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Hiding in plain sight
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As a result of dedicated sleuthing, a humble Northland barn is now thought to be the fifth-oldest building in the country
Chris and Monica Church have owned Pouerua Station, which includes the historic homestead and red barn, for five years.
The red barn is believed to be the fifth-oldest building in New Zealand.
The barn sits among paddocks on the Churches’ Pākaraka property in the Far North and is filled with farm machinery and tools.
Kemp House, Te Waimate Mission, the Stone Store, theTreaty House – the roll call of the country’s four oldest buildings is familiar not just to heritage lovers, but to most New Zealanders.
For what could well be the fifth-oldest though, it’s another story.
The building looks like any other unassuming red barn sitting among paddocks and filled with farm machinery and tools.
But as the result of some dedicated sleuthing, it’s now believed that this rustic little barn, nestled among stone walls in the Far North, is the fifth-oldest building in the country. Owned by Chris and Monica Church and named the Pouerua Store/Stable, the barn is a one-and-ahalf-storey rectangular gabled building adjoining the Churches’ main homestead in Pākaraka, which was owned by Henry Williams and his family before the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Henry, an early missionary who helped to translate the treaty, bought the property in 1835 for his six sons to work as a farm. The barn was initially used to house the men and was later used to hold church services before being relocated and used for its current purpose. However, little was known about the true heritage value of the Williams farm building, other than a file note on property documents left in 1999 by former Stone Store curator Fergus Clunie, who recognised the features in the barn as being very early. There was a bit of synchronicity involved in the recent discovery: Chris and Monica had finished a five-year project of refurbishing their elegant homestead and finally felt up to the task of restoring their barn. Then along came Australian architect and heritage conservation student Daniel Cowley, who, with the guidance of Heritage New Zealand, has completed a detailed report on its history. Heritage New Zealand Area Manager Northland Bill Edwards says the barn lay “hidden within plain sight” for 185 years.
“What we have is a pre-treaty house; it’s about not only the building being that old, but its significance of being connected to the Williams family and early pastoral settlement. It’s set in a much older Māori horticultural landscape.
“The barn is important as a European artefact, but its real story is its relationship to the land and why Māori and Pākehā were there – because the land was so fertile.”
The barn is listed as a Category 2 historic place and sits on a site significant to Ngāpuhi and earlier hapū, adding further cultural importance.
There is evidence of a pā, pits and terraces, which indicate agriculture and horticulture use on land encased in stone-fields.
Chris and Monica have owned the 30-hectare property, called Pouerua Station, for five years, and run it as a fully active, functioning farm unit.
Chris’s own research came from Williams family diaries and sketches from Archives New Zealand. He also uncovered a pile of early bricks indented with thumbprints, along with hundreds of old nails and a smattering of musket balls around the property.
“It was quite obvious to me that this building is a substantial building; it’s not just an agricultural barn,” he says.
Daniel completed a Bachelor of Architecture in Sydney and came to New Zealand two years ago to undertake a Master of Architecture (Professional) and Heritage Conservation at the University of Auckland.
Last year Daniel got in touch with Bill, who found him a couple of projects to work on in Northland as part of his studies. First, he completed a conservation plan for James Clendon’s house at Manawaora Bay near Russell, and this was followed by a report on the old blacksmith’s shed near the Kerikeri Mission Station.
Then Bill pointed him in the direction of Pākaraka in Northland, where another understated building was located. Daniel met Bill at the site last August to inspect the red barn, then visited again in October.
“I was really interested in the early contact period between European and Māori,” Daniel says. “This is a bicultural building that was drawn into the Ngāpuhi landscape.
“It was fascinating to see the structure as well. The methodology of the construction and techniques that remained – pit-sawn timbers, hand-planed joinery and even the foundation – displayed evidence of a really early building.”
According to Daniel’s report, after buying the land Henry quickly began the construction of the old barn to house his sons, who ran the property as a sheep and cattle station.
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Fourteen years later, another house – called Pretty Cottage – was built nearby for Henry Junior and his wife Jane.
By 1850 the remaining sons had moved out and the barn was used for informal church services for 10 months before the construction of the Holy Trinity Anglican Church.
The main house, called the Pouerua Homestead, was built some distance away between 1861 and 1863 as Henry Junior and Jane’s second house. This is the same home in which the Churches now live. Around this time the barn was relocated close to the homestead – most likely between 1863 and 1864, Daniel’s report says – and by 1870 it had reverted to being used as a barn.
There were two rooms at ground level plus a sleeping loft, and a single door with a window on each side. Front and back veranda roofs and side wing additions were later attached.
What makes the little barn so special are its architectural features similar to those of other pre-1840 buildings in Northland. There is evidence of Georgianstyle windows and shutters, fine-detailed hinges made of cast iron, and single stays used to lock the shutters in place. Roof beams and walls were marked with Roman numerals, a typical method for placement during construction that can be found in the Treaty House and Stone Store buildings.
“It’s a really resilient structure and because of the hardwood it still remains,” says Daniel. “The corrugated iron has helped the lifespan that it’s had.”
Today the barn contains a tractor, a ride-on mower and a quad bike, along with other farm machinery and tools.
“The barn is important as a European artefact, but its real story is its relationship to the land and why Maori and Pakeha were there – because the
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6 Early stone fencelines.
Old bricks, indented with thumbprints.
Georgian-style windows and shutters and finedetailed cast-iron hinges.
Beams were marked with Roman numerals during construction.
Daniel Cowley has compiled a thesis report on the barn.
Pouerua Station.
Chris painted it two years ago and laid gravel inside and around its edges, but “it’s pretty much as it was”. Bill also likes that it’s had minimal intervention. “Being in its raw state, that’s what’s so beautiful about it. It shows the patina of age.” Daniel plans to use the report as part of his thesis, which he hopes to finish this year. His findings involve three main points: the preservation of the structure, minimal intervention, and living heritage, which means its adaptation and how it can be used today.
Researching the building has raised some questions, including about its future management, he says.
“There’s actually more than just the building. What it’s all about now is evoking the memory of Māori and the Ngāpuhi people and how that building can continue the memory.”
For Chris, the whole property is significant, right down to the very last stone.
“When I’m out working on the farm back here, I can feel the influence of Ngāpuhi and their tenure of the land and their occupation of it.
“It’s not just the house and barn, it’s the whole package. The stone walls and the fields; the volcanic land is stunning, it’s just beautiful for growing anything.”
Bill says the research will also prove valuable to the Williams’s descendants, who are holding a family reunion in 2023 celebrating 200 years since their arrival in New Zealand.
“It’s great for them. It provides them with another taonga connected to their family.
“How marvellous it is that we have one of the oldest buildings in New Zealand and it’s got a Massey Ferguson tractor parked in it.
“It’s been used for all these things, and it’s still being used – but in totally different ways from what it was built for.”
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