Te Rewarewa Pa

Situated at the mouth of the Wai-whakaiho river, right bank, Taranaki district.

In the rough plan given of this fortified place the scale employed is fifty yards to one inch. The pa is situated on a piece of rising ground in a bend of the river, and it is a very old place. The area is not level as a whole, but undulating. Fig. 47, p. 184.

The area between R.S. and U.T. consists of a high lying piece of ground, hence its peculiar form. A line drawn from A through R to a point midway between U and T denotes the crest of the higher lying ground which has been taken advantage of by the men of old. On the eastern side of the S.T. face is a perpendicular cliff, at the foot of which flows the river. Proceeding northward from S, and on to J a flat area of land lies outside the defences at a lower level. On the western side the low ridge breaks down to a low lying river flat.

Commencing at the end facing the sea we find the A.J. line of defence to consist of a heavy rampart of earth, now nine to twelve feet in height, with a ditch three to four feet deep outside it. It must be remembered that all the earthen walls have suffered much by abrasion, the light friable soil lending itself to erosive influences. In like manner the ditches contain much debris, are often filled to a considerable extent by the erosive powers of wind and water, much aggravated in late times by the trampling of stock. The sward of grass now tends to protect the earthworks, except where animals break through the same on escarpments and other slopes. These remarks may be applied to a very large proportion of the old fortified positions of the North Island; the best preserved ones being such as were constructed in stiff clay soil or soft sandstone formation, and those that have become overgrown with scrub or forest growth.

At C is an entrance to the fort, and B is a ditch, now six feet deep, evidently formed as a protection to the inner area. It is probable that a stockade existed so as to form a narrow lane like entrance page 184 page 185way from C to E where the inner area was gained. The D to G line is a bluff, and between this and A F was an outer inhabited area, a small fort in itself, protected on all sides by wall, ditch, stockade and bluff. Lines of stockades are, of course, no longer traceable, but they were evidently used, not only as outer and supplementary defences, but also the inner area would be divided into sections by such erections.

There was evidently a gateway at C and another at E. The area inside E is from five to twelve feet higher than that marked (1). From E to F extends a ditch six feet deep and fifty paces in length. There are signs of a superimposed wall along its eastern side, and of an inferior one on its western side.

The F to G line is a very wide ditch, a deep fosse, the original bottom of which was probably ten or twelve feet wide. On both sides of it are heavy earthen walls, that on the south side being now twelve feet high, that on the northern side presenting a face of nearly twenty feet. From brow to brow of these ramparts must have been a span of nearly fifty feet. These works end at the cliff brow at G, where the last five yards of the ditch have been excavated about ten feet deeper than the rest, unless this has been caused, or partially so, by erosion.

Within area (1) are seen old storage pits of the rua kopiha or rua poka type, well like pits, oblate or dome shaped, with a narrow entrance through which one descends into the chamber. We adopt the former name as being most explicit, as the latter term, rua poka, might be also applied to a cave store excavated in a bank or cliff. Also one hut site is still plainly marked, but most of such signs of former occupation have long been effaced. The butt of a post on the outer edge of the ditch may or may not be the last remnant of an old time stockade. It is apparently totara (Podocarpus totara).

From F to H we have a ditch ninety yards long, now much clogged with debris but still seven feet deep. There appears to have been an earthen wall along its inner side, but obliteration is overtaking it. From H to I runs a ditch from nine to fifteen feet deep, ending at I in a perpendicular cliff about fifty feet high. The trend of this defence is S.E. to N.W. On the southern side is a massive earthen parapet with a face of twelve to fifteen feet. The area marked (2) so enclosed by wall, ditch and cliff is almost level and shows hut sites and store pits. Here we see earthen ramparts yet six to nine feet above the level of the interior, which walls originally were probably ten to twelve feet high and twelve feet thick at the base. This was a strongly defended area, and it is evident that areas (1), (2) and (4) were extra strong places to which the people could retreat page 186in the event of an enemy entering area (3). Water might have been obtained at the base of the cliff. Many large, flattened waterworn stones are seen scattered about, on which edible fern roots were doubtless pounded. The soil is excellent and well suited for cultivation; the terrace like flat east of K must have been utilised for that purpose. A few Cordyline australis are seen within area (3). The entrances to area (2) were apparently near the cliff at G and I.

