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The history of Warkworth Wharf, or rather the motley collection of wharfs that were eventually transformed into river frontage the town can be proud of, tells the story of the town itself. No other structure in Warkworth has been so integral to the development of the town over the past 155 years. Ships, from cutters to scows, once plied the waters of the Mahurangi River, bringing provisions and taking out produce from local farmers, timber, and products from the burgeoning industry in the town. No less important was the human cargo – students heading off to secondary schools in Auckland, picnic parties, businessmen and the intrepid pastor who used the river to tend his scattered flock. The story of Warkworth is the story of life on the river. The recent return of the restored scow Jane Gifford to her berth in Warkworth, brings the story full circle.
The first wharf was probably built by the founder of Warkworth, John Anderson Brown, long before he actually established the town in 1854. At that time, the area was known as Brown’s Mill, after the sawmill he had set up. The wharf, built near the present road bridge, was used to transport timber from his mill to Auckland. Another wharf, this time an ‘official’ one, was built at the foot of Wharf Street, but no records of this event have been found. Many private wharfs sprang up along the water’s edge, built by local businesses, with sheds to store their goods. Former compliance manager for Rodney County Council for 39 years, Geoff Ward, says a code of behaviour was in place, even from the earliest days, that the public could use these private wharfs. “It was always acknowledged that even though you owned a wharf, you would give access to your neighbour,” he says. The New Zealander announced in May, 1854, that the new town had “adequate provision for public reserves, places of worship, schools, burial grounds and wharfs.”
The Weekly News enthused in December 1866, that the Mahurangi Harbour was one of the safest and most accessible in the colony, and because of its proximity to Auckland, it was one of the leading ports connected to the coastal trade. In 1873, the princely sum of 50 pounds was granted by the Government for the erection of a new wharf at Warkworth. However, the ‘safe’ harbour experienced a not-so-safe event in 1877 – a tidal wave that elevated the tide by six feet in the space of minutes and was reported to have left the steamer Kina high and dry in the river.
Henry Pulham (1830 to 1898) reported it was not until 1877 that steam transportation was firmly established, when Captain Casey brought the Lady Bowen up the river and established a regular run to Auckland. The Lady Bowen was later renamed Ann Milbank. This was the beginning of a new era that saw fierce competition develop between two shipping companies, ending in high drama. Mahurangi – the Story of Warkworth, by H J Keys, tells of the appearance of the McGregor Steamship Company on the Warkworth run in 1885. Names such as Rob Roy, Rose Casey, Maori and Claymore became household words. In 1898, in response to settler’s concern at the perceived monopoly and steep charges of this company, a Settlers’ Steamship Company, later the Coastal Steamship Company, entered the fray. From there on, it was all out economic war with both companies trying to undercut the other, calling public meetings and offering special deals to locals who signed up with them. The escalating competition culminated in two collisions between boats from the two companies. Both incidents involved the Settlers’ Company boat Kapanui – first in collision with the Rose Casey (1899) at Mahurangi Heads and later with the Claymore (1905) off Devonport Wharf. The Kapanui’s captain was found to be at fault in the latter incident. There was more misfortune in the pipeline for the Kapanui, which was discovered burning at the Warkworth Wharf on August 12, 1909. She was burnt to the waterline and deemed irreparable.
Trade fluctuated over the next few decades, but the wharf was still the main access point. “The wharf was critical to Warkworth,” says Warkworth historian Harry Bioletti. But it also provided a few chuckles. Noted photographer Tudor Collins, whose brother Reg Collins became skipper of the Jane Gifford, a scow that plied Mahurangi waters for some decades, described one incident involving a delivery of cattle to the busy little town. “They were big bullocks,” he wrote. “Harry Stubbs the butcher was interested, as was the North Auckland Farmers’ Company. They were unloading on Sunday morning, just above the wharf at high tide. The cattle got into the river and went round and round in the water. Reg got a paddle to break them up in case they drowned, but they went up to the wharf behind the dairy company. A couple got away and others followed, making a dive for poor old Bert Stubbs, then a young man, and knocking him over. The cattle were loose in the town and people were running everywhere. It took three to four days to round the cattle up.”
In the 1930s the road to Warkworth was sealed and the Albany Hill became much easier to navigate. Interest in the river and its bank waned. The council built a concrete wharf opposite Wharf Street in the late 1950s but the riverbank was going to rack and ruin. In 1970, Warkworth Town Council announced it couldn’t maintain the riverbanks to a high standard because of lack of finance. This prompted a quick local response. The Lower North News reported in June, 1970: “The banks of the Mahurangi River have become a confusion of long grass and weeds as a result of irregular mowing by the Warkworth Town Council. Residents are up in arms over the apparent lack of interest by the council.” Local community groups, including Rotary, JCs and the Fire Brigade, prompted by the work of Claude Thompson to get the river bank cleaned up, took on a project to build a new wharf opposite Kapanui Street, where once logs had been floated up a creek to the adjacent timber mill. Money for the project was raised locally. Permission was gained from Council to reclaim land. Wooden piles were driven in and the deck was constructed using timber from the Te Hana rail over-bridge.
“Some of the trees were felled on the other side of the river. I remember sitting astride them and floating them across,” Mr Ward, who was a JC at the time, says. “The fire brigade blew holes in the ground with their high pressure hoses for the poles. When they were doing this, they turned up a pot under the mud which dated back to the 1840s or 1850s.”
About 1970, some large millstones dating back about 120 years, which had been used in the flourmill built by Henry Palmer in 1860, were found buried in the riverbank. A mill wheel was also found.
However, times were changing. The wharf became dilapidated – scows had not visited Warkworth for many years. After the Cave Creek disaster in the South Island, in 1995, Council became concerned about the wharf’s condition. “We decided to demolish it,” Mr Ward says. “Peter Olsen was the harbour master at the time. We went in at 6am one morning to do the job because we knew there’d be a huge public outcry if people knew it was going to be pulled down. We had to face 150 irate towns people afterwards to explain the situation. But people rallied around and decided to rebuild. The expected cost was $470,000, but it cost only $127,000, because Masons and other companies and local groups donated materials and free labour. The outcome was good. The wharf had been a real safety risk.”
The Riverbank Enhancement Group, headed by Peter Thompson, was formed in the late 1990s and walkways constructed along the riverbank. “We raised money and, in conjunction with Council, built the new wharf, getting consents for the walkway to Lucy Moore Park,” Mr Thompson says. He estimates about $1 million has been spent on the wharf and riverbank project since the early 1990s, about one third of the real commercial cost, had there not been incredible support from the Warkworth community. The group continues to beautify the riverbank, and plans to extend the walkway even further. “The local people and the town should be proud of what they have created – it’s a showpiece for Warkworth.”
