6 | Major restoration now well underway The Kerikeri Mission House, as it was first known, was built by the Church Missionary Society, and holds a substantial collection of irreplaceable Māori and Pakeha taonga and early artefacts. Photos: Grant Sheehan Heritage NZ - Kemp House T T Kim Newth REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Mario Williams Ph: 021 439 858 David Whitehead Ph: 021 394 831 09 439 6048 Contact us for a quote info@hirescaffolding.co.nz > Civil > Industrial > Commercial > Rural > Residential Dargaville based, Servicing Kaipara and Northland Scaffolding built on safety and efficiency Aotearoa New Zealand’s oldest standing building, Kemp House in Kerikeri, has been closed from early April as important heritage conservation works get underway to protect the future of this unique 1822 building. Installing a new shingle roof to replace end-of-life leaky shingles is a key part of the restoration programme. Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga is actively fundraising for this essential work – just $10 provides a new roofing shingle, (details online at www.heritage.org.nz/ donate/raise-the-roof-at-kemp-house). Corrugated steel skillion roofing and the front verandah roof are also in line for repairs, and masonry brick chimneys will be seismically strengthened. External paint will be refreshed and damaged glazing repaired. Before reroofing work starts, Kemp House will be wrapped in sheeting to protect it from the elements. “Our goal is to be ready to show off the brand-new roof and carefully repaired and maintained Kemp House in time for the summer season of 2026/27,” says Boris Bogdanovic, heritage assets manager (Northern)|Kaiwhakahaere Ātiha. The two-storey Kerikeri Mission House, as it was first known, was built by the Church Missionary Society, and holds a substantial collection of irreplaceable Māori and Pakeha taonga and early artefacts. In the lead-up to the restoration work, these items have been safely placed into storage, with appropriate tikanga observed. Precious taonga include rare 1830s’ writing slates, one of which carries the signature of Hongi Hika’s daughter, Rongo, and another that bears the earliest example of a waiata written in te reo Māori, and taonga given by Ngāpuhi rangatira Hongi Hika to missionary James Kemp in the 1820s. The interior was fitted with internal scaffolding by the expert team at Hire Scaffold from Dargaville to allow movers to safely remove larger items, such as beds and New Zealand’s oldest shipping boxes. “As is often said of Kemp House, it’s a small building with a big story – and this is a very big project.” Boris says a perfect storm of factors made roof replacement more urgent, including the Covid pandemic, which delayed site maintenance, and more intense rain events due to climate change. Visitor numbers to Kemp House have been carefully managed in recent years to protect the building’s fragile fabric, (with just over 6000 people passing through the old house in 2024/25). Working with Heritage New Zealand to ensure this restoration is completed sensitively and appropriately is leading conservation architecture firm Matthews & Matthews Architects. “They understand our ethos of wanting to retain as much of the original old fabric as possible. “We’re being very careful about how much change we create – it’s about showing dignity and respect to Aotearoa New Zealand’s oldest building,” Boris explains. With extensive experience in the seismic retrofit of heritage buildings, Dizhur is delivering engineering expertise to this very special project. While Kemp House is off-limits to the public, the Kerikeri Mission Station remains very much open for business. Visitor support contributes to the site’s ongoing care. A special tour experience is available at the Stone Store – New Zealand’s oldest surviving stone building - where a dedicated space has been set aside to tell the story of Kemp House via audio visuals and an exhibition of collection items.
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