Early Māori History
‘Ka mau tā Māui ki tōna ringaringa e kone e taea te rūru’
‘What Māui has got in his hand he cannot throw away’
This whakataukī (proverb) refers to the response of Māui when his brothers begged him to release the fish he had caught.
Tribal traditions, whakapapa and archaeological evidence all indicate many centuries of Māori occupation in Ahuriri (Napier), centrally located within the wider area of Te Matau-a-Māui (Hawke’s Bay). Te Matau-a-Māui translates to the ‘fish hook of Māui’ and is an allegorical reference to the legendary explorer and ancestor Māui who fished up Te Ika-a-Maui (the North Island) using a hook fashioned from his grandmother’s jawbone. The hook transformed into the coastline of Te Matau-ā-Māui, with Te Kauwae-a-Māui (Cape Kidnappers) at the tip.
Early Māori tribes in the region descended from Māui and down through Toi-kai-rākau, and included Ngāti Hotu, Ngāti Mahu and Whatumamoa. When Ngāti Kahungunu arrived in the region in the sixteenth century, Whatumamoa, Rangitāne, Ngāti Awa and elements of Ngāti Tara were living in Pētane, Te Whanganui-a-Orotū (the Napier Inner Harbour, also known as Ahuriri Harbour) and Waiohiki. These groups are all ancestors of the current hapū within Te Matau-a-Māui.
Ngāti Kahungunu became the dominant tribal group in the region through both warfare and strategic marriage though large numbers left the area in the 1820s due to armed raids from both the west and north, and most sought refuge at Māhia. They started ‘filtering back’ to Ahuriri-Heretaunga in the 1830s and 1840s with the Treaty of Waitangi providing the prospect of ‘being able to return to their ancestral lands in peace’. European traders, whalers and missionaries were living in the region by this time, and by 1851 small beach communities had taken up residence on both sides of Te Whanganui-a-Orutū (at Onepoto and on the western spit). That same year Land Commissioner Donald McLean negotiated the purchase of the circa 265 000 acre Ahuriri Block which included Mataruahou (Napier Hill, formerly Scinde Island); the subject of some discussion during McLean’s negotiations with iwi.
Mataruahou referred to the mirror images of faces which appeared in the pools alongside the tracks over what was effectively an island. Mataruahou and other smaller islands surrounded Te Whanganui-a-Orutū which was highly prized by Māori for its plentiful resources including fish, shellfish and birds, making it an attractive place for early settlement. The area is recognised as a place of cultural, historical and spiritual significance for Māori, as demonstrated by the proposed name change back to Mataruahou. A number of whare wānanga (houses of learning) were established on Mataruahou such as at Hukarere (Bluff Hill) at the north-eastern end. Here, tohunga (priests) would ‘observe movements of the stars and prescribe times for planting, harvesting and fishing’. In particular, they would watch for the arrival of the star Whānui (Vega), a sign that it was time to harvest the kūmara: ‘Ka rere a Whānui, ka tīmata te hauhake’ (when Vega rises, the harvest starts). The harvesting was followed by a period of feasting and celebration. Whānui disappeared from the sky as Matariki appeared, signalling the commencing of the Māori winter.
The archaeological record indicates Māori terracing and a number of midden deposits on Hukarere. Hukarare was also the site of Tūhinapō, ‘the most sacred spot in the district for here stood the altar at which were offered the first fruits of the season. None but the tohunga himself dared approach the spot’. The Tūhinapō astronomy wānanga extended throughout many of the iwi down the North Island’s East Coast and into the South Island. Mataruahou was also a tapū place in that it housed the caves of Io Pikopiko, an important atua (god) for maintaining the mauri ora (life force) of Hawke’s Bay Māori. It is known that there were pā and kāinga on the hill, such as Matapane Pā, Hukarere Pā and Pukemokimoki Pā (since destroyed by quarrying), and several midden have been recorded.
