Albert Barracks

and the Spatial History of Auckland’s New Zealand Wars

Introduction

Albert Barracks was a major British military fortification, built in the 1840s on the land that now includes Albert Park and the Auckland University Waipapa Taumata Rau. This was a key military site in early Auckland, but the area was significant long before the arrival of Pākehā. The site has a deep history of Māori settlement and conflict. Before the 1740s, the land around Albert Park was part of Ngāti Te Ata Waiohua’s rohe (territory) and home to a settlement called Mangahekea. However, this settlement was destroyed when Ngāti Whātua-o-Ōrākei, led by Tūperiri, attacked it. Ngāti Whātua established a kainga (village) called Rangipuke and built a fortified pā called Te Horotiu that was in the northwestern corner of Albert Park. This area was highly valued because its geographical elevation made it suitable for growing crops and it was easy to defend, making it a prime location for settlement and fortification.

Learning Aims

Students will learn:

The significance of the installation of the Albert Barracks as a site of military and cultural colonisation.

The significance of the Albert Barracks as a site that had a long history of military use by Māori.

The way that Albert Barracks facilitated relationships and connections between people and across borders as a space where soldiers, their families, citizens, local iwi and regional rangatira came together.