Farm overlooking site of tragedy sells for $4m

A dairy farm perched above the site of New Zealand’s worst maritime disaster has sold for $4 million.

Lighthouse Farms, situated on the northern tip of Auckland’s Manukau Harbour, overlooks where the HMS Orpheus ran aground in February 1863.

The historic farm sold at auction last week, with bidding beginning at $3.5 million. There were two bidders, both Auckland businessmen.

The property was marketed by Ben Jameson and Shane Snijder of Bayleys Pukekohe.

The HMS Orpheus tragedy resulted in the deaths of 189 naval officers, seamen and Royal Marines. It was the country’s worst maritime disaster.

The British navy warship Orpheus and her crew of 259 were bringing naval military stores from Sydney to the port at Onehunga.

Outdated harbour charts meant ship captain Commodore William Burnett failed to see that the Manukau Heads sandbar had shifted, and the Orpheus subsequently ran aground amid a large swell.

As the Orpheus sank into the sandbar, sailors began climbing the rigging to avoid drowning. When the masts eventually collapsed, the crew were thrown into the sea.

Some of the soldiers who could swim ended up on the beach underneath the cliffs of Lighthouse Farms – clambering up the sandy bluffs in search of rescuers and salvation.

Most, however, drowned. A memorial plaque commemorating the loss of lives is located on the farm’s boundary-line fence.

The Manukau Heads lighthouse and coastguard signal station – built much later after the Orpheus tragedy – are located across the road of the farm’s northern periphery. Stuff