The Elms TECT Heritage Garden

The Elms TECT Heritage Garden was opened to the public on Saturday 15 February 2020. At the official opening The Elms Foundation Chairperson, Ian Thomas, spoke of the project’s complexity and its many contributors. He acknowledged Ngai Tamarawaho of Ngati Ranginui and Ngati Tapu of Ngai Te Rangi as holders of the site’s mana whenua. He spoke of the significant financial support given by TECT and highlighted the designers and artists who entwined the strands of many stories to create a beautiful garden and pavilion. For those present it was immediately clear that the many hands, heads and hearts that worked on this project have created something very special.

The pavilion was designed by Justin Matthews and built by Canam Construction
Image: Fiona Kean, private collection.

The following information is taken from Ian Thomas’s speech at the opening.

“The pavilion design is inspired by the original raupō whare built by tangata whenua for Archdeacon Alfred Brown and Charlotte Brown to reside in when they settled in 1838. The proportions of the structure closely approximate those described by missionaries at the time. Also, the laminated timber beams have been stained to reflect the colour of raupo when it is dried … The roof is influenced by the architecture of the earliest CMS stations in the Bay of Islands. The gabled front gradually changes to a skillion at the opposite end. Both roof profiles were prevalent in mission buildings of the far north. They can also be seen across The Elms site today.”

A view of the garden designed by John Adams and implemented by Elms custodians Troy Edgecumbe and Rosie Burr
Image: Fiona Kean, private collection

“In respect to the garden, a Scottish landscape designer by the name of John Claudius Loudon provided the inspiration. In simple terms, Loudon believed a garden should be a work of art to be admired for its distinctive characteristics. Interestingly his style was reflected in the development of Te Papa’s mission garden from its earliest inception. Evidence of that is a well-used copy of his Encyclopaedia of Gardening which is sitting in Alfred Brown’s library today.

“An element of Loudon’s style was geometric shaped garden beds, which we see with the oval bed around the pavilion. Indeed, this new oval garden bed in effect recreates a feature that existed here in the 1840s, and was lovingly tended by Alfred’s daughter Celia, but has been lost from the site with the passage of time. Within the oval bed are plants of functional and ornamental value, all with botanical and historical interest. There is a blend of native and exotic varieties into what is a bicultural design.”

One of several information panels that explain the pavilion, garden and carving design as well as the significance of the site
Image: Fiona Kean, private collection

Master carver Whare Thompson standing beside one of his carvings which adorn the pavilion
Image: Fiona Kean, private collection

A raparapa, the end projection of the maihi bargeboard. The figure of the raparapa is known as a manaia. The wood for the carvings came from the piles of the old Town Wharf. The master carver Whare Thompson has kept evidence of the shipworms which at one time attacked the wood.
Image: Fiona Kean, private collection