MAORI PA TO BE RESTORED

Te Ao Hou, September 1960, Page 62

MAORI PA TO BE RESTORED The Papatoetoe Borough Council will try to restore to their original state Maori earthworks, believed to be more than 150 years old, at the back of Papatoetoe Cemetery. The decision was taken after considering a report from Mr A. E. Tonson, a councillor and member of the National Historic Places Trust. Mr Tonson said that the earthworks were on a peninsula at the confluence of two streams in the upper reaches of the Waokauri Creek. It had been reported that a pa was situated at this spot. The earthworks were surmounted by a palisade, and were in a well-preserved state. They were 130 feet long, six feet high from ground level and 10 feet high from the lowest point of the trench. The width of the mound would be about 18 feet and the total width of the defences about 15 feet. Mr Tonson said it was believed that the pa was abandoned about 1810 after an epidemic had wiped out many of the people. The Maoris used caves as burial places and many years ago, about 300 skeletons were found in a cave in the vicinity of Waokauri Creek. In recent years, a bulldozer had apparently been driven through the fortifications, leaving a 30-foot gap. The council instructed the borough engineer, Mr P. E. Fraser, to take steps to restore the fortifications as nearly as possible to their original state. An effort will be made to have the area fenced off and reserved.