Marshland Hill

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 154, 27 March 1937, Page III (Supplement)

Marshland Hill

New Plymouth is indeed fortunate in having, adjacent to its centre, a hill from which the beauties of the town may be seen to advantage. It is the aim Of most visitors to ascend the hill and enjoy the view of the wide sweep of country and the nearby homes nestling in the trees. That hill is known as Marshland Hill, named after a friend of Captain Idardet, R.N., who was the first agent of the Plymouth Company to settle on the Site of the present town of New Plymouth. Before the white man had decided on making a settlement there, the hill had been a Maori pa or fortified stronghold, with the name of Pu-kaka. It was built by one of the sub-tribes of the Taranaki tribe, the Ngati Potiki-taua. Later years saw the pa occupied by the Awa folk, W’ho had driven out the builders and strengthened it for their own protection. It was last occupied by the Maoris somewhere about 1830. In 1855, the unsettled state of the Taranaki Natives caused troops to be sent into the district, and they occupied a barracks erected on the site of the pa. A considerable amount of excavation was required for foundations for flie barracks, and about forty feet was taken off the top. The first British troops to occupy the barracks were drawn from the 58th and 05th Regiments, and during the ’sixties other regiments were in occupation. When settiers were brought from overseas the barracks was used as an immigration depot. In 1891 the depot was demolished and portions of it were reerectbd in parts of Taranaki by farmers who had bought the timber and iron. A flat stone memorial is to be seen on the northern slope of the hill. This is placed there in memory of Mr. Charles Brown, sell., who died in 1842, and was buried somewhere on the hill, tie was a friend of both the poets,' Byron and Keats.—Lt. Maynard (Wellington),