Mount Wellington, Auckland
Encyclopedia
The volcano
Mount Wellington is a 137 metre volcanic peakVolcano
2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
located in the Auckland volcanic field
Auckland Volcanic Field
The Auckland volcanic field is a monogenetic volcanic field in the North Island of New Zealand. Basaltic in nature, it underlies much of the metropolitan area of Auckland....
of Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. It is the youngest onshore volcano of the Auckland volcanic field, having been formed by an eruption around 10,000 years ago. It is the largest of Auckland's scoria cones.Mt Wellington is not expected to erupt again.
The suburb
The suburbSuburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
surrounding the peak is also called Mount Wellington, and is located 10 kilometres southeast of the city centre. It is surrounded by the suburbs of Tamaki
Tamaki
Tamaki may refer to:Places:*Afghanistan**Tamaki, Afghanistan*Japan**Tamaki, Mie*New Zealand**Tamaki, New Zealand, a suburb of Auckland**Tāmaki , in Auckland**East Tamaki, a suburb of Auckland**Tamaki River, in Auckland...
, Panmure
Panmure, New Zealand
Panmure is a south-eastern suburb of Auckland City, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located 11 kilometres southeast of the city centre, close to the western banks of the Tamaki River and the northern shore of the Panmure Basin...
, Penrose
Penrose, New Zealand
Penrose is an industrial suburb in Auckland City, New Zealand. It is located to the southeast of the city centre, at a distance of about nine kilometres, between the suburbs of Oranga and Mount Wellington, and close to the Mangere Inlet, an arm of the Manukau Harbour...
, and Ellerslie
Ellerslie, New Zealand
Ellerslie is a suburb of the city of Auckland, New Zealand. It is seven kilometres to the southeast of the city centre, close to State Highway 1...
, and by the Tamaki River
Tamaki River
The Tamaki River is, despite its name, mostly an estuarial arm and harbour of the Hauraki Gulf, within the city of Auckland in New Zealand. It extends south for 15 kilometres from its mouth between the Auckland suburb of Saint Heliers and the long thin peninsula of Bucklands Beach, which reaches...
. State secondary schools serving the area include St Peter's College
St Peter's College, Auckland
St Peter's College is a Catholic college for year 7 to 13 boys . The school, located in Auckland, is one of the largest Catholic schools in New Zealand and is an integrated school under an integration agreement entered into by the Catholic Bishop of Auckland and the Government of New Zealand in...
and Selwyn College.
History of Mount Wellington
Named by colonists after the Duke of WellingtonArthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
, the native Māori people called it Maungarei and used it for centuries as a pā
Pa (Maori)
The word pā can refer to any Māori village or settlement, but in traditional use it referred to hillforts fortified with palisades and defensive terraces and also to fortified villages. They first came into being about 1450. They are located mainly in the North Island north of lake Taupo...
or hill fort
Hill fort
A hill fort is a type of earthworks used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze and Iron Ages. Some were used in the post-Roman period...
.
Much of the old lava
Lava
Lava refers both to molten rock expelled by a volcano during an eruption and the resulting rock after solidification and cooling. This molten rock is formed in the interior of some planets, including Earth, and some of their satellites. When first erupted from a volcanic vent, lava is a liquid at...
flow surrounding the mountain has been quarried for industrial aggregates, and the large quarry to the north of the mountain produced 7% of New Zealand's roading aggregate. The quarry has now closed and is being redeveloped for housing. The volcanic scoria
Scoria
Scoria is a volcanic rock containing many holes or vesicles. It is most generally dark in color , and basaltic or andesitic in composition. Scoria is relatively low in mass as a result of its numerous macroscopic ellipsoidal vesicles, but in contrast to pumice, all scoria has a specific gravity...
cone
Volcanic cone
Volcanic cones are among the simplest volcanic formations. They are built by ejecta from a volcanic vent, piling up around the vent in the shape of a cone with a central crater. Volcanic cones are of different types, depending upon the nature and size of the fragments ejected during the eruption...
is of the greatest geological and archaeological interest however.
Education
- Bailey Road School is a state, coeducational full primary (years 1-8) school with a roll of 418 and a decile ratingSocio-Economic DecileDecile, Socio-Economic Decile or Socio-Economic Decile Band is a widely used measure in education in New Zealand used to target funding and support to more needy schools....
of 3. - Stanhope Road School is a state, coeducational full primary (years 1-8) school with a roll of 495 and a decile rating of 4. It was established in 1958.
- Sylvia Park School is a state, coeducational full primary (years 1-8) school with a roll of 248 and a decile rating of 2.