Taylors Hill

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Scoria cone of Taylors Hill with Māori kumara pits in left foreground.

Taylors Hill (also Te Taurere), is a volcano in the Auckland volcanic field. It erupted about 33,000 years ago.[1] Its scoria cone reaches 56 m high.

It was the site of a Māori (fortification), and retains earthworks from that era such as kumara (sweet potato) pits and terracing. It was most likely first occupied in 1400s, and was an area where ōnewa (greywacke) was quarried to make toki (stone adzes).[2]

Waiorohe (Karaka Bay) was a mooring site of Tainui waka inside the west heads of the Tāmaki. From here Horoiwi left the waka and settled with the Tangata whenua at Te Pane o Horoiwi. Te Keteanataua and Taihaua disembarked and made their way to Taurere, whilst Taikehu and others went on by foot to explore the upper reaches of the river and the shores of the Manukau Harbour. The Karaka trees of the bay descend from the sacred Karaka grove Te Uru-Karaka a Parehuia of Taurere Pa.

Until the 1700s, the area around Taylors Hill was the traditional eastern boundary for Te Ākitai Waiohua lands,[2] After the pā was attacked by Ngāti Whātua around the year 1750, Te Ākitai Waiohua retreated to South Auckland.[3][4] Ngāti Whātua gifted the land to Ngāti Pāoa in the late 1700s.[2]

The volcano is named for William Taylor, who purchased the land in 1845.[2] The volcano's lower slopes and scoria mounds to the east and south were quarried away following European settlement, with only the north-west section of the volcanic area remaining.[2] The area around the volcanic cone became a public reserve in the 1920s.[2]

References[]

  1. ^ Lindsay, JM; Leonard, GS; Smid, ER; Hayward, BW (December 2011). "Age of the Auckland Volcanic Field: a review of existing data". New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics. 54 (4): 379–401. doi:10.1080/00288306.2011.595805.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Leahy, Anne (1991). "EXCAVATIONS AT TAYLOR'S HILL, R11/96, AUCKLAND". Records of the Auckland Institute and Museum. 28: 33–68. ISSN 0067-0464.
  3. ^ "Auckland: Conquerors and settlers". New Zealand Herald. 24 August 2010. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  4. ^ Te Ākitai Waiohua (24 August 2010). "CULTURAL VALUES ASSESSMENT BY TE ĀKITAI WAIOHUA for MATUKUTŪREIA QUARRY PRIVATE PLAN CHANGE" (PDF). Auckland Council. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  • City of Volcanoes: A geology of Auckland - Searle, Ernest J.; revised by Mayhill, R.D.; Longman Paul, 1981. First published 1964. ISBN 0-582-71784-1.
  • Volcanoes of Auckland: The Essential Guide. Hayward, B.W., Murdoch, G., Maitland, G.; Auckland University Press, 2011.
  • Volcanoes of Auckland: A Field Guide. Hayward, B.W.; Auckland University Press, 2019, 335 pp. ISBN 0-582-71784-1.

External links[]

Coordinates: 36°51′51″S 174°52′12″E / 36.86422°S 174.86994°E / -36.86422; 174.86994

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