchurch, 1902, p.656 http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Cyc02Cycl-t1-body1-d3-d2-d3.html 63 Howick Township Road Board Minute Book, 1903-1912, 19 Mar 1904 folio 18, 1 Mar 1909 folio 119, 11 Apr 1911 folio 149, HTR 001, Item 2, Record ID 679919, Auckland Council Archives; Howick Township Road Board Minute Book, 1912-1921, 12 May 1914 and 8 May 1920, HTR 001, Item 1, Record ID 677887, Auckland Council Archives; NZH, 4 Mar 1905, p.1 (supplement); AS, 13 May 1903, p.5; 1 Nov 1905, p.10; 4 Oct 1924, p.12. Crawford’s service transported many day trippers to Howick. His lease is likely to have formally expired in 1920 although he may have vacated it a little earlier, when the land was gazetted a public park in December 1919. 64 NZH, 19 May 1902, p.6; 1 Jul 1922, p.11.
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Horses associated with his business are likely to have grazed the reserve.65 Crawford also applied to quarry clay from the reserve, opposite his house in Picton Street.66
Construction of a War Memorial (1920-1)
During the period of Crawford’s lease, the First World War (1914-18) heavily impacted on the local community. Reflecting a strong ongoing tradition of military service to the British Empire, some 100 men and two women volunteered at the outbreak of war.67 Almost a third of these died, including Crawford’s son Thomas, who fell at Ypres in France in 1917, and Sister Frances B.M. Haultain (1886-1916), who served as a nurse in Samoa.68 Of at least 550 New Zealand nurses who served overseas, sixteen lost their lives during the conflict.69
In April 1919, the Howick Road Board sought ‘the necessary authority to have Stockade Hill…set apart as a Memorial Reserve on which to erect a suitable memorial to our fallen soldiers.’70 A Memorial Committee was established by September 1919, and a few months later the land gazetted as the Stockade Hill Public Park.71 The latter was facilitated by the local member and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Sir Frederick Lang.72 In August 1920, the Committee was granted permission to erect a monument and make such improvements as it considered necessary to the associated land.73 Funds amounting to £497 were raised.74
The War Memorial was erected in a central position within the redoubt earthworks, at the highest point in the reserve. This conceptually linked recent sacrifice on behalf of the British
65 The land was grassed and requested to be kept free of ‘noxious weeds’: Howick Township Road Board Minute Book, 1903- 1912, 20 Aug 1908 folio 108, 1 Mar 1909 folio 119, 13 Jan 1910 folio 131, HTR 001, Item 2, Record ID 679919, Auckland Council Archives. Crawford’s bus service used horse-drawn vehicles and he also owned stabling in Howick: Auckland Star, 17 Mar 1906, p.5; NZH, 26 Oct 1918, p.3. The reserve had previously been used by others for horse-grazing: Howick Township Road Board Minute Book, 1903-1912, 10 Sep 1903 folio 6, HTR 001, Item 2, Record ID 679919, Auckland Council Archives. 66 Howick Township Road Board Minute Book, 1912-1921, 9 Jul 1918, HTR 001, Item 1, Record ID 677887, Auckland Council Archives. 67 NZH, 14 Jan 1921, p.6. 68 NZH, 4 Oct 1918, p.7; AS, 26 Jun 1916, p.4. 69 Jock Phillips, To the Memory: New Zealand’s War Memorials, Nelson, 2016, p.106. 70 Howick Township Road Board Minute Book, 1912-1921, 1 Apr 1919, HTR 001, Item 1, Record ID 677887, Auckland Council Archives. 71 ibid., 2 Sep 1919 and 2 Dec 1919; NZH, 14 Jan 1921, p.6; La Roche 2017, p.23. 72 Howick Township Road Board Minute Book, 1912-1921, 7 Oct 1919 and 2 Dec 1919, HTR 001, Item 1, Record ID 677887, Auckland Council Archives; NZH, 14 Jan 1921, p.6. 73 Howick Township Road Board Minute Book, 1912-1921, 3 Aug 1919, HTR 001, Item 1, Record ID 677887, Auckland Council Archives. 74 NZH, 14 Jan 1921, p.6.
