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Maungawhau Mt Eden management plan

Section H: Background information

H1 Classification and zoning

Maungawhau-Mt Eden (Mount Eden Domain) is a crown reserve administered by the Auckland City Council since the creation of the new boundaries of Auckland City in 1989 (New Zealand Gazette 1989, page 2247).

This reserve is located on the border between the Auckland suburbs of Mount Eden and Epsom, with road access from Mount Eden Road and Clive Road.

In terms of the Reserves Act 1977 Maungawhau-Mt Eden has been classified as part historic reserve and part recreation reserve (New Zealand Gazette 1983, page 272). The recreation reserve is vested in Auckland City Council.

Historic reserve: All that area of land encircled by Puhihuia Road
Recreation reserve: The remainder of the land.

These zones are defined on Plan S.O. 55658 held by Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) and Auckland City Council.

The Auckland City District Plan-Isthmus Section provides for conservation zones to secure the protection of recognised areas of high ecological, scenic or heritage value. Maungawhau-Mt Eden, including Tahaki Reserve, is classified as an 'open space' activity zone. Most of it is zoned Open Space 1 (conservation), but Tahaki Reserve and an area around the depot and tea kiosk are zoned Open Space 2 (informal recreation).

H1.1 Protection

H1.1.1 Auckland City Isthmus District Plan

Within the Auckland City District Plan-Isthmus Section, Maungawhau-Mt Eden is archaeological and geological feature worthy of protection. The District Plan also contains objectives, strategies and rules relating to cone protection. The area surrounding Maungawhau-Mt Eden is affected by these provisions, which protect the sight line to the mountain and place building height restrictions on all the land approaching the reserve. The reserve also contains a number of significant trees scheduled for protection.

In addition, the District Plan has scheduled the historic bus shelter (now used as public toilets). This building is located at the entrance to the domain on Mt Eden Road. It is scheduled as a Category B building, and the protection includes the area within 20m of the building.

H1.1.2 Historic Places Act 1993

The whole of Maungawhau-Mt Eden Domain, including the area that is not classified as historic reserve, is an archaeological site. An application for authority to damage, destroy, or modify an archaeological site must be granted by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust prior to any earthworks, (including fencing, planting, track formation, etc.) being undertaken on Maungawhau-Mt Eden.

H1.1.3 New Zealand Archaeological Association Site Record Scheme

Maungawhau-Mt Eden is recorded in the New Zealand Archaeological Association site record scheme as site number:

R11/17. Grid reference: E: 2667700; N: 6478800.

H1.1.4 Auckland Regional Council Cultural Heritage Inventory

The Cultural Heritage Inventory (CHI) database is based on the New Zealand Archaeological Association (NZAA) site recording scheme. The database contains additional information about some of the archaeological sites that has been collected by the Auckland Regional Council (ARC). This information may not be in the NZAA Site Recording Scheme. The database is a computerised system run as a regional service.

Archaeological site(s) recorded in ARC CHI:
1.ARC computer no: 11694 Pa, NZAA No: R11/17.

Mt Eden light anti-aircraft emplacement site
ARC computer no: 13746
Location: On top of Mt Eden on levelled area, on north side of crater, Mt Eden.

H3 Existing tenancy agreements

Facility	Lessee	Term	Commencement date	Renewal Clause	Expiry date
Site for club house for St Barnabas Boy Scouts Group	Boy Scouts Association of New Zealand	5 years	6/11/98	2 x 5 years	05/11/13
Cottage 250 Mt Eden Road	Private	As per the Tenancy Act - reduced rent in exchange for agreed operational activities
Agreement to graze	Peter Linton	Previous agreement has expired and not been formally reviewed. Grazing continues on basis of a Letter of Agreement.

H3.1 Watercare Services

In addition to the items specified above the District Plan has a designation for the two water reservoirs operated by Watercare Services in the reserve (Auckland City Council District Plan, Isthmus Section: Appendix B). There are no easements for the reservoirs and associated pipes and cables. Watercare requires access for maintenance and the council requires Watercare to keep the assets in good safe working order.

Risks associated with the reservoirs are:

roof leaks may occur
pipelines from east and west will require refurbishment
replacement required at some stage (older reservoir 1912) - These reservoirs are part of a group at similar levels on three volcanic cones which define the pressure for reticulation on the higher parts of the isthmus. They have been in place for over a century and are unlikely to be re-engineered. Redundancy of these reservoirs is very unlikely.

H3.2 Metrowater

Metrowater have a minor 9000 litre reservoir on west side of Maungawhau-Mt Eden above Hillside Crescent. It is scheduled for removal by Metrowater. There is no plan designation and no license to occupy the site.

