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View of the second-storey living space.
Bill Sutton’s house and garden now Category 1 historic place Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga has entered Sutton house and garden in Christchurch as a Category 1 historic place on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero. WORDS: Rosemary Baird
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IMAGES: Christchurch City Council Newsline
his former home-studio of renowned Canterbury artist, Bill Sutton, is run by a Charitable Trust as an artist residency – the first of its kind in Christchurch.
HNZPT Acting Director Southern, Dr Christine Whybrew, is thrilled about having this important Canterbury artist’s home studio and rare survivor in the ‘red HŌTOKE • WINTER 2022
zone’ recognised nationally. “William (Bill) Sutton, 1917-2000, was a Christchurchborn artist, who taught at the Canterbury College School of Art from 1949 until his retirement in 1979. As a practising artist and teacher, he promoted a nationalist style of painting, and is best known for his four-decade long interpretation of the Canterbury landscape,” she says.
The List report written by HNZPT listing advisor, Robyn Burgess, reveals the cultural, architectural and historical significance of the site. Long before any European dwellings were built on Templar Street, this site was a vital part of the seasonal food gathering space for Waitaha, Ngāti Māmoe and Ngāi Tahu. The Ōtākaro teemed with water, plant and bird life and was Heritage Quarterly
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an important part of traditional travel routes. When Bill Sutton bought the site in 1963 the previous colonial cottage had been demolished and the site was clear. In 1963, Sutton asked his friend and colleague at the School of Art, Tom Taylor, to design his new home. Taylor and Sutton worked together designing Sutton’s home – from integrating a tapa cloth backing into custom inbuilt shelving, to designing windows and lighting for the studio, to including a glasshouse that protruded from the studio/living room for Sutton’s orchids and sub-tropical plants. The listing also includes the unique garden Sutton designed and planted.
“Sutton House holds a special place in Christchurch’s art history and deserves its Category 1 listing. Bill Sutton was an extraordinary artist and a proud Cantabrian. It is great the property is now accessible to the public and able to be used by visiting artists,’’ the Mayor says. n East wall of studio showing tapa cloth backing, shelves, hatch to kitchen, and writing desk.
The house has a large studio/living room downstairs and a small private upstairs area with two bedrooms and a shower room. The open studio gave Sutton space to create larger landscape canvases. The extra studio space let him accept more formal portrait commissions. Sutton also installed an Albion press in an adjacent storeroom/workshop on which he printed under the name Templar Press. “This has been a very exciting listing to research,” says Robyn. It has huge cultural and social value as part of the history of Christchurch’s regional arts movement from the 1960s. It has been wonderful to enter another modernist building in on the List.” Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel is delighted the significance of the property has been formally recognised by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga.
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CHRISTCHURCH Bill Sutton’s house and garden now Category 1 historic place
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EDITORIAL Managing heritage expectations
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AUCKLAND Restoration in the heart of Auckland’s Britomart precinct ŌPŌTIKI Historic whare brought out of the shed and into the light BLENHEIM Perfectly-placed farm used for defence purposes during WW2
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BAY OF ISLANDS Time to revisit New Zealand’s little-known history
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FEATURE INTERVIEW Senior Heritage Assessment Advisor Kerryn Pollock
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OAMARU Hannah Hayes’ cycling exploits inspire new research ARCHAEOLOGY Senior archaeologist joins expedition to remote Fiordland sites TOHU WHENUA Exploring Denniston on foot AUCKLAND Moving with the times — the surprising history of a stately statue NATIONAL Incentive Fund grants helping to meet conservation needs
heritagenewzealand heritage_nz @heritagenz Editor: Adrienne Hannan Designer: Jeremiah Boniface Published by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, Heritage Quarterly keeps you up-to-date with heritage news from around New Zealand. Copyright © Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga. All images credit Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga unless otherwise stated. For more information or to subscribe, write to PO Box 2629, Wellington 6140 or contact the editor, phone: 04 470 8066 or email: ahannan@heritage.org.nz. ISSN 2324-4267 (Print) ISSN 2324-4275 (Online). Members of Heritage New Zealand can visit its properties for free, visit visitheritage.co.nz.
Heritage Quarterly is printed with mineral oil-free, soy-based vegetable inks on Sumo paper. This paper is Forestry Stewardship Council® (FSC®) certified, manufactured from pulp from responsible sources under the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System. Please recycle.
