Ngati Rehia's Kipa Munro at a waharoa (gateway) under construction at the entrance to the historic Kororipo kainga (village). PHOTO / PETER DE GRAAF
Ngati Rehia's Kipa Munro at a waharoa (gateway) under construction at the entrance to the historic Kororipo kainga (village). PHOTO / PETER DE GRAAF
The long-overlooked pre-European stories of one of Northland's most historic sites are about to be unearthed as part of a makeover of Kerikeri Basin.
Public land at the basin has been renamed Kororipo Heritage Park and new information panels have been installed in a continuing transformation that started with the removal of the Stone Store road bridge in 2008.
One of the aims is to make visitors more aware of the area's rich Maori history. Many visit the Stone Store and Kemp House, New Zealand's oldest building, without realising one of the country's most accessible and important pa sites is just a few minutes' walk away.
Checking out a bronze relief map of the newly named Kororipo Heritage Park are, from left, Albert Lovell, Fleur Corbett, Kipa Munro, Marty Robinson, Rolien Elliot and Jacqui Robson.
Kororipo Pa was the seasonal home of Hongi Hika, the Ngapuhi chief who invited the Church Missionary Society to Kerikeri and led a series of musket wars against other tribes. At its peak in the 1820s the adjoining kainga (village) had more than 60 whare.
Kipa Munro, of Ngati Rehia, said the decision to name the park after Kororipo Pa was a sign of its importance.
The pa would not be rebuilt but a waharoa (gateway) was under construction - the tekoteko, or carved figures, are yet to come - to entice visitors while other carvings would mark the pa site as a place of historic significance.
DoC archaeologist Andrew Blanshard said an excavation was planned at the kainga and part of the pa's fortifications next Easter. Information gained would be used for the next stage of interpretative signage and improvements at the park, due to be completed in time for Kerikeri Mission Station's bicentenary in 2019.
Despite the site's importance there had been no serious archaeological digs at the kainga, pa or original mission station, located roughly where the Pear Tree Restaurant stands today.
The kainga and part of the pa's defences had been badly damaged when an attempt was made to put in a subdivision in the 1960s but much remained, Mr Blanshard said.
The subdivision was eventually halted by a group calling itself the Society for the Protection of the Kerikeri Stone Store Area (Spokssa).
DoC Bay of Islands manager Rolien Elliot explains one of the new interpretative panels at Kororipo Heritage Park. PHOTO / PETER DE GRAAF
DoC Bay of Islands manager Rolien Elliot said Kerikeri Basin was an iconic site that, with Waitangi, had been nominated for World Heritage status.
It was one of the most significant sites of early contact between Maori and Europeans, and the latest improvements would help visitors appreciate its pre-European past and not just the Stone Store and Kemp House.
The project's success was the result of DoC, the Far North District Council, Heritage New Zealand and Ngati Rehia working together, she said. All four partners manage land at the basin.
The new signage, made of timber and iron to reflect early trade in the area, also explains how Kerikeri fits in with other early settlements at Rangihoua, Waitangi, Paihia and Russell. A bronze relief map has been installed at the DoC carpark on the north side of the river.
