While the Wairarapa was sparsely settled during initial Maori occupation, it has been suggested that by the time European settlement occurred large amounts of the region had already been cleared of the ‘primordial’ forest referred to by Colenso on his later incursion there. The coast, for example, had been almost entirely cleared of forest, and the density of archaeological sites on the coast reflects this. Archaeologist Bruce McFadgen writes that while the recorded occupation at Akitio is sparse, there are middens, ovens, terraces and artifacts at the mouth of the Akitio River. There is also evidence for a small Maori village on the north bank of the Akitio River that Colenso visited in his travels up and down the coast. There is also a recorded archaeological site in the vicinity of the property of the Marainanga Station Woolshed. While it has been suggested that there are no known records of Europeans in the Wairarapa prior to 1840, colonisation of the area soon occurred as it was recognised that the region was useful for sheep farming. During the 1850s, the development of large scale pastoralism took place in the region. The Wairarapa and Tararua regions were some of the first areas extensively settled for farming purposes, and farming is an integral part of both the history and current life of the region. Sheep farming for wool and later meat is the agricultural industry for which New Zealand is best known, and it follows therefore that woolsheds are amongst New Zealand’s most characteristic farm buildings. It was here that sheep were sorted and held prior to shearing. Shearing and the sorting, baling and storage of wool were all carried out in woolsheds. Woolsheds typically follow the form that had already gained popularity in Australia, with three basic areas: the pens for hold-ing sheep, the shearing board where the sheep were shorn and the wool room where fleeces were sorted, classed and pressed into bales. The Marainanga Station Woolshed was designed and built in 1883. Thornton states that the farm Moanaroa was formed from the subdivision of the early Marainanga Station. The station had its beginnings when it was under control of Dr Issac Featherston; it was then taken over by the Johnston brothers who sublet it to James Armstrong of Akitio North. At that time Moanaroa was known as Akitio South. The Station was taken over by Handyside, Roberts and Company, and it was under the control of this company when the woolshed was built in 1883. The Marainanga Station was subdivided in 1908 from a size of 36,000 acres, and is noted for the Angus stud that was established there. The sale of the Marainanga Station led to the development of the stud at Moanaroa Station, where the breed has been farmed for over 100 years. Woolsheds vary in size from relatively small structures to those with as many as 48 stands. Marainanga is therefore a midsized woolshed, with 12 stands and the space for 1,500 sheep. At its peak production when the station attached to the woolshed was 36,000 acres, 28,000 sheep would have passed through and been shorn in this shed. Bullocks were used to transport wool on to ships through the surf at Akitio beach. Boats would land at the beach up to twice a week throughout the year, sometimes loading up to 7,000 bales of wool from the surrounding district. The last time that this occurred at Marainanga Station Woolshed was in 1943-44. In 1899 the ship Pleiades ran aground at Akitio near the station, and it is noted that ‘the men were treated most hospitably by a Mr. Handyside.’ In 1900 it was dismantled as the cost of refloating it was too high, and some of the material from the ship was stored at the Marainanga Station Woolshed. Kernohan writes that ‘notwithstanding the work of JS Swan, few, if any woolsheds were designed by architects’. Thornton states while the architect of the Marainanga Woolshed is not known, that there are several woolsheds in the area with a similar design, suggesting that they were designed by the same person. The woolshed at Akitio Station, then known as Akitio North, for example, is very similar to the Marainanga Station Woolshed. There are aspects of the woolshed which are considered different from the otherwise standard woolshed of the time. There is an area which is partitioned off with round topped pigeon holes in which to keep the shearing blades. It has been suggested that this is unique, as it was generally not expected to have an ornate place for their storage, rather a shelf or dwang by the shearing ports. Thornton also suggests that the screw press in the entrance to the woolshed is one of very few remaining in working condition in the country. Woolsheds were not simply places for work and gangs of shearers who were employed over seasons would live in the area surrounding them, forming an important part of the social history of an area. These people may have left no more permanent mark other than, for example, the graffiti in Marainanga Station Woolshed made by the workers employed there over the shearing season. Marainanga Station Woolshed is significant as being representative of the tenacity of individuals living in rural New Zealand, the development of pastoralism, and the success on the East Coast of sheep farming in particular. The Woolshed reflects changes to the vegetation and landscape that has been ongoing since Maori first settled there. The Woolshed therefore reveals important aspects of New Zealand’s pastoral history, for example as an area that was cleared of native bush and gradually changed over time into a farm. The Woolshed is an important part of the history of the area surrounding Akitio and its development, and reflects the success of early settlers in developing farms from small beginnings, and their determination to remain permanently in an inhospitable area. Anecdotes about it have been published in a memoir about the area. Marainanga Station Woolshed has also played a significant part in the employment of individuals for shearing purposes, in a remote area of New Zealand’s east coast. The building is still in use as a woolshed in 2010.