Māori history

Historically, Māori valued the wetlands they named Te Wai Ōrea, meaning 'the waters of eels', for the clean, clear spring water and ōrea or New Zealand long fin eels that lived in the stream.^[5] A traditional Māori story involves Ruarangi, a chief of the supernatural Patupaiarehe people, escaping a siege on Owairaka / Mount Albert through lava tunnels and emerging at Te Wai Ōrea.^[6][7]

During a battle fought in the area, Kawharu, a Manukau Māori warrior chief, fought local iwi at a ridge site overlooking Te Wai Ōrea named Te Raeokawharu (Kawharu’s brow), where Surrey Crescent is situated today.^[5]

Post-European arrival

In 1830-40, during the Māori musket wars, Ngati Tahinga, Waiohua and Te Taou lived in the wider area, which was named Te Rehu.^[8]

After European colonisation, the area became part of a block of land farmed by William Motion, a Scottish settler.^[9] Colonists named the area Western Springs to differentiate it from the springs in Pukekawa / Auckland Domain to the east of the town.^[10]

Water spring use

The main source of the water that feeds the lake at Western Springs is rain falling on the slopes of the volcanoes Te Tātua a Riukiuta, Ōwairaka / Mount Albert and Maungawhau / Mount Eden. The water runs underground for several miles through the lava flows, and emerges from the ground at a constant rate that is well filtered by the miles of scoria rocks.

As Auckland grew over the mid-1800s, city officials found that well water was no longer sufficient at supplying the burgeoning population. In the 1860s, a pipe from the Auckland Domain Springs was constructed, but a more permanent solution was required to service the growing demand. In 1874, the council tasked Australian civil engineer Edward Orpen Moriarty with the task of supplying Auckland with water from Western Springs.^[11] The city bought William Motion's mill and 120 acres (486,000 m²) of land, including the spring. In 1875, the swampy ground was made into a 15-acre (6ha) artificial lake 6 feet in depth and capable of holding 22 million gallons of water. Over the course of its construction, workers removed 20,000 cartloads of spoil from the site, and used 7,850 cubic yards of earth to construct the embankment which was 40 feet (12 m) wide at the base and 9 feet (2.7 m) wide at the crest. They also excavated the 25 feet (7.6 m) deep Engine Pond and dug a 60 feet (18 m) long tunnel between the lake and the Engine House.

Cows grazing at a pond in Western Springs, early 1900s

A pumphouse, which opened in 1877,^[11] was designed by City Engineer William Errington and built of brick. It was fitted with a steam engine, known as a beam engine, which is still in working order having been restored. The engine pumped water up to the two new reservoirs; one on the corner of Ponsonby Road and Karangahape Road, and the other in the block bordered by Khyber Pass Road, Symonds Street, Mount Eden Road, and Burleigh Street from where the water was gravity fed down to the city.

The cost of running and maintaining the pump was high however, and by the end of the 19th century Auckland's size required a much greater and more reliable source of freshwater, coinciding with public pressure to safeguard the remaining native forests of the Waitākere Ranges west of the city. Auckland City purchased land and built large reservoirs in this secluded area, thus safeguarding both the water quality and the flora & fauna of the area. The height of the reservoirs above sea level meant pumping was kept to a minimum as the water could be gravity fed downwards to the city. Use of the pumphouse ceased in 1936 after the Waitākere Ranges dams were completed.^[11]

Later development

From the early 1920s onwards various developments around Western Springs took place; The Auckland City Council Zoological Gardens were established to the north of the lake. To the west, around the corner of Motions Road and Great North Road, a camping ground was set up which was later converted into a transit camp for American servicemen during World War II. To the south of the lake, the Chamberlain Park Golf Club was established, and to the west, land was set aside for primary, intermediate and secondary schools to service the growing suburbs of Westmere and Point Chevalier.

The closure of the pumphouse left the inner Western Springs area with no specific use. Its often rough and uneven land was unsuitable for housing, as apart from the lake it contained large stretches of boggy ground. Unable to divest itself of the land, the Auckland City Council was at a loss what to do with it. Some light industry and market gardens were developed along Great North Road and Chinaman's Hill, named due to the pre-dominantly Chinese market gardeners, and an attempt was made to convert the boggy land around the lake into a park. However, over the next three decades much of the land deteriorated as it became overgrown and used for illegal rubbish dumping.

The council used some of the more usable land to construct council housing in the 1920s, and in the 1930s sold much of the land previously used for market gardens to the government for state housing. To the north of the zoo was an area of mangrove swamp where the Western Springs creek reached the sea near the Meola Reef lava outcrop. This was utilised as a landfill dump and hence reclaimed during the 1950s and 1960s. The reclaimed land was developed as playing fields and an additional area for the MOTAT Sir Keith Park Memorial Airfield, and serves as the site of the Westpoint Performing Arts Center. In the 2000s the landfill was found to be emitting methane gas and was subsequently capped with clay.

After the war, the population of the surrounding suburbs grew markedly and it became obvious that the untidy state of Western Springs was an embarrassment. As a wilderness of bogs full of rubbish, rats and mosquitoes, it was unattractive and a potential health hazard. In 1961 the Auckland City Council embarked on developing the park in earnest. The lake, which had become completely choked by introduced waterweed was reclaimed, and the overgrown landscape was carefully cleared of weeds and rubbish.

In 1953 a plan was put forward to use the area around the lake as an amusement park with a scenic railway, fairground and rollercoasters, but this was soon discovered to be beyond the financial capabilities of Auckland City Council. In 1964 the Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT) was established to the south-east of the lake, the old pumphouse forming its centrepiece.

By the 1980s major landscaping work had transformed the area from a former dumpsite into one of Auckland's most attractive parks. New plantings were introduced to complement the mature trees from the 19th century, and careful planting of the islands in the lake and its surrounding wetlands have made it a successful breeding ground for a large variety of native and exotic waterfowl. Artworks by several New Zealand sculptors were installed in the park during the 1980s and 1990s.