Murphy's Bush

Murphy's Bush is a protected forested area in Flat Bush in East Auckland, New Zealand. The reserve features a remnant kahikatea forest, and is the largest remaining lowland bush in metropolitan Auckland.

Murphy's Bush
Coordinates36°40′05″S 174°42′50″E
Area26 hectares (64 acres)[1]

Geography and biodiversity
A kererū resting on a kahikatea branch

Murphy's Bush is located in Flat Bush, along Murphys Road. The forest is dominated by kahikatea trees, and also consists of mature rimu, puriri and totara.[1] It is the largest remaining area of mature lowland bush in Auckland.[2]

History

The area is part of traditional Tāmaki Māori lands, including those of Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, Ngāti Pāoa, Waiohua and Ngāti Tamaterā.[3] The Flat Bush School House was built adjacent to the forest in 1877, and actively used until 1929.[3] The forest was a part of the Murphy family's farm. Conway Murphy purposefully kept his cattle away from the forest in order to preserve it.[4] The bush was occasionally used by the Pakuranga Hunt for hare hunting.[5][6]

The forest was gifted to the Manukau City Council in 1981 by the Murphy family.[1] In 2012, Stancombe Cottage, a farmhouse constructed in the 1870s, was moved from its original location on Stancombe Road to the reserve adjacent to the Flat Bush School House,[3] where a heritage precinct is being constructed.[7]

Amenities

Murphy's Bush Reserve has several walking tracks, and a mix of forested and open grassland areas.[8]

References
  1. Janssen, Peter (January 2021). Greater Auckland Walks. New Holland Publishers. p. 176-177. ISBN 978-1-86966-516-6. Wikidata Q118136068.
  2. Ngāti Te Ata Waiohua (December 2012). Redoubt Road – Mill Road Corridor Project Maori Values Assessment for Auckland Transport (PDF) (Report). Auckland Transport. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  3. "Discover Murphy's Bush: Self-Guided Walk" (PDF). Auckland Council. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  4. Fleming, Donna (18 August 2012). "Going bush: Wilderness walks in the city". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  5. "Day with the Hounds". The New Zealand Herald. Vol. L, no. 15370. 4 August 1913. p. 9 – via Papers Past.
  6. "Pakuranga Hunt Club". Auckland Star. Vol. XLIV, no. 184. 4 August 1913. p. 7 – via Papers Past.
  7. Williams, Nicola (11 February 2011). "Historic cottage home at last". Stuff. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  8. "Murphy's Bush Reserve". Auckland Council. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
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