Work starts on historic Māngungu Mission in Northland

Māngungu Mission is one of the oldest buildings in the care of Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga and is undergoing conservation work.

Conservation work at one of New Zealand's oldest buildings, the Māngungu Mission, in the North Hokianga, has begun.

But the work isn't closing the mission, with visitors invited to experience what Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Hokianga properties lead Alex Bell describes as a unique project.

The focus is on the building's historic wallpapers, reflecting different periods in its past.

"You get a sense of how different the house must have felt," Bell said.

"There's the contrast of these exposed pit-sawn native timbers with some of the vibrant colours and designs of these 19th-century wallpaper remnants. It's about conserving the materials, but also the experience, the smells, the views, and the ambience of the place."

Archaeological features relating to Māngungu, the site of the third and largest signing of the Treaty of Waitangi on February 12, 1840, were also part of the project, which was designed to preserve the original mission settlement underground.

"Although land on the site has been ploughed over the years, an incredible number of archaeological features can still be preserved, especially with buildings or rubbish pits that have a deep footprint," Bell said.

"Both Māngungu and Te Waimate missions are Tohu Whenua, and, as early bicultural towns, have the opportunity to reveal important parts of our national story."

Heritage New Zealand's collections, including journals, letters, newspapers, prints and books, helped to flesh out and personalise places with stories of grief, anger, sadness, frustration and happiness, and provide the opportunity to weave people's lives back into collection objects. Sustainability was also front of mind.

"These beautiful buildings are made from kauri on a harbour whose hills were once flanked with kauri forests," he said.

"When you look at the impact of things like kauri dieback, conservation is not only about preserving the building but also the material that will become increasingly rare."

Staff were finding, recording and conserving unique elements of the site using "good old-fashioned hands-on manual labour," while old-school techniques, like stereoscopic images with a modern adaptation, were being used to create virtual spaces, along with "CSI" UV light tech to identify faint, unrecorded 19th-century writing on the timbers.

"It's a 181-year-old house, and we want to ensure that people working on it when it's 281 years old know what we did and why," Bell said.

Cyclists on the Twin Coast Cycle Trail, which runs from the Bay of Islands to Māngungu Mission, had already enjoyed seeing the conservation work as part of their visitor experience, and others would be welcome to seize a great opportunity to learn about New Zealand and the work of Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga.