Volume 2: Excavation of Town Acres 263 and 256 – Home of Compassion Crèche and St Joseph’s R.C. Church R.C. and St Joseph’s 263 and 256 – Home of Compassion Crèche Acres Town of Excavation 2: Volume MEMORIAL PARK WAR THE PUKEAHU NATIONAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS Clough and Associates Monograph Series no. 17 ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS OF THE PUKEAHU NATIONAL WAR MEMORIAL PARK, BUCKLE STREET, WELLINGTON Volume 2: Excavation of Town Acres 263 and 256 – Home of Compassion Crèche and St Joseph’s R.C. Church By Richard Shakles Report prepared for the Memorial Park Alliance with Sarah Phear and Manatu Taonga Zarah Burnett Ministry for Culture and Heritage Jaden Harris Jen Low Rod Clough ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS OF THE PUKEAHU NATIONAL WAR MEMORIAL PARK, BUCKLE STREET, WELLINGTON Under HNZPT Authority Nos. 2013/92 & 2016/360 Volume 2: Excavation of Town Acres 263 and 256 (R27/463 & R27/462) Home of Compassion Crèche and St Joseph’s R.C. Church Prepared for the Memorial Park Alliance and Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage November 2017 By Richard Shakles (BA Hons, BSc) Sarah Phear (PhD) Zarah Burnett (MA Hons) Jaden Harris (MA Hons) Jen Low (MA Hons) Rod Clough (PhD) With contributions by David Carley, David Rudd and Bernie Larsen 321 Forest Hill Rd, Waiatarua, Auckland 0612 Telephone: (09) 8141946 Mobile 0274 850 059 www.clough.co.nz EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Memorial Park Alliance (MPA) has created the Pukeahu National War Memorial Park, on the northern flank of Mount Cook above Wellington and its harbour. Development of the park was a key component of the Ministry for Culture and Heritage’s commemoration of the centenary of the First World War, and in conjunction with the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA), the Memorial Park Alliance (MPA) was formed to undertake the works. The completed park was in place for Anzac Day 2015, the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli Landings. In order to create a single unified park, it was necessary to underground Buckle Street (State Highway 1), which bisected the site, utilising the ‘cut and cover’ tunnel method. To achieve this, and the formation of the wider memorial park, the construction of a temporary State Highway 1 diversion road, the relocation of the Home of Compassion Crèche, and the removal and re-routing of a number of utilities and communication services were also required. The principal archaeological excavations in relation to Town Acres 263 and 256 were focused on the State Highway 1 Diversion Road, the site of St Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church and the facilitating works for the relocation of the Home of Compassion Crèche. The remainder of the works consisted of smaller scale excavations and monitoring of associated works. During the works a significant number of archaeological features and deposits were exposed within the Investigation area, with particularly dense concentrations present in the east of Town Acres 256 and the west of Town Acre 263. No evidence relating to pre- European Maori activities within either Town Acre was found, with none of the surviving archaeological features or deposits being attributable to Maori occupation of any period. Within the west of Town Acre 263, the archaeological investigations identified a significant number of structural and depositional features relating to early military activity, and two phases of mid to late 19th century domestic activity. The structural features consisted of brick walling, postholes and beam-slots that related to five later 19th century structures of either timber or brick and timber construction. The construction of the earliest of these buildings (Suffolk House) dated to between 1867 and 1880, while the remains of a large extension to the south of this structure dated from 1899, and related to the founding of the Home of Incurables by the Sisters of Our Lady of Compassion, led by the Reverend Mother Mary Joseph Aubert. Of the remaining three structures (all domestic in nature), two were situated in the former Lot 5 to the rear of the Home of Compassion Crèche, and consisted of a relatively good sized split-level dwelling of brick and timber construction, while the other was a very modest-sized cottage close to the northern boundary of the lot. Lastly, a small quantity of postholes was all that remained of a probable timber stables or work shed situated to the east of Suffolk House. Associated with these buildings, were numerous refuse pits and drains from which the majority of the artefact and faunal assemblages were produced. Excavations at the rear of the crèche also established the original topography of the area, which included the presence of a deep gully that incised the eastern flank of Mount Cook. Evidence of large-scale mid-19th century earthworking and re-contouring of the natural topography was also exposed, which consisted of the infilling of the gully with the redeposition of large volumes of natural Holocene sands and gravels derived from the 1848 lowering of Mount Cook by military engineers. November 2017 Pukeahu National War Memorial Park, Wellington i In Town Acre 256 the investigations demonstrated that most of the area had been severely vertically truncated by successive 20th century developments, with the outcome that the majority of archaeological horizons had been completely removed. However, an isolated refuse pit in the west of the Town Acre was related to mid-19th century domestic activity in the area. In contrast, a significant number of archaeological features exposed in the east of Town Acre 256 included structural remains relating to the 1885 octagonal St Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church, while close to the northern boundary of the investigation adjacent to Town Acre 257, a series of large post-pit features and associated postholes related to the construction of St Patrick’s College in 1884. The archaeological investigations and monitoring of the Memorial Park works within Town Acres 263 and 256 were undertaken over several stages from 3 October 2012 to 27 May 2014, in accordance with Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Authority number 2013/92. November 2017 Pukeahu National War Memorial Park, Wellington ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................. i List of Figures ......................................................................................................................................... v List of Tables ........................................................................................................................................ vii 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Project Background ........................................................................................................................... 1 2 Town Acre 263 ............................................................................................................................... 3 2.1 Historical Background ...................................................................................................................... 3 3 Archaeological Excavation Results Town Acre 263 .................................................................... 21 3.1 Excavation Areas and Sequence of Works ..................................................................................... 21 3.2 Site Phasing..................................................................................................................................... 22 3.3 Excavation Methodology ................................................................................................................ 22 3.4 Excavation Results .......................................................................................................................... 23 3.4.1 Pre-European Settlement Landscape .................................................................................... 26 3.4.2 Phase 1 – Early European Settlement Activity 1847-1866 .................................................... 27 3.4.3 Phase 2 – Later 19th Century Domestic Activity 1867-1898 ................................................ 34 3.4.4 Phase 3 – Home of the Incurables and Early 20th Century Activity 1899-1914 (with David Carley) 47 3.4.5 Phase 4 – 1915-2012 ............................................................................................................. 49 4 Town Acre 256 ............................................................................................................................. 51 4.1 Historical Background .................................................................................................................... 51 5 Archaeological Excavation Results Town Acre 256 .................................................................... 65 5.1 Excavation Areas and Sequence of Works ..................................................................................... 65 5.2 Site Phasing..................................................................................................................................... 66 5.3 Excavation Methodology ................................................................................................................ 66 5.4 Excavation Results .......................................................................................................................... 66 5.4.1 Pre-European Settlement Landscape ...................................................................................