Green Hill (also known as Mātanginui or Greenmount) is one of the volcanoes in the

Auckland volcanic field The Auckland volcanic field is an area of monogenetic volcanoes covered by much of the metropolitan area of Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, located in the North Island. The approximately 53 volcanoes in the field have produced a divers ...

, located in the suburb of

East Tāmaki East Tāmaki is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It is a largely industrial area adjacent to a rapidly growing population. Prior to the 1960s it was largely a dairy farming area. A landmark is Smales Mountain which in 2010 has the remains of ...

. It erupted approximately 20,000 years ago, and its scoria cone had a peak 78 metres above sea level (around 48 m higher than the surrounding land) and had a grove of karaka trees. The hill was the site of a Ngāi Tai iwi

pā The word pā (; often spelled pa in English) can refer to any Māori people, Māori village or defensive settlement, but often refers to hillforts – fortified settlements with palisades and defensive :wikt:terrace, terraces – and also to fo ...

History

Green Hill, known as , was a traditional settlement for

Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki is a Māori people, Māori tribe that is based in the area around Clevedon, New Zealand, Clevedon, part of the Auckland region (''Tāmaki'' in the Māori language). It is one of the twelve members of the Hauraki Collective ...

, the name either being translated as "The

Pā The word pā (; often spelled pa in English) can refer to any Māori people, Māori village or defensive settlement, but often refers to hillforts – fortified settlements with palisades and defensive :wikt:terrace, terraces – and also to fo ...

Taken with Much Crying" or "Big Breeze". The site was visited by early ancestor

Toi-te-huatahi Toi-te-huatahi, also known as Toi and Toi-kai-rākau, is a legendary Māori people, Māori ''tupuna'' (ancestor) of many Māori people, Māori iwi (tribes) from the Bay of Plenty area, including Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngāi Tūhoe. The B ...

, where he planted a grove of karaka trees. By the 16th century, the surrounding area became extensive stonefield gardens due to its productive volcanic soil, and a defensive

was constructed at the peak of the hill. Mātanginui was occupied by Ngāi Tai until the early 19th century. Green Hill and the surround areas area was farmed by the Styak family. The name recalls Mrs Styak's home at

Randalstown Randalstown () is a small town and townland in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, between Antrim and Toome. The town, which contains a prominent disused railway viaduct, lies beside Lough Neagh and the Shane's Castle estate. Randalstown is bypas ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, which was called Green Bank. Quarrying of the hill began around 1870. Green Hill and nearby Otara Hill were together referred to as Bessy Bell and Mary Gray after an old Scottish ballad. The hill remained in the hands of the Styak family, until 1932 when Sarah Jane Lushington (née Styak) gifted 40 hectares of land to the Manukau County Council, to create a public park and recreation ground called Styak-Lushington Park. Instead of creating a park, the council leased the land for farming and quarrying. By the 1960s, the hill had almost been entirely quarried. The council began using a small section of the site as a landfill, and in 1979 the entire former quarry site was leased as a landfill. By 1992, methane gas from the landfill was being collected and used to power a gas power plant at the site. In 2005, the landfill was closed, and from 2006 to 2016 work was undertaken to restore the site using clean fill to recreate a hill. The site is planned to be redeveloped into an urban park, with a 70 metre-high flat-topped grass hill.

Gallery

Greenmount Auckland.JPG, Basalt dry-stone wall with former site of Green Hill in distance Aerial view of Green Hill, East Tāmaki, 1964.jpg, Aerial view of the site of Green Hill in 1964, during quarrying Green Mt 2009.jpg, Aerial view of the site of Green Hill in 2009, after being quarried and used as a landfill

History

Gallery

References

Bibliography

Further reading