Laying out of Napier Township
Mataruahou was not considered an ‘attractive or healthy site’ for a township, effectively being ‘a small semi-island between the sea and inner harbour, which was prone to flooding’, with limited road access to the ‘mainland’. It was the perfect location for a port though, and three years after the Ahuriri Block purchase, newly appointed Commissioner of Crown Lands and Resident Magistrate Alfred Domett laid out the first plan of the township known as Napier. Domett’s plan was a ‘representation of what should or could happen for the future’ and included public facilities such as ‘reserves and sites for a town hall, hospital, gaol, cemetery and schools’. The ‘Goal Reserve’ (sic) and adjacent ‘Slaughter House Reserve’ were located on the corner of Coote Road and Marine Parade, in keeping with the policy of the time to ‘segregate undesirable activities’.
Napier’s First Lock-up/Gaol
Napier’s first policeman Corporal Henry Groom arrived in Napier in May 1854, leasing a whare in Onepoto from Ngāti Kahungunu rangatira Karaitiana Takamoana. The whare also initially served as a lock-up, but in 1855 tenders were let for the construction of a police station/lock-up and the building was completed in February 1856 to a cost of £200. It was reportedly located on the corner of Faraday and Carlyle Streets. The ‘primitive’ lock-up was one of the first public buildings erected in the fledgling township and security was rather lacking ‘with nothing very formidable in the way of locks and bars’; prisoners were given notice to be back at 10pm or risk being locked out for the night.
In December 1856 the Wellington Provincial Government determined that the lock-up would also serve as the gaol but by 1859 the lock-up was deemed ‘unfit’ for this dual purpose, with its accommodation being ‘barely adequate for the purposes of the first’. In May 1859 the provincial government proposed a £125 addition to the lock-up to enable it to continue through until 1860 when measures were to be taken to erect a permanent gaol building. Nothing had happened by 1860 though, at which point the existing gaol/lock-up was considered ‘a scandalous place’ - something more was now ‘imperatively required’.
A New Gaol for Napier
Upon their establishment in 1853, provincial governments became responsible for the administration of prisons, subsequently building a number of New Zealand’s earliest gaols. In early 1861, the Hawke’s Bay Provincial Council (which was formed in 1858 when Hawke’s Bay separated from the Wellington Province) voted to set aside £800 for a new gaol building in Napier. The want of a purpose-built gaol ‘had been long grievously felt’ in Napier, and finally, it had become a reality.
In February 1861 Mr Joseph Lucas (‘J. L.’) Hodges was appointed Keeper of the Gaol at an annual salary of £120, ‘pro forma’ until the new gaol was completed. Tender notices indicate that plans and specifications for the new gaol were available from the office of Edward G. Wright, Director of Works. The gaol was to be located atop Bluff Hill, a site considered ‘not an inappropriate one for a prison, being the top of a precipitous cliff…’ In August 1861 Messrs Ekholms and Lound were awarded the tender for excavating the foundations for the new gaol. Carpenter William Miller successfully tendered for its construction, for the sum of £1050. Construction was delayed slightly due to the difficulty with placing orders for timbers (tōtara) of ‘unusual sizes’, but the timber had arrived by late 1861. The new gaol would afford accommodation for 14 prisoners, with quarters for the gaoler and police, and had been planned to allow for future expansion as necessary. In January 1862 a proclamation was issued by Governor Sir George Grey, declaring the gaol (still under construction) a place of execution under the Execution of Criminals Act 1858.
The new gaol was ‘near completion’ in March 1862 and in April 1862 tenders were called for the making of furniture for it. The gaol was complete and in occupation from June 1862, when it was declared a public gaol in the Provincial Gazette. It was under the care of previously appointed gaoler J.L. Hodges who lived with his family in a ‘handsome house’ at the gaol. Hodges only lasted a few months though, as once he learned that gaolers might need to serve as executioners (if an executioner couldn’t be found), he tended his resignation and was later replaced by Thomas Barnaby. In November 1862 the rules and regulations of the new gaol were published in the Provincial Gazette. These rules covered various aspects of prison life from the cleanliness of prisoners and their cells to daily rations, offences and their punishment. It was against prison regulations for example to sing, engage in loud conversations or make ‘angry expressions’ or noises.
The prison had clearly soon reached capacity as in April 1863 tenders were called for the addition of a new wing to the prison; Mr A. Bryson was the successful tenderer with the sum of £336. The Provincial Council also gave £100 for the hiring of an additional turnkey for the gaol – a position that was found ‘necessary owing to the number of prisoners’. In May 1863, tenders were sought for the delivery of tōtara to fence the gaol yard, and in 1865 a cost of £70 was reported for fencing of the ‘Gaol Reserve’.
