Know your town

Secrets of the caves
This month’s Know your town consists of two early newspaper reports of the caves south of Martinborough. The first: Wairarapa Standard 2nd February 1891 headed: ‘Boys find caves at Ruakakapatuna’William Harris and his cousins, Deadmans, find caves while sowing grass seed after a burn off of bush at the back of the Harris Block.

The discovery of remarkable caves at a stoney creek some miles from Martinborough. The local Maori had knowledge of them (tomo) but were afraid of crossing the ‘taniwha’.

It came on to rain so the boys went for a shefter in a hole in the rocks. At the entrance William Harris ventured further, and through stones and found they landed in water. With light from matches he explored further.

I mite add the first trip inside ended before it begun. William lit a match and in the poor light he saw strange foot prints in the sand. William, Thinking discretion the better part of valour in th
is uncanny place, and was out of the place in double quick time.
Later with extra lighting (a candle) revealed still more beauty. Following the flow of water they came to two beautiful chambers, glow worms, stalactites, and the whole gallery gleamed like diamonds.

William Harris has been to the caves at Gladstone and Mauriceville and these surpass them for beauty’.

And now a second clip on the caves:
The Evening Post 7th August 1901
‘A meeting of the Philosophical Society was a very long paper by N McLeod on limestone caves on McLeod land sixteen miles from Martinborough on Haurangi Road in the hills at 1,300 feet above sea level, eight caves in all.

Some of the deep caverns exposed by deforestation. The deep caverns exposed quite a cart load of Moa bones* . Some of the large bones removed and distributed among local settlers. N McLeod gave precise description of the caves, fossil remains, stalagmites, stalactites etc. ‘

The William Harris who discovered the caves was my grandfather and the Harris Block mentioned was his farm. With regard to the bones found in that cave it is said that the caves were places where Maori buried their folk and their possessions.