Point Britomart ( mi, Te Rerenga Ora Iti) was a

headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, Joh ...

in the

Waitematā Harbour Waitematā Harbour is the main access by sea to Auckland, New Zealand. For this reason it is often referred to as Auckland Harbour, despite the fact that it is one of two harbours adjoining the city. The harbour forms the northern and easter ...

, in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

(), New Zealand. Located between Commercial Bay and Official Bay,Auckland's waterfront and its changing face
(Auckland City Library, includes various further references) the point was later quarried away to produce fill for

land reclamation Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclam ...

in Mechanics Bay, and almost no physical trace remains at street level in what is today an area of the

Auckland CBD The Auckland Central Business District (CBD), or Auckland city centre, is the geographical and economic heart of the Auckland metropolitan area. It is the area in which Auckland was established in 1840, by William Hobson. It is New Zealand's l ...

and the Auckland waterfront.

History

''Te Rerenga Ora Iti'' (‘the leap of the few survivors’) was the site of at least one Māori , and was considered an important site in ''Tāmaki Makaurau'' ( Auckland isthmus), with several known battles fought over it, such as by the

Ngāti Whātua Ngāti Whātua is a Māori iwi (tribe) of the lower Northland Peninsula of New Zealand's North Island. It comprises a confederation of four hapū (subtribes) interconnected both by ancestry and by association over time: Te Uri-o-Hau, Te Roroa, ...

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori culture, Māori society. In Māori-language, Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and ...

'' in the 17th and 18th centuries. The name commemorates an incident around 1680 when Ngāti Whātua drove Ngāti Huarere over the cliff to either their freedom or deaths.Chapter 1 - The Historic Land 1600-1959
(from the Britomart Transport Centre website) After signing the

Treaty of Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi ( mi, Te Tiriti o Waitangi) is a document of central importance to the history, to the political constitution of the state, and to the national mythos of New Zealand. It has played a major role in the treatment of the M ...

, Ngāti Whātua paramount chief Āpihai Te Kawau, gave land for British settlement on the Waitematā. It was ''Te Rerenga Ora Iti'' where the

Union Jack The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

was first raised in Auckland on 18 September 1840 by

Felton Mathew Felton Mathew (1801 – 26 November 1847) was New Zealand's first Surveyor General. Central Auckland was laid out by him. Felton Mathew Avenue was named after him, and is a difficult incline amongst the cycling community in Auckland. Early life ...

, and the point soon became the site of one of the first British military fortifications in New Zealand,

Fort Britomart A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

. It was also the site of Auckland's first church, St Paul's, founded within a year of the foundation of Auckland in 1841, and one of the city's best known landmarks for 40 years. The point received its European name in 1848 from , the crew of which undertook a detailed survey of the harbour of the new capital. From 1842, Point Britomart became the first major military barracks in Auckland. This was supplemented by the construction of the larger Albert Barracks in 1846. Fort Britomart and the Albert Barracks were closed in 1870. In the 1870s and 1880s, the point was quarried away for fill in Mechanics Bay, its spoils providing the land for a new railway station. The removal also made Official Bay more easily accessible by foot. Despite being set back from the excavations, on what is now known as Emily Place, the original St Paul's had to be demolished. The western half of the city block currently bound by Tangihua Street, Beach Road, Quay Street and Britomart Place, now occupies the site of what was once the northern tip of Point Britomart. In 2018

Ngāti Whātua-o-Ōrākei Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori culture, Māori society. In Māori-language, Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and ...

and Ports of Auckland created ''Te Toka o Apihai Te Kawau'', a memorial commemorating the founding of Auckland that includes a rock which marks the spot where ''Rerenga Ora Iti'' met the water, and where the city began.

References

{{Coord, -36.844049, 174.772178, display=title, format=dms Britomart Geography of Auckland Auckland CBD Auckland waterfront Waitematā Harbour