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Empire with Howick’s colonial military past, as well as enabling the monument’s maximum visual connection with the surrounding countryside. The redoubt’s importance as part of the commemorative scheme was emphasised through its earthworks being repaired and possibly enhanced.75 The latter work is said to have undertaken by returned servicemen from the war.76
The monument consisted of a simple obelisk and plinth made out of Coromandel granite. Inscriptions recorded those in the Howick and Pakuranga District who had fallen between 1914 and 1919. The monument was unveiled in January 1921 by the Governor-General, Lord Jellicoe (1859-1935) - a notable naval British military figure who had commanded the Grand Fleet in 1914-16.77 Among some 300 other attendees were Sir Frederick Lang; the chair of the Howick Township Road Board, T. Granger; and representatives of local churches. Speeches mentioned loyalty to the British Empire associated with Howick’s colonial origins as a Pensioner settlement, and the historical relevance and importance of the site.78
Later history as a public park (1922 onwards)
From 1922 Stockade Hill Park was controlled by its own elected council, initially chaired by Alexander Bell - who had both led the Memorial Committee and given a speech at the monument’s unveiling.79 Scoria paths may have been created in 1923.80 Wreath-laying ceremonies at the monument on ANZAC Day appear to have occurred from at least 1927.81
75 At the time of unveiling, a newspaper report stated that ‘The walls round the stockade have been lately repaired’: NZH, 13 Jan 1921, p.4. It is possible that the redoubt ditch was re-dug, providing earth for the reinstated bank. 76 La Roche 2017, p.23. 77 Ian McGibbon, 'Jellicoe, John Henry Rushworth', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1998. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/4j4/jellicoe-john-henry-rushworth [accessed 21 Nov 2019]. Jellicoe also later became president of the British Legion. 78 NZH, 14 Jan 1921, p.6. The Governor-General stated that the monument was ‘on a very fitting site, a site where…women and children were placed for safety’ and that he knew of ‘no better place for a memorial than a place with such associations.’ The chairman of the Memorial Committee, Alexander Bell, referred to the Pensioner origins of the colonial settlement and considered that ‘there was no more loyal district in New Zealand than Howick’. The newspaper account of the opening also referred to the location as ‘one of the most historic and picturesque places in the district.’ 79 NZH, 12 Jun 1929, p.12. 80 Howick Town Board Minute Book, 1922-1927, 9 May 1923 folio 40, HOT 002, Item 3, Record ID 680287, Auckland Council Archives. 81 AS, 19 Apr 1928, p.8; NZH, 27 Apr 1931, p.11; Howick Town Board Minute Book, 1927-1933, 3 May 1927 folio 7, 17 Apr 1928 folio 67, 3 Apr 1930 folio 301, HOT 002, Item 1, Record ID 677898, Auckland Council Archives. The Road Board evidently took on responsibility for organising these events in 1928. The Board had also been involved in early annual Armistice Day commemorations each 11 November, when two minutes’ silence was observed which included stopping all vehicular traffic in the district: Howick Town Board Minute Book, 1922-1927, 8 Nov 1922 folio 22, 7 Nov 1923 folio 59, 5 Nov 1924 folio 102, HOT 002, Item 3, Record ID 680287, Auckland Council Archives.
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In 1929, the Road Board agreed to a proposal by the Howick Beautifying Society to fence and plant the reserve.82 Income was gained from a grazing lease on the land.83
In the late 1920s, concerns about Howick’s water supply led to bore holes being drilled within the reserve.84 After a source was found elsewhere, the site was chosen for a large concrete reservoir from which a piped supply to the town could be provided.85 This was erected in 1930, immediately to the north of the redoubt.86 In conjunction with a concrete road connecting Howick with the Panmure Bridge highway at the foot of Stockade Hill, these works are considered to have marked a major turning point in Howick’s development.87 New gates and paths to accommodate the road access were subsequently created.88 In 1945, a second concrete water reservoir was added.89
The reserve also continued to be enhanced as a commemorative landscape. In 1935, a flagpole was erected by the Howick Returned Soldiers’ Association.90 The following year, two puriri trees were planted at the eastern entrance by members of the Women’s Institute as part of Arbor Day events.91 In 1942 - during the Second World War (1939-45) - an English oak was planted from an acorn sent from Windsor Great Park in England, to commemorate the coronation of King George VI, which had taken place five years earlier.92 The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1952 was marked by an avenue of oaks leading to the War Memorial.93
82 Howick Town Board Minute Book, 1927-1933, 6 Jun 1929 folio 185, HOT 002, Item 1, Record ID 677898, Auckland Council Archives. The following week, the land was reported to be ‘now free from noxious weeds’ with ‘a good deal of fencing’ undertaken: NZH, 12 Jun 1929, p.12. 83 NZH, 12 Jun 1929, p.12. 84 NZH, 23 Feb 1928, p.12; 22 Mar 1928, p.7; AS, 25 Feb 1928, p.8; 13 Apr 1929, p.10. 85 AS, 13 Apr 1929, p.10. 86 NZH, 19 Jul 1930, p.9; Letter, A. Greville Walker, Consultant Engineer, Auckland to Town Clerk, Howick Town Board, 6 Aug 1930 and A. Greville Walker, Consultant Engineer, Auckland to Town Clerk, Howick Town Board, 19 Nov 1930, inserts in Howick Town Board Minute Book, 1927-1933, 6 Jun 1929 folio 185, HOT 002, Item 1, Record ID 677898, Auckland Council Archives. The work was undertaken by H. Bray and Company. At least one archaeological artefact was evidently retrieved at this time: Accession No. 1930.446, Auckland War Memorial Museum https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/collections- research/collections/record/am_humanhistory-object-67756?ooc=True&k=Howick&ordinal=17 [accessed 21 Nov 2019]. 87 NZH, 28 Jun 1930, p.12; Alan La Roche, 1991, p.212. 88 NZH, 5 May 1931, p.12. The paths were also evidently resealed in tarmac. 89 Manukau City Council, ‘Stockade Hill: Management Plan’, Manukau, Sep 1999, p.8. 90 NZH, 19 Feb 1935, p.5; 22 Apr 1935, p.11. At the death of prominent members of the community, its flag was lowered to half-mast as a sign of respect: NZH, 23 Sep 1939, p.13. 91 NZH, 20 Jul 1936, p.6. 92 NZH, 19 Jun 1942, p.2. 93 Manukau City Council 1999, p.10; La Roche 2017, p.24.
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The names of nineteen local men who had sacrificed their lives in the 1939-45 conflict were also added to the monument.94
Stockade Hill’s long-standing function as the ‘gateway’ to Howick was retained after the post- war settlement expanded rapidly to merge with Auckland’s conurbation. Local events and groups were advertised beside a ‘Welcome to Howick’ sign.95 From at least 1962, the large pine tree at the western end of the reserve was lit up annually at Christmas, when public carol services on the reserve were also held - recalling earlier traditions on the site.96 Starting in 1961, the War Memorial became the main focus for ANZAC Day commemoration in Howick.97 In the 1970s, the land was gazetted as a recreation reserve.98
After 1999, the earlier reservoirs and related plantings were removed, improving views to and from the War Memorial and other parts of Stockade Hill. In 2017, a petition to retain views from the hill within the provisions of the Auckland Unitary Plan gained some 6,700 signatures.99 The reserve remains a popular open space within Howick’s suburban town centre.