H3.3 Expired leases

Former but now expired leases have been given to:

Broadcasting Corporation of New Zealand - television relay station. The right to take mobile equipment van to summit.
New Zealand Post - VHF land mobile radio station.
The right to occupy the summit with two buildings and two masts is now removed.
Mt Eden Borough Council - works depot site. Lease was for 33 years and expired on 28 February 2001. There was a renewal clause of 1 x 33 years. The lease has not been formally terminated, but the Mount Eden Borough Council has been succeeded by Auckland City and therefore lessees' rights will not be enforced.

H4 History of administration

In 1879 Mount Eden Domain was gazetted under the Public Domains Act 1860, and the Mount Eden Domain Board was established to administer it. Work commenced on fencing and planting the reserve and a grazing lease was let.

In 1906 Mount Eden was proclaimed a borough and in 1907, Mount Eden Borough Council was appointed as the Mount Eden Domain Board. After the Reserves Act 1977 was introduced the role of control and administering services within the Borough was automatically transferred to the Mount Eden Borough Council.

Maungawhau-Mt Eden was classified part historic reserve and part recreation reserve (New Zealand Gazette 1983, page 272) under the Reserves Act 1977. The recreation reserve has been vested in Auckland City Council since 1989 when Mount Eden Borough Council was succeeded by Auckland City and has subsequently been managed by Auckland City.

A statutory management plan was prepared for Maungawhau-Mt Eden according to the Reserves Act 1977 and approved in 1986.

A conservation plan was prepared (2006) to guide the revision of the statutory management plan. The ICOMOS New Zealand Charter for the Conservation of Places of Cultural Heritage Value guides the best practice management of places of cultural heritage value in New Zealand.

H5 Geology

Maungawhau-Mt Eden is one of the larger scoria cones in the young Auckland basalt volcanic field, which underlies most of Auckland City Council, and gives the city much of its distinctive character. The Auckland volcanic field has erupted from approximately fifty different centres at various times over the last 250,000 years. The youngest eruptions formed Rangitoto Island just over 600 years ago. Each centre has only erupted once, spanning only a matter of days to no more than a few years, before the supply of magma ceased and the magma in the conduit below cooled and blocked it forever. Each new centre has erupted in a fresh place. Many of the volcanic centres in the Auckland field erupted in a cluster around 30,000 to 10,000 years ago. Maungawhau is one of the younger in this cluster, with an estimated age of about 15,000 years.

The volcanic landforms of the Auckland volcanic field were produced by three different styles of eruption:

Explosive (phreatomagmatic) eruptions blew out wide, shallow explosion craters surrounded by low rings of bedded ash known as tuff rings. There is no evidence that Maungawhau-Mt Eden ever erupted in this way.
Fire-fountaining eruptions occur when gas-rich magma reaches the surface without coming into contact with water. The gas is released quickly, creating frothy lava that is fired out of the vent in a fountain of incandescent frothy fragments. These fragments cool in contact with the air and solidify into vesicular scoria fragments, which land on the ground close to the vent and build up into a scoria cone with steep sides and a deep central crater. Fire-fountaining built the main cone of Maungawhau-Mt Eden.
Effusive eruption of degassed magma occurs when the magma rises in the vent and bursts out from the base of the scoria cone as lava flows. The hotter and more fluid lava flowed quite quickly down existing valleys or spread out widely across flatter land. Cooler and more viscous lava flowed away more slowly and often cooled with steep-side lava flow fronts. Maungawhau-Mt Eden is surrounded by its lava flows.

Maungawhau-Mt Eden is like a 'poached egg'. It has a central scoria cone on top of the volcano's vent surrounded by a field of lava flows. It is believed to have erupted through the lava flows of the earlier One Tree Hill volcano. Much of the lower slopes and lava flow field are now hidden beneath the relatively dense urban development of the suburbs of Mt Eden, Epsom and Newmarket.

The 100m high scoria cone rises to an elevation of 196m ASL, the highest and most prominent point on the Auckland isthmus. The cone is an elongate complex of three overlapping cones, a configuration that is unique in the Auckland volcanic field and in New Zealand. The two earlier and smaller cones, forming the northern part of Maungawhau-Mt Eden, appear to have erupted first. The location of the fire-fountaining vent appears to have migrated southwards and scoria, erupted from the last or southernmost vent, filled up the existing craters to the north. Together, the three overlapping cones have a volume of 8-million cubic metres of scoria. The southernmost cone is the largest and it has a well-developed crater rim. Variations in the height of the rim are a result of different wind directions blowing the fountaining scoria to land in different places.

Natural exposures of the scoria that forms the cone are rare, but two old quarries on the west and east sides of the lower cone show characteristic beds of scoria. Near the cones' base a few thin lava flows are inter-bedded with the scoria, which in several places is intruded by thin, near-vertical feeder dikes, e.g. Eden Gardens. Five quarries have modified the flanks of the cone. A water reservoir is on top of the northern one. Most of the upper slopes have been modified by prehistoric Maori earthworks, and a narrow sealed road, Puhihuia Road, has cut into the cone. The crater rim is modified by a large, tar-sealed, parking area; telecommunication structures; and viewing platforms. Housing encroaches up the lower flanks of the cone complex on most sides.

