Te Naupata / Musick Point

20 Musick Point Road; 4 Clovelly Road, Bucklands Beach, AUCKLAND

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Te Naupata / Musick Point reflects the settlement and use of a strategic promontory of the Hauraki Gulf extending over three quarters of a millennium. Artefacts from the period of first settlement include stone tools that were probably worked on the site. Written and oral traditions outline the ongoing significance of the site to Ngāi Tai and others. During the late 1930s, the site became pivotal in the development of a radio communication service that was linked with the emergence of commercial international aviation in New Zealand. The station played an important role in the South Pacific campaign during the Second World War (1939-45). Initially known as Te Waiarohia o Ngariki, the northern headland is said to have first been occupied by the Ngariki people, descendants of early Polynesian settlers who migrated to New Zealand in circa 1250. Tainui plants, such as those found within the area, are traditionally regarded to have derived from timbers brought from Hawaiiki as part of the Tainui canoe. Te Waiarohia became a fortified site possibly around the seventeenth century, broadly coinciding with the tribal name Ngāi Tai coming into use after the marriage of Te Whatatau to Te Raukohekohe. From Te Raukohekohe descend the Ngāi Tai people of Tāmaki. There is no record in early nineteenth-century accounts of Te Waiarohia being occupied, George Graham having stated that it had become tapu as a result of warfare in 1821. Acquired by the Crown following an investigation into land dealings by the early missionary William Fairburn, the site was used for grazing as late as the 1950s. In the late 1930s, Te Naupata / Musick Point was one of five strategic locations for a national communications network that facilitated the introduction of international air services to New Zealand in 1940. Following the loss of a Pan American Airways' flying boat en route to New Zealand in 1938, the New Zealand government instructed that a planned operations building be designed as a fitting memorial to the American aviation pioneer, Captain Edwin Musick. The design of the new building has been credited to John Blake-Kelly, who later became the first New Zealand-trained Government Architect. Its style represents an early local use of Modern or Functionalist-influenced architecture in Auckland, and was conceived as part of a wider landscape modelled on the appearance of an aeroplane and jet stream that was evidently intended to be viewed from the air. Work on the building commenced in 1940 and was undertaken by Hamilton-based contractor, D.C. Street Construction Limited. The facility was opened by Prime Minister Peter Fraser in January 1942 in the presence of American consular officials. The complex included an associated workers' village accommodating staff required for the 24-hour operation. During the Second World War, Te Naupata / Musick Point was the main communications link with New Zealand forces in the Pacific. It also briefly served as the connection between the United States Naval Command station in Auckland and its Washington headquarters. In 1942, a formal landscape surrounding the installation was set out by horticulturalist Roy Thornton, and was notable for its exclusive use of native species. During the 1950s the southeast part of the headland was developed as a golf course by the Howick Golf Club, consistent with earlier plans for public use of the headland as a park. From 1966 the station building was used solely for regional maritime and emergency radio services, one of its original dual purposes. In 1993 it was decommissioned. Since 1999 the Musick Memorial Radio Station has been occupied by the Suburban Amateur Radio Club and was rededicated by the American Ambassador in 2003. It is now an important archive and repository of radio equipment associated with its original use. Te Naupata / Musick Point has aesthetic significance for its visual design and other qualities. It has archaeological value for incorporating the remains of extensive Māori settlement, and later activity linked with conflict in the Pacific during the Second World War. The area has strong architectural significance as an integrated design of Modern or Functionalist influence by John Blake-Kelly, subsequently the first New Zealand-trained architect to become Government Architect. The area has cultural value for reflecting close links between New Zealand and the United States of America. The area has historical significance for its associations with the Māori occupation of Tāmaki-makau-rau; the provision of radio communication services for maritime and international aeronautical activity; the commemoration of American Pacific aviator Captain Edwin Musick and his crew, killed in 1938; and its important role during the Second World War. The area has social significance for its past connections with a close-knit mid to late twentieth-century working and residential community. The area has strong spiritual significance as a wahi tapu and sacred place for Ngāi Tai and has considerable traditional value for its associations with several important ancestors. The area has high technological value for its use of radio communications, and for the presence of extensive equipment linked to this activity.

Te Naupata / Musick Point, Bucklands Beach, Auckland. Early morning fog lingering around Musick Point. CC BY-SA 4.0 Image courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org | Skyviewphotography | 14/06/2019 | Skyviewphotography - Wikimedia Commons
Te Naupata / Musick Point, Bucklands Beach, Auckland. Musick Memorial Radio Station. Image courtesy of www.jonynz.com | 01/07/2015 | Jonty Crane
Te Naupata / Musick Point, Bucklands Beach, Auckland. Memorial Radio Station. Image courtesy of www.flickr.com | Chris | 25/10/2022 | Chris Beaton
Te Naupata / Musick Point, Bucklands Beach, Auckland. Image shows remains of ditched defences of Pa | Martin Jones | 23/01/2010 | Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga

Location

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List Entry Information

Overview

Detailed List Entry

Status

Listed

List Entry Status

Historic Area

Access

Able to Visit

List Number

9335

Date Entered

6th June 2010

Date of Effect

6th June 2010

City/District Council

Auckland Council

Region

Auckland Council

Extent of List Entry

Extent includes the land described as Lots 1-3 DP 158600 (RTs NA107B/757, NA107B/758, NA95A/727), Allot 408 Parish of Pakuranga (NZ Gazette 1982, p.3711), and Part bed of Hauraki Gulf, North Auckland Land District and the following historic places: Te Naupata, and Musick Memorial Radio Station and Workers' Village. (Refer to map in Appendix 1 in the registration report for further information). The registration includes all structures and their fixtures and fittings, other than the Howick Golf Club Building which is excluded from the registration other than the land beneath it. All plantings are included.. Boundary coordinates: 2680286.36 6480838.53 2680289.19 6480839.86 2680356.22 6480818.66 2680541.45 6481088.83 2680449.53 6481629.12 2680241.29 6482160.03 2679859.41 6482539.89 2679637.22 6482214.43 2679588.44 6481906.77 2679654.10 6481079.45 2679710.80 6480770.26 2679835.35 6480763.69 2679846.21 6480779.46 2679890.11 6480751.38 2679906.13 6480810.83 2679926.56 6480825.64 2679939.16 6480831.58 2679952.79 6480834.48 2679973.47 6480834.72 2679995.83 6480917.53 2680286.36 6480838.53

Legal description

Lots 1-3 DP 158600 (RTs NA107B/757, NA107B/758, NA95A/727), Allot 408 Parish of Pakuranga (NZ Gazette 1982, p.3711) and Part bed of Hauraki Gulf, North Auckland Land District

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