<< Our Photo Pages >> Cornwall Park Rongo Stone - Standing Stone (Menhir) in New Zealand
Submitted by DrewParsons on Friday, 19 May 2023 Page Views: 8670
Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Cornwall Park Rongo Stone Alternative Name: Te Toka-Tu-Whenua, Te Toka-I-TawhioCountry: New Zealand Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Nearest Town: Auckland Nearest Village: Cornwall Park
Latitude: 36.89743S Longitude: 174.789780E
Condition:
| 5 | Perfect |
| 4 | Almost Perfect |
| 3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
| 2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
| 1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
| 0 | No data. |
| -1 | Completely destroyed |
| 5 | Superb |
| 4 | Good |
| 3 | Ordinary |
| 2 | Not Good |
| 1 | Awful |
| 0 | No data. |
| 5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
| 4 | Short walk on a footpath |
| 3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
| 2 | A long walk |
| 1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
| 0 | No data. |
| 5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
| 4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
| 3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
| 2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
| 1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
| 0 | no data |
Internal Links:
External Links:
I have visited· I would like to visit
DrewParsons has visited here
Today this Rongo Stone is located in Cornwall Park in Auckland City. However, its history is one of many travels. According to Eru Maihi, a Ngati Whatua chief, the stone originated from Te Arai o Tahuhu Pa (see the Megalithic Portal page for that site) north of Auckland where it was set up as an alter to the spirit of the land by Chief Tahuhu. It was subsequently taken to Auckland and after several shifts finally reached Three Kings, an Auckland suburb. The defeat of the local Wai-o-hua tribe by the Ngati Whatua tribe saw the victors perform a ceremony to end the Rongo Stone's power. The passage of time saw it overturned and abandoned until 1900 when Sir John Logan Campbell moved it to Cornwall Park where it now proudly stands. The Maori name for the stone aptly means "The stone which has travelled around".
It is a basalt column standing over a metre in height and is set on a modern plinth. The park map photograph on this page shows its location. As to its origins at Te Arai Point, whilst the location of the pa there is on greywake volcanic rock, from careful examination of geological maps I notice that within 3 kilometres there are small outcrops of Ti Point Series basalt rocks from which the column could have come. So the ancient oral story of its origin and travels seems probable.
References:
The Rongo Stone: Cornwall Park free brochure available at the nearby information centre
Maori Religion & Mythology, E Best, NZ Electronic Text Centre, Published by R Shearer, Wellington
The On Line Encyclopedia of NZ: Chapter: Te Ao Mārama – The Natural World
The Journal of the Polynesian Society, Volume 56 1947 No1: The Tuamoto Legend of Rongo, son of Vaio.
Geological Map of NZ sheet 2A Whangarei, DSIR, NZ 1961
You may be viewing yesterday's version of this page. To see the most up to date information please register for a free account.
Do not use the above information on other web sites or publications without permission of the contributor.
Nearby Images from Flickr
The above images may not be of the site on this page, but were taken nearby. They are loaded from Flickr so please click on them for image credits.
Click here to see more info for this site
Nearby sites
Click here to view sites on an interactive map of the areaKey: Red: member's photo, Blue: 3rd party photo, Yellow: other image, Green: no photo - please go there and take one, Grey: site destroyed
Download sites to:
KML (Google Earth)
GPX (GPS waypoints)
CSV (Garmin/Navman)
CSV (Excel)
To unlock full downloads you need to sign up as a Contributory Member. Otherwise downloads are limited to 50 sites.
Turn off the page maps and other distractions
Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
638m WSW 245° Maungakiekie Pa* Hillfort
1.7km NNW 332° Te Kopuke Pa* Hillfort
2.2km N 354° Remuera Pa* Hillfort
2.4km NW 305° Epsom Modern Megalith* Modern Stone Circle etc
3.1km NW 313° Maungawhau* Hillfort
4.2km NNW 345° Auckland Museum* Museum
4.5km E 82° Maungarei Stonefields* Ancient Village or Settlement
5.0km WSW 250° Puketapapa Pa* Hillfort
5.1km E 83° Maungarei Pa* Hillfort
5.8km S 186° Mangere Mountain Pa* Hillfort
5.9km SE 131° Otahuhu Pa* Hillfort
8.0km ENE 63° Taurere Pa* Hillfort
8.9km ENE 72° Tahuna Torea* Ancient Village or Settlement
12.1km NE 51° Motukorea Cone Pa* Hillfort
15.4km N 353° Rahopara Pa* Hillfort
19.6km NW 315° Te Taou Pa* Hillfort
20.7km ENE 62° Matarahui Bay Pa* Hillfort
21.8km NE 53° Mokemoke Pa* Hillfort
26.1km N 349° Okura 784 Settlement & Midden* Artificial Mound
26.7km NNW 349° Dacre Point Pa* Hillfort
28.1km N 351° Rarowhara Pa* Hillfort
29.1km N 356° Little Manly East Point Pa* Hillfort
29.9km N 1° Rakauananga Pa* Hillfort
30.2km N 354° West Manly Pa* Hillfort
31.7km N 5° Shakespear Homestead Pa* Hillfort
View more nearby sites and additional images
We would like to know more about this location. Please feel free to add a brief description and any relevant information in your own language.
Wir möchten mehr über diese Stätte erfahren. Bitte zögern Sie nicht, eine kurze Beschreibung und relevante Informationen in Deutsch hinzuzufügen.
Nous aimerions en savoir encore un peu sur les lieux. S'il vous plaît n'hesitez pas à ajouter une courte description et tous les renseignements pertinents dans votre propre langue.
Quisieramos informarnos un poco más de las lugares. No dude en añadir una breve descripción y otros datos relevantes en su propio idioma.