The crater is the shape of an inverted circular cone, about 180m in diameter and about 50m deep. Such a deep and perfectly shaped crater is rare in the Auckland volcanic field, but is typical of fire-fountaining craters on young scoria cones around the world. This crater is an essential component of the Maungawhau-Mt Eden scoria cone. Its original shape has persisted essentially unchanged apart from gravity induced creep of scoria fragments and volcanic bombs towards the crater bottom. Although a few of the slopes inside the crater have been slightly modified by earthworks, by grazing animals, people and mountain bikes, the overall geomorphic integrity of the crater is intact.

Maungawhau-Mt Eden erupted through and over a sequence of older lava flows believed to have come from One Tree Hill. Voluminous degassed lava flowed out from vents around the base of the Maungawhau-Mt Eden scoria cone complex as it was being formed. Most of this lava was relatively viscous and formed a 60m high pedestal of thick flows surrounded by high lava flow fronts. The flows reached Khyber Pass and Newmarket in the north where they banked up against the Auckland Domain tuff ring. In the east the steep flow front runs along the line of Gillies Avenue and swings west at King George Avenue, through Windmill Road Reserve and across to Mt Eden Road. The western edge of the pedestal runs parallel with Mt Eden Road, but is situated several hundred metres west of it. More fluid lava flowed north-westwards and spread out to form a lower lava flow field that extended almost as far as Eden Park in Kingsland.

The number of separate lava flows that contributed to the building of the Maungawhau-Mt Eden lava flow field and pedestal is unknown. An unusual feature within one flow at the junction of Edendale and Wynyard Roads (Edenvale Park) is a 5m deep, 250m long depression thought to have been caused by the collapse of the lava flow crust after the still molten lava beneath had flowed on and out. A pull-apart rift within another Maungawhau-Mt Eden flow at Newmarket has created an unusual narrow cave with a slightly curved cross-section (Mortimer Pass lava cave). Some of the flows that form Maungawhau-Mt Eden pedestal are unusually thick and may have taken a considerable time to slowly cool and solidify. During cooling the basalt rock contracted and vertical columnar-shaped cooling cracks were formed. The best examples of these in the Auckland volcanic field can be seen in the walls of the old Mt Eden Prison quarry, now within the grounds of the Auckland Grammar School. To the south of Maungawhau-Mt Eden scoria cone fire-fountaining broke through the Maungawhau-Mt Eden lava flows on the Epsom Avenue side of Auckland College of Education and built the small scoria cone of Te Pouhawaiki which has now been completely quarried away and is the site of a car parking building.

H6 Iwi history

Consultation highlights that Maungawhau-Mt Eden has a rich Maori history. There are a number of Iwi/hapu histories which document the importance of Tamaki to Iwi from the time of first settlement to the present day. These histories are individually significant. Collectively they produce a firm basis for understanding the cultural and historic significance of Maungawhau-Mt Eden for the Iwi of Tamaki.

Iwi to have a known interest with Maungawhau and Tamaki include:

Ngati Whatua o Orakei
Ngati Maru
Ngai Tai Ki Tamaki
Te Kawerau a Maki
Ngati Te Ata
Ngati Paoa

As there is more than one history it has become apparent that each Iwi should be given the opportunity to individually record their history and relationship with Maungawhau-Mt Eden and the wider Auckland volcanic field.

Auckland City will work with Iwi to develop appropriate processes for documenting these histories as part of the Volcanic Landscape Programme. Individual Iwi histories as recorded by Ngati Whatua o Orakei and Ngati Maru are included in section four of the Maungawhau-Mt Eden conservation plan.

H7 Archaeological description

Extracts from the draft conservation plan (2006):

Maungawhau-Mt Eden is a Maori pa or fortification. Unlike most pa it does not have ditches and raised banks to act as barriers keeping attackers away. Instead defence relied on artificially steepened scarps below terraces to slow down attackers. The upper terraces probably had high wooden palisades or fences along their edges. Together the scarp and the height of the fence would have provided a formidable barrier.

Although there have been modifications to the shape over the last 150 years, it is largely intact. Historic photographs allow for some speculative reconstruction of the shape of the terracing of the now modified southern rim, but the shape of the northern part of the mountain, which was destroyed during installation of the water reservoirs, can only be guessed at.

When Maori arrived the soils that had built up on the cone supported a forest of mixed podacarp-broadleaf species (Horrocks et al. 2002). The forest cover probably extended into the crater itself. By the 1840s however, the landscape surrounding Mt Eden was covered in bracken fern (Pteridium acquilinum var. esculentum), and had been deforested for perhaps as much as 400-500 years.

