This reserve is on the site of the "pa", a fortified defensive position constructed around a village or settlement , usually on a hill or terrace, that became a battleground on which the British forces were outwitted and defeated by Ngai Te Rangi and his allied iwi, or tribes, during the New Zealand War of the 19th century. Beautifully preserved by a local Trust, it is easy to access, free to enter, from convenient parking on the adjacent busy and noisy Cameron road, named after Lieutenant -General Duncan Cameron, the commander of the British forces on the day of the battle. Entering the site, you pass through a "Tomokanga", a carved gatehouse, which may or may not refer to the name, Gate Pa, following a well-defined walkway with several informative boards explaining its history and significance.
Although there are 8 pou, or carved pillars commemorating the main protagonists, including Cameron and Ngai Te Rangi , I couldn't see any trace of any memorial or burial of the Maori who died in 29th April 1864, although there is a memorial church, St. Georges, which celebrates the Anglican officers and men who lost their lives in the confusion of battle. I later learned that the Maori dead, many fewer than the British, were interred somewhere across Cameron road, at a site subsequently built over. Another memorial is at the Old Military Cemetery at Te Papa where most of the British dead are buried, along with those from Te Ranga, a further and final battle, and also has a touching monument to Ngai Te Rangi. It makes mention of his instructions to his victorious warriors to treat their vanquished well, and at Gate Pa, a woman who refused to leave before the battle, Heni Te Kiri Karamu, is noted as risking her life to comfort the dying, both Allied forces, including Colonel Booth who led the assault, and Maori, and give them water.