Originally unveiled on Anzac Day 1916, the Tinui cross is one of New Zealand’s earliest First World War memorials. The majority were constructed in the decade following the war’s end, during which the Tinui township itself unveiled its own First World War memorial. The unveiling of the cross so soon after Gallipoli, however, was the result of the impact that the Anzac campaign had on the small community at Tinui. The memorial was conceived as both a tangible demonstration of the Tinui area’s respect for those involved in the campaign, and more specifically, to those who died.
The practical realisation of the project was driven by the Maunsell family, who in addition to being one of the first European families in the area, owned Tinui Station on which the cross would eventually stand. The cross is dramatically positioned on an outcrop of Mount Maunsell/Tinui-Taipo, overlooking the Tinui township. This must have been especially poignant for the Dunn family, who lived in the memorial’s shadow on the Station, as their son – Private John Robert Dunn – was one of the locals who died at Gallipoli, having been killed on the attack in Chunuk Bair.
Despite being constructed of Jarrah hardwood, the exposed position of the location took its toll on the original memorial, and as a result, in 1965 the degraded timber cross was replaced with the present one made of aluminium.
The Tinui cross site was registered as a Category 1 Historic Place in March 2011. Read more about it on the Heritage New Zealand website.
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