Early History of Godley Head
The areas of early history on Godley Head that are covered here are:
- Pre-European History
- European Settlement
- Lighthouse
- Farming
- Neighbouring Areas
- Military History
Pre-European History
During the thousand years of history preceding the arrival of European settlers, the east coast of New Zealand’s South Island was populated from the North by Polynesian colonists who are known today as the Maori peoples.
The first wave of this colonisation was the Waitaha peoples who were engulfed in the late fifteenth century by the Ngati Mamoe. They in turn were progressively conquered from the late eighteenth century by the Ngati Tahu.
Godley Head was known to the Maori as Awaroa, a name which refers to the length and height of the entrance to Lyttelton Harbour. The land behind the headland was known as Mahoenui, referring to the large Mahoe (a large shrub) which grew there. The French vessel Le Rhin mapped the Head as Kotoki-toki in 1844, also it has also been called Otokitoki, however this second name was used to refer to the general area of Gollans Bay.
While the area of Lyttelton Harbour has maintained a reasonably small but stable Maori population, Godley Head itself has had no recognised settlement. This is probably accounted for by its exposed position, lack of fresh water and no easy access to the seashore.
European Settlement
Limited European settlement of the Banks Peninsula area began in the early nineteenth century. It increased markedly once the British Crown signed a treaty with the indigenous Maori tribes. A clause of the treaty required that all land be sold by the Maori in the first instance to the Crown. A Walter Mantell acting for the Colonial Government purchased the Port Cooper block.
The first European name for Godley Head of Cape Cachalot was given by a French whaler Captain Langlois, who was in Lyttelton Harbour in 1838 to buy land. The name remained in use till at least circa 1900. The Head was renamed in honour of John Godley, the co-founder of the Canterbury Association and a leader of the Canterbury Province.
Between 1850 and 1855 Godley Head and all 252 hectares of the land east of Taylors Mistake was declared a reserve by the Canterbury Provincial Council.
Lighthouse
In 1849 Captain Thomas, having inspected Lyttelton Harbour for its suitability as a port for the Canterbury Settlement, included in his report that Godley Head would be an ideal site for a light house. Ten years later the Provincial Council voted funds for its construction. A stone (locally quarried) lighthouse and keepers cottage were completed in 1865. In 1876 60 hectares of the reserve was re-gazetted as a lighthouse reserve under the new name of R.2055 with the rest of the original reserve being known as Pt. Reserve 60.
The lighthouse was located 10 metres back from the tip of the headland at an elevation of 129 metres above sea level. The structure consisted of a stone tower 9 metres high, topped with a fixed doptric white light, of the second order, restricted by blacking to illuminate an arc of 200°. The light was visible for 54 kilometres in clear conditions. It was powered by fuel oil and transmitted by the usual mirrors and glasses. The keepers cottage was located a few metres to the rear of the light. The buildings were erected by a Mr McCosker and the optical apparatus was fixed by Mr Rollin who was sent from England especially for the purpose. The total cost was £4,706. The annual cost of operation was £340 in 1907 however, the light dues collected that year amounted to £3,082.
Access to the light was initially by way of a pack track from Evans Pass. The slowness of travel and the steepness of Evans Pass made this route impractical. This resulted in the lighthouse being supplied till the 1920’s by the government steamer which offloaded supplies to a small jetty in Mechanics Bay. From 1928 improvements in the roading and transport enabled the supplies to be trucked in.
In 1938, with war looming it was decided to build a coastal defence counter bombardment battery at Godley Head. As the lighthouse and keepers cottage conflicted with the sighting of the guns it was decided to relocate both. It was not till 1940 that moneys were allocated for the work and late 1942 before it was undertaken. The light mechanism was moved down the cliff face and mounted on a new tower.
The new keepers house was built 100m West inland behind the battery, with an assistant keepers house also constructed 60m West of the battery.
The Marine Department passed the responsibility for the light to the Lyttelton Harbour Board in 1979/80. The light was connected to mains electricity in 1946 and was automated in 1976. It has its own emergency diesel generator.
The light today is unmanned but fully operational. There is discussion of establishing a new light on Adderley Head, but nothing has been decided at this time.
For more information see the Maratime Safety Authority website on New Zealands’ Lighthouses.
Farming
Farming was allowed at Godley Head and a run of 29,000 acres, accommodating 1000 sheep, was taken up in 1857 by Mr Parkinson.The area nominated as the Lighthouse Reserve was used for the lighthouse keepers own farming needs. In 1885 the remainder of Pt. Reserve 60 was leased to farmers through the agency of the Department of Lands and Survey. The next 90 years saw the Reserve farmed by a succession of lessees, who mainly ran the block as a sheep station. Even the war didn’t entirely stop their efforts. For most of them it was there sole farming venture and it was doubtful if the Heads poor soils, limited shelter or water could provide more than a basic living.
