1. Howick Information Centre
First footsteps within fascinating historyStart this tour at the Howick Information Centre at 115 Picton Street and walk towards three-way corner of Picton, Cook and Selwyn Streets, opposite All Saints Church.Welcome to a short walking tour of the main street of historic Howick. This will take around 40 minutes.You’ll be introduced to the fascinating history of Howick – a town created in the mid 19th century by ‘The Fencibles’, who were ‘settler-soldiers’ (and their families) brought to New Zealand to support the British side against Maori people in the New Zealand Wars.Now part of greater Auckland, Howick was once a distinct country community, with a not-always-easy connection to Auckland. A proper concrete road between the two was opened in 1931.Street names in Howick follow a particular theme. See the STQRY app for more.The Howick Information Centre can provide you with additional information and community news about this special part of Auckland.The Information Centre was built with community fundraising, as the foyer for a much bigger town centre - which was never completed.Other community hubs in Howick are shown in the STQRY app.Greys Folly, a comprehensive history of the Howick area, by local writer Alan La Roche is available at the Readaway Bookshop and Howick Library.Click on the map icon in the top right hand corner to view the points of interest along the way.
2. Site of McInness' Four Square Store
Always a busy cornerYou're at the intersection where Picton Street splits into Cook Street and Selwyn Road. The building is currently home to the Lounge Bar.McInnes' Four Square Store opened here in 1927 and was run by Eliza McInness. Her husband Leo McInness was Chairman of Four Square Stores and also worked at Turners and Growers. The general store was a meeting place in the small Howick community. Four Square is a convenience store franchise, established in 1925, that operates throughout New Zealand. The Four Square logo and colours are iconic parts of New Zealand culture. This must have been one of the first Four Squares in New Zealand.The McInnes' white parrot was a feature of Howick, squawking at all who came by.Nellie McInness ran the Four Square store until 1951, when it was taken over by the Reynolds family. The building was sold in 1963 and became an electrical store run by Bill Udy. It has since also been a haberdashery and sewing machine shop, dentist's rooms, and art gallery. The Howick Modern Book Club was based here in the early 1950s, run by Humphrey Ridgeway. He had the agency for the New Zealand Herald, Star, and 8 O'Clock newspapers.Leo McInness, the proprietor of the original shop, was grandson of Fencible Lachlan McInness. Lachlan was one of the first Europeans to settle in Howick and was a carpenter who helped erect the temporary sheds to accommodate the Fencible soldier-settlers at Howick Beach in November 1847.Cross the street carefully towards the All Saints Church for the next stop.
3. All Saints Church
The oldest church in this part of Auckland.Cross the road to the corner of Selwyn and Cook Street. Wander into the church grounds to soak up the atmosphere.All Saints Church was built in 1847 ready for the arrival of the first Fencibles (soldier-settlers).Kauri timber from Mahurangi and the Coromandel was used in its construction.The church was prefabricated at St John's College, Kohimarama and brought to Howick by the college ships Marian and Undine. This Church is the oldest building in what was the Manukau City part of Auckland.It is an Anglican church and still holds regular services. The new All Saints Church was opened 1st November 1970. The church committee did extensive renovations to the building in the 1980s. For more about current activities at the church click here.Howick’s first resident vicar Reverend Vicesimus Lush worked here. Like many colonial pastors he was a multi-skilled and energetic man. "He dug three tonnes of potatoes off a quarter of an acre in his Glebe farmlet. He killed and cured his own bacon. He had hens, turkeys, pigs, goats, cows and horses." - from Grey's Folly, a History of Howick by Alan La Roche. p90The current vicar of All Saints Church is Andrew Coyle.Graves of children who died in Howick in the 1854 Scarlet Fever epidemicWe know that 49 Fencibles children died in Howick during the epidemic. Their graves were marked by simple wooden crosses that have disappeared and accurate records were not kept at that time. These children were buried in this graveyard:William Thomas Merrill died 9 August 1854 aged 2John Dougherty died 10 October 1854 aged 8James Palmer died 14 March 1854 aged 3Charles Burrell died 19 June 1855 aged 6Thomas Gamble died 19 March 1854 aged 6Able Wade buried 30 July 1854 aged 5Sarah Anne Wadman buried 21 June 1855 aged 6There are another 20 recorded burials of children who died in this epidemic in the Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic churchyard. (Stop 9 on this tour)Scarlet fever spreads by shared breath or physical contact – so Reverend Lush who visited families, was actually helping spread the disease, and even brought it back to his home. He and his wife Blanche lost three of their children to scarlet fever in one week in 1854. The children are buried here.Most families in Howick were affected by the epidemic. Those who had come from Ireland during the Irish Potato Famine [1845-1852] arrived in New Zealand in 1847 suffering from malnutrition and poor health, and were particularly affected.Many Maori died, and were buried in their own urupa.There’s a brief glimpse of the Maori history of this area in the STQRY app.Move down Selwyn Road to the next stop, the site of Bill Hughes' Bakery on the corner of the Glebe and Selwyn Road.
