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Mt Eden area - Maungawhau Heritage Walks
Introduction
| Early development
| Mt Eden Village Walk
| Mt Eden Neighbourhood Walk
| Mt Eden industrial area
| Eden Valley Shopping Centre
Mt Eden Neighbourhood Walk
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Mt Eden Road and St Barnabas
Church. |
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Residential development came
to Mt Eden in 1864. George Owen subdivided his land forming 70
small sections around Percy Street and Hillside Crescent (previously
known as Cromwell and Milton Roads.
However it wasn't until 1882
that the last of these sections was sold by auctioneer Samuel Cochrane.
It was here that some of Auckland's businessmen erected their
country residences.
The 1870s saw further subdivisions. Valley Road and
Sherbourne Road were formed when Charles Tothill subdivided his
land into two and four acre lots. James Stokes subdivided land
adjacent to Stokes Road which was dedicated in 1873. William Rowe subdivided
the area around View and Esplanade Roads in 1874. Other
landowners in the area north of Valley Road followed suit while the land to the
south retained its agricultural identity.
Mt Eden itself was
increasingly popular for walking and as a weekend and holiday picnic
destination. In 1874 it was proposed to form a public recreation reserve on Mt Eden.
This was achieved in 1879 when 26 hectares were set aside as a
public domain. The domain board placed restrictions on quarrying,
fenced the domain and commenced tree planting, sowing grass and
forming paths and roadways.
Volcanic stone was used
extensively for early road building, as well as walls and fences and remains
an important characteristic of the area.
Allotment sizes demonstrate a
pattern of more substantial suburban development and the area
retains its early housing stock to a significant degree, including largely one
and two storied timber villas. The architectural design of the
villa together with surrounding gardens form a lasting expression of
the Victorian and Edwardian middle class in New Zealand, reflecting a
love of home and comfort, spacious interiors, decoration and display.
The
construction of this type of housing coincided with massive increases in
population and with developments in the timber industry. Woodworking
machinery was introduced in the 1860s, and in the late nineteenth century
thousands of houses were built incorporating a vast range of mass-produced
elements available from a highly mechanized timber industry.
This walk features a number of
the scheduled or registered historic churches and houses in Mt
Eden.
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Elevation of the former Mt Eden
Borough Council Building
and Fire Station. |
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Former Mt Eden Borough Council - Corner Valley and Sherbourne Roads
During the nineteenth century the
need for roads provided the impetus
for the formation of local bodies. In
1868 the Mt Eden Highway Board
held its inaugural meeting at the
Eden Vine Hotel, conveniently located
just outside the liquor free Eden
district.
The board was responsible for roading in Mt Eden, Balmoral and part
of Sandringham, as well as the
pigs, horses, cattle and sheep that
roamed freely through the district.
To
fund the construction and upkeep of
roads in the area toll gates were
erected on Mt Eden and Dominion
Roads.
In 1882 the area was constituted a
road district and the highway board
became the Mt Eden Road Board. Work
on the roads continued and in
1895 the board were in a position to
remove the tollgates.
In 1906 Mount Eden gained borough
status and the council soon turned their
attention to having council offices
erected.
Designed by Wade and Wade architects
the Mt Eden Borough Council
offices were officially opened in
March 1913. The building was enlarged
by about a third in 1940. A. Sinclair
O'Connor was the architect for
these alterations.
The fire station
ceased functioning in 1970 and the
council offices were made redundant
in 1989 when the borough council
was absorbed by the Auckland City
Council.
War Memorial entry and primary school - Valley Road
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War Memorial entry and primary
school - Valley Road. |
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Erected after the First World War,
the memorial entry was re-modelled
in 1965 when the original heavy iron
gates were replaced.
During the First World War over
18,000 New Zealand men were killed
in action or died of wounds or
disease. The vast majority were buried
overseas. War memorials stood in
place of distant graves, and were
erected in almost every town and
village throughout the country in
memory of those from the local area
who had died.
In addition to
their commemorative role memorials
were often intended to have an
educational purpose expressing both
pride in military achievement,
courage and self-sacrifice, and an
appreciation of peace and liberty.
