Maungarei (officially known as Maungarei / Mount Wellington) is a 135-metre volcanic peak and Tūpuna Maunga (ancestral mountain) located in the

Auckland volcanic field The Auckland volcanic field is an area of monogenetic volcanoes covered by much of the metropolitan area of Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, located in the North Island. The approximately 53 volcanoes in the field have produced a diverse a ...

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand. It is the youngest onshore volcano of the Auckland volcanic field, having been formed by an eruption around 10,000 years ago. It is the largest of Auckland's scoria cones and has a near-circular base with a flattish rim and three small craters. It is situated in the Mount Wellington suburb of

East Auckland East Auckland is an area of Auckland, New Zealand, characterised in the popular mind as a socio-economically mixed urban area with a relatively large multi-cultural population. The name "East Auckland" is not an official placename, but is in popul ...

Geology

Mount Wellington behind Stonefields quarry redevelopment

A number of lava flows were created by the mountain's eruption, including one which was six kilometres in length, stretching to the

Manukau Harbour The Manukau Harbour is the second largest natural harbour in New Zealand by area. It is located to the southwest of the Auckland isthmus, and opens out into the Tasman Sea. Geography The harbour mouth is between the northern head ("Burne ...

at Southdown. Another lava flow blocked the course of a river valley, forming

Lake Waiatarua The Waiatarua Reserve is a nature reserve on the eastern Auckland isthmus in New Zealand, close to the suburbs of Remuera, Meadowbank and St Johns. Originally the site of a freshwater lake, Waiatarua was drained in 1929. Since 1987, the reser ...

History

The name is short for Te Maungarei ā Pōtaka, the ancient

Ngāi Tai Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

ki Tāmaki /

Te Waiōhua Te Waiohua or Te Wai-o-Hua is a Māori iwi (tribe) confederation that thrived in the early 18th century. The iwi's rohe (tribal area) was primarily the central Tāmaki Makaurau area (the Auckland isthmus) and the Māngere peninsula, until the 17 ...

chief whose domain included the mountain and surrounding areas. Maungarei is also translated as "the watchful mountain" or "the mountain of Reipae". Reipae is a

Tainui Tainui is a tribal waka confederation of New Zealand Māori iwi. The Tainui confederation comprises four principal related Māori iwi of the central North Island of New Zealand: Hauraki, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Raukawa and Waikato. There are oth ...

ancestress who travelled to Northland in the form of a bird. Maungarei was used as a

pā The word pā (; often spelled pa in English) can refer to any Māori village or defensive settlement, but often refers to hillforts – fortified settlements with palisades and defensive terraces – and also to fortified villages. Pā sites o ...

, and its flanks, particularly on the eastern side, are covered in food storage pits and terraced house sites. The pā was occupied from at least 1400AD onwards. Mount Wellington was named by surveyor Felton Mathew after the

Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...

. Much of the old

lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or un ...

flow surrounding the mountain has been quarried for industrial aggregates, and the large quarry to the north of the mountain once produced 7% of New Zealand's roading aggregate. Much of the south face of the mountain was quarried up until 1967, after which pine trees were planted, covering the quarry face. The quarry has now closed and continues to be redeveloped for the

Stonefields Stonefields is a suburb in Auckland, New Zealand, located 8 kilometres southeast of the city centre. Stonefields is surrounded by the suburbs of Mount Wellington, Saint Johns and Glen Innes. History The 100 hectares site of single basalt ...

housing subdivision. In

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

, a 45,100-cubic-meter reservoir was constructed near the summit of the cone. The largest at the time, this reservoir is still the fourth largest in the city and is currently used to supply the Saint Johns reservoir as well as the suburbs of Glen Innes, Saint Johns,

Saint Heliers Saint Heliers is an affluent seaside suburb of Auckland with a population of as of This suburb is popular amongst visitors for the beaches, cafés, and views of Rangitoto Island, the distinctive volcanic island in the Hauraki Gulf. St. Helier ...

Kohimarama Kohimarama is a coastal residential Auckland suburb, located to the east of the city. Kohimarama is situated between Mission Bay and St Heliers and has an accessible beach with a boardwalk and green recreational spaces located amongst resident ...

and

Glendowie Glendowie is a suburb in Auckland, New Zealand. It is under the local governance of Auckland Council. It was under Auckland City Council from 1989 until the merger of all of Auckland's councils into the "super city" in 2010. Location Glendowie i ...

. In the 2014

Treaty of Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi ( mi, Te Tiriti o Waitangi) is a document of central importance to the history, to the political constitution of the state, and to the national mythos of New Zealand. It has played a major role in the treatment of the M ...

settlement between the

Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

and the ''Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau'' collective of 13 Auckland

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

and hapu (also known as the Tāmaki Collective), ownership of the 14 Tūpuna Maunga of ''Tāmaki Makaurau'' / Auckland, was vested to the collective, including the volcano officially named Maungarei / Mount Wellington. The legislation specified that the land be held in trust "for the common benefit of Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau and the other people of Auckland". The ''Tūpuna Maunga o Tāmaki Makaurau Authority'' or Tūpuna Maunga Authority (TMA) is the co-governance organisation established to administer the 14 Tūpuna Maunga. Auckland Council manages the Tūpuna Maunga under the direction of the TMA. In 2018 the summit of Maungarei became accessible to pedestrians only with a barrier installed across the access road.

References

External links

Photographs of Maungarei
held in Auckland Libraries' heritage collections. {{Auckland volcanic field Auckland volcanic field Mountains of the Auckland Region Lookouts in Auckland

Geology

History

References

Further reading

External links