4. Bill Hughes Bakery
19 Selwyn Road, at the corner of The Glebe and Selwyn Road was the site of an early bakery operated by Bill Hughes.At the Glebe Corner Hughes' Bakery operated from 1880 to 1921. The bread oven, which used rata or taraire timber from the Mangemangeroa, is still preserved in the present owners' garden.Some locals would not buy their bread from Hughes' Bakery as it would get water for the baking from a well that was directly downhill from the cemetery.Later Phil and Lucy Hughes opened a bakery in the main road, Picton Street. That site still carries on the same trade as the current Bakers Delight.Continue down Selwyn Street to Nixon Centennial Park.
5. Nixon Centennial Park
Selwyn Road - once a thirsty spot, with hotel and jail close togetherWalk 70m down Selwyn Road, till you get the view over Nixon Centennial Park.It seems pleasant and inviting now, but Nixon Centennial Park, was where the jail was for early Howick."The first Howick jail was a simple wooden building near the site of today's bus shelter at Nixon Centennial Park, originally built 30m up Selwyn Road from the Royal Hotel. The hotel is now called Shamrock Cottage, and it was one of the first and most popular hotels and a source of prospective police prisoners for the nearby jail.""Within a week of the Fencibles' landing, a wet canteen or grog shop for thirsty workers opened in Selwyn Road, which soon re-opened as the Royal Hotel."In 1855 the Provincial government allocated 100 pounds for a police station and lockup in Howick. Drunkenness was by far the most common crime but was treated lightly by military magistrates as it was possibly a symptom of homesickness, loneliness, depression from poor living conditions, long working hours, poverty, war injuries and old age. Drunkenness resulted in a fine of five shillings plus eight pence courts costs, or 24 hours in jail. Most paid the fine."- from Grey's Folly p 245.A review of the Royal Hotel in the Southern Cross newspaper in 1851 noted: "It is agreeably and conveniently situated near the beach, on the descent of a winding road overlooked by the pretty church...At the Royal Hotel the trailer may not only 'take his ease' but is certain to experience the utmost attention from his hostess Mrs Lewis. Cleanliness and comfort are there the presiding deities - nor is there any lack of good cheer 'for man or horse.'"Shamrock Cottage at 73 Selwyn Road now operates as a cafe, serving tea in the English tradition.A new jail was built in 1876 near the corner of Baird and Moore Streets. Celebrating its completion, constable Malloy got drunk and became its first inmate. Malloy had previously been sent to Howick by a senior officer who said he was "beyond all imbecility ever known in a police force."For other events that made the news in the late 1800s in Howick are described in the STQRY app.From here, head back up Selwyn Road, towards All Saints Church, and turn right into Picton Street.
6. Site of Howick Town Hall
An order from the OddfellowsWalk along the seaward side of Picton Street, until you're opposite the Information Centre.The Howick Town Hall was built by Lachlan McInnes and William White in 1884 at the corner of Drake Street and Moore Street for theManchester Unity Independent Order of Oddfellows, then the largest organisation in Howick.In 1894 it was moved to Picton Street next to the old wooden Marine Hotel, opposite the present War Memorial Information Centre.Other significant buildings erected in Howick in this era are described in the STQRY app.In 1928 it was moved over the road, and offices for the Howick Town Board were added to the front and a supper room at the rear.The Town Hall was used for many community activities, balls, flower shows, theatrical presentations, films and meetingsIn 1968 it was demolished to make way for a supermarket.The next stop is on just little way up, on the same side of Picton Street.