EDITORIAL
Managing heritage expectations Englefield Lodge (built c. 1855) CREDIT: Phil Braithwaite 2013 Flickr.com
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ecently there were reports on the sale of Englefield Lodge and its land, in Christchurch. Englefield Lodge is a heritage listed property built c. 1855. Unfortunately the privately owned property was significantly damaged in the 2010 and 2011 Christchurch earthquakes and since then nothing of substance has been done for the property or its land. It is in a very sorry state. The real estate sale publicly advises, “offering a staggering 1,624 sqm of land on one of the four avenues”, being ideal for a developer and for sale “as is where is.” That makes it very clear what is intended for Englefield Lodge. The sale notice prompted mostly negative public comment, including that “Heritage New Zealand has failed to come to the aid of this historically significant building.” There are over 5,800 heritage listed properties and places in New Zealand. Other than the 45 that are owned by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga on behalf of the Crown and public of New Zealand, the remainder are privately owned or owned and managed by trusts. Englefield Lodge is one of those. This edition of Heritage Quarterly does highlight many positive contributions to heritage from private heritage owners, heritage trusts and Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga. The stories highlight what heritage owners can expect from our organisation. HŌTOKE • WINTER 2022
Being heritage listed provides a historical and empirical record of heritage significance. It also provides a gateway to Council District Plans, and these are currently where true heritage protection comes from. The stories of the Queen Victoria statue and Bill Sutton House come from the narrative of their heritage listing. Heritage properties, like any property, need regular repair and maintenance. It is pleasing that many dedicated heritage property owners do focus on maintaining their properties. This can be an expensive exercise. Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga manages the National Heritage Preservation Incentive Fund. This Fund is managed in partnership and seeks commitment from a heritage property owner, a trust, or a community. The Chateau, Rawene Church, St Michaels Ohaewai and Tanewhirinaki are examples of how beneficial the Incentive Fund can be. The management of the archaeological authority process, where there is pre-1900 evidence, is an important function. Most heritage listings relate to heritage that is visible, i.e. above the ground. These often sit above New Zealand’s deeper heritage, i.e. below the ground. This is why archaeology is critically important to the preservation and protection of Māori heritage. The listings commented on in this Heritage Quarterly all contemplate what is below the property, and through archaeology their deep heritage significance is determined and managed.
Heritage advocacy is a principal role of Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga and Heritage Quarterly is one example of this in action. We should all be realistic about what advocacy means; encouraging, convincing and supporting the conservation and preservation of heritage. We should also be realistic about what it is not; demanding and requiring the protection and ongoing care of heritage, particularly when it is privately owned. The Resource Management reform, which is currently being considered, is critical to seeking future and compelling protection for heritage, amongst other things. In my view, those who commented on Englefield Lodge may like to spend their time more wisely commenting on the reforms rather than seeking actions from Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga that are currently unrealistic. n
Andrew Coleman Chief Executive Heritage Quarterly
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AUCKLAND
Restoration in the heart of Auckland’s Britomart precinct Two heritage refurbishments in the heart of downtown Auckland’s Britomart precinct will soon be bringing new life to two beautiful historic warehouses – as well as returning their original names. WORDS: Jeremy Hansen and Antony Phillips
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eautifully adorned in layers of brick and timber, the Sofrana and Barrington Buildings, built in 1900 and 1905 respectively, are now being renovated to a design by Peddle Thorp Architects for Britomart Group, which discreetly inserts all the conveniences that modern offices require while restoring them to their former grandeur. Located in a prime position on Customs Street East near the bottom of Queen Street, this area was once the foreshore of the Waitematā Harbour and a rich source of shellfish for the Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei iwi. Reclamation of the area to Quay Street began in 1879, but an economic slump in the 1880s meant the Harbour Board was not able to sell the sites until ten years later. In the 1890s, the brothers Henry and Lachlan Hayman attended an auction for leases of Harbour Board land and secured the site for a warehouse building for their business, PG Hayman & Co. Having established the company in Birmingham in 1854, the brothers opened a New Zealand branch in Dunedin during the Otago gold rush, and by the mid-1930s had expanded to Auckland, Christchurch, and Invercargill. The PG Hayman & Co. warehouse in Customs Street East opened in April 1900. Designed by architect John Currie, it is an example of the Victorian Italianate Palazzo style that was popular at the time. The company stocked a wide range of goods for sale, including a strong room on the ground floor to house the jewellery department, a tobacconist, crockery area, pharmacy, a department devoted to musical goods, and areas selling stationery, saddlery, brushware and other household items.
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IMAGES: Peddle Thorp Architects/Britomart Group/David St George
The 1930s saw the brothers undertake renovations to create an entry arcade with terrazzo flooring to bring it in line with the style of the time. The building was sold in 1935 with the new owners repurposing it to house a clothing factory, the art dealers John Cordy Ltd, Lloyd’s Shipping Register, a surveying firm and, in the 1980s, the Sofrana shipping company, who claimed naming rights to the building. By the early 2000s, the building had fallen into disuse and disrepair, but it – along with its neighbours in the Britomart precinct – were protected as part of Auckland Council’s plan to bring rail back to the centre of the city and allowed buildings above the station site to be developed. The neighbouring Barrington Building was also designed by John Currie and was known as the Kronfeld Building when it opened in 1905. Originally hailing from Prussia, Gustav Kronfeld left his native homeland in 1875 bound for Australia. He eventually made his way to Auckland via stints in Apia and Vava’u, arriving with his Samoan wife, Louisa, in 1890. The Kronfeld family lived in a large, now-demolished villa named Oli-Ula in nearby Eden Crescent. Kronfeld’s business focused on trade with Pacific nations and further afield from 1905 until 1916, when his German ancestry led to him being unjustly interned for several years during WWI, resulting in the ruination of his business. Britomart Group, in charge of refurbishing the two buildings, hopes that reinstating the Kronfeld name will go some way towards acknowledging the injustice of Gustav Kronfeld’s internment. A private gathering for Gustav and Louisa Kronfeld’s descendants will be held to mark the reopening of the building.