Maori cut into the natural hill slope of Maungawhau-Mt Eden to form flat living surfaces (terraces) on which a range of occupation activities were carried out. Each terrace was formed by a combination of digging into the hill slope and building out the front edge, in a process known as 'cut and fill'. Many activities were carried out on the terraces: houses were built on some; cooking was carried out on others; and midden (rubbish) thrown down the slope below the living terraces. Paths linked terraces and household spaces may have been enclosed by fences. Food was stored in semi-subterranean storage pits protected from the weather by pole and thatch roofing. Some of the pits are evident on the terrace surfaces as rectangular depressions of varying size and depth, depending on how much each has been in-filled. Under the surface of most terraces, there are likely to be numerous pits completely filled in and no longer visible. Above ground store houses (pataka) would also have been present, some of which would have been elaborately carved.

Although some information can be gained from the surface map on the arrangement of living spaces and defendable areas, the layers beneath the surface will provide more detail on how and when Maungawhau-Mt Eden was built and occupied, and information about many of the activities that people carried out there. There will be many layers of occupation build-up on each terrace, providing information on the construction of the living surfaces and changes to the terrace surfaces over time. In addition these layers can provide information on the sequence of terrace construction, including when terraces above and below were made. It is possible that the terraces close to the rim have up to 2m of cultural deposits overlying the original topsoil.

There are 325 identifiable archaeological features remaining on Maungawhau-Mt Eden. These include:

127 terraces and 8 possible terraces
134 storage pits and 8 possible pits
34 midden deposits
4 elongated earthen mounds
5 banks, and
4 stone heaps, 1 stone wall and 1 stone alignment on the lower northern rocky knoll.

Terraces occur on the upper slopes of the main cone, and on the slopes of the earlier, northern cone. The size and complexity of terracing varies around the mountain. Terraces on the rim are oriented across the rim and tend to be short and relatively broad. The largest terraces are on the outer slopes of the later cone, descending from the rim. Here, long broad terraces, up to 95m long, wrap around the slope, with steep scarps to the terraces below. These scarps are likely to be defensive, and were deliberately constructed at an angle to deter attack. Some of the longer terraces have several different levels, with height differences varying from 300 to 800 mm. This variation in surface level may be due to smaller earlier terraces being joined together into a new larger living surface, or a need to differentiate and divide space on a terrace, but only archaeological excavation through the layers which make up the terrace can provide the answer.

The lower slopes on the eastern, southern and western sides, coincidently below the road, have few or no terraces. This may be due to the steepness of the lower part of the slopes, but may also be related to the organisation of the settlement, which would have taken advantage of the physical defensive arrangement of steep slopes and barriers near the rim, and have a social benefit of clustering people together on the most elevated part of the cone. The quarries near Batger Road, Hillside Crescent and Eden Gardens have destroyed the lower slopes and any terraces which may have been there. However, the general absence of terracing on the lower slopes suggests that this was not a favoured place for occupation.

Terraces and shell midden are present on the northwest slopes below the tea kiosk. The council nursery sheds are also probably built on a large terrace, or on an enlarged level area based on a Maori terrace. This area has been substantially modified by construction of the kiosk in the 1880's, visible in a number of historic photos, removed in the first decade of the twentieth century, and the present kiosk constructed by 1927. The earthworks undoubtedly removed other terraces and storage pits on the knoll.

The number of storage pits is likely to be far greater as only those pits left unfilled when occupation ceased are visible on the surface. Almost without exception, the storage pits are large, making them more visible. Similar pits left unfilled may have filled in naturally. Kumara is known to have been stored in kete (flax baskets) and on racks or shelving within the pits, but other dried foods were probably also stored in pits, as were tools of various types. Not all terraces have surface remains of pits, and it is possible that some terraces have no storage places at all, which means that they were used for activities incompatible with food storage, for example places where wahi tapu activities were carried out. Excavations on other volcanic cone sites indicate that the number of pits present may be substantially more than what is visible on the surface, as pits were dug and filled in and occupation surfaces placed on top. Pits had a limited life, and new pits had to be dug every few seasons to prevent the stored kumara tubers from succumbing to rot caused by fungal diseases.

The largest pit, F242, on the eastern side of the mountain, is adjacent to the road and above Eden Gardens. It measures 17 x 17m approximately and is over 2.5 m deep, with features, which are possibly entrances, cut in on both the north and south sides. A pit this size would have had enormous storage capacity.

The largest pits, including those between high point 3 (the northern side of the rim) and high point 4, are adjacent to large flat areas with no surface features, which may have functioned as communal gathering places. High point 4 has 10 rectangular depressions interpreted as partially filled-in storage pits. Flattened areas indicate houses may also have been present. Shell midden visible on the slopes at various places around the platform reinforces that this was a living site where a range of household activities were carried out. The steep slopes below suggest that the platform may also have been a defended area, and that palisade postholes might be present around the edge of the platform.