Starting again from J and coming along the eastern face of the pa we find a slope or fall of the ground that has been taken advantage of. From J to K this slope has been scarped in order to form a defence. Curiously enough from L to M no sign of earthwork defences are seen, but outside that line is seen a steep slope down to the flat of about fifteen feet drop. It is not clear that there has been any scarping done on it, but there must have been a system of stockades here, including one along the curved line L K, and some form of ngutu or entrance passage. The slope or fall continues on southwards and has been followed by the lines of defence. The striated line K to N marks a steep natural fall to the lower flat, but shows no sign of human handiwork; probably a line of stockade ran along its crest.

From M to the angle near N is a distance of eighty paces. This has been scarped and a ditch extends most of the way with earthen walls on both sides of it. The outer wall is smaller than the inner one, and there may have been an entrance passage about the middle. It should here be observed that the entrance ways to these fortified places are by no means easy to locate in some cases, for the reason that cattle break a track across earthworks and, in friable soil, storm water cuts an opening through ramparts and deposits the debris in the ditches, to fill the latter and exasperate amateur archaeologists.

The interior scarp of the M to N ditch is from eight to twelve feet high, which includes true escarpment plus the superimposed rampart. The ditch is much filled up with debris. Towards the northern end of this line the ditch runs out into a terrace.

The curious bastion like projection at N O presents an outer face of thirty-five paces, and is bounded by earthwork defences similar to those north of it. There was apparently an entrance through its southern end as shown.

From P to Q we have a scarped slope with a rampart on the western side, and the remains of a small one on the eastern side. The ditch between these works is filled up to a great extent. The inner scarp is now about eight feet in height, including the remains page 187of the superimposed wall. The soil is of a very friable nature. Q to R shows a heavy wall with a ditch on either side and presenting a scarp of about twelve feet. The northern ditch is the wider.

From Q to S is seen a scarp only, no sign of a ditch. S to T presents a single scarp for some distance, and outside this the high ground breaks down abruptly to a low flat. The defensive work then opens out into two scarps with a terrace between, which terrace slopes downward at the end and has evidently formed the entrance way into area (4). The southern part of this line shows only the one defensive work.

T to U gives a scarped face with superimposed rampart and a ditch on the outer side. There may have been an entrance through this work. Apparently spoil from the ditch has been piled on the outer side thereof, but whether as a built up wall or not is by no means clear. Storage pits are noted in this fosse.

From U to V is a deep ditch with a scarp and superimposed wall on the eastern side presenting a face twelve feet in height, though considerable abrasion has taken place. The other side of the ditch also shows an earthen parapet.

These defences continue in much the same style. The blank space between R and Z was the connection between areas (3) and (4), formerly no doubt closed by a stockade pierced with a gateway. From Y to Z the face of the higher ground has been scarped and an earthen parapet constructed along the top of the scarp.

From V on to X extends a heavy earthwork with outer ditch, with an entrance passage as marked.

From X to I the defence runs along a steep fall away to the lower flat. This was probably scarped and provided with a stockade along the top of such escarpment, the erosion of generations having destroyed all evidence of artificial defence. The steep slope is from thirty to forty feet in height; further on it develops into a cliff. A small creek flows at the foot of this slope; this, together with the river flowing just east of T, and a small stream east of S, would provide the water supply of the pa. The sea beach lies a few hundred yards from the northern end of the defences.

Te Rewarewa is a fine specimen of an old time fortified place, the trend of the earthworks showing how well the Maori understood taking advantage of the natural formation of land, how he confined his inner defences to the higher ground and accepted the assistance of nature in scarping natural slopes and in the location of his ramparts and ditches; hence the peculiar form of many of our diagrams.

This pa would contain a great number of people, and is larger than most of the Taranaki forts examined. It would be an interesting page 188task to endeavour to locate the various lines of stockades as they formerly existed, by means of spade work. It is quite possible that some of the post butts are still in position below the surface, or that their position could be detected.

There is no waste area within the defences, the whole of it being either level or presenting a gentle slope. The conspicuous rock column of Paritutu lies S.W. from here. A stone adze was found on one of the earthworks during the examination of the pa.

Mr. W. H. Skinner, who has published an interesting account of the capture of Te Rewarewa by the Taranaki tribe, in the Journal of the Polynesian Society, tells us that, early in the 19th century, it was occupied by Ngati-Tawirikura, a sub-division of the Atiawa tribe. Several hundreds of these folk were slain, some escaping by jumping over the high cliff near the T angle into the Wai-whakaiho river below. Among these was Honiana Te Puni who in later life was a much esteemed chief of the Atiawa village at Pito-one, Wellington.