The project is another shining exemplar of the way the Britomart Group respects and sensitively adapts heritage buildings in the precinct, while discreetly infusing them with quality contemporary treatments that make them feel new and exciting. Painstaking attention has been lovingly applied to the entire project, with the restoration, conservation, and reinstatement of heritage features paramount throughout. Architects Peddle Thorp have forensically investigated historic colours and, in partnership with Salmond Reed Architects, the team have meticulously prepared drawings from historic photographs for the reconstruction of the monumental parapet frontispiece and parapet balustrading. This has involved an impressive collaboration of moldmakers, manufacturers, architects, conservation architects, and engineers, and will be the crowning glory of this project. The Hayman Kronfeld Buildings, as they will be known when they reopen later this year, will have open floor plans connecting them together. Featuring retail spaces on the ground levels, the buildings will also house modern office spaces on the top three floors. A new lobby for the offices, lined in bricks recycled during construction, will bring new energy and life to the Galway Street entrace, which is conveniently close to the Britomart Transport Centre. The curious will enjoy watching the parapet being lifted by crane to assume its rightful position as the crown of these elegant buildings, restoring more of the original grandeur to this historic part of the city. n HŌTOKE • WINTER 2022
Top: Architectural rendering of the completed Hayman Kronfeld Buildings, showing their Customs Street East facings. Centre: Interior under construction. Below: Elements of the parapet under construction.
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Te Rua Rakuraku (Koro Roger) and Ange Rakuraku.
ŌPŌTIKI
Historic whare brought out of the shed and into the light Damaged during the 1931 Hawke’s Bay earthquake, a beautiful whare whakairo (carved house) in Ōpōtiki was carefully dismantled and then stacked in a shed. This year the carvings, panels and stories were finally reunited with their people. WORDS: Niki Partsch
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IMAGES: Normsby Photography
t was mid-morning on Tuesday 3 February 1931 when the ground began to heave and roll. Large cracks appeared, some so wide that cars fell into them. Children held onto school yard fences to stop themselves falling. Across the town of Napier buildings crumbled and dust rose. Approximately 180km to the south of the epicentre, the heaving and rolling caused serious damage to Tānewhirinaki, the treasured whare of Ngāti Ira. The 7.8 earthquake lasted less than three minutes but when it was over the whare was leaning dangerously. The people who lived there were at risk of serious injury. Knowledge of the ancient building methods used in its construction had been lost with the passing of a generation, and so, despite three attempts to straighten their whare, there was no choice but to take it down. Tānewhirinaki was built in the late 1800s under the leadership of rangatira Hira Te Popo. The entire whare was a physical embodiment of their history. Every carving, tukutuku panel and kōwhaiwhai board held crucial historical narratives, which supported the oral history of Ngāti Ira.
Feelings before, during and after the three-day wānanga were intense. There were tears of joy for the living and of tears of sadness for those who had passed on before ever seeing the whakairo (carvings) on display. Tama described how “it was really emotional for kaumātua, some of whom remember being very young when they were told not to go into the shed where the carvings were stored.” Girls and women particularly were subjected to tapu (restrictions) and as a consequence some kuia (elderly women) were reluctant to engage with the process and hesitant to attend the onsite wānanga. Their stories were heard and discussed alongside others. Before the earthquake and during the time of Hira Te Popo, Tānewhirinaki was a place of whānau well-being, where babies had been born and grew up in a culturally rich environment.
A trip to visit significant sites was arranged for the last day of the wānanga. This strengthened the learnings shared by the speakers over the previous two days. The project has re-affirmed identity for the people of Ngāti Ira through reengagement with their history. Many people contributed their time and expertise to this significant undertaking, including renowned architect Anthony Hoete whose work on the project has recently been shortlisted for the 2022 Waikato and Bay of Plenty Architecture Awards. The carvings have been taken down again, but the people remain uplifted and grateful for the time they had. Going forward the conversation will focus on permanent restoration and rebuilding, and the future for the next generations of Ngāti Ira. n Ngāti Ira whānau.
Unable to restore their whare safely, the people of Ngāti Ira were left in despair until last year when a group collaborated to do something about it. Inspired by stories about what lay in the shed, and with crucial support from kaumātua, Tama Hata successfully applied to Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga to fund a project through our 2021 Mātauranga Māori Programme. This year the raising of Tānewhirinaki at Ōpeke marae became a beacon for Ngāti Ira who gathered there for a three-day wānanga. There were many speakers present, including kaumātua Te Rua Rakuraku (Koro Roger). They shared ngā kōrero tuku iho (stories passed down) and described the significance of the many taonga within the whare. HŌTOKE • WINTER 2022
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BLENHEIM
Perfectly-placed farm used for defence purposes during WW2
A hangar (centre building) saved at the end of WW2, now used for farm purposes.
While New Zealand had numerous air training bases throughout the country at the start of WW2, Marlborough can lay claim to a historic farm adjacent to the Woodbourne Air Force Base in Blenheim becoming a very strategic focus for Royal New Zealand Air Force training purposes. WORDS: Robyn Burgess and David Watt
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his year sees the Royal New Zealand Air Force celebrate 85 years of service, providing the opportunity to glance back at those early locations where they first established their new-found existence.
Charles Kingsford ‘Smithy’ Smith, watched by a large excited crowd gathered at the farm, got airborne for his return trip to Australia from New Zealand in the Southern Cross. This was the first flight from our shores to Australia.
Category 1 heritage listed Woodbourne Homestead and Historic Farm, on New Renwick Road in rural Blenheim, not only tells stories of early Pākeha settler history in Marlborough from the 1840s, but has also been associated with aviation in New Zealand since the 1920s, particularly with the establishment of a satellite air training and defence station at the start of WW2.