7. Prospect of Howick, previously the Marine Hotel
Brick is betterContinue along Picton Street, till you reach the Prospect of Howick at the corner of Uxbridge Road.This was an open parade ground in the early days of the Fencibles soldier-settlers. They were mustered here - not always willingly - before compulsory Church Parade every Sunday.The Fencibles’ life and times are further described in the STQRY app. And you can experience a living history of the Fencibles era at the HowickHistorical Village.The site was bought by innkeeper George J Sellwood in 1892, and the large two-storey Marine Hotel opened here in 1906. It was described as "a large and well conducted house with fine views both seaward and landward". Sellwood also owned the general store next door.The hotel was one of the first buildings in Howick to have electricity.An electric iron was left on by an elderly guest, and this destroyed the building by fire in 1925.This brick and tile building was built in 1930 by well known builder James Fletcher. It was described as "licensed, first class cuisine, tariff three pounds ten shillings a week or twelve shillings a day". It specialised in accommodation for honeymoon couples. There was a dining room on the Uxbridge Road frontage and a public bar on Picton Street. The famous writer George Bernard Shaw once stayed here on holiday.There’s more about life in Howick in the early 1900s – the heyday of the Marine Hotel – in the STQRY app.The hotel was renamed Prospect of Howick in 1977.From here, continue up Picton Street across Uxbridge Road to 60 Picton Street.
8. Howick Post office
An important building shifts aboutThe Post Office is at 60 Picton Street, just beyond Uxbridge Road.The first post office in Howick was in James White's General Store in 1849 and mail was brought to Howick by Ngamapu, a Maori mail runnerwho went twice a week to Auckland.In 1874 the post office moved to Wagstaff's General Store in Howe Street until 1906 when it moved to a Fencible cottage across the road from here.A wooden Howick Post office was built on this site in 1908. The postmaster's house was directly behind it. Right up to 1951, there was a horse trough and hitching rail outside the front of the post office. In those days, the telephone exchange was housed in the same building."Early in the twentieth century, the postmistress ...refused to pay out old-age pensions, as she did not like scruffy old people in her clean polished rooms," writes local historian Alan La Roche in Grey's Folly. In those days, pensions were only "paid to the deserving poor, who were required to have lived in New Zealand for 25 years. The pension was One pound and ten shillings a month with stringent tests."Frank Rishworth, who ran a clothing and general store next door, stepped into the gap. He arranged with his friend William Massey the local MP, that he could distribute the pensions, and so get more people into his shop.The wooden post office was demolished in 1973, and made way for this modern design - which generated some controversy. The sweeping roofline of the new building, apparently inspired by Japanese architecture, was considered inappropriate in Howick village, which still retained a much more historical character.Other newsworthy events in Howick in the mid to late 1900s are listed in the STQRY app.After this, continue up Picton Street.
9. Our Lady Star of the Sea Church
An early school and chapel combinedFind the Church on the Corner of Park Hill Road and Picton StreetMore than half of the Fencible soldier-settlers were from Ireland and were Catholic, so Governor Grey promised an acre to the church in Howick. The Catholics under Bishop Pompallier bought an extra five acres at the special price of two guineas an acre, for the use of the priest.Soon after the first Fencibles arrived in Howick, Father Antoine Marie Garin built a school near this site in 1848. The school also served as a temporary chapel for several years.Father Garin had impressed Maori when he worked as missionary in Northland. He was useful for his skills as a carpenter, wheelwright, gardener, mason, bookbinder, chemist, farmer, doctor and wine-maker. He grew grapes in Picton Street for communion wine. He was also a musician, and composed hymns in te reo Maori.The first Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church in Howick was built on this site by Father Henry Fynes in 1854.Increased congregation size, and concerns about borer and rot in the old wooden church, lead to it being demolished in 1959 and replaced with the larger, present church in 1960 when Father William Flynn was parish priest.The current priest is Father Benedict Francis. For more information about the church and its activities, visit the website here.The congregations of the Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic and All Saints Anglican churches combine every Easter for a combined festival.RSA founder's graveIn the graveyard at the church you can find the resting place of Captain Sir Donald Simson. He served with the New Zealand Engineers at Gallipoli. When he returned to New Zealand in 1916, he founded the Returned Services Association (RSA) at a national meeting in Wellington. He was elected as the first president of the RSA.
