St Michael's Church, Ōhaeawai

St Michael’s Anglican Church near Ōhaeawai occupies part of the site of the pā around which a battle was fought in the winter of 1845. 

Kawiti’s 100-strong garrison withstood a week-long bombardment from the British before inflicting heavy casualties on their attackers on 1 July 1845.

Ōhaeawai, the prototype of the ‘modern pā’, was a major advance in the Māori response to new weaponry. The use of firing and communication trenches gave the occupants maximum protection while allowing rapid movement within the pā. Anti-artillery bunkers (rua) were set into the ground and covered with logs, stones and matted flax. Each could house 15–20 men in relative safety. 

The church was built by local Māori as a symbol of peace and a tribute to the Pākehā who had died in battle on the site in 1845. It was dedicated by the Bishop of Auckland, William Cowie, on 21 April 1871.

A local chief, Heta Te Haara, subsequently obtained permission to reinter the British soldiers killed at Ōhaeawai in the churchyard. A burial service was conducted on 1 July 1872 and a memorial cross was erected. The cross bears a dedicatory inscription in Māori. The names of the 47 dead interred at the site are listed inside the church.

A framed account of the battle and a plan of the pā presented by the New Zealand Army on the church’s centenary in 1971 are also on display in the church. A brass plaque set into a boulder inside the churchyard gate commemorates the battle, the making of peace, the laying out of the cemetery and the construction of the church. This plaque was unveiled on 1 July 1995.