Heritage et AL

New Zealand History’s website has a wonderful timeline which informs us that on this day, November the thirteenth, in 1896 Mount Tongariro ‘erupted spectacularly’. This initial eruption started a series which continued on for almost a year and it makes fascinating reading browsing the contemporary accounts on Papers Past . Te Ara have a picture of Tongariro erupting that they have dated as likely from this time. Ref: Auckland Weekly News,  Showing Ketetahi sulphur springs on Mount Tongariro , 2 October 1902, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, AWNS-19021002-7-3

During a visit to England over the Christmas holidays, I was given access to Hinemihi , the wharenui (Māori meeting house) at Clandon Park in Guildford, Surrey. The whole complex is usually closed to the public at this time of year, so I was very lucky to be given special permission to see Hinemihi. Clandon Park is an example of a Palladian mansion and was built by a Venetian architect for Lord Onslow in the 1720s. The house contains period interiors and impressive collections. Set in acres of stunning parkland, this mansion, which became National Trust property in 1956,  also contains a surprise. Located at the back of the house is a wharenui (Māori meeting house) from Aotearoa (New Zealand). Clandon Park house, January 2014, photograph by Natasha Barrett Hinemihi was built in1881 in Te Wairoa, Rotorua. The name of the wharenui comes from Ngāti Hinemihi's ancestress, Hinemihi. Aporo Wharekaniwha commissioned the carving and erection of this wharenui, which was undertaken...