Our heritage

From City Scene, published on 28 October, 2007

Crowd pleaser - Sir John Logan Campbell addresses the crowd at the official opening of Cornwall Park on August 26, 1903. With him on the dais of Huia Lodge is the Hon E Mitchelson, Mayor of Auckland. Special Collections, Auckland City Libraries (N.Z.), 7-A253.

In 1903, a stream of carriages rumbled up the drive to Sir John Logan Campbell's farm estate to celebrate the opening of one of Auckland's most beloved and beautiful assets, Cornwall Park.

Throughout the 19th century, John Logan Campbell had been buying up the land that now makes up Cornwall Park and One Tree Hill Domain. The 1901 visit by the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall inspired Campbell to name the park after them. He signed over the estate to a trust board, so it would belong to the people of New Zealand in perpetuity. Aucklanders showed their gratitude by commissioning a bronze statue of Campbell and a fountain to stand at the park gates.

After Campbell's death in 1912, his home in O'Connell Street, Acacia Cottage, was relocated to Cornwall Park, restored and furnished in period style. Auckland's oldest house, it gives visitors a glimpse of how early colonial life was lived.

The park features many historic trees, with a great deal of planting carried out over the years including kauri, oaks, eucalyptus, pohutukawa and Norfolk pines.