They were frequently located at the
entrance to primary schools or
even within school grounds to provide
inspiration to the young.
The primary school has been located
on this site since 1879. The first
timber school building in Mt Eden was
built in 1877 on the corner of
Valley Road and Mt Eden Road. It
shifted to a new building on the current
school site in 1879 which was
demolished in the mid 1960's for modern
school buildings.
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| Hororeka Avenue residence. |
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14 Hororeka Avenue B
This fine residence was built in the
late nineteenth century for Oliver
Nicholson.
He served as Mayor of the
Mt Eden Borough Council for its
first twelve years. Nicholson is
remembered as being an outstanding
leader who came to be regarded as the
"father" of the borough.
He
was a trained lawyer and successful
businessman who supported
many philanthropic causes.
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St James Presbyterian Church
in 1910. |
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St James Church B - Corner View and Esplanade
Roads
In 1900 this church was
erected as Mt Eden's Congregational Church.
The timber church hall behind
was built in 1885 and served as the original church building until
it was outgrown by the congregation.
It has been known as St James
Presbyterian Church since the merging of congregational and
Presbyterian churches in 1969. Since the late 1970s the church has
predominantly served the Cook Island community.
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| Ficino Primary School. |
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Ficino Primary School - 27 Esplanade Road
Originally the home of dentist
Laurie Taylor this house was more recently used as the Bethesda
Old Peoples Home run by Seventh Day Adventists.
In the late 1990s
it was converted to a small private school, which opened in 1997.
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| Mountain Court. |
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Flats - View Road
By the 1930s a new form of
housing was visible along the northern end of Mt Eden Road and in nearby
streets.
Interspersed among the villas were new buildings such as the
Granada Flats and Mountain Court, which contained several
residential units.
They were designed as fashionable homes for stylish
people, and were typically in plastered masonry construction.
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The tram passenger shelter built
around 1910. |
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Tram shelter / Mt Eden Tea Kiosk B - Mt Eden
Road, entrance to Domain
The tram passenger shelter at the entrance to Mt Eden Domain was built around 1910. Toilets
were added prior to 1929.
Above the tram shelter is Te
Ngutu (The Lips), one of the ceremonial
entrances to Maungawhau pa. It is one of a number of hierarchical
entrances that led to the highly defended tihi or summit. Near here also
are ceremonial altars where the ritual observances of Te Ao Maori are
practiced.
From the 1870s a reservoir on
top of the mountain improved the Auckland water supply. In 1929
during the construction of a new reservoir, the wall of the
existing reservoir collapsed sending 3,500 tons of water down the
mountain.
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View from summit of Mt Eden
in 1968. |
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Mt Eden offers a wonderful
vantage point of the surrounding area. In order to protect the volcanic
cone 27 hectares forming the Mt Eden Domain was set aside as crown
land in the 1870s. The road to the summit was formed in 1879
utilising prison labour.
During the 1920s access was improved with the
laying of paths and steps to the summit.
In 1927 a tea kiosk was
erected on the mountain to serve the many visitors who made the trek up
Mt Eden. The kiosk was surrounded by rose gardens planted during
the depression of the 1930s. The
mountain remains a popular tourist attraction.
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| St Barnabas Church in 1910. |
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St Barnabas Church II B
- 281 Mt Eden Road
As the oldest church building
in Mt Eden, St Barnabas began its life as a Maori chapel in Mechanics
Bay.
It was built of pit sawn Kauri under the direction of Bishop Selwyn
to the design of architect Frederick Thatcher.
The church fell into
disuse on its original site and was moved by bullock drawn wagons to its
current location in 1877.
The width of the building was increased by
18 feet in 1886 and numerous other additions followed over the
years.
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| 358 Mt Eden Road. |
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358 Mt Eden Road II B
In 1879 Auckland businessman
John Batger had this house erected.
Batger was prominent in
business affairs being the Auckland manager of the New Zealand Shipping
Company, director of the New Zealand Insurance Company, trustee of
the Auckland Savings Bank and president of the Auckland Institute and
Museum.
He was also involved in church affairs being a member of several
church bodies.
He lived in the house until his death in 1919.
Published March 2008