Kingsford Smith required a particularly long runway for his aircraft, so fences were removed between paddocks to allow more than 200 acres for take-off purposes. His flight from Woodbourne to Sydney took an incredible 22 hours 51 minutes, becoming a landmark moment in New Zealand aviation history.
In the 1920s, the Marlborough Aero Club, the first such flying club formed in New Zealand, started using part of the property as a flying field, and in October 1928 8
IMAGES: John Walsh collection
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Three families have been involved with Woodbourne Farm since the 1840s — beginning with the Godfrey family up to 1907, the Fairhall family from 1907 to 1946, and the present owners, the Walsh family.
In 1939, the New Zealand Government leased the farm property from the Fairhalls to create a satellite air training and defence station. With the Japanese moving quickly to occupy the Philippines and Singapore, providing them with the opportunity to attack Australia from these vantage points, there was the very real threat that New Zealand would be the next target. In the area at the far north and northeast of the Fairhall property some 300 acres were established as RNZAF Base Woodbourne, a permanent military base that remains to the present day. The rest of the farm land was also occupied as a satellite Air Force training station for the war. Fairhall Base, as it was named, was first occupied by a newly established 16 Fighter Squadron, which had P40 Kittyhawk fighter-bombers and some armed up HŌTOKE • WINTER 2022
Harvards to bring the squadron up to full strength. In the event of an attack on Wellington, the Kittyhawks could be scrambled to defend the capital in 16 minutes. Beween August 1942 and June 1943 RNZAF Fighter Squadrons 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 were all based around the Woodbourne Farm Homestead and Historic Farm. During their time at the farm station, pilot officers lived in the timber homestead and it was used as an officers mess between 1942 and 1943. It was reported that the house saw an intense period of social activity in down time for the pilots, resulting in considerable wear and tear. Other pilots lived in huts in the tree plantation area called ‘the forest’ as it provided natural camouflage. The New Zealand fighter squadrons from the Fairhall Base built a proud record of achievement in their Pacific operations, and their Kittyhawks were recognised as being particularly successful. Nissen hangars, or ‘pens’ as they were known, were built for the Kittyhawks and other aircraft around the farm, three of them being erected on or near the site of the original six-roomed cob homestead. A temporary dining hall and a separate concrete safe were constructed to the east of the timber homestead in the forest area beside Mill Stream. Remnants of these survive today. While some of the existing farm buildings were used by the Air Force, there were some that were altered for operational purposes. It appears that the original cob homestead built by Godfrey was flattened to make way for an aircraft maintenance hangar. The original miller’s house on the farm, constructed of timber possibly in the 1860s, was also demolished by the Air Force.
Mahon’s son, John, the present owner, has lived his entire life on Woodbourne Farm. John and his wife, Lynne, became pioneer deer farmers and in the late 1970s they planted their first grape vines at Woodbourne, with viticulture becoming a significant trend in Marlborough at the time. Today, it is a major New Zealand industry. Over the years, there have been numerous changes to the structures on the Woodbourne Farm. John has a wonderful collection of farm vintage machinery and photographic records of early farm life and the military occupation. He has worked in close consultation with staff in Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga to record the property’s history. “This has been a wonderful place to live, seeing early farming achievements, and where many of the Air Force buildings stood when the RNZAF was in training for the war. Woodbourne Farm has been important place in the history of our nation,” says John. n
Top: Aerial view of Woodbourne satellite airfield with planes and hangars. Below: Hundreds crowd around the Southern Cross at Woodbourne Farm in 1928. Below left: Pilots outside their officers mess/homestead during training for the war.
While 14 of the original 15 Nissen hangars were demolished at the end of the war, one was allowed to remain and survives to this day as one of only four in New Zealand remaining in situ. Two hangars are at Ardmore Aerodrome in South Auckland and one, currently in a damaged state, is at Ashburton Aerodrome. By the time Mahon Walsh purchased Wodbourne Farm in 1946, the New Zealand Defence Department had either removed most of the miltary buildings or was in the process of doing so. Mahon was eager to purchase and retain one of the Nissen hangars and this is located west of the stables on the property.
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BAY OF ISLANDS
Time to revisit New Zealand’s little-known history Discover a time 30 nautical miles made all the difference between Aotearoa becoming a French or British colony. WORDS: John O'Hare
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ay 4 marked the 250th anniversary of the arrival of French explorer Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne in the Bay of Islands – and a timely opportunity to reflect on the story of the French in New Zealand, according to Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Northland Area Manager Bill Edwards. “The relationship between France and Britain has always been a complicated narrative with four major wars fought between these two European powers in the 18th century. Both countries were expanding their world empires, and at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries New Zealand was in their orbit,” says Bill. “Both countries were to have a severe impact upon tangata whenua in Aotearoa.” When Britain succeeded in annexing New Zealand in 1840, the English version of events became the dominant narrative which continues to this day. “It’s fair to say that historians have only scratched the surface of the French side of our story. There is a way to go to fully understand the significant impact the people of Ngāti Wīwī, as they were coined, had in shaping our history,” he says. When the country commemorated Polynesian voyaging and the 250th anniversary of Cook’s arrival in Aotearoa New Zealand in 2019, for example, French explorer Jean de Surville barely rated a mention – despite the fact that both were sailing in the same waters at much the same time. At their closest point, the Endeavour and Surville’s ship St Jean Baptiste came within about 30 nautical miles of each other. As historian James Belich put it: “There is little doubt that Cook has been emphasised to the unfair exclusion of the massive French contribution to European knowledge of New Zealand.” French-speaking historian Michael Lee writes how the explorers came within an ace of encountering each other near North Cape in his recent book Navigators and Naturalists: “...had Surville rounded the evening of the next day when Cook was bearing up on North Cape, it would have made for one of the most dramatic encounters in the annals of seafaring. The history of New Zealand would have most certainly been different.”