From circa March-June 1866, the Napier Gaol temporarily housed a group of Hauhau prisoners including Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Tūruki. During his time in the gaol, Te Kooti made several unsuccessful requests to the Provincial Superintendent Sir Donald McLean to be tried in court, but he was sent without trial to Rēkohu/Wharekauri (Chatham Islands) on 5 June with the third group of Hauhau prisoners.
Addition of the Lunatic Asylum and Lighthouse (1860s – 1870s)
In April 1868 the prison was investigated as part of the Commission on Prisons and found to be clean and in good order, but with inadequate accommodation for the ‘attainment of strict penal discipline’. One of the ongoing issues was the co-habitation of prisoners with the mentally ill, a situation described as an ‘abomination’, being a ‘refined species of torture – unworthy of the age’. The Crown Colony government had made no provision for the mentally ill in the 1840s and so if they were not able to be cared for by family, gaol was their only other option. In the 1850s and 1860s provincial governments across New Zealand responded to this issue by building lunatic asylums. In 1868 the Hawke’s Bay Provincial Government decided to add a further wing to the gaol to serve as a lunatic asylum. It was built by the gaol’s hard labour gang, and was under the charge of the gaoler. In January 1869 the new ‘West Wing’ was declared a public asylum under The Lunatics Act 1868. The prison’s hard labour gang also constructed ‘250 feet of very substantial close board fencing’, to enclose separate yards for female prisoners and asylum patients, male asylum patients, and a works yard for storing equipment and materials.
In his May 1870 report, gaoler William Miller noted that various improvement works had been undertaken using prison labour. The hard labour gang was also employed outside the gaol, working primarily on the developing town’s roads and streets, principally Coote Road on which the prison was located. The use of prison labour to complete public works such as roads, reclamation, and drains was common in New Zealand at this time, particularly in Auckland, Wellington and Dunedin (which all had major prisons). As labour historian and archivist Jared Davidson writes, prison labour ‘was cheap and convenient. But its use was as much about ideology as it was pragmatic’.
By December 1873 an octagonal timber lighthouse measuring 26 feet (7.9 metres) high and 13 feet (3.9 metres) in diameter at the base had been erected on a small plateau at the southern end of the gaol reserve. The Provincial Council contented that this location would save on costs as the gaol officers on night duty could attend to the lighthouse’s gas light. The gas light was lit for the first time on 9 March 1874.
In 1874 the construction of a new asylum separate from the gaol was considered a work that could ‘no longer be delayed’. A new asylum was subsequently constructed (largely by prison labour) at the northern end of the gaol reserve, in a position overlooked by the gaol. Built of timber with an iron roof, the asylum building was u-shaped; male patients were housed in dormitories in the right wing, with female patients in the left wing. There was an enclosed courtyard between the wings, and other courts on each side, along with associated ‘out-offices’ and new underground concrete water tanks. The new asylum remained under the control of gaoler William Miller, but a resident warder and his wife were appointed to ‘attend entirely to the Asylum’, which opened in 1875.
Executions 1872 – 1889
‘Kei raro te whare aituā, e hāmama i rungo ko te whare o te ora’
‘The house of misfortune is below, gaping open above is the house of life’
An early whakataukī attributed to Ranginui which alludes to the cycle of life and death.
The first execution took place at Napier Gaol in 1872, 10 years after it was declared a place of execution, and 30 years after New Zealand’s first execution. In January 1872, Kereopa Te Rau, a leader of the Pai Mārire religious movement, was hung after being convicted in the Napier Supreme Court for his involvement in the murder of Anglican missionary Carl Völkner in March 1865. Kereopa spent his final night in the cell with Mother Aubert (Kereopa had been baptised as a Roman Catholic 30 years prior) and refused ‘all refreshments and stimulants’. At 8am on Friday 5 January he ascended the scaffold erected in the gaol yard, which had been boarded and screened so as to prevent any public viewing. Kereopa was accompanied by Reverend Samuel Williams who gave a final prayer in Māori, but no other Māori were present, despite ‘tickets’ being sent to Ngāti Kahungunu rangatira Kariatiana Takamoana and Tareha. After the hanging and a subsequent inquest, the body of Kereopa was removed by Tareha and later buried in the Ngāi Tahu Ahi urupā across from Waiohiki marae, approximately 12 kilometres to the southwest of Napier. 142 years later, Kereopa was officially pardoned for his role in Völkner’s death as part of the Ngāti Rangiwehiwehi Treaty Settlement.
