Heritage et AL

Warkworth township was established in 1853 by John Anderson Brown, a businessman from Warkworth in Northumberland, England. The area reminded Brown so much of his hometown, that he gave it the same name. Brown purchased 153 acres and drew up a plan for subdivision of the area, which included land for the Anglican Church and its cemetery. Ref: NZ Map 4498-26, map showing allotments for sale in Warkworth, 1864, Sir George Grey Special Collections Farming along with fruit farming was important to the area, but key to the success of the town was kauri timber. Another major industry was the lime and cement works, which were established in 1865 and were successful up until the relocation of the business to Whangarei in 1928. Cement made in Warkworth was used in the construction of Auckland’s Grafton Bridge in 1910, which was the largest concrete bridge in the world at the time. Ref: AWNS-18990915-8-1, view of Warkworth in 1899, Sir George Grey Special Collections

Strike up the band for Albert Park. The band stand was built in 1901 and is the oldest surviving band stand or rotunda in the Auckland region. It was designed by James Slater, who also planned the layout of Albert Park. One of most interesting features of the band stand is its onion-shaped, domed roof. It is made of sheet metal and topped by a pointed finial. Ref: 35-R134, Albert Park showing the band rotunda, 1910-1919, Sir George Grey Special Collections The band stand is a registered category II historic place under the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014 . But it is just one of a number of structures, monuments, artworks, trees and gardens that make this the region’s finest Victorian public park. This is reflected in Albert Park’s category A status as a protected heritage place in the legacy Auckland City District Plan (Central Area Section) (see pp.4-6).