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Initial encounters between early French explorers Surville and Marion du Fresne with Māori were marred by misunderstanding and violence – as were those of Cook. “For both Surville and Marion du Fresne, initial contact with Māori was warm, though misunderstandings inevitably came, resulting in violent episodes like the masscare of over 200 Māori by Marion du Fresne’s crew in retalitation for his death,” says Bill. “Mistrust of the French endured, and was no doubt encouraged by the British.” Francophobia fuelled, in part, the 1831 letter addressed to King William IV and signed by 13 Māori chiefs from the Bay of Islands, seeking among other things the King’s protection against the French, who had recently sent a naval vessel to New Zealand. Similarly in 1835 an attempt by French Baron and would-be ‘Sovereign Chief ’ Charles de Thierry, who had announced plans to proclaim an independent state in Hokianga, spooked James Busby into hosting a hui at which 34 rangatira signed ‘He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni’ the Declaration of Independence of the United Tribes of New Zealand. The HŌTOKE • WINTER 2022
Charles Meryon, Death of Marion du Fresne at the Bay of Islands, New Zealand, 12 June 1772. [Between 1846 and 1848]. Ref: G-824-3. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/23062761
Declaration was a statement of Māori sovereignty and selfdetermination, later to find fuller expression in Te Tiriti. It was also a first step towards British annexation. “The effects of colonisation by Britain has tended to throw shade over the significant contribution the French have made to our history,” says Bill. “The vast treasure trove of source material written in French – and therefore not easily accessed by many non-French-speaking historians – has also probably influenced how history is told.” Stories of achievement, including Duperry’s scientific voyage to New Zealand on the Coquille in 1824 and the brothers Rene and Pierre Lesson’s contribution to ornithology to name only a few, are all but unknown. Similarly Bishop Pompallier’s advocating for the inclusion of the fourth article of Te Tiriti guaranteeing religious freedom has also been overshadowed. “There has been under-representation of the French side in the telling of our history – and indeed the Māori perspective of the French. This year represents an opportunity for us to begin to look at this little-understood part of our history.” n HŌTOKE • WINTER 2022
What does the shipwreck of HMS Buffalo off the Whitianga coast have to do with the French? The Buffalo was used as a prison ship which transported French Canadian dissidents from Ontario and Quebec to the penal colony of Australia in 1840. To find out more, Land of a Thousand Sorrows, a documentary by Canadian filmmaker Deke Richards about this little known group of patriots, will have a series of public screenings in New Zealand on 11 June at Whitianga and 12 June at Kingston House, Kerikeri (1-3pm). The ASHA (Australasian Society for Historical Archaeology) conference will be held in the Bay of Islands later this year. Part of the conference will involve a maritime field trip retracing the footsteps of Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne in the Bay using a map recreated by Heritage Northland Inc. identifying French movements in the Bay.
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FEATURE INTERVIEW
Senior Heritage Assessment Advisor Kerryn Pollock With a passion for research, working on new ways to view and record heritage is a dream role for Kerryn. Instrumental in developing the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Rainbow List, Kerryn reflects on the importance of recognising and honouring culturally historic places. WORDS: John O'Hare Tell us about your role at HNZPT. What are some of the things you do on any given day? I am a Senior Heritage Assessment Advisor, which is a rather formal way of saying I tell, and look after, the stories of the places on Rārangi Kōrero, the New Zealand Heritage List. It’s a job of two major parts: looking after existing List entries by making sure the technical information is up to date and writing short historical narratives and heritage assessments for older listings that don’t have these due to changing information requirements (of which there are many; we are in eternal catch-up mode); and, secondly, shepherding nominations for new listings through the rigorous process. That’s when we get to immerse ourselves in research, thinking and writing. A typical day or week might see me off to the National Library or Archives New Zealand to do some research, talking to individuals and communities who have special knowledge about a place, answering public enquiries about listed places or giving advice on a potential nomination, and writing some authorative prose that utterly nails why something is a heritage place. There’s bound to be a bit of administration thrown in – listing is very processdriven, and we document all the steps and keep interested people, organisations and property owners informed. 12
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Tell us about your work with the Rainbow List Project and why it is such an important initiative. What has been one of the high points of this project for you? This is a passion project and I am so grateful that it’s part of my day job! The aim of the Rainbow List Project exists to improve the recognition of queer history in the New Zealand Heritage List. Our listing policy says the List is the “national statutory record of our rich and diverse place-based historical and cultural heritage” and there’s definitely room for improvement in the richness and diversity components contained in this statement. It is aspirational, especially when it comes to establishing which communities and histories are represented. Cultural records like heritage lists are a product of their time. They reflect the biases, power structures and priorities of the society in which they are created and thus have gaps. In the case of queer history, there’s the enormous impact of the historical illegality of male homosexuality, and how colonisation smothered fluid Māori sexualities, to consider. Addressing this requires active intervention by us. I am aware there are other gaps in the List but this is one that I am personally well-placed to deal with. The Rainbow List Project has great potential to be a model for other topic areas where representation is lacking. HŌTOKE • WINTER 2022
Kerryn Pollock after interviewing (from left) Malcolm Vaughan, Scotty Kennedy and Georgina Beyer.
