Hinemihi - Clandon Park

The Whare Hinemihi was in a sorry state in June 2018 and in need of refurbishment, but not as much as the grand Palladian Mansion, Clandon House, in whose grounds its sits. Clandon House was engulfed by fire in April 2015.

During the Tarawera eruption in 1886, the whare Hinemihi, in what is now the Buried Village provided shelter for more than 50 people.

William Hillier, Earl of Onslow was a Governor of New Zealand. His term of office terminated in 1892. From the son of the Maori Chief Aporo, he bought Hinemihi, dismantled it and shipped to England rebuilding it near an ornamental lake in the Clandon Park, the home of Onslow.

During World War One, Clandon House was a military hospital, where some New Zealand soldiers, including Maori, were convalescing. They re-sited the whare to its current location.

The whare fell into serious disrepair. In 1992, one hundred years after the establishment of Hinemihi in Clandon Park, it was visited by John Marsh, director of New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute. He appointed two students to create new carvings based on images in Victorian photographs taken Te Wairoa in 1881. Some of the original carvings were found in a loft in the main house. The carvings were welcomed in 1995 in a ceremony including people from the Maori community in London. The involvement of Maori stakeholder communities provides an example of a change in emphasis in caring for heritage items such as this dispersed from their homelands.

Clandon Park is now in the care of the National Trust and can be visited. Kiwis who are members of Heritage New Zealand may enter for free.

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