Te Wairoa was a village, now a

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...

that is also known as the Buried Village, close to the shore of

Lake Tarawera Lake Tarawera is the largest of a series of lakes which surround the volcano Mount Tarawera in the North Island of New Zealand. Like the mountain, it lies within the Okataina caldera. It is located to the east of Rotorua, and beneath the pea ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

. It was a

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

and European settlement founded in 1848 by the Revd

Seymour Mills Spencer The Reverend Seymour Mills Spencer (27 March 1812 – 30 April 1898) was born in Hartford, Connecticut. son of Moses Roswell Spencer and Alma Flagg. He and his wife Ellen Stanley Spencer followed an ambition to carry out the role of missionar ...

where visitors would stay on their way to visit the

Pink and White Terraces The Pink and White Terraces ( and ), were natural wonders of New Zealand. They were reportedly the largest silica sinter deposits on earth. Until recently, they were lost and thought destroyed in the 1886 eruption of Mount Tarawera, while new hy ...

. The village was destroyed by the

eruption Several types of volcanic eruptions—during which lava, tephra (ash, lapilli, volcanic bombs and volcanic blocks), and assorted gases are expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure—have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are often ...

of the volcano

Mount Tarawera Mount Tarawera is a volcano on the North Island of New Zealand within the older but volcanically productive Ōkataina Caldera. Located 24 kilometres southeast of Rotorua, it consists of a series of rhyolitic lava domes that were fissured d ...

on June 10, 1886. 120 people died in the eruption, many of them in other villages closer to the volcano.
National Library of New Zealand The site of one of these villages (Kokotaia) was instrumental in the recent rediscovery of the Pink and White Terrace locations. A Māori meeting house named Hinemihi which provided shelter to the people of Te Wairoa village during the eruption was relocated in 1892 to

Clandon Park Clandon Park House is an early 18th-century grade I listed Palladian mansion in West Clandon, near Guildford in Surrey. It stands in the south east corner of Clandon Park, a agricultural parkland estate which has been the seat of the Earls of ...

as an ornamental garden building and a souvenir of

William Onslow, 4th Earl of Onslow William Hillier Onslow, 4th Earl of Onslow, (7 March 1853 – 23 October 1911), was a British Conservative politician. He held several governmental positions between 1880 and 1905 and was also Governor of New Zealand between 1889 and 1892. B ...

.Hinemihi
Hinemihi.co.uk. Accessed 11 March 2013. The Buried Village is open to the public and shows the excavated ruins of the village, recovered relics on display in a museum and the history of the eruption. It is located 14 kilometres southeast of

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompass ...

on Tarawera Road. The New Zealand

Ministry for Culture and Heritage The Ministry for Culture and Heritage (MCH; ) is the department of the New Zealand Government responsible for supporting the arts, culture, built heritage, sport and recreation, and broadcasting sectors in New Zealand and advising government on ...

gives a translation of "the long stream" for .

Wairere Falls

Te Wairoa Stream flows on the southern edge of the village and over the Wairere Falls. The stream links

Lake Rotokakahi A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

() with

(). Visitors to Te Wairoa may descend the falls via a trail with steps.

References

External links

Buried Village
- official site {{Authority control Archaeological sites in New Zealand Taupō Volcanic Zone Buildings and structures in the Bay of Plenty Region Former populated places in New Zealand 1886 eruption of Mount Tarawera Museums in the Bay of Plenty Region Archaeological museums History museums in New Zealand Natural disaster ghost towns 1840s architecture in New Zealand Ghost towns in New Zealand