Citizendia
Your Ad Here

Mount Eden

Mount Eden (to the left of the picture, beyond Alexandra Park) from One Tree Hill. One Tree Hill (or Maungakiekie in Māori) is a 182 metre
Local Authority Auckland City
Characteristics:
Established 1870s
Train stations Mount Eden Train Station
Surrounded by:
North Eden Terrace
North-east Newmarket
East Epsom
South-east Epsom
South Three Kings
South-west Mount Roskill
West Balmoral
North-west Kingsland
Terraces on the southern slopes of Mount Eden
Terraces on the southern slopes of Mount Eden

Mount Eden (Maungawhau, the 'Mountain of the Whau tree' in Māori) is the name of a volcano and surrounding suburb in Auckland City, New Zealand, situated five kilometres south of the city centre. This article is about the City of Auckland a part of the whole metropolitan area of Auckland. Mt Eden Railway Station is a Western Line station of the local railway network in the Mount Eden suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. Suburb Newmarket is an Auckland Suburb to the south-east of the Central business district. Epsom is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It is located in the centre of the Auckland isthmus between Mt Eden and One Tree Hill, south of Epsom is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It is located in the centre of the Auckland isthmus between Mt Eden and One Tree Hill, south of Suburb Balmoral is a Suburb of Auckland, New Zealand that is bordered by Mt Eden, Epsom, Mount Roskill and Sandringham Suburb Entelea arborescens or whau is a species of malvaceous tree endemic to New Zealand. This article is about the City of Auckland a part of the whole metropolitan area of Auckland. New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island The mountain is the highest naturalpoint in the whole of Auckland. The Auckland metropolitan area or Greater Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country The English name honours George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland. George Eden 1st Earl of Auckland, GCB (25 August 1784 &ndash 1 January 1849 served as a Politician in the United Kingdom and as Governor-General

Contents

Volcano

Geography

The central focus of the suburb is the dormant eponymous volcano whose summit (196 metres above sea level) is the highest natural point on the Auckland isthmus. Plate tectonics and hotspots Divergent plate boundaries At the Geography On the mainland the region extends from the mouth of the Kaipara Harbour in the north across the southern stretches of the North Auckland Peninsula The majestic bowl-like crater is 50 metres deep. The volcano erupted several times resulting in a series of craters, with the last eruption about 60,000 years ago.

Tourism

Mt Eden sees strong tourism use, as it is the highest non-manmade point in Auckland, and provides good views in all directions over the city. The large numbers of coach buses, which previously could go all the way to a parking lot on the top of the hill has been considered to have degraded the top of the cone. In August 2006, a ban on tour buses was announced. They will have to park halfway up the mountain in the future. However, this has in the meantime been partly qualified, with the vehicle ban only to be enforced when a "sustainable, low-impact transport system" (not further specified) is in place. [1]

Other uses

In pre-European times Mount Eden was utilised as a fortified hill pa by various Māori tribes. The word pā (pronounced pah refers to a Māori Village, generally one from the 19th century or earlier that was fortified for defence This article discusses the Māori people of New Zealand For their language see Māori language, and for other meanings see Māori (disambiguation. [2] Its occupation ended in 1700 A. D when the Waiohua defeated the Tamaki people. The earth ramparts and terraces from this period contribute to the distinctive outline of the hill today.

From the 1950s the peak was used for VHF radio communications in two buildings, several hundred metres apart, each with their own antenna farm. One building housed transmitting equipment, while the other housed receiving equipment. In the 1960s the site was staffed during the five-day working week due to the large number of valves that wore out under the stress of high power and needed continuous service. Typical use of the facility was for taxis, trucks and vans, and other businesses needing mobile communications.

Some of the craters have been made the site of water reservoirs from as early as 1877.

Suburb

Mount Eden as seen through the city buildings, from Northcote.
Mount Eden as seen through the city buildings, from Northcote.
Looking into and over the Mount Eden crater.
Looking into and over the Mount Eden crater.

Pre-European

The area directly around the hill consists of very fertile free-draining soil mixed with a great deal of volcanic debris in the form of scoria rocks. When Europeans came to the area, they found a landscape devoid of large trees, as anything of any size had been cut down by the Maori for various uses, such as the timber palisades of the pa. The land was covered with bracken, flax and manukau trees, with whau shrubs growing on the hill. The Europeans cleared the land of the scoria rocks and made fences with them to define property boundaries. This resulted in a landscape reminiscent of Ireland or the Scottish lowlands. Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world The Scottish Lowlands ( a' Ghalldachd, meaning roughly 'the non-Gaelic region' in Gaelic, and called Lawlands or Lallans in Scots These scoria walls are still a feature of the suburb today.

