The exact date for the construction of this horse trough is unknown, and there are few references made to it that could be used to establish this. It is possible that the trough has existed at this site from the period soon after the establishment of the road, but the age is extremely difficult to determine.
The recorded history of the trough only begins in 1975, when the antiquity of the trough and the threat that it was under due to nearby road works caused a nearby resident, H.J. Cornwell, to write to the Mayor Michael Fowler about its protection. Mr Cornwell stated that the trough was a ‘unique part of Wellington’s transport and road history and in the days before the automobile, was a regular and popular spot for every traveller in and out of the city’. He also offered to donate $50 towards a plaque for the trough. Mayor Fowler agreed that the trough had historic importance, as did the city architect, C.W. Muir. He described the trough as consisting of ‘…a circular concrete tub set into a semi-circular wall of roughly dressed stonework, the whole being 2’3” (78cm) high’, and that the ‘tub is now filled with rubble’. Mr Cornwell raised his contribution to $100 in July 1975 while research was undertaken into the history of the trough as part of the wording for the plaque. Nothing specific about the trough was discovered, so the City Librarian suggested some wording for it: ‘Horses drank from this trough in the early days. The Hutt Road was built in 1841 and used by horses until 1916’. The plaque was affixed to the trough in February 1976, but after seeing the plaque, Mr Cornwell told the WCC that the date given for the end of use by horses was wrong; that it should have been 1925. There is evidence that horses continued to use the trough for longer than this.
Some time in 1976 the trough was vandalised and the plaque was stolen. The damage was repaired and the plaque was reinstated, but it is unknown when this restoration occurred.
It appears that the WCC have carried out several repairs to the trough and the tub was replaced some time in the 1970s. By the 1980s, the trough was reported as being in poor condition, and the issue of ownership came to the fore. At this time, the Crown was the owner of the legal road, which included the sealed portion and the margins alongside. The Ministry of Works, which managed the land on behalf of the Crown, wrote to the WCC to suggest that the trough be formally vested in the council. The paperwork was prepared and the gazette notice vesting the trough with the WCC was issued on 10 August 1982. Two years later a certificate of title was issued for the land.
The trough, as it stands today, consists of an approximately semi circular stone wall with a spun concrete pipe set near the top of the span. Roughly four metres of the wall have been removed to facilitate recent drainage works in the area. The wall spans across the run of the former stream and meets a high bank on both sides; the bank to the right is unretained weathered greywacke, and the bank to the left is supported with an old concrete retaining wall. It is clear of the roadside kerb and channel, at its closest approach, by about 1.5m.
The Hutt Road Horse Trough is a rare surviving example of what was once an essential and commonly seen public utility. For the first decades of New Zealand’s post-European settlement, horses were the country’s primary source of transport and power, and these troughs would have been extremely commonplace. Presently, this is one of few that remain in the Wellington region, and the only one that has remained in situ. Although the construction and use of the trough are not well understood today, the heritage value of it remains high and it has significant representative value.