The second execution at Napier Gaol took place 12 years later in 1884. In February 1884 Rowland Herbert Edwards of Ōpōtiki was charged with murdering his four children (newborn baby Maud, Arthur aged 3, Ella aged 5 and Robert aged 7) and wife Mary. His subsequent one day trial in June 1884 was limited to the murder charge for his wife, and he was sentenced to death, though it has since been questioned whether ‘the elements of the defence of insanity were accurately explained to the jury’. Edwards was hung at 8am on 15 July 1884, with a large number of people witnessing the execution from elevated positions above the gaol, despite privacy provisions being ‘rigorously adhered to’. He was buried in the gaol yard, where a small stone inscribed with ‘R.H.E. July 15 1884’ marks his grave.
The last two executions took place at Napier Gaol in 1889. On 13 May 1889, 28 year old Haira Te Piri was hung following his conviction for the murder of storekeeper Frank Pook, his wife Jane and their baby Bertie at Mataahu on the East Coast. The gallows had arrived in Napier on 8 May via the S.S. Australia, and were fixed in the yard so as to avoid any outside viewing. The hangman was supposed to have been on a steamer which could not be tendered to bad weather, and so a prisoner was procured to undertake the execution instead. The prisoner (who had been jailed for wife desertion) had the remainder of his imprisonment cancelled and was given free passage elsewhere in exchange for undertaking the execution. Just prior to the execution at 8am, Te Piri requested to bid farewell to the other Māori prisoners at the gaol, and they filed into his cell one by one, shaking hands and greeting each other with a hongi, in what was described as a very emotional scene. Following the execution, Drs Hitchings and Mirbach performed an inquest on Te Piri at 2pm and he was then buried in the ‘gaol grounds’.
The final execution occurred a few months later when Makoare Wata was hung on 28 September after being convicted by the Napier Supreme Court of the murder of shepherd Robert Gollan at Mahia, as well as arson. Wata gave a final farewell to three of his children at 6am and was executed at 8am by notorious executioner Thomas Long. The execution was attended by five members of the local police, Sheriff Birch, Reverend Parkinson, coroner Dr Hitchings and four members of the public ‘who were admitted by ticket from the Sheriff’ (despite public executions having been abolished some years prior). Dr Hitchings held his inquest at 2pm and at 4.20pm Makoare was buried in the gaol yard by Reverend Parkinson.
Closure of the Lunatic Asylum and Additions to the Gaol (1880s – 1900s)
From mid- 1885 the lunatic asylum was used as a ‘receiving ward’ only – any patients requiring more than temporary treatment were transferred to the Wellington asylum. The asylum was finally closed on 1 August 1886 when its ‘existence could no longer be tolerated’. The remaining patients were transferred by steamer to the Wellington asylum and an arrangement was made with the Prisons Department to hand over the Napier asylum and its ‘accessories’.
In 1890 the Provincial Council purchased a quarry site opposite the gaol in Coote Road (on Town Section 715), with gaoler William Miller concurring that ‘it would be a most suitable one for Corporation requirements’. Four years later, the gaol’s hard labour gang commenced the quarrying and preparation of stone from the prison quarry for the gaol’s much needed boundary wall. This preparatory work continued through until the early 1900s, and other walls around the gaol were constructed in the interim, such as the retaining wall which was built at the bottom of the reserve in 1901, and the ‘substantial’ retaining wall re-built in 1902 to prevent slips from the Native Girls’ School next door to the prison buildings. Other improvement works in the early 1900s included the installation of a fire prevention service and gas lighting, including a light in each cell ‘so that prisoners who care for reading have every opportunity of improving themselves’. Around this time a building (comprising various service rooms and stores) alongside the original wooden wall of the prison was also demolished to make way for the new stone boundary wall.
