Whangamarino Redoubt

As European settler numbers continuously increased, the Maori became more and more suspicious of their intentions. Fighting eventually broke out in the 1840s, and increased resistance to selling land during the 1850s led to an effort to set up a Maori nation under its own King to ensure the survival of Maori culture, and preservation of land in Maori hands.

The story of the Land Wars in Waikato is closely related to the King movement. Here, people fought and died during the Waikato War of 1863-64, which preceded confiscation of Maori land.

Whangamarino Redoubt is the remains of earthworks built by the British Army in 1863. On a platform below the south side of the redoubt was a battery from which guns shelled the Maori position at Meremere to the south.