In 1979 the area except for the Lyttelton Port Company’s lease was turned into a farm park and the management of the land reverted to the Department of Lands and Survey. From 1987 the newly formed Department of Conservation again leased out the land for farming.
Neighbouring Areas
Boulder Bay
Boulder Bay is a small cove directly North of the army camp and facing towards New Brighton. It takes its name from the large number of boulders strewn along the waters edge. It has been home to a small tight-knit community of holiday homes (bach/crib) from as early as the 19th century.
The photograph is of a bach built by a Godley Head lighthouse keeper in the 1920’s.
There is no road access to the bay, though residents are able to drive through the Godley Head park to a carpark near the cliff edge South of the Taylor Battery site. From here they are able to walk down to the bay. Access to the bay is also by a walking track from Taylors Mistake.
Breeze Bay
Originally known as Nor-West Bay, it is the next cove up the harbour from Mechanics Bay. It gained the name Breeze Bay after the coastal vessel Breeze was beached there and abandoned by the New Zealand Navy in 1921. The Navy was towing the Breeze to sea to act as a gunnery target when it broke loose and drifted ashore in Nor-West Bay. Eventually the Navy sunk it with charges and the vessel disintegrated over the years until there is currently little sign of it.
Taylors Mistake
This is a bay lying between Whitewash Head and Penguin Point. The name is said to have been given when Captain Taylor of the US ship Vulga mistook the bay for the entrance to Lyttelton Harbour. Though more likely it was mistaken as the entrance to Sumner Bay. The Maori name is Te Onepoto which probably refers to the short strip of fine beach, white with ground up shells.
The bay has supported a community of holiday homes for many years. During the war most of the homes were requisitioned for Army accomodation. Though, people for whom the bay was their primary accomodation were allowed to live there and were even given a special pass to access the area.
Mechanics Bay
This shallow bay lies on the South side of Godley Head, within Lyttelton Harbour. The origins of the name Mechanics Bay is at present unknown. As packing in supplies for the lighthouse prooved difficult a jetty was establishedon the East side of Mechanics Bay where the lighthouse supply ship was able to unload cargo.
Military History
Victorian Period
Amongst the possible purposes allocated to Godley Head as early as 1852 was coastal defence. Despite repeated expert reports and considerable public agitation the New Zealand Government did not actively pursue coastal defence till 1878.
The tensions of the Russo-Turkish war propelled the government into purchasing 22 RML (Rifled Muzzle Loading) guns but as the tensions soon eased the guns were put into storage. The Russians’ 1885 attempt to expand into Afghanistan produced such a confrontation with Britain that the New Zealand Government was forced to act on coastal defence. The other and more direct product was Sir William Jervois, the then Governor General for New Zealand. Sir William some years earlier while a serving officer in the Royal Engineers, had written a report on the countrys’ coastal defence needs.
Now with the prestige of his office, a nervous government and an alarmed population, Sir William had his moment. An ambitious programme of coastal defence installations was undertaken. At first with great haste and later as tensions eased with greater and greater leisure. During this period a number of muzzle loading batteries were constructed along the North shore of Lyttelton Harbour but no installations were undertaken at Godley Head. In 1885 construction was started on Fort Jervois, which was sited on Ripapa Island (on the South shore of Lyttelton Harbour).
Early 20th Century
In 1903 the new Commandant of the New Zealand Army, Major General J.M.Babington, inspected the country’s port defences. He advocated the installation of two six inch guns mounted one on Godley and one on the opposite Adderley Head. Minister of Defence Richard Seddon rejected the advice on economic grounds even in the face of pressure from the British War Offices’ Colonial Defence Committee, who supported the plan.
Field Marshall Lord Kitchener toured New Zealand’s defences in 1910 and urged the installation of two six inch coastal defence guns at Godley Head. Again the New Zealand government declined the advice on economic grounds.
During the 1920’s and 30’s New Zealand followed a British forward defence plan and contributed moneys towards the building of a major naval base at Singapore, hoping to keep any threat far from it’s shores. However Japanese military expansionism in the thirties could not be ignored and modern coastal defences were begun at New Zealand’s major ports.
In 1934 work was begun on batteries at Auckland and Wellington. Early in 1938 a British army officer, Major Edney R.E. (Royal Engineers), toured New Zealand advising the Government on the development of coastal defence batteries. As part of his tour he visited Godley Head with Colonel Parkinson R.N.Z.A. (Royal New Zealand Artillery) and made an initial siting of the six inch guns.
Later that year a survey of the area was commenced, a map produced pinpointing the guns locations and areas of dead water. Initially it was decided to locate the guns either side of the lighthouse, but as this would result in a dead water lane out to 16,000 metres it was decided to move the lighthouse.