Associated List Entries N/a
94 'Howick and Pakuranga First World War memorial', URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/howick-first-world-war- memorial, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 27-Mar-2017 [accessed 15 Feb 2020] 95 Hoardings beside Ridge Road have been used to advertise community events since at least the early-mid 1960s: e.g. Letter, M. Collins, Howick Little Theatre, to Town Clerk, Howick Borough Council, 21 Oct 1964, Reserves and Borough Property - Domain Stockade Hill, 1964-1964, Correspondence Files, HBC 001 Box 6 Item 196 Record ID 673866, Auckland Council Archives. In 1969, a basalt wall bearing the words ‘Welcome to Howick’ above several community group logos was designed for the Ridge Road entrance to Stockade Hill: ‘Proposed Stone Wall on Stockade Hill for Howick’s Four Service Clubs’, 4 Oct 1969, Reserves and Borough Property - Domain - Stockade Hill, 1969-1969, Correspondence Files, HBC 001 Box 20 Item 877 Record ID 674539, Auckland Council Archives. 96 Letter, R.C. Marshall, Town Clerk, Howick Borough Council, to W. Lambert, Howick, 2 Dec 1963; Letters, R.C. Marshall, Town Clerk, Howick Borough Council, to R. McRae, Howick, 25 Nov and 27 Nov 1963, Reserves - Domain - Stockade, 1963- 1963, Correspondence Files, HBC 001 Box 3 Item 81 Record ID 673751, Auckland Council Archives. The tree was also lit up for a royal visit by the Queen Mother in early 1964: op. cit., 25 Nov 1963. Several Norfolk Island pines were planted adjoining it in c.1960-1, with the intention that it would eventually be replaced: Letter, A.A. Martensen, to Mayor and Councillors, Howick Borough Council, 10 Feb 1976, Reserves and Borough Property - Stockade Hill Domain, 1976-1976, Correspondence Files, HBC 001 Box 40 Item 1413 Record ID 675075, Auckland Council Archives. 97 La Roche, 2011, p.301; 'Howick and Pakuranga First World War memorial', URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/howick-first-world-war-memorial, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 27- Mar-2017 [accessed 15 Feb 2020]. Dawn services were added to the usual 11 am services in 2006: La Roche , 2011, p.302. 98 RT NA77/68; NZ Gazette 1979, p.1394. 99 ‘Last bid to preserve views from Howick landmark’, Eastern Courier, 30 Aug 2017, https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local- news/eastern-courier/95929049/last-bid-to-preserve-views-from-howick-landmark
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2.2. Physical Information
Current Description
Context
Howick is an eastern suburb of Auckland, situated beside the Waitematā Harbour. Although subject to significant expansion and redevelopment in the second half of the twentieth century, it retains remnants of earlier historic activity including Māori occupation, colonial nineteenth-century settlement, and ongoing development as a distinct township in the early twentieth century. Recorded archaeological sites of Māori origin include midden sites close to the Harbour and slightly inland, to the north and northwest of Stockade Hill. Major remains of Howick’s role as a Fencible settlement include its early colonial street pattern, and some surviving buildings. Remnants of Howick’s early twentieth-century development encompass residential, commercial and religious structures.
Stockade Hill is on a notable rise at the northern end of the colonial village layout. It overlooks the full length of Picton Street, which was created as part of a peripheral road around the early Fencible settlement, but which since the early twentieth century has developed as the settlement’s main commercial thoroughfare. Picton Street contains a large number of shops and related facilities, and forms a major focus for retail activity in the Howick area. The thoroughfare retains some significant remnants from the colonial period, notably All Saints’ Anglican Church and churchyard (1847; List No.11, Category 1 historic place) - Auckland’s first parish church - and a Catholic churchyard connected with Our Lady Star of the Sea.100 Notable historic remnants of Howick’s early twentieth-century development include Crawford House (1926; List No. 5260, Category 2 historic place), Marine Hotel (Former) (1935) and McInness Buildings (1927) respectively at 4, 78 and 127-143 Picton Street.101 All Saints’ Church also incorporates a lych gate (1930), dedicated to local settlers who had served in the Royal New Zealand Fencible Corps, Imperial forces and Militia.102 Picton Street additionally contains the Howick War Memorial Community Centre, opened in 1957.103
100 Auckland Unitary Plan, Operative in part [15 Nov 2016], Schedule 14.1 – Schedule of Historic Heritage, ID No. 01372. 101 La Roche, 1991, p.118; Auckland Unitary Plan, Operative in part [15 Nov 2016], Schedule 14.1 – Schedule of Historic Heritage, ID Nos. 01374 and 01382; Auckland Unitary Plan, Plan Change 34, Howick Special Character Area Statement, 2019. 102 Robert Hattaway and Margaret Willis, When All the Saints: Celebrating 150 Years of the All Saints Church, Howick, Howick, 1997, p.45. 103 'Howick War Memorial Community Centre', URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/howick-war-memorial-
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From Picton Street and elsewhere, Stockade Hill forms an important local landmark. The War Memorial on its summit and the spire of All Saints’ Church are intervisible, and collectively book-end the street. Stockade Hill and the Picton Street landscape have important visual and other amenity values that have been formally recognised by Auckland Council.104 The area immediately surrounding Stockade Hill on Mellons Bay Road, Ridge Road and western end of Picton Street is predominantly residential, with a variety of house styles encompassing nineteenth-century villas, early twentieth-century bungalows and a number of more modern structures. Formally recognised historic buildings among these include Captain Irvine’s House and Kelsey’s Store/Homestead on Ridge Road.105
The site
The site is broadly elliptical in plan, with its long axis orientated east-west. It occupies the rounded top and flanks of a hill, which drops away gently on its west side and more steeply to the north, east and south. Views from the hill are extensive in most directions, encompassing perspectives across both the Waitematā Harbour and Tāmaki isthmus.
