The substantial pa (village) was a hill fort supporting approximately 400 people. The name Turuturu Mokai means stakes with mounted heads of slain enemies. Those not killed in the 16th century battle were enslaved. The attack led to the eventual abandonment of the pa site.
A tapu (blessing) ceremony was conducted in 1938. In the last 200 years the site has been a public reserve, a dumping ground for rubbish and is now in the ownership of the hapu (sub-tribe) with ancestral links to the pa. There continue to be issues around site maintenance and responsibility for ongoing care.
Tawhiti Museum has a replica scale model of what the site is ascertained to look like in its heyday. The Tawhiti scale model shows the complex settlement built on the hill and in a loop of the Tawhiti stream. The enormous ditches and palisades indicate the importance of the fortified pa. For details check National Library online record, Turuturu Mokai Pā
Nearby Turutura is a European redoubt built in 1866 by 18th Royal Irish Regiment during Taranaki Campaigns of NZ Wars in the 1860’s.