You could say this entire project is a high point but something that has stuck with me as I’ve made contact with queer people, communities and organisations is how many times I’ve been thanked by them for doing this project and telling our queer stories through heritage. The relationship building aspect of the project has been really meaningful. This feedback demonstrates not only the social and cultural value of our work but also the reputational benefits for our organisation. As well as updating existing listings to tell their queer stories, we are starting to see people putting forward nominations for inclusion in the List, and this type of engagement is really exciting. What does heritage mean to you, and why is it so important to honour and recognise our historic places? Heritage is the physical manifestation of human history and culture. Landscapes, buildings and structures hold the stories of our past, our ancestors, and their presence enables us to tell these stories in a tangible way. I believe this knowledge provides us with a sense of rooted belonging in the world. HŌTOKE • WINTER 2022
Is there a particular heritage place that is special to you? If so why? The Carkeek Observatory in Featherston, a timber astronomical observatory built in c. 1867. I completed the listing for this a couple of years ago and had the best time being a historical detective, delving into the archives to build on existing research and piecing together its story, which is now told in great detail in the listing report. This is a big part of the reason why this place is special to me – it took me on a wonderful research journey. At first glance it looks like a ramshackle pile of planks (it’s a ruin), but once you know its story as the earliest surviving astronomical observatory building in the country, you can absolutely see its function and understand why it is important. It is a really good example of how stories activate a place and how heritage listing contributes to public knowledge and understanding of history. n
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OAMARU Annabel Wilson, Laura Williamson and Liz Breslin at Clyde, during their 2020 poetry tour of the Otago Central Rail Trail.
Hannah Hayes’ cycling exploits inspire new research Inspired by a visit to historic Hayes Engineering Works, poet Liz Breslin is embarking on a creative critical PhD exploring the life of Hannah Hayes. WORDS: Rosemary Baird
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IMAGE: Liz Breslin
n late 2020 three poets, Liz Breslin, Annabel Wilson and Laura Williamson, embarked on a ‘spoke’n’word’ tour’ of the Otago Central Rail Trail. The three women packed amps, mics and notebooks into their bike trailers and pedalled the length of the Rail Trail, performing in historic halls as they went.
“I went away and thought about the assumptions and presentations we make about women at that time and how we tell their stories,” says Liz. “How was Hannah able to get away with being on a bike for three months unchaperoned, at a time when that was far outside the norms of acceptable female behaviour?”
Along the way, the trio dropped into Hayes Engineering Works. Liz had lived in the region for 20 years, but never visited. “I found a family history of the Hayes and there was one paragraph about Hannah Hayes that captured me,” says Liz.
Liz has now started working on a creative critical doctorate at the University of Otago. In the creative part she plans to collect up ‘scraps’ of historic evidence and local supposition about Hannah and integrate this into creative writing and visual elements. “I'm interested in further understanding what it was like to be a person in that time, outside the dominant narrative,” she says. Critically, she will be looking at the wider context of ‘unsettling women writers of the rural South Island’ and what we can learn from their essays, poems, diaries, and stories.
The paragraph reads: “About 1896, Hannah Hayes left one of her older daughters to look after her young family and she went on pushbike, all over the Maniototo and Vincent counties, the Lindis Pass area and the Mackenzie country, to every station she could possibly get to on, or with, a pushbike, selling the [pollard] cutters.” 14
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provided by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga’s Hayes Engineering staff: “They have been brilliant and so friendly and also put me in touch with the Hayes family,” says Liz. Jess Armstrong, Property Lead Hayes Engineering, is thrilled with Liz’s project. “It’s so exciting to see our properties providing the spark for creative work and historical wonderings,” she says. “Hannah’s story has been one that has always interested the team here and we hope Liz may unearth a few new stories about the remarkable Hannah Hayes.” Liz is also very keen to source any other records, information, or diaries from the area of Central Otago to set a context for Hannah’s story. If you have any ideas or leads, please contact her at editor@lizbreslin.com n
Just at the very beginnings of her research, Liz has appreciated the help HŌTOKE • WINTER 2022
ARCHAEOLOGY
Senior archaeologist joins expedition to remote Fiordland sites Taking part in an expedition into Taiari / Chalky Inlet and Rakituma / Preservation Inlet has given Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Senior Archaeologist, Frank van der Heijden, the rare opportunity to visit some of Fiordland’s most remote archaeological sites WORDS: Rosemary Baird
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IMAGE: Chris Kwak
rank recently joined a six-day expedition which ventured into Fiordland to film content for Toitū Otago Settlers Museum’s second Furthest Frontier documentary series. The other members of the team came from Ōraka Aparima Rūnaka, the Department of Conservation and Otago Museum.
The team travelled by boat into the remote inlets to visit and record both Māori and Pākehā archaeological sites. “The first task of the archaeology team was to try and find these sites,” says Frank. “They were overgrown and sometimes it could take us several hours to find the site. Then we would take a GPS location as most of these sites had not been visited for about 40 years and had never been recorded by GPS.”
The expedition visited the first shore-based whaling station in New Zealand at Port Bunn in Cuttle Cove. Another memorable site was Te Oneroa gold mining settlement. Te Onera would have had up to a thousand residents at the end of the 19th century. Everything had to be brought in by ship, including brick chimneys, metal furnaces, boilers and steam engines.
