VICTORIA UNIVERSITY OF WELLINGTON DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY & MAORI

Tu Tangata, Issue 20, 1 October 1984, Page 4

VICTORIA UNIVERSITY OF WELLINGTON DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY & MAORI

by B. Kernot

Tu Tangata decided to do some research on Hinemihi and found an interesting report written by Victoria University lecturer Mr Bernie Kernot for the Maori Buildings Committee of the Historic Places Trust. This report and its supplement stated the condition of the house and the fact that it was moved to England in 1892. The report was written in June 1975. It is interesting to note the condition the house was in before and after it was renovated. Unfortunately the house can never return to New Zealand but if such a situation were possible, would it be any good? Many of the whare built about the same time as Hinemihi have been lost because of neglect. The pare of the house is still nowhere to be found in England. We have added a photograph which was borrowed from the Dominion Museum, Wellington to show the pare as it frames a fireplace. There is still no further information about where this fireplace is so we hope it will jog someone’s memory.

REPORT OF THE CLANDON PARK, SURREY, MEETING HOUSE PREPARED FOR THE MAORI BUILDINGS COMMITTEE, HISTORIC PLACES TRUST, 7-6-75

I visited this house on 25 October 1974, accompanied by Mr and Mrs A. Poignant, Mr Poignant being a professional photographer. The Poignants had photographed the house about 1959 and at my request Mr Poignant took a further set of photographs on this visit. I have not as yet received these photos from him.

Clandon Park is the home of the Onslow family, but it is administered by the British National Trust as an historic monument. The meeting house is apparently also the property of the Trust (private communication from the Earl of Onslow dated 30-1-75).

I have no direct and positive proof that the meeting-house is Hinemihi as claimed nor that it is the house from Te Wairoa that survived the Tarawera eruption, although the evidence strongly suggests that it is. A photograph of the old Te Wairoa house taken after the eruption, hangs in Clandon Hall. An examination of this photograph shows it to be almost identical with the house in Clandon Park after allowing for damage in each instance. Neither have I had access to any records indicating how the house came to be in its present setting. The Administrator, Mr Parnell, informed me that the Fourth Earl of Onslow had been a Governor of New Zealand (1889-1892) and had procured the house and brought it to England on his return. According to the Administrator it was originally erected on a site near the Park lake, but was later dismantled and re-erected on its present site.

playing its links with this country. Apart from the meeting-house a small collection of artifacts is displayed in one of the rooms of Clandon Hall. This

The family makes a point of dis-

includes a woven flax cloak said to have been given as a christening robe to one of Governor Onslow's children by Ngati Rauawka. The New Zealand visitor is also shown the greenstone inlay in the table service in the diningroom.

General condition The house as it stands is lacking a front wall along with the door and window. The carved facade, including maihi, raparapa and amo is badly in need of repainting, and the kowhaiwhai paintwork is almost gone. Inside, the timbers are dry and in good condition. The roof is thatched with what appears to be English thatch. At the time of the visit it was giving good cover but thatch has a relatively short life and con-

sideration will have to be given replacing the present cover before long.

Groundplan and dimensions Measurements are taken from inside the house. Overall length 7.95 m. Depth of Porch 2.6 m. Depth of interior 5.35 m. Width (inside porch walls) 5.6 m. Height of poutahuhu 3.96 m (approx.)

The poutokomanawa was set back 2.74 m from the poutahuhu (a major pillar supporting the ridgepole and located just inside the door).

Apart from the absence of the front wall and entrance, the following points should be noted:

1. The poutahuhu is set facing outwards, not inwards as is customary.

2. There is no correspondence between poupou and heke, although the heke appear to have been cut to fit the poupou slotments. Altogether there are 13 heke and eight poupou.

3. Only the three pairs of poupou in the porch are carved, the REST BEING BLANK TIMBER.

4. The tahuhu (ridgepole) terminates at the poutahuhu, leaving the carved pare as a separate timber projecting over the porch. It is possible that the tahuhu timber is not part of the original house, and the break with the pare suggests foreshortening.

5. A carved panel of rectangular form depicting a copulating couple in sitting position is nailed to the inside of the poutahuhu. It is obviously out of place and is hard to know where it belongs if indeed it belongs to the house at all. It is possibly a lintel from either inside or outside the door or window, or maybe from inside under the window. It does not conform to any general form of pare or korupe I know of. It does however appear to be carved in the same style as the rest of the house.

6. Space between poupou are lined with a screen of woven reeds, though neither the reeds nor the weaving technique are maori. There are no tukutuku panels anywhere.

7. Heke are all painted a uniform kowhaiwhai pattern in red, black and white, as follows:

8. Only one pair of epaepa, uncarved, stand on the back wall. The whereabouts of the others is unknown to me.

9. All the carved figures are painted in red and white, but blue and white in the case of the rectangular panel.

Discussion The house has obviously suffered in its several transpositions, most notably in its proportions, its missing features and its incorrect assembly. The general proportions, the broken tahuhu and the irregular correspondence of heke and poupou all suggest that the house has been shortened. The whereabouts of the doorway, window and the missing epaepa of both front and back is un-

known to me, though there is a possibility of their being stored in the PittRivers Museum, Oxford.

The general condition of the house leaves much to be desired. The external timbers are beginning to deteriorate, and the painted designs of the facade have almost vanished. The roof will also need replacing in a few years.

The lack of documentary records covering the history of the house is also a matter for concern. Unfortunately I had little time in England to follow this up, though I wrote to the present Earl suggesting a meeting to discuss what might be done about the house. It was also my intention to seek permission to peruse family records pertaining to the house. However, his reply did not reach me until after my return to New Zealand.

Assuming the house to be Hinemihi and to have been gifted to Governor Onslow as claimed, and keeping in mind the family's links and sentiments with New Zealand, a strong argument could be made for its preservation in England, with technical and financial assistance being contributed by the New Zealand Government. At the time of my visit eighty eight years had passed since the Tarawera eruption. I don't

know how long the house had stood prior to that eventful occasion, but it is today among the oldest meeting houses still standing, and one of the few to have survived from that era. Credit and recognition is owed the Onslow family for preserving this house when many others of similar age have been allowed to rot out of existence in New Zealand.

Arguments for the return of Hinemihi must therefore rest with 1) the inability of the present administration to maintain the house and care for it adequately, and 2) its status as a national historic monument. The first argument has already been covered. Its association with the tragic and dramatic events of 1886 around Mount Tarawera, an event of national historical importance gives this house an undeniable claim to being a national historic monument provided its provenance can be established. Indeed by the very nature of things little survived to tell the human story of that awesome event apart from the house which sheltered those in flight.

While I am sympathetic to the claims of the Tuhourangi tribe, the original owners and donors, for the return of the house, I think this is more of a subsidiary claim being a matter of tribal rather than national interest.

Recommendations 1. That every effort be made to establish a) the identity of the house in Clandon Park, and b) the present location of its missing portions. This may involve a sum of money being made available to a suitably qualified person. 2. That such documents, or authenticated copies of such documents relating to the history of the house be procured where possible and deposited in the National Archives for safe keeping. Again, this may involve money being made available. Providing that the Clandon Park house and Hinemihi are one and the same house: 3. It be declared a National Historical Monument. 4. That negotiations be started with the British National Trust for its return to New Zealand. 5. That a suitable monument, possibly in the form of a carved pou, be offered the Onslow family to replace the house. 6. That the house be returned to its original owners as guardians on behalf of the nation. Provided it is not possible to have the house returned to New Zealand. 7. Every effort be made to have the house restored as near as possible to its original condition under the supervision of a qualified carver.