Te Wairoa Village

This post is about the Village of Te Wairoa (now the Buried Village). Te Wairoa was located in Rotorua, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. This story of Te Wairoa is told from the perspective of the visitors to Te Wairoa. 

Chapman's map of the Bay of Plenty and Lake District 1872,
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collection

To get to the village of Te Wairoa in 1880, Sir William Herries said that you “travelled along the side of Lake Tikitapu and past the head of another larger one, then into the little village of Wairoa, about 12 miles from Ohinemutu (Don Stafford File)”. If you ‘took a buggy it would take about an hour and a half and cost 10s each way (Bay of Plenty Times, 27 December 1881)’. This was considered a quick and inexpensive trip at the time.

Te Wairoa before the eruption,
Photo from The Buried Village,Rotorua, New Zealand

Thorpe Talbot described the settlement of Te Wairoa as consisting “almost entirely of Māoris. Scarce half-a-dozen white families live at Wairoa (Talbot 1882)”. Alfred Warbrick described the village of Te Wairoa as ‘a pretty place in the period before the great eruption. There were houses of Māori and Pakeha type scattered over a considerable area between the outlet of Rotokakahi Lake and the edge of the high land overlooking Lake Tarawera. A carved house, “Hinemihi” stood by the wayside near the entrance to the principal part of the settlement, where the two hotels and the store were situated. On a commanding terrace called Te Mu, just above the village, was the Māori mission church, with a stained-glass window at the end overlooking the lake. 

Old Mission Church, Wairoa, 1880s, New Zealand, by Charles Spencer.
Te Papa (O.006936)

Cultivations extended over the level ground adjoining the lake and the gentler slopes, and there were many fertile fruit orchards. In the early years much wheat was grown on the flat, and it was ground in a small mill driven by a water-wheel in the stream which flowed out of Rotor-Kakahi (Warbrick 1934)’. “Wairoa is hemmed in by mountains. Moerangi lifts itself in lofty grandeur over against Rotokakahi, Tokinihau (big hill) rears his majestic head opposite, and the ranges, of which these mountains are a part extend clear down to Tarawera (Talbot 1882)”.

Tarawera Lake and Mountain from Wairoa Mission Station
before the Eruption, circa 1880, Tarawera by Charles Spencer.
Te Papa (0.002095)

Te Wairoa was known as a staging place where visitors would leave to see the Pink and White Terraces. There were a couple of hotels including the Terrace Hotel. 

The Terrace Hotel after the 1886 Mount Tarawera eruption. Image courtesy 
 of the Buried Village, Rotorua, New Zealand

Thorpe Talbot described the Terrace Hotel as an 'edifice that was by no means imposing but very pleasant and comfortable and ably managed by Mr and Mrs Moncrieff. He adds that the ‘pretty church and the mission station, is in the midst of a beautiful plantation, on the top of a hill overlooking Tarawera and the site is admirable, the view superb. There is a waterfall well worth more than one visit, in the surrounding bush (Talbot 1882)'. 

Te Wairoa waterfall, circa 1900, New Zealand,
by Robert Marsh. Te Papa (O.044227)

In a Bay of Plenty Times article, 1881 The Terrace Hotel was a temperance hotel. A temperance society was set up by ‘Messr’s, Snow, Davis, Hazard and others and 150 natives signed the pledge (Bay of Plenty Times 18 September 1880)’. In another article another hotel was mentioned, "…..in addition to the Terrace Hotel, at Wairoa there is another house, called the Rotomahana, owned by Macrae; but the disadvantage of going there is that you cannot procure the services of Sophia, who is the guide of guides to the Terraces (Bay of Plenty Times, 27 December 1881)”. However, The Rotomahana Hotel is, “…a very comfortable little hostelry…(Don Stafford File)”. 

Rotomahana Hotel, Te Wairoa. Ref: PA7-60-02. Alexander Turnbull Library,
Wellington, New Zealand.

Alfred Warbrick described an annual event held in Te Wairoa. Māori would catch wild duck, torea and pukeko. Special permission was given to hunt at the end of February. No guns were allowed. Snares were set at night or some were caught by “hand with the help of specially trained dogs”. The hunt lasted for a few days and nights and not a shot was fired. “The catches were cooked in many steam holed and hot springs along the lake edge, and were rendered down in their own fat and potted in bark containers and other receptacles, in which they would keep for many months. Then the lake would be closed for another year (Warbrick, 1934)”. 

South Island Pied Oystercatcher/Torea, Haematopus finschi,
collected Canterbury, New Zealand. CC BY 4.0. Te Papa 
(OR.000646)

The Tarawera eruption of 10 June, 1886 decimated the village of Te Wairoa, the people of Tuhourangi were displaced and many died from falling debris. “The majority of the buildings were destroyed including 2 hotels, 2 stores, a school, a blacksmith and bakery. All of the village houses were destroyed. Guide Sophia’s house survived and gave shelter to about 60 people during the eruption (Don Stafford File)”. Some of the people of Tuhourangi were re-settled in Ohinemutu and Whakarewarewa. 

Te Wairoa after eruption June 10, 1886, 1901-1913, Dunedin, by Muir & 
Moodie studio, Burton Brothers studio, Frederick Muir. Te Papa (LS.004508)

Te Wairoa, McRae's Hotel, Sophia's whare and Terrace Hotel after the eruption, 

1886, Tarawera, by George Valentine. Purchased 2007. Te Papa (O.030859)

This post was written by Ani. With thanks to newspaper articles from Papers Past, images from Te Papa Tongarewa and The National Library of New Zealand. Material for this post was from The Rotorua Library Heritage Collections and the Don Stafford Files. Thank you to the staff at The Buried Village, for allowing me to visit and letting me wander through the history of Te Wairoa.