The Tuia Mātauranga GeoTour is about having fun discovering the history of Aotearoa New Zealand by finding sites of significance in local communities from early Pacific voyaging and migration, European settlement to present day. The interaction between people, and people and the land have provided a rich history that the GeoTour invites you to explore.
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The cache will have a Keyword, which you need for the Geotour. Don't forget to write it down!
To be able to complete this Geotour and receive your special geocoin, remember to take a note of the codeword on the log book of the cache. This will need to be recorded in your passport which can be downloaded from here. If the passport is unavailable for any reason just keep a note of the codeword and try again later.
Whilst New Zealand and Wellington are at Alert Level 4, I will not be checking on any of my caches or performing cache maintenance. This means that some caches may be unavailable for longer then is ideal. Apologies for this.
***** As this cache is at risk of being washed away if the river gets too high, please do not leave Trackables in this cache.*****
Fort Richmond.
A small wooden fortress in central Lower Hutt, alongside the Hutt River and with Black Creek to one side in the 1840s. The fort stood on the eastern bank of the river, north of the bridge. The Hutt River has changed its course since the 1840s and the fort was located in the position of the current river close to the riverside carpark.
THE fort was designed by Captain Geo. Compton, who was in charge of the Hutt Militia, and was named after Major Richmond, the Superintendent of the Southern District. This stockade was 95 feet long-each way and built mostly of pukatea from Te Momi. One flanking bastion was 15 feet square and the other 12 feet square. The fort cost £124, exclusive of the timber, given by Captain Compton, and the settlers' labour, valued at £54/10/-. It was completed in April, 1845, and shortly afterwards the regular soldiers were garrisoned there. In 1847 a flood damaged the south-western turret and washed away one of the two brass carronades with which the fort was equipped.
The buildings shown in the stockade were removed about 1860, and in 1861 a two-storied block-house, similar in all respects to the one still in evidence at Wallaceville, was built on the site. In 1869 this building, which was used as a school, was removed to a site behind the present Post Office in Riddiford Park, where it was used as a school for several years. It was finally taken down about 1885.
The cache is a 400ml Sistema, camoflaged with tape. At the time of placement, it had a pen and a few swops (but bring your own pen just in case). The keyword you need for the Geotour is written on the cover of the Logbook. The cache can be reached from the footpath, and is in front of the bench as you stand on the footpath looking at it. Please use extreme stealth when finding and replacing.
I placed this cache using a smartphone, checked them on two occations, plus confirmed they looked good on Google Maps. However, if anyone finds they are out, please feel free to let me know and I'll update them if the difference is significant.
Resources:
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/wellington-war
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/fort-richmond-near-hutt-river