Howick Historical Village - Village History

Village History

On May 23rd 1962, a public meeting chaired by Mr B. Kendrick was held on the Pakuranga College hall. It was resolved that the "Howick Historical Society" be formed and incorporated. This was led group of local enthusiasts wanting to preserve Howick’s history. Mr B. Kendrick was elected as the first president.

The origins of the Society began with the lead up to the All Saints Church Centenary Celebrations in November 1947. For this occasion Cecil Litten and a small group which included, among others Mrs. Lucy Hughes, organised a display of Fencible furniture and artifacts to be held in the old Howick Town Hall. An appeal was made for anyone with such furniture or knowledge where more was stored. What resulted was a very successful display. A record of these exhibits was kept, and it can be noted that most of these artifacts and furniture can be seen today on display in the Colonial Village.

In 1949, the centennial committee had not completely disbanded and was later joined by other interested people including William Orange. They realised that fencible houses were fast disappearing and they explored ideas for preserving examples in assorted locations and settings. Miss Nixon was part of this group that established the "Garden of Memories" in Uxbridge Rd. This began the protection of some fencible buildings. Cecil Litten led the idea of some kind of Colonial Village where these buildings would be set in a historical setting. From the 1950s to 1960s this informal committee continued to meet at irregular intervals and by 1960 it had been joined by Mesdames D. Collings, A. Zellman, N. Martensen and Mr D. Hastings and B. Kendrick. In 1961, the group elected Mr. B. Kendrick as chairman of a steering committee to form a society to be known as the Howick Historical Society.

J. Cecil Litten was elected the second president of the Historical Society and was elected mayor of Howick and he died in office in 1966. Some of the ideas of the Howick Colonial Village as a living history village came from society members' own trips to New England outdoor history museums at Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts, and to seaside Mystic in Connecticut.

The Bell family offered Bell House, located in its present position, to the Society in 1972. Alan la Roche and Dufty Bell negotiated with Lloyd Elsmore (the mayor at the time) and the Society was offered five acres next to Bell House. This was later extended to a total of 7 acres. This became the site of the Howick Historical Village. Manukau City planner and landscaper Janet Ward, and architect Ian George had a large part to play in the final layout of the village.

It took eight years to develop the area into a living museum, using volunteer labour and working bees in the weekends. Volunteers like Arthur White, Pat Chisholm, Dorothy Stacey, Pam Taylor, Rich'd Voogd, Andrew McCaw, Jack Davis, Nelson Blake, David Mirams, John Macaw, David Edward and Alan La Roche played a big part in these working bees. A plan was drawn up, letters sent to owners of Fencible cottages, and over that period of time many cottages were offered to the Society. They were transported to their new home and restored to represent the Fencible period. The funding for the re-siting of buildings and their restoration largely came initially from the sale of Christmas cards and from cake stalls. There was a lot of local support for the fund raising initiatives that led to the development of the site.

John Litten, using donated equipment from Litten Brothers LLC developed many of the roads and drains in the village, and through the 1970s many people worked together to organise the relocation of Fencible buildings to the village site. The Manukau City Council dug out the pond. The last Manukau mayor, Len Brown, was one of the young volunteers who helped develop the Village in its early days.

On 8 March 1980, the Howick Colonial Village (as it was then called) was officially opened by Allan Highet, Minister of Internal Affairs, on behalf of Governor-General Sir Keith Holyoake, who was unwell on the day. John Litten was serving as the president at the time. A cloud of caged pigeons was released before a large crowd, who then inspected the fourteen buildings that comprised the museum.

At that time there was only one oak tree on the site and the rest of the planting has been carried out subsequently. The gardens have become an extensive heritage project, led by a restoration ecologist, with close links to the Heritage Tree Crops Association and Auckland Seed Savers. Many of the trees come from the sites of historic homes in the area.

The staffing has grown since the early days, but the Village still operates with a huge amount of support from volunteers.

There are now thirty buildings that comprise the museum and the site has reached maturity and its full capacity. The challenge for the future will be to retain the buildings in good and authentic condition for future generations.