Auckland Heritage

02/06/2026

The 2026 Walton Funding grant is now open until the 15th of July.

Belle has a talent for helping her human find archaeology! For archaeologists also excellent at finding and recording archaeology, the 2026 Walton Funding grant is now open until the 15th of July!

Walton Fund grants are awarded for projects that promote any of the following:
- archaeological site recording,
- recording of new sites,
- recording sites at risk of climate change,
- updating old records.

For further information please see https://nzarchaeology.org/membership/walton-fund

02/06/2026

01/06/2026

01/06/2026

28/05/2026

Opening today!

Heritage in the City | Photographs by Blair Hastings

📅When: Friday 29 May – Sunday 21 June
💰Cost: Free to view the exhibition, normal entry to the rest of the house
🏠Alberton, 100 Mount Albert Road, Mount Albert
🕰️Open Wednesday - Sunday, 10.30am - 4.30pm (last entry 3.45pm)

From the picturesque Keeper’s Cottage at Albert Park to hidden details at Britomart, come and enjoy an exhibition of photographs by Blair Hastings featuring historic heritage buildings and places around central Auckland. A great opportunity to learn more about the heritage of our city.

On display in the Alberton Ball Room as part of the Auckland Photography Festival. Presented by the Auckland Council Heritage Unit.

https://www.visitheritage.co.nz/whats-on/auckland-events/heritage-in-the-city-photographs-by-blair-hastings-alberton

27/05/2026

Auckland Harbour Bridge is turning 67 this week!

The Auckland Harbour Bridge turns 67 years old this week!

When it opened on 30 May 1959, the bridge changed how Aucklanders lived, worked and travelled. It linked communities on both sides of the Waitematā Harbour and sped up the growth of the North Shore.

The bridge quickly became one of the busiest transport routes in the country. What began as a 4-lane bridge at the end of the 1950s had grown into an 8-lane bridge by the end of the 1960s when 2 “clip-on” lanes were added either side of the bridge. In the 1960s about 16,000 vehicles crossed the bridge every day. Today it’s around 170,000.

While the bridge helps Aucklanders move around and it’s an iconic part of the Auckland cityscape, it’s also vital infrastructure for all of New Zealand. It’s important for freight and our economy, such as getting goods and services to people across the North Island, which flows on to the entire country.

And the bridge is more than just a road – it also carries water, power, gas, and communications.

It’s our job to keep the bridge safe and reliable. Every day we have workers inspecting the bridge and doing preventative maintenance on it to manage potential issues such as corrosion. We do much of this work beneath the bridge – or at night if it’s up top, so that we avoid disrupting people’s travel.

Our ongoing maintenance, and our proactively safeguarding the bridge when the weather is bad, ensures the bridge will continue to serve New Zealand for years to come.

67 years on, the Auckland Harbour Bridge is a landmark in our country's history and a crucial part of our future.

27/05/2026

Opening soon!

From 29 May at Alberton view Blair Hastings Heritage in the City.

From the picturesque Keeper’s Cottage at Albert Park to hidden details at Britomart, come and enjoy an exhibition of photographs by Blair Hastings featuring historic heritage buildings and places around central Auckland. A great opportunity to learn more about the heritage of our city.

On display in the Alberton Ball Room, presented by the Auckland Council Heritage Unit. Free to view the exhibition, normal entry to house applies.

Image: Albert Park Keeper’s Cottage, 2020, Blair Hastings. �

www.photographyfestival.org.nz/programme/in-venue.cfm

27/05/2026

The Coates Memorial Church in Matakohe reopened last weekend after restoration. Have a look at these lovely images from Ministry for Culture and Heritage

26/05/2026

May is New Zealand month. Today we will highlight the musical heritage of the Auckland Trades Hall.

Built in 1912 to house the offices of various trade unions and to serve as a meeting place, it was a focal point for industrial action in 1913 and 1951.

However, it was also a popular music venue during the 1950s and 1960s. Known as the Jive Centre, it began as a jazz venue and went on to host big New Zealand rock n roll acts like Johnny Devlin (pictured).

It was a popular spot for both Māori performers and audiences. Newspaper articles describe a 1961 performance by the Taupo-nui-a-tia Maori Youth Club, who performed to a thousand people after winning national competition.

The Bob Paris Combo was a resident band in the 1950s. The Keil Isles (pictured), a very successful band with Samoan connections, played at the Jive Centre once a week in the late 1950s. The Sundowners became the resident band in the early 1960s. There were also visits from international acts, including African American performers.

The Auckland Trades Hall had a large meeting room on the ground floor with a stage – perfect for dances as well as political meetings – as well as a supper room and kitchen in the basement. The building was designed by John Hoggard and William Prouse and built at a cost of £6500 by J. Webster. It was officially opened in April 1912. One quirky feature is the front balcony, which was designed as a stage so that a speaker could address a crowd.

The unions moved out to a purpose-built building in 1972, and the hall became offices for design businesses and later a hotel. The former Auckland Trades Hall (UPID 01973) is a scheduled Historic Heritage Place under the Auckland Unitary Plan. Please note that the building is privately owned.

You can find out more about the bands pictured

Image credits:
1 The Keil Isles, 1960, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 1925-32
2 Johnny Devlin & Bill Fairs, c1958-59, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 1925-24
3 Philip Doyle, 1977, Trades’ Hall, 157-159 Hobson Street, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 435-09-19
4 J D Richardson, 1925, Hobson street and the Trades Hall, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 4-02049
5 Auckland Council Heritage Unit, 2012

25/05/2026

Check out the work of the Screen Auckland. The Heritage Unit works closely with the Screen Team for permitting filming around Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. Have you spotted a favourite heritage place on the TV or at the movies lately?