Construction on the boundary wall finally commenced in 1904 and it was near completion by the end of the year, when it was ‘pronounced by people competent to give an opinion as equal as anything of its kind in New Zealand’. The wall was finally completed in 1905 and that same year the Inspector of Prisons highlighted the need for new warder’s cottages at various prisons, including Napier. In 1906 prisoners constructed a new warder’s cottage at the prison, though its exact location is unclear. Two additional ‘neat cottages’ were constructed the following year and were located outside the boundary wall on the former asylum site. They were built using timber recycled from the dismantled asylum.
A Call for Closure (1909 -1920)
Despite the various improvements made to Napier gaol in the early 1900s, by 1909 it was described as the worst prison in New Zealand by the Inspector of Prisons, occupying a ‘beautiful site which could be utilised to much better advantage’. The Inspector recommended closure of the prison as soon as alternative accommodation was found for the inmates, and echoed these sentiments in his 1913 report, describing the prison as ‘hopelessly obsolete’. The prison remained open though, and was primarily used for local short-sentence prisoners. Among the prisoners at this time was Alice Parkinson, who was held there for several months during her Napier trial for the murder of her boyfriend Albert West, who had refused to marry her following the death of their illegitimate baby during labour. The trial captivated the nation at the time and Alice’s subsequent conviction of hard labour for life saw large public meetings and petitions calling for her release.
In 1919 the prison’s status was reduced to a police gaol, staffed by a Principal Warder and one officer, as opposed to a Gaoler and four officers. The ultimate aim was still to close the prison, and there was a proposal to dispose of the prison reserve to Napier Borough Council for £5000. All was progressing well and there were plans to complete the purchase on 31 March 1920. However, the Council had to take a poll of ratepayers in order to authorise a loan needed to purchase the site, and ratepayers vetoed the proposal. The Council was unable to proceed and the Prisons Department consequently decided to continue using the site for ‘penal purposes’.
Further improvements were made to the prison throughout the 1920s, including the installation of electricity, construction of a retaining wall around ‘an extensive slip on the side of the main entrance road’, and construction of a 430-foot (131 metres) long stone retaining wall along the Marine Parade frontage of the prison reserve, which included ‘steps and approaches’ to the prison. This wall was 5.6 feet (1.7 metres) high, topped with cement, and averaged 0.6 metres wide at the base and 0.45 metres wide at the top. Prisoners also created a vegetable garden from an overgrown area of the reserve to enable the prison to become more self-sufficient. The garden provided work for the prisoners, alongside the ongoing quarrying of road metal from the prison quarry. In 1928 prisoners also erected a retaining wall on the Clyde Road part of the prison reserve.
The Napier Earthquake of 3 February 1931
At 10.47am on 3 February 1931, the Hawke’s Bay experienced a devastating earthquake, resulting in 256 deaths and thousands of injuries. Some buildings collapsed immediately, while others such as Napier Prison sustained significant damage. The prison had sunken foundations, broken water and sewerage systems, deep fissures in the yards and damage to the warder’s cottages, Superintendent’s residence and prison kitchen facilities. The various prison walls were particularly affected; the internal division walls were demolished, the eastern wall fronting Marine Parade was ‘completely razed’ and the front wall facing Coote Road was ‘badly fractured’. The damage to the prison walls was particularly concerning due to the security implications at a time when there were several dangerous prisoners locked up, with anyone being able to ‘walk in and all about the prison at any hour of the night without being detected’. The cells received little damage in comparison – doors could still swing and lock, though floors dropped and walls were strained.
The prison muster at the time of the earthquake was 21 and there were 11 prisoners working in the quarry. Several of the prisoners in the quarry were buried by earth and two received severe injuries - they were dug out by their fellow prisoners who also assisted with the rescue of a woman buried by earth in Coote Road. One of the injured prisoners later died in hospital. The prisoners spent the night of the earthquake out in the open prison yard but later moved with the gaoler to Public Works Department tents on a ‘blind road’ about 100 yards (91 metres) up from the prison, due to the frequency and intensity of the aftershocks. The day after the earthquake five prisoners were released on remission, eight were transferred to Wellington and the others (bar one) were later released from custody.
