Matukutūruru

Covering around 18 hectares, Matukutūruru was created through a series of volcanic eruptions. Lava flows extended as far as 1 kilometre to the north and 1.5 kilometres to the south.^[6] The last eruption was around 32,000 years ago.^[6] Fire-fountaining left a scoria cone reaching approximately 90 metres above sea level (60 m higher than the surrounding land).^[5] The cone had a single crater on its summit.^[5]

The scoria cone has been almost completely quarried away; a small portion of the lower northern slopes is the only part that still exists. The quarrying exposed the complex geology of the site, including layers of scoria and a cross-section of the tuff ring. The southern faces of the northern quarry site exposed a sequence of lava flows formed by jointed basalt and scoria.^[7]

Lava flows completely encircled the cone in all directions - with lava up to 18m deep extending 1km to the north and 1.5km to the south.^[5] Most have been quarried away, and the land is now covered in industrial buildings. Quarrying activities over the northern flows left a large pit, which was subsequently filled with spoil from the construction of the City Rail Link tunnels in the 2020s.

Wiri Lava Cave

Main article: Wiri Lava Cave

Map of the lava cave.

The flows created a 290m long lava cave; extending from near the top of the cone remnants down a short vertical shaft, then diagonally down under the scoria slopes and into the solid basalt, continuing horizontally across Wiri Station Road at a depth of approximately 4m.^[8][9] It features smooth, gas-flazed rock surfaces, lava stalactites, circular tube gas vents, "festoon" ridging on the floors, vertical shafts formed by hot gas, and contraction gaps at the base of walls.^[8][10] The cave is considered to be of international importance. The parts of the cave that are scientifically interesting are large enough for comfortable walking^[9], but the entrance is locked and is not open to the public.^[6][11]

Matukutūruru was the site of a terraced pā dating back to the thirteenth century occupied by the ancestors of Te Ākitai Waiohua. Around the slopes of the cone an extensive series of short terraces were created, used for living, food storage and gardening. On the lower slopes, free-standing earth-and-stone walls were built radiating out from the cone - dividing into roughly wedge-shaped segments which were further subdivided by cross-walls.^[6]

The introduction of the musket created a period of great instability in the region. By 1821, with the threat of Ngāpuhi war parties from northland armed with muskets, all volcanic cone pā of Tāmaki Makaurau were virtually abandoned as defensive fortresses.^[12] When the first European missionaries passed through the area in 1834 they reported little evidence of occupation by māori.^[11]

William Fairburn claimed to have purchased most of South Auckland (83,000 acres, stretching from Papatoetoe to Papakura) from Māori in the 1830s. After the treaty signing in 1840, the purchase was examined by the government. Fairburn was allowed to keep ⅐ of the land, and the rest was transferred to Captain James Clendon as part of a land swap. In 1845 William McLaughlin purchased 2846 acres in Wiri, including Matukutūruru.^[11]

Beginning prior to 1859, the cone which once reached 50m higher than the surrounding land began to be quarried away.^[9] By 1859 it was supplying metal for the construction of Great South Road.^[13]

In 1880 Alexander Whyte bought the mountain and land surrounding it. In March 1915, New Zealand Government Railways purchased 38 acres of property from the trustees of Alexander Whyte, including the "hill of scoria" and a corridor providing access to the main railway. Shortly after, a further 6 acres immediately to the east was also purchased.^[13]

In 1924, a section of the lower northern slope was purchased by Harold Forrest. Unable to service his State Advances loan, this land eventually ended up in the hands of farmer Ernie Shepherd. Around 1928 Jacaranda House (later known as Rumney Cottage) was built. The house was built from basalt and scoria quarried from the volcano and took its name from the large tree beside it. In 1963, the property was bought by the Crown for railway purposes, under the Public Works Act 1928 and Railways Act 1949. Mr Shepherd continued to live in the house until his death in 1972. The house was then leased to various families, and it became known as the quarry manager's house.^[14]

New Zealand Government Railways and NZ Railways Corporation (NZRC) intermittently operated the quarry on the site.^[9] The removed material was mostly used for construction of railways, but in later years some was sold.^[9]

In 1970 the cave was scheduled for protection as a place of "scientific interest" in the City of Manukau District Scheme. In 1986 the Department of Lands and Survey proposed to acquire the land enclosing the cave for a scientific reserve, but NZRC responded that it intended to maximise quarrying of the available resource.^[9] In 1987 the cave was granted interim protection by NZRC.^[9] Minister of Conservation (Hon Helen Clark) indicated that she believed the survival of the cave undamaged was "reasonably well assured".^[9]

In 1988 NZRC entered into agreements with Refac Holdings Ltd, intending to "extract and remove" the minerals on the site. On 15 October 1989 the agreements with Refac were cancelled and NZRC then entered into a joint venture agreement with Downer Group to extract the minerals, excluding the cave area. The agreement included guarantees that Downer Group and its contractors would not damage the cave area. NZRC indicated that its intention was to subdivide the land for industrial development after the quarrying was completed.^[9]

After nearly 30 years of lobbying, in 1998 the cave site was transferred to the Department of Conservation and gazetted a Scientific Reserve.^[8] From 1998 to 2014 it was impossible to obtain permission to access the cave - the department made claims that the active quarrying nearby made it unsafe, that entry required a management plan, or that iwi had not given their formal blessing to allow entry.^[8]

In 2008 the remaining land of the former cone (not including the reserve) was sold by the government to Winstone Aggregates (a subsidiary of Fletcher Building). Fletcher sold the property in 2015 to NZ Cleanfill Limited, later acquired by developer Euroclass.^[13] Since then roads and industrial buildings have filled the now flattened land where the bulk of the volcano once stood.^[15]

In late 2011^{[citation needed]} the quarry lake was drained. Water from the site of the northern quarry was pumped into sediment control ponds before being discharged to Puhinui Stream^[7], it was then filled with spoil from the construction of the City Rail Link tunnels.^[16]

In the 2014 Treaty of Waitangi settlement between the Crown and the Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau collective of 13 Auckland iwi and hapū (also known as the Tāmaki Collective), ownership of the 14 Tūpuna Maunga of Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland, was vested to the collective, including the volcano officially named Matukutūruru. The legislation specified that the land be held in trust "for the common benefit of Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau and the other people of Auckland". The Tūpuna Maunga o Tāmaki Makaurau Authority or Tūpuna Maunga Authority (TMA) is the co-governance organisation established to administer the 14 Tūpuna Maunga. Auckland Council manages the Tūpuna Maunga under the direction of the TMA.^{[17][18][19][20][21]}

The authority intends to restore the pre-human ecosystem of the scoria cone; including around 5,400 ferns, karaka, puriri, totara, mahoe, mangeao, puka, kohekohe and titoki to be planted by 2021.^[22]

• 
  The quarried remnants of Matukutūruru in 2010, when part-filled with water. Picture is taken from some of the higher remnants.
• 
  The quarried remnants of Matukutūruru in 2010 - as seen from Matukutūreia.
• 
  2010 photograph of the former Wiri Quarry part-filled with water, looking toward Matukutūreia.
• 
  The entrance to the lava cave.
• 
  The locked trap door over the entrance to the lava cave.

• Tūpuna Maunga Authority - Matukutūruru
• Elaine R. Smid - A Photographic Journey Through Wiri Lava Cave, Auckland (2014) (archived 2026-03-25)