PukekawaAuckland Domain
20 Park Road, Grafton

Pukekawa / Auckland Domain is our oldest park and one of the largest. Developed on 75 hectares around the cone of an extinct volcano. The 'tuff rings' created by volcanic activity can be seen in the land contours and forms a natural amphitheatre.

The history of Pukekawa / Auckland Domain

Pukekawa / Auckland Domain is the remnant of the ancient volcano Pukekawa. Its crater extends around the outside of the sport fields. The small volcanic hill is Pukekaroa, the site of a pa inhabited and fought over by many different iwi (tribes) throughout the early history of Tamaki Makaurau.

Governor Robert Fitzroy set aside the 75ha park in 1843, and since then it has gone through many changes.

During the Second World War it was used as a camp ground by American troops, and many exotic plants and birds were introduced by the Acclimatisation Society.

During the 1920s, the Wintergarden added Art Deco style and the Auckland War Memorial Museum became a permanent memorial to our fallen service men and women.

The Domain Wintergarden was designed by Auckland architect William Gummer in the early 1900s and are a complex of gardens located within the Pukekawa / Auckland Domain. The glasshouses have recently been reopened after two years of seismic strengthening and restoration.

Still present in the domain is a mighty tōtara tree, which represents the continued peace agreement between the Waikato tribes of Te Wherowhero, Ngāti Whātua and Ngāpuhi.

The governing framework for the park is the Auckland Domain Act 1987, the Auckland Domain Management Plan 1993 and the Auckland Unitary Plan 2016.