Cultural Significance

Wrights Hill has social value as one of the best known of the numerous coastal defence fortifications constructed around New Zealand. The firing of the guns and the subsequent damage to windows in surrounding homes has become a constantly retold part of the story of the suburb. Open days continue to generate large crowds of lay people and it continues to convey the seriousness of the threat posed to New Zealand security to those who have no first hand experience of the Second World War.

Historic Significance

Historical Significance or Value In April 1997 members from the New Zealand Historic Places Trust (NZHPT) and the Department of Conservation held a joint workshop at Antrim House, Wellington, on European Harbour Defences constructed between 1840 and 1945. At the workshop 72 coastal defence structures were identified. Following the workshop heritage consultant Michael Kelly was commissioned to research the sites and, using a thematic approach, recommend a select number the most significant and the best representative examples not already registered of New Zealand's historic coastal defences. 21 sites were selected. On 30 April 1998 the NZHPT Registration Group considered each of the 21 site and recommended that 14 of these for registration. Wrights Fortress was one of just three sites put forward in the Wellington Region as the most significant or best representative example of sites nationwide. Wrights Hill Fortress is historically significant. Its construction was prompted by the Second World War, and given priority when the arena of war shifted to the Pacific when Japan bombed Pearl Harbour in 1942. Three 9.2-inch batteries were constructed to combat the threat to New Zealand harbours, two in Auckland and one in Wellington. These were the biggest land based defensive batteries ever erected in New Zealand and were part of a massive construction programme designed to secure the New Zealand coastline from attack. Work on the batteries commenced, with great haste, in 1942, and continued after the Japanese threat receded in 1944.

Physical Significance

The Wrights Hill Fortress has architectural and technological significance as a skilful example of the adaptation of standardised plans to suit local conditions. Wrights Hill is the smallest and most compact of New Zealand's extant 9.2-inch batteries and is unique in that its war shelters are incorporated into the tunnel entrances. It is also the only one of the surviving 9.2-inch batteries to have its battery Observation Post as part of the underground complex.

Detail Of Assessed Criteria

(a) The extent to which the place reflects important or representative aspects of New Zealand history Wrights Hill Fortress represents the culmination of a long history of perceived threats to national security via New Zealand's extensive coastline, and the defensive measures put in place to combat these threats by the Government. The clustering of batteries and forts around main centres and key trading harbours reflects the importance of these sites to the country. From the 1880s, when the first batteries were erected to defend the country from an invasion by Russia, to the Second World War, the government concentrated its resources around the ports of Wellington and Auckland. The batteries reflect the rapid technological developments over time, which forced almost continuous upgrading and construction of forts around the harbour from the 1880s onwards. In the Second World War, with the development of cruisers capable of taking 8 and 11-inch armaments, the very real threat of an invasion by Japan prompted the largest defence programme ever undertaken. The three 9.2 inch batteries, including Wrights Hill Fortress, were the largest and most expensive part of the security measures developed. The fortress is vivid evidence of the extent of the perceived threat and the measures the Government considered necessary to defend the country. (b) The association of the place with events, persons, or ideas of importance in New Zealand history The Wrights Hill Fortress is an integral part of New Zealand's military history and its response to the direct threat posed by the Second World War. Its construction was authorised because of the outbreak of the war and its design was prompted technological developments that allowed cruisers to carry 8 and 11-inch armaments. The site's history is intimately linked to the rise and fall of Japan as a key threat to the Allies in the Pacific between 1942 and 1944. Its construction was largely undertaken when the peril to New Zealand was at its greatest, and its completion was constantly delayed and scaled-down as the threat diminished as the balance of power was tipped towards the Allies. (e) The community association with, or public esteem for, the place Wrights Hill Fortress has a strong community association and commands high public esteem. This is strongly demonstrated by the extensive work community-based groups have put into the preservation of the site since 1988, when the Karori Lions Club began to clean up the area, and the establishment in 1992 of an incorporated society, the Wrights Hill Fortress Restoration Society, whose purpose is to restore the site and provide access and interpretation for the public. The society received a conservation award for their efforts in 2001. This evidence is further supported by the creation of the Wrights Hill Recreation Reserve in 1989, which set the land aside in recognition of its value as a public amenity. The site has been described as 'one of the best known of any coastal defence fortification in New Zealand', and since the site was first opened to the public in 1989, open days have been extremely well attended by interested members of the community. (f) The potential of the place for public education The site has considerable potential for public education. The only battery to be constructed in the midst of an urban centre during World War II, the site is readily accessible to the public. The efforts of community-based groups have ensured that much of the site can be explored on the four days that the Fortress is open to the public during the year. Careful preservation work, such as the restoration of the degrees marked out in the No.1 gun emplacement, and interpretation work such as the completion of a replica gun enables lay-persons to develop a real appreciation of the seriousness of the threat to New Zealand's coastal security during the Second World War. (g) The technical accomplishment or value, or design of the place The Wrights Hill battery and the two others under construction simultaneously in Auckland were the largest, and most expensive coastal defence projects ever undertaken in New Zealand. Although based on standard designs produced by the British War Office, the battery plans were adapted by the Public Works Department to suit local conditions. The underground tunnel system, made possible by the Department's experience in tunnels created for the New Zealand Railway, makes the batteries unique. The rapid construction of these tunnels between 1942 and 1943 is a remarkable feat of civil engineering, has been described as a 'triumph over great adversity'. (k) The extent to which the place forms part of a wider historical and cultural complex or historical and cultural landscape Wrights Hill Fortress is part of a landscape of defensive measures undertaken to protect New Zealand from attack during the Second World War and an integral part of a long history of coastal defence fortifications. The 9.2-inch battery was authorised at the commencement of hostilities and given priority in 1942 when the threat from Japan appeared to be at its greatest. It was one of three such batteries constructed to protect the country's main ports and part of a comprehensive defence network hastily constructed to protect Wellington's harbour. It was designed to work in conjunction with batteries at Palmer Head, Opau, and Fort Dorset, and a minefield, boom and underwater detection devices, which were laid across the entrance to the harbour. It was also the latest in a long series of batteries constructed to protect Wellington from sea-borne attack, the first being those erected to protect the country from a perceived threat from Russia. Wrights Hill is therefore an important component of a long history of coastal defence and an integral part of the national response to that pivotal event of the twentieth century, the Second World War.