Gate Pa Historic Reserve

Gate Pa (also known as Pukehinahina) was the scene of a devastating British defeat by Maori in 1864. The battle took place right here in what is now a quiet suburb and, unlike many other battles of the New Zealand Wars, has not been easily forgotten.

Perhaps the best description is the accompaniment to the above sketch, "*Gate pa in the Bay of Plenty region held up under an all-day artillery barrage; after a 300-man assault failed, the Maoris slipped away in the night."*There were 1700 British forces.

Subsequently at Te Ranga, on what is now the Tauranga-to-Rotorua highway, the British avenged their loss.

The reserve was gazetted as a memorial in 1880, and St George's Church was built upon the crest of the hill in 1900, where it remains after a 1993 fire rebuild, complete with new Tukutuku which record the battle.

It wasn't until 1964 that the local people created the first small memorial to this momentous event, citing ‘the chivalry displayed by both Maori and Pakeha’. It also commemorated those unnamed and buried here but actually many Maori warriors are named in the Urupa across the road, and there are many more from both sides at rest in Te Papa Mission Cemetery.

Gradually this developed into an entire reserve of remembrance. The carved gate at the entrance dates to 2007 and, upon the 150th anniversary of the battle, in 2014, the reserve was re-dedicated with the addition of new carvings. Eight Pou flanking the front of the reserve represent the players in this historic battle, Ngai Te Rangi, Ngati Ranginui, Ngai Tamarawaho, Ngati Pukenga, Ngati Hangarau, Waitaha, Tainui iwi, and Pakeha, as General Cameron is depicted.

Both battle sites are now reserves and some surviving earthworks can be seen.

In 2020, the story of Captain Hamilton, who led the British Troops for about 10 seconds at Gate Pa, before he was shot through the head, became controversial. Not only was Hamilton city named for this unfortunate commander, but a statue of him had been raised in the city only a few years earlier. A kaumatua declared he was determined to pull it down and then the City Council did it for him.

Another symbol of the battle, the "Flag of Gate Pa" drifted into obscurity until it was raised at the Auckland War Memorial Museum in the 1990s, next to the Union Jack known as the Pukehinahina flag, which was also used at Gate Pa. It was one of several flags that Hauhau warriors used during the Land Wars. This one is believed to have been red with a star, a moon and cross.

Image Credits: James Cowan, the New Zealand Wars; Alexander Turnbull library, MHQ, The Quarterly Journal of Military History, Autumn 1994, Vol. 7, No. 1; By Archibald Forbes, Arthur Griffiths and others, This file is from the Mechanical Curator collection, a set of over 1 million images scanned from out-of-copyright books; Tauranga Kete.