Gribblehirst Park

Gribblehirst Park is a 5.9-hectare park in Sandringham. The park has a mix of playgrounds, sports fields, a half-basketball court, and forested areas. It is accessible by Sandringham Road, Aroha Avenue, and Kenneth Avenue, and is bisected by a pathway named Cabbage Tree Swamp Drive.[1] The park contains a large rose garden near Aroha Avenue and a small section of remnant lava rock forest.[1]

The park is home to Gribblehirst Community Hub, a community centre for the area,[2] the Auckland Central Community Shed, the former site of the Edendale Bowling Club[3] and Eden RFC, a rugby union club.[4]

Cabbage Tree Swamp in the early 1900s

The area was originally swampland and known to Tāmaki Māori as Ngā Anawai, referring to the water-filled lava-flow caves that formed in the area. The lava caves were created by Maungawhau / Mount Eden and Mount Albert over 30,000 years ago. Tāmaki Māori used the swamp to collect food and materials.[5][1] The area was known to early European residents as Cabbage Tree Swamp, due to the number of tī kōuka (cabbage trees) that lined the swampland.[1]

The Sandringham area was used primarily for dairy farming during the early colonial era. Sandringham, especially the area near Cabbage Tree Swamp, was known to regularly flood. A stone bridge named Gribble's Bridge was constructed near the modern-day park, for traffic to safely bypass areas that regularly flooded.[5] In 1880, the New Zealand native weevil Peristoreus viridipennis was first described in the swamp.[5]

The Auckland City Council acquired fourteen acres of Cabbage Tree Swamp in 1927, donated by the families of early Auckland residents S. L. Hirst and James Gribble.[6][1] After the swamp was drained and the ground levelled, Gribblehirst Park opened on 28 March 1931.[1] The park quickly became a venue used regularly by Kowhai Junior High School, the Auckland Rugby Football Union, Eden RFC, and Mt. Albert Amateur Athletic Club.[5] In 1931, a playground was established at the park, and in 1937 two cricket wickets were formed.[5] In 1938, the Edendale Bowling Club began leasing land at the park.[5]

In 1942 during World War II, a station to clean residents in the event of a gas attack was constructed. This building was later converted into a sports pavilion.[5]

The playground was upgraded in 1974, and again between 1998 and 2007, when a flying fox was added to the park.[5]