The site contains a number of visible features linked with its historic development from at least the 1860s onwards. These include the prominent remains of an earthwork redoubt at the highest point on the hill. A War Memorial is centrally positioned inside the redoubt, with a flagpole and the remnants of a dismantled trig station nearby. The Memorial is approached from the northeast and southwest across the redoubt defences via concrete paths. These respectively connect the Memorial with access to the reserve from the east, on Picton Street, and southwest on Ridge Road.
The reserve includes a number of historic plantings, including a large pine at its west end; a row of fifteen oak trees flanking the southwest path to the Memorial; two English oaks to the east; and a pair of pūriri at the very eastern end of the reserve. Most of the reserve, including the redoubt interior, is laid in grass. The grassed area used as a park extends into the adjoining road reserve on all sides. Here, it is generally separated from surrounding pavements by a low, basalt retaining wall.
community-centre, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 17-Feb-2017. 104 Picton Street and its surrounding area has been recognised as the Howick Special Character Area – Business, and Stockade Hill forms the focus of viewshaft provisions. 105 Auckland Unitary Plan, Operative in part [15 Nov 2016], Schedule 14.1 – Schedule of Historic Heritage, ID Nos. 01379 and 01380.
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Redoubt
The redoubt outline is visually well-preserved, although the extent to which this represents 1860s activity or subsequent restoration in the 1920s and 1960s is unclear.106 The surviving feature is rectangular in plan, defined by a low internal bank and a relatively deep external ditch. The main axis of the redoubt is orientated approximately northeast-southwest, internally measuring at least 28 m NW-SE x 34 m NE-SW.107 It contains small, projecting bastions at its east and west corners. The tapering bastions extend some 2 to 3 m outwards with internal widths of approximately 3 m at their mouths and 1.5 m at their most extended points.
The bank survives to a maximum visible width of 2.5 m and is up to 350 mm high. It is continuous except for a 6 m length at the northeast end of the southwest side, and at the east end of the east bastion. It is also cut through by later paths midway along its northeast and southwest sides. The ditch is a more visually impressive feature, more than 3 m wide in places and over 1 m deep. The ditch is fully infilled in the centre of the redoubt’s northeast and southwest sides to accommodate paths to the War Memorial. In-ground archaeological material linked with creation and infilling of the ditch may survive best at these points. The extent to which archaeological material might survive in the interior is unknown. Its relatively level internal profile may suggest that it has been landscaped at some point: potentially at creation of the redoubt, construction of the War Memorial in 1920-1; or more recently.
Outside the ditch on several sides, there may be traces of a slight glacis.
War Memorial
The War Memorial consists of a simple obelisk and plinth of polished Coromandel granite, mounted on a shallow-stepped base. Measuring 1.05 m square x 2.02 m high, the plinth contains the names of individuals who served and died in the First World War on its northeast, southeast and southwest elevations; and those who served and died in the Second World War on the lower part of its southwest face. The northwest face is uninscribed.
An inscription on the front (northeast) elevation includes the words:
106 The depth of the ditches strongly suggests at least some recutting. 107 Plan, Alan La Roche, 1969, reproduced in McKenzie, 1972, p.14.
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TO THE MEMORY OF OUR GLORIOUS DEAD
WHO GAVE
THEIR LIVES IN THE CAUSE OF
LIBERTY AND JUSTICE IN THE GREAT WAR
1914 – 1919
Beneath this inscription is the name of Sister Frances B.M. Haultain, followed by two columns that each contain the names of 13 men in alphabetically order of surname. At the bottom of the inscription, beneath the two columns is the name of the last named individual.
The southeast elevation repeats the main inscription used for the northeast face and adds four names alphabetically.
The southwest elevation also repeats the main inscription and contains the names of six men, arranged in two columns. The names at the top of each column duplicate an individual recorded on the northeast face, and the first of these, of Andrew S. Thompson, is not alphabetically arranged. Beneath these two columns on the same face is the inscription ‘1939 – 1945’ and a further two columns, each containing the names of nine men arranged in alphabetical order. A nineteenth name has been added below.
On the lowers part of the plinth on the southwest and northeast sides are Returned Services Association plaques, respectively commemorating the 75th and 100th anniversary of the end of the war (1993 and 2018), and remembering ‘those who gave their lives for peace’.
The broad, stone base on which the plinth sits is 3.36 m square, and contains three shallow steps on each side. This is surrounded by a concrete surface on all sides, forming a small square connected with access paths to the northeast and southwest. Conceptually, the enclosing redoubt earthworks define a ‘court of honour’.108 Courts of honour mark ‘hallowed’ space within which ceremonial activity occurs.
Other features
An aluminium flagstaff within the redoubt defences, to the south of the War Memorial, consists of vertical and transverse poles. The concrete footings of a trig station similarly lie a
108 Manukau City Council, ‘Stockade Hill: Management Plan’, Manukau, Sep 1999, p.8.
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short distance to the northwest of the memorial, inside the redoubt earthworks. A bronze plaque at the eastern entrance to the redoubt commemorates the latter’s use during the New Zealand Wars.
