A towering redwood tree planted by the Kerr Taylor family next to Alberton House around 150 years ago will be toppled because of safety concerns.
The 40m tall tree (in the middle background of this picture), one of the oldest in Mt Albert, is in poor condition and there are fears it may fall and damage the grand old house.
Heritage NZ, which administers Alberton, has been working for years to save the tree. Now it says it has no option but to take it down.
The history of the redwood is uncertain, though it is believed to date back to the very early days of Alberton, the centrepiece of a 500-acre country estate Scots immigrant Allan Kerr Taylor (picture courtesy Alberton House Collection) began building in 1863 – expanding it into a fashionable, 18-room mansion with a strong Indian theme inspired by his country of birth.
It could even be that Kerr Taylor himself planted the tree – and he probably also had a role in choosing the other redwood in front of the house.
In those early years he created a grand tree-lined avenue from the house down through the present Mt Albert Grammar School farm, where one of the original oaks still stands.
But he plainly had affection for more than just oak, holly and pine, probably gained from the time he spent in California in his late teens during the gold rush of the early 1850s. It seems he may have come back to Mt Albert with redwoods on his mind.
While no one knows if or when he planted the tree, local romantics can at least imagine he dug the hole and pressed in the sapling. Or at least watched on with satisfaction as someone else did the work.
Alberton is bidding a final farewell to the old redwood next Thursday (October 26) at 10:30am. After a few words tracing the history of the tree and a Maori blessing by Alberton staff member Moana Wilton, everyone is welcome to a ‘final hug’ and a cup of tea. No RSVP necessary.
The redwood will be cut down the next day.
Rendell says Alberton has been monitoring the tree for many years, obtaining reports in 2011 and 2014 to try to turn around its declining health.
But the mission has failed and Auckland Council has recognised the dangers, giving approval for its removal.
Rendell says the tree should never have been planted in its spot on the north-eastern side of Alberton because there isn’t enough moisture for its roots and it’s too close to the house.
He thinks the redwood and other trees in the lower part of the grounds would have been planted shortly after the house was built in 1863-64.
“Allan went to the Californian Gold Rush in 1850 and would have seen redwoods at that time,” he says. “He also spent time in England in 1860, getting married there, and would have seen oak and holly trees. He must have loved the magnificent trees in those countries and subsequently had them planted in his large formal garden here.”
An accurate pointer to the date of the planting may be possible if a section of the trunk is in good enough condition to allow a ring count. But that may be difficult if the disease is deep-seated.
The tree has featured in thousands of photographs or paintings from visitors to the house since it opened to the public on December 6, 1973. It was also featured alongside Alberton in a 20c stamp, when the house was part of a 1982 NZ Post Office series on architectural properties.
Bruce Morris
