Enter Lord Onslow
By 1891 William Hillier Onslow, fourth Earl of Onslow (1853-1911) was approaching the end of his term as Governor of New Zealand and on the look out for a souvenir of the country to take back to his family estate at Clandon Park. Hinemihi was chosen as meeting houses can easily be dismantled and transported elsewhere. A sum of £50 was agreed upon by Mika Aporo, son of Chief Aporo, to purchase Hinemihi.
An official hand-written bill-of-sale for Hinemihi, signed by Mika Aporo, was drawn up, dated 27 January 1892. Today the document is on public display in Clandon Park’s Onslow Room.
Following the arrival of the carvings at Clandon Park in April 1892, Hinemihi was at first re-erected by an ornamental lake. Due to concerns about the poor condition of the carvings, some restoration work was carried out in 1919. She was reconstructed on her present site at the back of the main house by recovering WWI New Zealand soldiers, including Maori National Expeditionary troops (Maori Pioneer Battalion) when Clandon Park and neighbouring properties were used as military hospitals. Carvings were cleaned and she was re-constructed as near as possible to her 1880’s form.
Later generations of Onslows found different uses for their New Zealand garden souvenir. Hinemihi was used as a garden store, a home for a pet goat and at one stage was proposed as a bar for a family garden party.
Back to top
The restoration begins
During the middle of the 20th century Hinemihi underwent a significant change in her structure and by the end of the WWII the old meeting house was in need of repair.
In 1956, Clandon and its gardens – including Hinemihi - was donated by Gwendolen, Countess Iveagh to The National Trust.
© Alfred Burton / Hinemihi Collection
We asked New Zealand’s High Commission in London for help with a 1960s Hinemihi restoration programme and the request was referred to various Maori organisations. New Zealand contacts made financial contributions to the cost of restoration, along with a supply of totora timber for the ridgepole, wall slabs and rafters.
Further refurbishment work was undertaken in 1979 by the English firm of J. W. Draper & Sons of Titchfield, Hampshire, specialists in restoring historic wooden buildings. The National Trust consulted a range of experts prior to the restoration work, which included a new front wall, door, and window; the interior front carved roof support (poutahu) was turned around to its correct position; all carvings were cleaned and repainted.
Eric Draper later recalled that the National Trust had little visual material available for him to copy apart from an old photograph taken of Hinemihi at Te Wairoa a few days after the eruption, showing her roof covered in volcanic debris. Innocently mistaking several tons of rooftop debris as traditional English thatch, Mr. Draper replaced the thin straw thatch roof with a thick covering of Norfolk reeds - good enough to last 30 years or more.
|
