Te Waimate Mission

The Te Waimate Mission was one of the first settlements of Europeans in New Zealand. It is located in Waimate North in the Far North District in the Bay of Islands.

At the suggestion of Samuel Marsden, a model village for Māori was built by the British Church Missionary Society. The land for it was acquired by the Ngapuhi Iwi after the girls was 1830.

The village consisted of three wooden houses for the families of the missionaries accommodation for Māori, a flour mill, a carpentry shop, brickyard, blacksmith, school and a church. Marsden hoped europeanise in the station Māori, at the same time the mission should yield profit. To this end, they wanted to produce goods for sale to European ships and sell European goods to the Māori. As a trading center should serve the Stone Store in Kerikeri.

The idea of ​​Māori under controlled conditions to re-educate in the sense of European culture, the students with their work force also should generate the funds to put on a few Māori. Therefore, the activities of the mission station were gradually reduced.

On February 10, 1840 she became once more historical significance, as here took place the second round of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi.

Some of the buildings were used 1842-1844 by Bishop George Selwyn as Anglican theological St John's College, but moved to Auckland in 1844. The mission was used by British soldiers as a base in Flagstaff War of 1845. Some casualties of the Battle of Ohaeawai are buried here. Attempts to leave the mission after the war revived failed. Therefore, the buildings were sold.

The only surviving building is the former home of George Clarke, the Mission House. It was registered by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust on July 23, 1983, the registration number 3 as a monument of Category 1 and it operates as a museum.

Another house of the mission station was implemented and is now part of Butler Point Whaling Museum.