Tradesmen prisoners were sent from Wellington along with the necessary tools to repair the earthquake damage. In his 1932 prisons report, the Inspector of Prisons noted that the eastern wall was completely rebuilt, the front wall was reconditioned and ‘the whole of the wall’ was buttressed on the inside. Three of the internal division walls were rebuilt in brick with cement mortar and reinforced with wire bonding, and various prison buildings were repaired, including the warder’s cottages and the Superintendent’s residence. Subsequent repairs included patching of the exercise yard floors, further sewerage repairs, and repainting of the prison buildings (exteriors), with a tradesman prisoner sent from Wellington to specifically undertake the task. All the old paint was burnt off and boards were replaced where damaged, resulting in a finish described as ‘fresh and clean…it is hard to realize [sic] the buildings are so old’. In total, the earthquake repairs cost £170.
In the years immediately following the earthquake, the prison quarry continued to be the main focus of prison labour (and revenue); though the 1935 Prisons Department report noted that there had been a steep drop off in demand for stone since the post-earthquake restoration of Napier had been completed.
Further Repairs and Alterations (mid-1930s – 1940s)
The ageing nature of the Napier Prison meant that there were always maintenance and development works to be undertaken, and prisoners continued to provide the labour. Their work was reputedly not of as high standard as would be required by an outside contractor, but the prison buildings were ‘so old and of such poor standard (approx. 80 years) that this should not matter greatly’. Key works undertaken in the mid-1930s-1940s included installation of a wireless system; considerable maintenance of, and repairs to, the three warden’s cottages, ‘extensive repairs’ to the prison buildings, and erection of new or replacement walls around the complex, such as the two stone retaining walls ‘at the back of the prison’. In 1948 the lighthouse was ‘successfully dismantled’ for the Marine Department and in 1949 the prison quarry was extended with a new 36 foot (10.9 metre) section. Flower growing also commenced during the 1940s, proving rather profitable.
The installation of the wireless system opened up new entertainment opportunities for the prisoners, who were permitted to listen to ‘sessions of news, sporting events, and variety programmes nightly, and Church broadcasts on Sunday’. Prisoners were also entertained by visiting concert parties and picture screenings; the 1949 Prisons Report states that 18 concert parties had visited the Napier Prison during the year and seven moving pictures were screened. Regular divine services were conducted by a wide variety of denominations, and were well-attended by prisoners.
Formal Reservation as a Prison and New Prison Buildings (1950s-1960s)
On 28 June 1951 the prison site (defined as Town Section 715 and former Suburban Section 675) was finally gazetted as a prison reserve, almost 90 years after the prison first opened. The 1950s also saw the construction of a new timber recreation hall, sited in the north-east corner of the prison (within the boundary wall). The original brief was for a hall 40 feet (12.1 metres) long by 23 feet (7 metres) wide with a stage 12-14 feet (3.6 – 4.2 metres) deep at one end, with steps leading up to the stage from either side. A new timber Superintendent’s office was also built just south of the solitary confinement building (‘the Pound’), designed by Government Architect Gordon Wilson.
In late 1961 the Department of Justice made the decision to build a new house to replace the old Superintendent’s residence which formed part of the main prison complex. The new house was subsequently built by contract on the ‘triangle of garden’ at what is now 29 Clyde Road and the former Superintendent’s residence within the main prison was repurposed as accommodation for inmates.
In the early 1960s there was also a staged proposal for new buildings at the prison, with prisoners undertaking all the necessary carpentry work. Stage 1 involved construction of a new dining room. At that time, prisoners were taking their meals in an open shelter in the yard and it was felt that a ‘proper dining room’ was essential. The dining room was designed by Government Architect Fergus George Frederick (‘F.G.F.’) Sheppard and was completed in 1963. It was an extension of the kitchen located at the western end of the southern cell block wing, but there was a sheltered verandah dividing the two buildings due to a drainage sumps next to the kitchen that could not be built over.
By January 1965 the former open shelter dining room had been converted to an ablution block as part of the subsequent building works. Other building works completed in the mid to late 1960s included construction of two garages (for a vegetable store room and carpenter’s shop) and an extension to the recreation hall.
Scoping for a New Prison and Development of Centennial Gardens (late 1960s – 1970s)
By 1968 the Department of Justice had started scoping alternative sites for a new Napier Prison due to the poor condition of the existing prison. The Commissioner of Crown Lands identified three potential sites on the Department of Lands and Survey’s Ahuriri Farm Settlement, but in the end the Department of Justice decided to look elsewhere.