To the east of the redoubt is an engraved bronze map, mounted on a raised, circular stone base, which illustrates the position of Stockade Hill in relation to regional, national and international towns and sites of interest. This feature was donated by the Rotary Club of Howick in 2011 - the 50th anniversary of the group’s establishment. The reserve also contains several park benches of recent date.
Near the western end of the reserve on Ridge Road is an entrance marked by low stone uprights and flanking walls, one of which contains the lettering ‘Welcome to Howick’ together with symbols of local community groups. Towards the eastern end of the reserve is signage providing information about the history and significance of Stockade Hill.
Comparisons: Early colonial fortifications
Although its earthworks have been subject to at least some reconstruction, the redoubt at Stockade Hill forms a rare example of its type in the Auckland conurbation. The main comparable survival in Greater Auckland is St John’s Redoubt at Manurewa (erected in July 1863), which is larger at 50 m square and contains a variation of the two bastion design - incorporating curved bastions. St John’s Redoubt retains distinct earthworks along most of its length and has been referred to as ‘one of the few redoubt sites north of Pokeno for which the trench and shape of the redoubt can still be identified by features visible on the ground surface’.109 Although remnants of a ditch and possible outer bank or glacis survive, no obvious trace of a historically documented inner bank is visible.110 St John’s Redoubt has not been modified through twentieth-century reconstruction.
Few other redoubt, stockade or blockhouse sites visibly survive within Auckland. The principal remaining visible British military fortifications from the early colonial period are part of the Albert Barracks Wall (1846-52; List No.12, Category 1 historic place) and the Onehunga Blockhouse (1860; List No.91, Category 1 historic place). Like Stockade Hill redoubt, the Onehunga Blockhouse is associated with an earlier Fencible settlement.
109 Andy Dodd, ‘St John’s Redoubt 1863: Heritage Assessment’, Department of Conservation, Auckland, May 2006, p.7. 110 ibid., p.6.
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A considerable number of fortifications connected with the Waikato War survive immediately to the south of Auckland and in the Waikato. Prominent among the former is the Alexandra Redoubt at Tuakau. The largest redoubt, Queens Redoubt at Pokeno, is largely featureless at ground level, although containing significant archaeological remnants and subject to recent reconstruction. At Pukekohe East and Mauku, defences were erected around pre-existing churches, which were effectively used as blockhouses. The stockade ditch at Pukekohe East remains visible around the surviving church (1863; List No.483, Category 2 historic place), and St Bride’s Church (Anglican) at Mauku (1861; List No.81, Category 1 historic place) retains evidence of loopholes in its walls.
Within the Waikato, in addition to important remnants at Rangiriri (List No.7720, Wāhi Tapu Area) and Ōrakau (List No.9615, Wāhi Tapu Area), notable well-preserved redoubts survive at Eglinton Redoubt; Esk Redoubt; Miranda Redoubt; Surrey Redoubt; Whangamarino Redoubt; Alexandra Redoubt; and Rotoorangi Redoubt.111
In a national survey of fortifications connected with the New Zealand Wars in 2016, a list of surviving fortifications in the wider Auckland area prioritised for proposed protection on the basis of their significance comprised: Albert Barracks; Onehunga Blockhouse; Alexandra Redoubt, Tuakau; Queen’s Redoubt; St Bride’s Church; and St John’s Redoubt.112
Construction Professionals T.R. Mould, Royal Engineers - designer? (redoubt, 1863) V.T. Mairis, Royal Engineers - designer? (redoubt, 1863)
Thomas Rawlings Mould (1805-1886)
https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1m56/mould-thomas-rawlings
Construction Materials Redoubt: Earth bank and ditch War Memorial: Stone (Coromandel granite) Flagstaff: Metal (aluminium)
111 ibid. 112 Prickett, 2016, p.221. Howick Stockade was not included in this list, probably due in part to modification through reconstruction.
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Key Physical Dates 1863 Original construction - Redoubt 1873 Modification - Removal of redoubt buildings and corrugated iron parapet 1890s? Addition - Pine tree planted at west end of Stockade Hill 1920-1 Original construction - War Memorial Modification - Redoubt earthworks ‘repaired’ 1923 Addition - Scoria paths inside redoubt [1930 Original construction - Reservoir and associated water pipes] 1933 Addition - Concrete paths [1935 Addition - Timber flagstaff] 1936 Addition - Two puriri planted 1942 Addition - Oak tree planted to commemorate coronation of King George VI [1945 Original construction - Second reservoir] 1953 Addition - Avenue of oaks to commemorate coronation of Queen Elizabeth II 1960s Modification - ‘Minor repairs’ to ditch and banks by Council workmen113 Circa 1960-1 Addition - Norfolk Island pines planted Circa 1964 Addition - Pohutukawa planted 1969 Addition - Low wall at Ridge Road entrance created, with ‘Welcome to Howick’ lettering114 1979 Modification - Timber flagstaff replaced by aluminium flagpole115 Circa 1999 Demolition - Concrete reservoirs removed 2000 Modification - Aluminium flagstaff replaced116 2011 Addition - Bronze vista map on stone plinth
Uses Defence - Redoubt (Former) Civic Facilities - Historic or recreation reserve Commemoration - Memorial - World War One Commemoration - Memorial - World War Two
113 Manukau City Council, ‘Stockade Hill: Management Plan’, Manukau, Sep 1999, p.7. 114 ibid., p.10. 115 Letter, T.P. O’Callaghan, President, Howick Returned Services Association, to Town Clerk, Howick Borough Council, 26 Mar 1969, Reserves and Borough Property - Stockade Hill Domain, 1979-1979, Correspondence Files, HBC 001 Box 49 Item 1684 Record ID 675681, Auckland Council Archives. 116 Letter, Robin Duncan, Manukau City Council, to David Reynolds, New Zealand Historic Places Trust, 3 Apr 2000, HNZPT file BDG 847, Auckland.
