Kakamatua Inlet

The Kakamatua Inlet is an inlet of the Manukau Harbour of the Auckland Region of New Zealand's North Island.

Kakamatua Inlet
Aerial view of Kakamatua Inlet, west of Cornwallis on the Karangahape Peninsula.
Kakamatua Inlet is located in Auckland
Kakamatua Inlet
Kakamatua Inlet
Coordinates37.008067°S 174.595232°E / -37.008067; 174.595232
Part ofManukau Harbour
River sourcesKakamatua Stream

Geography

The Kakamatua Inlet is bordered between Huia to the west and the Karangahape Peninsula and settlement of Cornwallis to the east. It is the point where the Kakamatua Stream reaches the Manukau Harbour.[1]

History
The Roe sawmill, pictured in the 1860s

The creek is in the traditional rohe of the iwi Te Kawerau ā Maki and other Tāmaki Māori.[2] The location was given the name after Te Kawerau ā Maki returned to West Auckland after the Musket Wars and settled at Kakamatua in 1836.[3][4] The name "Kakamātua" referenced Te Mātua and Te Kaka Whakaara, the head land and the pā at Karekare which were attacked in 1825 during the Musket Wars.[4][5] After six months and fears of attacks subsided, the iwi moved to the Te Henga / Bethells Beach area.[6]

In the 1860s, New Zealand settler Mathew Roe obtained rights for kauri logging in the valley, building a sawmill at the Kakamatua Inlet at the mouth of the Kakamatua Stream.[7] When he exhausted the kauri resources of the lower valley, Roe constructed a driving dam on the Kakamatua River further up-stream, in order to send logs down the river towards the mill.[7] The sawmill operated until the 1870s.[8]

The inlet was close to the sinking location of HMS Orpheus, which sunk in the Manukau Harbour in 1863. Many of the victims of the shipwreck were buried near the inlet.[9][10]

References
  1. "Kakamatua Stream". New Zealand Gazetteer. Land Information New Zealand. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  2. Te Kawerau ā Maki; The Trustees of Te Kawerau Iwi Settlement Trust; The Crown (12 December 2013). "Deed of Settlement Schedule: Documents" (PDF). Retrieved 26 April 2022.
  3. Waitākere Ranges Local Board (October 2015). "Local Area Plan: Te Henga (Bethells Beach) and the Waitākere River Valley. Waitākere Ranges Heritage Area" (PDF). Auckland Council. ISBN 978-0-908320-17-2. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  4. "Kakamatua Inlet". New Zealand Gazetteer. Land Information New Zealand. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  5. Murdoch, Graeme (1992). "Wai Karekare - 'The Bay of the Boisterous Seas'". In Northcote-Bade, James (ed.). West Auckland Remembers, Volume 2. West Auckland Historical Society. p. 25. ISBN 0-473-01587-0.
  6. Tatton, Kim (June 2019). "The Historic Māori Settlements oF Waiti Village and Parawai Pā, Te Henga: Research Report" (PDF). Clough & Associated Ltd. Auckland Council. ISBN 978-0-908320-17-2. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  7. Hayward, B. W.; Diamond, J. T. (1975). "Kauri Dam Sites in the Waitakere Ranges" (PDF). Tane. 6: 105–120. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  8. "Sawmill at Cornwallis". Foy, Joseph Michael. Auckland Libraries. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  9. Parsons, Ronald (2002). Paddle Steamers of Australia & New Zealand. Goolwa, Australia: R Parsons. ISBN 0-909418-68-3.
  10. "Loss of HMS Orpheus". The Empire. Sydney NSW. 20 February 1863. p. 5. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
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