Shell midden is exposed in various places around the mountain where the ground surface has been disturbed, principally on slopes below terraces. Midden will be much more common over the whole mountain than is currently visible; most of it will be covered by slumped topsoil and grass. It is only when the slope surface is eroded, or churned up by cattle hooves, that the shell midden is visible. The shell species include:

cockle (Austrovenus stutchburyi)
pipi (Paphies australis)
scallop (Pecten sp.)
oyster (Saccostrea glomerata)
mussel (Perna canaliculus)
cats eye (Turbo smaragdus)
mud snail (Amphibola crenata) and
whelk (Cominella sp.)

The shellfish are most likely to have been brought to the mountain as food, although the shell may have been put to other use later including paving pathways or open areas on terraces. However the majority of the shell midden would have been thrown over the nearby slope to remove it from the living area.

The knoll of the northern end of the domain overlooking Clive Road and Normanby Road has different characteristics to the remainder of the mountain. The basalt rock is very close to the surface and outcrops in a number of places. There are terraces and storage pit depressions on the northern side of the knoll, but also stone heaps and stone alignments, which appear to be indented to retain soil to form flat areas. This site might be more typical of those formerly present in the rocky lava fields surrounding the mountain.

Archaeological investigations on Maungawhau-Mt Eden have been limited to:

A small excavation carried out on the rocky knoll to the north of the roundabout when storm-water slumps were installed in 1981, and
Recording of the layers exposed when the car park on the rim was resurfaced in 1981. Postholes and a cooking area were uncovered in the lower area which is naturally very rocky, but has platforms and terraces built up by filling soil behind stone facings. Stone piles are also present on the surface in this area, reminiscent of what might have been expected over the wider area of the Mt Eden volcanic field, but some of these may also be European in origin. This resurfacing of the car park provided the opportunity to look at the underlying layers. A complex range of occupation evidence including kumara storage pits, large postholes, cooking areas and a stone lined hearth was revealed. It had previously been assumed that the earthworks to create the car park had destroyed all evidence of Maori occupation on this part of the rim (Submission by archaeological heritage managers on Maungawhau visitor management study 1999), but it is clear that much still remains relatively intact beneath the current surface.

Two radiocarbon dates give an indication of the time of occupation:

a radiocarbon age estimate on shell from within a storage pit (NZ7943, 683�33 BP) (NZ radiocarbon database) on the rim gives a calendar age of cal AD 1520-1690 at 95 per cent confidence interval
the age estimates for the lower knoll area, also on shell, (NZ7944, 706�29 BP and NZ7945, 713�43 BP) give a calendar age range of cal AD 1510-1670 and cal AD 1490-1680 at 95 per cent confidence interval.

The time range does not imply that the site was occupied for the full period; radiocarbon dates do not convert exactly to a specific year and are expressed as ranges and probabilities. A 95 per cent confidence interval means there is a 95 per cent probability that the material, in this case shell, was gathered and brought to the mountain sometime within that period. There was Maori settlement on the mountain in the 16th and 17th centuries but it cannot be said from the dates, or the archaeology, that the use of both the rim and the northern knoll were contemporary. Archaeological excavations over a wide area would be required to provide a more detailed chronological history of activities on Maungawhau.

H8 European history

The full specialist reports on Maungawhau-Mt Eden during the historic period are presented in appendices in the draft conservation plan 2006. A summary is provided here and a chronology below.

Summary

The European history of the mountain starts in 1827, when Dumont D'Urville attempted to climb the mountain. Several early attempts were made to climb the mountain in anticipation of the spectacular views, but because of the depopulation of the area after the Ngati Whatua conquest in the 18th century the land was so densely overgrown that the early explorers were not able to reach the mountain, let alone climb it.

On 18 September 1840 the first portion was purchased from Apihai Te Kawau, where the summit acted as the southern point of the original 3000 acre purchase. The mountain was renamed Eden after the family name of Lord Auckland, Governor Hobson's patron. In the same year Acting Surveyor-General Felton Mathew used the mountain's summit, along with several other volcanic cones, as one of his survey points for the new town of Auckland. A stone cairn was erected on the summit on 17 September 1872 by surveyor Stephenson Percy Smith to serve as the principal survey point for the Auckland province.

The "Royal instructions of 1840" had directed the Governor and his staff to set aside areas for recreation and health and forbade the alienation of public land. It would seem that the government's intention at the time of purchase was to retain the mountain as a reserve because it was not subdivided for resale in the mid 1840s like the rest of the Mt Eden area. From the 1840s the mountain was used as common grazing land for settlers. A 63 acre public recreation reserve centred on the cone was formally set aside in 1876.

