Harbour Board Gates

• 1899
• Construction
• 1934
• Central light fitting added

Not assessed

Not assessed

The Queen’s Wharf gates were prefabricate in a mix of rolled, cast and wrought iron and were shipped to New Zealand in 1899. The screen is made up of wrought/rolled iron pedestrian gates, pairs of vehicular access gates, fixed fence panels, and pairs of cast iron gateposts topped with either orbs or lanterns.

The original configuration appears to have been (from north to south) small gate post, pedestrian gate, two gate posts, pair of vehicular gates, gate post with lantern, pair of vehicular gates, two gate posts, pedestrian gate, small gate post, pair of vehicular gates, small gate post, pedestrian gate, small gate post.

The current configuration is likely to date from the mid-1990s and they key changes include the loss of one of the pairs of vehicular gates, the rearrangement of the tall and short gate posts, and the addition of lantern lights and fixed panels. The fixed panel to the north of the main vehicular gates is a strange newcomer and, for some inexplicable reason, sits approx half a metre above the finished ground level.

The original gate posts have been cast in two different sizes – a tall and a short. The size is differentiated only by the length of the column as the base and ‘capital’ are otherwise identical. The posts are square in plan and are either topped by an orb or a lantern. The central light was replaced with a lantern in 1934 and further lanterns were added later, presumably in the mid-1990s. The lanterns and orbs are fixed to a circular plate and the transition between the angular to the spherical is broached through an inverse fluted pedestal. This intersects with a tri-petal gable shape on each of the four sides of the post. The cornice at the top of the post features a zig-zag pattern.

Although the gates are not as elaborate as some late Victorian and Edwardian ironwork, they are certainly influenced by the fluidity of form found in Art Nouveau architecture. The top section of the gate sweeps up to meet the top of the tallest gate posts. It is in-filled and topped with stylised floral and leaf-forms. The gate bracing is made up of a band of subtly enlarged pickets and sits directly beneath the top decorative band. This too has been treated as an arc, and the overall effect is of the gates as pairs of sweeping wings.

The gates are topped by a line of finials along the concave top-rail. These alternate between a long straight pyramid tipped picket decorated with an Art Nouveau leaf shape, and a shorter waved picket that terminates at a point.

The locks and handles carry on with the Art Nouveau theme, but the lowest row of decoration/strengthening has less fluidity and is made up of a row of scrolls and bars. The simple drop bolts are functional and in character with the quality and design of the gates.

Cast iron elements (orbs & posts)

Rolled iron (palings) with some cast iron elements

Wrought iron decorative elements 

The Queen’s Wharf gates are set between Shed 7 and the former Harbour Board Office to form a physical barrier between the city and harbour.

To the immediate east of the gates is the large modern TSB arena building and a similar modern office building. In the middle distance are other wharf-side industrial buildings / sheds, many of which have been converted to restaurants/bars/ and other recreational use, and beyond them the sea. To the west of the gates is the busy arterial route of Jervois Quay and Customhouse Quay and beyond that a mix of high and low rise commercial buildings.

The Queen’s Wharf gates are also part of the Post Office Square Heritage Area, and this heritage area includes other listed objects such as a telephone box (c.1938) and post box (c.1879-1910), and listed buildings that include the diminutive Clarrie Gibbon’s building/former tram shed and traffic island (1912), Head Office and Bond Store (Museum of Wellington - City and Sea, 1891-92), Shed 11 (1904-05), Shed 13 (1904-05), Huddart Parker Building, 2-6 Jervois Quay (1924), and the Tower Building, 50 – 64 Customhouse Quay (1936).

Further groupings of former harbour board gates stretch from just north of Shed 13 to just south of the Museum of Wellington City and Sea, and the Taranaki Street gates (also listed on the WCC heritage inventory) to the far south of the harbour area. 

• Architectural

  Does the item have architectural or artistic value for characteristics that may include its design, style, era, form, scale, materials, colour, texture, patina of age, quality of space, craftsmanship, smells, and sounds?

  The Queen’s Wharf gates are a particularly fine set of Art Nouveau inspired Victorian gates and are notable for the quality of their design, materials and workmanship. 

• Group

  Is the item part of a group of buildings, structures, or sites that taken together have coherence because of their age, history, style, scale, materials, or use?

  The gates are the major element in a group of remaining former Wellington Harbour Board fences and gates that once stretched along Waterloo, Jervois, and Customhouse Quays to Taranaki Street.

  The gates also form part of the Post Office Square Heritage Area, and are part of a collection of heritage buildings and objects that have an association with the former Wellington Harbour Board and waterfront. 

• Townscape

  Does the item have townscape value for the part it plays in defining a space or street; providing visual interest; its role as a landmark; or the contribution it makes to the character and sense of place of Wellington?

  The gates are the entrance to the Wellington waterfront at a key nodal point – Queen’s Wharf and Post Office Square. 

• Association

  Is the item associated with an important historic event, theme, pattern, phase, or activity?

