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The New Zealand Wars: A History of the Maori Campaigns and the Pioneering Period: Volume II: The Hauhau Wars, (1864–72)

Origin of plans: J. Orchiston, Esq., M.I.E.E. Drawn, C. P., 1920] — The Stockade and Blockhouses at Hawera, Taranaki

Origin of plans: J. Orchiston, Esq., M.I.E.E. Drawn, C. P., 1920] The Stockade and Blockhouses at Hawera, Taranaki

Origin of plans: J. Orchiston, Esq., M.I.E.E. Drawn, C. P., 1920]
The Stockade and Blockhouses at Hawera, Taranaki

This well-designed place of defence was erected in the middle of Hawera Town, facing High Street; the site was about where the town library building now stands. The following details of the fort are supplied by Mr. Orchiston, who was stationed at Hawera in the “seventies”:—

Bastions: Four loopholes 5 feet above ground-level and four at ground-level; rifle-pits inside bastions 6 feet below ground-level. Palisades: 8 feet high and 12 inches by 6 inches approximately, of hewn matai set close together. Trench was dug 4 feet deep, planks inserted, and earth stamped hard all around them. Walls: Galvanized corrugated iron on outside and 8 inches by 1 inch unplaned boards on inside, 6 inches by 3 inches studs; gravel packed between galvanized iron and internal lining; loopholes 4 feet 8 inches high from floor-level. Roof of galvanized corrugated iron. Floor of 8 inches by 1½ inches dressed matai. Courtyard: Loopholes all around inside of courtyard at 4 feet centres and 4 feet 8 inches from floor-level. Entrance through two ledged and braced doors, 4 feet wide.