We are a membership not-for-profit organisation based in Wellington / Te Whanganui-a-Tara, New Zealand.

• We advocate for heritage in the wider Wellington region, and offer events such as talks, walks and visits to historic places and buildings. You can help by joining us.
• For more information, see our about us page.
• Our newsletters are under the resources page, as are useful links and other heritage information.
• We are also on Facebook and Instagram (#historicwelly)

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News and Events

It was with deep sadness that we learnt of the death last week (19 April) of Ben Schrader, a fine urban historian and writer who loved Wellington and contributed his wisdom and kindness to all. Ben was an advocate for built heritage all his working life. He served as a committee member for Historic Places Wellington from 2015 to his death, including as deputy chair. We are better for having known him and feel his loss deeply.

This is a short think-piece Ben wrote a few years ago on why old buildings matter: https://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=141592

There is a death notice here. An obituary appears here in Scoop.

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27 April – 5 May 2024: New Zealand Archaeology Week: Wellington Events The document here shows all the free events in Wellington for archaeology week.

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The 2024 Colours of Futuna Sunday afternoon music series begins on 7 April and goes to 9 June. Tickets $10. Always a nice way to enjoy Futuna Chapel. Check out the programme here: https://www.futunatrust.org.nz/colours-of-futuna-concert-series-2024/

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The Welly awards were held at the Embassy Theatre on Wednesday, March 27, 2024. These awards were started in the late 1980s by what is now ‘The Post’ to provide positive feedback for Wellingtonians who go above and beyond in fields such as Art, Community Service, Business, Education, Environment, Sport and Youth. Welly Awards 2023 – as well as Wellingtonian of the Year, there are various categories and this year there is a Heritage Welly category that we are sponsoring:

“HERITAGE
The heritage category is for individuals who through their commitment and dedication care for the conservation, preservation and protection of heritage places and stories so that others can appreciate them today and in the future.” 

The five finalists in the heritage category are listed in the box. The winner was Liz Mellish. (The photos above show Liz giving her speech and also our chair Felicity Wong giving the award).

The citation for Liz highlighted her long-term advocacy for Māori and Wellington heritage and storytelling, with a strong emphasis on pā sites and awa of Pōneke, ensuring stories are documented and passed on for generations to come.

As well as her role on the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Māori Heritage Council, Liz has held many local heritage leadership responsibilities, including Chair of Te Wharewaka ō Pōneke Charitable Trust, Chair of the Palmerston North Māori Reserve Trust, Deputy Chair of the Federation of Māori Authorities and a number of directorships.

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The latest newsletter of Historic Places Aotearoa is available here.

Other newsletters are on their website: https://historicplacesaotearoa.nz/news-events/oculus-newsletters . They have changed the name from Oculus to Voice of Heritage.

Our latest newsletter is also available on our Newsletters page.

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Futuna Chapel in Karori (Futuna Close, off Friend St) is a Category 1 historic place that usually opens from 11 to 3pm on the first Sunday of the month. Check their Facebook page for updates.

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St Andrew’s on the Terrace, a Category 1 historic place, has Wednesday (and occasionally Thursday) lunchtime concerts starting at 12:15pm.

Check their website for further details.

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Our chairperson, Felicity Wong, gave a talk to the joint annual conference of Historic Places Aotearoa and ICOMOS in Auckland on 12 November 2022 about keeping our built heritage. You can read it here (PDF). Committee member and Victoria University Architecture School lecturer Nigel Isaacs also gave a presentation (with other university lecturers) who teach conservation architecture courses.

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Our chairperson Felicity Wong gave a presentation (online via Zoom) to U3A Wellington city on 31 August 2021 on Challenges to Built Heritage: Neglect, Earthquakes and Urban Planning. You can read a copy on our advocacy page – or click this link here. (PDF copy)

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Blue Plaques. This is an initiative of our national body, Historic Places Aotearoa to identify and promote our built heritage.

The large cast aluminium plaques are designed to be placed prominently on the facades of important heritage buildings. We have more information on Blue Plaques on our resources page.

There is also a dedicated website for blue plaques.

The image shows Wellington’s first blue plaque at Randell Cottage in St Mary’s Street Thorndon (installed November 2022).

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