Auckland Domain

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Auckland Domain as seen from the Sky Tower.

The Auckland Domain is Auckland's oldest park, and one of the largest in the city, in the central suburb of Grafton. It lies mostly within the crater of a 140,000 year old volcano, one of the oldest in the Auckland Volcanic Field, which had in time been formed into a gently sloped crater ring with a small scoria cone (Pukekaroa) in the centre.

The park is home to one of Auckland's main tourist attractions, the Auckland War Memorial Museum, which sits prominently on the crater rim. Several sports fields occupy the floor of the crater, circling to the south of the cone, while the rim opposite the Museum hosts the cricket pavilion and Auckland Hospital. The Wintergarden, with two beautiful glass houses, as well as the duck ponds lie on the north edge of the cone.

1 History
2 Events
3 References
4 External link

[edit] History

Part of the Winter Gardens in the Domain.

View from the tropical house of the Winter Gardens to the temperate house.

Cherry grove in flower at the Auckland Domain.

Public sculpture in the Auckland Domain.

The land was set aside as a public reserve in the 1840s, and remains one of the city's greatest assets. During the 1860s the Domain springs were a source of water for the town of Auckland. The Auckland Acclimatisation Society located their gardens here in the 1860s which were later developed into the Auckland Botanical Gardens. Parts of the layout still exist north of the band rotunda including some greenhouses from the 1870s.

In the 1850s the then Governor-General Gore-Browne eyed up the Domain as the setting for the new Government House. He was displeased with both the existing house's location in Waterloo Quadrant and also its style (and especially that it was of wooden construction). He envisaged a castle-style masonry residence similar to Government House in Sydney, which is also set in a large landscaped domain like Auckland's. Plans were drawn up, but the Premier of the time, Weld, refused to authorise funds for the project and so the Auckland Domain remained freely accessible to the public as it had been intended. The site of the Governor General's residence was later transferred to a new location in Mount Eden in the early 1960s.

A great many exotic specimen trees were donated and planted throughout the Domain by the late Victorians which have now matured into a splendid landscape park. They are now augmented by many New Zealand species. The wooden Cricket Pavilion designed by Mr Gorrie was built in 1898 as a replacement for an earlier structure that burnt down.

In 1913 the Domain was the site of the Auckland Industrial Exhibition. The financial return from this event resulted in many improvements, the chief one being the splendid Wintergardens next to the duckponds. The teahouse was built as the "ideal home" exhibition set piece and retained after the rest of the exhibition was dismantled. A charming example of an Arts and Crafts cottage, it stands between the Wintergardens and the duckponds.

During the 1920s & 1930s local businessman William Elliot donated several of the marble statues in the Wintergarden complex as well as the splendid Art Deco Domain entrance gates [Park Road]. The gates are surmounted by a bronze statue of a nude male athlete by the NZ sculptor Richard Gross.

The Auckland Domain is the location of several public artworks including Guy Nygan's "Millennium Tree".

Dominating the Auckland Domain is the Auckland War Memorial Museum and Cenotaph (Architects Grierson, Aimer and Draffin). This large neo-greek style building was opened in 1929 with the rear portion added in the 1960s. It is currently undergoing an extensive renovation.

In 1940 to commemorate the founding of Auckland in 1840 a new road was planned for the Domain. "Centennial Drive" was surveyed and trees planted its length but it was never formed as a road, it is now a walkway between the Duckponds and Stanley Street.

[edit] Events

The Domain has also hosted many of New Zealand's largest outdoor events. Such use has a long history, from balloon ascents during the Edwardian period, the 1953 Elizabeth II Royal Tour, Papal visits, and various sports events.

Some of the largest annual events are "Christmas in the Park", which in the past has drawn more than 200,000 spectators^[1], and other popular returning events including the "Symphony under the Stars" and the "Teddybears Picnic".

The 2005 Red Bull Trolley Grand Prix was held using Domain Drive as the racecourse.

[edit] References

The Heart of Colonial Auckland, 1865-1910. Terence Hodgson. Random Century NZ Ltd 1992.
Auckland Through A Victorian Lens. William Main. Millwood Press 1977.
The Lively Capital, Auckland 1840-1865. Una Platts. Avon Fine Prints Limited New Zealand 1971.