10. Crawford Reserve
Where the horse buses cameWalk up Picton Street towards the top of the hill. On the right is an open space with a great view out over the Tamaki Strait.Once was the Howick bus depotThe Crawford family ran a bus service from 1880 to 1944, between Howick and Auckland. At first the busses were drawn by horses, and were then replaced by motor vehicles in the early 1900s.The company gave free rides to the nuns and priests of the Catholic Church next door, and to older people who could not afford the fare. Crawford's supplied the churches with free firewood. When John Crawford, an Anglican, died in 1945, the bells of the Catholic church rang as a sign of respect. He is buried in the graveyard at All Saints Church.Crawford's horse bus stables were built here in 1909 following a fire in their stables on Rodney Street. They were rebuilt after another firein 1912, and finally demolished in 2002.In 1944, Crawford's Bus Company was sold, and became the Howick Bus Company, which preserved its cream and maroon coloured livery. This bit of history is disappearing as Auckland standardises the colours of its bus fleet.The reserve now saves an important view shaft from Howick to the Tamaki Strait - a view obscured by buildings further down Picton Street.The amphitheatre here is often used for outdoor concerts.
11. Lt. R.S. Judson's Oak Tree
Ninety-year-old treeFrom Crawford Reserve, cross Picton Street where it splits from Ridge Road, and begin the incline up Stockade Hill. The big tree on the left of the pathway has an interesting story.This oak tree was said to have been planted by Lieutenant Reginald Stanley Judson, VC, DCM, MM on ANZAC Day 1926, grown from an acorn brought to New Zealand from the King's estate, Great Windsor Park in London.Lt. Judson went overseas in the First Battalion Auckland Regiment in 1915 during the First World War.He served in France as a sergeant in 1918, and was promoted to lieutenant later in the war.Reginald Judson was one of New Zealandʼs most decorated soldiers of the war, winning a Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM), Military Medal (MM), and the Victoria Cross (VC) between July and August 1918.He won the Victoria Cross when he single-handedly captured a German machine gun nest, saving compatriots lives and allowing and advance into enemy territory.Judson served as an Auckland City councillor between 1938 and 1947. For a full biography of Judson on Te Ara, the online encyclopedia of New Zealand, click here. "Although Reginald Judson's military and civic service spanned several decades, he will undoubtedly be best remembered for the six weeks in mid 1918 when he became one of the few men to win the three highest gallantry awards available to New Zealand soldiers." - Te Ara.There are two oak trees on Stockade Hill today. The other was planted on 18 June 1942. An article in the New Zealand Herald alternatively suggested that the 1926 acorn had been given to Judson by the Duke of York when he served as the Duke's official escort during a royal visit to New Zealand. This could not be true, since the Duke's visit took place in 1927.The later (1942) tree, however, may have been grown from a so-called 'Coronation acorn' brought back to New Zealand by a Mr S Rutherford from Windsor Park.Judson was born at Port Albert and is also remembered in Wellsford at the Albertland & District Museum.
12. Stockade Hill
The commanding viewStockade Hill is the prominent open space, bounded by Ridge Road, Mellons Bay Road and Picton StreetBuilt during the Waikato WarBefore the the invasion of the Waikato during the New Zealand Wars, there was fear of Māori attacks on Auckland and Howick. The attacks on the town itself never happened.Colonel Stephen Ponsonby Peacocke, responsible for the eastern defences of Auckland, designed and had the Stockade built in1863, after a grant of 200 pounds was approved by the Colonial Secretary. The fears were real: in October 1863 two boys Richard and Nicholas Trust, aged eight and eleven, were killed by Māori, while they were tending cows on a farm that is now Whitford Park Golf Club. In a later proclamation of clemency to Maori 'rebels', Governor Grey specifically excluded those responsible for the murders.Women and children of Howick slept here in the Stockade for several months in 1863, when the Invasion of the Waikato began, and tension was at its height.The stockade was built from sheets of iron. They formed a wall above a ditch and a bank, the outlines of which can still be seen. Several sheets of the thick iron used for the stockade walls are preserved at the Howick Historical Village.There were barracks inside the stockade, which usually accommodated soldiers. More soldiers were housed nearby in tents. William White built the blockhouse within the stockade for 20 pounds.There were moments of light relief: some Bavarian missionaries who were here in1863, put up a Christmas Tree, and held carol singing sessions around it. The diary of Charles Lush, son of Reverend Vicesimus Lush said it “twinkled with lights and gay decorations.”"The Howick Stockade is the best preserved structure of its type remaining in the Auckland region and it is a symbolic reminder of conflict between Māori and Pākehā in the region during the colonial period." - Auckland's First World War Heritage Trail.The STQRY app has a chapter devoted to Howick in times of conflict.First World War MemorialWhen the First World War ended, the women of Howick raised funds for a more permanent reminder of the Howick community's sacrifice. Work began on a First World War memorial on Stockade Hill towards the end of 1920. Stockade Hill was an obvious choice as the site for the memorial. An obelisk of Coromandel granite was installed.The memorial was unveiled by Governor-General Lord Jellicoe, accompanied by Lady Jellicoe and their three daughters, on the afternoon of 13 January 1921. About 300 people attended the ceremony.Mr Alexander Bell, chairman of the war memorial committee, reflected that the Howick district sent 100 men and two women to war, and of these, 30 soldiers and one nursing sister made the supreme sacrifice.The Howick First World War Memorial served as a memorial for the whole of the Howick and Pakuranga district, but later became known simply as the Howick War Memorial.ANZAC Day Anzac Day commemorations in Howick are centered around Stockade Hill every year in April.ViewsOn a clear day there are great 360 degree views from here.Have a look at the Panorama image below to learn more about the surrounding landmarks. Or watch it in your browser here.
