War Sites Everywhere
On the road to Oakura from town, which we travelled often between 1994 and 2004 when we lived at the beach, are numerous battle sites from the 1860s, and other sites where historic remains are visible.
 |
| Omata Church |
As you travel State Highway 45 from the city to the west, you come to the corner of Belt Road and Devon Street. This was where the Town Belt was shown on Carrington's plan. This was to be a strip of parkland running around the urban area. Vestiges of it remain in Sanders Park, Westown School, and Rugby Park, but most of it was sold off for subdivisions in the wisdom of the city fathers later in the century.
At the Belt Road corner there was a town gate, where everyone was checked in or out during the times of hostilities.
Further on, just outside the built-up area at Whaler's Gate, is the Omata Stockade, a defensive position built on a small hill, the site of a former Maori defensive pa. It is now a reserve and it is worth a visit. Alternatively, there is a detailed book about the archaeological research into the redoubt site, written by Nigel Prickett, formerly on the staff of the Taranaki Museum, and later until 2008, the Curator of Archaeology at the Auckland War Memorial Museum.
 |
| The site of Tom Gilbert's farm on the Hurford Road ridge |
Another kilometre further along the road is the settlement of Omata, where there is a historic church building, and the graves of several early settlers, including John Hurford, the first European to be killed in the fighting.
In Beach Road, Omata, there is a very early farmhouse, much altered and added to, which survived the war period, and especially the nearby Battle of Waireka.
No comments:
Post a Comment