Cornwall Park, Auckland
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Cornwall Park is an expansive parkland in
Epsom Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain ...
near the heart of
Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
, New Zealand, surrounding the park containing Maungakiekie Pā or the hill of One Tree Hill. The two independent parks form one large park of . The Park has centuries-old heritage sites, wide-open spaces, tree lined avenues and walks, places of peace and tranquility in a large city, sports grounds including tennis and bowls and a working farm for the education of city children.
John Logan Campbell Sir John Logan Campbell (3 November 1817 – 22 June 1912) was a Scottish-born New Zealand public figure. He was described by his contemporaries as "the father of Auckland". Early life John Logan Campbell was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on ...
, Auckland resident since 1840 and, at the time of this gift, mayor, gave the park's 230 acres to a private trust on 10 June 1901.''Cornwall Park, the story of a man's vision'', The Cornwall Park Trust Board Inc, 1994 Epsom NZ Campbell chose to present the deeds the following day to the visiting heir to the throne, the Duke of Cornwall and York later
George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. George w ...
asking his consent for it to be named Cornwall Park in honour of the Duke.Cornwall Park
''Auckland Star'', Volume XXXII, Issue 138, 12 June 1901, p. 5
A few weeks later the adjoining Alexandra Park was named in honour of the Duke's mother.


Origin


Land

Campbell gave the land to Cornwall Park Trust, a
trust Trust often refers to: * Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality It may also refer to: Business and law * Trust (law), a legal relationship in which one person holds property for another's benefit * Trust (bu ...
he had established for the purpose. The park was described at the time as "two hundred and thirty acres of the finest land in the district", or 93 hectares, a portion of some at One Tree Hill bought by Dr Campbell many years before. He had planned to build a house there and planted the parkland in preparation for that but he subsequently chose to live near the centre of the city in Parnell, his home was named 'Kilbryde' and situated on part of the site of their
rose gardens A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be e ...
. Still marked by his trees the carriage drive he made in Cornwall Park sweeps in an S-bend from Puriri Drive across Greenlane west of the Park's Greenlane entrance to his house site near Huia Lodge. Visitors may walk along it from the gate opposite the Park's administration and works depot in Greenlane. There were to be further gifts including the land about Puriri Drive and Campbell Crescent and the endowment lands, housing sites to be made available on 21-year leases. Cornwall Park’s land extends beyond the park itself into the surrounding neighbourhoods. This land is on the periphery of the park and is leased by Cornwall Park to fund the maintenance and upkeep of the park. This ensures the park remains free for all to use. The Sir John Logan Campbell Residuary Estate continues his philanthropic legacy by distributing income annually to charities and community organisations. There are more than 90 residential, recreational, and commercial leasehold properties within or surrounding the park. All residential leases are in perpetuity. Opposition to ground rent increases has led to court cases focusing on the interpretation of the lease terms, the methodology of valuation, and the fairness of the rent review process.


Cornwall Park Trust

The deeds handed to the
trustees Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, refers to anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the ...
stated "the said lands are and shall be held by the Trustees on trust for the people of the colony of New Zealand, and also for such public purposes for the general benefit of the people of New Zealand in the way of affording them recreation, enjoyment, pleasure and instruction and other similar benefits and advantages of that nature as the Trustees shall from time to time consider best."


Management

The trustees, acting through ''The Cornwall Park Trust Board Inc'', also manage the Campbell Trust. Until 2012 they also managed the One Tree Hill Domain on behalf of the Auckland Council. Their One Tree Hill Domain responsibility has ceased and Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau Collective decides upon and implements its own policies on Maungakiekie/One Tree Hill Domain. The first Cornwall Park trustees were
David Murdoch David Matthew Murdoch (born 17 April 1978) is a retired Scottish curler from Stirling. As the Scotland skip, he and his former team of Ewan MacDonald, Warwick Smith, Euan Byers and Peter Smith are the 2006 and 2009 World Curling Champions ...
,
Arthur Myers Sir Arthur Mielziner Myers (19 May 1868 – 9 October 1926) was a New Zealand politician. He was Mayor of Auckland City from 1905 to 1909, Member of the House of Representatives from 1910 to 1921, and a Cabinet Minister. Today he is remembered ...
(chairman), Robert Hall and
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.


Chairmen of Trustees

*A M Myers (1901–1926) *A S Bankart (1926–1927) *J H Gunson (1927–1956) *A U Wells (1956–1974) *B P Stevenson (1975–1983) *K B Myers (1983–1991) *R H L Ferguson (1991–2007) *H M Horton (2007–2011) *J L Clark (2011–2017) *J A W McConnell (2017–2020) *A F Young-Cooper (2020–2023) *John Duncan (2023–2025) *A F Young-Cooper (2025–present)


Design

A scheme was laid out by young landscape designer Austin Strong (1881–1952)Austin Strong, a step-grandson of
Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...
, was born in San Francisco and grew up in Hawaii, Samoa and Wellington New Zealand where he attended
Wellington College Wellington College may refer to: New Zealand * Wellington College, Wellington, New Zealand * Wellington College of Education, now the Faculty of Education of Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand * Wellington Girls' College, Wellington, N ...
. He studied landscape architecture in New York, was chosen to design Cornwall Park and completed the commission. He subsequently became a successful New York playwright. Sourc
Joseph Theroux, Nantucket Historical Association
/ref> inspired by
Golden Gate Park Golden Gate Park is an urban park between the Richmond District, San Francisco, Richmond and Sunset District, San Francisco, Sunset districts on the West Side (San Francisco), West Side of San Francisco, California, United States. It is the Lis ...
in
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
. Ongoing design is managed by New York-based landscape architecture firm
Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects (NBW) is an American landscape architecture firm based in New York, Charlottesville, and Houston, founded in 1985 by Warren T. Byrd Jr., and Susan Nelson, and led by Thomas Woltz. History Warren Byrd an ...
in collaboration with New Zealand-based Boffa Miskell.