The team also visited early Māori rock art, sealing camps and the hulk of the 19th century government steamer Stella. “We had long days, and did a lot of physical work, bush bashing through to sites, but the whole experience was fantastic,” says Frank “It was amazing to be so far south, in areas where people don’t usually get to explore.”
“At Te Oneroa, you could see the remains of the piles from the settlement wharf, and in the bush we found remains from the settlement: ceramics, bricks and metal,” says Frank. “You could see how nature has so quickly taken over the sites of these once busy settlements. It was incredible to think that in the 1820s Fiordland had some of the highest rates of European settlement in all of New Zealand.”
According to Toitū Exhibition Developer and Expedition Director, William McKee, series two of the documentary Furthest Frontier will be available to the public later this year. “A large majority of New Zealanders are never going to get to these remote places, so we really wanted to bring these stories to the people.” he says. n
Frank van der Heijden inspects the hulk of the Stella in North Port, Chalky Inlet.
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Heritage Quarterly
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TOHU WHENUA
Exploring Denniston on foot Located just 30 minutes north of Westport, the Denniston Plateau is an absolute mustsee when you visit Te Tai Poutini West Coast. It’s a place of unique geology, sweeping coastal views, and incredible history – and the best way to explore it is on foot. Not only will you see many of Denniston’s most iconic coal mining relics, you’ll be walking on the same tracks that residents and miners used over a hundred years ago. WORDS: Claudia Babirat
IMAGES: Jase Blair
Brakehead Walk – 40 minute loop
Coalbrookdale Walk – 1 hour return
Not far from the carpark is Denniston’s best-known feature, the incredibly steep incline railway. It’s an exhilarating feeling to stand at the edge of what was once described as the eighth industrial wonder of the world where, for 87 years, wagons brimming with coal (and sometimes the odd sneaky passenger) hurtled 1670 metres down a near 45 degree slope. Denniston’s coal was of the finest quality and highly sought after; even the British fleets couldn’t get enough of the stuff.
This is an absolute gem of a walk – and one that fewer people are aware of. To get to the start of this walkway, drive past the Friends of the Hill Museum and left down Burnetts Face Road (a good gravel road). The track leads you along part of the cablecar rope road that carried coal from the mines to the top of the Denniston Incline. Relics include tunnels that you can wander through, foundations, a haulage winch, and mine entrances. At the very end of the track is its pièce de résistance, the country’s best remaining example of a mine fan house and a photographer’s dream (bring a good torch to capture the symmetry of the brickwork inside). The fan house was built in 1912 to improve ventilation in the growing mine. Originally steam-powered, it was converted to electric power in the 1920s and remained in use for 30-odd years.
But it came with a price. The engaging on-site interpretation tells the stories of the plateau’s 1400 tough-as-nails residents, who had to endure some of the country’s most extreme living conditions. Being located 518 metres above sea level meant that isolation, harsh weather, and weeks of endless fog were the norm. The rocky plateau, though spectacular to look at, was no good for growing food, burying the dead, or even digging a long drop. What’s more, work in the mines – where even young children were expected to do their part – was dark, dusty, and dangerous. Despite all this, social life in Denniston thrived with brass bands, bowling greens, pubs, and unionism. Make sure you take time to soak in the expansive views of the coastline and forest-clothed mountains before continuing past the Q wagons at the brakehead to Denniston’s first settlement ‘The Camp’, and on to a stunning feat of Cornish stonemasonry at the Banbury Arch. The track returns via the historic mine workshop site.
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If you’re still feeling adventurous, you can continue your exploration of Denniston Plateau along Whareatea Mine Road which takes you a few minutes further along, past reservoirs, viewpoints of Mt Rochefort, and more historic relics. The plateau is also crisscrossed with mountain bike tracks. TOP TIP: Make sure you download the Denniston Rose Trail app to get the most out of your visit. This is an interactive self-guided literary trail to the place that inspired the best-selling books by Jenny Pattrick – The Denniston Rose and Heart of Coal.
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“It’s an exhilarating feeling to stand at the edge of what was once described as the eighth industrial wonder of the world.”
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Denniston is recognised as a Tohu Whenua and one of the country's best heritage experiences. Tohu Whenua aims to connect all New Zealanders with our most treasured historic places and is a partnership between Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, Department of Conservation Te Papa Atawhai, and Te Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. For more information visit tohuwhenua.nz Heritage Quarterly
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AUCKLAND
Moving with the times – the surprising history of a stately statue The serene gaze of New Zealand's most prominent 19th century monarch over Auckland's Albert Park belies the melting-pot of cultural activities she has witnessed at her feet. Senior Heritage Assessment Advisor Kerryn Pollock reveals the stories of this landmark focal point for protest and social change. WORDS: Kerryn Pollock
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n Aotearoa New Zealand, four Queen Victorias gaze solemnly over the landscape, projecting a mixed air of gravitas and pomposity. The dominance of one quality over the other depends on whether the viewer is casting a benign or critical eye over the monarch and all that her likeness represents. It is this symbolic value that makes such statues, or more precisely their public reception, a barometer of changing values and evolving interpretations of national histories.
