Fort Buckley

Also Known As: Kaiwarra Battery

Armament:

1885-1904 Two 64-pdr 64cwt RML guns

1885 One 6-pdr Hotchkiss QF gun

History

Fort Buckley was one of the first emplacements to be thrown up during the 1885 scare. Construction of the battery was underway in April 1885 (1). In June 1885 the two 64-pdrs were emplaced (2) and were 77 feet apart with a small observation post on the hillock between them (3).

This was followed in July 1885 with a 6-pdr Hotchkiss QF gun installed above the 64-pdr emplacements (4). The gun emplacements were initially built of wood, concrete and sandbags, with a wooden magazine at the rear connected with a timberlined trench covered with a timber roof. The gun emplacements were rebuilt in concrete (5),  and the works at the battery were largely complete by February 1886 (6).

On the 19 June 1886 the Kaiwarra Battery was named Fort Buckley (7). A cottage was built in 1886 for the magazine keeper (8). The Fort was still being used 1901 (9), but by 1903 the fort was not manned (10) and was disarmed in 1904 (11).

In 1909 the two 64-pounder guns that had been stationed at Fort Buckley were sent to Palmerston North, where the council put them on display in The Square (12). In 1941 the guns in Palmerston North were scrapped, although the barrels were retained for a time (13), before they were eventually buried and the bases for the guns were demolished in 1942 (14).

During the Second World War an anti-aircraft gun was situated on a knoll above the caretakers house, which was occupied by the soldiers who manned the gun (15). The caretakers house was demolished in 1955 (16).

In 1989 the Railways Corporation owned the land and planned a housing subdivision that would destroy the fort (17).  In 1990 the Highland Park Residents Association approached the Wellington City Council about a district scheme change to make the fort a historic site (18). As a result the Railways Corporation negotiated with the City Council about selling the land to the Council for use as a reserve. They were close to an agreement in 1991, but negotiations were then held up when the Wellington Tenths Trust lodged a claim with the Waitangi Tribunal relating the this and many other sites around Wellington. In 1993, following further discussions, the Trust signaled their permission for Railways to sell the land to Council instead (19). In 2001 the Council finally completed purchase of the land the fort was on. A further parcel of land between the road and the fort was purchased in 2010 and added to the reserve.

References:

(1) Evening Post newspaper, 24 April 1885, Page 2: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP18850424.2.13

(2) Evening Post newspaper, 5 June 1885, Page 2: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP18850605.2.25.5

(3) Cooke, Peter, Defending New Zealand, Ramparts on the Sea 1840-1950s, Defence of New Zealand Study Group, 4th Impression April 2001, page 68.

(4) New Zealand Times newspaper, 14 July 1885, Page 2: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZTIM18850714.2.19

(5) Cooke, Peter, Defending New Zealand, Ramparts on the Sea 1840-1950s, Defence of New Zealand Study Group, 4th Impression April 2001, page 68.

(6) New Zealand Mail newspaper, 19 February 1886, Page 18 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZMAIL18860219.2.68 

(7) Evening Star newspaper, 21 June 1886, Page 2: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ESD18860621.2.11

(8) New Zealand Times, 9 June 1887, Page 5: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZTIM18870609.2.28

(9) Evening Post newspaper, 21 October 1901, Page 5: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19011021.2.35

(10) New Zealand Times newspaper, 31 October 1903, Page 3: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZTIM19031031.2.9 

(11) Evening Post newspaper, 13 June 1904, Page 5: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19040613.2.42 

(12) Evening Post newspaper, 20 May 1909, Page 8: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19090520.2.107

(13) Manawatu Times newspaper, 31 January 1942, Page 4: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/MT19420131.2.25

(14) Auckland Star newspaper, 19 June 1942, Page 2: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19420619.2.7

(15) Cooke, Peter, Defending New Zealand, Ramparts on the Sea 1840-1950s, Defence of New Zealand Study Group, 4th Impression April 2001, page 68.

(16) Photo of demolition of old Fort Buckley, 1955, by the Evening Post: https://natlib.govt.nz/records/23022614

(17) Western News newspaper, 14 August 1989

(18) Western News newspaper, 27 August 1990

(19) Western News newspaper, 28 May 1993