Endowment

In 1907 a second gift of and the following year another for endowment to be let on building leases to create income to help with the park's upkeep. Together these new gifts made a total area of within Cornwall Park. Combined with the adjoining almost encircled city-owned One Tree Hill Domain of there was now one Park of . However the trustees were personally liable for any expenditure that could not be met by the trust's funds and so in 1914 residential sites along Wheturangi Road were sold on long term lease to meet immediate needs for cash and the trustees asked that local bodies give consideration to some form of rate relief complaining that over 60 per cent of the trusts revenue went in taxes. St Cuthbert's College took 8 acres by the formal entrance on a 99-year building lease in 1919. After many years of petitions and representations from Auckland to Parliament in 1922 Parliament decided that the Cornwall Park land should be valued for rating purposes at its "restricted value", this valuation of the park having regard to its income as grazing land. By this time the capital value of the Park's land exceeded £200,000. As the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
began to subside and New Zealand's new government began to change policies there was a leap in the Government's assessment for the park's land tax from £300 to £1,400. One Tree Hill Borough's councillors agreed to apply to the Government for the Government's consent to exempt the Park from payment of their rates on the Park's land. The Government agreed and passed enablin
legislation
in September 1938. In 1952 following the death of his only daughter Campbell's remaining estate, then valued at £400,000, passed under the control of the Cornwall Park Trustees and the income is allocated according to Campbell's wishes to a wide range of purposes. Income received by the trustees from the trust's property is exempt fro
Income Tax


Restrictions

;No more riding or golf Soon after the beginning of World War II riding and golf were banned. Horses for the damage to lawns, although tracks were provided, and golf for the annoyance and danger to sheep grazing in the park. Subsequently it was decided that golf was not a use available to the people generally and did not comply with the trust deed and the Auckland Golf Club's and Maungakiekie Golf Club's privileges were ended. In any case the trust deed required construction of "Grand Avenue" through the land at present used for golf.


Cornwall Hospital

From 1942 to 1945 the park was occupied by the nation's defence forces as a site of temporary barracks and a temporary hospital was built for the United States Army in the eastern area of Cornwall Park. Initially for 1050 patients and their 715 attendants — the U.S. 39th General Hospital — it was very shortly doubled in capacity to 2,000 beds. There were 122 separate buildings with a floor area of 8 acres, built in just over 6 weeks during a wet winter on of the park. In 1944 the Government proposed to compulsorily acquire a portion of the land to build a home for blinded ex-servicemen. It was protested that in June 1942 an undertaking had been given that the area would not be used for other than war purposes but to no avail whatsoever. The hospital buildings became Cornwall Hospital and included maternity facilities,
National Women's Hospital National Women's Hospital, founded in 1955, was a public hospital specialising in obstetrics and gynaecology in Auckland, New Zealand. Initially located in Cornwall Hospital it moved to a purpose built building adjacent to Green Lane Hospital, A ...
, and a geriatric hospital. All buildings on the site were demolished in 1975. The hospital for blinded servicemen remains in the adjoining Park Maungakiekie/One Tree Hill Domain, and is known as Sorrento in the Park, an events venue.


Activities

On top of admiring scenery, drinking tea while the Band plays on its
rotunda A rotunda () is any roofed building with a circular ground plan, and sometimes covered by a dome. It may also refer to a round room within a building (an example being the one below the dome of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.). ...
, picnicking, birdwatching, walking, jogging, bicycling, keeping the dog secure on its leash and admiring the ewes and their lambs, provisions for formalised activities include: ::


Publications

The Cornwall Park Trust Board's publications include: *''Poenamo Revisited'', (2012) a facsimile of the 1898 edition of Campbell's autobiography with new annotations and many pictures. *''Cornwall Park, the Story of a Man's Vision''The Cornwall Park Trust Inc, 1994 *''Reminiscences of a Long Life'', Sir John Logan Campbell, edited and introduced by R.C.J Stone, 2017. ;Brochures
:Sir John Logan Campbell :Cornwall Park :Cornwall Park Heritage Trail
:Cornwall Park Tree Trail :Cornwall Park Bird Species :Cornwall Park Farm
:Acacia Cottage :Huia Lodge :Cornwall Hospital 1942–1975


Notes


References


Further reading

* Pearson, Dave. (1995) 'A fine legacy'. ''Historic Places.'' No. 53, p. 6-8.


External links

*
Map of Cornwall Park and its features


held in Auckland Libraries' heritage collections. {{Maungakiekie-Tāmaki Local Board Area 1901 establishments in New Zealand Māori culture in Auckland Parks in Auckland Tourist attractions in Auckland Geography of Auckland Sports venues in Auckland Auckland volcanic field Rugby union stadiums in New Zealand Rugby league stadiums in New Zealand Tennis venues in New Zealand Bowls in New Zealand Auckland cricket grounds Urban forests in New Zealand Albert-Eden Local Board Area Maungakiekie-Tāmaki Local Board Area