Quarrying around the mountain had been in progress since stone was obtained for the Albert Barracks in 1847 and continued with the establishment of the Auckland Gaol to the north of the mountain in 1856. Prison labour was used to construct the summit road in 1869 for the visit to Auckland of Prince Alfred. Stone from Maungawhau was used by the Mt Eden Highway Board (established in 1868) for road improvements in Mt Eden and surrounding districts. Gravel pits for extracting scoria were established on the sides of the cone and were used to provide revenue for the Domain Board, which was established in 1879. However, lack of funding limited the activity of the Board and little was done apart from the erection of a stone wall at the, some tree planting and the removal of some pine trees. In 1907 the functions of the board were taken over by the Mt Eden Borough Council, providing a new source of funds for managing the mountain.

Mt Eden has had a long association with Auckland's water supply. In the 1870s the supply from the Auckland Domain proved to be inadequate and steps were taken to exploit Western Springs. This scheme was put in operation on 10 July 1877 and used a beam engine to pump water through a system of pipelines and reservoirs that culminated in a reservoir of Mt Eden. This reservoir proved to be inadequate and was replaced in 1885. On 11th July 1911 the Mt Eden Borough Council allowed Auckland City Council the use of a 1.5acre site on the mountain for a further replacement reservoir which was built in 1912. A large section of this reservoir collapsed in 1929 following excavations for a new adjoining reservoir causing serious damage to parts of the lower mountain. The damaged reservoir was subsequently repaired and the new reservoir built.

The end of World War 1 was marked by a 21-gun salute from the slopes on 18 July 1919 and a huge bonfire lit on the summit the following day.

In the 1920s and 1930s there was more activity on the mountain with various "improvements" undertaken. In particular, a caretaker was appointed in 1922; a cottage being moved onto the mountain for his residence in 1926. In this year steps were constructed at the summit to prevent cars driving onto it. The tea kiosk was officially opened in this year and the rockeries around it constructed. In 1928 the summit car park was developed. The summit road was sealed in 1934 and the old tram shelter at the entrance turned into public toilets in 1938.

The parking area by the kiosk and the rose gardens were formed in 1940, but for the remainder of World War 2 the mountain and the tea kiosk were taken over by the military. Stock had been removed from the mountain in 1930, but in 1946-47, after a grass fire on the mountain, the grass was re-sown, fences, gates, cattle-stops, stock loading pens and water troughs installed and sheep brought in to graze the mountain. Sheep grazing continued until concern about dog attacks brought about the introduction of cattle. Damage to the archaeological features of the mountain was noticed from their earliest introduction.

In 1948 the Post Office constructed VHF radio transmitter stations on the summit. These facilities remained in use until 2000.

Planting on the mountain continued throughout the remainder of the century. In 1986 a management plan was adopted that was intended to halt the deterioration of the mountain.

H8.1 Chronology of Events

15000 BP Maungawhau erupts; Te Waitemata was a river through Totara forests

Pre- c.1700
Post c.1700
1820s
1830s

1840 Purchase/gift of northern and eastern slopes of Maungawhau-Mt Eden from Apihai Te Kawau to establish an alliance with the Crown. The initial portion is 3,000 acres. A further 8,000 acres, including the rest of Maungawhau-Mt Eden is purchased, gifted, in 1841.

1840 Felton Mathew surveys the site of the new capital from Maungawhau-Mt Eden. This points marks the southern boundary of the 3000 acre block of land on which the settlement would be founded.

Royal Instrument of 1840 directed the Governor to set aside places for recreation and health. Forbade the alienation of public land.

1840s Squatting licences issued on Maungawhau-Mt Eden

1849 Crown Lands Ordinance

1858 Wastelands Act

1860s New Zealand Wars stall the previously good development of Pakeha and Maori relations. Ngati Whatua mostly located remaining fragment of original of lands at Okahu Bay. Ngati Te Ata lands at Awhitu and Mangere confiscated.

1861 Public Domains Act

1867 Highways Act

1868 Mount Eden Highway Board is formed.

1869 Road to the summit is formed by prison labour in anticipation of the first visit of Prince Alfred the Duke of Edinburgh.

1869-1871 Rifle range is erected adjacent to Maungawhau-Mt Eden.

1870 Rangers for Mt Eden Highway Board appointed.

1870-71 Unofficial visit of Prince Alfred. His elephant reputedly conveys large stones to the summit.

1872 Surveyor S. Percy Smith erects stone cairn on the summit of Maungawhau-Mt Eden to serve as the principal trig station of the Auckland Province.

Public pound is erected on the northern section of domain.

1876 A 63-acre block centred on the cone of Maungawhau-Mt Eden is gazetted as a recreational reserve.

1879 Mount Eden Domain Board is established to administer the reserve. Gates are installed at carriage drive and near pound.

A stone wall is built across boundary with the government scoria pit to prevent encroachment on the mountain domain.

1880 Prison labour forms road to summit and pound.

Gravel pits are fenced, 25 puriri seats are erected and more than 400 Pinus insignus trees are planted.

