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168:(DOC). The park serves double duty as a historical (Category 1 Historic Place) and nature reserve, containing unusual rock formations, associated with an extinct volcano, three significant bush blocks and three concrete gun emplacements with an extensive tunnel system, reputed to be the largest in New Zealand.
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While approved in 1939, construction was delayed for cost reasons until German raiders were sighted in New
Zealand waters during 1940–1941, as well as the war entry of Japan in late 1941, suddenly turned it into a high-priority project. In 1942, the site on Waiheke was chosen, but it took until early
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Open to The Public. In June 2020 DoC issued a
Concession Lease to operate guided tours to Fort Stony Batter Heritage Park Ltd. Tours commenced in December 2020 Wed thru Sunday until May 2021. After which the Tunnels will close temporarily to the public for winter restoration work- reopening again in
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Next to the gun pits, which can be accessed at any time, the site also contains around a kilometre of tunnels, most of which are accessible by guided tour. These connected the gun pits with each other and with their ammunition stores, a plotting room, an engine room providing electricity, as well as
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The battery is now in the hands of a preservation society, which keeps it open for the public under a concession from DOC. The preservation society is currently trying to source an appropriate artillery piece to restore at least one gunpit to a similar state as it would have appeared in late World
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project. The work on the installations, sans guns, was completed behind schedule in 1944, and had by then ballooned from initial estimates of £140,000 to £327,966, excluding the costs of the guns. By 1945, the immediate threat of war had subsided, and many of the workers were transferred to work on
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The 9.2 inch guns that were once installed in two of the gun pits had ranges of 31,300 yards (over 30 km) and a possible rate of fire of one round per minute. This made them the largest guns ever used in New
Zealand. Their mountings could swivel them 360° and elevate up to 35°. They were
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was finally tasked with construction after other contractors declined the job. Construction began in
October 1943, and it was initially thought that the battery would take 12 months to complete. Delays were caused by the remote location, which at first had no road access, and also by the fact that
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agreeing with the council's case providing public access. If one examines the lead up to the access dispute, one finds that the land owner alleged he was suffering losses through theft of his farm stock, some of which were barbecued on site, and others were trucked off the farm to be butchered
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the project was kept in strict secrecy, requiring with a large degree of self-sufficiency during the construction period, complete with its own living facilities and machine shops. The new battery was generally referred to only as A2, to conceal its location.
262:. By 1955, all material that could be deteriorated was removed from the site. Construction of the battery was, however, considered a major feat of engineering, carried out under particularly difficult circumstances. As the tides of war turned, only two
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An extensive vineyard on the surrounding privately owned farm is also named after the installation. For almost two decades, the farm's owner had a dispute with
Auckland City over public access to the reserve, finally resolved in 2002 by the
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elsewhere on the island. The thefts were of such a magnitude, said to be tens of thousands of dollar value per annum, that the viability of the stock fattening part of the landowner's business was being jeopardised.
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Stony Batter volcanics map. Clicking on the map enlarges it, and enables panning and mouseover of volcanic feature name/wikilink and ages before present. The key to the other volcanics that are shown with panning is
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were installed, one in 1944, and one in 1948. The third gun was cancelled before shipment. Never fired except for testing and training purposes, the guns were dismantled and sold for scrap in 1961.
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basalts - dark brown, undifferentiated basalts of the
Tangihua Complex in Northland Allochthon - light brown, arc basalts - deep orange brown, arc ring basalts -orange brown,
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served by ammunitions storage lockers in the base of each gun pit, which were in turn fed by large electric hoists from underground ammunition dumps.
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was obtained from the prominent rocky outcrops, giving Stony Batter its name. The tunnels and chambers were designed based on plans of the
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Stony Batter was part of a counter-bombardment battery system progressively being installed in the
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The Long and
Winding Road to Stony Batter: Implied Dedication in the Torrens Title Context
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164:. It is sited within a 50-acre (200,000 m) scenic reserve of the same name, owned by the
530:(from the Public Access New Zealand website, updated 26 June 2002. Accessed 2008-01-10.)
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Various information plaques found around the Stony Batter installation, as of 2007
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A Field Guide to
Auckland: Exploring the Region's Natural and Historical Heritage
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Stony Batter
Historic Reserve, Waiheke Island - Counter bombardment battery
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Veart, David (2011). "Stony Batter: Auckland's Last
Fortress". In
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The tunnels and underground chambers were quarried by hand, with
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and at Stony Batter, as well as having observation posts such at
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Wine of the Week - Stony Batter Gravestone Sauvignon Blanc 2003
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is a historic defence installation at the north-eastern end of
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from the 1930s. Composed of various gun batteries, such as at
500:(from the 'wineoftheweek.com' website. Accessed 2008-01-10.)
488:(from the 'kiwiwineries.com' website. Accessed 2008-01-10.)
419:(Revised ed.). Random House New Zealand. p. 293.
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December 2021. For more details www.stonybattertunnels.nz
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Stony Batter is located in the remote north-east of
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Military history of New Zealand during World War II
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Stony Batter Preservation & Restoration Society
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451:Evolving Auckland: The City's Engineering Heritage
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86:- violet, basaltic andesite`- light red,
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387:New Zealand Department of Conservation
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258:the hydroelectric plants built on the
166:New Zealand Department of Conservation
119:New Zealand Department of Conservation
318:Coastal fortifications of New Zealand
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612:Buildings and structures in Auckland
518:, 9 (1), 2002. Accessed 2008-01-10.
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627:1940s architecture in New Zealand
556:at Recreation Access New Zealand
264:BL 9.2-inch Mk IX – X naval guns
249:was not used due to shortages).
180:Entrance to Stony Batter tunnels
90:(lighter shades of violet), and
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514:- McMurray-Cathcart, Kimberly;
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554:Stony Batter - Waiheke Island
56:One of the gun emplacements
16:For the Dublin suburb, see
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550:(official society website)
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255:Tawa Flat railway tunnels
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578:36.76237°S 175.174964°E
295:Layout of tunnel system
231:Public Works Department
223:Tiritiri Matangi Island
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583:-36.76237; 175.174964
333:Wrights Hill Fortress
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617:Forts in New Zealand
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125:Open to
28:Stony Batter
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18:Stoneybatter
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569:175°10′30″E
327:New Zealand
162:New Zealand
72:monogenetic
43:New Zealand
596:Categories
566:36°45′45″S
385:(from the
369:(from the
342:References
323:North Head
88:ignimbrite
82:- purple,
251:Aggregate
172:Geography
70:- brown,
389:website)
373:website)
312:See also
283:War II.
243:concrete
239:formwork
158:Auckland
92:plutonic
84:rhyolite
76:andesite
39:Auckland
449:(ed.).
201:History
94:- gray.
78:- red,
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80:dacite
68:basalt
140:Built
455:ISBN
421:ISBN
143:1943
102:Type
130:Yes
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245:(
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