In 1973 the Napier City Council commenced development of their Centennial Gardens project at the former prison quarry (Town Section 715), to celebrate the centenary of Napier’s establishment as a borough and city. The Centennial Gardens were officially opened on 16 October 1974, comprising a waterfall and hanging gardens complex. The transformation of the former quarry into hanging gardens was undertaken by prisoners and then later Council gardeners, with all soil moved onto the site. 1974 was also the final year in which female prisoners were held at Napier Prison.
The Prison’s Final Years (1980s to 1993)
As the 1980s commenced, there was still no final decision on the future of Napier Prison with the Justice Department and successive governments having ‘delayed and deferred a final decision’ for over a decade. In October 1980, Mr Alan Millar, Central Districts’ Regional Secretary for the Public Service Association was quoted as saying that the prison buildings were ‘grossly substandard’ and that degraded conditions ‘will produce degraded human beings’. These comments were echoed by the Secretary of Justice Mr John Robertson who visited the prison in February 1981 and described it as a ‘blot on the country’s penal programme’.
The Justice Department consequently asked the Ministry of Works to undertake a feasibility study looking at three options for a new Hawke’s Bay prison. Two of the options involved construction of a new prison at Mangaroa, six kilometres south of Hastings, whilst the third option was a rebuild on the current Napier Prison site. The Justice Department prepared a briefing paper for Cabinet, and in 1982 a further feasibility study was undertaken for the third option of redeveloping the current Napier Prison site. However, in July 1983, the government announced their decision to construct a new prison at Mangaroa.
The Napier Prison was to remain open until the new Mangaroa prison was finished and it was reputedly always full during its final years of operation, with a high number of Mongrel Mob members inside, as well as members of rival gangs. Former prison guard John Dagg likened it to a ‘railway station’ with prisoners moving in and out daily. Some ‘favourite’ prisoners were kept on longer term though and worked in the gardens, in the kitchen or helped with building works around the prison, as throughout the prison’s history. Prison labour was used for example to help build new exercise yards (the ‘Cages’) for remand prisoners in 1984-1985. The state of the prison remained a cause for concern, especially overcrowding issues and substandard sanitary arrangements, the latter causing an ‘unbelievable’ stench in summer. Incumbent Minister of Justice Sir Geoffrey Palmer was apparently in disbelief that a place like Napier Prison could exist; with former warder Robert Hohipuha noting that it had become ‘an official embarrassment’.
Mangaroa Prison (now Hawke’s Bay Prison) opened ahead of schedule in 1989 due to a ‘prison-muster blowout’ across New Zealand. Napier Prison continued on for another four years though as a remand facility, to help alleviate crowding at Mangaroa, and there were even plans to redevelop the prison in 1992-1993. In late 1993 though, the remaining 56 inmates and 19 staff at Napier Prison were transferred to a newly built 60-bed block at Mangaroa Prison, and the site’s 131 year history as a prison finally came to an end.
Conversion to Backpackers and Tourist Attraction; Use as a Film Set
The former Napier Prison site was mothballed and subsequently disposed of to the Office of Treaty Settlements for possible use in Treaty settlement claims. It remained a place of great interest to the community though, as evidenced by the nearly 4000 people who attended an open weekend in March 1998. Apart from a short period of use as an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting venue, the site remained vacant from its closure until 2002 when Marion and Toro Waaka entered into a lease agreement with the Crown and converted the former prison into a backpackers and prison tours operation. Minor alterations were undertaken and vandalised areas were cleaned and repaired.
In 2005 the reality television show Redemption Hill was filmed at the prison, during which the 10 teenage participants were given ‘a taste of prison life’ and helped to create a new garden in the south-eastern corner of the site. The backpackers’ hostel closed in 2009, but tours still run and three escape room experiences are currently provided. In early 2018 the Choice TV series Heritage Rescue filmed at the prison, undertaking improvements such as re-painting of the entranceway and installation of new display cabinets and interpretation panels. The Napier Prison site is part of the cultural redress package provided for by the Ahuriri Hapū Deed of Settlement which is currently passing through settlement legislation, but for now is managed under the existing lease arrangement. In 2020 Napier Prison (Former) remains a popular tourist attraction in the city.