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2.3. Chattels
There are no chattels included in this List entry.
2.4. Sources
Sources Available and Accessed A considerable amount of documentary material was available and accessed during the preparation of this report, including primary sources such as land records, survey plans, photographs and contemporary newspapers. A large volume of material at Archives New Zealand offices in Auckland and Wellington was also viewed. Records on use of the place as a reserve from the early 1900s onwards were accessed at Auckland Council Archives.
Available secondary documentary material that was accessed includes information on Stockade Hill and its context by Ian McKenzie (1972) and Alan La Roche (1991; 2017); a management plan prepared by Manukau City Council (1999); and archaeological reports by Dianne Harlow (1998), Simon Bickler (2011) and Arden Cruickshank (2014). Alison Drummond’s publication on the Journals of Vicesimus Lush provided additional material. Broader contextual information was obtained from Nigel Prickett’s Fortifications of the New Zealand Wars (2016) and Alexander, Gibson and La Roche’s The Royal New Zealand Fencibles (n.d.).
The physical fabric of the place was accessed during a site visit in November 2019.
Further Reading
Alexander, Ruth, Gail Gibson and Alan La Roche, The Royal New Zealand Fencibles, 1847- 1852, Auckland, n.d.
Bickler, Simon, ‘Proposed Signage at Stockade Hill, Howick: Archaeological Appraisal’, unpublished report for Auckland Council, Oct 2010 (updated Mar 2011).
Cruickshank, Arden, ‘Howick Stockade remediation works: archaeological monitoring (HPA authority 2011/512)’, unpublished report for HNZPT and Auckland Council, Auckland, Jun 2014.
Daily Southern Cross, 20 Jul 1863, p.4; 1 Aug 1863, p.7; 19 Aug 1863, p.3.
Drummond, Alison (ed.), The Auckland Journals of Vicesimus Lush 1850-63, Christchurch, 1971.
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Harlow, Dianne, ‘Howick Stockade, Stockade Hill, Howick, Manukau City: report on archaeological survey and general management recommendations for Manukau City Council’, unpublished report for Manukau City Council, Auckland, 1998.
La Roche, Alan, The History of Howick and Pakuranga, Whitford, Bucklands and Eastern Beaches and Surrounding Districts, Auckland, 1991.
La Roche, Alan, ‘A History of Stockade Hill and Howick Stockade’, n.p., Jan 2017.
McKenzie, Ian F., ‘Stockade Hill Public Park, Howick’, MS697, Auckland War Memorial Museum, Auckland.
McKenzie, Ian F., ‘The History of Stockade Hill’, Auckland-Waikato Historical Journal, Vol.20, Apr 1972, pp.13-16.
Manukau City Council, ‘Stockade Hill: Management Plan’, Manukau, Sep 1999.
New Zealander, 14 July 1863, p.3.
New Zealand Herald, 2 April 1873, p.4; 14 Jan 1921, p.6.
Prickett, Nigel, Fortifications of the New Zealand Wars, Department of Conservation, Wellington, 2016.
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3. SIGNIFICANCE ASSESSMENT117
3.1. Section 66 (1) Assessment
This place has been assessed for, and found to possess aesthetic, archaeological, historical and social significance or value. It is considered that this place qualifies as part of New Zealand’s historic and cultural heritage.
Aesthetic Significance or Value
The place has aesthetic significance as a valued park and landmark at the entrance to central Howick, with extensive views to and from the Hauraki Gulf and Tāmaki Isthmus. The War Memorial forms a visually distinctive landmark visible from a wide area, and ‘book-ends’ Howick town centre in conjunction with the spire of All Saints’ Anglican Church at the east end of Picton Street. The aesthetic significance of Stockade Hill is enhanced by the presence of numerous trees, mostly commemorative plantings, which emphasise the reserve’s park- like nature. The earthwork redoubt forms an unusual feature that adds to aesthetic value by providing greater visual variety and distinctiveness to the place.
Archaeological Significance or Value
The place has archaeological significance as the site of a colonial fortification connected with the New Zealand Wars. It forms an uncommon surviving example of a fortification connected with the Waikato War in the Auckland conurbation, and an especially rare example of a redoubt in the region. The extent to which archaeological material survives is unclear, although enhancement of the earthwork defences is understood to have occurred during the twentieth century. Artefactual material from the historic period has been retrieved from the site in the past.
Historical Significance or Value
The place is historically significant for its connections with the Waikato War, which had a major impact on both Māori and Pākehā communities. It is especially linked with the early stages of the conflict, when the colonial government created a number of small fortifications as part of defensive network to the south of Auckland, and European settlers sought places
117 For the relevant sections of the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014 see Appendix 4: Significance Assessment Information.
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of refuge in the event of need. Through its establishment and use as a military reserve in 1847, the place has close connections with Howick’s creation and function as a military Fencible village - the largest such settlement in New Zealand and one of the first in the British colonies to use the ‘enrolled Pensioner’ system. The place is directly connected to emergency mobilisation of the Royal New Zealand Fencible Corps in 1851, the only known occasion on which this occurred before the force was disbanded in 1858.
The place also has close connections with the First and Second World Wars - events of national importance that had major local impacts. Of some 100 individuals from the district who participated in the 1914-18 conflict, nearly one third did not return.
The place is also of historical value for its connections with varying aspects of immigration to New Zealand, including ‘Fencible’ settlement from the British Isles; German-speaking migration in the early 1860s; and infrastructure projects for immigrants immediately after the Waikato War.
