Also known as the Old Belmont to Pauatahanui Road, the road was a packtrack from the Hutt Valley to Pauatahanui, which was upgraded to a road. It originally left the Hutt from somewhere near the present Normandale bridge and ended at the intersection of SH58 and Belmont Road.
It is a fine and rare example of an early, horse-era road and is the first road built between the Hutt Valley and Wellington's west coast. For 20 years it remained the only route between the two settlements.
Pressure for a road came from increased settlement of a place known as Normandale, (for the wife of Premier Richard Seddon whose maiden name was Norman). Between 1853 and 1857 15 sections were granted in the area. In the 1860s 32 Crown Grants of section were offered to retired British soldiers who extracted the timber and then resold the land for grazing. This pressure resulted in the Belmont Road Board being formed in 1870.
mproved access meant that settlement of the area sped up. In 1874 there were 10 households living in Belmont and another 74 sections for sale. Most likely much of this increase is attributable to the arrival of the railway in 1874.
During the 1880s many of the small farms were bought to form larger holdings. Owners of these large holding included Charles Cottle (for whom Cottle Park Drive is named), the Galloways, Thomas Meagher and Sir William Fitzherbert. In 1891 Fitzherbert died and in 1903 the Liberal Government negotiated to buy the 1640 acre Belmont Farm that Fitzherbert had owned. They paid £15,419 for the property.
The most significant impact on the Belmont Coach Road was the completion of the first Haywards Road in 1890. The Haywards went through many changes and realignments over its history, particularly with the advent of the motorcar. As it improved, it became the preferred route between the Hutt and Pauatahanui.
By the end of World War I, the road was primarily used for farm traffic. Residents began complaining about the state of the road, but the Hutt City Council (who administered the road) did not view it as a priority.
World War II brought about a change in the road's status. Fearing Japanese invasion a huge military construction programme was instigated by the government, including coastal defences, camps, bases and airfields. The Belmont Hills became a massive ammunition storage site, with privately owned farms housing storage magazines.
Some 244 magazines were planned for various locations in New Zealand and 52 were planned for the Belmont Hill on land owned by descendants of Charles Cottle. In the end 62 were built, at a total cost of £210,000. To facilitate access to the magazine sites the part of Belmont Coach Road that met Hill Road was widened and improved. The widened portion of the road is still evident today.
The cache is a 200ml Sistema container, and when placed contained a logbook and some small swappables. Please bring your own writing stick.