1881 New plantation is fenced and planted with 'a nice and varied assortment of trees'.

Gravel pit is taken over by Mount Eden Domain Board.

Work is undertaken to stabilise the cliff face of Kirby's pit.

1882 Mount Eden is constituted a Road District and the Mount Eden Road Board is formed.

Trees are planted around seats on Maungawhau-Mt Eden and an area by the western entrance is fenced and planted. Gravel pits are fenced, 25 puriri seats are erected and more than 400 Pinus insignus trees are planted.

1884 Gates are installed at rifle range and a zigzag path is built connecting the rifle range with the road.

A site in Kirby's pit is granted for the erection of a public hall, however, this is never built.

1885 Timber gates to be erected at entrance on Epsom side of domain.

1886 Path formed from the gate near the rifle range to the summit road and Batgers Road formed.

1887 Water reservoir is erected on Maungawhau-Mt Eden.

1887-8 Retaining wall on approach to domain is built and entrance area is improved using prison labour. Prisoners also carry out further planting and sloping of ash pit on domain.'

1889-90 Two new footpaths formed and drinking fountain installed on mountain. New seats are also erected.

1902 Large number of Pinus insignus trees are removed and replaced with native trees and new fences, drains and gates have been installed. Entrance to domain is improved by prison labour.

1904 More exotic trees are removed and replaced with natives.

1906 Mount Eden is proclaimed a borough and the first Mount Eden Borough Council is elected.

1907 Mount Eden Borough Council takes over responsibility for the Mount Eden Domain reserves.

1908 Steps near Normanby Road are reconstructed and retaining wall is erected on north east corner of summit road.

1911-12 A second water reservoir is erected on Maungawhau-Mt Eden.

1916 Drinking fountain damaged by vandals is removed.

1917 Old Rifle Range, Part Section 6 Suburbs of Auckland becomes part of Mount Eden Domain.

1918 Two 12 foot long seats area installed on brow of hill overlooking Puketapapa-Mt Roskill.

July 1919 Celebrations take place on the summit of Maungawhau-Mt Eden to celebrate the end of the First World War. On 18 July a twenty-one gun salute is fired from the mountain and the following day a bonfire is lit to celebrate peace.

1922 Maungawhau-Mt Eden is proclaimed a sanctuary under the provisions of the Animals Protection and Game Act, 1921-22.

Mr Martin is appointed the first full-time caretaker for Maungawhau-Mt Eden.Avenue planted "to top of hill".

1923 Preliminary work on rockeries.

1924 Two rockeries and native trees.

1926 Cottage is moved from council office site to Maungawhau-Mt Eden where it becomes the residence of the caretaker. Steps are installed near trig to preserve the summit and stop cars driving over it.

Bell tower at Bellview Reserve is removed to mountain domain.

Cliff at Normanby Road is excavated and rockeries formed.

1927 Excavating and levelling area at Normanby Road is carried out and grass is laid.

Ferns are planted in the crater.

9 April 1927 The tea kiosk is officially opened by the Mayor, E. H. Potter. The kiosk was designed by Sinclair O'Connor and built by R. McLaren at a cost of �2350.

8 October 1927 Demonstration of hangi held on mountain followed by planting of puriri tree by Princess Te Puea and totora by Te Akarana Maori Association.

Late 1927 Royal Doulton porcelain direction table donated by Sir Ernest Davis is erected at the summit of Maungawhau-Mt Eden.

1928 New parking area is formed and new path is created on summit of Maungawhau-Mt Eden.

Old scoria pit at northern entrance to domain is filled to form a playing field.

Grass fires on mountain.

4 March 1929 Auckland City Council water reservoir erected in 1912 on Maungawhau-Mt Eden bursts open causing considerable damage to the mountain and private property.

1930 New reservoir installed on Maungawhau-Mt Eden.

1930-40 Grazing ceases on mountain.

1933 Survey stones are re-erected on summit of Maungawhau-Mt Eden.

1934-8 Summit road is sealed with bitumen.

1938 First public toilets are installed at the base of the domain inside the tram shelter on Mount Eden Road.

1938-9 Alterations are carried out at tea kiosk.

Rose garden and parking area are formed near kiosk and new lawn is laid on former pound site.

1941-2 Planting is renewed in rockeries and gardens (approximately 40,000 plants are planted). Pine trees on western slopes are thinned and puriri and karaka trees are planted.

1942-3 Army takes over summit and tea kiosk for war purposes.

1944 Lot 3 DP 31644 being Part Allotment 53, Section 6, Suburbs of Auckland becomes part of Mount Eden Domain.

1946-7 Grass fires occur on mountain during drought. Grass is resown and fences, gates, cattle stops, loading pens and water troughs are installed on mountain and sheep begin grazing.

1947 Plaque is placed on survey stones by the New Zealand Institute of Surveyors and the New Zealand Institute of Survey Draughtsmen to commemorate the centenary of the death of Felton Mathew, first Surveyor General of New Zealand.

