Pākaitore / Moutoa Gardens Whanganui: Riverside Reserve and Memorials

Last updated November 2026

Beside the Whanganui River in the city centre, a reserve of just under a hectare carries two names and several layers of history. Pākaitore, also known as Moutoa Gardens, was a traditional place of trade for Māori before European settlement.

Today it holds some of the region’s most significant memorials, including the Moutoa monument, which is recognised as New Zealand’s first war memorial, a statue of Te Keepa Te Rangihiwinui and a memorial to Māori soldiers of the First World War.

The land is a Crown historic reserve managed by a board under an agreement between the Crown, the district council and Māori, and Heritage New Zealand lists its monuments as able to visit.

Practical Information

Location

Market Place, Taupo Quay and Bates Street, Whanganui city centre, beside the Whanganui River

Reserve

Moutoa Gardens Historic Reserve, a Crown-owned reserve for historic purposes

Managed by

Pākaitore/Moutoa Gardens Historic Reserve Board

Heritage status

Kemp Monument: Heritage New Zealand List number 165, Category 1. Māori War Memorial: List number 4954, Category 2. Moutoa Monument: List number 987, Category 2.

Entry

Free; public reserve

Status

Check Whanganui District Council’s website before you go.

About Pākaitore

Te Ara describes the park beside the river as known to Māori as Pākaitore, and Whanganui District Council’s heritage inventory records that it had been a traditional place of trade before European settlement. When the town grew up around it, the ground was called the Market Place, and later it became Moutoa Gardens.

The English name comes from the battle at Moutoa Island, upriver on the Whanganui River, on 14 May 1864. NZHistory records that Mātene Te Rangitauira led an upriver party of Pai Mārire followers who intended to attack Whanganui, and that the Pūtiki chiefs Hōri Kīngi Te Ānaua and Hoani Wiremu Hīpango blocked their way.

Te Ara describes it as a battle in which Māori of the lower river turned back war parties from upriver. Fifteen lower-river Māori and one European, a lay brother from a nearby Catholic mission, were killed.

On 28 February 1995 Whanganui Māori occupied Pākaitore. NZHistory records that the occupation, led by Te Rūnanga Pākaitore, aimed to restore Whanganui mana over the site. Te Ara notes that what began as a dispute over who owned the park grew into a wider protest over lost traditional rights. The occupation lasted 79 days and ended peacefully in May 1995.

An agreement was later signed between the Crown, the district council and Māori. Under it, Te Ara explains, the land was placed in Crown ownership and its management handed to a board with members from Whanganui tribes. The council’s list of reserves describes Pākaitore as Crown owned and administered by the Pākaitore/Moutoa Gardens Historic Reserve Board.

The Memorials

Moutoa Monument

The Moutoa monument honours the 15 Māori and one European who died at Moutoa Island. It was unveiled on 26 December 1865, and both NZHistory and the council recognise it as New Zealand’s first war memorial.

NZHistory notes that its inscription describing upriver Māori as fanatics and barbarians has long been controversial, and the council’s heritage inventory records that the wording was among the grievances raised during the 1995 occupation.

Kemp Monument

This memorial honours Taitoko Keepa Te Rangihiwinui, also known as Major Kemp, whom NZHistory describes as a rangatira of Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi and of Muaūpoko. His sister, Rora Hakaraia, led the effort to build it after his death, and it was erected in the early 1910s.

A statue of Te Keepa stands on a granite base, and Heritage New Zealand lists the monument as a Category 1 historic place.

Māori War Memorial

This memorial honours local Māori of the First World War, and Te Ara notes that Whanganui was unusual in having a memorial specifically to local Māori who died. It is topped by a statue of a local Māori soldier, Herewini Whakarua, and remembers 17 Māori from Whanganui and neighbouring districts who died in the war.

In May 1925 soil from Belgian battlefields was placed in the memorial. Heritage New Zealand lists it as a Category 2 historic place.

The Reserve Today

Pākaitore is one of the reserves named in the Whanganui Lands Treaty settlement negotiations. The council’s list of reserves proposes, subject to the settlement being finalised, that it stays a historic reserve, is renamed Pākaitore Historic Reserve and comes under a joint reserves board, with public access continuing.

1News reported that the council has signed a long-term partnership with Whanganui Māori that includes a joint statutory reserves board.

Where to Learn More

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Pākaitore?

In Whanganui city centre beside the Whanganui River, bounded by Market Place, Taupo Quay and Bates Street.

Why is it also called Moutoa Gardens?

It was named after the battle at Moutoa Island on the Whanganui River on 14 May 1864.

What does the name Pākaitore refer to?

Pākaitore is the Māori name for the site, which was a traditional place of trade before European settlement.

What happened at Pākaitore in 1995?

Whanganui Māori occupied the site from 28 February for 79 days. The occupation ended peacefully in May, and an agreement between the Crown, the district council and Māori followed.

Who looks after the reserve?

It is Crown owned and administered by the Pākaitore/Moutoa Gardens Historic Reserve Board. Te Ara notes that the board set up after the 1995 agreement had members from Whanganui tribes.

What memorials are there?

They include the Moutoa monument, the Kemp Monument to Te Keepa Te Rangihiwinui and the Māori War Memorial for the First World War.

Is it New Zealand’s first war memorial?

Yes. NZHistory and Whanganui District Council both recognise the Moutoa monument, unveiled in December 1865, as New Zealand’s first war memorial.

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