Cameron Blockhouse

The Cameron Blockhouse is a rare surviving timber blockhouse from the New Zealand Wars period.

John Cameron arrived in New Zealand in late 1840 and soon settled at Marangai, just south of Whanganui, where he established a cattle farm and built the first homestead in 1855.

When fighting broke out between Māori and the Crown in Taranaki in 1862–63, volunteer military units were formed in Whanganui.

Cameron became a captain and organised the Wanganui Cavalry.

By 1868 local settlers feared an attack by the skilled Māori leader Riwha Titokowaru, who was resisting the alienation of Māori land. As a result, this blockhouse was built to give settlers and their families a safe refuge if attacked.

It was one of several redoubts constructed on high ground in the district.

Its walls were packed with clay as an innovative defence against bullets and fire. The position allowed people inside to signal to two neighbouring blockhouses belonging to the Campbell and Morgan families, which could then relay messages to the York Stockade in Whanganui.

The Cameron Blockhouse was never actually attacked.

Over time it was altered for use as a farm building, including the removal of the east wall, which was later reinstated in the 1970s.

Between 1988 and 1990 the Whanganui branch of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust and local volunteers restored the structure.

The building has strong historical value as a privately built, purpose-designed blockhouse that reflects the attitudes of the time toward conflict. It sits in a dramatic landscape setting and shows interesting use of local materials for defence.

Built in 1868, it is also significant as an archaeological site.

A Heritage Covenant was placed on the property in February 1996.