1948 Post Office erects a radio mast and station building on summit of Maungawhau-Mt Eden. This provides a direct radio link with Great Barrier Island and a very high frequency (VHF) radio telephone service.

1948-9 Tea kiosk is connected with sewage system.

1951 Alterations are carried out at tea kiosk to comply with eating house regulations.

Allotment 121, Section 6, Suburbs of Auckland is added to Mount Eden Domain.

1953-4 Underpinning of kiosk building is carried out.

1954-5 Garage is erected on north side of kiosk.

1955-6 Retaining wall on western slope is strengthened and partially reconstructed.

1956 Plaque donated by Mrs A.G.W. Sparrow is erected on survey stones showing the first land secured for the new settlement of Auckland surveyed from Maungawhau-Mt Eden.

1955-63 Extensive planting programme is carried out including hundreds of trees most of which are native.

1958 Allotment 111, Section 6, Suburbs of Auckland, S.O. 25425 becomes part of Mount Eden Domain.

1960 Fletcher construction are engaged to repair scoria face of Maungawhau-Mt Eden.

1962 St Barnabas scout group erect a timber scout den near Normanby Road.

Maungawhau-Mt Eden is first used as a television relay point for outside broadcasts.

Pre 1963 Children's playground is installed at Normanby Road frontage of Domain.

1963 Part Allotment 53, Section 6, Suburbs of Auckland becomes part of Mount Eden Domain.

1964 Several truckloads of native ferns are gifted to council from Auckland City Council dam reserve at Huia. Many of these are planted in a fernery on Maungawhau-Mt Eden.

Eden Gardens Society is formed and work begins on forming the gardens.

1965 Plaque is erected by Auckland branch of the New Zealand Institute of Surveyors to commemorate 100 years of the Auckland Provincial Surveyors Association.

1968 New Zealand Institute of Surveyors installs a time capsule on the summit of Maungawhau-Mt Eden as a belated commemoration of their centenary in 1965.

Large waterfall gifted by the New Zealand Insurance Company to celebrate their 100th anniversary is installed at Eden Gardens.

c. 1972 Maungawhau-Mt Eden is declassified as a wildlife refuge under the Wildlife Act 1953.

1973 St Barnabas scout den near Normanby Road is destroyed by fire and is subsequently replaced with a new concrete block structure.

Cattle are removed from the mountain by court order for nine months because of overgrazing.

1974 Grove of Puriri trees is planted near Normanby Road playground by Labour candidates for the Mount Eden Borough Council elections in memory of the late Prime Minister, Norman Kirk.

1975 Eight large rose beds near the tea kiosk that are permanently shaded by adjacent trees are replanted with shade loving plants. A new circular rose bed is formed using transplanted roses. Signs are erected prohibiting trail bikers from riding on grassy slopes of the mountain.

1976 Pump house is built just inside the boundary of the domain to serve VHF station.

1978 Planning hearing held regarding use of Eden Gardens' property. Under existing zoning many activities carried out by the Eden Garden Society are prohibited. Hearing held to resolve these issues.

1983 Old council works depot on Maungawhau-Mt Eden is closed.

Direction table is smashed by vandals.

Part of Domain is classified as a Historic Reserve.

1984-86 Old council works depot is used by community groups.

1986 New bronze direction table designed by Worrall Jewellers and made by Millar Patterson Brass Founders is installed at the summit of Maungawhau-Mt Eden. Meanwhile original direction table has been restored by Sabine Whelk and installed in War Memorial hall.

Car park at tea kiosk is extended.

Management Plan for Maungawhau-Mt Eden is completed.

1987 Eden Gardens becomes a Recreation Reserve administered by the Department of Conservation.

1989 Mount Eden Borough amalgamates with Auckland City.

1989-90 Remaining buildings on old depot site are demolished and area is redeveloped into Tahaki Reserve.

1992 Maungawhau-Mt Eden is awarded landmark status by Auckland City Council.

2000 One of two telecommunications tower is removed from the summit of Maungawhau-Mt Eden.

Grove of Rimu trees is planted near Normanby Road playground by Eden Albert Community Board to celebrate the new millennium.

2001 Survey stones are restored and plaque is erected by New Zealand Institute of Surveyors and Eden Albert Community Board to mark the event.

2002 Project undertaken to restore pathways and eroded features at the summit and carpark.

2003 Cattle stops are installed to keep animals from summit area.

Descendant of Haukaiwaka and Te Kawau is installed in the caretaker's cottage and works on policy and management issues with council and Iwi.

2004

2005 Notification of intention to review the 1986 management plan.

2006 Conservation plan for the reserves produced for council.

Agreement in principle process underway which, once completed following Waitangi Tribunal hearings, will affect the long term management of the reserves.

Published May 2007