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Tree Information x

Identifier: AR/G2004
Tree Type: Group
Registered By: Smillie, M.J.
Registration Category: Historic tree/s – Local interest
General Notes:
Bishop George Augustus Selwyn, the first Anglican Bishop of New Zealand, travelled widely during his tenure, often walking great distances. On at least one occasion, walking south from Auckland, he spent his first night camped under a grove of three old puriri trees, near current day Bombay. Some time later, the land was donated by the Rutherford family for the purposes of relocating St Stephens School, an Anglican boarding school for Māori boys, from the original site in Parnell.

A stone cairn was constructed under the puriri trees in 1932 from stone taken from the demolished Parnell buildings and reads:

‘This memorial is built of stone from the original building of St Stephen’s School Taurarua. Erected to mark the first stopping of George Augustus Selwyn, Bishop of New Zealand. When walking on his missionary journeys, here he rested at night, the Puriri trees his only shelter. The land is the gift of James Rutherford his friend, in journeying oft.’

The trees themselves were included in Burstall’s Great Trees of New Zealand as the twenty-second entry. His notes on the trees state that they were considered to be re-sprouts from long dead original stems. It was also noted that the boys from St Stephens would care for the grove as part of their duties.

The construction of the Southern Motorway in the 1970s separated the grove from the school grounds, and the school itself was closed in 2000. The small reserve appears somewhat derelict, with broken concrete furniture and a small carpark blocked off. The largest tree, some 9 m in girth has suffered the loss of a large limb, and fire damage to the hollow, split multi-stemmed trunk, with obvious decline to the crown. The other two trees also display their age. The combined crowns cover a 26 by 28 m area, to a height of 15 m. Two smaller puriri, not present in early photographs of the trees, have been planted outside of the three original trees. There are well advanced plans to reopen the school in 2025, potentially with the ability to maintain the small reserve once more.

(Smillie 2024)

References

SW Burstall and EV Sale, Great Trees of New Zealand, 1984
NZ Transport Agency, Papakura to Bombay Stage 2 Assessment of Historic Heritage Effects Rev A, Feb 2024

Group Details

Group Type: Single species
Feature Tree Genus: Vitex
Feature Tree Species: lucens
Feature Tree Common Names: puriri,
QE II Covenanted: No
NZ Indigenous Bush type: Default Value
Actual Planting Date: actual date not specified
Approx. Planting Date: 1700
e.g. circa. 1860
Current Age: 324 years
Tree Health Description: Old trees, one suffering from fire damage and declining crown
Local Protection Status: Yes
Tree Present: Yes
Number of Trees: 5
Area Covered: 0.1 Ha
Group of Tree Type: Commemorative

Observations

Date Observer Action
29 Sep 2024 Smillie, M.J.

Location

Lat/Long: -37.17721759070299 / 174.9819859166718
Location Name: Bishop Selwyns Rest
Address: 1832 Great South Road, Papakura, Auckland
Suburb:
City/Town: Bombay
Region: Auckland
Location Description: The trees are located in a small reserve, part of St Stephens, adjacent a derelict rest area, between Great South Road and SH1 just north of Bombay.
Public Accessibility: Road Reserve
Local Authority: Auckland Council

Images

Preview Credit Date
Matt Smillie 28 Sep 2024
Matt Smillie 28 Sep 2024
Manawatu Standard via Papers Past CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 NZ 22 Apr 1936
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