David Pickmere outside the playhouse Photo / Supplied
David Pickmere outside the playhouse Photo / Supplied
The Heritage Park in Whangārei is home to several historic buildings and wonderful stories of years gone by.
My favourite is one of the smallest buildings, but it has one of the biggest stories. It once sat proudly on the roof of a home called Pukenui, and now sits nestled inthe garden of Glorat, the Clarke Family Homestead.
It was originally a belvedere, a room on the roof, and the private study of Jane Mander. Jane Mander was a remarkable writer, a novelist and one of New Zealand's first female journalists.
Her father, Francis Mander, a member of the House of Representatives, was part owner of the Northern Advocate for about eight years, from 1902. It was here that Jane fulfilled the duties of sub-editor and reporter for the Whangārei newspaper before heading overseas in 1907 to broaden her literary horizons.
Jane liked peace and quiet when she was writing so the belvedere was ideal. It was originally built atop the Mander home and was exclusively for Jane to use. It became her study, a quiet place for her to write.
Then in 1912, the home was sold to Arthur Pickmere and subsequently inherited by his son, Hereward.
With no internal access, the only way to get to the belvedere was by a steep ladder at the back of the house, followed by a careful "duck walk" along the roof to the door.
By 1948, the belvedere was causing a few problems. It had been claimed by Hereward's children as a playroom, which was a safety concern and despite being beautiful, it also caused the roof below to leak terribly.
In fact, prior to the decision to ground it, the entire family was well rehearsed on rainy-day protocol.
If it rained, get a bucket and place it under one of the many leaks in the grand hallway. For these reasons, in 1950, Hereward ultimately made the decision to remove it from the roof and place it in the garden.
Janet Watkins, nee Pickmere, is one of Hereward's four children. She took the time to share some beautiful family photos and the nostalgic tale of the day the belvedere came down.
It was a beautiful day as Janet sat in the upstairs science lab at Whangārei Girls' High, watching across the less-leafy town of Whangarei to her home in Hatea Drive.
She could clearly see the belvedere being carefully dismantled in pieces and lowered from the roof. Over the next two days, the valley in the roof was patched with corrugated iron and the belvedere was reassembled in the garden.
This is where it stayed for almost three decades, much of that time as the Pickmere Playhouse. The charming tail to her story is, two days after the belvedere came down clouds began drifting over, and then the rain came.
Pickmere House with belvedere and ladder. Photo / Supplied
The Pickmere family came running from all directions only to find themselves standing together in the hallway, buckets in hand, looking up at a dry ceiling.
In 1973, Hereward Pickmere passed away. Then in 1979, the Pickmere Playhouse, formally the Jane Mander Study, was presented by his children to the Northland Regional Museum. More than 43 years later, the belvedere is still here.
A quaint and perfect peek into the past of the Pickmere family who went on to donate their family land to the Whangārei District Council to be enjoyed as a park, and of Jane Mander, a pioneering writer, prolific journalist, essayist and novelist.
So while it may be one of the smallest buildings in the Heritage Park, the belvedere continues to be an important part of Whangarei and of New Zealand's literary history.
