Purchas Hill

Purchas Hill (also Te Tauoma) is one of the volcanoes in the Auckland volcanic field.

Purchas Hill
Te Tauoma
Quarried remnant of Purchas Hill, with Maungarei / Mount Wellington in the background
Highest point
Coordinates36°53′14″S 174°50′51″E
Geography
Purchas Hill is located in New Zealand
Purchas Hill
Purchas Hill
Purchas Hill's location within New Zealand.
LocationStonefields, Auckland, New Zealand
Geology
Volcanic arc/beltAuckland volcanic field

Purchas Hill was a twin-cratered scoria cone around 50 metres high, located north of Maungarei / Mount Wellington, before it was predominantly quarried away. The scoria cone sat in the middle of its large explosion crater with a surrounding tuff ring. It erupted about 10,000 years ago, shortly before the eruption of its larger neighbour, Mount Wellington.[1]

History
A map of the Auckland volcanic field by Hochstetter from 1859, showcasing Purchas Hill amongst other volcanoes.

Te Tauoma was the site where the Ngāi Tai descendants of Te Kete-ana-taua lived, often fighting with nearby Ngāi Tāhuhu who lived around Ōtāhuhu / Mount Richmond.[2]

In the mid 1800s, geologist Ferdinand von Hochstetter named the mountain after the Reverend Dr Arthur Guyon Purchas (1821-1906), in gratitude for his help with geological work on the field.[1]

A photo looking down Purchas Hill Drive in Stonefields, Auckland.

The scant remnants of Purchas Hill lie on what is largely a wasteland in the suburb of Stonefields in Auckland.[3]

The road Purchas Hill Drive is located where Purchas Hill used to be.

References
  • City of Volcanoes: A geology of Auckland - Searle, Ernest J.; revised by Mayhill, R.D.; Longman Paul, 1981. First published 1964. ISBN 0-582-71784-1.
  • Volcanoes of Auckland: The Essential Guide. Hayward, B.W., Murdoch, G., Maitland, G.; Auckland University Press, 2011.
  • Volcanoes of Auckland: A Field Guide. Hayward, B.W.; Auckland University Press, 2019, 335 pp. ISBN 0-582-71784-1.
  1. I. Lawlor (2009). Endnotes, An assessment of heritage resources located within the proposed Otuataua Stonefields Historic Reserve Visitor Centre development ‘footprint’, and measures to avoid, remedy and mitigate effects, Otuataua Stonefields Historic Reserve Heritage Assessment Report.
  2. Graham, George (1925). "TE TOKA-TU-WHENUA. A RELIC OF THE ANCIENT WAIOHUA OF TAMAKI". The Journal of the Polynesian Society. 34 (2 (134)): 175–179.
  3. Cyanteal (15 February 2015). "39. Te Tauoma/Purchas Hill". Auckland Volcanoes. Retrieved 8 October 2019.


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