AN OLD FORT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23618, 30 March 1940, Page 3 (Supplement)

AN OLD FORT

T)EAR ANNE SHTRLEY, —I am going to tell you of a trip the school made to the Esk Redoubt, a strong British fortification used in 1863. After -walking a short way wo stopped down into a trench and commenced climbing up n short, steep earth wall. On the top is a. large, flat piece of land surrounded hy high walls and the side of the hill has been cut away, so the Maori warriors conld not get up easily. Instead of running square round the fort the trenches jut out at the corners so the warriors could not fire right

along the line, thus killing many white soldiers. There are also about three platforms, each lower than the other, so the soldiers could fire over the others' heads. A paved path leads down to a well, where there is still water, while further on is n flat, where the tents were pitched. In the side of another hill is a dugout where the huge gun and its ammunition were kept. The redoubt faces a large hill, over which hostile Hauraki Maoris tried to reach the Waikato. As far as we know there were no fights there. —Your sincere member, David Havill (12), Pokeno.