The Auckland Queen Victoria statue in Albert Park was the country’s first – it preceded statues of the monarch in Christchurch (1903), Wellington (1905) and Dunedin (1905) – and was paid for by public fundraising following the monarch’s diamond jubilee in 1897. British sculptor Francis John Williamson was commissioned to produce a replica of his bronze statue of the Queen that was made for the Royal College of Physicians in London in 1887. One of the stand-out features of the 1887 statue was the attention to decorative detail evident in the flowing garment lines, patterns and textures. The Queen lent Williamson her crown, robe and jewellery, and studying them at close quarters enabled him to achieve precision and authenticity, which was replicated on the Auckland version. When the statue was unveiled on the Queen’s 80th birthday in 1899, public enthusiasm for royalty was high and the crowd was correspondingly large. The Governor, Lord Ranfurly, spoke of the statue as “a fitting memorial to a revered and beloved ruler, and a lasting testimony to the loyalty and affection of her subjects.” It became a site of public mourning on her death in 1901. The day of her funeral (2 February) was marked by a public procession to Albert Park and the placing of numerous wreaths around the statue’s plinth. For decades through to WW2, wreaths were left at the statue on Empire Day, an annual celebration of the links between countries in the British Empire that occurred on Queen Victoria’s birthday. At the unveiling in 1899, Lord Ranfurly spoke of the “benign influence of our sovereign lady.” While this perception was never universally held, it was pervasive, but in the 20th century shifting public attitudes towards colonisation and militarism complicated perceptions of royalty. The benign ruler label could no longer hold. In 1952, the Queen’s statue and the nearby marble statue of George Grey were attacked with paint and “ravager of the Maoris” [sic] was written on the Grey statue, indicating a political motive 18
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behind the vandalism and an association of them both with colonial oppression. On the 78th anniversary of New Zealand women’s suffrage in 1971, the University of Auckland’s women’s liberation group held a mock funeral procession in Albert Park, ending at the statue which, in the words of activist Sue Kedgley, “symbolised the countless Auntie Toms who throughout history tried to sabotage other women’s efforts to achieve equality.” This was a response to Queen Victoria’s famous criticism of women’s suffrage as a “mad, wicked folly.” In 1972, in the first public act of the nascent local gay liberation movement, queer activists led by Ngahuia Te Awekotuku (Te Arawa, Tūhoe), Nigel Baumber and other members of the newlyformed Gay Liberation Front (GLF) held ‘Gay Day’ at the statue on 11 April 1972. During the inaugural Gay Week (29 May–5 June) they returned to the statue and Te Awekotuku read aloud the group’s manifesto, demanding an end to social and legal discrimination and support for sexual self-determination. GLF focused their actions on Queen Street and the Queen Victoria statue because “queen” was a slang word for gay men – the movement showing a cheeky sense of humour. Ngahuia declaimed the manifesto before a placard that read “will Victorian morality ever die?” and signs reading “better blatant than latent”, “camp comes out” and “camps and gays come out to play” were stuck to the statue’s plinth, where decades earlier wreaths were piled. In 2020, Ngahuia returned to Albert Park and again spoke in front of Queen Victoria, before leading a 7,000-strong Auckland Pride Festival march up Queen Street. Unlike her neighbour George Grey, who lost his head during a Waitangi Day protest in 1987 and was again covered in bright red spray paint in 2020, Queen Victoria does not appear to have been vandalised again since 1952. In recent years, such statues have come under intense scrutiny, as countries throughout the world reckon with complicated pasts weighted with oppression and injustice. Her unlikely place in local queer history does not offer any immunity to politically motivated attacks, but it would be interesting to see how much (if any) weight this association holds should questions be raised about the place of this colonial-era statue in 21st century Aotearoa New Zealand. n HŌTOKE • WINTER 2022
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NATIONAL
Incentive Fund grants helping to meet conservation needs The National Heritage Preservation Incentive Fund, which opened for grant applications in April this year, is helping private owners of heritage-listed properties to meet significant conservation repair work on their properties. WORDS: David Watt
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nterested parties have until 24 June to lodge their application for this year’s funding round with Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga regional offices, with the Board convening in mid-August to consider applications. The Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Board and Māori Heritage Council have agreed on investment priorities for this year’s funding round. The priorities for funding grants are: conservation and preservation of sites of significance to Māori; conservation work to increase resilience of heritage places against the impact of climate change, including stablisation of land and archaeological sites; seismic strengthening and risk management planning; and all other eligible work. While funding is not available for routine maintenance work, applications should demonstrate significant added heritage costs to qualify for consideration. Last year, Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga agreed to give Fund grants to private owners of Category 1 and 2 heritage listed properties, with a total grants value of around $600,000.
The National Heritage Preservation Incentive Fund has been in existence since 2004, with a large number of private heritage property owners receiving funding support for a range of conservation projects. Until 2018, only owners of Category 1 heritage listed properties were eligible for funding assistance. The Fund was then extended to cover Category 2 heritage listed properties. Wāhi tapu and wāhi tapu areas in private ownership also qualify for grants from the Incentive Fund. The Fund will not pay more than 50 percent of the cost of conservation work in any particular case, and individual grants will not normally exceed $100,000. Private property owners of heritage listed properties can go to the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga website (www.heritage. org.nz) for details regarding this year’s grant applications and funding criteria, or contact regional office staff for assistance to help with application forms, further explanation around funding and other documentation required to accompany an application to the Fund. Regional offices are located in Kerikeri, Auckland, Tauranga, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. n
Hawke's Bay Club, Category 1 Listed, on the Marine Parade, Napier, a recipient of an Incentive Fund grant.
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