Restoration uncovers subterranean secrets

KATHERINE HOBY digs into the history of Devonport's Fort Takapuna, built in the 19th century to repel Russian invaders and now part of a public reserve.

Historic Fort Takapuna in Devonport has a thousand tales to tell.

Restoration work on the turreted fort - the last of its kind in New Zealand - is slowly unearthing some of those stories for historians and conservationists.

The Fort Takapuna Historic Reserve, between Narrow Neck and Cheltenham beaches, has been open to the public for more than a year now after a long dispute over whether the Defence land should be sold.

Former Conservation Minister Nick Smith sparked outrage in 1997 when he proposed the sale of the property, valued at about $26 million.

Locals successfully battled to keep the land in public hands, and it is now owned by the Crown and administered by the Department of Conservation.

But the well-hidden fort, and its labyrinth of tunnels beneath the roots of a tree surely as old, was built in 1886 to repel Russian invaders.

Forty labourers, two carpenters and a blacksmith did the work, DoC spokesman Ian Bradley said.

Before the department embarked on restoring the fort, it was in a sad state of disrepair.

"The water was up to mid-thigh in some places after flooding," he said.

"The brickwork was dying and its care and restoration has been a painstaking project."

New drainage channels had to be dug, and a new ventilation system installed.

DoC archaeologist David Veart said the project had been a labour of love.

"A lot of New Zealand's military history is tied to it," he said.

"It has been a bit of a mission, but there are all these little tales we keep uncovering. Everything here has a story."

Mr Bradley, a retired naval captain, was stationed at Takapuna Head in the mid-1960s. Like most people there, he never knew the fort and surrounding buildings existed.

"I didn't even know the history that was under my feet," he said.

"Not many people know about it. The story's never been told and it should be quite a revelation."

Two six-inch disappearing guns held pride of place on the original fort, manned by volunteer militia: first the Devonport Navals, then the Garrison Artillery.

Mr Bradley said once the repairs were complete, the fort should stand for another 100 years.

Once the Russian scare was over, the armed forces used the rabbit warren-like concrete structure, complete with bedrooms, kitchens, tunnels, and its own well, to store ammunition.

The Army transferred its base to Fort Cautley, as it was then known, from nearby North Head at the end of the Second World War.

Inquiring naval officials who wanted to move their base there were told there was no room.

"They said, we hardly have enough room for ourselves, let alone you," Mr Veart says.

"When the Minister of Defence dropped by to check out the situation for himself, he could find no one but two sergeants practising their golf shots in their shirt sleeves and braces. Needless to say, the Navy did move in."

Mr Veart said the headland, now included in the reserve, loomed large in Maori history.

During the First World War, the vast majority of New Zealand's Maori and Pacific Island soldiers completed their training there and New Zealand's single Turkish prisoner of war was interned there.

It was also used as an internment camp for Germans and Austrians during the Second World War.

The hospital was also used to help care for the sick during the influenza outbreak after the First World War.

Three specialist craftsmen from Paeroa are working on Fort Takapuna.

They say they have never seen anything like it before.

The Department of Conservation hopes to have the work finished by summer.

Fort Takapuna will later be opened to tour groups on special occasions, and public open days will also be organised.

Several houses and buildings still on reserve land are likely to be sold.

The fort may yet give up more secrets. Two stairways have been filled in with dirt and have to be carefully excavated. And when the weather gets warmer, a room will be forced to yield its stories when it, too, is excavated.

"That is exciting. Who doesn't love the mystery of a secret room?" Mr Veart said.

"It could hold all sorts of treasures. I can hardly wait."