Later settlement

Initially the land was utilised for farms, but from quite early on the area hosted country residences of professionals and business people from Auckland. Most of the farm land was subdivided into large suburban plots between 1870 and 1875, and the principal roads were formed by the Crown. Mt Eden's first school opened in 1877 on the corner of Mt Eden and Valley roads. In 1879 the mountain was officially protected as a public reserve. The tea kiosk on the slope of Mt Eden was built in 1927.

Mt Eden is now a "leafy suburb" of predominantly large houses from the first half of the 20th century. The gardens are verdant and the trees have grown large. On the eastern slopes of Mt Eden were constructed several large country houses set in palatial grounds. These included "Harewood House" (now the site of the Mater Hospital), Justice Gillies "Rocklands Hall" (now a hostel), Alfred Buckland's "Highwic" (now a museum), the Hellaby family's "Florence Court", and Josiah Clifton Firth's "Clifton House" (both still private residences). Close by the current Government House (residence of the Governor General) is Eden Gardens, a botanical garden set up in a disused quarry. The Governor-General of New Zealand (Te Kawana Tianara o Aotearoa is the representative of the Sovereign in right of New Zealand (currently Queen

In the 1950s and 1960s the inner suburbs became unfashionable and the old houses of the Mt Eden area were comparatively cheap to buy. Mt Eden developed a slightly bohemian image during this time as a community of artists, writers, teachers and university lecturers made it their home. Mt Eden village is still regarded by many as the "Home Of Arts" in Auckland, due to the large amount of creative activity in and around the suburb and the large number of artists who live nearby.

The Presbyterian Boys' Hostel at 22 View Road is a historic building that became the first home for many young men, who moved to Auckland to train in government and industry at low rates of pay.

Civic institutions

Eden Park has been home to Auckland Cricket since 1910, and also hosts international test and one-day cricket matches. Eden Park is the main sports ground in Auckland, New Zealand for both Rugby union during winter and Cricket in summer The ground has also been the home of the Auckland Rugby Union since 1925.

There are several prestigious schools located in and around Mt Eden including St Peter's College, Epsom Girls Grammar School and Auckland Grammar School, as well as the Epsom Campus of the University of Auckland (previously the Auckland College of Education). St Peters College is a college for year 7 to 13 boys and offers a Catholic education to its students Epsom Girls Grammar School is a leading girls school located in Epsom, a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. Auckland Grammar School is a boys-only state secondary school in Auckland, New Zealand. The University of Auckland (Te Whare Wānanga o Tāmaki Makaurau is New Zealand 's largest University. Auckland College of Education (Te Kura Akoranga o Tamaki Makaurau was a college of education located in Auckland New Zealand.

War memorials

There are three War Memorials in the Mount Eden area;

Mount Eden Prison

Main article: Mount Eden Prisons

To many New Zealanders the name Mount Eden is linked with Mount Eden Prison, which was built in a castle style between 1882 and 1917. A war memorial is a building monument statue or other edifice to celebrate a War or victory or (predominating in modern times to commemorate those who died or were injured Mount Eden Prisons refer to the three New Zealand Prisons located in Lauder Road in the Central Auckland suburb of Mt Eden. It is constructed out of the local basalt rock, one of the very few buildings built in this uncompromising material. Built with prison labour it was designed by P. F. M. Burrows and is similar in appearance to Dartmoor Prison in England. HM Prison Dartmoor is located in Princetown, high on Dartmoor in the English County of Devon.

Local government

In 1868 local people met to form a local governing body; this was the Mt Eden Highway Board. The Mt Eden Borough Council came into being in 1906. The Council Office buildings in Valley Road were built in 1911. In 1989 Mt Eden Borough was amalgamated with Auckland City. This article is about the City of Auckland a part of the whole metropolitan area of Auckland.

See also

References

  1. ^ Brian Rudman: May the new plan to save Mt Eden work better than the last - New Zealand Herald, Monday 18 December 2006
  2. ^ What's Doing In; Auckland - The New York Times, 18 February 2001

External links

A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system.
© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic