Auckland Domain

The Auckland Domain is Auckland's oldest park, and at 75 hectares one of the largest in the city. [ [http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/whatson/places/parks/domain.asp Parks in Auckland] (from the Auckland City Council website, Retrieved Sunday 15 April 2007)] Located in the central suburb of Grafton, the park lies mostly within the crater of the Pukekawa volcano. [http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/site_resources/volcanoes/The_Domain_Walk.pdf Pukekawa - The Domain Volcano] (PDF) (from the Auckland War Memorial Museum website)] . The park is home to one of Auckland's main tourist attractions, the Auckland War Memorial Museum, which sits prominently on the crater rim. Several sports fields occupy the floor of the crater, circling to the south of the cone, while the rim opposite the Museum hosts the cricket pavilion and Auckland City Hospital. The Wintergarden, with two beautiful glass houses, as well as the Duck Ponds lie on the north edge of the cone.

Volcano

The Auckland Domain volcano, Pukekawa, is around 100,000-150,000 years old, making it one of the oldest in the Auckland Volcanic Field, and in time has been formed into a gently sloped crater ring with a small scoria cone ("Pukekaroa") in the centre. Its tuff crater rim, created by at least one major explosion, is made of a mixture of scoria, lapilli and original basement rock. At least one small lava flow also flowed out of the crater, into the general area of the Auckland City Hospital to the west.

Originally, the crater floor was a lake, which later turned into a swamp and slowly filled up with alluvium and sediment, before being drained by Europeans for use as playing fields and parkland. These origins are still somewhat visible in that the Duck Ponds are freshwater-fed from the drainage of the crater.

History

Maori habitation

Pukekawa was identified by the Māori early on as one of the best sites in the isthmus area, with the northfacing side of the volcanic cone well-suited for growing kūmara, while the hill itself was used for storage and as a pā site. The crater swamp meanwhile provided eels and water.

Pukekawa means 'hill of bitter memories' in the Māori language, and likely refers to various hard-fought tribal battles between the Ngapuhi and the Ngati Whatua iwis. A sacred totara tree, commemorating the battles and their eventual settlement, was reputedly planted by princess Te Puea Herangi and still stands on the central volcanic cone.

European usage

After the Europeans bought the land from the Ngati Whatua, it was set aside as a public reserve in the 1840s, and remains one of the city's greatest assets. During the 1860s the Domain springs were a source of water for the town of Auckland, while the original swamp was drained and turned into a cricket field. The Auckland Acclimatisation Society located their gardens here in the 1860s which were later developed into the Auckland Botanical Gardens. Parts of the layout still exist north of the band rotunda including some greenhouses from the 1870s.

In the 1850s the then Governor-General Gore-Browne eyed up the Domain as the setting for the new Government House. He was displeased with both the existing house's location in Waterloo Quadrant and also its style (and especially that it was of wooden construction). He envisaged a castle-style masonry residence similar to the Sydney Government House, which is also set in a large landscaped domain like Auckland's. Plans were drawn up, but the Premier of the time, Weld, refused to authorise funds for the project and so the Auckland Domain remained freely accessible to the public as it had been intended. The site of the Governor General's residence was later established in a new location on Mount Eden in the early 1960s.

A great many exotic specimen trees were donated and planted throughout the Domain by the late Victorians which have now matured into a splendid landscape park. They are now augmented by many New Zealand species. The wooden Cricket Pavilion designed by Mr Gorrie was built in 1898 as a replacement for an earlier structure that burnt down.

In 1913 the Domain was the site of the Auckland Industrial Exhibition. The financial return from this event resulted in many improvements, the chief one being the splendid Wintergardens next to the duckponds. The teahouse was built as the "ideal home" exhibition set piece and retained after the rest of the exhibition was dismantled. A charming example of an Arts and Crafts cottage, it stands between the Wintergardens and the duckponds.

During the 1920s & 1930s local businessman William Elliot donated several of the marble statues in the Wintergarden complex as well as the splendid Art Deco Domain entrance gates [Park Road] . The gates are surmounted by a bronze statue of a nude male athlete by the NZ sculptor Richard Gross. The Auckland Domain is also the location of several other public artworks including Guy Nygan's "Millennium Tree".

Dominating the Auckland Domain is the Auckland War Memorial Museum and the Cenotaph in front of it (Architects Grierson, Aimer and Draffin). The large neo-greek style museum building was opened in 1929 with the rear portion added in the 1960s, with a major renovation and extension in the middle 2000s adding an award-winning dome-shaped building in the inner courtyard.

In 1940, to commemorate the founding of Auckland in 1840, a new road was planned for the Domain. "Centennial Drive" was surveyed and trees planted its length but it was never formed as a road; it is now a walkway between the Duckponds and Stanley Street.

Events

The Domain has also hosted many of New Zealand's largest outdoor events. Such use has a long history, from balloon ascents during the Edwardian period, the 1953 Elizabeth II Royal Tour, Papal visits, and various sports events.

Some of the largest annual events are "Christmas in the Park", which in the past has drawn more than 200,000 spectators [" [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/event/story.cfm?c_id=1501006&ObjectID=10359539 Domain ablaze with spirit of Christmas] ", New Zealand Herald, Monday, December 12 2005, page unknown] , and other popular recurring events including the "Symphony under the Stars" and the "Teddybears Picnic".

The 2005 Red Bull Trolley Grand Prix was held using Domain Drive as the racecourse.

References

*"The Heart of Colonial Auckland, 1865-1910". Terence Hodgson. Random Century NZ Ltd 1992.
*"Auckland Through A Victorian Lens". William Main. Millwood Press 1977.
*"The Lively Capital, Auckland 1840-1865". Una Platts. Avon Fine Prints Limited New Zealand 1971.

External links

* [http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/whatson/places/parks/domain.asp Auckland Domain] (Auckland City website)