Social Significance or Value
The place has social significance as a long-standing commemorative landscape and public park that remains in use to the present day. It has particularly strong social importance for its War Memorial, which has formed a major focus for annual ANZAC Day commemorations in the settlement for nearly a century - and the main place of ceremony for that purpose since 1961. Forming the ‘gateway’ to Howick’s town centre, the place retains strong connections with other long-standing, important community events. These include tree- decoration and carol services that reference Christmas traditions dating to 1863.
3.2. Section 66 (3) Assessment
It is considered that this place qualifies as a Category 2 historic place. It was assessed against, and found to qualify under the following criteria: a, b, c, e, f, h, i, j and k.
(a) The extent to which the place reflects important or representative aspects of New Zealand history
Stockade Hill reflects several important aspects of New Zealand’s military history during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Its siting and boundaries demonstrate
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selection and use as a military reserve connected with New Zealand’s largest Fencible settlement in the 1840s; its earthwork redoubt reflects use as a fortification, refuge and - on one occasion - place of brief detention for Māori during the Waikato War in 1863; and its War Memorial shows New Zealand’s involvement in the First and Second World Wars - and the impacts of the latter conflicts on New Zealand communities. The memorial demonstrates the service and sacrifice of both women and men in the First World War.
The place directly reflects difficult and complex aspects of New Zealand history, including relations between Māori and Pākehā during the nineteenth century; and the military strength that enabled colonial government expansion into Maori-held lands.
The place directly reflects the strength of allegiance towards the British Empire among communities with pre-existing military connections; and impacts of the colonial past on local identity. The place demonstrates aspects of commemorative history in New Zealand, including the widespread construction of monuments after the First World War. The place reflects wider aspects of New Zealand history such as the rise of beautification projects in the early twentieth century, the commemoration of Arbor Day, and the provision of public amenities in the form of monuments and parks.
(b) The association of the place with events, persons, or ideas of importance in New Zealand history
The place is closely associated with numerous events of importance in New Zealand history, including the Waikato War; and the First and Second World Wars. It has associations with an early documented example of Christmas tradition in New Zealand, involving lighting up and decorating a Christmas tree, singing carols and exchanging gifts - activities popularised in the British Empire from the 1840s that are now commonplace. It is directly connected with the only occasion that the Royal New Zealand Fencible Corps was called out for an emergency mobilisation between 1847 and 1858, which occurred in 1851.
The place also has associations with numerous individuals and organisations of importance in New Zealand history. The former include the Governor-General Lord Jellicoe, who unveiled the War Memorial in 1921; the Surveyor-General C.W. Ligar and V.T. Mairis of the Royal Engineers, who respectively chose the site for a military reserve
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and military redoubt; Major G.A. Ryan, who was in charge of 70th Regiment troops arriving at the redoubt and led contingents in significant battles of the Waikato War, notably at Koheroa and Gate Pā; and Martin Krippner, a significant individual in the history of German migration to New Zealand, who led a German-speaking militia company at the redoubt in late 1863.
The place also has associations with the local member and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Sir Frederick Lang, who facilitated the site’s creation as a public park and attended the War Memorial unveiling.
Important organisations or groups with close associations to the site include the Royal New Zealand Fencible Corps, the British imperial army and colonial militia, and the Returned Services Association. The place also has close associations with individuals and organisations of local importance, such as John Crawford, a prominent local body politician and businessman; and the Howick Beautifying Society.
(c) The potential of the place to provide knowledge of New Zealand history
Although its earthworks appear to have been at least partly reconstructed, the redoubt is likely to be able to provide some information about its creation and use through archaeological investigation. The New Zealand Wars form an important event in this country’s history and have the capacity to be better understood through archaeological enquiry. The potential of the place to provide knowledge of the past is assisted by the survival of documentary information that may aid interpretation.
(e) The community association with, or public esteem for the place
The place has strong association with the Howick community, having served as a refuge during a period of conflict; been used as a public park for almost a century; and been used as the location of the district’s main war memorial, commemorating citizens who lost their lives during the First and Second World Wars. Ongoing, strong public esteem is evidenced by a large number of signatures on a petition to protect views from the place in 2017.
(f) The potential of the place for public education
Due to its location in a major population centre, public accessibility and distinctive remains, the place has considerable potential for public education about military activity and conflict in New Zealand’s colonial and later history. It particularly has capacity to
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provide education about tensions and fears within early colonial society; mid-nineteenth century conflict that led to extensive loss of Māori land; and the strength of ongoing ties between New Zealand and the British Empire during the twentieth century.
Through its close associations with Fencible settlement, German-speaking migrants in the early 1860s, and new arrivals to New Zealand immediately after the Waikato War, it also has potential to provide education about various aspects of immigration to this country.
(h) The symbolic or commemorative value of the place
Stockade Hill has high commemorative value as a place where local citizens who served and died in the First and Second World Wars are remembered by its War Memorial, and through annual ANZAC Day gatherings. Plantings within the place commemorate the coronation of British monarchs. Through these and other elements such as the redoubt, the place symbolises Howick’s lengthy connections with Britain and the British Empire. The place can be seen as a symbolic reminder of conflict between Māori and Pākehā in the region during the colonial period.
(i) The importance of identifying historic places known to date from an early period of New Zealand settlement
The place includes a redoubt that originates from an early period in New Zealand’s colonial settlement, prior to the date when the capital moved from Auckland to Wellington. The wider place was surveyed as a military reserve in 1847, as part of an early colonial Fencible settlement.
