Te Kopuke

Another of Auckland's volcanic mounds. This one was called Te Kopuke by Maori, meaning 'the prominent mound'. In 1840, English settlers called it Mount St John, after St John the Baptist (who was the patron saint of the Auckland clerics). 

The scoria cone has many food storage pits, in addition to terraces from the Pa which looked over the gardening area below the cone. The crest of the cone was flattened and divided into several defensive compartments by transverse ditches and associated banks.

One of Auckland's oldest volcanoes, Te Kopuke gave rise to a long lava flow (the longest in Auckland at 11 km) all the way north east to join the then Waitemata River near Birkenhead. As a result it forms the basis of the Meola Reef. 

In 1872 4 hectares around the summit of Te Kopuke were declared an education reserve, and then vested in the Crown as a Public Recreation Ground in 1896. With further additions to the reserve over the years, it was gazetted as a Recreation Reserve and Historic Place in 1978.