  The gates were used to exclude public access to the waterfront for over 90 years from 1899 to c.1989. They were used for crowd control during key embarkations including the departure of troops to the South African Wars, and during royal visits. The gates are also closely connected with two of New Zealand’s best known and bitter industrial disputes, and were used to bar striking workers during the 1913 and 1951 waterfront strikes. 

• Association

  Is the item associated with an important person, group, or organisation?

  The gates have a strong historic association with the Wellington Harbour Board and were instrumental to the way in which the waterfront was secured and managed. 

• Archaeological

  Does the item have archaeological value for its ability to provide scientific information about past human activity?

  Pre 1900 reclaimed land & Central City NZAA R27/270

• Educational

  Does the item have educational value for what it can demonstrate about aspects of the past?

  The Queen’s Wharf gates are a reminder of the infrastructure required to run a working port in the late 19^th to mid 20^th centuries
  

• Technological

  Does the item have technological value for its innovative or important construction methods or use of materials?

  The gates have technological value as an example of wrought and cast iron work of a type that is no longer produced on a commercial scale in New Zealand. 

• Public Esteem

  Is the item held in high public esteem?

  The Queen’s Wharf gates represent the Wellington Harbour Board’s contentious attempts to restrict access to the working harbour-side, and the subsequent redefinition of the Wellington waterfront as a public recreation zone. They are likely to be held in high public esteem for both their contribution to social history and for the quality of their design and workmanship. 

• Identity - Sense of Place - Continuity

  Is the item a focus of community, regional, or national identity? Does the item contribute to sense of place or continuity?

  The former harbour board gates contribute to the sense of place and continuity of both Queen’s Wharf and the Post Office Square Heritage Area. 

• Sentiment - Connection

  Is the item a focus of community sentiment and connection?

  The Queen’s Wharf gates have some enduring social value as the symbolic ‘entrance’ to Wellington city, although this attachment has been somewhat diminished by changes in passenger travel in the past 50 years. 

• Rare

  Is the item rare, unique, unusual, seminal, influential, or outstanding?

  The Wellington Harbour Board gates have rarity value for the quality of their design, materials and workmanship

• Representative

  Is the item a good example of the class it represents?

  The Queen’s Wharf gates are a good representative example of Late Victorian ironwork. 

• Authentic

  Does the item have authenticity or integrity because it retains significant fabric from the time of its construction or from later periods when important additions or modifications were carried out?

  Although constructed from original prefabricated elements the gates and railings have been recently reconfigured and this detracts somewhat from the authenticity of the composition. 

• Importance

  Is the item important at a local, regional, national, or international level?

  The gates have national significance for their association with several key events in the 20^th century. 

Not assessed

• Astwood, Karen and Barbara Fill, ‘Review Report for a Historic Pace: Wellington Harbour Board Wharf Gates, Posts, and Railings, Wellington.’ NZHPT, 2012.
• ‘Bayliss Jones and Bayliss’, history website accessed November 2013
• Chatfield. New Zealand troops departing for the South African War, Queens Wharf, Wellington. Ref: 1/2-110815-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.
• Crowd at Queens Wharf, Wellington, during the 1913 Waterfront Strike. Smith, Sydney Charles, 1888-1972: Photographs of New Zealand. Ref: 1/2-046169-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand
• FENCING IN THE QUEEN'S WHARF Evening Post, 1 February 1897
• HARBOUR BOARD. Evening Post, 16 September 1897
• LOCAL AND GENERAL. Evening Post, 20 April 1898
• LOCAL AND GENERAL. Evening Post, 22 April 1898
• OFF TO THE WAR. Evening Post, 23 October 1899
• PORTERS AND THE HARBOUR BOARD BYLAWS. Evening Post, 12 January 1898
• QUEEN'S WHARF ENTRANCE.-A new centre light has been ins... [truncated] Evening Post, 28 July 1934
• Queens Wharf, Wellington. Wright, Henry Charles Clarke, 1844-1936: Negatives. Ref: 1/1-020457-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.
• RIGHT OF ACCESS TO THE QUEEN'S WHARF, Evening Post, 31 May 1899
• Royal procession, Queen's Wharf, Wellington. McAllister, James, 1869-1952: Negatives of Stratford and Taranaki district. Ref: 1/1-007950-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand
• THE "SEND-OFF" TO THE CONTINGENT. FINAL ARRANGEMENTS. Evening Post, 19 January 1900
• THE "SEND-OFF" TO THE CONTINGENT. FINAL ARRANGEMENTS. Evening Post, 19 January 1900
• ‘Time in Wellington: History… [Abridged]’ Wellington Waterfront Ltd website accessed November 2013
• Watersiders arriving for work during the 1951 waterfront dispute. Negatives of the Evening Post newspaper. Ref: 114/307/10/13-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.
• Wharf Traffic Regulations. Evening Post, 26 April 1895

• Inventory report

Not available