Welcome to New Zealand's oldest surviving heritage building. The Kerikeri mission house was finished in 1822 as part of the mission station by the Church Missionary Society.
Samuel Marsden established the Anglican mission to NZ with lay preachers who lived in the Bay of Islands under the protection of Hongi Hika, the chief of the local Ngapuhi tribe. In 1819 Marsden purchased the land from the tribe and using Maori plus European labour instructed Reverend John Butler to erect the buildings under shelter of the Ngapuhi tribe or the local Kororipo Pa. They were interrupted by the Ngapuhi campaign under the Musket Wars.
The house is made mostly of Kauri. John Butler was sacked in 1823, then George Clarke occupied the house until the early 1830s when the Ngapuhi had abandoned the Kororipo Pa but the mission station by that time didn't need any protection. The house was then lived in by James and Charlotte Kemp in 1832 and later purchased by the Kemps and stayed in their family for 142 years until it was donated to the NZ Historic Places Trust.
Linking up with Skywatch Friday.
13 comments:
What a grand house, accented by a few clouds in the sky!
Some of the older homes are so much better than the modern ones. Loved your country my one time to visit.
It's a beauty.
A long interesting history and a beautiful building. Gorgeous big tree next to it!
Interesting post
It's beautiful.
It is a lovely building.
What a beautiful house.
It is a grand old building. Thanks for the history. Love the verandah
I must go and review my blog post about the house. You keep taking me back to my Northland safaris and I do appreciate it.
That is really worth going around...we did a few years ago
A fine example of early settler architecture Amy, so good to see that it's being given the love it deserves ✨
So pretty!
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