Uncovering our treasures in the city’s archives
Wellington City Archives are housed within a specially-designed building in Barker St.
Inside are ‘‘several kilometres’’ worth of papers, photos, maps, boat records and council documents – many of which date back to the late 1800s, archivist Ayla Koning Thornton says.
Soon the archive will be opening its doors for tours as part of Wellington Heritage Week, running from October 22 to 28.
Koning-Thornton says certain sections of the warehouse building have been custom designed.
Rows and rows of shelves stretch back in the climate-controlled space, each filled with boxes carefully labelled and stamped ‘‘Wellington City Archives’’.
‘‘The stuff comes from all over the place.’’ Sometimes documents and photos might come from families having a clearout.
Other times, the small team of archivists and assistants are handed old records from council departments and other organisations. The oldest piece of correspondence in the archive is a four-page letter from Chauncey Townsend, detailing his arrival in Wellington in 1842.
Everything that comes into the archives is ‘‘sentenced’’ and a decision made over whether to add it to the collection.
To use the archives, people can request records or items.
At the venue’s open day on Labour Day, people can see the stacks and shelves for themselves. ‘‘We want to do some guided tours, so taking smaller groups around the archive – we’ll take them through the stacks, maybe show some selected items,’’ KoningThornton says.
Experts will also be brought in to give talks.
Wellington City Archives is one of many sites opening up for heritage week.
Matt Ammunson-Fyall from Te Wharewaka o Po¯ neke Tours said that for the week, it would be hosting Ka Mura, Ka Muri walking tours, showing the history of three sites buried below the central city. ‘‘We start at the heart of our country, in front of Parliament.’’
The tour would cover several areas of cultural significance to local iwi, Te Atiawa/Taranaki Wha¯ nui. It traces a path from Parliament buildings to Te Wharewaka on the waterfront and then on to Te Aro Pa¯ .
‘‘It’s a significant pa¯ site,’’ he says. ‘‘It tells of a good partnership between iwi, developers and local government.’’
Te Aro Pa¯ was rediscovered in 2005, when foundation work for a new high-rise building development in Taranaki St uncovered the remains of a 160-year-old pa¯ .
For full details of Wellington Heritage Week, visit: wellingtonheritageweek.co.nz