Omata Stockade

The Omata stockade was built by local settlers in March 1860 at the start of the First Taranaki War. It stood on the site of an earlier pa atop Ngaturi, a symmetrical grassy mound rising 20 m above the surrounding land. The wooden fort, similar to those of this era in the American West, was a place of refuge for the district’s Pakeha families. Its defensive ditch is still clearly visible.

A replica stockade has been built recently on private land 1 km along Waireka Road East, which runs off State Highway 45 to the right at the Omata church, about 1 km south of Ngaturi.

Directions: 6 km south of central New Plymouth, beside State Highway 45.