(j) The importance of identifying rare types of historic places
The place incorporates a rare surviving example of a redoubt in the Auckland conurbation. A number of well-preserved redoubts survive elsewhere in New Zealand, particularly in the Waikato and Taranaki.
(k) The extent to which the place forms part of a wider historical and cultural area
The place forms a significant part of a wider historical and cultural area in the centre of Howick, which reflects the suburb’s initial development as a distinctive, Fencible colonial settlement and later nineteenth- and early twentieth-century town. Other notable remnants of this landscape include All Saints’ Anglican Church and graveyard, the graveyard of Our Lady Star of the Sea, Captain Irvine’s Homestead, McInness Buildings
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 9732 32 and Marine Hotel (Former). Other elements contributing particularly to the commemorative aspects of this landscape include the lych gate of All Saints’ Anglican Church and Howick War Memorial Community Centre.
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4. APPENDICES
4.1. Appendix 1: Visual Identification Aids
Location Maps
Howick
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Location of Stockade Hill within Howick, arrowed (TopoMap)
Map of Extent
Redoubt
English oaks x 2 Pine x 1
War Memorial Pūriri x 2
Oaks x 15
Extent of Stockade Hill, Howick, indicated as a red dashed line
Extent includes the land described as Lot 1 Suburbs of Howick (RT NA77/68; NZ Gazette 1979, p.1394) and part of the land described as Legal Road, North Auckland Land District, and the structures and features associated with Stockade Hill thereon. Extent includes historic plantings, including a pine, pūriri x 2, English oaks x 2 and oaks x 15
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Current Identifiers
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NZ Gazette 1979, p.1394.
Legal Road (QuickMap)
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4.2. Appendix 2: Visual Aids to Historical Information
Historical Images
Detail from SO 931B, 24 April 1863, showing the military reserve at Stockade Hill (centre, top) in relation to the early layout of Howick
(SO 931B, North Auckland Land District, LINZ)
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Detail from SO 6814, North Auckland Land District, surveyed 1893 (LINZ)
Picton Street, Howick, from Stockade Hill, n,d. (Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 1370-635-02)
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Unveiling of the War Memorial, 1921, also showing redoubt earthworks at top right (Auckland Weekly News, 20 Jan 1921 p.34; Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19210120-34-1)
F G. Radcliffe, ‘Soldier’s Memorial, Howick, Rishworth Series 18’, n.d. (Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 35-R596)
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Sketch plan of redoubt on Stockade Hill, 1969, by Alan La Roche (I.F. McKenzie, ‘The History of Stockade Hill’, Auckland-Waikato Historical Journal, Vol.20, Apr 1972, p.14)
Plan of Stockade Hill in 1999 (Manukau City Council, ‘Stockade Hill: Management Plan’, Manukau, Sep 1999, p.9)
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4.3. Appendix 3: Visual Aids to Physical Information
Current Photographs of Place
View of Picton Street, Howick, from Stockade Hill, looking southeast, showing the spire of All Saints’ Church (centre, background) (Martin Jones, HNZPT, 22 Nov 2019)
View of redoubt earthworks, looking east, with west bastion (foreground) and War Memorial (Martin Jones, HNZPT, 22 Nov 2019)
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Internal southwest bank of redoubt, looking southeast (Martin Jones, HNZPT, 22 Nov 2019)
External northwest ditch of redoubt, looking northeast (Martin Jones, HNZPT, 22 Nov 2019)
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War Memorial, looking southwest (Martin Jones, HNZPT, 22 Nov 2019)
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War Memorial, detail of southwest elevation of plinth, looking northeast (Martin Jones, HNZPT, 22 Nov 2019)
1950s commemorative oak avenue, looking northeast (Martin Jones, HNZPT, 22 Nov 2019)
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4.4. Appendix 4: Significance Assessment Information
Part 4 of the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014
Chattels or object or class of chattels or objects (Section 65(6)) Under Section 65(6) of the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014, an entry on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero relating to a historic place may include any chattel or object or class of chattels or objects – a) Situated in or on that place; and b) Considered by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga to contribute to the significance of that place; and c) Proposed by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga for inclusion on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero.
Significance or value (Section 66(1)) Under Section 66(1) of the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014, Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga may enter any historic place or historic area on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero if the place possesses aesthetic, archaeological, architectural, cultural, historical, scientific, social, spiritual, technological, or traditional significance or value.
Category of historic place (Section 66(3)) Under Section 66(3) of the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014, Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga may assign Category 1 status or Category 2 status to any historic place, having regard to any of the following criteria: a) The extent to which the place reflects important or representative aspects of New Zealand history b) The association of the place with events, persons, or ideas of importance in New Zealand history c) The potential of the place to provide knowledge of New Zealand history d) The importance of the place to tangata whenua e) The community association with, or public esteem for, the place f) The potential of the place for public education g) The technical accomplishment, value, or design of the place h) The symbolic or commemorative value of the place
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i) The importance of identifying historic places known to date from an early period of New Zealand settlement j) The importance of identifying rare types of historic places k) The extent to which the place forms part of a wider historical and cultural area
Additional criteria may be prescribed in regulations made under this Act for the purpose of assigning Category 1 or Category 2 status to a historic place, provided they are not inconsistent with the criteria set out in subsection (3)
Additional criteria may be prescribed in regulations made under this Act for entering historic places or historic areas of interest to Māori, wāhi tūpuna, wāhi tapu, or wāhi tapu areas on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero, provided they are not inconsistent with the criteria set out in subsection (3) or (5) or in regulations made under subsection (4).
NOTE: Category 1 historic places are ‘places of special or outstanding historical or cultural heritage significance or value.’ Category 2 historic places are ‘places of historical or cultural heritage significance or value.’
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