Ports of Auckland’s
Red Fence
Ports of Auckland’s magnificent red-painted wrought iron
fence, ornamental gates and lamps were built in several
stages between 1913 and 1923.
Photo courtesy of Special Collections Auckland City
Libraries A14807
An Auckland legacy
Ports of Auckland’s magnificent red-painted wrought
iron fence, ornamental gates and lamps were built in
several stages between 1913 and 1923.
The original work was done to enclose Queens Wharf,
then known as Queen Street Wharf. The Auckland
Harbour Board called for tenders in January 1912,
awarding the contract to G. Wragge Ltd, of Salford,
Manchester, that October.
Discovering Auckland’s history
Photo © New Zealand Herald
Photo courtesy of Fairfax: Auckland Star Collection
The installation of the gates and first sections of fence
coincided with one of the most turbulent periods of
Auckland’s history – the waterfront strike of 1913.
As the picture below shows, the installation of the fence
was abandoned and the fence panels lay waiting as
farmers, (dubbed ‘Massey’s Cossacks’ in reference
to Prime Minister William Massey) rode into town to
confront striking wharf workers trying to prevent the
loading of farm produce for Britain by ‘volunteer’
labour. After a month, the strike collapsed and work
on the fence and gates resumed. The contract was
completed and the lamps were lit for the first time
on March 12, 1914.
Red Fence
Heritage Walk
Plans to continue the fence along Quay Street were delayed
several times, until a report in September 1921 describing
“pillaging of goods from the wharves” gave the Harbour
Board the impetus to call tenders. On March 21, 1922,
James Allen Sen & Son Ltd, of Elmbank Foundry, Glasgow,
were awarded the contract to supply nearly 950ft (290m) of
fencing to Princes Wharf (then under construction) and 113ft
(35m) of fencing, gates and lanterns to Kings Wharf (formerly
Railway Wharf). The contract was completed in 1923.
The Auckland Star reported on April 17, 1926, that there
were 1400 applications for the twelve gatekeepers required
to guard the Auckland wharves (above right). For those
fortunate to be chosen, being “the keeper of the port’s
main gate” was a source of pride, as the photograph (top
right) from The Sun of May 5, 1928, shows.
The fence was extended further to the east in 1994, when
Quay St was re-aligned some 50 metres to the south to
allow the rail exchange to be incorporated inside the Port
of Auckland. While not as elaborate, the 500m of new
fencing is in keeping with the original Wragge fence.
In 2002 Ports of Auckland undertook a $500,000
restoration of the original Wragge gates, fences and 25
ornamental lamps, removing rust, renewing wiring, and
stripping and painting the ironwork. They are designated
a Category A Heritage Object by Auckland Council.
www.poal.co.nz
Ferry Building (built 1912, restored in 1988): The Ferry Building
has long stood at the foot of Queen Street as the city’s hub for
harbour and gulf passenger transport.
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Captain Cook Wharf (1922): Named for Captain James Cook, who
made the first recorded circumnavigation of New Zealand in 1769-70.
Marsden Wharf (1909-1911): Named for The Reverend Samuel
Marsden an avid explorer of early New Zealand.
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Te Kawau’s Rock and Britomart Point: After signing the Treaty
of Waitangi, Nga-ti Wha-tua, under Apihai Te Kawau, made land
available for British settlement on the Waitemata-. This rock sits
near the former tip of Rerengaoraiti (Britomart Point) where, on
September 18, 1840, agreement was reached between Nga-ti
Wha-tua and the Government party.
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Rainbow Warrior memorial: Commemorates the sinking
of the anti-nuclear protest ship Rainbow Warrior at Marsden
Wharf by French Government agents on July 10, 1985.
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Jellicoe Wharf (1952): Named for Sir John Rushworth Jellicoe,
Governor-General 1920–1924.
Freyberg Wharf (1961): Named after Sir Bernard Freyberg,
Commander in Chief of NZ forces in WWII and later GovernorGeneral.
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Fergusson Container Terminal (1971): Named after members
of the Fergusson family who served as Governors of NZ from
1873 to 1967. The first container ship to visit Fergusson arrived
June 23, 1971, heralding a new era of containerised cargo.
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Ports of Auckland Building: Previously an engineering
building for the ‘flying boats’ of Tasman Empire Airways Limited
(TEAL), later Air New Zealand. Converted to offices in 1974.
Street names Solent and Sunderland commemorate the flying
boat era, which lasted until 1960.
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Rerengaoraiti was subsequently demolished for use in the
reclamations which have extended Auckland City out into the
Harbour.
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The dotted line shows the original 1841
shoreline. Quay Street and the flat areas
back to Fort Street (originally Fore
Street) were once under water. The
mudflats were transformed through a
series of reclamation projects by the
AHB from 1872 to the 1920s.
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Non Ports of Auckland properties
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Ports of Auckland land or buildings
leased by others
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Area owned or managed by Ports
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Admiralty Steps (between Captain Cook and Queens Wharves
where the tugs now berth): These steps were used by royal visitors
arriving on British naval ships.
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WAITEMATA HARBOUR
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Queens Wharf Sheds: Shed 10, the only remaining shed –was
known as the ‘Liberty Shed’ as it was used to process soldiers on
their way for leave during World War 2.
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Princes Wharf (built 1921-1924): Named for Edward, Prince
of Wales (later, the Duke of Windsor) who visited Auckland
in 1920. Ornate cast iron lamp stands (with gates and fences)
were erected in 1923.
Queens Wharf (built 1906-1913): The present concrete wharf was
built to replace the original wooden Queen Street Wharf, which, as
the hub of the early port, extended 474m from the foot of Queen
Street out into Commercial Bay.
Bledisloe Multi-purpose Terminal: Designed for frozen export
cargo, was built between 1937 and 1948. In 1985 it was expanded
and upgraded, to become Bledisloe Terminal, the port’s second
container terminal. In 2012 most container operations moved to
Fergusson Terminal to the east. Bledisloe is now a multi-purpose
terminal, used to handle cars and other vehicles, ‘break-bulk’
(non-containerised) cargo and a small number of containers.
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War Memorial Beacon: Erected in 1915 by AHB to record
names of staff who served in World War 1. Restored and
re-erected in 2000 by ‘a grateful refugee from Nazi Germany’.
Queens Wharf Gates and Red Fence: The ‘Red Fence’ was
erected between 1913 and 1923. Installation was interrupted by
the waterfront confrontation of 1913.
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This walk takes approximately one hour,
allowing for pauses at points of historic
interest. The Rainbow Warrior Memorial
is the half-way point.
Voyager New Zealand Maritime Museum: Home to many of
New Zealand’s maritime treasures. Archives include the extensive
records of Ports of Auckland’s predecessor, the Auckland
Harbour Board (1871-1988).
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Red Fence
Heritage Walk
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HELIPORT