13. Mural
Spot the missing...Carefully cross the main road, and head back towards the start point of this tour on the right hand sidewalk.What's missing?This mural was was commissioned in 2012 by the Howick Lions Club to commemorate 50 years of community service.The idea was to depict the rural village of Howick, before the main road was sealed, in the early 1900s.The artist somehow neglected to put in the main feature of this perspective view - the All Saints Church, which was definitely there at the end of the road, and visible, at the time this scene was supposed to be set.It just goes to show that not all history can be entirely trusted!But one thing the mural does get right is how muddy the main road could be. (See the story about the concrete road, next)
14. Site of the old Fire Station
Always a busy intersectionThe corner of Wellington Street and Picton RoadAt the corner of Wellington and Picton Streets, you'll see the impressive building that is now Ben Gusto restaurant.This was previously the site of the Howick Fire Station, from 1931 to 1978, when it was moved to Highland Park. Behind the fire station was the Howick Town Board works shed.In the old days, when the fire warning siren sounded all the volunteers, ordinary working people - the butcher, baker, plumber, and others - would jump in their cars and rush up to the station.Car keys would often be left in cars parked anywhere, and the firemen would jump into the fire engine, hurriedly donning their helmets and uniforms at it roared off with siren wailing to the emergency.
15. The Howick - Auckland Concrete Road
Addressing the impassableTake a look at the smooth road surface - something we take for granted these days. But it was not always the case.The Howick to Auckland concrete road was built during the Great Depression 1929 to 1930 by Isherwood and Bellam to replace the pot-holed, shell and metal road over the swamps of Pakuranga and the clay of Howick.This road changed the farming village of Howick into a dormitory suburb of Auckland.Loans for its construction were raised by the Howick Road Board and the Pakuranga Road Board. The concrete was made on site using crushed metal, sand, and cement in 4x2x1 ratio, with water supplied in a tanker. It was 18 feet [5.9m] wide and 9 inches [299mm] thick on the edges, with a 4 foot [1.31m] metal shoulder. Similar roads were built at this time to Otahuhu, Onehunga, Henderson and on the North Shore.Opening day of the concrete road, 24 January 1931, was a big deal. A public holiday was declared for all local schools and businesses, and a colourful parade down the street was staged. Two of Howick's older citizens, Rhoda White, aged 94, and Boney Andrew, 90 cut the ribbon to declare the new road open.Alan La Roche notes in Grey's Folly: "In about 1858 Nino Peacocke wrote (in the New Zealand Herald) that the road to Howick 'became a chain of deep and dangerous mud holes in which drays and even lighter vehicles often stuck immovably in the mud and water until extra haulage power was procured from the nearest homestead or passing fellow traveller'."The concrete road originally ran from the Harp of Erin in Greenlane, to outside the Monterey Theatre.Buses could now drive to Auckland in 35 minutes on the smooth concrete road.The main road was tar sealed in the 1960s.Howick has since evolved into a truly multicultural hub. The STQRY app has more on the unique demographics of this part of Auckland.From here, keep moving down Picton Street towards the start point of this tour.
The End
Thank you for taking the time to complete the tour!We hope we have given you some insights to the history of the main street of historic Howick.
